Shphelah Field Trip

Today we went on a full day field trip. We left at 8:00 a.m. and got back at 6:00 p.m. It was a really really long day. But it was probably my favorite field trip so far.
The field trip was to show us the Shphelah (Shephelah or low-lying hill lands) that are between the coastal plains by Gaza and Tel Aviv and the Judean Highlands where Jerusalem is. There are five valleys that lead up to the highlands so at the base of each valley is a city to protect Jerusalem. The first one we went to was called Lachish. This place was really cool. There were ruins everywhere and we found a ton of pottery pieces and some arrow heads. At this city, the Assyrian king Sennacherib tried to scare the Israelites into surrendering and denying their God. They started lay siege on the city by building a ramp up the side of it to climb over the walls. There are still remnants of the ramp so it was really cool to see. King Hezekiah prays and asks God for help and God promises that He will deliver them if they trust him. Luckily for them, the people decide to trust the Lord and Sennacherib returned to his own land and was killed by his own sons. All this is found in Isaiah 36 and 37. It was really fascinating to read this story while sitting on the very place it happened.
The next place we went there was a huge underground pigeon farm type thing. It was really cool. There was also a Hellenistic time period olive press, house, and cistern. It was interesting. We are going to get to make our own olive oil within the next couple of weeks. I am really excited for that!!
The next place we went was called Bell Caves. It was basically a huge old water cistern that is now a cavern. We got to sing in there because the acoustics were really good. We sang "All Creatures of Our God and King", "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and "The Spirit of God". It sounded cool, but I liked the experience of singing at the Augusta Victoria Church better. But it was still beautiful.
The next place we went was where the Israelites met the Philistines for battle with Goliath. We stood on the Tel and looked over where each camp would have been. And then we went to the bottom and got to throw stones with slings. It was so much fun and I was really good at it :) I could definitely kill someone with a sling if I needed to. I am going to buy one in the Old City and bring it home!! During this whole thing our professor gave a really cool spiritual thought about David's confidence and trust that the Lord would deliver him. He asked us if we had that confidence to face our Goliaths head on. He compared it with Hebrews 4: 14-16 about "coming boldly unto the throne of grace." He asked if we had the confidence to face our Father in Heaven. Then he sat back and let us think about it for a moment. Then he said that if we take the time to be silent and feel the Spirit the way we were feeling it at that moment, then we would know that we did have the confidence/boldness. It was really amazing. Spiritual experiences, I have noticed, come at times when I least expect them here. This story comes from 1 Samuel 17.
The final place we went was where the story of Samson took place. We didn't spend a lot of time there because we were late for dinner, but we went over the story in Judges 14-16. It is actually a tragic story.
It was a really great day. A long day for sure because by the time I got home I was covered in a layer of sweat and dust. Gross. But I have some great pictures that will hopefully come up soon!!