03.23. Palestine - Jaffa - Jerusalem

Chapter 23 Pastine – Jafta – Jerusalem.

Approach to Joppa -- House of Simon, the Tanner -- The Plain of Sharon -- Timnath -- House of Dagon -- Lydda -- The Threshing-floor -- The Mohammedan Posture -- The Valley of Bethshemesh -- The Valley of Ajalon -- Kirjath Jearim -- Mizpeh -- A Bedouin Encampment -- A Sleeping Jacob -- Jerusalem In all my journeying I have looked forward with a tender, glad feeling in my soul that each day brought me nearer the Holy Land. I would say, "One week more, and I will be in Jerusalem;" and then again, "Tomorrow I shall see the land forever made sacred by the presence of the Savior." The experience, as I studied it, was like that of one who urges his way and draws nigh to the place where abides one whom he loves above all others. On the morning of August 22d I obtained my first view of Palestine as a line of seashore; and, in the dim distance beyond, the mountains of Judea. A little later Joppa, on its conical-shaped hill, appeared. Leaning against the side of the vessel, I recalled the four great facts of the city’s history. Here ships came bringing cedar and other wood for the building of the temple of Solomon. At this place, I doubt not Solomon’s fleets landed, bringing gold and ivory, and apes and peacocks; to this place Jonah came and took ship when he fled from the presence of the Lord; at this place Tabitha, or Dorcas, lived and died, and was raised from the dead by the hand of Simon Peter; and here, on the roof of Simon the Tanner’s house, near the sea, Peter saw at midday the sheet knit at four corners, and filled with all kinds of creeping things, let down from heaven three times and heard at the same time the explaining voice of God. I had time to think over all these things, and even read of them afresh in the Scripture before we cast anchor. As we swept into position, I noticed a ship unloading her cargo of lumber, as if the King of Tyre was still filling his contract, and Solomon still receiving. Just beyond the lumber vessel was a small two-masted ship, just such as I think Jonah embarked in, in that mad and impossible flight from God. The landing here is always difficult, because Joppa is without natural or artificial harbor, and the heave and swell of the sea has an unimpeded sweep to the shore. As soon as I landed, and before going to the hotel, I visited Simon the Tanner’s house by the sea. Along streets narrow and dirty I walked to the place. This much we have in identification that only three other houses dispute the claim; that this house is certainly by the sea, and has the flat, retired roof that the sacred narrative leads us to expect. As I stood upon the roof I took in the wide-open heaven through which that wonderful sheet was let down. A wide space was a fitting frame for the lesson given the apostle. What a lesson it was! And how hard it was for Peter, even after that, to remember! Of all the instruction that the Spirit strives to impress upon the human heart, there is none that man learns with greater difficulty, and forgets with greater readiness, than that of the "four cornered sheet." The gospel flood of salvation cannot go as it should, because of the walls and barriers that men have built everywhere between each other. The Egyptians would not eat with the Hebrews, for "that would be an abomination to the Egyptians." "The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." "God, I thank thee," said the Pharisee, "I am not like this publican."

Caste law and hatred are implacable and undying. Let us all take a fresh look into the sheet, and listen to the interpreting voice of the Spirit. After I had descended from the roof I noticed I had been there at the very hour of the day that Peter had the vision, viz: "the sixth hour," which is twelve o’clock.

I left Joppa in the afternoon in a carriage with a dragoman, who proved to be an intelligent man, and blessed with remarkable knowledge of Scripture. One or two miles from the town we entered upon the plain of Sharon. Its width is twelve miles, and length over thirty. This historic plain, although bare and brown in the sultry month of August, yet greatly impressed me by its size and natural beauty. In the spring it must be a lovely spectacle. I looked in vain for a rose or any kind of flower; and, stopping the carriage in the search, had to pluck instead a little thorny bush, with which the plain abounds. Think of plucking a thorn from the plain of Sharon as a memento Nevertheless the Rose of Sharon blooms on fairer plains above. All this may be part of the judgment which is on the land. On the eastern edge rose up the mountains or hills of Judea. As I looked on them I recalled the verse, "And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah."

During the afternoon we passed the site of Timnath, where Samson lost his wife and had his revenge on the standing corn of the Philistines. A wretched mud village now marks the spot. I was also shown the town where the Temple, or House of Dagon stood, and where the wonderful scene of the image falling before the ark of God took place.

Farther on we came to Lydda, called by the Arabians today Ludd. Two points of identification are readily seen -- one in the similarity of names, and the other in Acts 9:38 : "And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa." I suppose it is seven or eight miles distant. Here it was that Peter healed Eneas, and a great revival sprang up therefrom. I walked through the streets of the dirty and poverty-stricken town where "once dwelt the saints." The houses are constructed of mud and the stones of ancient ruins. The streets, which are narrow, winding alleys in reality, are strewn with litter and filth. The floors of many of the houses, mud-colored and windowless, were often four or five feet below the level of the street. The refuse accumulates well. The things noticed by the eye were revolting in many instances to almost every sense. I felt that Lydda was not such a place in the time of Peter. A great crime has been committed in this country. God’s Son was killed not thirty miles from this spot, and the face of Jehovah has been turned from the land for two thousand years. And his vengeance is written in barren fields, and naked mountains, and long lines of ruins all over this land. What will not happen to a country when God hides his face!

I am struck, however, with the fact that the Jews constitute a small part of the population that partakes of this desolation. I meet twenty Egyptians, Arabians, Syrian peasants, and people who don’t know who they are, to one Israelite. All this, however, is in perfect fulfillment of the prophecies of old. The Jew was to be driven into all nations and the stranger was to enter in and possess the country, Mr. Rothschild is, however, still importing them from Russia and elsewhere.

He has five or six colonies between Joppa and Damascus. Here he is settling the poor wanderers, and teaching the boys how to be farmers. I saw one of his colonies in the plain of Sharon.

I notice that every village of any size has its theshingfloor. How often I have met the expression in Holy Writ, and concluded that it was a large, airy room like a barn, with a plain floor, and as substantial a covering. Here my preconceived ideas went to the winds, as they have been going about many things since I left home. It is good to leave home occasionally. The "theshingfloor" is a plot of ground two or three hundred feet square, level as a floor, and occupying the top of a hill, or an elevated piece of ground. I used to wonder why David offered Araunah, the Jebusite, such a price for his theshingfloor for the altar; but, after seeing the size and need of such a place, the wonder departed. The theshingfloor at Lydda was an animated scene, although I passed it late in the evening, when the main work was over. Long lines of grain in sheaves were in one part. A number of men were engaged in winnowing the chaff from the wheat in the old-time method of flinging the grain against the wind, while s till others were filling sacks. The cactus hedge abounds. It gets higher and thicker the nearer we approach the Judean mountain. The natives eat the bulby fruit, and I propose trying the same thing in the morning, when the dew is upon it. The camels eat the leaf, thorn and all, and evidently regard the prickly plants of the hedge and the thorns of Sharon as luxuries. The camel that will eat anything, and the donkey that eats almost nothing are certainly the animals for this poverty-stricken country. The Mohammedan, as you know, possesses the land. In a mosque at Lydda, at the hour of sunset, I saw some of them at their devotions. On a piece of matting he prostrates himself, touching the earth three times with his forehead, while he utters what is called the short prayer. He then arises, and standing erect and motionless, with face to the east, while his eyes are fixed upon a pillar or wall before him, goes through the long prayer, apparently oblivious of the presence of anybody and everybody. The night we passed in Ramleh. It has no scriptural associations, and the most remarkable thing they can relate in matters of the world is, that Napoleon once slept there.

It was by the roadside at this place I saw my first leper. The lonely, sitting figure, the drooping form, the lower face covered by a portion of the robe, was a sight familiar, though before unseen, and melting to the heart. A few miles farther on I had pointed out the beautiful valley of Bethshemesh, along the side which the cart, laden with the ark of God, was drawn so wonderfully; the cows, as the Bible says, lowing as they went. The valley, after a while, turns southward and merges into the valley of Ajalon. Here, again, memory is stirred at that bold prayer and demand of faith upon the part of Joshua: "Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon, mind thou moon, in the valley of Ajalon." Great was the victory that day over the five kings! They were pursued from Gibeon to Azekah, across and down the valley of Ajalon. The Bible says, God took a wonderful part in that battle, for he rained down great stones from heaven upon the enemies of Israel. As I passed down the valley and along the hillsides, I suddenly began to notice myriads of stones on all sides. Strange to say, I had not thought of the Scripture statement until I saw the stones. In no other part of the country did I see rocks like these before me for peculiarity of size and multitude. They were just such as would be used in hurling down upon a great army. I picked up one of the smaller sized ones, two and a half inches in diameter, for the Editor of the New Orleans Christian Advocate. An encampment of Bedouins near the road attracted my attention. In walking through it a scene of abject poverty presented itself, while naked children stared and ill-natured dogs barked at me. A blanket stretched on a pole was all the shelter and, indeed, all the home they possess. "Two women were grinding at the mill." It was the same kind of mill used in the time of the Savior.

There were two circular stones, the upper one having a small aperture through which to pour a handful of grain at a time. By an iron handle the woman revolved the upper on the nether stone, and the triturated grain gradually worked out at the surface edges and was received in a cloth spread on the ground. It was a slow and wearisome work. One of the women with whom I spoke, said her life was one of misery.

Several miles from this place we began to ascend the mountains of Judea toward Jerusalem. It is true that, no matter how you approach the city, you have to "go up to Jerusalem." At the height of seventeen hundred feet we had a charming view of the plain of Sharon, and the Mediterranean Sea beyond.

I can not, in suitable words, convey to the reader the dreariness of these mountains around Jerusalem. The road runs for twenty miles through and over them, and throughout it is a scene of profound desolation and mournfulness. The mountain sides show unmistakable signs of having once been terraced from summit to base, and cultivated; but the vineyards have vanished, and the terraces are in ruins, and, with the exception of an occasional grove of scattering olives, these noble trees are gone. The mountains themselves, denuded of their once beautiful covering, stand up and roll on to the distant horizon in bold, bare forms of gray limestone and red clay.

Upon the summit and side of one of these hills stands Kirjath Jearim, where the ark of God was carried, and remained so long. Beyond this, and visible for miles, is Mispeh, where Samuel used to assemble the children of Israel, where Saul was elected, and was found "hid in the stuff."

Two miles farther on, and northward on the Jaffa road, is Gibeah. It was near this place that Saul, in such sinful haste, sacrificed to the Lord with his own hand. Samuel had gone to Mispeh with promise to return; but Saul would not await his coming. When the eye takes in the two places, separated only two miles, something of the dark, impatient spirit of the King of Israel at once impresses the mind. Although separated from Samuel two miles, he would not wait for him, or tarry until a message could be sent. Here was light suddenly thrown on the character of Saul. With deep interest did I look upon the places connected with a life of the most brilliant beginning and dark and fearful ending, that is mentioned in the Word of God. I rode slowly all day, with my Bible frequently in hand, comparing the land with the Book and the Book with the land. God certainly made them both. Among the peculiar, sudden pleasures of the two days’ travel from Joppa to Jerusalem was the recognition of Bible pictures and sayings on all sides. The carob tree brought up one scene, the sight of two women grinding at the mill another; while near Emmaus I saw an Arabian, a young man, lying near the road, "with a stone for a pillow." Jacob and Bethel came immediately to mind.

It is impossible to see Jerusalem as you approach it from the west. A new town is rapidly growing on that side of the city, hiding the wall and ancient buildings from view. Through droves of camels and donkeys, and through crowds of Arabians and Syrians, I entered the Jaffa Gate and found myself in Jerusalem, and, in a few moments, in the Grand New Hotel. In several minutes more I ascended the terraced roof of the building to look upon the city of our God and His Christ. I went up alone, with my heart in my throat. The lofty lookout wall was near the west wall by the Jaffa Gate, and commanded a widespread view of the city and the "mountains round about Zion." On the left was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre covering, it is said, the sites of the cross and the tomb. Immediately in front was the unmistakable site of the temple where infinite Wisdom taught and Infinite Power wrought miracles. Still farther beyond, and lifted high, was Mount Olivet, with its northern and southern slopes, and roads to Bethany, so familiar to the Christian and reader of the Bible. Here was suddenly arrayed before me the sights of the most amazing and important transactions in the history of the world, and, indeed, of the universe. The incarnation, the life and teaching of the Son of God, His crucifixion and death; His resurrection, and ascension; and the descent of the Holy Ghost, were all, in a sense, before me. It was a sudden materializing of spiritual truths before my eyes. It was a startling presentation to the eye of places thought about, talked about, loved and reverenced from the far-off days of childhood, and a far-away country, with but little hope of ever seeing them in the flesh. How would the reader have felt under the circumstances? What would any lover of Christ have done? Shall the Crusaders, at the first sight of the distant city, fall upon their faces and knees, with streaming eyes, crying out, "Jerusalem!

Jerusalem" -- and the more spiritual follower of the Savior feel no melting of the heart? and shall h is cheeks be dry in the city of our God? At first a feeling swept over me that baffled all analysis and description. A pressure, a weight, an awe was upon me as came, I fancy, on Zechariah, when he saw the vision in the temple; or that fell on men of old time when they drew nigh the visible presence of God. And then, let men call it weakness; let them question the propriety of mentioning such things in print; but somehow I feel that I am not writing to critics, but to friends, and so I say that the sight of these places of the gospel fairly broke my heart, and I bowed my head on the railing before me and wept as I rarely weep in my life.

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