Day 02 - Yad Hashmonah, Beth Shemesh, Azekah

Our first full day began with a morning devotion in which Terry Feix encouraged us to consider 3 things: the people, the places, and the promises.
The people - our spiritual ancestors, a people whose faith was formed through
hardship. The places – how a deeper understanding of the geography and climate can help us
better understand the biblical stories and bring them to life. The promises – made to Abraham: that he would be made into a great nation, give them a land of their own, and bless them through time.
As followers of Christ, we are the inheritors of those promises made thousands of years ago.

Yad Hashmona
Yad Hashmona, a re-creation of a typical Israelite village or garden, allowed us to better understand the land and lifestyles of the Israelites in Old Testament times. Our amazing tour guide, Yehuda, showed us replicas of olive presses, a wine press, and the methods used for growing grapes and
producing oil. It is evident that great care and effort was made to terrace the land with
stones, cultivate fertile soil, and tend the vine in order to produce good fruit. In much the same way, God has put a lot of work into us as we read in Isaiah 5, “Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.”

God dug out the terraces, placed the rocks, cultivated the soil, and planted the seeds in our hearts. God went to a lot of work to pave the way for you. Despite the great care and attention God gave his vineyard, He still found wild (bad) grapes. His people lacked faith. As the faith in us works itself out in love, we bear good fruit. We are encouraged to ask ourselves, when God looks at us will He see good fruit or rotten grapes?

Beth-Shemesh
Our next stop of the day was Beth-Shemesh. Walking up a large hillside covered in thistles, Terry makes the connection in the Parable of the Sower and the seed which fell among thorns and is choked out. At the top of the hill, we have a picturesque view of the Valley of Sorek. It is here that Terry speaks of Samson, as found in Judges 13 – 17. He reminds us that Samson was a dedicated Nazarite, born in Zorah, a small town atop a mountain in the distance. We can see the frequent
route he would take to Timnah, a Philistine city to the west, that was alluring to Samson. As he moves between two different cultures, Samson starts making compromises to his vow to God. Eventually the concessions lead to the Lord leaving him and consequently to his defeat. We are reminded that we live on the border between two cultures. It is easy to get co-opted by the other culture. Every time we cross that border, we compromise ourselves and that culture becomes leaven within us. If we are not careful, we may take small steps/small compromises that lead us away from God.

In this same area, we were led down into an empty cistern. The people relied heavily on cisterns to collect and store water. The water had to be cleaned as animals would die within the water and sediment would collect, and if not properly maintained cracks would occur allowing the water to leach out and the cistern to dry up. God is our living water. Yet, we often develop cisterns for ourselves. Sooner or later if we live by the philosophies of this world or the gods of this world, the day will come when your cistern will be dry. All of the philosophies of this world have cracks in them, that lead them to dry out. Are we settling for cistern water as Samson did, or is our spiritual nourishment coming from the Living Water of God.

Tel Azekah
From here we traveled to Tel Azekah. At this great height we overlooked the
Elah Valley, the battleground where David defeated Goliath. Through this story Terry reminds us
that:

1) God uses weak things to overcome evil in this world;
2) God uses whatever societal role you might have to be used for Him. He has put you where you are for a reason. All that matters to God is that you are faithful to Him where you are;
3) God uses you with what He’s equipped you with. He used what David had – a slingshot and 6 smooth stones. God can do great things with your faith.

After lunch, we visited a few cave sites and a large, excavated columbarium, a quarried cave used for the raising of doves and pigeons for food and fertilizer. After seeing these amazing sights, we drove to the Dead Sea. After a very full day we are ready to tuck in for the evening. We will resume our adventures tomorrow!