may 30: dead sea

I had huge expectations for this day—Masada, Dead Sea, Qumran—I mean, how much more “famous” can these sites be? However, I think as the day progressed, I was more and more disappointed. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves….

First thing was a visit to Masada. We climbed up the sneaky back way, which is a much shorter hike than the winding snake path on the other side. On the way up to the plateau, we passed the Roman’s siege ramp. As we caught our breath, Dr. Wright explained that Masada has become a symbol for the steadfastness and perseverance of the Jews for returning to the land. Masada represents the last time the Jews had a land rights here in Israel, and I suppose it makes sense that it has become such a huge symbol for their struggles. Also, I realized today that sometimes I hate Herod for his inhumane demands. We learned that, after traveling up the plateau, Herod probably relaxed in his swimming pool. Not too bad, right? Except that this swimming pool exists in the desert region—we’re talking 4 inches of rain or less a year. How do you fill up a swimming pool in the desert? Make your soldiers make the day-long journey to En Gedi and bring back water from there. THEN hike up the plateau and dump your measly liter or so into Herod’s swimming pool. I can’t even imagine this man’s arrogance.

Next, a visit to the Dead Sea, including swimming opportunities. Well, I did it. I swam in the Dead Sea. But I think I hated it more than I enjoyed it. The floating was cool, though—like swimming in Jello that hasn’t quite set yet. Today was a very sticky and hazy day, but on a normal day we should have been able to see across the Dead Sea to see the purple mountains of Moab. All in all, at least I can say I was in the Dead Sea.

Our next hike (which we were all dreading because of the heat) was in the Wadi David. Alongside the path, we stopped to imagine traveling through this desert land. I recited Psalm 42 (mostly) from memory and appreciate it so much more now. Dr. Wright had us imagine this scenario: you’ve been traveling for two and a half days without water. On the third day without water, you die. You reach the wadi (the bottom of a valley, where the water flows), only to find it has dried up in the summer heat. But you’ve been relying on God’s providence. And it hasn’t come. All the people traveling with you are getting restless and starting to curse your God because he hasn’t brought water yet. What are you thinking? “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. (Ps. 42:1)” Incredible. We continue walking up the wadi and encounter several waterfalls and pools, all from the collection of rain water draining from west of Jerusalem. Highlight of the day, by far.

The last stop for the day was at Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. It’s such an interesting, almost cultic community, that of course it draws my attention. However, the site itself was anticlimactic: we couldn’t see the actual caves, and the museum just didn’t cut it. Don’t misunderstand—the museum was designed well, but it was not meant for real adventure-seekers, like us apparently.

may 29: biblical negev

I think I’m starting to get the hang of this: 4-5 stops a day, lots of hiking, rest in between in the A.C., drink lots of water (but not too much!). Today was a good day—tough, yet productive.

First stop of the day, after leaving the hotel, was Tel Beer Sheba. We had a mini lecture and map marking in the shade before climbing the tel. We also saw a replica of the horned altar mentioned in the biblical texts. Dr. Wright explained the practical use of the horns: tying down your live sacrifice. Afterwards, we climbed the tel and were able to observe the layout of this particular city. We also enjoyed an explanation and demonstration of the typical 4-room house structure. Thinking about the ancients’ everyday life is fascinating to me; somehow it connects me with their lives, lived so long ago.

Next was Tel Arad, a military fort with a replica of the Temple in it so the soldiers stationed there could continue worshipping. It confuses me to think of two Temples existing; I mean, what did the high priests think of this? Also at this Temple-copy are two altars—it is thought that one was for Yahweh, the other for Asherah, a female goddess of fertility. I guess I can’t blame them for feeling left out to dry by Yahweh; the desert is a pretty harsh environment. But sometimes I wonder about these syncretistic beliefs….

Dr. Wright then gave us the opportunity to hike through the Wadi Zin. Honestly, it had already been a pretty long and hard day, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. (But I did.) We walked through the bottom of the Wadi Zin—one of the possible places where Moses wandered for 40 years. Then we started to climb up the rock face on narrow and uneven steps carved into the stone. Up and up and up, including a few ladders and a lot more steps. Finally made it to the top. There’s a certain sense of accomplishment involved after you’ve climbed these wadis and hills.

Our last stop for the day was definitely a worthwhile one, even though we were hot and tired and sweaty and grouchy. Makhtesh Ramon means “high crater” and measures 25 miles by 8 miles. Finally we had some reflection time, and I was thinking about how often I focus on how much I can do to serve God and people during my lifetime. But after hearing Psalm 90 read aloud, I was reflecting, in the face of this huge crater, on how small I am. According to the imagery in Psalm 90:4, a thousand years is like one day to God. I am entirely dispensable; the good I can accomplish during my lifetime is so very little. I am but dust in the wind, yet I am cared for and loved by the Creator.

may 28: judah/shephelah/philistia field study

On this particular cool morning we left the city with which we’re becoming quite familiar in search of higher adventure—or maybe just a different landscape to study for a bit. First stop: Sataf, the location of some research into ancient Israelite agricultural systems. We hiked down the stepped terraces and along the rocks to the remains of yet another civilization. After exploring the natural springs and the water pools, I was taken aback by the ingenuity of the ancients for constructing such a water system. The water flowed from the spring in small channels down to the next step, where it could flow into the fields. It seems like these people understood their land and were intelligent enough to come up with processes that use the natural resources for their benefit.

The next stop on our trip to the biblical desert was Beth Shemesh. We climbed the tel and were able to see the story of Samson laid out before us. I think I’m starting to see how these Bible stories play out and make sense.

In similar fashion, our next site was Azekah, and as we climbed to the top, Dr. Wright was pointing out some of the cities on the horizon. We rested under a tree and heard the story of David and Goliath fighting in the hill country. While it’s still a strange story to me (why would the king send scrawny David to fight on behalf of all his people?), it was a wonderful to have a mental image of the landscape that played a role. Scholars apparently disagree about the exact location of the valley where David fought Goliath, but we were able to see one of these valleys.

Our last stop for the day: Ashkelon, apparently quite the happening city in its day. Situated right along the coast of the Mediterranean and close to the Imperial Highway, this city was at the high point of trade. Even though we Messiah College students didn’t recognize the Wheaton professor in charge of the dig, it was still an interesting, close-to-home visit. It’s hard to think that if our original trip had actually happened, we might have been working at a similar dig site with Dr. Gordon Brubacher somewhere near Galilee. I’m glad that the situations have brought us here to JUC, though. Seeing and understanding the land of the Bible will be so much more helpful after we return home than understanding archaeological terms and processes.

Then: swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! How exciting—and refreshing!

benjamin field study

sites visited: Jericho, Temptation Restaurant (haha, near the site of the Mount of Temptation), tell Jericho, Tomb of Samuel the Prophet (a mosque, used only for the great views of the surrounding land), tell Gezer

The Benjamin field study—an inclusive view of the land of Benjamin, beginning with Jericho (the back door to Jerusalem) and ending with Gezer (the front door to Jerusalem). It’s impressive to me how these lands are beginning to come alive. Christa and I were talking about the church’s typical reading of the Old Testament geography and how they often skip over the various cities or regions mentioned. Even I fell into this trap when I took Old Testament Literature with Dr. Brensinger last January. It was a compact 3-week course, during which we read through the entire Old Testament, and I remember skipping over plenty of passages which simply listed names of cities or a king’s provincial improvements, simply because they didn’t have any “relevancy.” But now I’m looking forward to returning home and reading through the history of Israel again—with my Bible in one hand and my maps in the other—just to see what I missed.

And for being a pacifist (or at the very least connected to the Anabaptist tradition), I’m also a little bit fascinated by the war strategies of the land. Determining which cities to fortify in order to guard against an attack from an enemy is something I’ve never put much thought into. (But then again, I’ve lived in a very safe neighborhood in the United States all my life.) Therefore, seeing the land laid out (and in such short quarters) before me, it’s easy to understand the biblical kings’ military decisions.

Hiking to Jericho this morning certainly gave me a new perspective on traveling in the “land between.” I guess I have always taken modern transportation for granted, especially on hot, sunny days. The biblical characters must have been in great physical shape from walking the long, hot, dry roads from city to city so frequently. During our mini-lecture after the hike, I was watching three or four Bedouin boys running up from their home to our large group of American tourists. I noticed that one of the boys wasn’t even wearing shoes, yet he was running and jumping all over the rough rocky terrain. Everybody has told me that your body gets used to this kind of climate and lifestyle, so I suppose Jesus and Paul and all the other travelers were accustomed to these long journeys. The hike itself was great—mostly downhill and with gorgeous views on either side. However, the rock face was steep, and the path was narrow, so the possibility of falling was always a real one (especially with my clumsy nature).

I had a hard time focusing during the lecture in the shade at the bottom of the wadi. When I am surrounded by such majestic views, I am often overwhelmed by God’s creative nature. And God’s creation really is my wonder-point; that is, what amazes me every time. I see so much of God’s power and creativity in nature, and when I’m somewhere new (such as the bottom of an Israeli wadi), it takes me so long to drink it all in. Unfortunately, this time, I didn’t have hours to stare off into the horizon or explore around little rock formations; instead, I was trying to focus on a lecture about these great valleys. Perhaps I was successful—tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., we shall see….

leave comments, questions, expressions of your undying jealousy... you know!

new testament jerusalem walk

sites visited: broad wall (hezekiah's extension), temple (only the wall, of course), western wall (again), Muslim marketplace strets, via dolorosa for a bit, Ecce Homo arch, Lion's gate, pool of Bethesda and St. Anne's church.


This morning, our walk of the Old City focused mainly on New Testament sites, but also included one Old Testament site: Hezekiah’s extension. I don’t remember much from this site; it was the very first thing we visited, right after 8 o’clock. However, we did pass through some nice (?) Jewish residential areas, where Dr. Wright explained that many Jews were probably still sleeping—it was (kinda) the beginning of their Sabbath (which began tonight at sundown). We saw a few groups of small children headed to school, walking the streets in pairs or alone.

At the Pool of Bethesda, which we visited last on our 4-hour tour, I was excited to hear the deeper explanation of its corresponding biblical event. What always intrigues me about biblical stories is the “why?” behind the characters’ actions, so I love hearing the sociological, logical, archeological, geological, etc. explanations for various events. We were working from the text in John 5: a lame man was waiting to get in the pool, which was said to have healing powers. At this point, the man had been rejected by his family, faith, and community for 38 years—all due to the fact that his lameness had been caused by his (or his parents’) sin. As Dr. Wright explained, perhaps this man was beginning to check out other options for healing, one of which included sitting under rushing waters that were attributed to the worship of a healing god. (I forget the name of the god by this point in the evening.) I mean, I can understand the man’s sense of hopelessness and helplessness—it’s the compassion in me, I guess. I feel like this is what the church does to doubters, social outcasts, pregnant teens, and various other “sinners”—casting them out without attempting to understand them. Ultimately these people lose hope, sick and tired of the stares and patronizing tones from church members, and eventually they begin to seek other truth. This is why I’m so grateful for (and passionate about) the opportunity to participate in the reconciliation of the world—because Jesus didn’t leave the man, but instead approached him and healed him! [Perhaps this is the result of my specific lens of service and Jesus’ radical social subversive-ness, but I love to consider passages like this.]

A (fairly) big impression from today: the space to express gratitude. While we were waiting for another group to finish their tour at St. Anne’s Church (allegedly the site of Mary’s parents’ home—Anne, and her husband, whose name sounded very Jewish and I forget), we were sitting at the back of the church, quiet. I took this time to pray, and I finally felt grateful for this opportunity to study in Israel. I mean, I know in my head that I am deeply grateful, but I hadn’t yet felt that sense of gratitude deep in my bones. A calm also rushed over me—a peace, strength to continue the day. I was telling Ruthie later that that moment in St. Anne’s was the first time I felt I had the space for prayer since we’ve arrived. The experience—while not at what I consider a major location—was unexpected. But Sarah told us that our “spiritual insights” (her words, not mine) would come unexpectedly and at random sites, as had her own memorable impressions, I’m sure.