Our first stop was the community of Elon Moreh (Oak of Moreh). This place remembers where Abram first received the Promise from God (Gen 12:6). After 1967, when the land was returned to the Jews, there was an interest in moving back to central cities of historical importance, like Shechem. (Elon Moreh overlooks Shechem). So today Elon Moreh is home to about 300 Jewish families. Our host, Pinchas, took us to the top of the hill here where you could look across to Mt. Gerazim and Mt. Ebal, and look down into the valley to Shechem.
Shechem, which is called Nablus today, is a West Bank territory. We did not go into town, so we were unable to visit the church there that was built over Jacob's Well (Jn 4:6). But we did go to the top of Mt. Gerazim! From here we were able to look down on everything. And the coolest thing? We stood on Mt. Gerazim and shouted out the blessings from Deut. 28! How cool is that? Several of us each picked a verse to memorize, and then we shouted them out in order. It was SO cool. If we only had another group on the other side of the valley...they could have shouted the curses from Mt Ebal. Seriously - it was the highlight of my day.
Mt. Gerazim and Mt. Ebal facing each other, with Shechem in the valley between.
Atop Mt. Gerazim.
Amidst our "Gerazim moment", we did realize the modern reality of this place. Looking down into the valley, you could look north and see the ancient remains of Shechem. Then a little further south, the church remembering Jesus' and the Samaritan woman, and then right across the street going south, a dense, ghetto looking, square mile of dwellings. It was a Palestinian refugee camp. Your basic Hamas breeding ground. Frightening. In fact, Dr. Wright said the last time he had a group on Mt. Gerazim, during the entire lecture there was a gunfight going on in the valley below between these people and the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). And that's where we sat and ate lunch - looking down on the refugee camp. The strangness of it all....
The ancient remains of Shechem.
The refugee camp
And then....we went to meet the Samaritan priest. It's true. They do exist. I didn't know. But there are about 600 Samaritans today - half live on Mt. Gerazim and the other half in Tel-Aviv. They aren't Jewish, they aren't Muslim, and they aren't Christian. They speak Arabic, but their Bible is written in a type of ancient Hebrew. They have enough of their Israelite identity to hold onto Moses, but their Bible is only the Pentateuch. All of their theological understanding is Pentateuch based - yet they still await the Messiah, which is not a prevalent theme in the Pentateuch. Not sure how that works...Anyway, to them, Mt. Gerazim is the most important place in the world. As a matter of fact, according to their beliefs, this is where just about everything significant happened. For example:
Where was the Garden of Eden? Mt. Gerazim.
So of course - Adam was created from the dust of Mt. Gerazim
Where did Noah’s ark land? Mt. Gerazim
Where was the binding of Isaac? Mt. Gerazim, of course.
And when Jacob went to the house of God (Beth-el), clearly that was here
And when Joshua crossed the river and erected 12 stones, it was here
And when the Tabernacle was brought into this land, where did Joshua put it? Mt. Gerazim! Where else?
The Samaritan priest
And if it couldn't get anymore interesting.....guess who still does animal sacrifices? It's true. On Passover, they sacrifice animals. And if you want to come and watch the ceremony, you're invited. Here is the altar:
Needless to say, I am learning so much about all the people groups here, and all the stories behind where people live and why.
The adventure continues!
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