God of the Valleys – Valley of Oak and Grape
God of the Valleys – Valley of Oak and Grape.
“… When the Israelite spies reached the Valley of Eshcol while exploring the land of Canaan, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.” (Numbers 13:23-25).
That very fertile valley is especially remembered for the grapes that the spies carried back to Moses after their spy mission in Canaan. The mission turned out to be disastrous for the Israelites and led to forty more years wandering in the wilderness before they could enter the Promised Land. “Eshcol” literally means “cluster,” and so it was named after that incident with the branch of grapes so huge that two men needed to carry it. But the Valley of Eshcol contained another famous site that was at the center of the Judeo-Christian faith long before Moses and his spies. The famous Oaks of Mamre were situated right in the valley, and was the scene of many important events in Scripture. But let’s start with the grapes, then we’ll go back to the oaks.
‘Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged! Don’t be shocked or afraid of them! The Lord your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw Him do in Egypt. And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now He has brought you to this place. But even after all He did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. When the Lord heard your complaining, He became very angry.’” (Deuteronomy 1:21, 29-34).
The Israelites are knocking on the door of the Promised Land, and needed to discover the best place to enter this land of Canaan in order to take it over. So they decided, with Moses’ approval, to send twelve scouts to spy out the land. The scouts were to report back to Moses and the people on the best entry point. Before this mission, it was assumed they would enter the land somewhere. But the spies returned with mixed reviews, and heavily negative. Ten of those scouts were demoralized, claiming some of the Canaanites were giants, and had built impregnable walls around their cities. These ten scouts convinced the people to reject any attempts to enter the Promised Land. Only two scouts, Joshua and Caleb, were convinced the Israelites could take this fertile land with God on their side. The Israelites, though, committed the grievous sin of unbelief. Their fears overcame them, and they didn’t believe that God was enough. Moses did his best to encourage the people and exhort them to meet this challenge. He tried very hard to help the people gather their courage and occupy the land. But the people stubbornly refused to trust in God. In His anger and disgust, God sentenced the Israelites to forty years of wandering the wilderness, one year for every day of the spy mission. This was time enough for the younger generation to grow up and take over the challenge. And too, this would provide the time necessary for the fearful generation to age out. After forty years, the children of these Israelites did indeed conquer and occupy the Promised Land. Despite God’s constant care for them up to that earlier moment of truth, though, the fearful Israelites proved unfaithful. And they paid dearly for their lack of courage and trust. Those ten fearful scouts paid the ultimate price. All of them were struck by a plague and died.
“Yahweh Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance to his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.” (Genesis 18:1-2).
That grove of big oak trees in the Valley Eshcol saw a lot of action. It was where Abraham built an altar for sacrifice after God spoke His covenant (Genesis 13:18). It was also where Abraham was the gracious host to the Lord Himself, accompanied by two angels, or was it the Trinity? (Genesis 18). At this site God told Abraham that his being 99 years old was irrelevant… He and Sarah would have a son within the year. What could Sarah do but laugh? Actually, they both laughed, out of a mixture of unexpected joy and skeptical disbelief. Abraham, and we can’t forget Sarah who did most of the work, is famous in Judaism for his hospitality in situations like this. A word about that is in order…
“May the All-Merciful One bless this table at which we have eaten. May it be like the table of Abraham our father; All who are hungry may eat from it, and all who are thirsty may drink from it.” (from a traditional Sephardic Jewish Passover liturgy).
Abraham, that towering Patriarch who continues to be the grandfather of the faithful, was known in ancient rabbinic circles as one big Welcome mat. According to a Hebrew saying as old as the hills, Abraham always had all four of his tent flaps open. He is the epitome of that sacred virtue known as hospitality… a magnanimous heart, an open spirit that welcomes all comers, known or unknown.
The story most often mentioned in this light is that scene in Genesis 18, when he and Sarah entertained angels without knowing. (Hebrews 13:2). Well, if Abraham did not know he was serving heavenly visitors at the start of this scene, he certainly knew it by the time they were haggling over numbers on the road to Sodom. In fact, we wonder if he knew his guests were perhaps not just three garden-variety angels, but perhaps the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit themselves in the flesh. (When you can, Rublev’s famous Russian Orthodox icon of the Trinity set near those oaks of Mamre bear a special look).
What did Abraham do to deserve his reputation as host with the most? Let’s take a look at this scene at Mamre in the Valley of Eshcol, and see what Abraham was made of:
1. He was on the look-out. Abraham was comfortably relaxing on his front porch, and he “looked up.” He noticed. He was able to welcome his guests only after he was aware enough to notice their presence. Hospitality begins with the conscious decision not to turn a blind eye, but instead to look up and notice, and then act. What might keep us from being observant? Too busy? Tired? Just plain cheap? Father Abraham starts us out sweet and simple… just look up.
2. He gave more than enough. Talk about extravagant and over the top! He sent Sarah and the servants off to the kitchen to get 20 quarts of fine flour, enough bread to feed 100 people! And that wonderful custom of killing the fatted calf (rf. to Prodigal Son story)? This was traditionally the “feast calf”, and was intended to feed a small village of about 100 people as well! So here is Abraham, the host who seems generous to a fault, reflecting the very heart of the Host of the Universe, who welcomed us to His world, providing more than we could ever need, way more, simply out of extravagant, even wasteful love.
3. He was at their service. Don’t you love this picture of Abraham standing near his guests while they are eating his food, the towel tastefully draped over his forearm, eager to make his guests feel at home, fat and happy? He was so busy being the host that it appears he didn’t even eat at his own feast! In his mind, it wasn’t self-denial or noble sacrifice. He was happy only when his visitors were satisfied. So it appears that hosts sometimes go hungry. One could always eat leftovers later, right?
4. He completed the welcome. There is something very sweet about Abraham “seeing them out,” walking them out to the road away from their tent when the feast was done. What a perfect time to personally confirm your care for the guests, a time for a final handshake or hug, a genial good-bye, and providing that extra bit of friendliness to complete the welcoming care.
Abraham offers us a perfect example of hospitality there by the oak trees. I wonder if being “children of Abraham” involves more than faith in the unseen? Maybe there is an equal measure of love for the seen, too.
All this happened near that oak grove at Mamre. Abraham and Sarah lived there off and on for many years. In fact, as it turns out, both Sarah and Abraham were buried near there, in a nearby cave in Hebron. Traditionally that cave is known as the Cave of the Patriarchs, because there is evidence that all three Patriarchs and their wives, the Matriarchs of the faith, were buried there.
Those oak trees have been venerated ever since, at first by ancient religions convinced there was something holy about that grove. In fact, there remains at that site the Oak of Abraham, also called the Tree of Rest, right there in modern day Hebron, and it is still honored by all three Abrahamic faiths. At the site of this ancient tree stands a Russian Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Trinity. Legend has it that that oak tree is 5,000 years old, but moderns say it is about 850 years old. This tree is huge, 32′ around the trunk. The tree remains standing and has small sprig coming out of it, even though it reportedly died in 1996.
Oaks drop acorns, of course, which grow slowly but surely to produce magnificent trees, massive as well as old. Oaks are known for their long life, and were useful in that area for providing hard wood for ships and farming implements. So, in the Bible, oaks were associated with power, usefulness and longevity.
Isaiah seemed to love oak trees, for he mentions them throughout his book. He famously referred to believers as “oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.” (Isaiah 61:3). What a magnificent picture of solid, steady, persistent goodness, strong and true, useful for Kingdom purposes. May we be oaks of righteousness, Lord, planted by You for Your glory.
So there was a lot of activity in the Valley of Eshcol through the centuries. The Valley has remained tremendously fertile all this time, and continues to be recognized as prime land on which to grow grapes. The Valley continues to produce miles and miles of grapes, just like back in the day of Moses and those ill-fated spies.