Bringing the Psalms to Life

This afternoon we returned from a camping trip on to the shores of the Dead Sea near En Gedi. The purpose of this trip was to focus on Ancient Israel, specifically a period of time in the life of King David. As Abner, one of the professors put it, David probably didn't float in the Dead Sea, cover himself with black, stinky mud that's really good for your skin, build a campfire and eat smores, sleep out with his friends under the stars, or swim in the pools of the valley stream named after him, because he was trying to preserve his life by hiding from Saul. It was amazing to look at Psalms 57 and 63 that David probably wrote in the very place that we were staying. I woke up in the night many times (partly because I was so hot and right up against the two girls next to me) but immediately forgot my discomfort when I looked up at the heavens that were marvelously declaring the greatness of God. The moon was so bright that I could see all around me clearly. The multitude of stars were beautiful. David must have witnessed nights such like this, even while he was hiding, so that he wrote, "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth" (Psalm 57:5,11).

Today as we were hiking up a route that David probably would have took, I was reminded at how amazing David's walk with the Lord was. We were so hot and so thirsty! When we were hiking, that was almost all we could think about: must have water! David didn't have water bottles, ice, or premade snacks. Yet when he was hiking/hiding what he longed for was the Lord. He was fighting for his life, yet instead of thinking of what he needed to physically live, he praised the Lord for providing for him and giving him what he needed spiritually. "O God, You are my God; early I will seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water...because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus will I bless You while I live" (Psalm 63:1,3-4a). Talk about the Psalms coming to life! How much more we should be praising the Lord? We have so much to be thankful for. Thankful for friends, food, and water bottles. Israel, life, and peace. And the fact that we don't have someone seeking to end our lives. Praise the Lord for His goodness to us!

Fun and Games?

Right now it is Sukkot. In English this would be called the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast is to remember God's faithfulness to Israel as they wandered in the wilderness and how He provides for them still to this day. Sukkot is also celebration of the harvest. Many types of fruit are harvested at this time of year. So in your sukka, you are to sleep and eat your meals for 8 days. This picture shows the walls of our sukka, the fruit laid out to eat, and the students fellowshipping in it. You can also see the palm branches that make up the roof. At night you can still see the stars through them, reminding you that this is a temporary shelter.

Theo and Matt are very excited to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. Here they pose in front of the fruit: Mangos, figs, pommagranites, bananas, apples, plums, guavas, grapes, peaches, and nectarines are some of the fruits we enjoyed. Abner, one of the professors, shared a devotional from the Old Testament relating to Sukkot (Haggai 2:1-3; Zechariah 14:16-19), while Bill, another professor, shared from the New Testament (John 7). The culmination of Sukkot ends with the people praying for rain. At this point every year, Israel has not seen rain for nearly 5 months. They will need rain for the crops to grow...so they pray diligently for rain. Every year, the rains begin again after Sukkot...imagine being in Jerusalem celebrating the feast and have Jesus claims to be the source of living water. Water that brings life to both the fields and people. What a powerful picture that must have been. I can even see now how much this land needs rain.

Sukkot is a very joyous holiday to celebrate. In fact, it is known as the most joyous time of the year to the Jewish people. We have seen that evidenced by those we are around as well as having fun ourselves. Wednesday evening Sukkot began. While we were on our field trip, we started the fun by filling Bill's backpack (that he was wearing) with rocks while he was teaching. The best part was that the students were so careful that he didn't even notice. It wasn't until he was putting his materials away that he found the 10 rocks.

We continued the fun last night after chapel. All of the girls went to the miklat to hang out and get to know one another better. We had walked to the village earlier and bought fresh bread from the bakery and treats from the store. We also had iced coffee! We spent an hour or so playing a question and answer game that helped us learn fun facts about each other. We had a great time. When we went to leave the miklat (it doubles as a bomb shelter), we found that the guys had locked us in. They shut the huge door and tied the handles so we couldn't open it...we eventually got out because their knots weren't very good, but when we got back to the dorms we found the following missing: shower heads, shower curtains, soap dispensers, toilet paper and holders, toilet seats and all of the doors! Try getting boys to put those back at 11:00pm. All in all, I thought it was funny, but not every girl agreed with me. Lucky me, it was my job to make the guys put everything back. It was a little tough to fall asleep after that!

This afternoon we are going camping in the wilderness. First we get to go to the Dead Sea to float (I would say swim, but you don't really. You float.). We will then camp near there. Tomorrow we are hiking up the Ascent of Ziz and back down Nahal David and the springs of En Gedi. It will be a neat time to reflect on the life of David as we hike and stay in the same place that he hid from Saul.

Crawling through History

Today was a day in which Sunday School stories came to life. We visited the valley where Samson lived and judged Israel and caused a ruckus with the Philistines (Judges 13-16); of course we had to act out some of the stories as well. We visited the valley where David fought Goliath (1 Samuel 17) and almost got to go see the caves in Adullum (the road was blocked off) where David hid from Saul (1 Samuel 22). This is a picture of our fearless leader, Bill, demonstrating how to use a sling shot while he stands in the very brook where David gathered his stones to fight Goliath. We also visited Lachish and Azekah, two major cities destroyed by Sennacherib, king of Assyria during the reign of Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah (2 Kings 18; 2 Chronicles 32); then rebuilt and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar during the reign of Zedekiah and the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 34:6-7).

One of the places we stopped today was Maresheth Gath, the hometown of the prophet Micah. Just down the hillside from his OT home are caves and tunnels dug by the Jewish people during the Second Jewish Revolt in 135 AD. My friend, Tracy, and I are standing at one of the outside entrances to the tunnels. The tunnels were so much fun to climb through. There were many spots where I was completely flat on my stomach with stone below me and stone rubbing up against my back as I scooted through the passageway. They wound down and up and around through the hillside. There were so many tunnels to explore!

One of the best parts of the day was racing up the hill that Gath sits on just as the sun was setting. While we were there, we also talked about how David acted like a madman before Abimelech, king of Gath and then fled to Adullum. It was just then that David wrote Psalm 34 (see the note at the beginning of the Psalm). We recited the Psalm together and then sang the song, "You are my hiding place." As the sun finished setting and the new moon its rising, signifying the beginning of Sukkot, we sat and meditated on the faithfulness of God and how He protects, strengthens and guides His people. What a way to end the day! To see a fun video clip of our trip, visit this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA1BwaIyCNU

Yom Kippur

In about one hour, the country of Israel will "close" for Yom Kippur. Rabbinically, this is the holiest day of the Jewish year. The airport closed a few hours ago. The freeways will close, restaurants will close, and people will stay near their homes and synagogues for a day of prayer tomorrow. There is a nation-wide fast as people attempt to humble themselves before God in prayer. Here at IBEX, we will also have a day of prayer tomorrow. We will have specific times where we will praise God for His greatness ("Who is like the LORD our God, who dwells on high, who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the earth?" Psalm 113:5-6), pray for Israel and the church ("My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved" Romans 10:1), worshipping God for His atoning work ("who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were healed" 1 Peter 2:24), and praying for missions and the lost. It makes me think of Psalm 130:7-8 "O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities." And He has. If only they could see that.

In the above picture, you can see the view the prophet Amos had of the wilderness from his home in Tekoa. In the next picture, we are sitting in the remains of a gate built by Solomon at the important city of Gezer.

We have so many amazing opportunities here. I'm so thankful to have the chance to walk in the land of the Bible and experience it first hand.

Remembering the Past

This morning, I woke up remembering a morning not long ago that began so much differently. On a Tuesday, like today; on September 11, the calendar date today; on a morning 6 years ago, the lives of thousands in America and around the world were changed. Today I pray for comfort for the families of the 3,000 that were killed in the terror attacks, and for safety for all the troops still fighting the war on terror around the world, specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's interesting to contemplate how life is remembered based on significant events. The United Kingdom (of Israel). The Divided Kingdom. The Babylonian Exile. The Second Temple Period. The reign of the Herods. Before and After the birth of Jesus (BC/AD). The Byzantines. The Crusades. The Middle Ages. The Industrial Revolution. The World Wars. Vietnam. Desert Storm. September 11. The Indonesian Tsunami. Katrina. There are many more major historical events I could name, but so much of history is defined by war or catastrophe, pain and terror. Praise be to the Lord that we can look at history and see in light of the life of Christ and what He did for us. As believers, some of the most important events to us are the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Savior. We have hope because of events that occurred 2,000 years ago. We have Scripture that illustrates and tells of God's plan for man's redemption throughout history and the many promises still to be fulfilled in the future - Christ returning for believers. Going to heaven to be with the LORD for eternity. Praise God that we don't have to measure time from tragedy to tragedy. John 16:33 says

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

May we share the message of hope and salvation with those hurting from the result of evil and sin, and with those that are still being affected by terrorism around the world.

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?...And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me...Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries...I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!" Psalm 27:1, 6, 12-14

Walking through History

Just now, as I was sitting down to write this, I looked at a picture of my family then at the picture of the Temple Mount as seen from the City of David and I was struck once again by the fact that I can feel so close to home yet be walking all over Biblical history. I cannot even describe how it feels to literally walk on something that has been around for over 2,000 years or to walk in the tunnel that Hezekiah built 700 years before Jesus walked on earth. You start to ask yourself how something could be so well built that thousands of people still see it today. Every step I took yesterday I was reminded of the greatness of our God and how faithful He has been to His people despite the choices they have made. It reminds me how thankful I am that the God who was (and is) so faithful and loving and patient with Israel is just the same with me.