Philistine Sites and another Dinner

Days 28-30: July 15-17, 2009, Wednesday-Friday

Wednesday was our final field trip. Since Samson battled the Philistines, we went to a couple of Philistine sites, Ashqelon and Tel Qasile. Thursday was a day of class, then Peter and I had to make a "quick" trip into Jerusalem, before another very nice dinner with the Buth family, where we were guests with the Bible translators in the classes. Friday was our course final, a celebration, and then we rented a car to take trips our last three days. I'll tell you about those later. Let me just say a few things about our field trip on Wednesday.

Ashqelon

Ashqelon was one of the five major Philistine cities during the time of Samson; of course there were numerous villages around each city. In the first photo, you can see the remains of ancient city walls. The first occupants of Ashqelon seem to be Canaanites. The site was also occupied by Egyptians, then later the Philistines. These ancient wall ruins are actually from the crusaders in medieval times. But they built their walls on top of the ancient wall ruins.

From the top of the wall ruins, which form the western edge, the Jerusalem Gate, you can look eastward to the Great Sea (a.k.a., the Mediterranean Sea). The second photo looks in towards the city. Many trees grow there now, since it is a park; perhaps they did then, but the city would have been crowded with people. It is really quite beautiful. The ruins on the site include many Roman remains. Caesar imported lots of stone from Italy. I can image that this must have been a resort for them.

Our next stop at the park was a reconstruction of an ancient Canaanite city gate. This gate on the north part of the city wall dates to about 1875 BC. You can see the blocks that are original. The plaster and lighter colored blocks reconstruct what the gate was like. Notice the archway. The Canaanites made clay bricks.

Samson bet his 30 friends at his bachelor party that if he gave them a riddle and they could solve it, he would give them each a set of fine cloths; but if they couldn't solve it, they would each give him a set of fine clothes, 30 total. The "friends" couldn't figure it out, but threatened his wife and her family if she didn't tempt him to give her the answer. Samson eventually gave in to his wife's pressure, she told her people, and Samson lost the bet. To pay the debt, Samson went to this Philistine city, killed 30 Philistines, took their clothes, and gave a set to each of the friends. Why go to Ashqelon? Because it was a wealthy city, and he knew he could find people with fine clothing.

Tel Qasile and the Haaretz Museum

Tel Qasile is not so significant in itself, but it is an archaeological site with a great museum, located within the city limits of modern Tel Aviv. What is great about the site is that, even though it was built and rebuilt for centuries, it was only occupied by Philistines. If you come to Israel, this is one place you must visit. The museum includes other Israelite things as well.

The museum includes an exhibit hall with many artifacts found here and elsewhere, chiefly pertaining to the Philistines. Of the many interesting things were a couple of sarcophagi. The Philistines were clearly influenced by the Egyptians here.





There is also a reconstructed Israelite house containing archaeological finds. This gives the visitor a good sense of what life was like for Israelites in biblical times. The first picture shows one of us leaning on a post. The first photo is taken from the door. The person is standing in a courtyard. To the left is where work might be done, including cooking. The second photo shows one of the rooms on the right side. This is a place for sleeping. Other rooms might be used for storage. The third photo is of a cooking pot. The pot would be set on a hearth. Discoveries in these pots include the bones of dogs, apparently part of the diet of Philistines.

Finally, the museum had outside displays. These included a reconstructed threshing floor and other refining tools. In this picture is an olive press. Aaron, one of our teachers, and son-in-law to Randall Buth, shows how Samson might have spent some of his time after he was betrayed by Delila. He finally gave in to her pressure and told the (last?) secret of his strength, his uncut hair. Delila shaved him, and he become like any other man. The Philistines captured him, blinded him, and made him work in the house of the grinder.

Visiting these places was very enlightening. I took many pictures. I plan to use them in teaching Hebrew and even Greek. Learning Greek and Hebrew using conversational, interactive learning is a lot of fun for teachers and students. I hope readers of my blog will give it a try.

I won't be able to finish my blogging until after I return home. I hope you'll come back. Thanks for reading.

Brakhot!

Day 27: July 14, 2009, Tuesday

Today was a study day, so I'd like to introduce three other members of our class.

Carlos Vera comes from Ecuador. He is an associate minister of a church there focusing on people aged 25 and above. Of course his native language is Spanish, but he is also very fluent in English. His ability to speak in Hebrew is very strong. He can speak very fast. He is always smiling and a joy to be with.




Karin Fowler is today's rose among thorns. She just graduated from Columbia International University. She plans to return there this fall and be a TA for Bryan Beyer, a professor of OT (Bryan and I are email friends). Meanwhile, she is considering Ph.D. programs. Karin was one of the few people not staying at the Kibbutz. She and some other students in the Greek course here had a friend living in Jerusalem. So, they rented a car and drove in. Unfortunately, we were not able to spend as much time with her as with those who stayed here, but she did a great job in class and added much to our group. Plus, when we did Ruth, she was the only woman in class to act out things. (We all changed roles, though.)

Finally, here is Josh Venderzouwen. Josh teaches OT survey courses at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI. He spent the last two years teaching at a high school, where he also led training for the football team and coached basketball. Josh is also looking in to a Ph.D. program and hopes to teach Bible eventually.

One of the great pleasures, as I have already said, is meeting such wonderful people, who are interested in the same things. As much as I am looking forward to getting home, I will miss them. We hope to keep in touch.

Brakhot!

Samson: Not Really Checkered after All

Day 26: July 13, 2009, Monday

In an earlier post, I described Samson as checkered, i.e., he had plenty of character flaws that diminished his good points. Now that I've been through the entire text at least initially, I'm having a hard time seeing anything good in his character. True, he kills Philistines, which is part of the driving out of the land that God wanted the Israelites to do, and is at least part of God's answer to the prayer of the Israelites for deliverance from oppression by the Philistines. However, other than that, he seems to do everything wrong.

For example, he seeks a Philistine woman as a wife (here his parents weren't much better, for, though they tried to dissuade him, they make the arrangement). Later when he uses a jawbone of a donkey to kill Philistines, he is not supposed to touch anything unclean, such as a dead animal. When the Philistines kill his estranged wife and her family, because they blame them as Samson to cause problems, Samson can't believe they would do such a thing. So he sets out to take personal revenge, rather than pursuing the purposes of the Lord (Jdg 15:7). Even at his death (with apologies to the movie with Victor Mature, I believe), he prays for strength just one more time; why? to avenge the loss of his two eyes.

Samson was selfish, demanding, immoral, reckless, and foolish. Still about four times we read before the cutting of his hair that "the Spirit of the Lord rested on him," meaning that he was strengthened by God.

The people of Israel were no better. When surrounded by Philistines who wanted only Samson, the people of Lehi sent 3,000 men to take Samson and deliver him to the Philistines. What a way to treat your "deliverer" and judge!

The entire story sets up very well that the Israelites, God's special people, had become very much un-special; they had become like the peoples around them. Samson was what God had to work with. God, nevertheless, was faithful in his desire to preserve the nation for the purpose he had intended, namely to bring the Messiah into the world. And this he did, even using Samson. I wonder, though, what all God would have done with Samson for Israel, if Samson had been godly.

I think there are many obvious lessons for us. We should surely avoid the sins of Samson. Also, God recognizes we are sinful, but he is gracious. He still uses us. But he can use us more and better, the more we obey him. I would only be guessing, if I were to estimate whether Samson had any faith like Abraham did. But I do know that the evidence of our faith in Christ is seen in how we live. Let's encourage each other to grow.

Shopping and a Farewell Dinner

Day 25: July 12, 2009, Sunday

Today was devoted to shopping in Jerusalem. We usually hope on weekends to get some rest. Going to Jerusalem is not restful, at least the way we do it. We estimate that between the daytime activities in Jerusalem and the walk to dinner, we walked 8-10 miles. We call it "fat-burning"!

I'd like to introduce another friend, Roger Reeck. Roger started with us in the Ruth class and is continuing in the Samson class. He had studied more Modern Hebrew than biblical Hebrew before he came. His speaking proficiency is pretty amazing to me. He is a Bible translator for Wycliffe Bible Translators. He and his wife Marilyn have raised five children. Marilyn is the Scripture in Use Consultant (helping people use the translation after it's finished). They have been in Honduras since 1990, and before that spent 18 years in Mexico. Roger is the class clown of our group, frequently making jokes inside and outside of class. He is a lot of fun to have around and has added a great deal to our class.

In the evening, after resting up from our day in Jerusalem, a group of us walked over a mile to a restaurant called Tall Burger. Amanda (mentioned with her husband in an earlier blog) had gone with her husband David and said this was one of the best hamburgers they had ever had. David, as you know if you kept up, had to return to England last weekend. Since a number of people are leaving this Friday, some even before the session is over, we determined that this would probably be the last time we could all be together. So, about 10 of us went to Tall Burger in Castel. The burgers are 1/3 pound, unless you get the double (so much for the low fat), flame grilled, choice of spicy or regular meat, choice of numerous toppings and sauces - no cheese, to keep Kosher. You can get fries, onion rings, or a salad. It was delicious and a great time of fellowship.

The walk home was the same way we go each time, along a busy road for a 1/4 mile or so, but then off-road following a path on the Kibbutz property. It is after 8:00, and the sun has gone below the mountains in the west; it is dusk. We walk past valleys and up hills; we walk next to the hill topped with Tel Tzuba. At one point we thought we were hearing sirens on the highway and half-mile or more away. But as we stopped to look and listen more carefully, and we hear more "voices" join in. The sound is of a pack of jackals howling somewhere in the valley.

Conversations ranged from Hebrew, to biblical topics, and other matters. The day was tiring, but not one to be missed. I will miss seeing these people. But if I never see them on earth again, we have expectation of being together again beyond all time.

Todah lAdonai (Thanks to the Lord)!

Rest and a New Friend

Day 24: July 11, 2009, Shabbat

Today Peter and I decided not to go anywhere. We made it a day of rest. We slept in until about 7:45, ran, and spent the day reading Hebrew, or other things, etc.

In the evening three of us went into the terraced land of the Kibbutz to see if we could find any animal life and take a picture. We managed to scare off two white tailed deer, but we were evidently too noisy. I'll try another evening.

I am enjoying my studies here very much. It is a great experience. I hope that comes across in the blogs. However, I'm enjoying all the new people I'm meeting as well. It is great pleasure to meet them and hear how God is using them. Today I'd like to introduce you to Jerry McDermott. Jerry is in the Jonah class, but we've had chances to talk outside of class.

Jerry earned his Ph.D. at University of Iowa. He is the Jordan Trexler Professor of Religion at Roanoke College in Roanoke, VA, where he has been teaching for 20 years. Roanoke College is a historically Lutheran school, but has become a private liberal arts school, with about 2,000 students. Jerry is one of the few evangelical Christians on campus. He has an endowed chair, which gives him a reduced course load and allows him to write. He has authored or co-authored about a dozen books on religion and spirituality (you may find them if you search Amazon for Gerald R. McDermott). He co-authored with an oncologist three books on God and dealing with cancer. His latest effort is editing the Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology. He also wrote Claiming Christ (Brazos), which is a debate between a Mormon scholar and him. You may be interested in his web page here. Jerry is a very dedicated Christian scholar, whose teaching and writing benefit many people.

Tomorrow Peter and I will go into Jerusalem. Then Monday we begin our last week. The final exam will be on Friday. We will be staying at the Kibbutz Saturday and Sunday nights, taking day trips, and check out Monday morning, go see something, get to the airport by 8:00 p.m., and fly out just after midnight here early Tuesday morning. I should get to Norfolk Tuesday evening around 9:30. It will be a long day. My blogging on those final days may be hit-and-miss, but I'll do my best.

Brakhot!

Samson: A Checkered Character

Day 23: July 10, 2009, Friday

Today was the end of the first week of our Samson course. We discussed in Hebrew what we saw and did yesterday, then read and acted out the story for the first half of Jdg 15. Along the way we are discussing many things in Hebrew. After lunch, I blogged (catching up on yesterday's) and read. In the evening, a group of us went up to Tel Tzuba again to snack and enjoy the sunset and fellowship. Since I didn't go anywhere, I don't have any pictures for you. So, I thought I would show you one insight I noticed while reading the Samson story in Hebrew.

When teaching the Bible to children, Samson is always a hero. This may be a good thing. But we as adult readers of Scripture need to look a little more closely to see how Scripture actually portrays him. It is obvious pretty early on that Samson is a rather checkered character. Reading Hebrew helps a person to see this by the word plays the author uses. In Jdg 14.1, the writer begins telling about the career of Samson with a very common word, vayyared, meaning, "and he went down. This is a normal word, and if you saw yesterday's blog, you saw why he went down: Tzor`a was on the top of a mountain. What's unusual, though, is that he went down to the Philistine city of Timnah. Why?

The upshot is, he saw a girl there and demanded his parents go get her for him for a wife. Even though they don't want to, because she is one of those uncircumcised Philistines, they give in to his demand. In v. 5, the same word, vayyared, is repeated; Samson goes down again with his mom and dad. Where to they go? They come to the vineyards of Timnah. This also is to get the reader's attention. Remember: before he was born, his parents were told that their son would be a Nazirite and he was not to eat anything related to a vineyard (no wine, no raisins, no grapes, no grape leaves, etc.) and he was not to eat anything unclean.

In v. 7, after the incident of killing a lion, he went down (vayyared) again (or perhaps the same trip) and he spoke to the Philistine woman and he found her to be attractive. After a number of days he returns to Timnah, but on the way he remembered the lion he had killed and he turned off his path to check it out. What he found was a lion's carcass with a bee hive and honey. In Num 6.6, a Nazirite is not to come over a dead body, animal or human. So Samson's going to the lion carcass is not a good sign.

Now, honey was a clean food and not prohibited to him, but honey found in the carcass of a dead animal is not clean. So what does Samson do? In Jdg 14.9, he scoops the honey into his hands, like you might scoop the last ice cream out of a carton. So he gets and eats unclean honey, which he shouldn't eat, by scooping it out of a carcass, which he shouldn't even have touched.

Here's the word play. The word for "and he scooped it," a normal enough word for a common action, is vayyirdehu. Notice the similarity of the word for scoop and the word for going down, vayyared. There's nothing wrong with "going down" per se; Samson had to go down to leave town. But from the very beginning, the going down - repeatedly - takes on an ominous tone because of the accompanying situations (going to a Philistine city, wanting to marry a Philistine girl, his parents giving and and going with him and entering the vineyards of Timnah). Entering the vineyard of Timnah moves closer to sinning. The killing of the lion is okay, but might require some purification (see Num 6.1-21); the situation could have been avoided. Then the resulting honey incident occurs. This is a clear violation of his Nazirite status. The word play between "going down" and "scooping" draws the readers attention to Samson's failures.

How many times do we Christian's, like Samson's going down into iffy situations, try to push the envelop to see how far we can go without sinning, instead of seeing how far away we can get from sinning? How many times do we Christians, like Samson's scooping of unclean honey from an unclean carcass, act carelessly about our lifestyles to the point where we simply wallow in sinful activity, not putting up any fight?

As we encounter the enemy, sin, in our lives, may we rely on God's power not to scoop sin into our hands, or even go down into places where we put ourselves at unnecessary spiritual risk. Let us be different than the world by living lives in contrast to worldly ways and woo them with loving words and deeds. Let us do this without judgmentalism, for that's where we were, and we still have our struggles with sin inside of us. Thanks to God that he gives us power through his Spirit to continue to fight. We long for the day when the fight will be ended.

Maranatha!

Journey to Tzor`a, Samson's Home Town

Day 22: July 9, 2009, Thursday

Today was our first field trip for the Samson story (Judg 13-16). It was a long day. We had class from 8:30-10:30, then a break until after lunch. We boarded the bus at 1:00 and returned to Tzuba about 7:30.

Tzor`a is actually not far from Tzuba, 10-15 miles. However, it is quite a drop in altitude. The first picture shows some of the hill country we passed through. The bus was quite nice, but can only go so far. The hike from the place we were dropped off to the top of the mountain was over a mile, all up hill. But we were fit for the journey. (Peter and I were not huffing and puffing as much as most of them, even though they were younger.) I took the second photo at the beginning of the journey. The weather was typical: sunny and in the 80s. There was a nice breeze, however, and as we moved into the forest, there was more shade, which is always welcome.

Along the way we saw many fruit trees. We also found a carob tree. Carob is not mentioned in the Bible, but I'm sure they had them. This is a closeup to show you the brown pods. The pods are flat and inside are seeds. Several of us ate the pods right off the tree. They are sweet and taste like - carob! We did not eat the seeds.




Here are a few photos from Tzor`a. It has not been excavated, though many people have been here. Along the path up there were a couple of nice settings with picnic tables and even a small playground. Tzor`a was a small town. In the first photo in the town was what looked to be an olive press. Standing on the press is Anna Kozachuk. She is 18 and just came to the Ulpan for the Samson course (I'm not sure how long she will stay). She was born in the Ukraine, but her family emigrated to the US when she was four. She is a very sweet girl with a great love for God and for the lost. The second photo shows an area adjacent to the center of town with the press and the wine vats. The rubble is the remains of houses. There must have been quite a number of them.


Also at the top of the tel was the grave of Samson and Manoah! I don't know why we all think archaeologists work hard. All they have to do is read the sign!






That was just a joke, of course. Actually, on the way up, outside of the Tzor`a area were several graves and a few caves. The first photo shows a real grave. I don't know how old it is, but it goes back to biblical times. You can see around the hole a circular recessed area, where a stone could be rolled to cover the mouth. In the second photo I am sitting in the mouth of a cave. It does not go back very far. It would not have been a comfortable home for a human, but it certainly would have provided shelter from the elements.

After reading Jdg 13-14 at Tel Tzor`a, we walked to the parking lot where the bus was. It was on an adjacent peak. Looking downhill and southwesterly (near as I can tell) you can see the trees of the forest of the hill and beyond that the Soreq Valley. In the center of the photo, you can see the ruins of Beth Shemesh. The Philistines controlled the valley, which was and is a rich agricultural area. Israelites and Philistines certainly did business with each other during this time.


Also from this hill top you can see the ruins of Timnah, the hometown of the Philistine girl, whom Samson married. Although it's not far "as a crow flies," it was quite a hike to go there and all the way back up hill. Unfortunately it is difficult to find Timnah in the photo, but it is located beyond the grove of trees. It appears as a gray rectangle just above and to the left of the grove.


After our visit to Tel Tzor`a, we drove to the modern town of Tzor`a to a winery. It's a little ironic, considering Samson was a Nazirite. Our hostess explained about the various wines made there and we had cheese Goat cheese is pretty tasty. We concluded the day with a dinner at a vegetarian restaurant (easy for people to keep Kosher that way). It was a relaxed atmosphere, the food was quite good (I had asparagus with corn, seasoning, parmesan cheese, and a white sauce). The whole right half of the room has windows and a nice view of Eshtaol. The other half of the building sold all sorts of spices and herbs. It all looked great.

The entire day was interesting, educational, and fun. We spent most of the day talking in Hebrew. My skill level is still not where I want to be, but I'm getting better!

By God's grace, brakhot.