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.
GOOD MORNING, I'M LOOKING FOR PETER.
PETER: WELCOME, WELCOME.
JACK: IT'S A BEAUTIFUL MORNING AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL HERE,
IT'S SO GOOD TO MEET YOU.
WOMAN: HI, NICE TO MEET YOU.
JACK: THIS IS PETER, WHO HAS A VINEYARD
MINUTES AWAY FROM THE ELAH VALLEY,
THE PLACE IN THE BIBLE WERE DAVID FOUGHT GOLIATH.
TODAY THIS RURAL REGION OF THE SHEPHELAH
IS HOME TO MANY FARMS AMONG THESE ROLLING HILLS.
PETER AND HIS WIFE BATHSHEBA OPERATE A WINERY,
DRAWING TOURISTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.
PETER: MOST OF ISRAEL, AS YOU KNOW, IS TERRA ROSSA.
IT'S INCREDIBLY FERTILE SOIL. JACK: YEAH.
PETER: IT'S SURPRISINGLY... LIKE THESE PLANTS ARE
FIVE YEARS OLD AND YOU SEE HOW DEVELOPED THEY ARE.
JACK: THIS IS SUCH A DESIRABLE SPACE.
PETER: YEAH.
SHEPHELAH IS KIND OF AN INTERMEDIATE ZONE.
IT'S FOOTHILLS OR IT'S THE LOWLANDS.
JACK: YEAH.
PETER: IF YOU GO STRAIGHT WEST, THAT'S THE MEDITERRANEAN.
AND IF YOU GO EAST INTO THE DIRECTION OF THE SUN,
YOU'RE GOING UP SOMEWHERE BETWEEN
BETHLEHEM AND JERUSALEM...
JACK: SO CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF THE JUDEAN HILL COUNTRY.
PETER: RIGHT.
JACK: THE SHEPHELAH WAS A MEETING PLACE
BETWEEN THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS
AND THE PEOPLE LIVING ON THE COASTAL PLAIN.
IT'S WHERE CULTURES, IDEAS, AND FAITHS
SOMETIMES WASHED OVER EACH OTHER.
PETER: WHEN YOU DROVE HERE YOU CAME THROUGH THE ELAH VALLEY,
AND THE ELAH VALLEY IS WHERE THE BATTLE TOOK PLACE:
DAVID AND GOLIATH.
WE CAN SEE FROM THE PORCH WHERE GOLIATH GREW UP,
THE QUOTE IS VERY CLEAR IN THE BIBLE,
FROM WHAT TOWN DAVID CAME AND WHAT TOWN GOLIATH CAME.
JACK: LOTS OF GEOGRAPHY.
PETER: AND THEY STOOD IN THE VALLEY
AND THEY FOUGHT THEIR LITTLE BATTLE
INSTEAD OF THE ARMIES COMING OUT.
(MUSIC)
JACK: YOU MIGHT BE THINKING, "DAVID AND GOLIATH?
"I ALREADY KNOW THAT STORY."
WELL, YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO FIND
THAT THIS IS NOT A SIMPLE TALE ABOUT A HERO UNDERDOG.
IT'S ABOUT SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER,
A NATIONAL EMERGENCY FOR ISRAEL AND KING SAUL.
AND THIS IS A PLACE THAT REVEALS THE TRUE NATURE
OF WHERE A NATION, WHERE A PERSON, PLACES ITS TRUST.
IT WAS HERE IN THE LOWLANDS OF THE SHEPHELAH
THAT THE TIDE OF THE PHILISTINE ARMY,
WHO CONTROLLED THE COASTAL PLAIN,
WAS ENCROACHING ON ISRAELITE TERRITORY.
THEIR INTENTIONS WERE TO MOVE THROUGH THE ELAH VALLEY
AND ULTIMATELY CONTROL THE WHOLE ECONOMIC CORRIDOR
THAT EXTENDED FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
TO THE SYRIAN DESERT.
AND AS THE ISRAELITES STOOD AGAINST THIS IMPENDING FORCE,
THEY LOOKED TO SAUL, THEIR KING.
MOST CALL THIS THE STORY OF DAVID AND GOLIATH,
BUT IT IS REALLY A STORY ABOUT DAVID AND SAUL.
THE VIEW FROM HERE ISN'T PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE TODAY.
IT WAS EVEN LESS ATTRACTIVE ON THAT DAY THAT THE ISRAELITES
WERE LOOKING DOWN AT THE PHILISTINE ARMY BELOW.
THIS WAS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY
THAT WAS UNFOLDING IN FRONT OF THEM.
THE PHILISTINES FILLED THIS AGRICULTURAL PLAIN,
AND YOU CAN ONLY APPRECIATE THE LOSS IF YOU APPRECIATE
THIS IS SOME OF THE BEST AGRICULTURAL LAND
PEOPLE IN THE JUDEAN HILL COUNTRY COULD KNOW.
WHAT'S MORE, THEY REALIZED IF THEY GOT PAST SAUL
AND THE ARMY ON THE FAR EASTERN SIDE OF THIS VALLEY,
THEY GAINED ACCESS TO EVERY TOWN AND VILLAGE
IN THE INTERIOR, INCLUDING BETHLEHEM ITSELF.
AND AS THEY LOOKED AT THIS NATIONAL EMERGENCY UNFOLDING,
THEY LOOKED FOR LEADERSHIP. THEY LOOKED TO KING SAUL,
THE KING WHOM THEY HAD ASKED FOR,
THE KING WHO WOULD GO BEFORE THEM
AND LEAD THEM IN BATTLE AGAINST THEIR ENEMIES.
AND WHAT THEY SAW WAS DISTURBING AND DISAPPOINTING,
BECAUSE SAUL FAILED TO LEAD, HE FAILED TO INSPIRE COURAGE,
AND HE SHOWED NO SIGNS OF FAITH
IN THE GOD WHO COULD DELIVER THEM.
SO MUCH WAS AT STAKE. IT WAS IN THIS VALLEY
THAT THE FATE OF THESE TWO NATIONS WOULD BE DECIDED.
IN THE SCRIPTURAL NARRATIVE, THIS VALLEY IS AN INDICATOR
OF THE SPIRITUAL HEALTH OF THE NATION AND ITS LEADERS.
AS THE TIDE OF THE PHILISTINES RUSHED IN,
KING SAUL STOOD FROZEN, UNABLE TO REACT.
SAUL WAS AFRAID TO TRUST GOD AND USE HIS
GOD-GIVEN ABILITIES TO LEAD HIS TROOPS INTO BATTLE.
THEN DAVID ARRIVES, FILLED WITH FAITH IN GOD.
(MUSIC)
NOW PLEASE REALIZE THIS IS NOT AN UNDERDOG STORY.
THE LORD HAD PREPARED DAVID FOR THIS.
OUTWARDLY DAVID APPEARS TO LACK THE STATURE
AND ABILITIES NEEDED TO FIGHT THE ENEMY,
BUT DAVID'S UNIQUE SKILLS, DEVELOPED AS A SHEPHERD
PROTECTING HIS FLOCK FROM WILD ANIMALS,
EQUIPPED HIM FOR THIS CRUCIAL MOMENT IN ISRAEL'S HISTORY.
IT'S LIGHTWEIGHT, IT'S PORTABLE, AND IT'S ABSOLUTELY LETHAL.
THIS IS THE KIND OF WEAPON DAVID BROUGHT INTO THE BATTLE
AGAINST GOLIATH, A SLING. HERE WE GO, FIRE IN THE HOLE.
SO, LIKE MANY OF MY GOLF SHOTS, I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THAT WENT.
SO WE TRY AGAIN.
WOW, THAT WAS TERRIBLE. THAT WAS MY WORST YET.
IN ORDER TO GET THIS THING TO RELEASE AT 100 MILES AN HOUR
AND BE ACCURATE,
YOU NEED TO PRACTICE ALL THE TIME IN THE WILDERNESS
LIKE DAVID DID WHEN HE WAS SHEPHERDING THE SHEEP.
WE SEE DAVID PICKING THIS THING UP,
AND IF WE UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS CAN DO,
WE IMMEDIATELY SEE THAT DAVID'S GOT SOME GAME.
YOU KNOW, AS A BIBLE GEOGRAPHER, I'M MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE
AROUND READING MAPS THAN I AM ANCIENT WEAPONS.
ALL OF THAT TO SAY IT'S GONNA BE A WEAPON
SOMEONE COULD TRAIN ON AND BECOME VERY ACCURATE WITH,
AND IT'S A TOOL THAT DAVID TOOK INTO THE BATTLE WITH GOLIATH.
(JACK LAUGHING)
(SOFT MUSIC)
WHAT WAS ONCE A BATTLEFIELD IS NOW A QUIET ORCHARD,
BUT WE CAN STILL IMAGINE THE SCENE.
EVERY STEP DAVID TOOK AWAY FROM THE ISRAELITE CAMP
WAS A STEP CLOSER TO GOLIATH.
"DAVID SHOUTED TO GOLIATH,
'YOU COME AGAINST ME WITH SWORD AND SPEAR,
'BUT I COME AGAINST YOU IN THE NAME OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY,
'THE GOD OF THE ARMIES OF ISRAEL WHOM YOU HAVE DEFIED.'"
DAVID PAUSED BY THE STREAM AND PICKED UP FIVE SMOOTH STONES,
LOADED THE FIRST INTO THE POUCH OF HIS SLING,
WHIRLED IT AROUND HIS HEAD
AND RELEASED IT AT THE HEAD OF THE PHILISTINE GIANT.
GUIDED BY A SHEPHERD'S PRACTICE AND THE LORD'S BLESSING,
THAT STONE FOUND ITS MARK.
GOLIATH COLLAPSED ON THE GROUND AND DAVID RUSHED OVER,
TOOK THE GIANT SWORD AND REMOVED HIS HEAD.
THE MEN WHO HAD BEEN SITTING QUIETLY BY
SUDDENLY SAW A LEADER THEY COULD FOLLOW.
THEY RAN INTO THE FIELD AND CHARGED AFTER THE PHILISTINES,
WHO RUSHED FROM THE ELAH VALLEY.
HERE IN THE SHEPHELAH, WE'VE SEEN THE DIFFERENCE
IN RESPONSE TO THIS CRISIS BY TWO MEN OF INFLUENCE,
ONE WHO TRUSTED GOD AND ONE WHO DIDN'T.
IN MANY WAYS WE ARE ALL PEOPLE OF THE SHEPHELAH,
DESTINED TO FACE SPIRITUAL CHALLENGES
IN OUR OWN MEETING PLACES.
WILL WE IMITATE DAVID BY PUTTING OUR FAITH IN GOD,
TRUSTING THAT HE HAS UNIQUELY PREPARED US AND WILL EQUIP US,
OR WILL WE HOLD BACK IN FEAR LIKE SAUL?
ALL OF US HAVE INFLUENCE,
AND WHERE WE PLACE OUR TRUST AFFECTS THOSE AROUND US.
IT WILL EITHER MOVE THEM AWAY FROM GOD
OR TOWARD HIM.
(SLOW FADING MUSIC)