Carpenter Jesus

For one of my classes at JUC, Jewish Jesus to Christianity, I wrote a paper on the topic of how Jesus trade as a "carpenter" fit right in with the idea of other rabbi's having trades, why they did, and what this might have looked like for Jesus and his father Joseph while growing up in Nazareth. The following is an abridged and modified version of it...

* * *

The existence of Torah provokes the need for masterful knowledge of it and expertise. At the time of Ezra and for a considerable period afterwards this was the primary concern for priests. Ezra himself was both priest (expert in, and guardian of, Torah) and scribe. Gradually this changed and lay Israelites took over the study of Torah, and along with the priests an independent order of ‘Torah Scholars’ or scribes came into being. These Torah Scholars were held in high esteem; yet all the activities of the sages, educational and judicial, were to be unpaid and were instructed to obtain their income from other sources.

Despite all the traveling and teaching rabbis did, rabbinic literature seems to discourage charging a fee for teaching the Scriptures and therefore almost all rabbis earned their living by some trade or craft of their hands, probably following the trade of his father. For it was a principle, frequently expressed, if possible “not to forsake the trade of the father”—most likely not merely from worldly considerations, but because it might be learned in the house; perhaps even from considerations of respect for parents. During the First Century C.E. there was a vast amount of public building going on (under Herod the Great, Antipas and Philip), which would require and occupy many men.

It seems that Jesus, the Master Himself, was a craftsman and humbled Himself to the trade of His adoptive father. “Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?” (Mark 6:3). The Gospel of Matthew states, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” (Matt 13:55). In biblical thinking the assumption behind the word “son” was that descendents would share the characteristics of their forefathers. Usually children took on their family’s profession and worshipped the family’s gods. It was assumed that children would even tend to take on their ancestor’s personalities: If their father was wise, they would be wise; if he was warlike, they would be warlike. Both Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55 specify, Joseph and his son, Jesus, were tektons. Although little is mentioned in the Scriptures of Joseph’s life, because of the cultural surroundings, it is likely that Jesus would have learned and mastered this skill from his father. The tekton was a construction craftsman able to work with wood, stone and bricks

Stones and rocks are everywhere in Israel; for millennia they have provided implements and articles used in everyday life. There are innumerable uses of these stones including construction of public buildings, fortifications, roads, and courts. Stones were also used to seal caves, tombs, and wells, and to make slabs for decorations or inscriptions. Long before pottery was invented, stones were shaped into implements of all sorts, such as mills, mangers, anchors, millstones, grinders, mortars and pestles, tools, plummets, loom weights, bowls and cups, knives and other cutting instruments.

Nazareth, a small village in fertile Lower Galilee, could probably not provide enough business or livelihood for a tekton, (builder, carpenter, mason) and his family. The nearby city of Sepphoris had been destroyed by the Romans in 6 C.E., but was now being rebuilt by Herod Antipas (Herod the Great’s Son) to serve as the capital of his kingdom, the areas of Galilee and Perea. (Note, this city is never mentioned in the Gospels). The new capital city was to be Roman in style, with a theater and an aqueduct – these involved masonry, and so did the Roman style of houses; and here was located Antipas’s treasury. It was designed to be one of the finest of modern cities in its time. Nazareth was only 3.5 miles southeast of Sepphoris – a short walk of about one hour for the people of the time. Assuming that Jesus was born approximately 6 B.C.E., He spent His childhood and at least some of His youth near Sepphoris and may have been influenced by its culture and the contacts emerging from connections of His village to the city. As some scholars have suggested, Joseph and Jesus could have worked on the construction projects at Sepphoris. Archeologists estimate the population of Nazareth during the time of Jesus to be 120-150 people, and there couldn’t have been a ton of construction work to do in that small village. It took 14 years to complete the city of Sepphoris, those in need of some more work likely could have found some there. In addition, archeologists have discovered a sizeable ancient quarry between Nazareth and Sepphoris. We walked from Nazareth to Sepphoris and stopped by this quarry along the way. Although there is no hard evidence to prove it, I personally hold to the opinion that it is quite likely that Joseph could have been teaching his son the family trade while cutting stones out of this quarry.

* * *

Standing on the Nazareth Ridge looking NW towards Sepphoris

The ancient quarry discovered between Nazareth and Sepphoris

A large theater in the city of Sepphoris

Avad

In one of the apostle Paul’s letters, as a tent maker, he writes: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Col 3:23-24). We can gain many fascinating insights by looking at the Hebrew word avad. I won’t go in to a thorough study here, but in short, the term avad means “to work,” as well as “to serve” and even “to worship!” For to the spiritual, nothing is secular; and to the secular, nothing is spiritual. For the apostle Paul it was work night and day, and then as his rest, joy, and reward, to preach in public and in private, the unsearchable riches of Christ, Who had redeemed him with His precious blood (1Thes 2:9). Therefore it should be considered for our work to be equivalent with our study of, or service to God, which is the way we worship Him. I think Jesus did the same.

Jumbo Shrimp

In August there was a 3-on-3 basketball tournament going on in the great city of downtown Zeeland, MI. It was sponsored by The Bridge Youth Ministries and I thought it would be fun to put a team together and try to be in and meet some people in our new community. So my brother Corey, two of his friends (Ben and Dan) and I decided to play.

Dan is about 5'10", Corey 6'3", I'm 6'5" and Ben is 6'7". We pulled down a few boards.

Team name?
Jumbo Shrimp. (Yup, t-shirts too).


Did we have fun?
Of course.

Did we win any games?
All of them.

Beit Chadash Shelanu (Our New Home)

In the August of 2007 Stacie and I found ourselves back in W. Michigan again to participate in a few weddings of some great friends of mine. While we were here, we had a conversation about where we think we should live when we move back to the States in a year. We were both thinking the W. Michigan area, but where specifically? Stacie was having thoughts about living in Zeeland, a small quiet town (tired of the big city), close to church (Hudsonville), and close to Lake Michigan. (It's never a bad thing to live close to that piece of real estate). So one evening we decided to take a quick drive through the town and she pointed out a few houses of people she knows and the many great front porches that can be found in this town. The last house we drove past were friends of hers from church and she said, "I love their house, and their front porch, with the swing..."

The next day we went to church and after the service two people sitting directly behind us asked us if we were still in need of a vehicle to use for the last two weeks we were going to be in the States. We were borrowing a vehicle at the time, but needed to return it in a couple days. They said we could borrow their van as long as we could bring them to the airport in Chicago and then pick them up again in a couple weeks. Sure. It just so happens that we needed to fly OUT of Chicago the day after they needed to be picked up in Chicago, and we still weren't sure how we were getting to the airport!

Then they said, "hey do you guys know where you are going to live when you move back?"

"Not yet."

"Well we don't know this for sure, but we are thinking about moving to Hungary for two years, would you be interested in renting our house?"

Our mouths dropped. This is the VERY SAME house we had just driven by the night before that Stacie really loved, the one with the great front porch and swing.

End result? They are now in Hungary for two years teaching English as a Second Language through the ministry Teach Overseas. And Stacie and I are living in their house, with all their furniture, appliances, lawn mower, bikes, etc...including the van!

So we live here because God made it so clear.

Once we flew back to the States in June, we had about 5 weeks before we could move in to our new place. 5 weeks and about 10 beds later, we moved in. Although we are extremely grateful to those who were so hospitable to us while we were homeless, it was good to finally put the suitcases away and get settled in a little.

Here's just a few pictures of move in day...

TV

Stacie and I didn't have a TV in Israel during our two years there. For some that might be hard to fathom, for me it was really no problem at all.

Since we've been back we still haven't watched any TV. However, we had a coupon for $40 off the digital TV box thing we'll need by 2009 and the coupon was to expire in a couple days, so last night we thought we should go pick one up...somewhat reluctantly.

On the way there I saw a guy wearing a bright yellow t-shirt that read

Life is short.
Watch TV.

I'm not kidding.
That might be the biggest oxymoron I have ever heard. I really wanted to roll down my window and ask the guy what the heck he was doing outside wasting his life away.

But at the same time, deep inside me the haunting question - "Yeah but you're going to buy this stupid thing so you can watch TV, then you would be wasting your life away..."

We bought it anyway.
Grrrrrrrrrr.

SHOCK!

We have been back from Jerusalem for about a month and a half. Much has happened, much has changed, and almost everything is different. Many people have asked us if we are experiencing any culture shock. The answer to the question is most definitely. Now six weeks later we are slowly starting to adjust, but there have been, and will continue to be a number of things that are quite different that we are sorting through. What’s different you ask? What is the same is more like it.


BIG
The land of Israel is only about the size of New Jersey. They have packed a lot into that small piece of land. Almost everything seemed quite small.

America is bigger. Bigger in land size, car size, house size, store size, road sign size, shoe size, everything size. Now instead of grocery shopping at Super Deal, a 6-aisle (and they were short aisles) grocery store in Jerusalem, we can choose from Family Fare, Meijer or Wal-Mart, which is great because now we can choose from 32 different types of plastic cups – including size, shape and color! (sarcasm) Why do we have to make so many decisions? I just need some plastic cups and I don’t care what color they are! Clear is fine. Always has been. Always will be. Moving on.


WEATHER
In Israel they are experiencing a drought this summer. It hasn’t rained since March, nor will it until October. This is normal, no rain all summer long. But this past winter they didn’t get much rain and by the time we left in mid-June the Sea of Galilee was already at a critically low level, and the long dry summer was just beginning. It’s the largest body of fresh water in the Middle East and the source of drinking water for the Israelis. A small island was beginning to form on the south side of the lake when we left.

We flew in to Chicago on June 14th and the morning of the 15th there was a huge thunderstorm, destroying the neighbors’ carport they used for a graduation party. Then it rained and stormed really hard about every other day for a month. When we were on a short road trip down to St. Louis we encountered another vicious thunderstorm (two within 10 minutes actually) and we were literally driving 20mph on the highway because it was raining so hard, cars were driving with their emergency flashers on, farmers’ fields were flooded and we saw lightning strike a field twice. Welcome to the U.S.


THINGS
Israel is not only deserts and caves and camels. Israel is not a third world country. In fact it is a quite well-developed country. (Example, I have already dropped more cell phone calls in two weeks than I did in two years there…including remote places in the Negev).

Moving back to MI I have heard many people talking about how terrible the economy is here. This economy has affected a lot of people and I am not trying to minimize this hardship for so many, but…my eyes see everyone living in a nice big house with a 2 or 3 stall garage, driving new SUV’s (or at least a newer car) and an extremely important thing seems to be lawn care. By the way it is also noticeably very green here. Green trees, green grass, green plants. It’s beautiful. But I overheard one neighboring telling another, “stop cutting your grass so short, you’re making mine look bad.” Not wrong, just different values, or priorities than where we had been living the past couple years. So I’m still trying to sort through how to view all this stuff, how to live simple and content lives, and not judge other people in the process. God help me.


CULTURE
Jerusalem was/is one of the most diverse places on the planet. There’s the local population of Arabs, Jews (from all over, including Russia, Spain, Ethiopia, America, etc.) plus 2 million tourists visit Israel each year. The bustling Holy City was always packed with pedestrians, car-honking taxis, and tour buses with tourists representing every possible nation, people group, culture and language. Stacie and I enjoyed approaching a group of tourists with their bright colored hats, or scarves, or stickers or whatever group “uniform” they had on, and trying to figure out where they were from – Germany, Switzerland, Nigeria, Russia, France, India, U.S.

Now we live in Zeeland, MI. We don’t see a lot of people. We often say to each other – we see all the houses, but where are all the people? Sometimes we see some tall Dutch folks. Lots of blue eyes and blonde hair ‘round here. I am still looking for that first tour bus to pull down our street with a group of people from Madagascar or something.


RELIGION
Islam, Judaism, Christianity – all packed into the “Holy City” of Jerusalem. A place utterly dominated by the Muslims and the Jews. Only 2 percent of the population are Christians. We lived in a land that was completely littered with synagogues, and mosques. And reminded of it every day when the call to prayer would scream out of those little minarets five times a day, or on Shabbat when all the Jewish people would flock to the local synagogue in their Shabbat attire. There were, however also a number of old churches scattered about the land – but many of them were old church buildings built to commemorate or remember a certain Biblical story or event that took place in that particular area. Many of these churches are simply historical and are not used to serve and/or encourage a particular body of believers (although there are some of those churches too, don’t get me wrong). My observation? As a Christian, I always felt out of place. I mean, I was surrounded by amazing Christian friends at JUC, but overall I felt severely outnumbered by the others. However, this feeling of outnumberedness seemed to strengthen the bond and the love and the passion between the believers living in Jerusalem. The need for Jesus was an obvious, compelling, in-your-face every single day of the week feeling. These people need Jesus.

I have been in the United States now for 52 days. I have not yet seen a synagogue, or a mosque. Churches? Got plenty of them. Driving home from work one day I counted 15 church buildings on the same street covering about 5 miles. In Zeeland there is First Reformed and Second Reformed Church right across the street (Church Street) from each other, not to mention Third Reformed, First and Second CRC, First Baptist and many, many more. There are a plethora of church buildings here, and it seems as though most Zeelanders are church-going people. It is truly an amazing thing after living in the “desert” for a couple years.

HOWEVER, here is some of what I have seen, heard and/or experienced that really makes my blood boil…
One church talking bad about other churches.
Minor topics becoming the major topics.
The domination of one denomination over the all others.
The superiority of one set of theological ideas and interpretations over all the others…
and everyone else who doesn’t agree on these things we want nothing to do with!
So we throw them out and are sure to keep them away from our kids.

THIS has been the hardest thing for me to “adjust” to. But I won’t. I won’t adjust. I won’t participate. I won’t settle for meddling in nonsense. I will love my brothers. I will major on the majors. I will be a part of God’s desire and purpose in changing people’s lives. After living in Israel these past two years, the lens through which I view the world is clearer than ever. People in this world desperately need Jesus.

I wish we’d care less about things like the perfection of our lawn.

Some Acknowledgments

Well it has been quite a journey. One we can hardly believe. We are so thankful and feel quite blessed that the Most High God chose us to live, study, explore and love on the people in Jerusalem. Two years passed by very quickly, yet it is hard for us to even remember what life was like before we got on the first plane June 14, 2006. We have learned lots and we have many stories and experiences and memories we will be excited to share with the people God puts in our path. There were many times over the past couple years when we would begin to worry about something – school, or money, or housing, or… - but then God would show up and demonstrate His continued faithfulness, love and care for us.

We took this calling to study in Israel seriously and tried to give it everything we had. Prior to moving to Israel we sold and gave away most of our stuff, emptied out our bank accounts and even tapped in to some of our retirement to keep us going year two. We left great jobs, communities, friends, and family we love. But this is NOT something we did, nor could have been done, without great support from SO many people. Many, many thanks to you all who prayed often for us - for our school-work, for our marriage, for our finances, for our safety, for our future (keep praying about that one ☺). Many thanks also to those of you who gave of your finances, sent us mail, shared encouraging heart-felt words, etc. Again, we did not, nor could have done this without you. There are so many people of which we could not count or list – but regardless, here’s a few people (in no particular order, and far from complete) we want to say thank you to:

The Swan Family (Mom, Dad and Chris)
The Post Family (Mom, Dad, Corey and Sara)
The Zwyghuizen Family (Chad, Kim, Dallas, Justin, Mikayla and Sawyer)
Paul and Diane Wright
Cyndi Parker
Mike and Sue Shirkey
Jason and Lisa Schrader
Mark and Amanda Brown
Brian and Katie Hamm
James and Laura Granger
Marc and Shelby Andreas
Con and Judy VanderWerf
Jack and Cindy Ippel
Larry and Linda Doornbos
Tom and Carolyn Kragt
Bill and Sandy Cooper
Ray VanderLaan and That The World May Know Ministries
Amy, Marty, Tom and Dot at GTI Travel
Kent Dobson
Boaz Shalgi
Allen Levi
Heidi Walberg
Dave and Jan Stravers
Randy and Gretchen VanHeukelum
Wayne and Debbie Wolfe
Joel and Lisa Meyers
Kenny and Leanne Grimes
Ryan and Amy Blackburn
Mike and Amy Krick
Acey and Sarae Martin
Enoch and Joan Olson
Michael and Denise Perry
Brian and Barb DeMann
Corky and Debbie Erickson
Dan and Jodi Johnson
David and Kelley Shirkey
Scott and Cindy Pontier
Larry and Jana Plaisier
Joey and Katie Allen
John and Melanie DeKruyter
Marlin and Sally Vis
All our great friends from JUC
Brian and Amy Moore
Mark and Michelle Trescott
Michael and Breanne Fuelling
Thor Sawin
Hayley Wilton
Rod and Irene Wilton
Tom and Cathy Tomasik
Lauren Tomasik
The Read Family (Steve, Rita, Stephen and Shannon)
Travis and Mariah West
…

But most of all, thanks be to God – the Creator, the Caller, the Sustainer, the Lover, the Rock, the One who was, who is and who is to come. We give it all back to Him.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty,
dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
-Jude 24-25

Shalom

It was still pitch dark at the sound of an alarm. Dark because it is was only about 3am, and the alarm wasn’t ours, but belonged to the Bet Sefer (school) across the street. About 25-35 minutes later a series of a few other alarms went off as well, these alarms were ours. Time to get up. Big day today. The alarm across the street was still going off, piercing the quietness of 4am when our taxi driver, Ismael, arrived at our house. Four heavy suitcases were packed and loaded into and onto the car and we exchanged hugs with our friend Mark who stumbled out of bed early to say “Lahitraote” (good-bye) to us one last time.

From Jerusalem we rode west towards the coast. Our friend Ismael seemed to do most of the talking…all in English this time. It was much too early to for us to give much effort into speaking Hebrew or Arabic. Besides, Ismael enjoys using and improving his English as well. As we began the descend down the hill country out of Jerusalem, we passed a sign with huge Hebrew block letters. I remember this sign from when I first came in to Jerusalem, it’s along the main route and we have passed it many - many times over the course of two years. During my first few months in Israel I always wondered what those crazy white block letters (or symbols) were communicating. This time, more than any other, I spent a few extra minutes thinking about those words as we drove past.

“Yetset le-Shalom.” Go in Peace.

Ismael was still talking with us, but now I was a bit lost in my own thoughts. This is it. Our day has come…for us to go in peace. I can’t believe it’s time to go. I can’t believe we ever came. What’s happening?

After waiting in a slow line for an extra inspection of one of our suitcases (the one filled only with heavy textbooks) we dragged our bags up to the ticket counter. Stacie kindly asked the lady behind the counter, Yael, for a pair of good seats for her and her “really tall husband.” After a quick glance at me, and a verbal “Wow,” Yael picked up the phone to see how she could help these long legs for the long ride. God bless her.

As is our custom, Stacie took the window and I the aisle, but it didn’t really matter this time as our legs were well stretched out in front of us near an “exit”. Thanks be to God. ☺ The two gentlemen behind us were strangers to each other playing the “lets get to know each other” with some small talk. One guy was from the Bahamas, the other from Brazil. I didn’t eavesdrop on them to know anything more than that, but I am sure they had some interesting and enjoyable conversations during the duration of our trip.

Before long we were moving slowly, then quickly and ascending in elevation. Stacie’s eyes were fixed on the tiny little window, but I don’t think it was the clear glass she was focusing on. I was leaning far forward in my seat in order to see it too. As I peered through the window, there it was…the land of Israel. These ten minutes or so seemed to pass by ever so quickly, yet frozen in time. On our very first geography field study with Dr. Wright he told us it is always good to get high in order to get a great perspective of the land. The skies were crystal clear as we could see in the distance the hills of the Shephelah, the flat, green coastal plain, a small strip of white sand along the coastline and then the vast sea of very salty water, the Mediterranean. Our eyes didn’t move as we studied the view one last time. Stacie bit her lip as tears welled up in her eyes and then slowly picked up speed as they rolled down her cheeks. I squeezed her hand. She squeezed mine back as her watery eyes briefly made eye contact with mine. I don’t think we even said anything. We didn’t need to. Again we both turned to gaze out the window for as long as we could. It’s time for us to go “home”…whatever and wherever that is…for now.

“Yetset le-Shalom.”

Pictures!!!

Many new pictures have been posted - click here to see the following picture albums

• Hiking Nazareth to Capernaum
• 3 Days of Adventure
• Spring Fun '08
• The Last Field Study
• Golan Getaway

Dinner Guests

Long before actually moving to Israel, we came up with a fun list of "Top Twenty Reasons to Move to Israel." Many of the items on this list included places to see, things to do, experience, etc. - and I think we have now checked all of them off the nearly forgotten list - except for one thing - of which will not be discussed here. Aren't you so curious???

Anyway, one of the things we were excited about as we dreamt of one day living in Jerusalem was living in the "Shephelah" or crossroads of 3 monotheistic faiths - Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Living in Jerusalem sure is a unique experience in that way, and we are blessed to have become friends with a few locals from different cultures and religions. Since the completion of our studies (now about a month ago already!) we knew the remainder of our time would pass us by quickly, so we again came up with a "Things To Do Before We Leave" list. This list includes places to visit, trails to hike, items to purchase - and most importantly - people we really want to spend time with. Within the past week we were richly blessed to spend time with the following dinner guests...

Boaz, his wife Magie and their two sons

Ismael, his wife Ronia and their four beautiful children.
They all piled in Ismael's taxi & drove from their house on the Mt. of Olives.

Cyndi, Dawn and Andrea (now living in Bethlehem) and Stacie -
enjoying tacos on our roof.

Thanks friends for wonderful, memorable nights. Stacie and I sincerely cherish our friendships with you all. You will be missed. May God continue to bless each of you on your journey! And -

"Bizrat HaShem" (Hebrew),
"Inshallah" (Arabic),
"God-willing" (English) -

we will see each other again!

Jesus Trail

Two of John's disciples came to Jesus and said:

"Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" (Or maybe, "where do you live?") Jesus said to them, "Come and you will see" (John 1:39).

We decided to take Jesus up on His offer. On Wednesday evening, May 21st, our friends Tim and Kristi Knipp along with Stacie and I took a bus from Jerusalem, north to Nazareth and spent the night there in a hostel. The purpose of our trip? Backpacking the "Jesus Trail" for a few days. The Biblical Text says Jesus moved from Nazareth to Capernaum - but if you read that one verse (Matt 4:13), don't you sometimes just wonder what would that journey may have been like? How long did it take? What did He see or who did He encounter along the way?

We purchased a very detailed map of the region (available in Hebrew only), the route we mapped out was to hike from Nazareth, north to Zippori (aka Sepphoris - the capital of the Galilee during the early years of Jesus, before it moved Tiberias...but not mentioned in the Gospels), on to Cana (John 2, and 4), then west through the Bet Netofa Valley, through the Arbel Pass approaching the Sea of Galilee and finally following the northwestern shoreline to the city of Capernaum. A total distance of about 35-40 miles.

"Whoever claims to live in Jesus must walk as Jesus walked" (1John 2:6)

This, I might add, always has been, and always will be more important than walking where Jesus walked, but being blessed with the opportunity to do both...we set out.

Stacie and I walking to Cana -
the tel is the small brown hill directly in front of us

After hiking for about 10 hours the first day, we arrived at the base of the tel and set up camp for the night there in an already harvested wheat field. Tim read the two stories of Jesus in Cana - first at the wedding banquet where He performed His first miracle turning water into wine (John 2), then just a couple chapters later Jesus again visits Cana, a city of miracles.

"Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” The royal official *said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus *said to him, “Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off."
(John 4:46-50)

The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him.

Tim, Kristi and Stacie at our campsite the second night -
a couple miles west of the Arbel Pass

Hiking through the Arbel Pass -
the most likely ancient route to the Sea of Galilee

Mount Arbel behind us

"Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
“THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI,
BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES—
“THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT,
AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH,
UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”
(Matthew 4:12-16)

Wilderness Wanderings

Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, “Aaron will be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah. “Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor; and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there.” So Moses did just as the LORD had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. After Moses had stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

- Numbers 20:22-29

So Steve, Hayley, Stacie and I headed to the Negev in search for Mount Hor - one of the traditional sites anyway. The place was quite unique, and not exactly along the well traveled tourist sites.
We like that.

Stacie and Hayley with Mt. Hor in the background

Our car is the gray dot in the middle of the picture -
not exactly a frequently visited tourist site


Hayley, Steve and Stacie reaching the top - nice work!

Hayley and Steve walking along the flattened mountain top

Not sure what Stacie and I are doing here, but...thankful to be here

Cheese and Crackers

David vs. Goliath.

Almost everyone has heard of the story, even if they have never actually read the written account in 1Samuel 17. Every Sunday School teacher has taught the story to their class. Even sports analysts use it every once in a while to try to suck people in to a big game between a heavily favored team vs. an obvious "underdog."

It's the story of a young shepherd boy, who stumbles on to the battlefield with a sling and a stone killing a giant warrior. It's a great story, and if you hadn't heard it before, I just spoiled the end of the "movie" for you. Sorry, but you should still read the story anyway.

There is so much more history and background packed in to this story, of which I won't go in to all those details here, but there are a couple things to note. David is a shepherd boy in Bethlehem. His brothers and the rest of the Israelite army are fighting a battle against the Philistines in the Shephelah (western foothills), which is midway between Bethlehem and the Coast (where the Philistines lived). Then, in 1Sam 17:17 - Jesse, David's father, tells him to take about 22 liters of roasted grain, 10 loaves of bread and 10 cheeses to his brothers who are fighting in the Elah Valley. The distance from Bethlehem to the city of Azekah in the Elah Valley is about 17 miles.

Sometimes I wonder, What would it have been like to be bringing cheese and crackers to your brothers in the middle of a war zone? Was he nervous or just doing what his dad told him to do? Did he have a donkey or something to help carry the food? Were the cheeses different kinds? Did his feet hurt by the time he got there? Was he practicing slinging stones along the way?

Being intrigued by David's life story, which enters the biblical scene with this journey carrying cheese and crackers to his brothers, we decided to explore the Elah Valley ourselves. Now we did not follow David's footsteps entirely with a walk from Bethlehem to Azekah (partly because of political reasons) but a few of us did hike from Azekah, along a ridge above the Valley and then back through it, for a solid 5 walk. Just trying to get a better "feel" for what it would have been to walk in David's sandals.

Hayley, Ben and Steve overlooking the Elah Valley

The Elah Valley, with the Tel Socoh (brown hill) in the background

A shepherd boy with his flock we met along the way

Steve and Ben walking through the Elah Valley along wheat fields

"Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”
- 1Samuel 17:45-47

Dinner Celebration

After completing our last final exam on May 9, a couple good friends of ours, Cyndi and Hayley, wanted to spoil us by cooking dinner for us...at our place. So on Saturday, May 10 (also Stacie's Birthday), they came over at about 4pm with bags and bags of groceries to start cooking. Stacie and I went for a walk while they took over our house for a while.

It was a great little Shabbat walk. Very quiet in the neighborhood as usual, but now that we were done studying, our minds were learning to become quiet too. The pace of the walk was slow. Like walking with a two year old, but it was just Stacie and I. After all, we really had nowhere to go and there was nothing we had to do. Very different than what we had been doing. After a life of study study study comes to a screeching halt, we almost didn't know what to do with ourselves or how to rest or be still. But our friends who were making dinner were about to help us.Back at the house, first came some fantastic hors d’oeuvres along with some white wine. The idea of this dinner was to relax, decompress, eat slowly, enjoy each other's company - have a nice long meal together. So we did. Five tasty courses - and five hours of genuine conversations later - I cannot put words to the extraordinary, completely relaxed and satisfied feeling I had. We all felt it. There is something so right about a meal that lasts longer than 23 minutes (or less).

It reminded me of a time when I was in Turkey 4 years ago. We were at a nice restaurant in a hotel and a group of us came in, we were "starving" after being out all day. They served us dinner, slowly, course by course. After I had devoured my first course I waited for what was next, then I was soon impatiently looking over my shoulder wondering where the heck the waiter was. What poor service. What IS he doing back there anyway? One of the guys, at my table, who was familiar with the culture, said "the servers here don't know what to do with the Americans who just devour their food in no time. People in Turkey often sit down for dinner for about two hours."
"Two hours! What do they do around the dinner table for two hours?" I exclaimed.
"Maybe you would get to know your wife" was his reply.

Maybe I will start to get it now.

Dinner for a couple hours. You should try it sometime.

And There Was Great Rejoicing...

"Yeah."


Well we have now officially completed our studies at JUC, and after all our hard work received the above piece of paper.

Transcripts.

What seemed quite impossible only weeks ago, is now already becoming a distant memory. Stacie and I studied, studied, and studied some more - in order for us to complete the task God called us to. Study. Finish strong. The two big comprehensive exams we had went miraculously well, the most recent one was Historical Geography. We felt pretty good, clear-minded and confident, while we were taking it all day, which was the last day of finals (May 9). We know many people were praying for us and cheering us on through the finish line. We felt them and are extremely thankful for them.

Now we have some other "studying" to do for our last few weeks here, but this time without stacks of books and not inside a classroom.

What's going on?

It's been a while since we've checked in with all that has been going on with us these busy past few weeks. Here's a few posts to update you on some of them.
Enjoy!

Remembering.

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. Different events and memorials will be taking place throughout the day, especially at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum. This morning in class, our Archeology professor, before beginning with his lecture was speaking of this day adding, “It is important for us to remember so that we do not make the same mistakes in history.”

At 10am, a two-minute siren wailed nationwide as Israel commemorated the annual “Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day.” When this siren blows on this day, everything stops, including traffic - some drivers actually get out of their cars and stand to honor the 6 million victims. As soon as the siren began, Archeology class stopped, and we all stood in silence for a couple minutes.

It is important to remember.

Joshua

As many people in the world seem to know by now, Stacie and I have been studying very hard for a big Hebrew Comprehensive exam. Basically we had to translate ten chapters from Joshua on our own, (no class time on any of this one) then walk into the exam room and have two different sections of those ten chapters sitting in front of us and we had to be able to translate it. Plus, a number of questions regarding the Hebrew grammar, such as parsing and syntax questions (which has never been clear to me). So we did our part by preparing as best we could.


Studying all day...

...and all night......for about 12+ hours a day for a couple weeks. There were definitely moments of discouragement and frustration along the way, especially as the day drew near and we realized we hadn't prepared anything for the the Historical Geography question (on the Hebrew Comp exam). This question, whatever it was going to look like, was going to be worth 25% of it. This exam is pass/fail, and we need to pass in order to graduate. So the last couple days we crammed about everything we could regarding the overall history and geography of the Exodus and the Conquest (Pharaoh's, dates, conquest strategy, routes, maps, and the archeology of Jericho and Ai).

On Friday, April 25th, Stacie and I finally took the exam. Stacie and I were the only ones taking this exam that day, so they threw us in separate rooms and said "good luck." By this point, many people knew we were taking this exam and many people were praying for us, encouraging us and cheering us on. For those of you who did - THANK YOU! We truly could tell that it was bigger than ourselves.
I mean, I was full of joy all day, even while I was taking this exam. Never stressed, worried or frustrated. Just taking my time and trying to answer the questions thoroughly.

Stacie slugged it out for about 6 1/2 hours before she finally finished. I was in my cell for about an hour longer. So it was a long and difficult exam, but both of us agree that we are so thankful for all the things we had to learn to prepare for this one. There is nothing about all of this that I am like "why do I need to know this???" It's fun stuff, and it's why God called us here.

Thanks to you all for cheering us on through the finish line. We now have one week left of classes and then finals. 2 final exams plus one even BIGGER comprehensive exam on Historical Geography.

Grrrrrrr.

Passover pt. 1 - The Story

Psalm 105

26He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron, whom He had chosen.
27They performed His wondrous acts among them,
And miracles in the land of Ham.
28He sent darkness and made it dark;
And they did not rebel against His words.
29He turned their waters into blood
And caused their fish to die.
30Their land swarmed with frogs
Even in the chambers of their kings.
31He spoke, and there came a swarm of flies
And gnats in all their territory.
32He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33He struck down their vines also and their fig trees,
And shattered the trees of their territory.
34He spoke, and locusts came,
And young locusts, even without number,
35And ate up all vegetation in their land,
And ate up the fruit of their ground.
36He also struck down all the firstborn in their land,
The first fruits of all their vigor.
37Then He brought them out with silver and gold,
And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled.
38Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the dread of them had fallen upon them.
39He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to illumine by night.
40They asked, and He brought quail,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41He opened the rock and water flowed out;
It ran in the dry places like a river.
42For He remembered His holy word
With Abraham His servant;
43And He brought forth His people with joy,
His chosen ones with a joyful shout.
44He gave them also the lands of the nations,
That they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples' labor,
45So that they might keep His statutes
And observe His laws,
Praise the LORD!

Passover pt. 2 - The Rules

Exodus 12

Feast of Unleavened Bread

14'Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.
15'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
16'On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you.
17'You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.
18'In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.
19'Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land.
20'You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.'"

Passover pt. 3 - 3,454 Years Later

Three thousand four hundred and fifty-four years ago, at the first ever Passover, God instructed the Israelites to eat bread without yeast for a week. So what does this look like today? Here's a few pictures from our local grocery store this last week.

Entire aisles covered up with items containing leaven.

But how do you know what is okay to purchase?

Chocalate spread. "Kosher for Pesach (Passover)."

Stacie standing in front of the cereal aisle - no entrance.

And here are the empty bread shelves.

Here's the Matzah! (Matzote - plural)

Passover pt. 4 - The Sacrifice

A few weeks ago, a good friend of ours (and neighbor) captured an amazing video in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is a video of a Jewish Priestly Passover Sacrifice. To watch this video click here.

WARNING - This video is bloody and quite graphic. Parental discretion is advised.


I think this video is truly an amazing picture of another Passover sacrifice that took place. Paul and Peter both refer to it in the following.


1 Corinthians 5:6-8

6Your boasting is not good Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?
7Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
8Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.


1 Peter 1:17-21

17If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;
18knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
19but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
20For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you
21who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Post Family Visits Israel!

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. Sorry.

On March 21st Stacie and I took another trip to the airport, but this time to pick up my parents who were coming to tour around the land for a couple weeks. What my parents (and Stacie) didn’t tell me is that my sister Kim was coming with them too!

It was really fun traveling around the country with my family – showing them the world of Stacie and I (our apartment, school, neighborhood…) many archeological sites, we went on some great hikes and visited a few other places – places that weren’t exactly on our initial itinerary.


We toured around the Holy City for the first a few days and even celebrated Easter together by going to a sunrise service at the Garden Tomb. After 5 days in Jerusalem (while Stacie and finished up classes before Spring Break), it was time to get out of the city. We headed for the Shephelah (western foothills) and joined up with a friend of ours who was leading a study tour. We climbed up Tel Azekah – near the area where God used David to defeat Goliath, and then we climbed up Gath – the city where Goliath was from –

and that its when our picture...

our plans…

our itinerary…all changed.

On top of the Tel (man-made hill of city remains), Kim slipped on some loose rock, and fell pretty hard. A doctor was in the tour group we were with and said we needed to get her ankle checked out. So we drove to the hospital – and sure enough – she broke her leg!


So they slapped a cast on her leg and sent us away. Great, so what do we do now? Well we were planning on driving up to Galilee that night for a few days, so we went anyway.
I’ve posted lots of pictures on our Shutterfly account that tells much of the rest of the story.

The broken leg Kim experienced was a bummer…I mean, first of all it’s not exactly a free trip to come visit us. Also, mom, dad and Kim were all exercising and training to be able to do some extensive hiking here. They were driving to hotels in downtown Grand Rapids just to climb the 24-flights of stairs – they wanted to come here and they wanted to go hard and hike a lot and see a lot and learn a lot and…

I learned a lot from these couple weeks as well. First thing I learned – this country is not very handicap accessible. Too many hills, valleys, rough stones, and archeological digs without nicely paved side-walks. I was also again reminded that the “picture changes everyday.” We often like to make our plans – and it’s good to plan – but we cannot hang on too tightly to our plans. In fact, when we were hiking up Tel Gath, someone in the group was asking me about what Stacie and I are planning on doing when we graduate from JUC. My response? I told him about a couple ideas or dreams that Stacie and I have, although nothing concrete, but in the end I said, “ya know, I don’t even know what’s going to happen three minutes from now let alone what next year will look like.” Sure enough, about eight minutes later, Kim fell and broke her leg.

“The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9

So the initial itinerary changed a bit. But we truly had a fantastic two weeks together. We wheeled Kim around in that wheelchair to places we’re not so sure a wheelchair has ever been before – like the top of Mt. Arbel for example . We made the most out of what we had and what we could do, we enjoyed the moments we had together, we saw a lot, learned a lot, laughed a lot, (cried a little, slept a little…) – All is well.


Life is a journey. Full of many stories. I mean, that’s sort of what this place is all about isn’t it? We talk about the stories of people of faith who have gone before us on these ancient paths. Now we have more stories of our own to tell - on those same ancient paths.

Tag.

Who hasn’t played the game “tag”? I loved that game as a kid. Most kids do at some point in their early years. I can remember running around on the playground during recess as a kid at Kelloggsville Christian School. Recess, lunch and “Gym class” were my (and every other kid’s) favorite part of the day. During recess we would play a number of silly games, like “duck duck goose,” “red rover,” and of course “tag.” Then when school finally got out, I would go home and often play outside with my brother, Corey, my sister, Kim and some neighbor kids.

As I was reminiscing a little bit this week on the “good ole years” of playing tag as a kid I thought about the basic idea of the game. Someone starts out as the person who is “it” they run around trying to tag another kid, who becomes “it”, who tags someone else who becomes “it”, who tags someone else who becomes “it”, who tags someone else who becomes “it”, who tags someone else who becomes “it”, who tags someone else who becomes “it”, who tags someone else who becomes “it”, who tags someone else who becomes “it”, who tags someone else who becomes “it”…

When and how does this game end?

The game ends when either: the school bell rings and its time to go back to class (or the dinner bell at house when it was time to eat); or when the kids simply get tired of running around tagging each other. I know kids seem to have more energy or better stamina than many adults, but the game EVENTUALLY gets old doesn’t it?

It seems that sometimes “grown-ups” like to play “tag” too, but on a different level. They have a bigger “playground” and they don’t simply “tag” each other in fun; grown-ups have issues and like to play this game using things like guns, rockets, bombs and missiles. At least it often seems that way around here. Rockets are being fired from Gaza into Southern Israel on a regular basis. Last week Israel apparently got tired of it and decided it was time for “paybacks” and went on an offensive raid into Gaza where over 100 Palestinians were killed, including babies, children, and teenagers.

Awful. Just awful.

Stacie and I have had many conversations on how screwed up this world is that we are living in. How is it possible for someone to hate another being so much they would actually kill them? And yet it happens. Everyday. In fact it happens so much that most of us become “numb” to this type of news. This past Thursday night, a Palestinian gunman went on his own rampage and killed 8 students, most of them high school age, studying at a Yeshiva (Jewish Seminary) in Jerusalem.

…who tags someone else who becomes “it”, who tags someone else who becomes “it”, who tags someone else who becomes “it”…

This game EVENTUALLY gets old too doesn’t it? When and how does THIS game end? There isn’t a school bell or dinner bell in the world that can stop this madness. But there is a solution. In fact a Rabbi in this country once said:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…
-Jesus

It’s both radical and revolutionary. Jesus is the only hope.

"He Is The All."

In one of our classes we are studying Intertestamental Literature (or Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period), and are currently making our way through some of the Apocryphal books. I have basically never read these before, but am really enjoying them. We recently studied the Wisdom of Ben Sirach/Ecclesiasticus, which is often compared with a book like Proverbs where “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 1:7). When I was reading through its fifty-one chapters the other day, the following chapter really caught my attention…especially the last section.
I am also including a few pictures of this beautiful and diverse country I’ve taken over the past month as well.
Enjoy!


Ben Sirach 43


[1] The pride of the heavenly heights is the clear firmament, the appearance of heaven in a spectacle of glory.
[2] The sun, when it appears, making proclamation as it goes forth, is a marvelous instrument, the work of the Most High.
[3] At noon it parches the land; and who can withstand its burning heat?
[4] A man tending a furnace works in burning heat, but the sun burns the mountains three times as much; it breathes out fiery vapors, and with bright beams it blinds the eyes.
[5] Great is the Lord who made it; and at his command it hastens on its course.



[6] He made the moon also, to serve in its season to mark the times and to be an everlasting sign.
[7] From the moon comes the sign for feast days, a light that wanes when it has reached the full.
[8] The month is named for the moon, increasing marvelously in its phases, an instrument of the hosts on high shining forth in the firmament of heaven.
[9] The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven, a gleaming array in the heights of the Lord.
[10] At the command of the Holy One they stand as ordered, they never relax in their watches.
[11] Look upon the rainbow, and praise him who made it, exceedingly beautiful in its brightness.
[12] It encircles the heaven with its glorious arc; the hands of the Most High have stretched it out.


[13] By his command he sends the driving snow and speeds the lightnings of his judgment.
[14] Therefore the storehouses are opened, and the clouds fly forth like birds.
[15] In his majesty he amasses the clouds, and the hailstones are broken in pieces.
[16] At his appearing the mountains are shaken; at his will the south wind blows.
[17] The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth; so do the tempest from the north and the whirlwind. He scatters the snow like birds flying down, and its descent is like locusts alighting.



[18] The eye marvels at the beauty of its whiteness, and the mind is amazed at its falling.
[19] He pours the hoarfrost upon the earth like salt, and when it freezes, it becomes pointed thorns.
[20] The cold north wind blows, and ice freezes over the water; it rests upon every pool of water, and the water puts it on like a breastplate.
[21] He consumes the mountains and burns up the wilderness, and withers the tender grass like fire.
[22] A mist quickly heals all things; when the dew appears, it refreshes from the heat.



[23] By his counsel he stilled the great deep and planted islands in it.
[24] Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers, and we marvel at what we hear.
[25] for in it are strange and marvelous works, all kinds of living things, and huge creatures of the sea.
[26] Because of him his messenger finds the way, and by his word all things hold together.

[27] Though we speak much we cannot reach the end, and the sum of our words is:

"He is the all."

[28] Where shall we find strength to praise him?

For he is greater than all his works.

[29] Terrible is the Lord and very great, and marvelous is his power.

[30] When you praise the Lord, exalt him as much as you can; for he will surpass even that. When you exalt him, put forth all your strength, and do not grow weary,

for you cannot praise him enough.

[31] Who has seen him and can describe him? Or who can extol him as he is?
[32] Many things greater than these lie hidden, for we have seen but few of his works.
[33] For the Lord has made all things, and to the godly he has granted wisdom.