Israel: Day 4

A Road Much Traveled
The Benjamin Plains

Today we sliced Israel in half, from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, across the Plains of Benjamin. We scrambled across ruins that once hosted great stories of the Old Testament. At Beth-shemesh, we envisioned Samson antagonizing the Philistines and the Ark of the Covenant being drug by two calves down the Sorek Valley with the Philistine leaders watching with amazement. At Gezer, we watched the archeology team uncover a defensive gate over the “killing field” with thoughts of those poor souls who chose to charge the city. At Nebi-samwil, we had the vantage point of being able to see how all our Benjamin Plains pieces came together, moving from Coastal Plains to the Rift Valley (and we had lunch!). From there we travelled into the wilderness and watched as the landscape moved to desolation as we approached the Dead Sea. Our final destination brought us to Jericho, the surprise oasis hidden under the desert. Here, we imagined the amazing feats of Ehud, killing the king at Jericho, running a small marathon across the wilderness, gathering a small army and marching back into Jericho while the people were still scratching their heads…

It goes without saying that today was a fairly full day. I spent the day walking with kings, farmers, warriors and children of antiquity. All along, the message was simple. Live according to my commandments as your Living God and you shall be a people set apart and blessed. We stood in places where God proved his faithfulness to the people of Israel and cast judgment upon those who blatantly ignored the Lord’s sovereignty.

Hearing the stories as they came to life upon the landscape made me giddy as much as scampering across the ruins. God’s gift of a cool, steady breeze made the day much more comfortable as I basked in His Son.