a day in the judean hills and elah valley

Today I woke up at 7:00 am, emailed Natalie, and went back to sleep until 8:30 am. When I woke up, we enjoyed some pastries and baked goods that we bought at the bakery last night – as well as some Nescafe of course. Then we talked about what we were going to do during the day. We decided to visit the Elah Valley. 

This is the valley where the Philistines and Israelites prepared to do battle in 1 Samuel 17. Instead of the two groups fighting each other though, there were representatives from each group who fought on their behalf. Representing the Philistines was a monster of a man, a nine-foot tall giant named Goliath. Representing the Israelites was a small young shepherd boy named David. Most of you know how the story goes…David miraculously killed Goliath with the helping hand of the One True God. It’s an amazing story, and I was able to spend some time today at the place where it all happened. We did some video recording there for a sermon I will be doing in a few weeks. I also picked up a few smooth stones from a dried up brook in the valley. They reminded me of the way David picked five smooth stones from a brook to use against Goliath.

On our way to the Elah Valley today, we took a short cut that allowed us to use Leor’s 4-wheel drive vehicle to navigate some off road trails in the Judean hills. This was great. There are very few visitors in Israel who are able to do what I did today. We experienced some amazing mountain views, visited a natural spring and bath area where people go occasionally for ceremonial cleansings (mikvahs), drove through the Sorek Valley, and spent some time at Beth-Shemesh and Zorah. The Sorek Valley and Beth-Shemesh are where the stories of Samson and Delilah took place.

We did some digging at the ruins of Beth-Shemesh. I found quite a few pieces of pottery – two handles that were fully intact. They date back to the time of the ruins – 3000 years ago in the time of King David and King Solomon. I am excited to bring these pottery pieces home with me (although they are a dime a dozen here in Israel).

While traveling around today, we stopped at two different homes to visit some of Leor’s friends. First we stopped by a couple’s home in Matta. Their names were Ricki (wife) and Martin (husband) – they play music (easy to remember right). Ricki is from Holland and Martin from Germany. They talked about some of the amazing things they have found in the caves and hills out by their village. We enjoyed some coffee and cookies there, and then we were on our way.

The second house we stopped at belonged to Jonathan and Chinneroth (same as the Hebrew name of the Sea of Galilee – it means harp, which is the shape of the Sea of Galilee). They also were very nice people. Jonathan is a rocker who plays guitar and just bought a new MacBook for music recording. They are observant Jews, not Messianic, and they were working quickly to prepare their food to get ready for Shabbat.

After stopping there, we came home. Keren had also been working hard all day to prepare for Shabbat. The food was ready and the table was set. She lit the Shabbat candles and said the Shabbat blessing. Then we ate a traditional Shabbat meal for Keren’s family – shwarma (breaded fried chicken breast), mashed potatoes, beets, salad, bread, and fruit. It was very delicious. 

Afterward I called Natalie and talked to her for a while. It was really nice to be able to talk to her so long! Now we are just enjoying the Shabbat this evening until bedtime. Shabbat Shalom!