When the early Israelites came into the Promised Land, many of them settled in the Judean mountains. Jerusalem was there and it was a hospitable landscape compared to the desert they left. There were enemies in the land, like the Philistines who lived along the coast. But between the mountains and the coastal plains was a buffer zone of foothills and lowlands called the shephelah.
The shephelah is where these two groups, God’s people and the so-called pagans, would interact. They had widely divergent worldviews and their contact impacted each culture. Sometimes these interactions led to battle. David met Goliath in the shephelah and Samson judged from there. But it also meant a slow exchange of values insinuating itself into the culture.
Centuries later the rabbis picked up on this picture and shephelah became used of any place you were interacting with the world, or with those who held a differing worldview. “How’s your shephelah today?” In other words, in that place of conflict or contrast that is different from your beliefs, who is influencing whom? Are you impacting those around you? Or are you being influenced and led away from God?
We all have different shephelahs. It could be a workplace or school, neighborhood, or even at home. Its important that we identify it for what it is. Otherwise, we may be taken off guard.
God instructed His people to take the land. That meant the shephelah, too. We need to guard against subtle lies and be committed to obedience. We have Good News to spread and the advantage of Truth on our side. Let’s go together and make an impact on our shephelah.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16
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