The Negev

Last week, we spent an amazing 4 days in the Negev! The Negev is the area south of the Judean Hills where we've been staying. The Biblical Negev is the area of Gerar, Beersheba, and Arad but the desert highlands extend much further south as well. While there isn't a ton of Biblical history in the Negev (especially further south), there were some amazing sites that we got to go to, and some amazing hikes we got to go on!! So here are some of the highlights from the trip!

Beersheba

Out of all the sites we visited, Beersheba probably had the most biblical history attached to it. All of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, visited Beersheba at some point. For example, in Genesis 21, Abraham built a well at Beersheba and made an oath with Abimelech. That being said, Tel Sheva where we went, is not the Beersheba that the patriarchs went to. The ruins at Tel Sheva are from the Iron Age (the time of Solomon). It is quite likely that the remains of any Bronze Age Beersheba are actually underneath the modern city of Beersheba. But for obvious reasons, no one can excavate there, since there's a giant city! At Tel Sheva, excavators found the remains of a four-horned altar. The picture I have here is a replica. I actually just saw the altar they found when I was at the Israel Museum the other night! It looks pretty much the same, only the stones aren't perfectly shaped like they are in this picture. Beersheba is one of the sites that the two good kings of Judah cleansed of its idolatry. Both Hezekiah and Josiah are recorded tearing down the high places of Judah all the way from Geba to Beersheba. Archaeologists and scholars disagree on whether they think the altar found here at Beersheba was torn down by Hezekiah or by Josiah, but either way, the true pure worship of YHWH was restored, which is so exciting! In the picture, my friend Katie is demonstrating how Joab grabbed hold of the horns of the altar (in Jerusalem, though) when he sought mercy from King Solomon. However, Solomon did not spare his life because of the wickedness he had done in being so quick to shed blood for his own personal gain (1 Kings 2). 

Nahal Zin and Avdat

The border of the Promised Land extended all the way down to Nahal Zin, but the Israelites didn't really inhabit it. The practical border of the Promised Land (ie the area that they generally controlled) was from Dan in the North to Beersheba, discussed above, which is north of Nahal Zin. However, it was such a gorgeous hike! We hiked through the canyon along the water, and then up and out of the canyon to Ein Avdat. From there, we drove just a few minutes to the Nabatean fortress of Avdat. The Nabateans were the only people who were able to successfully inhabit the desert highlands. They made special use of the route leading all the way from Gaza on the coastal plain, through the Negev and to the Aravah in the east by selling and trading spices and all sorts of precious goods. Therefore, they became extremely wealthy during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Fun fact: Herod the Great's mother was a Nabatean! The Nabateans also converted to Christianity, so at their fortress, there were several remains of churches and baptistries. 

Machtesh Ramon

A "machtesh" is a giant crater formed by water erosion, and let me just say ... Machtesh Ramon is GIANT! It was within walking distance from the hostel we stayed in, so we hiked down into it in the morning. It was a gorgeous hike! I am a firm believer that the desert can be beautiful. I really struggled to find a picture that adequately demonstrated the unique topography of this area, and this panoramic picture is the best I could come up with! There were very rocky, steep cliffs surrounding the crater, and then the bottom of it was relatively hilly, but extremely wide and long. The machtesh extended in every direction, further than what we could see! I always tried to see the end of it, but was never able to! It was huge and absolutely beautiful.

Wilderness of Paran

The Wilderness of Paran is where the Israelites were camped when they sent the 12 spies from Kadesh- Barnea into the Promised Land to spy it out. We stopped in the Wilderness of Paran just to contemplate this tragic story. We got off the bus, and each of us was able to go and read Numbers 13-14 as well as Deuteronomy 8 for ourselves. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story, God promised the land of Israel to the Israelites. He promised it initially to Abraham and his descendants, and then continually renewed and confirmed that promise throughout the years! So when Moses led the people out of Egypt, their destination was the land promised to them long ago. Moses sent 12 spies, 1 of the leaders from every tribe, to go spy out the land. Sadly, 10 of the spies came back giving a negative report. They said that although the land was beautiful and full of all that God had promised them, the people inhabiting it were too big and too strong for them to go up against, and that it would be impossible to take it for themselves. The other two spies, Joshua and Caleb, tried to convince the people that since the Lord had promised them the land they would have no problem taking it, but they wouldn’t listen. They thought that since the other peoples were stronger than them, they would have no chance against them. They didn’t trust in God’s promises to them, even though He had already rescued them from slavery, miraculously delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians, had promised the land to their forefathers and had proven Himself to be faithful to them, they rejected Him. Therefore, God told them that their generation would be punished, and none of them would be able to enter the land promised to them, but rather, they would have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.

Deuteronomy 8 was a great passage to read after reading this extremely heart breaking passage. In Deuteronomy 8, Moses was speaking to the Israelites right before they would go in to inhabit the land after their 40-year sojourn, and he told them not to forget God and the fact that He was the One who was providing for them. He was the One who delivered them and kept them alive in the wilderness by giving them manna. He was their livelihood and their means of existence. And in the same way, He would be the one to cause them to grow and prosper in the Promised Land. It wouldn’t be their strength or might or righteousness that would bring them prosperity. It was only God’s grace! What a good reminder for us as well! We have nothing to offer God, nor do we deserve any of the blessings He’s graciously given us. We don’t deserve salvation, and did nothing to earn or work for salvation! It is entirely His doing (Ephesians 1). On top of that, He has given us so many blessings on this earth that far surpass our needs. Yet sometimes we have a tendency to be boastful and proud about all of those things. We take pride in our salvation, or even our sanctification. We boast about our looks, intellect, families, circumstances, etc. Yet all of those things are from God! He is the perfect provider, and the gracious giver! Our thanks and praise should be given to Him. Our boasting should be about how great He is. My prayer is that this can be my daily mindset, so that I don’t distract from the glory that God alone deserves!

Snorkeling in the Red Sea

We ended Day 2 with some snorkeling in the Red Sea J No big deal! It was absolutely beautiful! Our hotel was also in Eilat, and we were able to spend some time on the town in the evening after dinner, which was a ton of fun!

Timnah Park

AMAZING hiking! Timnah is the site of some ancient copper mines. The mountains and rocks here are just beautiful, and are in some of the funkiest shapes I’ve ever seen! We had a blast just exploring and hiking around for a while, and got some really great views as well.

Timnah Park also has a life size model of the Tabernacle! We visited it and had a guided tour explaining everything there. It was really cool to actually picture what the Tabernacle would have been like for the Israelites! I really enjoyed it. Our guide was also a believer, and she made some great connections between the Tabernacle and the person of Jesus Christ. Just as God allowed His presence to dwell among His people through the Tabernacle, so also did He choose to dwell among men by sending His son to live among us! John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” His glory came to earth! God made His dwelling among men! What an amazing concept! And now, He even chooses to live within us through His Holy Spirit, so that we too are Tabernacles of a holy God.

Masada

Day 4 of the Negev Trip was definitely my favorite, and sadly, it was our last Land and Bible field trip! There are no more trips that our entire IBEX group will go on, which is so weird, and totally sad! Anyways, we had stayed the previous night at a hostel right at the foot of Masada. Therefore, we could go up to Masada whenever we wanted to. Most of us went up for the sunrise, and wow … it was totally worth it! It was quite an intense hike up, but a beautiful sight from the top! The site itself was also really great! There are some amazing ruins there from all of Herod the Great’s building projects, including His palace, a Roman bathhouse, guard towers, storehouses, and the biggest cistern I’ve ever seen! Herod wanted to have all the amenities of Rome while living in the seclusion and safety of a desert fortress. 

Masada is probably most popularly known because of the Jewish revolt that happened there, and ended in mass suicide. A sect of the Jewish people held out at Masada from 66-73 AD before the Romans came and attacked the fortress. One night, the Romans finally broke through the wall, but decided to wait until morning to run in and siege the city. That night, the leader of the sect, Eleazar ben Yair, convinced the people that it would be better for them to die as free men at their own hands, rather than as captives at the hands of the Romans. Therefore, the heads of households all ran to kill their own wives and children, and then those men cast lots to choose 10 men to kill the rest of the men, and out of those 10 men, one was chosen to kill the rest of them. Out of the 900+ Jewish people at Masada, the only survivors were 2 women and 5 children, who hid during the slaughter. In one of the rooms at Masada, excavators actually found fragments of pottery with the names of people written on them. These fragments (also known as ostraca) are most likely the lots cast to choose the 10 men who would kill the rest of the men. It was so surreal to be standing in that room where those ostraca were found, and to be thinking about the dramatic and tragic event that happened there.

All that being said, Masada was amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the remains. It is a really impressive fortress.

The Caves of Qumran!

Our last stop of the trip was at Qumran, and this was an extremely exciting trip for me! Qumran was a village of Essenes who were scribes by trade. They wrote hundreds of books and scrolls 2,000 years ago, many of which have been found hidden in caves near Qumran. They scrolls and books were probably hidden during the Roman conquest of the area, and were so well preserved for 2,000 years because of the dry condition of the desert. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls, right? Well … those are the scrolls found at Qumran! Among the Dead Sea Scrolls was a scroll of the entire book of Isaiah! It is the most well preserved of the books, and is absolutely amazing! The Isaiah Scroll was found in Qumran Cave 1, and we actually got to hike up to it and go inside of it! I was super excited …. Like way more excited than you’d expect! For some reason, the Dead Sea Scrolls have really sparked my interest, and I’d honestly really love to study them more when I get back home. For one of my classes, we have to do a creative project, and my project is actually copying a page of the Isaiah scroll. So as I’ve been studying the scroll, scrutinizing the page I chose, and learning about the scroll itself as well as the scribes who wrote it, I’ve became extremely interested in it. So naturally, I was really excited to actually be at Qumran!

The Negev trip was amazing, and a total blast! Lots of the students have been trying to decide which trip they liked better – Galilee or Negev – but I think it’s impossible to choose between them. They’re such different trips! Galilee had a much heavier influence on Biblical events because we were right where Jesus lived. It was the center of commerce and society. The Negev, however, was nearly desolate. Hardly anyone lived there because it was a dry, hot, waterless desert. I loved Galilee because not only was it fun, but it also ministered to my soul and taught me so much about Christ and His ministry! But I loved the Negev trip because it was adventurous and active the whole time! I loved hiking around and to see all the sites. Of course, I loved learning about the Biblical events that did occur there, but there weren’t as many of them. Anyways, the trip was a huge blessing! It was a really great finale to the Land and Bible class.

In other news: I leave for Greece tomorrow! It’s time for our 10 day travel break and it starts TOMORROW! We had our Land and Bible final today, which went very well, praise the Lord, and now it’s time for some relaxation! I’ll be in Greece with three other people for 5 days, and then we’ll spend the remainder of our time in Crete. I am totally excited about it and I can’t wait to share all my adventures with you soon!

Well, I’d better pack and maybe get a bit more homework done. Thanks for hanging in there for another exceedingly long post.

Deuteronomy 7:6-9

“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments”

A Week of Highlights!

I’m currently on a bus heading south to the Negev, where we’ll be spending the next four days! Before I have to start writing field reports for all the places we go this week, I figured I’d take some time to update you all about the events of the past week and a half. The semester is speeding by quicker than I imagined! We’re all swimming in homework, projects, reading, field trips and reports, but I think I can speak for us all and say that we’re still absolutely loving it. With just over a month left, it’s exciting to think about being home, but hard to think about saying goodbye to this wonderful experience!

Sunday, October 28, 2012 – Sorek Valley Hike

Our Regional Studies class went on a hike to the Sorek Valley in the Shephelah, which is where Samson lived. We started at Zorah, where Samson was born, and finished the hike at Tel Batash, which is the ancient site of Timnah, where Samson met his first Philistine wife. Samson is a clear demonstration of a man being used by God’s Spirit and for God’s purposes. Samson wasn’t a very example for Israel to follow. He was absorbed in the lust of the flesh, and often acted out in anger and pursued relationships with women. Yet God chose to place His spirit upon him, even before he was born, and God used him to exact his judgment on the Philistines.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 – Samaria Field Study

We all had our second to last field study this past Wednesday, and we went to Samaria. It was a pretty relaxed day. Our first stop was at Khirbet el Maqatir, the most likely place for the city of Ai that Joshua destroyed in Joshua 8. Most scholars think that Ai was located on a nearby hill called Et Tell, but there are not Late Bronze archaeological remains at that site, which would be necessary in order to correspond to the Biblical timing and account of Joshua 8. Maqatir does have Late Bronze remains, and it geographically fits the account about where Ai was located. It is just east of Bethel (Joshua 8:12),  and ravines on the north and western sides of the city that would be ideal for Joshua’s armies to camp and hide in (Joshua 8:13). While Maqatir has been excavated a little bit, there is still much work that needs to be done in order definitely confirm it as the site of Ai.

After Ai, we went to Shiloh, which is where Joshua set up the tabernacle after the conquest (Joshua 18). The tabernacle remained there until the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant at Aphek during the days of Eli as priest, when Samuel was growing up in the presence of the Lord. It was so amazing to be at the site where the Tabernacle was actually established! The prophet Jeremiah also used Shiloh as an object lesson for Jerusalem in Jeremiah 7, right before the Babylonian conquest. The people of Jerusalem, though walking in blatant sin and rejecting their covenant with the Lord, thought that since they had the Temple of God in their midst that they would be safe from any foreign threats. They thought that God would save them simply because His Temple was there, regardless of their actions. But Jeremiah reminded them of Shiloh in verse 12:

“But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.”

Because Shiloh rejected the Lord, and they did not obey Him, He gave them up to the Philistines.

Likewise, He would deliver Jerusalem over to the Babylonians because of their covenant unfaithfulness to Him. God cares first and foremost about obedience and repentance. Without those things, He will not be pleased and will not hesitate to bring judgment.

Standing on Mt. Gerazim, looking at Mt. Ebal with Shechem down below!

Our last stop of the day was at Mt. Gerazim! This was probably one of my favorite sites simply because I wrote a paper last year about Mt. Gerazim and Mt. Ebal. These two mountains surround the city of Shechem, and are extremely significant. In Deuteronomy 27 and 28, Moses commanded Israel to go to these mountains and proclaim the blessings for following the covenant and the curses for neglecting it after entering the Promised Land. Shechem was where God first promised the land to Abraham and his descendants, and therefore, was an extremely important site to the Israelites. Therefore, when Joshua followed Moses’ directions and went to Mt. Gerazim and Mt. Ebal in Joshua 8, I can just imagine that it was a very powerful moment! Half of the tribes of Israel stood on Mt. Ebal and proclaimed what the curses would be if they disobeyed the covenant, while the other half stood on Mt. Gerazim and proclaimed the blessings that they would receive if they did obey the covenant. This site just oozes with the faithfulness of God! He called a certain man to obey Him, and gave Him tremendous promises of land, descendants and blessings, and then fulfilled those promises (at least in part) a thousand years later! What a wonderful, magnificent and faithful God we serve! That being said … Israel did not always live up to their end of the deal. They disobeyed Him, and there were even times right at this site of Shechem where they rejected Him and worked against His covenant. Yet He was still faithful. The same is true of me! I continually reject the Lord as I choose to act sinfully and choose to serve myself rather than joyfully submit to my loving Savior. Yet He is still faithful to me! Being at Mt. Gerazim was such a good reminder of this! Even though we were only there briefly, it’s probably one of my favorite sites so far.

That was the end of our Field Study! Funny thing …. This trip was on Halloween, so the girls all decided to dress like someone else for the day! I dressed like my friend Brett, she dressed like Christine and Christine dressed like me. It was SUPER fun! Then after we got back, the whole group had a costume party! They opened up this closet for us that had lots of random clothing and props, and we got to create any kind of costume we could! Then at the party, we got to present our costumes by doing a little skit. I was in a group with Christine and Kyle, and we did a country western rendition of the story of the Queen of Sheba visiting king Solomon. It was quite fun and hilarious! I was the queen of Sheba, and was dressed as an Indian. Therefore, I was called “Shebahantas.” Kyle was Solomon (Sheriff Shlomo) and Christine was the town gossip, Jessie (we took some creative liberty with the story). The whole night was really fun!

Friday, November 2, 2012 – Free Day in Tel Aviv!

We had a free day on Friday after class, so I organized a trip to Tel Aviv! 12 people came with me, and we spent time shopping, exploring, and some people went to the beach too. There was an adorable arts and crafts market there, and I absolutely LOVED walking around, talking to the artists and doing a bit of shopping. There was a shuk there too, probably even busier than the one we went to in Jerusalem! I had such a fun day, and was really thankful that we got to do that! And praise the Lord … the whole transportation aspect went very smoothly! We didn’t miss any of our buses, nor did we ever get separated. It was a good day to kind of forget that there was homework to do, and just relax and enjoy the more cultural aspect of Israel.

<< Above are Paige, Katie and Susan at the shuk, and then a picture of my favorite jewelry stand at the arts and crafts market.

Sunday, November 4, 2012 – Hebron Trip

The little placard reads "The tomb of Abraham our Father"

Our group is really fortunate. We got to go on a trip that not many IBEX groups get to go on because of the tense political situation. On our trip on Sunday, we went to Hebron, Ziph and Maon. Bill led this trip, and his wife and 2 daughters came with us because they had never been to these sites. Both of the IBEX secretaries came too for the same reason. Our first stop was in Hebron at Machepelah, or the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The patriarchs were buried in Hebron, and Abraham first purchased the plot of land when Sarah died. Even though Abraham was promised the entire land of Israel, he died having only ever truly possessed one plot of land in Hebron. Thus, this site we visited was the beginning of God’s fulfillment of His promise to Abraham. Machpelah is separated into two sections. The Jewish section has the tomb markers of Abraham, Sarah, Jacob and Leah (Rachel is buried at Ephrat), and the Arab section has the tomb markers of Isaac and Rebecca. The tombs themselves are below the building in the bedrock, so there are just markers sitting above where they’ve guessed that these patriarchs and their wives were buried. When we were in the Arab part, the girls had to wear these robes in order to cover our heads and arms and backs and everything else, I guess! It made for some good photos!

Our next stop was at the wilderness of Ziph, where David hid from Saul in 1 Samuel 23. While hiding there, Saul’s son Jonathon met him there and asserted that David would certainly be the king of Israel. In verse 17 he said, “Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also.” During the time that David ran from Saul, there were many times that other people confirmed or confessed that David was truly the Lord’s anointed and would be the king of Israel some day. What’s absolutely astounding to me is that David was amazingly patient through this whole time! He never tried to manipulate or take the kingdom for himself. He didn’t fight against Saul and he refused to kill him. He simply waited for the Lord to hand him the kingdom, and He certainly did. In many ways, David’s patience parallels that of Jesus Christ’s. They both waited until their time came, and were completely submissive to the will of God the Father. In fact, Jesus is still waiting for His Kingdom. He’s still waiting for God’s timing in order to usher in His complete and perfect Kingdom. Also, David and Jesus did not scorn or return the many abuses they received. It just reminds me of 1 Peter 2:21-24, which says:

“For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor wan any deceit found in his mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

We have such a wonderful Savior, and a great example to follow!

The view from Ziph

Reenacting Abigail pleading with David

Our next stop was at Maon, where Nabal in 1 Samuel 25 was from. He lived at Maon with his wife, Abigail, but had business on Carmel nearby. When David asked Nabal to provide some supplies for him and his men in return for protecting Nabal’s shepherds, Nabal refused, and David set out to kill him and his house. On the way, however, Abigail met David and pleaded with him to spare them. She also stated that the Lord had appointed David as ruler over Israel! We stood where this meeting potentially took place, and then hiked up to the top of Mt. Maon. It was a really fun trip, and we are extremely blessed that we were able to go to all these places! 

And now, I'm at my hotel in the Negev! We'll be here in the Negev until Saturday, and will be visiting all sorts of exciting sites here in the desert! I'll definitely put up a blog about it as soon as I can. 

Please be praying for us! The semester is absolutely hectic right now, and at times I feel like I'm drowning in things to do, and lacking the time to do them. But that being said, I'm still totally enjoying the blessing I have of being able to study Scripture where it all took place! Please pray that I don't lose sight of that tremendous blessing and that in all things, I will be grateful, content and excited for all that the Lord has in store for me right now!