here our bits of our thoughts from our field study to benjamin or benji as i have come to call it. mine (kristi's) thoughts are first, tim's a bit down the page...
Today I am thankful for the radical truth that God cares for me. He cares for each one of us, and today I felt Him smile as Tim and I headed back to the bus at the end of the day. Prior to the field study I had checked the weather report often in hopes for a sunny prediction. Unfortunately days before weather.com was still predicating rain. And second to my fervency for a sunny day for our wedding, I prayed for good weather for our trip. On the surface it may seem strange for me to be so preoccupied with hopes for good weather, but with the backdrop of my more negative experience 7 years ago, my hopes make greater sense.
Redemption of Benjamin was how I categorized my prayers. For 7 years ago our Benjamin field study was marked with rain, wind, sickness and cold. In 2001 we were unable to visit Jericho because of safety concerns, as well as the Wadi Qilt. I walked away from my Benjamin field study experience in 2001 wondering if every field study would bring such misfortune. Thankfully as I documented in my journal regularly every field trip following was leaps and bounds better, but still Benjamin in many ways was marred in my mind. And so I prayed for the redemption of Benjamin.
I am pleased to report Benjamin has been redeemed. The entire day was sunny. We could not travel down the curvy road (for part of it collapsed in December), hence lack of bus-sickness. We were also able to travel to Jericho with no concern. Ultimately these pleasant conditions led to an absolute lack of distraction and I was able to fully concentrate on the information given. And with the background of previous knowledge, I had a context to fit everything Dr. Wright taught. All-in-all a great day!
I greatly appreciated Dr. Wright’s analogy of the game of Risk. For the first time in my life (as embarrassing as this confession is) I saw Joshua and the kings of the Old Testament as war/politically strategic men. In seminary I was thoroughly taught about the spiritual ramifications of the ancient kings and how their decisions led to God’s judgment or blessing. But in my Old Testament courses I was never introduced to the idea that their battles and conquests were so intimately related to the land – to routes – to geographic realities. And even the first time around at JUC I was so overwhelmed with the mass of geographic information I didn’t put it all together than either. The profound reality that the geographic landscape affected most everything in the Bible came alive in a more powerful way today than I have ever experienced. So I suppose the Lord not only redeemed my impression of Benjamin today, but profoundly shaped my view of kings and strategy of the Old Testament.
Tim's thoughts:
Today we had another great day in the field. We began by stopping at an overlook above the Wadi Qilt in the Judean wilderness. It was beautiful. Stark rolling hills. Deep ravines. If lush and green they would have been breathtaking. As they were, dry and desolate, they were impressive and foreboding. One wonders how anyone would survive there more than a few days, let alone 40 days, or years on end.
At this stop I was reminded of one of the problems with our field study trips. We go so fast, often I have little time for deep reflection. I think its unfair to say it’s a problem with the trip; they are designed to learn, not as some sort of spiritual getaway. I guess I have a desire to return to some of the places we have been and spend some time reflecting on the events that took place there. Whether it was the exact location or not, it was the type of area that Jesus spent his 40 days in. That’s amazing. I want to sit there and rest with that reality. I want to sit and wrestle through the lives of the desert Fathers- their decisions to leave civilization behind and what that means for me today. Perhaps it was as Dr. Wright said commenting on the commonality of three great monotheistic religions beginning in the desert; the wilderness reminds us of our dependence on God and drives us to Him.
I was also struck by the reality of Jesus using that very road, from Jericho to Jerusalem, in the days leading up to His death. He began down in Jericho, healing and eating with the same beggars and tax collectors he had spent time with already, the same down and outers that He would be dying for in the near future. At the same time, He began his journey in the midst of the political and economic power structures of the day. Pontius Pilate was happily using Herod’s old palace. There were also most likely summer home’s of the other elite and powerful from Jerusalem in Jericho. These were the type of people who had a vested interest in there not being a new king of the Jews, with the consequential overturning of current social order.
From Jericho Jesus headed up the steep ascent into the wilderness, not alone like in His temptation, but surrounded by throngs of people believing He was going to bring about some sort of new Kingdom. They were right of course, its just they each had a image of what that Kingdom would be like in their own minds and none of them were right. Perhaps only Mary, reflecting back on how it was foretold that a sword would pierce her soul, had an inkling of what was to come.
Were blind Bartimaeus and Zachaeus among the throngs? Would they go on to see Jesus executed? Were any of the disciples beginning to put it together that this was not a victory march? What would Jesus Himself thinking and feeling? These and questions like these are what I desire to sit and reflect on.
Throughout the remainder of the day, I would say an interesting dichotomy was brought up. It was the question of Scripture, Truth, and archaeology. At Jericho we were faced with the fact that there has been no evidence found of a Late Bronze Age wall that fell down along with a destruction layer. This is what we would expect to find to correspond to the story of the Israelites conquering Jericho. On the other hand, we also read in 1 Kings where the Pharaoh of Egypt gave Solomon the cities of Hazor, Meggido, and Gezer. It just so happens that Solomonic gates have been found at all three of these sites. Archaeology and Scripture, sometimes in close agreement, sometimes leaving us difficult questions to wrestle with. I suppose at the end of the day, the deeper question is what does my faith rests on? If it rests on carefully constructed archaeological arguments, then it may be an uncomfortable place to be in. On the other hand, if there is a deeper something that my faith is built on, I may find myself okay with the uncertainty that a site like Jericho leaves.
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