Day 08 - Hazor, Hula Valley, Safed, 3 Vines Winery

Today we ventured north of the Sea of Galilee. We stopped first in a small village called Safed. Safed is a unique place in that it’s inhabitants are largely followers of Kabbalah – or, Jewish mysticism. Before I go on, we need to make a bit of a distinction here. The Kabbalah accepted and practiced in Safed is not the same as the Kabbalah accepted and practiced in, say, Hollywood. The former is at least based on the study of Scripture (even if we would not fully endorse their conclusions), while the latter departs entirely from Scripture and embraces more of a New Age subjectivism. To understand Kabbalah, we need to understand that in Jewish thought there are four levels biblical interpretation.

The first level, p’shat, searches for the plainest meaning of the text in its literary, historical, and cultural context. The second level, remez, is allegorical and seeks out hints and allusions to other texts. The third level, d’rash, refers to interpretive commentaries like those offered in the Mishnah and Talmud. The fourth level is sod. Sod literally means “secret” and it pursues a more mystical understanding of the text. This level is at the heart of Kabbalah.

The first three focuses more on the mind and the intellect. The last focuses more on the heart and the emotions. Our time in Safed and our study of Kabbalah was too brief to offer an insightful reflection on either. What we can say with confidence is that our faith is to be a holistic faith. Jesus saves us a whole people. He doesn’t just save our minds or our hearts or our hands and feet. He saves and transforms every part of us.

So, knowledge should lead us towards affection for God and obedience to Him. Likewise, our affection for God and our obedience to Him should be based on the truth of who He is, what He has done, and how He calls us to live. It’s holistic. Head. Heart. Hands and feet.

Safed, by the way, has an absolutely incredible community of artists. We passed by countless galleries, but stopped at one owned by a man named Leon Azoulay. Leon specializes in micro-calligraphy. He paints these beautiful pieces based on different passage or books in the Bible and then incorporates the entire passage or book into the piece. They’re absolutely stunning.

We went from Safed to Hazor. The earliest mention of Hazor is actually in an Egyptian writing that dates back to the time of Abraham. It was a Canaanite city and, at the time, was controlled and taxed by the Egyptians. Throughout its history, Hazor was a highly strategic city. It was situated on a hill overlooking the fertile Hula Valley, could rely on water from the nearby Jordan River, was an easy journey to and from other key cities in the region, and was in a defensible position in the event of attack.

When Joshua led the people of Israel into the promised land, Hazor was essentially the capital of all the northern Canaanite cities and a formidable opponent. They were, however, no match for God. The Israelites won a decisive victory.

“And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction; there was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire.” (Joshua 11:11, ESV)

By the way, archaeologists found evidence dating to the time of Joshua that the city was, in fact, destroyed by fire. The conquest wasn’t over, but this was a key victory for the people of Israel. By the time of the Judges, however, the Canaanites had regained a bit of traction in the land and had resettled at Hazor.

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years. (Judges 4:1-3, ESV)

God eventually liberated Israel from Jabin’s tyranny and, under the leadership of a judge named Deborah, Israel reclaimed Hazor. Years later, the Bible tells us, Hazor was fortified by Solomon, along with the cities of Gezer and Megiddo.

Hazor has a long and fascinating history. The excavations are incredible – a six-chamber gate, an elaborate water-supply system, homes, storehouses, stables…

…and dozens of Asherah poles.

Asherah was the Canaanite goddess of fertility and the consort of the other Canaanite gods. God explicitly told the people of Israel to cut down all the Asherah poles when they entered the land of Canaan for He alone was to be worshiped by His people (Exodus 34:13-14). We’d expect to find Asherah poles at Hazor dating to the time of the Canaanite occupation. But these Asherah poles date to the time of the Israelite monarchy. So what on earth are they doing here?

Syncretism.

Syncretism is, to put it simply, the blending of multiple faiths into a single hybrid faith.

Israel had taken what was supposed to be the sole worship of the one true God and incorporated Canaanite beliefs and practices. The problem is that God was quite clear.

“For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14, ESV)

You can’t worship God and Asherah. Put another way, to worship Asherah is to abandon the worship of God. The truth is we can slip into syncretism just as easily as the Israelites did. But the command of God still stands.

We can’t worship God and success. We can’t worship God and money. We can’t worship God and appearance. We can’t worship God and the opinion of others. We can’t worship God and our spouse or our children. You can probably come up with other “gods” (or, what the Bible calls “idols”) that vie for your attention. I know I can. But God alone deserves our full allegiance. Money can’t know me. Success can’t love me. Appearance can’t save me. No one else can die for me. Or for you.

We wrapped up our day at the beautiful 3 Vines Winery on the northern border of Israel. We tasted three or four of their boutique varieties and then spent a few relaxing moments walking the vineyard and enjoying the view of the Kedesh Valley.

We’ll leave Nazareth in the morning and head south towards Tel Aviv. It’s been a fantastic trip and though we’re all looking forwards to getting home and seeing our friends and family, I think we’re all grateful for one more day in the land.