He grants peace to your borders
Psalm 147:14
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
As I continue to travel around Israel, one of the blessings of visiting at this time of year is it’s the time of the wheat harvest. Last time I mentioned that Shavuot (Pentecost) marks the beginning of the wheat harvest. As we’ve gone around, I’ve noticed the wheat fields and many of them have been harvested already. As we stood on top of Tel Azekah, we saw a combine harvesting the wheat fields below us.
The Bible mentions several stories happening at the time of the wheat harvest. Two stand out to me right now. Yesterday we visited the ancient site of Beth Shemesh, which lies near the area Samson lived. As I looked over the Sorek Valley below, I imagined him walking that road down the valley to Timnah. It was there that valley he took 300 foxes, tied them pairs of tails with a torch and let them loose in the grain fields. It specifically says it was the time of the wheat harvest. (Judges 15) That is now.
After Samson’s time, the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant. They carried it from town to town, but God inflicted plagues of tumors and rats on the inhabitants of each town while it was there. They decided to send it back by having some cows carry it on a cart. They sent it from Ekron (farther west in the Sorek valley), and it arrived in the fields of Beth Shemesh as the people were harvesting the wheat. (1 Samuel 5-6) That is now.
The Bible comes alive in new ways when you experience it like this!
