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"Life's too short for people not to laugh at your jokes." -Pastor Les Shelton Thoughts and Musings from Pastor Les |
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You may indicate ISRAEL-03:“Into The Wilderness”The view from the escarpment, on which David Ben Gurion rests in peace, into the Wilderness of Tzin is spectacular. The plateau of the Negev looks like great slabs of limestone that have been slammed together. The land appears desolate and forbidding with the road the only sign of human presence. A winding thin strip of dark green shows along the lowest course. Tamarind trees at low places where water gathers when the 2-3 inches of annual rainfall actually falls. From our elevated viewpoint you can’t tell but soon we discover there is water here. As we hike into this rugged desert canyon we are met by a flowing stream. There is vegetation and on the precipitous walls we see Ibex watching us impassively. The walls rise vertically 500 - 800 feet and we come to pools of water and cool shade in the heart of the canyon. It conveys a promise of solitude and the thinking of long Old Testament type thoughts. This is a place where the miraculous could occur. Where the right man at the right time under the right direction just might smack a rock with his staff...especially if the man is Moses and the direction is coming from the LORD: The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin (Tzin), traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. ... but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink."...They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" Ex 17:1-3 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.... Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:5-7 No one says this is the place but it certainly is the geography. I’m yanked back to the present by the sounds of singing. When we pulled our bus into the parking lot below we discovered that 14 other buses had just preceded us. They were filled with about seven hundred 13-14 year-old school girls. They wore school uniforms of light blue blouses and long dark blue skirts. All that remained of them by the time we reached the trail was a cloud of dust. They and their teachers were running, running, up the trail as they visited the site. And now, up the canyon beyond us, they were singing, still running. Hundred of youthful female voices singing in Hebrew, probably “camp songs”. I’ve no idea what they are singing but the sound is beautiful and curiously encouraging as it bounces off the walls of the ancient limestone canyon. We return to the bus under the watchful eyes of Ibex’s.
See you Sunday, Pastor Les
 Beer Sheva, Israel Our first morning in the Holy Land I surface from the coma-like sleep of those who’ve missed a couple of nights; the day is clear, bright, and filled with portent. We are joining the celebrations of the 90th Anniversary of the Allied victory known as the Battle of Be’er Sheva (Beersheba in the OT) in 1917 during World War I. Our US troops were not present at this battle and we are historically oblivious, it’s difficult to know everything! This campaign by the United Kingdom ultimately pushed the Ottoman Empire out of Palestine paving the way for the eventual Jewish State. There is a parade to the Memorial Cemetery featuring the combined historical units of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp (The ANZACS) who have flown their historical weapons, gear, and horses from New Zealand for this anniversary celebration. These were the heroic units who accomplished an incredible night march through trackless desert hiding by day and completely surprising the vastly larger Turkish/Ottoman forces driving them from Beer Sheva and ultimately out of Palestine. There is a deep and obvious appreciation for those troops from the far side of the world who provided the ground-breaking for the State of Israel still over thirty years in the future. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. Psalm 69:35 Departing the observances we turn south into the Northern Negev. Almost immediately we are outside urban Beer Sheva and in the barren regions. The low-lying Judean hills to our left begin to flatten into the desert. Bedouin encampments are scattered across the beige hard-packed earth. The ground is devoid of anything growing and accented Australian and New Zealand Army Corp (The ANZACS) who have flown their historical weapons, gear, and horses from New Zealand for this anniversary celebration. These were the heroic units who accomplished an incredible night march through trackless desert hiding by day and completely surprising the vastly larger Turkish/Ottoman forces driving them from Beer Sheva and ultimately out of Palestine. There is a deep and obvious appreciation for those troops from the far side of the world who provided the ground-breaking for the State of Israel still over thirty years in the future. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. Psalm 69:35 Departing the observances we turn south into the Northern Negev. Almost immediately we are outside urban Beer Sheva and in the barren regions. The low-lying Judean hills to our left begin to flatten into the desert. Bedouin encampments are scattered across the beige hard-packed earth. The ground is devoid of anything growing and accented with rocks, camel dung, and car parts. Yoni, our guide, explains to us about shepherding in Abrahams’ day. The Bible says he was here with his sheep, about 2100 B.C., but it looks like short rations even for sheep. Maybe they were more primitive tougher type of sheep that could chew rocks. On the other hand it may have been entirely different in Abraham’s day what with climate change and all. It may have been green as a golf course. I look out the window and decide probably not.
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