December 12, 2010—Sunday
Today, the wind was blowing again, and it was dusty, hazy and dirty. We headed out in morning traffic through Jerusalem, back up Hwy. 1 to find the Valley of Elah and Zoar. It didn’t take us too long to get lost. We took an exit too early and drove around a settlement out in the country for just a little while. When we did get on the right road, we drove through the Valley of Zoar where Samson released the foxes with their tales tied together and dragging firebrands through the Philistines’ corn. We then drove back to an old tel (Tel is a hill that city after city has been built on top of each other) and parked on the hill to look out over the valley. Pottery shards were scattered around on the ground, and we picked up a few. There were also some ruins on the tel, rock walls and rooms built into the ground.
From there, we drove to Elah, where David slew Goliath. Along the way, an orthodox Jewish man standing by the side of the road stepped out a bit and pointed down at the road. This was like sticking out your thumb to ask for a ride. It was a cold, windy, dusty day, so we stopped. He did not look dangerous with his black hat, white shirt, black coat and long, curly sideburns.
Unfortunately, he spoke no English, and we did not understand where he was going, but we pointed up the road, and he went with us. I asked in Spanish if he spoke Spanish, and I even tried a little German, but he shook his head, and I think he said “no” in Hebrew. Logan showed him the map, and he was not able to show us where he was going because the map was in English.
We drove for five minutes before we got to the Valley of Elah, and we let him know that was as far as we were going. He said, “Toda (thank you),” and then got out and started walking. At least we took him a few miles further along his journey.
Elah was also the area where Joshua commanded the sun and the moon to stand still while the Israelites battled the Amorites. They chased the Amorites to Azeka, which is a saddle between two hills on one side of Elah. In Azeka, the Lord killed more of the Amorites than the Israelites did. The Lord dropped stones (perhaps hailstones) on them (Joshua 10:10). We saw the sign to Azeka before we got to Elah.
We got out and walked the dry streambed there, looking for round rocks like David did. We found some, but not very round ones. Christmas presents for the kids back home.
Last year, there was a giant hothouse across the road in a field, but it is gone now. There were peppers plants about six feet tall in the hothouse last year. Now, the field had squash plants in it.
From there, we headed toward Bethlehem to see the Shepherds’ Fields. We drove through one Israeli checkpoint and along the roads. We weren’t sure how to get to the overlook by the Mars Elyas Monastery by the Fields and ended up driving to the Palestinian wall that cordons off Bethlehem. It was a metal wall about 20 feet high. A sign there said no Israelis were allowed. Logan asked if Palestinians were allowed in Israeli land. Yes, they are. They work pretty much everywhere in Israel, and many depend on this work to provide for their families. Don’t worry; we didn’t go near the checkpoint.
On the way back out, we saw a sign for the monastery and found the hillside near the Shepherds’ Fields. Unfortunately, the wind was really blowing, and the dust was flying, so we hid from it in a concrete culvert (or passageway) built for one of the wars. It was in front of some old concrete structures from the war years, too, that were falling apart.
But even in those conditions, we still considered the announcement of the Savior’s birth. We talked about how the scriptures record that the Wise Men came to the “house,” not the manger and saw the Christ child. They didn’t arrive on the night of his birth, which is why Herod the Great had the children two and under killed. When did the star appear, marking His birth? The scriptures say it was seen on the night He was born. So the Wise Men probably started traveling soon thereafter to find Him.
I imagine the whole host of heaven witnessed the birth, along with the angels who sang.
We went to a grocery store to buy food after our trip this morning. A box of name brand cereal was about $7. We passed on that, even though we are getting a little tired of the continental breakfast here at the hotel of bread, jam, peanut butter, nutella, cornflakes (the only cereal), tomatoes, zucchini, a creamy vegetable spread, etc.
Marla had emailed me that we could schedule a time for Logan and me to stand at the Western Wall, and she would be able to see us online on a webcam. Today, we arranged for 4 pm here and 9 am at home. At the designated time, we went there, and she, Makayla and some of the young women from Church (they were all at an early meeting) saw us at the Wall getting blown around by the wind.
It is just before 8 pm, and Logan is in and out of sleep. I must be working him too hard.
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