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Azekah sits on a high ridge in the Judean lowlands overlooking the Elah Valley. Along with Socoh and Sha’arayim, Azekah is featured in the story of David’s confrontation with Goliath (1 Samuel 17). Its location within the Judean lowlands in the Elah Valley meant that it functioned as a guard city between the Judean highlands and the Coastal Plain.

Azekah first appears in the Bible in the story of the five Amorite kings defeated by Joshua at Gibeon (Joshua 10:10-11). According to 1 Samuel 17, the Philistines encamped between Socoh and Azekah. When the kingdom of Israel divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, fortified Azekah along with other sites in the Judean lowlands to protect his kingdom (2 Chronicles 11:9).

Assyrian sources refer to Azekah as aa “stronghold, which is situated in the mid[st of the mountains…] located on a mountain ridge like a pointed dagger.” The Babylonian campaign against Judah in the 6^th century B.C. destroyed Azekah along with many cities in the Judean lowlands, and also Jerusalem. The book of Jeremiah remembers a time just before the destruction of Jerusalem when the only cities left to the kingdom of Judah were Jerusalem, Azekah, and Lachish (Jeremiah 34:7).

A letter discovered in the excavations at Lachish, written on a broken piece of pottery (ostracon), attests to this reality. The person writing notes that those at Lachish could no longer see the signal fires of Azekah; the Babylonians had destroyed the city. Azekah fell to the Babylonians in 588 B.C., shortly before Jerusalem fell. When people returned to Judah, under the Persians, some settled at Azekah (Nehemiah 11:30).

Excavations at Lachish have revealed settlement from around 1500 B.C. to the Byzantine period. Evidence of the Babylonian destruction of the city has been uncovered. So too, a fortress, which some archaeologists identified as the fortifications of Rehoboam have been unearthed. Stamped jar handles with the seal lemelek (“belonging to the king”) from the time of king Hezekiah at the end of the 8^th century B.C. were discovered, as were some Egyptian scarabs. 

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by enemies? The psalmist did: “O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, ‘There is no deliverance for him in God’” (Psalm 3:1-2 NASB).

Sometimes the circumstances appear daunting and overwhelming. The thought comes, God cannot save me from this. Yet as the psalmist reflects on feeling outnumbered by his enemies, he voices, “But You, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head” (verse 3).

The biblical writers repeatedly describe God as one who answers those who cry to Him: “I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain” (verse 4). God is near to those who cry out to Him. He is not impotent, nor is He far off. Nor is He intimidated by overwhelming odds.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by life, I’m sure that during those moments sleep has left you. Through dark nights, you lay awake tossing and turning as you wrestled with your circumstances, possibly overcome with fear. The psalmist recognized that God sustained him; therefore, he says, “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me” (verse 5; emphasis added). He continues, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me” (verse 6).

He does not ignore his circumstances or problems. They are still there, even when he wakes. Yet the realization that God sustains him allows him to sleep, and he finds himself fearless in facing those set against him. He understands that he is not alone, and the God who is on his side will deliver him: “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (verse 8).

The expression of the psalmist is not “the power of positive thinking”; his circumstances are real and dire. He recognizes, however, that God is on his side and He will deliver him. When overwhelming circumstances confront us, do we allow worry and fear to consume us? Or do we realize that God is with us and He will deliver us?

PRAYER

Father, today we call to You. Deliver us from those things that threaten to overwhelm us for Your glory. Amen.

Famous as the hometown of Goliath, Gath of the Philistines sits at the opening of the Elah Valley into the coastal plain (1 Samuel 17) in the northwestern Judean lowlands. Archaeological excavations, as well as ancient sources (like the Bible) have led to the identification of the site of Gath with a place known as Tel es-Safi. Gath was one of the five cities of the Philistine Pentapolis, along with Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron. The Bible mentions Gath more than any other Philistine city.

It serves as a key city within the narrative of the wandering of the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 5). Most of the biblical references to Gath come from the stories relating to David. He fought Goliath from Gath (1 Samuel 17); he escaped from Saul fleeing to Achish the king of Gath (1 Samuel 21 and 27). Ittai the Gittite (meaning he’s from Gath) served as the commander of David’s trusted warriors (2 Samuel 15).

Gath’s prominence diminished during the later Old Testament period. 2 Kings 12:17 mentions the capture of Gath by Hazael of Aram (around 830 B.C.). The prophet Amos spoke about the state of Gath’s destruction (6:2), most likely as a result of the destruction of Hazael. In later biblical texts where the Philistine cities are mentioned, Gath is not, indicating that it was no longer important by the 8^th century B.C.

Excavations at Gath (Tel es-Safi) indicate that in the Late Bronze Age a distinct cultural change happened with the appearance of Philistine culture. During this period and the early Iron Age, excavations reveal that Gath was a large urban center. Up until the destruction of Gath as a result of Gath’s conquest by Hazael, the site grew reaching its zenith in the 10^th-9^th centuries B.C. It covered 16 to 20 acres, with an upper and lower city making it one of the largest sites in this period within the Levant (modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank). Excavators discovered evidence of Hazael’s siege and conquest including a destruction layer throughout the site.

Scholars have recognized that the origins of the Philistines lay within the Aegean world. An inscription discovered in the excavations of Gath have underscored this. The inscription dates to Iron Age IIA and is inscribed with an archaic alphabetic script. It preserves two non-Semitic, Indo-European names with parallels from Mycenaean Greek and Luwian. It is the earliest decipherable Philistine text. It shows that the Philistines used Aegean scripts for their early writing, and that the Philistine language had Indo-European roots.

The size of the site of Gath and the excavations carried out there are significant not only for Gath but understanding Philistine culture in general. This gives important background to their appearance within the biblical record.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

“He gives strength to the weary, and to the one who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40:29-31 NASB).

The word “to wait” in Hebrew also means “to hope”—“those wait [hope] for the LORD.” The ability to remain steadfast, unmoved no matter what the circumstances—that’s what the Bible means by faith.

Faith in the Bible does not refer to “belief” in the sense of some inward, psychological state; rather, faith is steadfastness. It’s hard to remain steadfast when you’re tired. It’s hard to continue hoping when nothing seems to change, “yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength.” 

One of the reasons athletes train and condition is so that when they call upon their bodies to perform at peak levels during a performance, they can do so without becoming tired. When we are tired, we lose focus; we don’t function well. Tiredness affects mental and physical performance; it impacts our emotional health. It opens us up to giving up. Do we have patience to wait on God? 

That’s becoming increasingly difficult in our world today. We want rapid answers to our questions and prompt solutions to our problems. Waiting is not a part of our 21st-century DNA.

Paul spoke about what produces hope in our lives: “Affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:3-5 HCSB). 

Affliction, or suffering, produces endurance, and endurance produces hope. Our waiting and steadfastness produce hope in our lives.

We may get tired; everyone does, even the young. We may be weary, life does that. But do we focus on remaining steadfast in our commitment to obey God? That, Paul says, produces hope, and those who hope in God will renew their strength. 

The true test of our faith is not what we say, not what we feel, but how steadfast we remain. Hope does not disappoint because we serve a God who brings rest to the weary, who restores the downtrodden, and who strengthens the weak.

Our steadfastness also offers an incredible testimony to a watching world that wants everything now.

PRAYER

Father, renew us, we are weary. May we remain steadfast, hoping in You. Amen.

The Talmud refers to the expansive commentary which developed around the Mishnah in the centuries following the collection and editing of the Mishnah. There are two Talmuds, the Jerusalem Talmud and Babylonian Talmud. The Talmud consists of two parts: the Mishnah and the expansive commentary on the Mishnah known as the Gemara.

The Jerusalem Talmud—often referred as the Yerushalmi—follows the Mishnah’s organization down to the chapter level. However, the Yerushalmi lacks certain Mishnaic tractates (chapters); thus, it is incomplete. The Yerushalmi cites Sages who lived between A.D. 200-400. The main collection and editing of the Yerushalmi occurred within the land of Israel, most of it taking place in Tiberias on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The language of the Yerushalmi is both Galilean Aramaic and rabbinic Hebrew.

The Babylonian Talmud is the longest literary work produced in Late Antiquity (roughly 6,000 pages in standard printed editions). It provides a full expansive commentary on the Mishnah. Like the Yerushalmi, the Babylonian Talmud includes the Mishnaic text and Gemara. Its size and thoroughness made the Babylonian Talmud the crowning accomplishment of rabbinic Judaism and the most important source of Jewish religious instruction.

The Babylonian Talmud follows the organization of the Mishnah, but the Mishnaic sayings often follow a different order than the Mishnah. The Babylonian Talmud was composed primarily in Babylon; thus, outside the land of Israel. Like the Mishnah and Yerushalmi, the Babylonian Talmud underwent a period of editing and collecting, until it came to its final form sometime in the 6^th-8^th centuries A.D. It preserves many sayings in Mishnaic Hebrew, but the anonymous glue which holds it together is in Babylonian Aramaic.

Both Talmuds cite sayings which go back to Sages from the time of the Mishnah but are not contained in the Mishnah. These sayings are referred to as baraitot. They provide important additional ancient opinions and sayings from earlier Sages. The Yerushalmi and Babylonian Talmud contain sayings ascribed to Sages as well as anonymous sayings.

The Talmud contains legal material, like the Mishnah. It also contains material derived from Scriptural interpretations, parables, and narrative stories, which are not as plentiful within the Mishnah.

The Talmud was composed much later than the New Testament. Due to its lateness by comparison, some scholars doubt its value for helping us to understand the world of ancient Judaism of which Jesus and the New Testament were a part.

Yet, when we account for the forces which shaped its composition, the oral nature of Judaism and its ability to transmit sayings, interpretations of Scriptures, and instructions, the Talmud can shed light into the world of Jesus. For example, apart from the Gospels, on the lips of Jesus, story parables only appear in rabbinic literature, like the Talmud. Therefore, they have merit in helping us to understand Jesus’ most common manner of teaching.

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

Years ago, a Jewish couple narrowly escaped the Holocaust, and eventually moved to Israel. They thought the worst was behind them. Over 70 years after the war, Malka and Michael faced more danger, when their home in Israel was targeted in a rocket attack. 

Malka remembers, “When I heard the blast, I thought the world ended, and saw my husband covered in blood. Shrapnel pierced his ear. He has Parkinson’s disease, and I couldn’t move him to safety. It was so horrible.” As thousands of rockets rained down from Gaza, medical personnel eventually reached and treated Michael. But their nightmare continued. 

Their apartment building had massive structural damage, so the government declared it unlivable. They evacuated and had to rent an apartment. After saving up for years to pay off their home, Malka says, “Now we are using what little money we have to pay for this rental apartment, while the government decides what to do with our old building. It’s heartbreaking.” 

In desperation, they turned to CBN Israel. Thankfully, friends like you brought them groceries, and have paid their rent as they wait to hear from the government. Michael says, “After all the hardships, it’s great to see that someone cares.” Malka added, “We knew you were Christians—I had never received help like this. Without it, we wouldn’t have made it. We are so thankful!” 

Your gifts to CBN Israel can bring aid and comfort to other terror victims—along with single mothers, lonely immigrants, frail Holocaust survivors, and more. 

In the face of rocket attacks, poverty, and those fleeing war, your support can supply food, shelter, financial help, and job training to those in need. 

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By Marc Turnage

Ashkelon sits on the southern Mediterranean coast in the modern State of Israel. The Bible identifies it as one of the five Philistine cities along with Gaza, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath. Ashkelon sits on the Mediterranean coast between Gaza and Ashdod. The ancient site sat on a ridge of cemented sandstone called kurkar. Its elevated vantage point allowed for the observation of the sea routes from Egypt to Lebanon. 

Ashkelon receives, on average, almost fourteen inches of rainfall a year, which, while not a lot, is sufficient for viticulture and the cultivation of gardens. The high-water table meant that the city had an abundant supply of freshwater throughout its ancient history. Over a hundred ancient wells have been uncovered in excavations. 

The land around Ashkelon consists of sand ridges that run parallel to the coast. The local kurkar served as a basic stone for building at the site. Its location on the sea and just west of major land trade routes made Ashkelon a maritime trading center. Ancient seafaring vessels traveled using the trade winds and currents, tacking their way following the coast. Thus, Ashkelon served as an important location along the sea route between Egypt and Lebanon. 

Its close proximity to the most important overland route in the Ancient Near East, a route that connected Egypt with Damascus and Mesopotamia, meant that Ashkelon could capitalize upon its location for both land and sea trade. Throughout its history it maintained this dynamic; in the Byzantine period (4^th-6^th centuries A.D.), wine from Ashkelon was found in England. 

Ashkelon functioned as an important site in the Middle (1950-1550 B.C.) and Late (1550-1200 B.C.) Bronze Ages. Its fortifications from the Middle Bronze period are quite impressive including an arched gate, which is one of the oldest arches in the world. In Iron Age I (1200-1000 B.C.), Ashkelon underwent a change within its material culture. 

Excavations have revealed that during this period a distinct Philistine material culture emerged. With the Philistine appearance, both pig and dog entered the diet of the people; food avoided by both the Canaanites and Israelites. Excavators have uncovered tools and elements necessary for the manufacturing of textiles. 

Two Phoenician shipwrecks discovered off the coast of Ashkelon illustrate the importance of Ashkelon for maritime trade. These vessels contained over four hundred wine amphorae. Ashkelon, like Gaza, Ashdod, and Ekron, was destroyed around 600 B.C. by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. The strategic importance of the city meant that it was rebuilt in the Persian period, and it continued to serve as in important trade center through the Byzantine period. It was eventually destroyed in A.D. 1270. 

The Bible says little about Ashkelon. That was likely due to the biblical writers being unfamiliar with the cosmopolitan center of Ashkelon. The prophets Amos, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Zechariah denounced the city, but it did not serve as an important focus of the Bible. That, however, does not reflect the significance of this ancient site.  

Marc Turnage is President/CEO of Biblical Expeditions. He is an authority on ancient Judaism and Christian origins. He has published widely for both academic and popular audiences. His most recent book, Windows into the Bible, was named by Outreach Magazine as one of its top 100 Christian living resources. Marc is a widely sought-after speaker and a gifted teacher. He has been guiding groups to the lands of the Bible—Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy—for over twenty years.

Website: WITBUniversity.com
Facebook: @witbuniversity
Podcast: Windows into the Bible Podcast

“Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD; Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. … I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning—yes, more than those who watch for the morning” (Psalm 130:1-2, 5-6 NKJV).

Have you ever been there? In the depths? Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by life and its circumstances that you felt as if you were in the deepest, darkest pit? The psalmist did. And he cried out to the Lord. 

This is actually an amazing statement by the psalmist, because when you find yourself in the depths, one of the hardest things to do is cry out to God. You may think that sounds strange. Perhaps you think that the natural cry should be to God. And it should. The problem, however, is that when we find ourselves in the depths, we stand on the edge of despair. 

Circumstances overwhelm us like violent waves of the ocean. At first, we may find the strength to face the challenges and hardships, but eventually, even inside of us, we begin to faint, wear down, and despair. 

Faith is not just believing God in the good times or even the mildly bad times; faith is crying out to God from the deepest depths of despair, when everything outside of us and inside of us feels like things are hopeless. When we can cry out to God in that moment, pleading with Him to hear our cry, that is the genuine test of our faith. 

Everyone faces hardships and overwhelming circumstances, many of which we cannot control. The challenge of faith is this: that even though we find ourselves in deep despair due to circumstances and the doubts that arise in us, we continue facing toward God. No matter our circumstances, we cry out to Him and know that He will answer us. He will not abandon us. 

The psalmist didn’t allow his circumstances to consume him, nor did he buy into the thought that his circumstances separated him from God’s being able to hear him. From the depths, he called out to the Lord because the God of the Bible is near to the cry of His people. 

When you find yourself in the depths of despair, turn toward God, not toward your circumstances. That doesn’t mean that the hardship, difficulty, or pain will subside. It does mean that the God of the universe will hear your cry, and the deepest depths are not too deep for Him.

PRAYER

Father, please hear our cry. Give ear to our plea today. We choose to trust You even in the midst of our most difficult circumstances. Amen.