JACK BECK: DO YOU THINK EVERYTHING IN THE BIBLE
IS THERE FOR A REASON?
EVEN ITS UNRECOGNIZABLE PLACE NAMES?
I'VE SPENT NEARLY 30 YEARS STUDYING THIS QUESTION.
JOIN ME TO EXPERIENCE HOW THE REGIONS OF THE HOLY LAND
ARE PART OF THE STORY.
I'M JACK BECK AND THIS IS THE HOLY LAND.
(MUSIC)
JACK: ARE YOU READY?
ONE, TWO, THREE.
SEE IF THIS IS A GOOD PICTURE FOR YOU.
ARE YOU GUYS ON VACATION?
I LOVE IT.
SO, YOU KNOW THERE'S A BIBLE STORY HERE?
COUPLE: NO.
JACK: 1 SAMUEL 24, THE STORY OF DAVID AND SAUL.
SO YOU REMEMBER WHEN DAVID WAS...
WOMAN: RUNNING AWAY.
JACK: YOU GOT IT, SO DAVID'S RUNNING AWAY FROM SAUL,
AND HE'S TRYING TO FIND A PLACE THAT HE CAN HIDE OUT
AND HE COMES HERE
AND GETS TUCKED INTO A CAVE.
WOMAN: THE CAVE, WHERE'S THE CAVE?
JACK: BOOM, YOU HAVE IT, THE CAVE.
I LOVE TO SHARE MY LOVE FOR THE LAND
AND THE STORIES OF THIS PLACE.
I'VE BEEN COMING TO ISRAEL FOR OVER 25 YEARS,
AND I REGULARLY RUN INTO PEOPLE THAT ARE UNAWARE
OF THE BIBLE STORIES THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE ALL AROUND THEM.
SO MANY LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THIS LAND
PLAY AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN GIVING A RICHER
UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCRIPTURES.
NOW, I'M A FIRM BELIEVER IN TAKING NOTHING BUT PHOTOGRAPHS
AND LEAVING NOTHING BUT FOOTPRINTS.
WELL, ALMOST NOTHING.
NORMALLY WILDERNESS IS DEFINED AS A PLACE DEVOID OF PEOPLE,
BUT JUST LOOK AT ALL THE TOURISTS
FLOCKING TO THIS DESERT OASIS.
YOU GUYS GOOD FOR WATER?
WOMAN: YES, THANKS.
JACK: YEAH, I KICKED MY WATER BOTTLE
OFF THE TOP OF THIS RIDGE.
IT TOOK OFF AND IT BOUNCED A COUPLE OF TIMES,
IT WENT AIRBORNE AND DISAPPEARED OVER THE SIDE.
I DIDN'T HEAR A SCREAM, SO...
WOMAN: WE'LL KEEP AN EYE OUT.
JACK: IT'S EASY TO SEE WHY WHEN YOU VISIT
THIS GEM OF A LOCATION CALLED EN GEDI
ON THE WESTERN SHORE OF THE DEAD SEA.
DURING THE TIME OF KING SAUL AND DAVID
THERE WERE MORE WILD GOATS IN THIS VALLEY THAN PEOPLE,
AND MOST OF THEIR DAY WAS SPENT ON THE VERTICAL CLIFFS.
BUT THEY CAME DOWN TO DRINK WATER AT THE SPRING
AND THAT IS WHY THIS PLACE WAS CALLED EN GEDI,
IN HEBREW, SPRING OF THE WILD GOATS.
THE WILDERNESS GENERALLY LACKS WATER.
EN GEDI IS UNIQUE IN THIS RESPECT.
DAVID AND HIS SMALL BAND OF MEN CAME HERE FOR WATER,
AND THEY ALSO HID HERE
AMONG THE CAVES OF THIS NATURAL FORTRESS.
THE STORY OF SAUL AND DAVID IS A JUDEAN WILDERNESS STORY,
AND MY GOODNESS, THIS ECOSYSTEM IS HOSTILE,
I MEAN, REALLY HOSTILE TO THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE.
THERE IS AN ABSENCE OF FOOD HERE.
THERE'S VERY, VERY LITTLE WATER IN THIS PLACE.
HEY, GUYS.
IT'S A PLACE WHERE TRAVEL IS INCREDIBLY,
INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT AND RISKY
BECAUSE OF FALLS OF OFF TERRAIN AND BECAUSE OF LARGE PREDATORS.
HI. DAVID WASN'T OUT HERE... HI, GUYS.
DAVID WASN'T OUT HERE BECAUSE IT WAS EASY.
DAVID WAS OUT HERE IN THIS PLACE BECAUSE IT WAS HARD.
IT WAS A PLACE FOR HIM TO ESCAPE FROM SAUL
AS SAUL WAS TRYING TO TAKE HIS LIFE.
(MUSIC)
BEFORE THE WILDERNESS YEARS, DAVID WAS A SHEPHERD BOY
TENDING HIS FATHER'S FLOCK WHEN GOD SENT THE PROPHET SAMUEL
TO ANOINT HIM, PROPHESYING THAT HE WOULD ONE DAY BE KING.
IMAGINE THE DREAMS AND ASPIRATIONS
THIS PLANTED IN DAVID'S MIND.
LATER, WHILE STILL A YOUNG SHEPHERD,
DAVID BROUGHT FOOD TO SAUL'S ARMY WHEN THE ISRAELITES
WERE THREATENED BY THE GIANT PHILISTINE, GOLIATH.
DAVID OFFERED TO FIGHT HIM, PROCLAIMING,
"WHO IS THIS PAGAN PHILISTINE ANYWAY,
"THAT HE'S ALLOWED TO DEFY THE ARMIES OF THE LIVING GOD?"
THROUGH DAVID,
GOD BROUGHT THE ISRAELITES A GREAT VICTORY THAT DAY.
SAUL KEPT A JEALOUS EYE ON DAVID FROM THAT DAY FORWARD,
FEARING HE MIGHT LOSE HIS POWER AND KINGDOM
TO THIS SHEPHERD BOY UPSTART.
NOW, DAVID HAD COME OUT HERE TO ESCAPE,
TO GET AWAY FROM SAUL,
BUT THE LORD HAD THE SAME PLAN FOR DAVID
IN THIS ECOSYSTEM THAT HE HAD FOR ANCIENT ISRAEL
WHEN THEY WERE WANDERING IN THE SINAI
AND WILDERNESS OF ZIN.
THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS
WHEN THE LORD TAKES YOU INTO WILDERNESS
YOU DO NOT COME OUT THE SAME PERSON.
EXACTLY HOW DID THIS BARREN WILDERNESS SHAPE DAVID?
JUST BEFORE DAVID WON THE BATTLE AND ALL ISRAEL SANG HIS PRAISES,
HIS BROTHER ELIAB REACTED, "WHY HAVE YOU COME DOWN HERE?
"I KNOW HOW CONCEITED YOU ARE.
"YOU CAME DOWN HERE TO WATCH THE BATTLE."
PERHAPS ELIAB SPOKE OUT OF JEALOUSY,
THINKING DAVID WAS MOVED BY HIS YOUTHFUL PRESUMPTION
AND DREAMS OF LEADING ISRAEL.
AND NOW, AFTER ALMOST TEN YEARS AS A FUGITIVE,
GOD WAS USING THE WILDERNESS TO SHAPE HIM
INTO THE KIND OF LEADER
WHO WOULD BE COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON THE LORD.
SEVEN TIMES IN SEVEN DIFFERENT PLACES
SAUL HAD ATTEMPTED TO TAKE DAVID'S LIFE.
DAVID CORRECTLY CONCLUDED THERE WAS ONLY ONE STEP
BETWEEN HIM AND DEATH AND SO HE FLED OUT INTO THE FOLDS
OF THE JUDEAN WILDERNESS TO HIDE.
IT WORKED,
UNTIL THE DAY HE ENDED UP IN THE EN GEDI SPRING AREA,
DEEP IN A CAVE WITH SAUL'S SOLDIERS OUTSIDE.
IT'S AT THAT MOMENT THAT DAVID DOES TWO THINGS
THAT SEEM TOTALLY IRRATIONAL.
YOU NEED TO SEE IT FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF HIS SOLDIERS.
HIS SOLDIERS WERE TUCKED BACK
IN THE INNER RECESSES OF THE CAVE,
THEIR BACKS UP AGAINST THE WALL.
THEIR ONLY ESCAPE ROUTE WAS GOING THROUGH SAUL'S ARMY
WHERE THEY WERE OUTNUMBERED FIVE TO ONE.
THEY DID NOT WANT TO BE DISCOVERED.
THEIR ONLY SAFETY IS THEIR SECRECY,
AND SO THEY'RE HIDING IN HERE.
SUDDENLY THEY SEE DAVID ON THE MOVE.
DAVID, SWORD IN HAND, BEGINS TO MOVE TOWARDS
THE MOUTH OF THE CAVE, HE DISAPPEARS OUT OF SIGHT,
AND THEN HE COMES BACK AND WHAT HE HAS IN HIS HAND
IS A PIECE OF THE ROYAL GARMENT OF SAUL.
SAUL MUST HAVE BEEN IN THE CAVE.
HIS MEN WERE FURIOUS WITH HIM.
THEY SAID, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE HIS LIFE?"
AND THEN DAVID DOES THE SECOND THING THEY CAN'T UNDERSTAND,
HE WALKS TOWARDS THE OPENING OF THE CAVE,
HE COMES OUT AGAIN AND THEY CAN HEAR FROM THE INSIDE
THAT HE'S CALLING OUT TO SAUL AND SHOUTING HIS DIRECTION,
GIVING THEIR POSITION AWAY.
EVERYTHING THAT DAVID WAS DOING
SEEMED TOTALLY IRRATIONAL TO THEM.
DAVID CALLED OUT FROM THE MOUTH OF THE CAVE TO SAUL,
NOT TO GLOAT, NOT TO SHOW OFF,
BUT TO DECLARE HIS ALLEGIANCE TO SAUL,
EVEN CALLING HIM THE LORD'S ANOINTED.
DAVID HAD LEARNED TO TRUST THE TIMING OF GOD'S FUTURE FOR HIM.
TAKING SAUL'S LIFE WAS NOT THE WAY FOR DAVID TO BECOME KING.
INSTEAD, DAVID CHOSE TO SURRENDER COMPLETELY TO GOD,
NO MATTER WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES MIGHT BE.
AND WHAT WAS SAUL'S RESPONSE TO DAVID?
"YOU ARE A BETTER MAN THAN I AM,
"FOR YOU'VE REPAID ME GOOD FOR EVIL
"AND NOW I REALIZE THAT YOU ARE SURELY GOING TO BE KING
"AND THAT THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL WILL FLOURISH UNDER YOUR RULE."
DAVID'S HUMBLE RESPONSE WAS SO POWERFUL
THAT EVEN HIS ENEMY TOOK NOTICE AND CHANGED.
DAVID WAS CLOSER THAN EVER TO BEING KING OF ISRAEL,
AND THE WILDERNESS HELPED SHAPE HIM
TO BE THE KIND OF LEADER THE LORD NEEDED HIM TO BE.
IT JUST REMINDS ME OF HOW SEASONS IN THE WILDERNESS
THAT I'VE LIVED THROUGH OR WILL LIVE THROUGH
ARE DEFEATABLE, CONQUERABLE, ARE SURVIVABLE
BECAUSE I'VE SEEN DAVID GO OUT INTO THAT WILDERNESS
AND BE MADE BETTER FOR IT.
THAT IS THE KIND OF VISION I TRY TO KEEP
WHEN I WALK INTO A SEASON OF WILDERNESS,
BELIEVING THAT SOMEHOW THE LORD WILL IMPROVE WHO I AM
ON THE BACK SIDE, JUST LIKE HE DID DAVID.
(GENTLE MUSIC)