2011 - 2nd Journey, Day 2

DAY 12  (May 8, 2011):  Second Journey, Day 2

Worship in Jerusalem,  Fields between Bethlehem & Hebron,  Valley of Elah,  Socoh,  Khirbet Qeiafa,  Midras

After appropriate ablutions, Ferrell and I met for worship in our room nine floors above Jerusalem.  He spoke briefly, reading Psalms 121, 122, and 123 and emphasizing phrases like “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains” and “Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!”  After the Lord’s Supper we sang “Marching to Zion” “Have Thine Own Way” and “Fairest Lord Jesus”.  As you can imagine, there’s just no time of worship quite like one in Jerusalem itself. 

Heading south today we came into a region somewhere on Highway 60 between Bethlehem and Hebron which was breathtakingly beautiful.  Endless little valleys wound about in every direction and each one was filled with row upon row upon row of stone walls supporting terraces which were in various stages of agricultural development.  Some seemed freshly plowed, others had grape vines or any of several other fruits or vegetables growing. 

We parked on a farmer’s dirt road and spent perhaps 20 minutes marveling at one location which I found so strikingly beautiful that in my handwritten notes I dubbed it simply “Amazing Valley”.  They say “a picture is worth a thousand words” but in this case neither the words nor the photo can remotely do justice to the magic of this place.  Photos and video can’t capture the full width and length and depth within their tiny windows and it would take days to speak of the exquisite detail displayed in this place.  I’ll say only that one end of valley held abundant and lush cultivation while the hillsides on the other end were steep, without terraces, and a shepherd was tending his flock of goats upon one of them in very much the same manner as his forebears of millenniums gone by.  I was transfixed, and again emphasize that the following photo is a disappointment for me since it insults the combined glory of God’s handiwork and man’s efforts to create such a beautiful and productive place.

The Amazing Valley was just a foretaste of what lay ahead, although I couldn’t know that when we got back into the car and I told Ferrell that this one place had already made the entire day worth living.  We turned around and headed back north now until we came to a winding road which allowed us to turn west toward Beth Shemesh and descend into the valley through which David’s mighty men may have passed as they risked their lives to get some water from Bethlehem for him (2 Samuel 23:14-17).

Entering the valley of Elah, we first stopped to take photos of Socoh and then drove a total of perhaps a quarter to half a mile on another dirt road between a large field of mustard plants on our left hand and young David’s portentious brook on the other.  There may be a full mile of possible places for David’s actual confrontation with the giant, so we picked a place where we could get down into the (at this season quite dry) riverbed to search for sling stones.  Unlike David who was interested in only five, I filled two pockets with the rounded white rocks.

After bumping along on yet another rough dirt road Ferrell drove around the back side of the hills upon which Saul’s army with David’s brothers had camped so long ago and then up onto Khirbet Qeiafa (not sure of spelling) upon which stand fairly extensive ruins from that time frame.  This was a particularly great site to visit since I’d been reading Luke Chandler’s blog and other sources about the place for quite a while.  From its eminence I could look right back down upon the line of the brook and the place from which I’d plucked my rocks.

This was a day of numerous small and often rough dirt roads as Ferrell drove from one site to another in the Shepheleh.  Traveling with Ferrell is a great honor and I reveled in it.  The fount of his knowledge is Niagara-like, so I sat spellbound in a mobile classroom as he lectured on each of these places while the tels, hills, valleys, and human constructions themselves passed by my windows or under my very feet.  Brethren, I have been blessed indeed.

I’ll mention only one more place, Midras, which contains a tomb that had been in place since the end of the first century.  Once again, I confess, my photos are pathetic, low quality and likely lacking the photographic artist’s eye for composition, but Brethren, imagine, this is a first century tomb complete with rolling stone which can be entered and explored.  A burial chamber of perhaps 10 or 12 feet square lies behind the entrance and a cave of perhaps 50 or more feet branches off behind that.  It is a very fair example of what the tomb Jesus so briefly occupied may have looked like.  I stood amazed in the presence.

He is not here.  He is risen.