"Squeeze the World"

So- the day trip I vaguely referred to was good fun and a great experience. There is a family living in Ariel who we've had contact with since meeting them during Sukkot, and they invited a large group of us in AQVNT to take a tour of the area. We met them at a checkpoint and went together to Mount Gerezim and a Samaritan museum there. The museum was quite the experience. Previously, I had no idea that there were still Samaritans around. According to the priest, there are 700 living today: half in Nablus and half near Mount Hermon. They keep the ancient traditions yet have modern lives. It was definitely interesting to hear their perspective of history.

After we left the museum, we drove to a lookout where a Jewish settler gave a general outline of the area. Israelis in general are rather critical of the settlers, but it really is impressive that they can live the way they do. I would find it even more impressive if they would reach out to their Arab neighbors and not isolate themselves behind their security fences. Of course, I'm living happily and safely in the Galilee, so I have little place to talk. One thing that the settler brought up was that the lands where Abraham walked and the places where Joshua and original Israelites are the lands most disputed. The valley which we overlooked was the valley where Joseph buried Jacob and where Joshua later buried Joseph's remains. Completely surrounding the two tombs was an Arab city and several mosques. Not far from the city was a Palestinian refugee camp. The “camp” definitely did not meet my expectations. I thought it would be full of temporary structures and tents, but instead it was an incredibly crowded city. We didn't go down into the streets, but I can tell it's a miserable life.

From there we visited the vineyard where the family's been working. Have you ever done a concordance search of the word “vineyard?” Even without specifying the fruit of the vine or the other related searches, there is a lot in there. Here's a great verse:

Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.
Ezekiel 28:25-26

After a journey on the back of a four-wheeler through the vines, we went to the ruins of Shiloh. The famous Michael Rood gave us an impromptu lecture on the dimensions of the Tabernacle and inaccuracies of Byzantine churches, and we ended the tour with a worship session at the family's home. It was really cool to see the real West Bank and hear the various perspectives. If you want to learn more about the family's mission, you can visit their website at http://hayovel.net. Also, if you want to read more about the Samaritans, one of the boys wrote a great article about it here.