Day 02 - Neot Kedumim, Beth Guvrin (Maresha), Archaeological Dig

When we say we “know” something in English, we’re most often referring to intellectual knowledge. However, the Hebrew word for “know” – yada – is much richer. It can refer to intellectual knowledge, but it can also refer to experiential knowledge. It’s one thing to know intellectually how to plant, say, a garden. It’s another thing to get your hands dirty.

Today was a day of experiential knowledge.

We began this morning at the beautiful 625 acre Neot Kedumim Park. It’s the only biblical landscape reservation in the world. Part of their mission is to teach the Bible in it’s original context by introducing visitors to the animals, plants, flowers, and trees that are so often used in the stories, metaphors and parables throughout Scripture.

Our guide led us to a large area where sheep and goats were grazing. He instructed us to corral the sheep and goats into large circular pen. We were not allowed to push or pull or prod them. We could only use our bodies to head them off from going the wrong way and our voices to coax them into going the right way. It was challenging, but we managed to get most of them into the pen.

Afterwards, our guide led us through Psalm 23. There was so much to reflect on in light of our brief experience as shepherds and shepherdesses. But one particular line in that psalm stood out to me.

“He leads me beside still waters.” (Psalm 23:2)

Our guide pointed out that we could understand this passage not simply in terms of where God leads us (that is, beside still waters), but also how He leads us. In a calm, quiet way. He prefers not to push and pull and prod us along. He’d rather we listen to His gentle voice and follow Him into the paths of righteousness – into right living.

How about us? How do we lead? Is our default to push and pull and prod? What if we started with gentleness?

As our guide wisely said, “When you talk, people listen to you. When you shout, people hear you.”

We continued along on our tour of Neot Kedumim. We learned about almond, sycamore, and olive trees. We talked about grapes and carobs. We tasted and smelled and touched.

The most powerful part of the morning, however, was yet to come.

When the Israelites entered the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, they entered as nomadic shepherds. For the last forty years, they had lived in the desert, moving from place to place and basically the only vocation available to them was that of shepherd.

But God had given them this land to settle. Theirs was no longer to be a nomadic existence. They were to settle down and were, in fact, commanded to plant trees on their newly acquired land. Trees take time to grow. They need to be tended and watered. They need to be protected. And in order to care for that young tree, you have to be there. As the tree puts down roots, so do you.

We had an opportunity to put down literal roots in Israel by planting an oak tree in the reserve. As I knelt down in the dirt and worked the soil around the sapling, I thought about the people who would water and care for it when I was gone. I thought about the droughts it would have to endure. I thought about the deep roots it would begin to grow.

I want to have deep roots. I want to help others grow deep roots, too. I want to be settled into a community of people that I can care for and can help care for me. People who will endure the droughts together.

The Bible is so much richer and deeper than we can imagine. Even the plants declare who God is, what He has done, and how He wants us to live.

We ended our day at a site called Maresha.

Maresha is first mentioned in the book of Joshua as a city in ancient Judah. It was built on a hill made of a soft, chalky rock. The original inhabitants then carved as series of rooms and tunnels underneath the city (500 of which have been found).

Around 200 BC, Maresha was attacked during the Maccabean Revolt. Rather than fall to the Maccabees, the occupants decided to destroy their own city and flee. They busted holes in the cisterns so they would no longer hold water and they filled in that underground network with dirt, rocks, and whatever they couldn’t take with them.

We, though, weren’t there as tourists. We were there as amateur archaeologists. The guide at the site led us through the process of working a dig. We learned how to gently break up the soil so as to limit the risk of breaking any artifacts underneath. We learned how to sift through the discarded dirt for smaller pieces that might have been missed. We emerged from the room we were working an hour or so later covered in sweat and dirt and really happy about it.

Our group found probably two dozen or so pieces of charcoal, carbon, and pottery. We found various sized shards, a pitcher handle, and one nearly intact drinking bowl.

It was an experience that none of us will ever forget. It gave us all a greater appreciation for what goes into a dig, the importance of seemingly small “finds,” and the history such finds can reveal.

By the way, there are 35,000 archaeological sites in Israel. Discoveries are being made almost daily that either substantiate the historical record of the Bible. As a Christian, I find that enormously encouraging.

Like I said, today was a day of experiential knowledge – of yada.

Tomorrow we’re delving back into the Old Testament. God has already deepened our awe and wonder for Him and I’m confident He’ll do it again tomorrow.