April 3, 2008/Thursday
9:54am (Jerusalem)
I am on my fifth trip to Israel. I have seen almost every nook and cranny of this country. I am now becoming so familiar with the layout that I have a sense of direction and an awareness of the layout. It is pretty cool. I find myself knowing which road to take and how to get to certain places. But today, I gained new knowledge.
Today we headed West and South of Jerusalem. We started out at Bet Shemesh. We climbed up to the Tel of Bet Shemesh. A Tel is a mound of layers of a city that has been built and rebuilt. Basically, old cities have been conquered and rebuilt. After each battle, the city is leveled and another is built on top of the rubble. This produces a layering effect. This is a simple explanation of a Tel.
Standing on top of Tel Bet Shemesh, you can see Samson’s community, Zorah, on one side and Delilah’s community, Timnah, on the other. Just down the road, literally, is where the Valley of Elah where David killed Goliath. I have to say that this was very exciting. We actually walked through the valley and picked up smooth stones. Think about that for just a second. I picked up a smooth stone just like David did. He dropped a giant with his.
We turned south. We stopped at Lachish. We climbed up and looked over acres of vineyards. It was a beautiful sight. I have an affinity for vineyards. Today I walked through one in the heart of Israel. I touched the leaves. I smelled the dirt. It was a highlight.
John 15 speaks of a vineyard. Jesus tells us that God, our Father, is the vinedresser, that Jesus is the vine, and that we are the branches. As good ole Baptists, we like to skip over one of the most amazing passages in Scripture related to our position in Christ. This Baptist doesn’t skip over it.
A vineyard is a work of art and an effort of love. The vinedresser goes out and daily cares for and keeps the vine. He trims it. He prunes it. He cleans it. He lifts the hanging branches from the earth and ties them to the trellis. He picks the weeds from the ground and makes sure that no grass grows. A vineyard is an immaculately kept field. It becomes evident that the vinedresser loves his work.
John 15 is about this kind of care. God, the vinedresser, is caring for us each day. Grapes don’t grow from branches that are not cared for. They take much work. The vine, Jesus, is our source. The branches, us, are the means of producing fruit. Here is the cool part. We are not responsible for producing any fruit. It is very clear, “The one who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit,” (John 15:5). This work part is up to our Father. All we do is abide in Him. Someone might say, “You can’t just do nothing.” I agree. That is why Scripture instructs us to abide. That is our part. What a relief to know that producing fruit is not up to me.
Another interesting thing to note about vineyards is that almost all wine today is produced from vines that have had branches grafted in. Very few vines exist now in production that are totally natural. To help you out, we have been grafted into Christ, as gentile believers. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,” (Romans 1:16).
We saw a herd of sheep with their shepherds. Daddy asked the shepherds if we could illustrate John 10 that speaks of sheep not obeying the voice of a stranger. Daddy attempted to get the sheep to follow him. They wouldn’t do it. I don’t blame them. He looked hungry. But the minute their shepherd began to call them, they followed. It was so cool. Daddy even held a baby sheep over his shoulder.
We traveled on down to Beer Sheva. We don’t usually do this because it is about 8 miles from Gaza. So, this is a bit risky. As you know, Hamas rebels have been hurling rockets into Israel. But, it was worth it. We saw a well that was likely dug by Abraham the first time. Wells were regularly dug and then filled in during conflicts. So, the well were we stood was likely filled in a few times and dug again.
We had dinner tonight in Bethlehem. It was one of the best meals I have had in my visits to Israel. We ate like kings. I really like the food here. The fruit and vegetables are basically brought in from the fields and cooked. Now that is fresh. Unfortunately, it is probably the same for the lamb and beef.
Each time we leave a bus, a group of rogue vendors flock to us. Tonight when we were leaving a store they hit us up. They ask my dad to stand in front of the bus and ask people to buy their goods. Daddy grabs their beads etc... and asks people on the bus if they want any of it. It is a lot like a primitive auction. At first, nobody was interested. Then out of nowhere, people went mad. Now you need to know that this group had already made a financial impact in the Israeli financial market this week. It wasn’t like they hadn’t shopped at all. But all of a sudden these folks on the bus began to act like they had never been shopping in their lives. Items were flying over my head. Money was being thrown to the front. It was insane. It went on like this for a good twenty minutes. In Israel you can get some fine stuff in some of the stores. But this stuff was crap. Those guys were hocking some major junk. I told some folks that we just supported five Chinese families for the next year. I can guarantee that crap wasn’t made in this country.
I will be home this week. I am going to get all this stuff on my blog and add some pictures. Until then, pass this along if you will. I also welcome your comments.
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