Where God made the sun stand still

I was unprepared for Tel Gezer.

The contrasts of Israel often take my breath away: the juxtaposition of the ancient and modern side-by-side, never more than a few feet (and millennia) apart... like watching children skip over the ruins of an ancient city while a modern one looks on half a mile away, or a family picnicking where a battle once took place.

What I knew about Tel Gezer before going was simple: as one of the places Solomon fortified, it is one of the remaining trio of cities with its iconic gates. I’ve been to the other 2, Megiddo and Hatzor; this was my chance to “collect all 3.”

What I didn’t know was that Tel Gezer overlooks the Valley on Ayalon, where God made the sun stand still for the battle in Joshua 10. The valley itself is huge; here are the views in each direction:

EPIC.

As sunset neared and turned the valley pink behind us, we walked back to the parking lot, passing these stone monuments.

These stones mark a place of ancient Canaanite worship. The soil below them has been tested, and the remains of burned infants had been found there, evidence of ancient child sacrifice to pagan gods.

I’d never been to a place like that, and, in the shock and the sorrow of the moment, I was struck again by another juxtaposition: how unimaginable it was to witness this place of sorrow at all, let alone maybe a mile from where the Creator of those infants made the very sun stay still in the sky.

It’s another contrast I’ll never forget.

What made it even more sobering was that the sign marking the monuments said nothing about the infant sacrifice that happened there. And nearby, a group of women sat in a circle. When one of my tour guides went to talk with them, they told her that this was a place of worship for femininity and fertility, and they were there to connect with each other and this place. They had no idea about the real truth of this place.

Tel Gezer: Watch out for bats!

What do you know about Tel Gezer?

Tel Gezer lies in central Israel, south of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem. A major biblical city that was conquered by Joshua (Joshua 10), given to the Levites, and fortified by Solomon in 1 Kings 9 after it was given to him as a wedding present from Pharaoh, its ruins date back to the Bronze Age and including civilizations like the Canaanites, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.

There's so much here in this park that we're going to explore in 2 posts. First, the ruins!

We first come to the Canaanite tower, which is close to the city gates. What's interesting here is how far down the archeologists had to dig just to get to it! Can you see the contrast from the tower remains to the height of the wall directly behind it?

Above is the remains of the tower. 

Next to it is the water system. I was going to go down there and then I heard that one was in fact full of bats- more than 1 million!- and my tour guide said: "Remember, 1 million bats = a lot of poop." I said, "That's okay, I'll take a picture of the entrance, haha."

From there, you go around to the Canaanite Gate:

Made of mud, I can't help but think of the 4,000-year-old gate at Tel Dan. Remember how well preserved it is? This one is not as well preserved.

But, can you see the mud bricks that still remain? How cool is that?

From here, you go up the hill and can see the ancient Solomonic-era city, complete with its city gates—the same ones that match Megiddo and Hazor!

The views to the valley beyond are beautiful. On the opposite hill you can see the caves mentioned where the kings of the conquered cities were buried in Joshua.

The 6-chambered Solomonic Gate!

In these photos, you can see the walls of the city are actually double-walls, with a chamber between them. It reminded me of Masada, where the families of the warriors were right there in the room with them. 

What was cool about this part were the families picnicking near the ruins. Children were exploring, walking around the walls and jumping between rocks. It's so mind-boggling to see ancient and modern side-by-side, and such a picture of how time moves on.

That's it for part 1 of Tel Gezer. Next week's post is about the most powerful part of the visit for me. See you then!

I was unprepared for Tel Be'er Sheva

Ancient Be'er Sheva isn't too far from the modern city, but their distance spans millennia.

That's the thing about Israel... the ancient and modern are inextricably linked. You can travel a few feet and go back in time 1000 years (or more), and vice versa. It's mind-blowing!

But that's not what left me breathless this time. 

It was a hot, beautiful day in August, yet somehow I was surprised to not be overheating. Probably because it was dry heat. We walked up to tel Be'er Sheva with not long before the park was to close. 

Like I shared last week, I'd always associated Hebron with Abraham, and missed Be’er Sheva altogether in his story- until visiting one of the well museums.

I was unprepared for just how moving it was to stand in amongst the ruins of ancient Be’er Sheva and realize that it all began there. Abraham lived HERE.

But he lived here, dug wells, made a peace treaty, and offered hospitality and I couldn’t wrap my brain around that. Not only him, but Isaac and Rachel lived here, and likely Jacob as well.

This is where it all began.

the map above shows Abraham's route from Ur to Be'er Sheva

As the hot desert wind whipped my hat off my head, I read the account of him and Abimelech, and then remembered another passage I suddenly had to read. I was certain the passage I wanted was Galatians (later I remembered it was Hebrews). But Galatians 3:6-9 is where God led me and it left me speechless.

Verses 7-9: that's me! This is also the early beginnings of my story of faith, even though I am a Gentile.

There, right there, in Be'er Sheva. My roots go down there too.

WOW.

Let that sink in for you too.

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Now, for the tour!

More than just Abrahamic history happened here. The land in view is also where significant events in WWI happened!

Here you can see a continued example of rebuilding on original foundations. There are 2 different time periods represented here!

Unfortunately, I did not get to go into the water system, as the lady running the park wanted to leave before closing and was angry at us. But I found out that it was dug by Jacob... you can bet I'm going back!

An early street!

Storehouses!

My favorite, though, is the ancient residential areas. I couldn't get enough of it, especially with the modern skyscrapers in the distance!

Not pictured (I could see it but my lens wasn’t powerful enough) was the IKEA right on the edge of the city.

Sarah’s favor spot for home decor?

Idolatry within the city gates

There's more to the story of Tel Hazor than meets the eye.

The size and expanse of the site is incredible, and there's so much to learn—which I did on my first visit there. But on my 2nd, I learned to look for the small details that tell an even greater story—a story with implications that last millennia, even to this day.

As I stated in the last blog, Hazor was a significant city guarding the Via Maris. Joshua 11:10 calls it "the head of the kingdoms of Syria and Babylon" because of its important location.

There was a lower city and an upper city. The tel is the upper city, and the lower city is underneath this field. At the entrance from the lower city to the upper, is a dark stone.

It's obvious it's cracked, but it's several thousands of years old. No big deal, right? That's what you'd expect to see. Except... that's not why the stone is cracked. No, it's because during Joshua's campaign in the early chapters of Joshua, God commanded them to destroy everything, to kill everything that breathes, and to destroy all the high places and places of idolatry.

That dark, rectangular stone is cracked because it was where idols were placed at the entrance of the city. 

It's not accidental destruction or decay because of the march of time, or even earthquakes. 

It was intentional.

An act of obedience. 

Needless to say... I completely lost my chill. But my guide wasn't done.

He took us into the palace, sitting next to one of the excavated walls. He spoke to us about the history of Hazor, and its later appearances in the Bible: 

Jael drove a spike through Sisera's temple (the general under the king of Hazor). 

Solomon later built up to city in the same way as Megiddo and Gezer, and it became an Israelite city. 

And then, in 2 Kings 15:29: "In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria."

Since the Assyrians burned everything, it makes sense that archeologists find evidence of that fire in the remains—which they have.

But... wait... it looks like there are 2 sets of burn marks, and the distance between them shows quite some time passed between the fires. Why?

Are you ready for this?

Joshua 11: 10-11: At that time Joshua turned back and captured Hazor and put its king to the sword. (Hazor had been the head of all these kingdoms.) Everyone in it they put to the sword. They totally destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed, and he burned Hazor itself.

That, right there, is evidence to support the record in God's Word. 

And... I lost my chill again. WOW!

But, why did the destruction of Hazor by the Assyrians in 732 BC have to happen at all? 

Further up the ancient city is lies the reason why God allowed for first the Assyrians and then the Babylonians to invade Israel and takes its people into captivity:

That standing stone is a base for an idol. It is well within the city gates, in the area dating to the time of the Israelites.

Despite God's command to have no other gods before Him, idolatry had crept back into the land.