Wednesday, Oct. 16, Read 2 Chronicles 30:6-12; 31:1

When you make a trip to Israel you expect, rightly so, to be encouraged and amazed by clear evidence that God Himself walked the earth, in the person of His Son.  And you expect to see evidence of Israel’s worship of God throughout her history in the land.  But what is sadly amazing is how much evidence you see of Israel’s idolatry. 

Today’s passage records how King Hezekiah dealt a strong blow against idolatry and how he sought to reestablish true worship.  He not only did this in his own kingdom, Judah, but sought to reach out to the northern kingdom of Samaria in the days shortly before she would be deported to the nations.  People in the power centers (Ephraim) ridiculed Hezekiah’s messengers but some from the more rural and agricultural centers (Asher, Zebulun) humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.  They came to Jerusalem because that was the ONE place where God chose to place His name.  They were not to make sacrifices in any other place in Israel.

Thus what is neat to see is the evidence of Hezekiah “clean-up” campaign.  There was an altar at Beersheba.  The stones for the altar were found lining a path in the city.  They were found there because the altar had been dismantled by Hezekiah.  There is also a “high place” at Tel Arad (down near Beersheba) where they found a replica of the temple in Jerusalem.  There is an altar.  And there is a “holy place” and “holy of holies” that are smaller but the same ratio as those found in Jerusalem.  It is believe this also was destroyed by Hezekiah.

Here is our itinerary for today.  It involves quite a bit of driving as we leave Eilat and head for the Dead Sea area.

·       Timna Park

o   Life-size model of the Tabernacle (Ex. 40; Heb. 8-9).  Our group was excited to meet a Messianic believer, Avilah, who was their guide at the tabernacle.  They even had prayer with her before they parted ways.  Cindy and I stayed at the visitor center outside the park; saves money on unnecessary entrance fees.

·       Hwy. 90

o   Yotvata (best milk in Israel)

o   Ein Yahav (McDonalds in the Negev! 😊)(Jer. 17:5-6; 31:2).  For all you “purists” we made a bathroom stop here and then helped ourselves to our own picnic lunch.

o   Route of the Exodus (Deut. 2:8; Num. 21:4).  We are actually driving this road that the Israelites took.  If my understanding is correct, it was on this part of the journey (cf. Num. 21:4; they turned north at Eilat, on the Red Sea) that the matter with the bronze serpent took place (Num. 21:5-9).

·       Tel Arad (Num. 21:1-4; 2 Chron. 31:1).

o   Looking east: Zered River (border of Edom and Moab)

·       Masada

o   Looking east (Arnon River, border between Moab and Ammon)

·       “Swim” (technically: float) the Dead Sea

We enjoyed a great meal together and then spent one night in Arad at a hotel we had never been to before.  It turned out to be much less expensive than those by the Dead Sea and was actually quite nice, recommended by everyone in the group.  Breakfast was wonderful (that helps) and we were blessed by the singing prayer of a group of German believers.