Israel - Bell Caves - Mareshah

Slide 1 - Bet Shemesh - Elah Valley

So we started our quest at Bet Shemesh - what happened there?

(Ark of God was captured by Philistines and returned - People treated the ark casually - irreverently and God smote them)

Next was the Valley of Elah - what happened there?

(David and Goliath - Goliath framed the story as him against another man - David properly framed it as Goliath’s three gods against David’s one)

Slide 2 - Bell Caves, Jerusalem and the Dead Sea

We’re still on day one of our trip - it was about 2, almost 3 in the afternoon when we got to the Bell Caves.

The Bell Caves are a part of the Beit Guvrin - Maresha National Park - the city of Mareshah is what we’ll talk about today.

It’s not a big story like David and Goliath - but it’s a very appropriate story to our times.

We’ll be talking about two periods of time - from about 930 - 852 BC, and then around 700 BC.

On this map, there are a couple of things that really jump out at us if we’ll think about them.

The Bell Caves are at the bottom and I have an arrow pointed at Bet Shemesh.

The caves are 11 miles from Bet Shemesh - about the distance from here to Macon.

Jerusalem is North East and it’s 21 miles away - about the same at to Eatonton.

The Dead Sea is to the east - 30 miles away.

And notice the yellow line down the middle - that’s the Jordanian border.

If you go 20 miles west from the Caves, you can swim in the Mediterranean sea.

So at this point, Israel is 50 miles wide - from here to McDonough.

And look at this - the Bell Caves are still in the Shephelah - see how green it is?

Just a few miles east, you get into the Judean mountains - less green.

And less than 30 miles away, you are in the desert.

Israel’s topography changes so very fast.

Slide 3 - entrance to Bell Caves

These caves date back to pre-history - they are the most ancient of ancient.

There are about 800 of them.

Some 40 - 50 of them them are connected by underground passageways.

(What are the benefits of 1.)underground 2.) connected caves?

(cooler in the hot months, protection, and ease of use - don’t have to exit one to go to the next one)

The top 6 feet or so at the surface consists of a layer of limestone.

Underneath that is chalkstone - much softer and easier to work with.

Slide 4 - blurry chisel marks

For no telling how many decades - maybe centuries - men carved chalkstone from these caves.

To create these caves to live it and to quarry the stone for building.

This picture is kind of blurry - but each of those indentions is a chisel mark made by one person.

There are thousands upon thousands of chisel marks made by hundreds if not thousands of people.

All looking to survive - to have a good life - to live peaceably and safely.

And all in need of God.

Slide 5 - link to University of Utah Singers - Miserere Mei Deus - Have Mercy on Me, O God - open browser and play 1 minute

Of course of of the most amazing things to do while you are in the cave is sing.

We sang and it was a good moment.

Just so you could kind of hear what this sounds like in a cave - this is the University of Utah Singers singing Miserere Mei Deus that was written in the 1630’s.

In English the title is Have Mercy on Me, O God.

It’s a rendition of the 51st song - listen to them sing for a minute, then I’ll read you the lyrics.

This is the 1662 Book of Common Prayer translation that was used to write the song.

Have mercy upon me, O God: after Thy great goodness.

According to the multitude of Thy mercies, do away mine offences.

Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness: and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my faults: and my sin is ever before me.

Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified in Thy saying, and clear when Thou art judged.

Behold, I was shapen in wickedness: and in sin hath my mother conceived me.

But lo, Thou requirest truth in the inward parts: and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly.

Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness: that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.

Turn Thy face from my sins: and put out all my misdeeds.

Make me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Thy presence: and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.

O give me the comfort of Thy help again: and stablish me with Thy free Spirit.

Then shall I teach Thy ways unto the wicked: and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.

Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou that art the God of my health: and my tongue shall sing of Thy righteousness.

Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord: and my mouth shall shew [show] Thy praise.

For Thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it Thee: but Thou delightest not in burnt-offerings.

The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt Thou not despise.

O be favourable and gracious unto Sion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifice of righteousness, with the burnt-offerings and oblations: then shall they offer young bullocks upon Thine altar.[10]

As I hear those words and hear those people sing - I think of every one of those chisel marks

and think that every chisel mark is a person - with the same testimony - the same needs and the same sins.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”

There is nothing new under the sun

Slide 6 - large cave with support pillar

This one is used for teaching and singing - we got to sing in this one - and the sound is phenomenal.

Some of the caves are up to 60 feet high and have excellent ventilation like this one.

Slide 7 - entrance to another cave

As I said, the caves connected to each other and had various entrances and rooms.

Slide 8 - to gain perspective

Not realizing this is an extreme close up of Austin

The idea here is to gain perspective to see just how deep we are

And how elaborate the carving of the caves was.

Slide 9 - pigeon roosts

They raised pigeons for food, sacrifice.

Every little carved spot was for a pigeon to roost - you see hundreds of them all over the place

Slide 10 - another cave opening to the surface

Slide 11 - the same cave opening for perspective - they moved a tremendous amount of stone

Slide 12 - Olive Oil Factory in the cave

Slide 13 - Olive Press

Now tell me - how are these people different from us (or the same?)

(They really aren’t - common working folks whose leadership is either a blessing or a curse.

The Bell Caves are located in the Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park.

Mareshah is on the southern area of Juda and it’s mentioned 8 times in the Bible.

It’s mentioned when Joshua is divying up the promised land to the 12 tribes - Judah received Mareshah.

In 2 Chronicles 11 it is mentioned as a city that King Reheboam built up as a defense for Juday.

Reheboam reigned from 930 - 907 BC.

2 Chronicles 14 which we’ll read in a few minutes mentions Mareshah.

King Asa is involved in this story - Asa reigned from 810-873 BC.

It is mentioned again in 2 Chronicles 20 when a prophet by the name of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesies against Jehoshaphat.

Jehoshaphat reigned from 873 - 852 and was Asa’s son.

Asa was Godly - Jehoshaphat not so much.

Finally, Mareshah is mentioned in the book of Micah - that was set in the 700’s BC.

So what happened to get the city mentioned in the Bible.

2 Chronicles 14 (ESV)

Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years.

*What do you think it means that the land had rest? What would it mean for the United States, or Georgia, or Gray to have rest?

And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.

*Listen for what is good and right in God’s eyes

He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim

and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment.

He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him.

*There is what gives a land rest

He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace.

*Who gave him peace?

And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered.

*But did they rest easy?

*They took the rest period as time to build and fortify and REMEMBER - “The land is still ours” It was given to us by God when we entered the promised land.

*Have we forgotten this in the United States? Was it/is it true?

And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor.

Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.

And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

*Asa is outnumbered 2 to 1 - so what’s his first inclination? Pray

And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

*Why should God help them? “For we rely on you...”

*What does, “let not man prevail against you” mean? - Once we recognize who the battle really belongs to, it’s up to the Lord to uphold His name - it’s not my battle - I am to do my part - but the winning and losing depends on the power of the Lord.

So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah carried away very much spoil.

*They were broken before the Lord an HIS army - the Lord receives the glory.

And they attacked all the cities around Gerar, for the fear of the Lord was upon them.

*So they attacked the cities - Gerar was Egyptian

* “for the fear of the Lord was upon them.” What does that mean? These cities understood that Jehovah was against them and they would fail.

They plundered all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.

And they struck down the tents of those who had livestock and carried away sheep in abundance and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.

So, when we a leader and the people follow the Lord, things tend to go better.

About 300 years later, give or take a few decades, the prophet Micah had a message.

Micah had already been preaching for a number of years before this message was recorded.

Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah Overview

Western civilisation has abandoned its Christian foundations. In Micah’s day, Judah had abandoned its religious heritage. There was indeed an outward willingness to worship the LORD (6:6–7), but Micah anticipates our Lord’s test in Matthew 12:33–35, and examines the fruit present in society—and there is little to commend it. Violence was used to seize property (2:2) and to waylay passers-by (2:8). Justice was perverted (3:9). Commercial trickery and deceit were prevalent (6:10–12). Family life was distorted (7:5–6). Micah exposes the moral and social evils that prevailed in his day, and traces them to their source. The religious spokesmen of his day no longer spoke the truth (2:11; 3:11). Pagan practices had become prevalent (5:12–14).

It is the reality of the LORD’S judgment upon all this that Micah brings out

So this city of Bell Caves, Mareshah is mentioned in this text.

What does the Lord say to us?

Micah 1 (ESV)

The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

*Let the Lord God be a witness against you.

*During the Revolutionary War we had a flag that said, “An appeal to heaven.”

*That flag meant - we are appealing to heaven - if our cause is just, may the Lord cause us to prevail

*But if our cause is unjust - may the Lord crush us beneath His heel.

*That’s what I hear here - Lord, you be a witness against us.

*And a witness He will be

*The reigns of Jotham (750–731), Ahaz (735–715) and Hezekiah (715–686) of Judah were years which saw the collapse of the political strength that had been built up earlier in the century both in the northern kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam II (793–753) and in the southern kingdom of Judah under Uzziah (792–740). During their reigns the weakness of surrounding nations and their own friendly attitude towards each other had permitted them to extend the territory of their kingdoms so that together they ruled over almost all that David and Solomon had once controlled at the peak of Israel’s influence. But by Micah’s day there had been a considerable change in the international situation. The energetic and very competent Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727) had come to the throne of Assyria. The northern kingdom had been weakened by internal dissension after Jeroboam’s death, and came increasingly under Assyrian control, culminating in the destruction of the capital city, Samaria, in 722 after an unsuccessful rebellion.

*Judah was spared the same fate because Ahaz had been following a pro-Assyrian policy and was willing to pay substantial tribute. Although Hezekiah was out of sympathy with his father’s policy, for the first part of his reign he made no open moves to break Judah’s status as a tributary state. He did, however, try to tackle the internal problems of his kingdom.

*But it was not just a period of political tension and upheaval that Micah lived through. There was also an economic and social revolution. The heyday of Uzziah had brought much wealth into the land, but it was not evenly distributed. The rich got richer, and invested their wealth in land, undermining the traditional pattern of rural life, and creating many social problems. As they selfishly pursued their own interests, they thought nothing of exploiting the poorer classes. There was also an erosion of standards in the religious life of the nation. Idolatry was openly fostered by Ahaz, and even those who claimed to worship the LORD became satisfied with the external aspects of worship without a true heart engagement. Prophets, priest and rulers condoned the prevalent materialism and religious superficiality. Micah was commissioned by the LORD to expose these conditions and to call for a return in the life of the nation to the standards of behaviour towards one’s neighbour which God’s covenant had laid down

*John L. MacKay, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, Focus on the Bible Commentary (Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1998), 77–78.

For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.

*The Lord is coming down - He is examining the evidence up close and personal and He is starting in the high places - the places that seemed to be the most safe and secure.

And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.

*Remember the flash floods - the rains fall on the bare rock mountains and it accumulates in the valleys and becomes a monster. They would have seen that and understood its power.

All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?

*Literally - who is the transgression of Jacob? Samaria is the political capital and it is evil.

*High place of Judah - that is a put down - a high place is a place of Canaanite worship. What is the Lord saying here? (That the church is the problem)

Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations.

*Therefore - because you did this - then I, the Lord, have the right to do what I am going to do.

All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.

*Prostitution here is corrupt, idolatrous worship. You might have rich big churches by tickling ears, but soon they will all be laid waste.

For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches.

*Now Micah speaks not the Lord - Micah weeps and wails and laments inconsolably. Naked probably means not properly clothed versus in the buff.

For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.

*What has happened to Israel is about to happen to Judah for much the same reason - the church has failed in her responsibility.

Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust.

*What do you remember about Gath? (It’s a Philistine city) - Tell it not in Gath - don’t give God’s enemies things to crow about.

*Beth-le-aphrah is a play on words - the name of the city is the city of dust - so the city of dust should roll in the dust in lament and anguish

Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out; the lamentation of Beth-ezel shall take away from you its standing place.

*Now he is going to name all of these cities? Why do you think that is? (Because what happens in the capital with the leadership affects all of the people no matter where they are)

*Shaphir means beautiful - but now it will be naked and full of shame

*Beth Ezel means house of closeness - but now it will be taken far away

For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.

*Maroth means bitter - and that’s what they will experience

Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; it was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.

*In Hebrew, Lachish sounds like the word for team - Micah is saying hitch up the team and run for the hills

*Lachish sin was in quickly making alliances with everyone - don’t trust the Lord, trust your own devices - this mirrors Isaiah’s challenge to King Ahaz - “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” Is. 7:9.

Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.

*Achzib means deceptive - it promised to help the kings of Israel but when the time came for it to help, it did not.

I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.

*And here is our city where the Bell Caves are located - the Lord will send a conqueror to Mareshah - no matter how deep your caves, no matter how extensive your tunnels, you will be captured and conquered.

Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.

*They showed mourning by shaving off the front of their hair - who are they to mourn? (their children) When are they to mourn? (Now before the Lord even acts. This is the beginning of repentance.

Knowing that God is God and we have transgressed him and deserve whatever we get - step one towards redemption.

And the message for us is Luke 13:5 “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.””