Did the Ark of the Covenant rest here?

The thing about being in Israel is that you never know when you will see or learn something that will take your breath away. Tel Beit Shemesh definitely was one of those places!

In 1 Samuel, the Ark of the Covenant was stolen from Shiloh by the Philistines, where it began a tour of the major Philistine cities, as crazy things happened wherever the Ark was: statues of false gods fell over face first, decapitated and missing limbs, and all the people broke out in tumors to name a few. Eventually, the Ark was put on a cart led by two nursing cows, and they carried it out of Philistine territory to Beit Shemesh, where the Ark was eventually placed on a large stone.

Then, more tragedy struck. Because some Levites peered into the Ark, people died. Different versions of 1 Samuel 6 are unclear; some say it was 70 people and some say it was 50,070. The text also doesn't say how long the Ark was actually in Beit Shemesh, which means "House of the Sun". Either way, it was a hard-learned lesson.

Modern day Tel Beit Shemesh isn’t a national park; we literally parked on the side of the road and walked up, where we could see the modern city (below), and

and even glimpse Samson’s hometown (the far right peak in the distance).

There are ruins of a monastery, an amazing view towards the ancient Philistine territory, and a massive, cross-shaped cistern dating back to the Assyrian invasion.

But the coolest part is this place in the oldest part of the ruins dating to the Canaanite era, with the fields just beyond them. There are 3 flat, smooth rocks partially covered by grass in the photo below. They look a lot like places where sacrifices have been made, and tests of the ground around it reveal the remains of kosher animals used in sacrifices.

the 3 flat stones with the groove are in the center below, partially hidden by grass:

Behind those 3 stones is an unnatural wall, called “fill”. It was left after digging around it and now it acts as a wall, showing what the earth absorbed over the past millennia. On the edge of the “wall”, a bone is sticking out. Can you see it?

Can you see it?

We even found an animal bone lying just off the path where we were staying (bonus).

And behind that fill “wall”, is an even larger stone, also partially hidden in long grass. It’s flat, smooth, and almost the exact shape and size of what the stone holding the Ark needed to be.

Could that be where the Ark rested after returning from the Philistines?

I was pretty much speechless at that point, to be standing in this unprotected place, looking at a place that likely held the presence of God (as if He can be contained). Then it struck me, as incredible as that was, and is, even more so is that those of us who know Him have His Holy Spirit inside of us.

What a special place! The end of 1 Samuel says that after this, the Ark went to Kiriath Jearim, where it stayed in the house of Abinadab for 20 years.

The place where everything changed

Tel Dan was an incredible adventure.

First, the 4,000+-year-old Abrahamic gate.

Then, walking into the ancient city, through the next set of gates, and sitting at the spot of the king:

The rocks are so rounded, that they look like something from a theme park, haha.

View from inside the gate:

Once again, a place just outside the gate for the city's idols to stand at the entrance. Visitors and vendors would pay homage on that high place. This would have been before the Israelite time (I think).

Then, you go through newer gates:

The view from inside, looking out:

To the residential area:

this last photo cracks me up a bit (the sign):

Then, to the place that broke my heart:

“After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.” 1 Kings 12:28-30

It’s not often you get to ‘witness’ the point where everything changed for a nation. More often than not, these things are more of a “frogs set to a slow boil” situation than a sudden point of no return.

Here, at Tel Dan, is a replica of an altar commissioned by Jeroboam, who had golden calves placed for worship at Beth-el and Dan, all so the people wouldn’t go to worship in Jerusalem (and maybe swear allegiance to Rehoboam). Off to the side of the altar, in these other buildings, implements were found that just like what were used in the temple to carry incense, proving the record of worship here.

It may have been a slow boil up until this point, but right here is where everything changed- forever.

I can't over-emphasize how sobering it is to sit and look at the altar (the metal form is just to give us an idea of what it looked like), and realize that this is whenever everything changed forever for Israel. The weight, and grief, of this place is indescribable.

After visiting Tel Dan, I watched Sergio and Rhoda's video of their visit there, and they said the same thing. I'm pasting it here so you can hear it from the mouth of Israelis.

The 4,000-year-old Abrahamic gate

It's not every day you see something that is over 4,000 years old.

This mud gate, with its iconic triple arch, has been verified to being present at Dan in Northern Israel during the time of Abraham.

“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.” Genesis 14:14.

This gate was only in use for about half a century before it was covered over— because mud and rain don’t mix well. The arch over the doorway is one of the earliest compete arches found in the world.

The gate has a view of Nimrod fortress in the distance, which I still need to visit!

This is only part of my visit to Tel Dan Nature Reserve, which I will talk about more next week. This reserve contains part of the Dan Stream, which makes up one of the 3 headwaters of the Jordan River. It was unlike no other park I've been to in Israel, as we got to walk through the woods and sometimes, through the streams.

And it made this North Ga girl's heart so happy! There's nothing like being in the mountains, forests, and rivers!