Welcome to Bible Fiber, where are we encountering the textures and shades of the biblical tapestry. I am Shelley Neese, president of The Jerusalem Connection, a Christian organization devoted to sharing the story of the people of Israel, both ancient and modern.
After four years of near weekly episodes, I took the month of June off and went to Israel to participate in an archaeological dig at Shiloh. The excavation has been going on for years under the auspices of the Associates for Biblical Research (ABR) and Dr. Scott Stripling, who directs ABR’s excavations.
Since 2005, I have worked for The Jerusalem Connection, dedicated to our mission to inform, educate, and activate Christian support for Israel. Because Israel’s challenges change daily, I follow the 24-hour news cycle more than I like. Over-indulging in political commentary and wartime analysis is an occupational hazard I have chosen to live with. However, to mitigate the risks of getting too caught up in the contemporary, I am also a biblical archaeology student at The Bible Seminary.
Since 2019, I have taken one class every semester, slowly ticking away at the requirements for a graduate degree. My intention is that as I advocate for modern Israel each day, I remain grounded in the original purpose for my life’s commitment. I support Israel because of the Bible; God gave this land to the Jewish people, and their story began, climaxed, and renewed here. Nothing reminds me of that more than immersing myself in the biblical text or digging directly in Israel’s soil.
Part of our program allows us to go to Israel in the summer and participate in two-week intervals with the excavation team at Shiloh. I flew out to Israel and joined the team on June 6. The main news headline at the time was Greta Thunberg was trying to break the Gaza blockade on a little yacht.
On the morning of June 13, we were sleeping in our hotel rooms, ready for another day of digging and sifting when the Home Front Command alarms blared. Israel had already launched five waves of air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
A typical dig day starts at 4:30 a.m., so we went to breakfast to discuss how this major global change impacted our local excavation. Stripling announced that the bus would still pick us up for Shiloh, despite uncertainty about checkpoints and incoming missiles. He said he understood if people chose not to go due to the site’s lack of a bomb shelter. Still, we all prayerfully boarded the bus. If we got turned away at the border, that would call off the dig. Instead, the guards at the checkpoint—accustomed to our morning routine—smirked at our audacity and let us through.
Despite the raging war and Iran’s counterstrikes, we excavated for the next three days. Sirens or Home Front Command phone messages often awakened us during the night. However, we maintained our commitment to excavate.
On June 17, the Staff Officer for Archaeology within the Israeli Civil Administration instructed Stripling to call off the excavation. Things were too intense. Closing the season required a full day of packing and dismantling. As we worked, more alerts blared, followed by Shiloh’s siren, signaling missiles overhead. Without a proper bomb shelter, we stood in the field, watching Israel’s Iron Dome intercept at least a dozen missiles. The risk at that point always involves falling shrapnel. One of the Israeli archaeologists from a nearby town had a car-sized piece of shrapnel land in his yard the day before. For ten minutes a handful of us stood in a tin-roofed storage shed but that was the only caution we could take. After the missiles, it took several hours to cover our excavation squares with felt, empty the wet sifting trough, and dispose of our trash. However, when we boarded the return bus for the last time, the excavation season at Shiloh had to conclude.
One of my last jobs at Shiloh involved restoring a two-thousand-year-old silo that had been fully excavated but required reinforcement with mortar and rocks. While I completed the tedious work of wedging rocks and mortar into open crevices, to prevent rodent and plant intrusion, I mourned the trauma and destruction that Tel Aviv was enduring. Even though the Iron Dome intercepted almost 90% of incoming missiles, the missiles that hit Tel Aviv damaged at least 240 residential buildings and over 2,000 apartments. Israel’s Finance Minister estimated $3 billion in direct economic damage.
I knew that once I returned to my job at The Jerusalem Connection, I would dive deep into defending Israel’s right to destroy the Iranian nuclear threat. I knew the media would turn against Israel and try to minimize Iran’s role in pursuing nuclear weapons and perpetuating terrorist organizations. However, at that moment, my only job was to restore a two-thousand-year-old silo.
I wished I could work on rebuilding Tel Aviv, but Israel was not even out of the war yet, much less ready to discuss recovery plans. I was reminded, though, why I always keep one foot in the world of biblical archaeology and another foot in the daily struggles of modern Israel. Sometimes, all we can do is remind ourselves why we work on behalf of Israel. Why we make ourselves targets of antisemitic trolls on the internet. Why we go to Capitol Hill to meet with legislatures about the U.S.-Israel relationship. All of it is because we believe modern Israel extends biblical Israel and fulfills God’s promises to the Jewish people. As Christians, grafted into God’s kingdom, we hold the significance of biblical Israel close as we pray for modern Israel. In my mind, in that moment, missiles over Tel Aviv and an ancient silo were closely aligned.
Your continued support is crucial to ensuring The Jerusalem Connection can represent the love and support of Christians as the nation of Israel rebuilds in the wake of the devastating effects of Iran’s missiles. With your help, we can send a message of love to the people of Israel from Christians. Because of the combined efforts of Israel and the United States militaries, the world is a safer place. No longer does the dark shadow of Iran’s nuclear program loom over the free world.
Thank you for listening. We will be returning to Ezekiel episodes next week! I had a lot of time while digging at Shiloh and on a bus to Cairo to think about that last half of Ezekiel which is filled with messianic hope. I look forward to returning to those studies together!
Shabbat Shalom and Am Israel Chai
