by Pastor Patrick Cho
Today was Shephelah (pronounced shuh-FAY-lah) day. The Shephelah is a region of rolling hills acting as a buffer zone between the coastal plain and hill country of Israel. Because of its strategic location with its five major valleys running east and west, biblically and historically this has been an area of great significance and tension. When Samson fell for one of the daughters of Timnah, which eventually led to his letting 300 foxes with fiery tails wreak havoc on the Philistine grain fields (Judges 14-15), this happened in the Shephelah. When the Philistine army encamped between Socoh and Azekah, and David was first introduced to the giant Goliath (1 Sam. 17), that happened in the Shephelah.
We began the day by driving down to Beth-Shemesh. When the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant, this led not only to a humiliation of their god Dagon in Ashdod but an affliction of tumors as well. When these things happened, the men of Ashdod astutely concluded that the Ark could not stay there (1 Sam. 5). They put the Ark of the Covenant on a cart and set it loose, and it eventually found its way to Beth-Shemesh (1 Sam. 6:1-16). From where we were standing, we could see the possible route the cows might have taken.
One of the highlights of the day was traveling to Azekah, which was strategically situated up on a hill above the Elah Valley. Somewhere down below in the valley is where David defeated the Philistine giant Goliath. It was really neat being able to see where the armies might have camped and where Goliath would have shouted his taunts. Our group even had a chance to go down into a dry river bed and pick out some smooth-ish stones (1 Sam. 17:40).
Another fascinating stop we made today was in Lachish. This was a very significant city because of its southern location. Any nation who wanted to invade Judah would need to deal with Lachish, which was the second most significant city in the Southern Kingdom (aside from Jerusalem). When the Assyrian king Sennacherib came to invade Judah, he eventually took Lachish (2 Kings 18:13-14). Though it seems the army at Lachish put up a fight, the Assyrians were too many.
The city actually has the only surviving example of an Assyrian siege ramp. You can see how the Assyrian army built a ramp to make their way up to the city wall. They would typically send a battering ram up the ramp to destroy part of the city wall. You can also see how the people of Lachish piled dirt on the opposite side of the wall so that if the Assyrians made it through, they would just see dirt on the other side. In order to defend the city, it seems the people of Lachish threw anything they had over the wall to slow the Assyrian forces.
Still, eventually Sennacherib took the city. Back in Assyria, he dedicated an entire room in his palace to this victory. There are brutal images he painted of Israelites impaled on sticks. He even collected the heads of the victims to underscore his fearsomeness. Though he was able to defeat the city of Lachish, because of his boasts against God, the Lord protected the city of Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:31-37). Sennacherib eventually returned to Nineveh and died by the hands of his own sons.
That was Shephelah day. It really helped to visualize many of the events of Israel’s history and buttressed our confidence in the faithfulness of God to preserve His people. At day’s end, we arrived in Beersheba and checked into a youth hostel. Surprisingly, the place was clean and the food was good. John and I even took an evening stroll to the local mall to get an ice cream before going back to the hostel and getting some rest.