Shephelah field trip

Guys, this field trip was awesome, but it was all one big blur. I was feeling rather sickly and low this day, so I'm afraid that I didn't pay attention as much as I should've. I'll just give the historical background to this and then say little bits and pieces that I remember. 

Shephelah (pronounced Shvay-la) means "low hills", and it's the southwestern, low hill country of Judea. On this field trip, we focused mainly in the book of Judges and the conflicts the Israelites had with the Philistines in these low hills.  There are 5 valleys that are of importance in these hills: Aijalon, Sorek, Elah, Guvrin, and Lachich!

I'm not really sure where this was, except that our teachers referred to it as "Tell Dan." (Tell is another name for an archaeological site.) So...I'm thinking that it may have been in the Aijalon valley. I like this picture because it reminds me that nature always prevails against man-made structures. Perhaps this is rather hippie-ish of me to say, but I thought it was cool to see these ancient walls all covered in grass and beautiful poppies.

Tender mercy of the Lord: as stated above, I wasn't feeling too good/happy on this trip. But these flowers, my favorite color and in great abundance, reminded me that the Lord loves beauty and happiness, and that life really is wonderful. Another part of the tender mercy is that our first stop was Tell Dan. (Dan being one of the sons of Israel, and this is the land of his inheritance.) I was really missing my own Dan, and seeing this beautiful green land reminded me of how much I loved him. It was even better that flowers were everywhere. Just a lot of reminders that Heavenly Father is watching out for me and that He wants me to be happy!

Azekah and the Valley of Elah

This is overlooking the valley of Elah where David slew Goliath! Azekah represented a western outpost in the Israelites'  long struggle with the Philistines. Sargon II, the Assyrian ruler during this time, admitted he failed to take Azekah during his invasion of Judah.

"I returned a second time to the land of Judah. The city of Azekah is a stronghold which is situated in the midst of the mountains, located on a mountain range like a pointed dagger; it was like an eagles' nest and rivaled the highest mountains and was inaccessible even for siege ramps--and, for approaching with battering rams, it was too strong."

This is really cool to me. An impenetrable fortress? On a mountain? Kind of like Minas Tirith? Too cool.

Call me David, cause here I am swinging a sling. Unfortunately, I have no concept of aim, so I couldn't protect the Israelite army OR myself, but it's the effort that counts!

I love David. I think he is one of the most influential and amazing people that has ever lived. His early life is living proof of absolute trust and faith in the Lord, and his later life is a beautiful example of repentance and good works.

When Goliath challenged the armies of Saul with one-on-one combat, nobody was brave enough to face this giant. The story is in 1 Samuel 17:

26) And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

David, a shepherd boy, offered his services to Saul and volunteered to fight Goliath.

33) And Saul said to David, Thous art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
34) And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35) And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36) Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37) David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with  thee. 

David had been prepared for this fight. The Lord had provided him with the opportunities to learn, grow, and be trained for what his task was. We are also prepared by the Lord for what He would have us do! We need to recognize trials and moments in our lives as ways for us to grow into the strengths that will help us to fulfill our purpose!

40) And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
41) And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.
42) And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of fair countenance.
43) And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44) And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.
45) Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
46) This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
48) And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew night to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49) And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
50) So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 

I love this story! David has no fear when he stands against Goliath, because he has absolute trust in the Lord. We can face our enemies and fears this way, too. No matter how large our opposition seems, no matter how they are girded, we KNOW that the Lord does not test us above that which we are able to endure, and we know that we can succeed if we place our trust in Him. We can fight all that opposes us if we place our confidence in the mightiest warrior of all!

Mareshah/Beth Guvrin

This area was big into industry. This is a chalk mine, where they dug a single hole through the tough outer layer of rock and then mined a big cavern underneath in the soft chalk. The chalk was used to coat cisterns and used in the construction of walls and stuff. Pretty cool, aye?

I pretended to be an oracle in the chalk mine. People came to me with questions about all aspects of life, and I answered them wisely. Erika and Kate can attest to my wisdom. Doesn't this look like a mysterious scene?

They also had dovecotes! This is where they raised and kept doves for the temple sacrifices and stuff. All these holes in the wall were little bird houses! It was underground, for some reason...probably because it is SUPER hot up on the surface!

This is the valley of Guvrin! I'm lucky to be here in the winter season because everything is green! Imagine this as a brown dead landscape. That's what it looks like every other season of the year. I love green stuff, I'm so lucky to be here right now :) This is Camilla Summers, and I LOVE HER! She is the coolest, sweetest, most sincere, most awesome and talented girl ever! I am really finding a kindred spirit in her! I'm lucky enough to be her visiting teacher, and she's lucky enough to teach me yoga, hehehe :)

They also made olive oil in this lovely place. These are the parts of an oil production system. Unfortunately we didn't get to learn about the different parts and how they worked, but I'm sure that we will soon!

We did talk a little about how the Savior's atonement was likened unto an olive press. Imagine this heavy stone rolling over olives and crushing all the juice and liquid out of them. This is what the Savior went through for us. He underwent the heaviest of grinding to pay for our sins, and because of that, we can be washed clean and return to live with our Heavenly Father!

This was in one of the deep underground settlements that we explored at Mareshah!! There was a single entrance to these settlements, and then they OPENED up into these giant caverns that had houses and cisterns and stairways! This is one of the stairways that fell down (cause it's old), and it reminded me of the Bridge of Khazad-Dum in the Fellowship of the Ring. You know, when the fellowship is trying to run away from the Balrog and goblins are shooting at them and then the stairway breaks, and they have to jump across and Gimli gets pulled by his beard? Yes. This reminded me of that :)

Lachish

This was my favorite stop of the day! Lachish was the Shephelah's largest city during the Old Testament times. Conquerors always took Lachish before attacking Jerusalem. 

Lachish in all of it's excavated glory. Ain't that neat? 

The Assyrian king Sennacherib built a siege ramp (shown here!!!) and conquered Lachish when Hezekiah ceased paying tribute to Assyria in 701 BC. Look at this ancient siege ramp! It took months to build. Can you imagine living in this city and seeing your enemy get a little closer to destroying you every day? So terrifying. The lower picture was taken on top of the wall, where you can see that the inhabitants tried desperately and quickly to build up the wall and make it higher. It's absolutely chilling to think about. It's even more frightening when you read some of the clay tablets that were left in the city: "We cannot see the signal fires of Azekah." The soldiers here were watching for signs that the other fortresses were still standing, but they couldn't see the fires. Azekah had been taken, and Lachish was all alone, facing the most terrible army in the middle east. Ooh, it's so scary. I was just imagining Helm's deep the whole time we were learning about it. LOTR is definitely applicable in all battlegrounds. 

My roommate Michelle got her mission call!! She Skyped her family to open it with them, and she invited us roommates to join! What a privilege :) She opened it and found out that she's going to SOPPORO, JAPAN!!! This is a picture of her announcing it to the whole Jeru Crew at the Shekel Shack!! Everybody came to support her, and we all yelled and screamed when she announced it!! Way to serve the Lord, Michelle!! :)