HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ENTANGLED BY AN IDEA?

My granddaughter, at seven years old, told me she had just read her first chapter book. She bounced up and down as she said, “I want to write books when I grow up!”

I thought to myself, “I thought the same thing when I was her age.”

Since I had just had a brush with breast cancer, my next thought was “If I’m going to do that, I’d better get started.” And I did.

WHY DID I WRITE ABOUT THE GIBEONITES OF JOSHUA 9 & 10?

Annually, I’d been using the chronological read-through-the-Bible plan provided by Dr. Charles C. Ryrie in his Ryrie Study Bible, Moody Publishers, for several years. Every year, I kept stopping and saying to myself there is so much more to the story of the Gibeonites of Joshua 9 and 10.

Their words are quoted, but they have no names. As a people group, they are mentioned only one other time—four hundred years later in the time of David. Who were they? What motivated them to approach Joshua not knowing if they would live or die? What is their story?

And now the sequel and “the rest of the story:”

A Jewish young man suggested a Hebrew word for what I did with the story of the Gibeonites: midrash. He says I filled in the gaps where God’s word is silent. I do not claim it’s inspired, and calling my story midrash would probably be quite presumptuous of me, but God surely enabled me in finding great source material and getting to go to Israel and the Palestinian West Bank to stand on the hill where the Gibeonites stood.

View from Gibeon

Jerusalem on the horizon

The Lizard Got There First

·         First posted by Peggy Consolver in 2017

OUR TRIP TO ISRAEL 2017: Tel Dan and Tel Hazor, Tues June 20

Our touring group of archaeologists and volunteers from the dig at Shiloh (directed by Dr. Scott Stripling) journeyed north to Tel Dan.

We were greeted by a resident at . . .

Tel Dan is beautiful for its lush forest at the foot of Mt. Hermon—the fabled old man mountain who always wears a capelet of snow.

Snow melt from Mt. Hermon is the major source of water for the Jordan River.

A welcome sight as we trek up the trail …

after days of landscape consisting mostly of dust, dirt, pebbles, rocks, stones and more rocks. All associated with the ancient stone buildings and its tall hills and medium mountains.  There is no lack of building material there.

No pic, but a broken stone wheel provided a stepping stone to cross a small stream. Imagine a bridge in the 23rd century across a small stream or river constructed of 20th century hubcaps and wheels.  😉

More pictures of Tel Dan from our 2010 visit there:

Lower portion of stacked stones is typical Canaanite walls. Upper portion was built later with cut stones. Notice the socket stone to the left of the opening below.

Gates to these ancient cities are more than a door post set in a socket stone. As in the Book of Ruth, Boaz went to the city gate where there were places to sit with others where city business was transacted.

Another picture from our trip in 2010 is of a derelict Syrian dirt mover. We were told it was abandoned in 1967 when they tried to divert the flow of water from Mt. Hermon to the Jordan River. Our guide told us few people know that the main reason for the start of the war of 1967 was to defend Israel’s rights to this water. 

Syrian dirt mover abandoned in 1967.

The Israeli national park provided a delightful ice-cold wading pool and nearby a new gift shop.

The frozen fruit bar was so excellent and excellently cold! Strawberry inside blackberry outside. Yum!

One Moment of Clarity Can Change the Course of Your Life

Originally posted by Peggy Consolver in 2017.

It was 2009 when I turned to my husband and said, “If I really write this story [of the Gibeonites of        Joshua 9 and 10], maybe I should go there.”

He made it happen, and that statement launched a whole new era in our lives— the biggest adventure of my life began.

Touring Israel with Associates for Biblical Research. The Sea of Galilee in the background

Going to Israel with Associates for Biblical Research to participate in the 2010 dig at Khirbet el-Maqatir opened a whole new world in so many ways.

Climbing the hill to get to the dig site of Khirbet el Maqatir, 2010

The site of Gibeon of Joshua 9 & 10 from a hillside across Aijalon Valley.

On a side trip, our personal Palestinian tour guide and a Palestinian cab driver took us to see Gibeon from across the valley and then to stand on its summit.

The view from the top of Gibeon’s hill. The northern outskirts of Jerusalem are in sight less than 9 miles away.

By going there, I could describe the setting of Gibeon and Aijalon Valley with authority in Shepherd, Potter, Spy—and the Star Namer.

An ancient olive tree on the top of Gibeon.

It was on that dig at Khirbet el Maqatir we met Dr. Gene Merrill and his wife Dr. Janet Merrill. Dr. Gene endorsed my book before publication and an excerpt of his endorsement is on the back cover.

“With ‘the author’s colorful turn of phrase … experience solid learning interwoven with joyful, sanctified ‘filling of the gaps’ that make the ancient text alive…’  Eugene H. Merrill, PhD, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary” (2015)

Being a friend of ABR opened a whole series of new relationships as well. Dr. Bryant Wood, our Dig Director in 2010,

Dr. Bryant Wood in brown hat, Dig Director, 2010.

Dr. Wood has an amazing bio on the ABR website.  I am in awe of his fortitude and dedication  defending the Bible, its authority and its reliability as historical record. I am most pleased and humbled that he volunteered to endorse my book this year.  (2017)

    “Shepherd, Potter, Spy–and the Star Namer tells the story of the Hebrews’ arrival in Canaan from a new point of view. A young Gibeonite shepherd’s eyewitness account captures the tension in the ancient land of Canaan. Accurate descriptions of the terrain give the Bible student new insights into this historical event of the Late Bronze Age. The use of the archaeological artifact known as the Gezer Almanac adds credence to the timeline the author constructs. Bryant G. Wood, PhD, Director of Research, Associates for Biblical Research, Akron PA.”

Dr. Scott Stripling was our square supervisor in 2010.

That’s me “draining the bathtub”—lowering the level of soil bit by bit in my area/locus. That’s Dr. Stripling documenting the finds in the whole 10x10 meter square called Square 20.

Subsequently, he became Dig Director for Khirbet el-Maqatir, which closed out after over twenty years of digging in 2016.  Scott is now director of ABR’s new excavations at Shiloh.

ABR’S Week 4 Dig Team at Shiloh, 2017

And we took our whole family, eleven of us: our kids, spouses, and five grandchildren ages 11-17 to dig at ABR’s first season at Shiloh.

That’s us in 2017. But this pic was taken at Jericho on our tour week with ABR.

Have you ever experienced a moment of clarity that changed the course of your life? Share when this happened in your life.

I’d love to hear from you.