A Walk in the Land
Deepens Your Walk with the Lord
Our Mission
To teach and encourage those who love the Bible, the land of the Bible and the people of the land and to lead educational tours to Israel that forever change the way you read your Bible and worship the Lord
Our Prayer
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26
History
Nimrod, "History and Traditions," part 2
Last time we met this man whom the Bible calls a “mighty hunter,” a powerful leader who is credited with the building of Babel and Nineveh, two cities widely recognized for their ancient antagonism toward the Jewish people. Nimrod has been variously depicted, identified or described as an Egyptian king, an idolater, Sargon the Great, a chained giant in Dante’s Divine Comedy, an ancient god of war and hunting, Gilgamesh (the hero of a famous Babylonian epic), and the leader of the Tower of Babel rebellion (which the historian Josephus interestingly ties to Nimrod’s insistence that they build a tower so high that no future flood could possibly engulf them). Although the Bible never directly states that Nimrod instigated the rebellion at Babel, it is nevertheless the common assumption of most Christian, Jewish and Muslim sources. Some early Jewish sources equate “Amraphel king of Shinar” (Gen. 14:1) with Nimrod, thus securing his reputation as an enemy of Abraham, and in modern slang “nimrod” has become synonymous with a fool. What a colorful history surrounding this one man!
In the Qur’an 21:69, readers are introduced to a king, often identified in Islamic tradition as Nimrod, who debates with Abraham about the power of God and who is then seized by the people and thrown into a fiery furnace. God commands the fire to be cool and safe for him, “O fire, be coolness and peace upon Abraham,” and in some Islamic traditions, Abraham walks out alive, an uncanny parallel to the biblical accounts of divine rescue in the book of Daniel.
One of the strongest lingering connections to Nimrod is Mount Nemrut in southeastern Turkey, sometimes called the eighth wonder of the world. Nemrut is, of course, a variant spelling of Nimrod, and atop this mountain archaeologists have uncovered the tomb and shrine of King Antiochus I of Commagene who reigned in the first century B.C. According to a longstanding local tradition Nimrod once hunted on the slopes of this mountain, a contention that finds roots in the biblical account of the flood wherein Nimrod’s grandfather Ham and great-grandfather Noah landed on this or on a nearby mountain.
In the end the identity of Nimrod remains rather slippery, but one truth remains sadly resolute—that there will always be men who foment rebellion against God. On the other hand, thank God for the godly men and women in your life who have directed you so faithfully to him. Who have not built towers of defiance. Who hunt only a close relationship with the Lord. For they are the mightiest of all!
Daniel McCabe
Life in the Land
Fun Facts about Israel's Desert Fox
Late at night when I’m waiting to get sleepy, you can often find me watching black and white documentaries about World War 2. I know all the famous names associated with the war and even many of their colorful nicknames—e.g., General Eisenhower, “Ike”; Prime Minister Winston Churchill, “the British Bulldog”; and German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel who earned the nickname, “The Desert Fox,” for his brilliant military maneuvers in the deserts of North Africa.
The desert fox most commonly associated with Israel, however, is of the four-footed variety. Let me run through several fun facts about this fascinating creature, a top favorite of many Israeli photographers.
- You might not recognize its technical name, Blanford’s fox (Vulpes cana), named for a nineteenth century British naturalist and geologist, William Thomas Blanford, who studied the desert fox extensively. It is one of Israel’s smallest wild canines, weighing a mere 2-3 pounds, hardly bigger than a house cat, and inspiring Nehemiah’s critics to mock his efforts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem with these words, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”
- Like other loveable creatures, such as Dumbo and Yoda, the desert fox has very large ears that not only help it listen for small animals and insects scurrying among the rocks, but its ears also release body heat, acting like a natural air conditioner.
- Like the ibex with which it shares a habitat, the desert fox can easily climb steep cliffs and maneuver along rocky ledges looking for food.
- You can generally find the desert fox in the Judean Wilderness east of Jerusalem and in the Negev Desert south of Jerusalem.
- The desert fox rarely needs to drink water because it receives most of the moisture it needs to survive from fruit, insects and small animals.
- To avoid the direct sun of the desert it prefers to burrow or shelter behind rocks during the day, emerging to hunt only after sunset.
- The desert fox enjoys a wide diet of insects, lizards, rodents, birds and fruit with a fondness for figs, dates, grapes and berries. Song of Solomon 2:15 even reads, “Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.” Aesop also wrote about a fox who hungered for a cluster of ripe grapes, but after finding them impossible to reach, simply walked away muttering, “They are probably sour anyway.”
- The desert fox has a tail that is almost as long as its body, which helps it maintain balance while climbing and which it can use as a blanket to curl up in during cold desert nights.
- In Israel the desert fox is a protected species, and though once thought to be close to extinction, it turns out that the desert fox was never endangered and simply preferred to remain hidden. Hikers spending many nights in the desert may never even see one.
Daniel McCabe
On Location
The Montefiore Windmill
I want to tell you about something you may have seen if you’ve been to Jerusalem, but have probably wondered what it is. You may have noticed an old windmill that is the pride of the locals. It lies just southwest of the Old City, perched atop the western slope of the Hinnom Valley.
I am talking about the Montefiore Windmill. It has been around from the sunset of the Ottoman Empire to the birth of modern Israel. Built in 1857 by the British philanthropist Moses Montefiore, it was originally meant to help Jewish residents become self-sufficient by grinding their own flour. But by the late 1940s, this symbol of industry was about to become a casualty of war.
At the outbreak of the 1947–1948 Civil War, the windmill’s location became strategically important. Standing on a slope overlooking the Old City’s walls, it offered a perfect bird’s-eye view of the landscape. The Jewish Haganah fighters realized this immediately and transformed the top of the tower into an observation post to monitor the blockade of Jerusalem. Naturally, the British Mandate authorities weren’t thrilled about a fortified sniper and scouting nest in the middle of a conflict zone. So in 1948 the British high command finally had enough and ordered the windmill to be leveled. In a bit of military wit, they dubbed the mission, “Operation Don Quixote,” a nod to the fictional knight who famously tilted at windmills.
But here is where the story turns into something straight out of a movie. The demolition crew sent to blow up the tower just happened to be from Ramsgate, England, and as they prepped the explosives, they noticed a plaque on the wall that recorded Montefiore’s name as well as his home in Ramsgate. Suddenly, this wasn’t just a military target; it was a piece of their own hometown history.
According to local legend, one of the soldiers, whose family had worked on Montefiore’s English estate, reminded his comrades of the family’s legendary kindness back in Britain. Moved by the connection, the unit decided to “reinterpret” their orders. Instead of leveling the entire 50-foot stone structure, they carefully rigged the explosives to destroy only the observation post at the very top.
Because of those sentimental soldiers, the tower survived the war. Today, standing tall as a museum, it’s been fully restored with its Kentish-style cap and sails by a Dutch organization called “Christians for Israel.” What a reminder that even in the middle of a civil war, sometimes a small connection to home is enough to save a landmark from the brink of destruction!
Adam Keim