Two Men; Two Hearts

After some traveling challenges that put us behind a day, all 41 of us came together around midday and visited two major sites, before settling into our hotel beside the Dead Sea.

We first stopped at a site overlooking the hometown of Samson (Beth Shemesh), located near the Philistine city of Timnah. As we stood and looked out over these two places, Terry Feix introduced a word-picture of Samson's life, evidenced by the proximity of his hometown and the land of the ancient Philistines.

Just as the Philistine city of Timnah never left Samson's sight, so Samson's heart kept drawing him away from the Nazirite vows, to which God called him and toward the Philistine culture (Judges 13-16). And just as Samson continued to cross geographical lines, he could not help but also cross moral and spiritual lines, until the sad day when he had strayed so far, "the Lord left him."

What a powerful lesson for those of us called to know Christ, especially as the lures of the world beckon us. And the great irony Terry pointed out was that Samson was a man strong on the outside, but weak on the inside. He appeared to be invincible, but was instead quite vulnerable.

In contrast, we next ventured to the Tel (hill) of Azekah, where one side overlooks the valley where David conquered Goliath, and the other looks toward Gath and Ekron, where the Philistines fled from the victorious Israelites.

Unlike Samson, David was small on the outside, but mighty on the inside. Instead of pursuing the lures of the Philistine culture, he went after Goliath fearlessly. Because David's heart for the Lord was so strong, he refused to back down from anyone who would insult the name and reputation of his God.
In the negative and positive examples of Samson and David, we were reminded today how God often uses the weak, the small, and the seemingly insignificant people, to accomplish his glorious purposes.

Between both of those contrasts, we spelunked (well, walked carefully...but 'spelunked' sounds more exciting) down into a cistern that once held runoff water and was used as many as 2900 years ago! After we explored the now waterless cistern, Terry reminded us of Jeremiah's words to God's parched people, in Jeremiah 2:11-13:

11 Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Cisterns are useful for a season, but nothing can compare with the fresh, living water of life God gives. And the same principle He gave through Jeremiah, He also gave through His Son, in John 4.

And so we finished our first day meditating on the wonder of God's Living water, and the perils of trading His grace and promises for the sometimes sparkling, but eventually stale water the world casts before our eyes.

We appreciate your prayers as we not only see the sites, but also look to have our hearts refreshed by God's Living Water for the next 10 days.