I will bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. (Hosea 2:14)

Yesterday, Tuesday, was a lecture day. In the morning we had our first session with Dr Debbie Weissman on Judaism where we looked at the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) and then some midrash (a line by line commentary on the Torah). Debbie would describe herself as belonging to modern orthodox Judaism. While she observes all the laws she is open to the modern world and different people.  In the afternoon the topic was on Palestinian Christians. A Roman Catholic Palestinian priest Fr Jamal Khader teaches at Bethlehem University, a Catholic University which has 80% Muslim students. He was quite open about the effect of the wall on the Palestinians.

Today we ventured into the Negev Desert. If you look at a map we more or less headed south from Bethlehem. The changing landscape made a big impact on us. The land is harsh, but further north it gets higher rainfall. As we went further south the land became drier and drier...

1 Kings 21

Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard close by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria, and Ahab said to Naboth, 'Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it adjoins my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will give its worth in money.' But Naboth answered Ahab, 'The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors!'

Ahab went home gloomy and out of temper at the words of Naboth of Jezreel, 'I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.' He lay down on his bed and turned his face away and refused to eat. His wife Jezebel came to him. 'Why are you so dispirited' she said 'that you will not eat?' He said, 'I have been speaking to Naboth of Jezreel; I said: Give me your vineyard either for money or, if you prefer, for another vineyard in exchange. But he said, "I will not give you my vineyard." 'Then his wife Jezebel said, 'You make a fine king of Israel, and no mistake! Get up and eat; cheer up, and you will feel better; I will get you the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel myself.'

So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, sending them to the elders and nobles who lived where Naboth lived. In the letters she wrote, 'Proclaim a fast, and put Naboth in the forefront of the people. Then the two scoundrels came and stood in front of him and made their accusation, 'Naboth has cursed God and the king.' They led him outside the town and stoned him to death. They then sent word to Jezebel, 'Naboth has been stoned to death.' When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, 'Get up! Take possession of the vineyard which Naboth of Jezreel would not give you for money, for Naboth is no longer alive, he is dead.' When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel and take possession of it.

After the death of Naboth, the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite. 'Up! Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, in Samaria. You will find him in Naboth's vineyard; he has gone down to take possession of it. You are to say this to him. "The Lord says this: You have committed murder; now you usurp as well. Foe this - and the Lord says this  - in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood too." 'Ahab said to Elijah, 'So you have found me out, O my enemy1' Elijah answered, 'I have found you out. For your double dealing, and since you have done what is displeasing to the Lord, I will now bring disaster down on you; I will sweep away your descendants, and wipe out every male belonging to the family of Ahab, fettered or free in Israel. I will treat your House as I treated the House of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah, foe provoking my anger and leading Israel into sin. (Against Jezebel too the Lord spoke these words: The dogs will eat Jezebel in the field of Jezreel.) Those of Ahab's family who die in the city, the dogs will eat; and those who die in the open country, the birds of the air will eat.'

And indeed there never was anyone like Ahab for double dealing and for doing what is displeasing to the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the most abominable way, adhering to idols, just as the Amorites used to do whom the Lord had dispossessed for the sons of Israel.

When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put sackcloth next to his skin and fasted; he slept in the sackcloth; he walked with slow steps. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, 'Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring disaster in his days; I will bring the disaster down on his House in the days of his son.'

1 Kings 29:1-29

The wheat harvest

No!!! You are supposed to eat the stubble!!!

Bedouin country

The Negev Desert

First stop was Tel Arad, which was originally a Canaanite town some 5000 years ago! It was here the people of Israel first tried to enter the Promised Land after the Exodus but the spies reported that the people looked like giants while they appeared as grasshoppers. It was only Caleb that said "we could take the land." Because the people of Israel didn't trust God they ended up wandering the wilderness for 40 years. Later, when Israel controlled the land a fortress was built there about 2900 years ago. This controlled access from the desert route to Egypt.

Next stop was Tel Mamshit (a rather unfortunate name). Mamshit was built by the Nabateans who built the great city of Petra in Jordan. Their claim to fame was that they knew the desert so well and in the days before the Suez Canal and container ships transported goods across the desert between the ports on the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. This was a market town where camel trains rested, where there were spices and silk from India, marble and olive oil from Greece and Italy. And so it was a city where cultures and religions met, Arabs, Greeks, Romans and later Christians.

Greek frescoes, some 2500 years old

Christian symbols and church - maybe 4th century.

 "Lord, save your servant, Nilos, who loves Christ, who founded this church, and, Lord, protect his household."

We then climbed down into the wilderness and spent some prayer time in a cave in a wadi - or rather over overcrop...

⁵Then Elijah lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Get up and eat.’⁶He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.⁷The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, ‘Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.’⁸He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.⁹At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’¹⁰He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’

He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;¹²and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.¹³When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.  1 Kings 19:5-18

Final stop of the day was Tel Beer Sheva (Beersheba). This ancient city has connections to the great Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in the city God spoke to all three of them. More recently the ANZAC trrops conquered the site on 31 October 1917 as they advanced against the Ottoman Turks.