Tel Shiloh- Hannah's Prayer

There is much to see at Tel Shiloh.

But, some of the things we had heard about---

like a replica of the Tabernacle were not there on this 

 overcast and sometimes rainy, Winter day.

 There are a couple of proposed sites]

 for the layout of the Tabernacle.

Here is one that fits the dimensions- 

with more recent ruins on the site.

 The lands around Tel Shiloh are 

beautiful vineyards and terraced olive groves.

Another post will tell more about this site-

today I have been reflecting on Hannah's Prayer.

 It is LIFE SUNDAY today-Jan 19, 2020- 

in many of our Lutheran Churches.

Marches have happened in 

various places in the United States.

So this is my focus today...

Reflection:

1 Samuel 1:1-2:11

The heartbreak of the childless Hanna.

 She came to the temple of the Lord in Shiloh to pray.

She vowed to the Lord that if he

 granted her request of a son 

she would give him to the Lord all the days of his life.

Eli thought she had been drinking and questioned her.

But she replied that she was "troubled in spirit."

Then Eli gave her a blessing:

 "Go in peace and the God of Israel 

grant your petition that you have made of him."

Hannah conceived by her husband Elkanah

 and she kept the baby until he was weaned

 and then brought him back to 

Shiloh to Eli to serve in the Tabernacle.

She blessed the Lord with prayer 

and Samuel served the Lord 

and became a great prophet of the Lord.

a prayer for today:

Dear Heavenly Father, 

we lift up all the women who yearn 

to be blessed with a child of their own. 

We lift up all the women 

who have suffered the great loss 

of miscarriage before their child was born.

We lift up all the women 

who have ended the life of a child

 and live with this deep loss, in shame and grief.

We lift up all the men who have walked

 in all of these challenges with women in their lives.

Bring healing to all the hearts, 

grant restoration in relationships, 

and hope to the souls.

 Lord, we ask a special fullness of Peace

  on this Life Sunday,

that your grace will allow hearts

 to see the sanctity of all life given by your hand.

In the name of Jesus. Amen

Tel Jezreel- Israel Pilgrimage

                       The fortress that King Ahab built at Tel Jezebel

 played vital economic, military and defensive roles 

for the Northen Kingdom that he ruled.  

Here we see played out the story of 

Ahab, Jezebel and their worship of Baal.

Maps will spell this site as Yizre'el.

 The day we were there was overcast and openings 

in the clouds played with the landscape below-

lighting up pockets of rich farm land.

 Somewhere in this area is the adjacent vineyard

 of Naboth the Jezreelite that becomes 

the central focus for the Old Testament connections.

We know that it is the location of the water

 that meshes with the geography 

to help us find the locations for the Biblical sites.

Where the water is--

 helps us to see where the vineyard might have been.

This site is not a National Park -

so no signs of explanation.

This route was important to Ahab

 because of his marriage

 to the Phoenician princess Jezebel.

This cemented his plan to redirect 

the trade off the King's Highway 

that was east of the Jordan River valley

 so that it moved through his territory

 on the way to world markets 

via Phoenicia to the north.

This didn't sit well with Aram,

 who collected the taxes moving 

through his territory in Damascus.

A battle ensued and Ahab died

 in the battle with Aram

 at Ramoth Gilead in 853 BC.

1 Kings 1:29-38

The bottle neck that was here 

created the perfect tax collection site.

The remains are still pretty primitive

 as far as an archeological dig here.

So far they have found a 20 foot deep dry moat

 that surrounds a walled fortress 

with 4 defensive tours.

(not sure that we even found that) 

The site is about 10 acres in size.

 The readings for this site include :

Royal Arrogance and the Abuse of Power

1 Kings 21:1-18

Joram and Jehu

2 Kings 9:1-10

Death of Joram

2 Kings 9:14-26

Death of Jezebel

2 Kings 9:30-36

Reflection:

God's divine justice may seem so slow

 in our arrangement of time.

Both Joram (Ahab's son) and Jezebel

met up with Naboth's vineyard at the end of their life.

Joram's body was thrown there

  and the dogs dragged Jezebel's body there. 

Elijah was the prophet that foretold 

the doom to Ahab and his family

 for the treatment of Naboth.

(He had already met up with the wrath

 of Jezebel with the killing 

of the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel.)

A significant teaching

 is the evaluation of a king's life.

Did they "do right in the Lord's eye"? 

God demands our loyalty and still condemns

unfaithfulness. 

"Doing right in the Lord's eye" is still a 

measure of how we live out our own lives today.

One last look across the valley-
 and we decided that maybe a city set on a hill-
 is not just for the way the lights shine at night-
 but also for the way the sunlight hits the buildings.
(This is Afula)

Tel Meggido- Israel

The City Gate- Megiddo- 

possibly to the time of Solomon.

It is made of massive field stones.

Megiddo- a Biblical city founded 

about 1,000 years before Abraham

 passed through the Jezreel Valley.

(the geographical name for this valley)

Excavations began here about 1925

 and they have uncovered 

over 22 different layers of occupation.

This southern edge of the Jezreel Valley

 was a strategic spot to occupy and control.

Possibly the walls here are the ones 

described in I Kings 9: 15--

part of the strategic holdings of Solomon

 to guard the main pass through 

the Carmel mountain range.

Iron Age Stables

The Sacred Area
Canaanite Cultic Stage

an area of worship for over 2000 years

Megiddo continued to serve as the seat of the royal governor 

during the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel. 

This is attested to by a seal,

 found in excavations at the beginning of the 20th century, 

bearing the inscription "to Shema, servant of Jeroboam." 

During the rebellion of Jehu, Ahaziah, king of Judah, 

fled to Megiddo and died there of his wounds. - II Kings 9:27

Megiddo was apparently conquered 

and destroyed in 732 BCE, 

during the campaign of Tiglath Pilesser III, 

king of Assyria, against the Kingdom of Israel. 

--II Kings 15:29

The Last Days of Megiddo

The Assyrians made Megiddo the royal city 

of their province in the north 

of the conquered kingdom of Israel

 and rebuilt it in their finest architectural tradition. 

In his days Pharaoh Necho, King of Egypt, 

went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: 

and King Josiah went against him; 

and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. 

(II Kings 23: 29) From then on, Megiddo fell into decline; 

it was finally abandoned during the Persian rule

 in the 5th century BCE.

---

Looking across the Valley of Jezreel 
around the perimeter of Megiddo 
From the northern edge of the city you can see:
Mt Tabor where Deborah and Barak
 defeats the the armies of Sisera (Judges 3-4)
The Hill of Moreh- 
where Gideon defeated the Midianites (Judges 6-7)
To the West is Mt Carmel-
 where Elijah defeated the prophets
 of Baal and Asherah (1 Kings 18)

Megiddo and the Valley of Armegeddon
 certainly reminds us of the years and years of battles here.

"Life up your heads. O you gates;
 be lifted up, you ancient doors, 
that the King of Glory may come in.
 Who is this King of Glory? 
The Lord strong and mighty, 
the Lord mighty in battle."
Psalm 24:7-8

Our victorious King of glory 
will reign in final victory in the last days.