Day 3, June 3, Gen. 21:33-34

 

Itinerary:

·       Hwy. 4: Tel Aviv to Ashkelon

o   4/5 Valleys of the “Shephela” (Lowlands)
§  Josh. 10:1-14:
§  Judges 16:4-20:
§  1 Sam. 17:1-58; 21:9:
§  2 Chr. 14:9-15:
§  2 Ki. 14:9-15:
o   5 Cities of the Philistines: Josh. 13:3
·       Hwy. 35: Ashkelon to Hebron
o   Beit Guvrin Nat’l Park (Marasheh, 2 Chron. 14:9-15
o   Southern Conquest (Josh. 10:40-41)
·       Hebron:
o   Abraham:
§  Oakes of Mamre (Gen. 13:18; 18:1)
§  Machpelah Cave (Gen. 23:17-20)
o   Valley of Eshcol (Num. 13:23)
o   Caleb (Josh. 14:6-15; 15:13-19)
o   Samson (Jud. 16:1-3)
o   David (2 Sam. 5:5)
·       Route 60 South (Jerusalem to Beersheba; Way of the Patriarchs and of the 12 spies)
o   Beersheba (Abraham, Gen. 21:22-32; Isaac, 26:23-33; Jacob, 28:10)
·       Hwy. 40:
o   Sderot (Ben Gurion home in the Kibbutz, burial place)
o   Mitzpe Ramon (Ramon Crator)
o   Possible area of route of the Exodus
o   Eilat (2 Chron. 8:17-18; swim the Red Sea)

This might look like a long day.  It was!  Partly because the leader made two wrong turns: one that turned out good and the other that added unnecessary time.  My first failure was that we missed an exit to Hwy. 2 towards Ashdod and ended up on Hwy. 1 towards Jerusalem.  When I realized what happened I decided to stay on “1” until Latrune and then caught the road to Ashdod.  What this did was take us through the first two of the five valleys of the Lowlands.  If you look on the map included today you see these (and can study the itinerary and fill in the blanks for yourself.  It was exciting to me to be in the land where the sun stood still, then where Samson and Delilah had their tragic and God-honoring relationship, and where David killed Goliath.


We arrived at Kiryat Gat (Gath, one of the 5 cities of the Philistines) where there was a national park (Beit Guvrin, Biblical Marashah, one of the cities defeated by Joshua im the southern conquest).  At the NP we were able to pick up our dozen park passes for Israel.


Note on the map the little mounds that describe the Lowlands.  That’s exactly the way it was.  From Ashkelon we began the ascent to Hebron, taking us first through the little hills.  As we passed lush vineyards we were reminded we were in the vicinity of the Valley of Eshcol where the spies picked up the magnificent vine they carried back on a pole.


Coming to Hebron brought us to Machpela, the burial cave of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives (Sarah, Rebekah, Leah).  That put us on Hwy. 60, the “way of the Patriarchs” which we followed to Tel Beersheva, hometown at times of both Abraham and Jacob.  After only perhaps half an hour here we began our long and difficult trip through the Negev to Eilat, leaving Beersheva at 5PM and arriving after 9PM.  What a hard day.  Until we remember the children of Israel traipsing through this same area (the traditional view of the Exodus) in the time of the wilderness wanderings.  We all agreed our ride was a piece of cake compared to theirs.


We began the day thinking about the first use of the word “olam” in the OT and the first reference to “the everlasting God”.  It came when Abraham planted a tamarisk tree.  We saw lots of them today as we traveled …

The point was that Abraham had come to realize that he was not going to see much of the fulfillment of God’s promise to him before he died.  It was for “his descendents”.  So Abraham was thrilled to know God as the one who outlives all the generations, who would be here a year or even thousands of years from now to faithfully keep His promise.

This is one of the greatest things our time is Israel will teach us: God keeps his word to His people, and Israel is evidence of this!  Oh Lord, faithfully bless Yourself through us as we see and worship You for Your faithfulness.