Tel Arad

I was a bit disappointed that we did not have time to tour Tel Arad. (With limited time off when working in Israel and Jordan, we just can't see it all!) Although I wanted to see the Israelite-period temple discovered there, I was content to view Tel Arad from the road as we passed by. 

The temple was not sanctioned by God, but was a deviation from devoted worship to Yahweh only. Apparently, Tel Arad contains pre-Abraham-era ruins. Located on a strategic trade route, Tel Arad was once prime real estate.

KIng David's Wells

One of the more interesting sites in Bethlehem is one of the most obscure. 

King David’s Wells are three cisterns that were discovered in 1895. They are surrounded by a low metal gate. 

Since we did not know that the wells could be reached by walking just a short distance from Manger Square, we opted for the long way. (That seems to be our trend, since we serve as our own tour guide!) We climbed up an entire hillside of steps, hurrying since the taxi driver was waiting for us. 

The wells, which are located on the property of a Catholic school, were deserted. We opened the unlocked gate and let ourselves into the site.

Why are these wells significant? Even though it is unknown if these wells have a biblical connection, it is tempting to imagine heroes from David’s army furtively drawing water from them.

When David was in hiding, trying to preserve his life from Saul’s wrath, he longed out loud for a drink of water from Bethlehem’s well: “Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” 

Then as now, Bethlehem was a city in conflict. The Philistines had invaded the area and taken control of David’s hometown, turning it into a battle zone. Three of David’s loyal warriors broke through the enemy lines and brought David precious water from the well. 

David was so overwhelmed by the loyalty and courage of these mighty men, he could not drink the water and poured it out onto the ground (II Samuel 23:14-17; I Chronicles 11:16-19).

Grazing in the Desert

These sheep and goats near Tel Arad in southern Israel are being led by a teenage shepherd. I suppose shepherding has not changed much throughout the years, with the exception of technology. 

This bluejean-clad shepherd was checking his cell phone while keeping an eye on his sheep and goats scampering up and down the rocky terrain.  

Palestinian Myths

Wikipedia's "Gaza Strip" article states, "The Palestinians are the only refugee group to have ever been given hereditary refugee status." Although I am not positive how this technically works, the basic concept is that if you are the child, grandchild, great-grandchild, etc., of an Arab displaced during Israel's 1948 War of Independence, you can also be considered a refugee. 

I have my view of the Israel-Arab conflict, which I will not discuss in this post, but we have lived in villages in Jordan that originated as Palestinian refugee camps. Although they are now concrete and stone buildings, as opposed to tent settlements, most of the people living in these "camps" are Palestinian. Bill and I gained a firsthand understanding of the Israel-Arab conflict from a human interest standpoint. These are real people with real families. Some of the men carry in their pockets keys to homes that they will probably never return to. 

The word "Palestine" refers to Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. 

For the record, I want to debunk some myths about modern-day Palestinians. They are not descendants of the biblical Philistines. In Arabic, the word "Palestinian" is pronounced "Fil uh steen," similar to our usual pronunciation of the biblical word Philistine. This has led some people to erroneously identity modern-day Palestinians with the biblical Philistines, who were Israel's enemies. I will discuss this more in a later blog, but for now it is enough to state the fact. I will give more information later. 

One other thing, just for the record… All Arabs are not descendants of Ishmael. I'm not sure how the "Jews are from Abraham and Arabs are from Ishmael" idea came into existence, but it is simply not true. There are enough problems between the two groups without categorizing all Arabs this way. Again, stay tuned for more explanation later!

As Christians, we have our loyalties for biblical reasons, but that does not negate the fact that God loves all people, Jews, Arabs, and everyone else. They are all human beings in need of His love and truth. We cannot afford to exclude groups of people because of our preconceived stereotypes.