The Biblical Negev Trip

Day One: A cold Beersheva
Life in the biblical Negev is a daunting task. In this hot and arid climate, the children of Israel wandered forty years as nomads. We spent only a fraction of that time there, but after all the hiking we did, I was ready to head back to greener pastures at the Moshav.
Once we left the Moshav on Wednesday morning, I knew we were in for it. Bill started out by talking about how all who believe are in the father are Abraham’s children through faith. I started thinking about Abraham’s life. He never had it easy. He was a nomad from a foreign land who believed in an unknown God and spent his days wandering the wilderness waiting for his promised blessings. What a life. Deep down, I knew that this trip would not be complete without a feeling of uncertainty of what the next day would hold, because this was the experience of the Israeli children, and all who settle the Negev. The arid climate lends itself to frequent drought, and livestock, vegetation and mankind all depend on consistent provision from heaven for daily provision. This was the reason God tested the Israelite children with the manna. He wanted to remind them that he gives them life everyday, and in no way are they independent from him. Here in the Negev, life is uncertain and risky; you might be able to make it or you might not. Dangling by a thread, life is hanging in the balance and everything is at stake. In order to settle and make cities here, you need your own water supplies because the springs are not enough. Cisterns must supply the needs for the people, and the only way to supply water for the cisterns is from the sky which falls at a rate of about 12 inches a year. Therefore, God directly gives and takes life by his infinitely powerful unseen hand.
Our first stop was Be’er Sheva. Traditionally known as the southern boundary of the promised land which is “from Dan to Be’er Sheva.” Acting as a southern boundary and buffer for both the Edomites to the east and Egyptians to the south, Be’er Sheva was an essential military point as well as a successful commercial hub. We were able to see our first ancient Israeli alter here, an “altar of earth”, (Exodus 20:24) hewn from stone with prominent horns on the four corners. The horns on the altar are symbolic of power and forgiveness: Power because they are a sign of bulls’ horns-a mighty weapon, and forgiveness because of the tradition of grabbing the horns as an act of repentance and contrition from unintentional sin. During the time of the transition of power in Jerusalem from David to Solomon, two men sought forgiveness by taking hold of the horns of the altar; Adonijah and Joab. Solomon spared Adonijah from harm, but he took the life of Joab. The altar itself is rhombus shaped; five cubits deep by five cubits wide by three cubits high. The altar located in the Solomonic temple was extra large; twenty cubits wide by twenty cubits deep by thirty cubits high. The altar at Be’er Sheva was much smaller, only five cubits wide by five cubits deep by three cubits high. The altar here was destroyed by Hezekiah and again by Josiah, as the Bible records the account of the decimation of Israeli high places. The origin of the name of Be’er Sheva is an interesting story. It was occupied during the time of Abraham by Canaanite inhabitants. In Genesis 21:22ff, Abraham bartered with Abimelek for the rights to the well at Be’er Sheva, and names it after his oath, “Be’er Sheva”, or oath of the seven. In Genesis 26, Isaac reconfirms the name Be’er Sheva. Genesis 46 records God’s promise to give the land of Israel to Joseph at Be’er Sheva.
At our next stop in Arad, I was amazed that it was such a large city. During Canaanite time, as the Israelites came upon the city and tried to take it after God had already closed entrance into the promised land. Moses did not accompany the attacking force, and they failed miserably as they were soundly defeated. They were not quite so unsuccessful forty years later when they left the wilderness and launched a revenge raid on Arad and smashed it to pieces. It is important to recognize that Arad was only inhabited during the early bronze age and the iron age. There was a large citadel with an altar here, another Israelite high place from the period of the southern kings of Israel. It is recorded in I Kings that neither Asa, Jehosophat, nor Jehoash rid the land of high places. This high place in Arad was probably noted as one of those high places devoted to the worship of YHWH, because the worshipers had erected Matze Bote, which were standing stones dedicated to YHWH. One other important contribution to archeology is a house structure found here identified as Canaanite, which has acquired the name, “arad house.” The pattern for this house is commonly found throughout the land, and was first found in Arad.
From Arad, we had a brief visit to Kibbutz Sde Boker, “field of the cowboy”, the retirement home of David Ben Gurion, the first and third prime minister of Israel. Ben Gurion had a firm belief that whoever settles the Negev will inherit the land, and as an affirmation of this conviction, he moved out to the Kibbutz and began to work in the fields with the young men, and he only brought five thousand of his favorite books. An interesting fact: Ben Gurion was afraid of becoming senile in his old age, so to stop his brain from deteriorating he would stand on his head for at least thirty minutes a day in order to supply it with enough blood supply. The house was small and modest, set in the middle of the rural Kibbutz.
After Sde Boker, we went on a hike of the Nahal Zin. The Zin wilderness is a vast expanse in southern Israel that covers a large portion of the Negev. It was a beautiful hike down through the deep nahal canyon. After a long drive into the canyon, we hiked up wadi Zin until the trail turned sharply up the canyon wall and criss-crossed up the side of the nahal.
After the long hike, all of us Ibexers were tired from the long day and more than happy to stop and enjoy the sunset at the top of the nahal at the youth hostel Mactesh Ramon. Before turning in for the night, we had a chapel meeting in the cliff outside the hostel-a moment I will never forget. It was late at night and the almost full moon lit the landscape with deep hues of grey. Simply Beautiful.
Day Two: “Viva Las Eilat”
As the day began, I realized it was not going to be very academic in nature, so a brief overview will do. We visited the Red canyon and the potty wadi which resembled in many aspects much of Arizona, except for the Ibex roaming the hills. Then, we went to Eilat, and I ate some Pizza Hut pizza. It was the closest I have come to home since I’ve been abroad. Eilat is the cleanest city in Israel, and must be because it is such a large tourist trap. Modernly, it is Israel’s Las Vegas. The neon appeal of the city and the coral reef enhance the visitor’s attraction. The reef is the northernmost reef in the world, and located conveniently on the shore. I saw many fish I’ve never seen in the wild before, including the alluring lion fish, the creepy moray eel, and the Technicolor parrotfish. The water was warm enough that we didn’t need to bother with wet suits even though I was submerged for approximately two hours. If you do the math, that’s enough time to get really pruny. From the beach we toured the Eilat Stone Shop, a show room for precious and semi-precious stones. Although gimmicky, this stop was educational. I appreciated it because Israel trades the largest volume of diamonds in the world, so getting into it an Israeli diamond shop fulfilled the requirement.
Day Three: Flat tires and Hyenas
After an early breakfast, we departed for the National park at Timnah. The ancient Egyptian mining shafts are located here because they wanted to draw the large amounts of copper out of the hills. Here we faced our first traveling stall. Our bus lost it’s front left tire, and we were forced to wait at the park until help came. To use the time productively, Bill led an Ibex first, a two mile hike around the park. This was the hardest hike I have ever been on. It consisted of a gradual climb up a ridge for the first half of the hike, and then a steep ascent to the summit, followed by a steep descent with slippery rocks that made for an interesting descent. After the hike and bus repair, we toured the Hai bar predator zoo. Here they had a plethora of animals; from hyenas to snakes to ostriches to porcupines. Then we drove to Masada, and on the way we stopped for coffee at Café Aroma, a nice treat. Upon a late arrival at Masada youth hostel, we had dinner and then had chapel out on the Dead Sea marl. The full moon lit up the white sand landscape and made for a picturesque evening chapel.
Day Four: I Hiked Masada
I woke up at the crack of dawn, five o’clock to be precise, to hike up Masada. Masada is a hilltop fortress that was the final hold out of the Jewish people in the revolt of 70 A.D. the Romans finally took Masada after a three year siege. First they built a wall surrounding the large hill to keep the Jews inside from escaping and Jews without coming into Masada. The hill is 300 meters high, (900ft “ish”) and has a flat plateau on top. During the Jewish resistance, almost one thousand Jews sought refuge here. It was breathtaking to see the second stage of the roman siege; a large earthen ram that led all the way from the ground to the wall on top of the hill.
Next, we visited Qumran, home of the caves that held the Dead Sea scrolls for almost two thousand years on the bank of the Dead Sea. These caves were located approximately 200-300 feet up the side of the cliff. We visited cave one where the initial find was made. In these caves, 13 caves total, is a portion of every book in the Bible except for Ester, and there was also secretarian and Apocryphal literature.
Once we left Qumran, we made an unsuccessful attempt to visit Nahal Parat, Jeremiah’s home town. After this long trip, we made sure to stop at Yad HaShmonah, my Israeli residence, and I made sure to go to bed early. You should do the same. I will not forget this trip for the length of my days. The Negev as a whole is unrelentingly rugged. The mysterious Dead Sea and the Edomite hills that form the eastern boundary and the Egyptian Sinai wilderness forms the western border with the gulf of Eilat inbetween. An individual would not survive here, only a community that understand the source of the blessings needed to supply life.

The Great Galilee Fieldtrip

So far, we have only seen the middle section of the Israeli state. In both geography and climate it is fairly consistent or monolithic. Rocky hills with short trees and scattered underbrush gives way to a barren rocky land on the eastern slope. Samaria, on the other hand, contains wider valleys, smoother slopes, and more fertile pastures-a more gentile and varied landscape over all.

Day One: The Jezreel valley and Nazareth

The morning of the first day covered familiar ground quickly in order to proceed to the unexplored region of the Northern Tribes, within an hour we were already up the international highway in the seaside plane to the northern entrance to the Jezreel valley, the Megiddo pass. There are three north-south passes through the Mount Carmel hill country: Jokneam, Megiddo, and Kishon. In 1468, Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, came against the Canaanite kings by way of the sea. When he reached Mount Carmel, his advisors told him not to take the Megiddo pass. They counseled him saying that the Megiddo pass is the most direct, but also the narrowest; we will surely die. The Pharaoh did not listen to the voices of his advisers but instead sent small battalions up the Jokneam and Kishon passes to draw away Canaanite attention from the main force headed straight up the middle pass, straight to Megiddo and crushed the Canaanite forces there. The Middle-bronze era Canaanite city had a three chamber gate to stall invaders, and this may be the attribute Thutmose III is talking about when he said, “Capturing Megiddo is as capturing 1000 cities.” Megiddo is strategic along the coastal highway. Solomon fortified it as one of the three major cities during his dominion of Mesopotamia, the others being Hazor and Gezer. With these cities along the major trade routes, he was able to tax both local and international commerce. (I Kings 9:15, 16) Megiddo’s north-western view overlooks the Jezreel valley, Mt. Gilboa, the Harod valley, Mt. Moreh, Mt. Tabor, and the Nazareth ridge. This view is indicative of the dominion of Megiddo at the base of the great trunk route which leads through Jezreel past the Sea of Galilee and up to Hazor. Megiddo’s arms stretch out over these lands.

We stopped at a rolling stone tomb circa 135 AD. This tomb was carved out of soft limestone, and used after the Jewish revolt in 132. It would be similar to the Tomb in which Jesus was buried.

Next, we stopped at Mount Carmel, which is renowned for its lush, fertile beauty.

Elijah had a stand off with the prophets of Baal here. (I Kings 17-18) He challenged the prophets of Baal to call down fire from the heavens to burn up a sacrifice on the altar. This was to prove once and for all that Baal was the true God, but once they quit, Elijah took his turn and called down fire from God and burned up the sacrifice. He then pursued the Priests of Baal and struck down 450 prophets.

We then went to the Harod spring. This is the place Gideon chose his men. I dropped my Bible in the spring. Maybe I am ready for battle, huh?

Day Two: I live by the sea in a land called Galilee

We started out the day at Kefar Cana, just outside Nazareth. Here Jesus performed his first miracle by turning water into wine. We visited a Greek Orthodox Church at the traditional site of this miracle. (John 2:1-11) It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and the church bells tolled beautifully. We also had a little wine there to really get the “feeling” of the site.

Our next stop was Sephoras or “bird”. It was the capitol of Galilee during Jesus’ childhood and the only other significant fact is that the Mishnah was codified there by Judah the prince.

From there we traveled to Zippori, quite a beautiful National park with many large mosaics which many scenes. Some contained up to 1.5 million tiles of 23 colors. A scene of the worship of Dionysus the roman god of drunkenness where many young men we depicted dancing with centaurs and drinking wine. Another scene was a Nile hunting party where men hunted down creatures of all sorts and sizes. This city was probably the center of Dionysus worship, and was also directly across from Cana where Jesus turned the water into wine; a direct confrontation and defeat to the Dionysian cult. Zippori is also known for making peace with the Romans when the rest of Israel stood against oppression. This could explain why the remains of the Jewish synagogue contains not only Jewish symbols but also signs of the zodiac. Jewish syncretism weakened or at least contributed to the Jewish bending the Roman will.

We then had lunch in the Jezreel valley at McDonalds in the Golani Junction, and after lunch, we went straight to the Arbel cliff where we surveyed the Sea of Galilee for the first time. Jesus completed 80% of his life’s work here, so the view was breathtaking. Arbel is not recorded in the accounts in the scriptures, but Jesus probably saw this great view more than once. Arbel is directly above Tiberius, the only major city on the lake today and in Jesus’ time. We spent some quality time on the top of the cliff just surveying the Galilean scene. What a wonder to think that I could see all those places Jesus walked, talked, preached, healed, and slept. I was also similarly grieved when a large group of Mormons joined our group on the top of the cliff. I was wondering why they were there. Why do you have to come to Israel with your false teachings? Why does God, who is glorified in our worship, allow such blasphemous doctrines to go on unvindicated? The reason they were there was simple. They don’t have an AmeriBEX to study. There is no evidence in America to back up their beliefs. It is an unfortunate ruse, a hoax. No amount of imagination can bring them to the reality of God like Israel, the Holy Land. After some musing about Christ’s life and ministry here, we took a route down the cliff on foot. It wasn’t a hard hike as it was all downhill, Bill’s favorite. There were caves galore carved into the rock face. Hasmonean resistors hid from the Romans in these caves, and the Romans would try to kill them any way possible, but it was difficult, because they were hidden in the crags. The Romans came up with a system of smoking out the caves. They would lower one man down from the top of the cliff with a torch, and he would throw it into the mouth of a cave, and when the Jewish occupants would try to throw the torch out, he would shoot them with arrows. I had an opportunity to climb up into these caves and the only thing I saw there was evidence of pigeon and goat occupation, if you catch my “draft”. After we finished the hike, we got back on the bus and finished the day at our new home: En Gev Kibbutz Resort and Holiday. We had nice little cabins directly on the Galilee beachfront. It was a very nice Kibbutz, very good food, facilities and perfect location on the Sea. I don’t want to give the wrong impression, I love life on the Moshav, but it was much nicer there. We played games in the surf until well past sundown when dinner was served in the cafeteria. The climate at the Sea was almost tropical. Banana trees and Date palms were common there and it was very humid by the Sea because the Sea of Galilee sits in a bowl, 700 feet below sea level.

Day Three: River Rats

Early the first morning at Galilee, Matt, Theo and I rose before the sun to watch it come up over the Golan Heights. It was quite a remarkable sight. I read Psalm 22, and when I read verse 22, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.” On that beach I thought of how David praised the Lord, and, remembering the Israeli dance I learned the week before, I began to dance there on the shore. This moment was slightly enigmatic for me because on one hand, I can’t dance and on the other hand, I don’t care, I just wish I was Jewish.

After a little breakfast, we went to the cove of the sewer between Heptapagon and Capernaum. This is a possible location for the Sermon on the Mount because of its great natural acoustics. Sound carries so well here that I could clearly hear Mike Brusuelis reading aloud almost 100 yards away!

When we arrived at the site of Capernaum we went directly into a Catholic monastery. It was built on the site of Peter’s house. There were a vast number of ruins here, including a Jewish Synagogue from the Byzantine times. The synagogue was built as a basilica facing south toward Jerusalem. Archeology used to presuppose that this synagogue was a first century building because the Byzantines would never let the Jews build a structure this grand, and because the Jews were not wealthy enough during the Byzantine period to import the white limestone used to build it. So, they dated the pottery around this area to the first century. Unfortunately, Archeology is a faulty science sometimes, and this is one of its major mistakes. After claiming this date for some time, Byzantine coins were found under the Synagogue, and the date was adjusted. In John 6, Jesus walks to Capernaum on the water from the north-west side of the Sea and explains the significance of the feeding of the five thousand to his disciples. He clarifies that when he claims to be the bread of life that he is claiming to be the ultimate sustenance for life; the living bread. This claim baffled the Jews the day before and they could not accept it. So, he takes his disciples to the other side and explains it simply.

From there, we traveled east on the shore line to the Mount of beatitudes. The Church on the top of the hill was built with a generous contribution from Mussolini, an irony I can’t quite fathom, but then again, I don’t know many power hungry men who do not use religion for power. The Sermon on the Mount is recorded twice in the gospels, once in Matthew 5-7, and again in Luke 6. Matthew gives a broad overview and Luke gives a brief synopsis. Scholars hold different opinions on where the sermon was actually given because it is necessary to harmonize the fact that Matthew says Jesus went up the mountain side and sat down and began to teach, while Luke says he went down and stood on a level place. Some scholars say these accounts are separate, and there is no need to harmonize them, because Jesus had to preach the same gospel over and over to different crowds, while still some say it is a flat place on the top of a hill, while others but the events one right after each other. I do not see that it makes much difference. All that matters is that we cherish the depth of words Matthew recorded and the breadth of words in Luke.

At Tabgha, there is another church built on a site dedicated to these words, “follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” This is also the place Jesus appeared to Peter and the disciples after the resurrection and asked him to affirm his devotion three times in John 21:15-25. He asks Peter, “Do you love me?” three times; a stroke for every denial before Christ was crucified.

From here we went to Nof Ginosar and saw a 1^st century AD boat that was dragged up from the sea bed and preserved by infusing the wood with wax.

After the 1^st century boat, we ate lunch at Tiberius. When I was done filling my belly with Pizza, we left for Et Tel known as Bethsaida. The site is inconclusive as Bethsaida because it only contains two main houses, and Bethsaida during Jesus’ time was much larger. Jesus spent lots of time in Bethsaida. He called Andrew, Peter, Philip and possibly John here (John 1), he healed a blind man (Mark 8:22-26), and he refuted the challenges of the Pharisees here.

We were able to spend the rest of the afternoon ditching out duties for inner tubes and we floated down the Jordan River. The banks are mostly overgrown, and the water is dirty, but that didn’t stop me from having a blast. The river is no wider than 30 ft across and not much deeper than 15 ft. (I used a bamboo pole to measure) The breaks in the riverside underbrush were mainly small trails or larger trails left by tank bridges. I saw a couple of these tank bridges and they are pontoons tied together and strapped to wheels left out in the open air waiting to be used again.

Day Four:

We stopped quickly at a couple locations to see the cattle of the Golan Heights, a turret from the top of a tank, and an Israeli defense station that we were not allowed to capture with our cameras. We arrived at Nimrod fortress on the southern side of Mt. Herman. (Psm 29, 133) At 9100 feet, Mt Herman towers over the Israeli valleys.

We then visited the temple of Pan, a ½ man, ½ goat god from the Roman pantheon. In Jesus’ day it would have been nestled here at the foot of Mt Herman. This is a possible location where he transfigured before Peter, James and John. (Matt 16:13-28)

From here we departed for Tel Dan. During the conquest under Joshua, the Danites failed to push the Philistines out of their allotment on the Mediterranean Sea. So, they asked Joshua if they could move to conquer fertile lands up north. From the Tel you can see Lebanon, and it is the ancient northern border, as the saying goes, “From Dan to Beersheba”. Jeroboam erected one of the high places with golden calves here when he led Israel astray from the true God. Dan is the closest landscape to western Washington. I can’t lie, the briers and greenery made me a little homesick.

We ended the day breaking into both Hazor and Chorazim. We were running well behind schedule, and Bill gave us permission to explore Hazor without any other tourists. I vote we do it that way from now on. Too bad it was our second to last field trip.

Day Eight:

At the Lower Jordan River, we stopped to see a pilgrimage destination. There were large groups of European and South American Christians coming to be baptized. The Jordan is much wider here, as it starts its decent to 1300 below sea level to end in the Dead Sea.

Beth Shan was my favorite stop. It held impressive roman ruins. A large theatre, largest Byzantine road I have ever seen, and many buildings line valley below the Canaanite Tel Beth Shan. On the top of the Tel, you can see all the way to Jericho if you have a clear view. Saul’s body was hung on the city walls here after he was defeated on Mt. Gilboa. The men from Jabesh Gilead came to retrieve his body from the Philistines.

I learned more about Jesus’ life this week. I walked in his sandals and saw the home of his disciples. I tasted the water of the Sea and slipped on the rocks of Arbel. I slept a night in Jesus’ hometown. This trip changed my life.

John Piper on the Prosperity Gospel

One hour short of a dozen

The opening moments of a long day started out with coffee and water. Strike that, and make it a very long day. Joshua 18 sites the original Israeli capitol during Joshua’s time in Shiloh, a city in northern Ephraim. With valleys on the east and west, the city sits on the road of the patriarchs, the major inland path of commerce. The tabernacle resided here during Eli’s years of High Priesthood, but when the Israelites lost Arc of the covenant in the battle of Aphek to the Philistines, Samuel probably packed up the Tabernacle and moved it into storage for safekeeping. The tabernacle was probably located on the northern side of the city along the wall on a level area or in the middle, on the highest point of the Tel. In Judges 21, Shiloh is designated as the place where remaining Benjamites took wives from girls who were dancing during a feast.

From the Shiloh, we went to Sheckem. It is located in a wide, brown, Samarian valley, guarded on the west by two mountains: Gerazim and Ebal. Cozied in between these mountains Is a modern city, complete with a Greek Orthodox church over the well where Jesus met the Samaritan woman, (John 4:4) and an Arab refugee camp named Abab, from the Israeli nationalistic movement in 1948 or ’67. There is also a remainder of the Samaritan people who live up on mount Gerazim, one of two places they still live (the other being Tel Aviv). Shiloh is the site of covenants and convicts, testaments and treachery. It is the place where God promised Abraham his descendants would have the land of Canaan. (Gen 12:6-8) We were only privileged with a view from the top of mount Gerazim because the local populace is rather “welcoming” if you consider mines a doormat. From the summit, we read about the blessing and curses in the Mosaic covenant found in Joshua 8:30-35.

Next, we went to Aphek, which has seen better days. At the head of the Yarkon river in the coastal plain, lies ruinous footholds of a Canaanite fort, which some Turks decided would make a great site for their fort which stands, half erected today. Renamed Antipatris by Herod the great after his father, this ancient city controls roughly 2/3rds of the land’s water supply. The apostle Paul overnight here on his way to Caesarea from Jerusalem. This is also the site where the Israelite children brazenly brought the Arc of the Covenant down to help them fight the Philistines, just like they had when they began the conquest in Jericho. The main difference in these battles is they are no longer seeking and obeying The Lord God, Adonai. They lost the Arc during the battle, and it feel into Philistine hands for six months.

From the trees and breezes of Aphek to the Mediterranean sea, we arrived at Caesarea. Flashback to Acts chapter two where Peter sees the first Gentile filled with the Holy Spirit—Cornelius. It’s a fitting place for the Spirit to move among the gentiles, because it is the Las Vegas of the Israeli coastline, complete with a four thousand plus admission Amphitheatre, a hippodrome, beachside palace and a large commercial shipping port that rivaled any other major city. This was the center of near-eastern Hellenized world. Home of the Roman procurators, this Oceanside paradise feels like Miami or San Luis Obispo, clean, zesty and relaxed. The western lifestyle is centered around meaningless self-gratification in the arts, sports and academic pursuits. In this very place, Herod Agrippa I is eaten by worms before a great audience in the amphitheatre. God strikes down Herod as a sign to those who would oppose his people that even in the middle of western culture and excess, God is still in control.

This weekend...

I was in the dead sea.
It is said that the Romans marveled at Palestine for three reasons:

• The People who are never peaceful
  
• The Sea where nothing sinks
  
• The Temple that you can see from the coast

The sea where nothing sinks is a misnomer, and i didn't expect to see all the rocks floating on the surface, but i was excited to find how i could float without having 80% body fat. It is truly a self-defining experience-there is nothing else like it. The full moon added an element of poetry to the deserted landscape at 1300ft below sea level. The sea itself is so salty that it irritates your skin and burns your eyes and mouth. A thimble of this water is enough to bring a Mr. Machismo to his knees. It's more like a large body of oil than water. It saturates your skin and leaves your hair coated in a white frost. I floated out to where couldn't see the shore at night, but i could see my feet... and who knows how much deeper. The moonlight seemed to saturate the water instead of reflect it-a prism effect. such mystery was far too much for me to understand. i felt like i was losing more of the experience the longer i stayed, yet the romance of it all fascinated me and kept me longer. this conflict of will and intuition reminds me of Soteriology. That's why i call it the Dead sea. It is a natural occurrence, and even though it seems completely observable, i know my eyes are dimmed to the fullness of it's glory. It prompted a poem i wrote on the back of a paper plate:

"sight, oh sight-may i see"
the cross between you and the father
separated from the face of God
you are silent like a sheep to the slaughter
you died with your crown stained with blood
the image of God is polluted
tainted by the nails in your hands
the darkness of sin you refuted
creeps in through the spear of man
the veil between me and my savior
my dim eyes fall quickly asleep
anticipating my failure
i have a kiss and you've turned your cheek
i play the role of the serpent
the venom is your first taste of death
you embrace me, steadfast and fervent
just as you loved me before your first breath

Shalom,
John