Day 12

Day 12:

Lyon's Gate

Bethesda - St. Anne's

Leaving Jerusalem....

Tomb of Samuel

Emmaus

Looking for smooth pebbles in the creek where David found his.

Last afternoon in Joppa

Goodbye Israel....

Day 11

Day 11:

The picture on the left is from the current street level (~30 ft above street level at the time of Christ)

While visiting the Temple Institute, we were shown the components of the Menorah. Spike is holding a reconstruction of the top of one of the seven candles. The actual 6 ft. version is shown on the right!

We visited the Western 'Wailing' Wall. Visitors can place their petitions to God on a small piece of paper & tuck it into a crack.The prayer area is divided into men & women sides

Below is a video clip of the Wailing wall on Shabbot. The Jewish worshipers are nicely dressed for this festive evening.

The narrow streets through the Muslim district of Jerusalem are lined with shops that display their colorful wares. This was along the Via Dolorosa.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is one of two sites thought to be where Jesus was laid to rest.

Day 10

Day 10:

There were two Hezekiah tunnels, a wet one & a dry one.... Tim lead the Wet tunnel team! Both Teams ended up at the Pool of Siloam.

This is by the Southwest corner of Jerusalem in the Archaeological Park. Notice the impact of an earthquake on the street pavers.

Rick is sitting on the same steps that Jesus taught from. About 30 feet below the current street level the street paver stones are found where Jesus carried His cross.
We finished up the day with a visit to Abraham's Tent. It was a delightful re-enactment of what life would have been like 4000 years ago.


Day 10 Redux:

We started our day at the south end of the temple mount on the teaching steps. According to Jewish tradition this is where the “just” shall enter on Judgement Day. The Umayyads (Muslims) blocked the Hulda gate in the 8^th century to prevent such an occurrence, but I don’t think they’re accounting for the “chance” of an earthquake or some other such handiwork of God.

After a short visit, we went down into the City of David and saw the initial exploration and diggings in David’s palace. The archaeological work here is still on-going and many great finds are anticipated to shed more light on the time of David. We also saw in the Stronghold of Zion the house of Ahiel. This was a wealthy house (two-story) belonging to one of the scribes listed in Jeremiah 36:10-13. They found signs of Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Jerusalem here including arrows and royal seals made from clay (survives and even strengthens when burned) and dating to the 6^th century B.C.

We had the opportunity to go on adventure here as we descended into the water source of Jerusalem: the Gihon springs. We had the opportunity to enter the water tunnels that Hezekiah had dug to safely reach the Gihon spring which was on the outside of the city walls. Rather than extend the walls to include the spring, which would have diminished the high-ground advantage of the city, Hezekiah dug a tunnel to the spring (2 Kings 20:20). Not only that he dug it from both ends and managed to make both ends meet in the middle! Remember, he had no compass, no laser alignment, no power tools or even steel tools. The tunnel is about 1750 feet long and about 80 feet below ground. The five most adventurous among us (Tim, Cathy, Cheryl, Jayne & Colin) grabbed our flashlights and headed through the tunnel with water rushing by nearly up to our waist. The water was cool and a welcome refreshment from the hot Judean sun on the surface. We ended up at the Pool of Siloam (Jesus heals the blind man – John 9:6-7) where we met the rest of the crew who had gone the Canaanite way. There was an interesting mural here showing the Pool of Siloam with several people around the pool in the 1^st century A.D. Our guide pointed out one older boy walking with his father and a younger boy riding on his father’s shoulders. This was done to show that at that time, there was a debate amongst the Pharisees from the school of Hillel and school of Shemiah as to when a boy was able to go to the temple. One rabbi said when they were old enough to walk and the other said when they were old enough to ride on their father’s shoulders. I wonder how they decided?

In the afternoon we went into the old city through the Herod’s Gate (aka the Flower Gate, aka the Crusader’s Gate) and walked to the Struthion Pool. It was through this gate that Godfrey de Bouillon entered the city in 1099 during the First Crusade – the only crusade that captured Jerusalem. Godfrey, unlike most of his fellow crusaders, sold all his possessions in France before going on the crusade. It was his intention to stay permanently in the Holy Land. He got his wish. After he captured Jerusalem, he was invited to visit the Emir of Caesarea. He graciously accepted and enjoyed dining with the Emir. Unfortunately, he got a bad tummy-ache immediately after and died when he returned home.

But enough about the crusaders … as I said we were heading to the Struthion Pool. This is the water source inside Herod’s Apolonia fortress. Herod was a pretty smart, albeit paranoid, guy. He felt he needed his own mercenaries nearby the temple because he knew the people hated him and might try to take him out at any moment. He also knew that having a personal guard that could be besieged without water was as good as having no guard at all so he built a cistern to hold plenty of water in the fortress.

The Romans garrisoned soldiers at the Fortress and they left behind evidence of a macabre game they liked to play: the King’s Game. In this game they would choose a “king” and would pretend to follow his orders and pay homage to him for a period of time. Then the “king” would have to take his own life. The Romans realized this wasn’t such a wise idea for the soldiers to be killing themselves off so they modified the game to select prisoners to be “king”. It was a poignant reminder of the royal robe and crown and the taunting that the Roman soldiers gave our Lord.

We closed the day by returning to the temple to walk the tunnels at midnight! No, it wasn’t anything spooky or mysterious about doing it at midnight, it was just the only time we could get a reservation. We walked underneath the western wall and at one point were very close to where the Holy of Holies would have been up above. This is a highly venerated site by the Jewish people and they have set up a small prayer enclave here complete with candles and censers. We walked most of the length of the wall and stopped at a broad paved street that was being constructed at the time of the death of Herod. We saw the base of the wall go all the way down to bedrock and the amazing precision construction that Herod used with massive blocks of solid rock. Thus ended a very long but rewarding day.

Day 9 Israel

Day 9: I have to admit, that if it wasn’t for journaling and blogging, it would be virtually impossible to keep up with all the events of each day. They are so full—unbelievably full—but so very rich at the same time. We are in our third day in Jerusalem. We’ve now divided up the responsibility of leading morning devotions to groups of ‘tribes’ (families and individuals) and it’s been so great to hear from different people and how they are being impacted by our journey. Today, Neil & Brenda Roberts shared, along with Marla Hazen and her sister, Pat

Robison. They prepared us well for our visit to the Mt. of Olives and Gethsemane, the garden where

Jesus had his passionate night of prayer before he was betrayed by Judas and arrested.

Just before we went to Gethsemane, we drove to a scenic overlook at the Mt. of Olives and took a group photo overlooking the ‘Old City’, Mt. Moriah (where the Temple mount is located), and scores of other important sites. As we looked down on the ancient city below, we saw a gate in the wall beneath the Temple Mount, sealed up with stone blocks and mortar. This was an attempt by a rule centuries ago to prevent the return of Christ because it had been prophesied in Ezekiel that the Messiah would return through the Eastern gate (also known as the Golden or Beautiful Gate). We pondered what that moment will be like when Christ indeed does return and enters through that gate—and how no one or nothing will be able to stand against him as he fulfills prophesy and heralds in his millennial reign!

It was sheer chaos getting to the Gethsemane—there are so many tourists here to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Israel. If there is a question in anyone’s mind about Israel being too dangerous for the world to visit—it’s certainly not keeping tourists away! Tour groups are here in what must be record numbers! But despite all the throngs of people, we were able to find a quiet place in the olive gardens of Gethsemane and enjoy a time to reflect on Scripture, pray, and meditate on the events of Jesus’ final hours before his arrest and execution. The Fransicans have built a church in the middle of one olive garden in the area to commemorate Christ’s night of prayer. We briefly toured the church, then ate lunch at a nearby kibbutz.

Next, we drove across Jerusalem to the Israeli Museum. We were able to walk through collections of century old Israeli artifacts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. This was a very important moment for us all—to actually see the scrolls preserved for the world to see was so validating to our faith and moving to our hearts. God’s faithfulness to allow these scrolls to be discovered and protected for so many years is an amazing story (I won’t go into all the details here, but you really must read about it for yourself!). Next to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit is a detailed model of biblical Jerusalem. The creators of this site had recreated the city of Jerusalem as it existed during the time of Christ. Everything was built to scale—even according to the elevation of the land—just on a much smaller scale (approximately 50:1). It was so helpful to see the entire city, spread out in a way that we could take it all in at once.

Our last stop for the day was at a site many believe was the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial—the Garden Tomb. The traditional site where many believe these events happened is now housed under the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in the Jerusalem’s Old City. At any rate, it was a wonderful visit and our guide (Ken) explained why many believe that this is the actual site where Christ died. He reminded us that wherever it all occurred, either way, both tombs are empty!

We came back to the hotel and some of us walked down to Ben-Yehuda Street—a local open air mall that’s really just a closed off street. The Sabbath was just ending and so people were coming out to socialize and shops & restaurants were opening up—at 8:30 at night! We enjoyed just walking the streets and taking in the local flavor of the city. Continue to pray for us—for our safety, our energy, our witness to the unsaved among us and to the Israelis and Palestinians that we encounter each day.

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Day 8 - Mount Zion & Yad Vashem

We awoke this morning, our first in Jerusalem, with anticipation of things to come in the City of David. Our first destination would be Mt. Zion and the traditional sites of King David’s Tomb, the Upper Room and Caiaphas’ house.

The Upper Room is right above the traditional site King David’s Tomb (how convenient!) and has changed hands from the early Christian church to the Persians back to the Church to the Crusaders and the Franciscans to the Muslims and finally back to the Franciscans. So we now have the remnants of a mosque on top of a Jewish holy site that is supposed to be the Christian holy site of our Lord’s Last Supper – most confusing.

Further on down Mt. Zion, we found Caiaphas’ house where we looked out towards the old city and the south entrance of the temple where the dome of the rock now stands. Beyond we could see Mount Scopus, the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Offense where Solomon built pagan shrines for his foreign wives. At the base of the Mount of Olives is an ancient graveyard and Tim reminded us of the word pictures that Jesus used to describe the Pharisees and teachers of the Law: white washed tombs.

I forgot to mention that our hotel, the King Solomon, is right next to the King David Hotel – what a coincidence! The King David happens to be the preferred accommodation of visiting dignitaries, heads of state and Hollywood stars. To give us a full appreciation of Jerusalem during Passover or other holy pilgrimages, President Bush decided to visit the city: streets were jammed, security was tight, people were edgy, and the routes to our hotel were blocked. In my imagination, it was just how Jerusalem would have been with Christ entering the city for Passover. It also meant that our plans would be altered and then altered again as the President wanted to visit the Israel Museum on the same day as us. He wanted to visit it on his own and we agreed that would be best.

This gave us more time for Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, which definitely merited it. Pilar lead us with her passionate and sympathetic manner through the Children’s Memorial, Janusz Korczak square, Pillar of Heroism and the new Holocaust History Museum. We probably could have spent all day here; in fact, the staff came through half an hour before closing to inform me that they would be closing in 30 minutes and I was only 1/10^th of the way through the exhibit. Yad Vashem is a disturbing yet fitting memorial to the 6 million Jews who lost their lives in the holocaust. It reminds us just how thin our veneer of civilization is and how morally depraved unregenerate man really is. It also takes us all back to that time to show the culpability of all the nations, not just Nazi Germany.

We left Yad Vashem emotionally drained and some returned to the hotel to end the day early while others ventured on to Bethlehem. I did not go, so you will have to hear about Bethlehem from the others.

- Colin for Tim

Day 7 - Nazareth, Megiddo, Mt. Carmel & Caesarea

We have to leave our wonderful accommodations at Kibbutz Hagoshrim. The food and rooms here were incredible! Full buffet meals morning and evening with lots of fresh vegetables and fruit and great hummus. Oh, I hear the desserts are very nice as well :)

Our first stop is in Nazareth to see a recreation of a village at the time of Christ. Our guide told us about life in the village and related many of Christ's parables along with the way including the Parable of the Sower, the Woman and the Lost Coin, and the Wise and the Foolish Builders. We learned that the reason you crush the grapes with your feet and not with the millstone, is the millstone would crush the grape seeds and give bitter wine - how clever. We saw an ancient olive press where we learned about the various grades of olive oil: extra virgin, virgin, and plain old diesel (I made the last part up). Of course the best was reserved for ceremonial uses in the synagogues and the temple which is a nice segue to what we saw next: the synagogue. Here, Tim read from Luke 4:16-21 recounting the time when Jesus came into the synagogue in Nazareth and read from scroll of Isaiah 61 summarizing it with, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

From here, we went to Tel Megiddo, the site of many historical battles and one big one to come. We also went to Mt. Carmel where Tim did his rendition of Isaiah taking on the prophets of Baal and then on to Caesarea to see the incredible building and subsequent ruin of King Herod's city. I'll write more about all of this later but now it's time for dinner.



Oh, and for Don, a sneak preview of things to come:

- Colin for Tim

Day 6 - Israel

Day 6: Mark, Rob, Colin, Cheryl and I met in the lobby of our kibbutz at 6:00 a.m. for a quick run before breakfast. The weather was soft and cool and provided for a beautiful setting as the sun rose across the Holy Land. After a few miles, we came to an Israeli military post which said “Do Not Enter” and “Border Ahead”. We heeded the advice and headed back the way we came not realizing how close to the Lebanon border we were! We later found out that this kibbutz has bunkers on the property that the workers and residents can retreat to in case of missiles coming over the border! It was eye-opening to think that the people of this area have to live in this way…but they do.

Our first stop today was a visit to the excavation site of Tel Hazor. This ancient city is located in the Hula Valley at the foot of the Galilee Mountains. The area around Hazor is very fertile as the streams in the nearby Hazor stream provide ample water supplies. This city was one of the greatest cities in the land of Israel and one of the most important cities in the Canaanite period. The biblical account of Hazor is found in Joshua 11:1-12. King Jabin of Hazor aligned himself with other Canaanite cities in an effort to attack the Israelites led by Joshua. However, the Israelites were victorious and they burnt Hazor to the ground. Recent archaeologists have confirmed that the ruins of Hazor were indeed burned.

While there were no major walls or structures that have survived, the site is mostly comprised of the original stone walls which gave us a good understanding of the layout of the city. One interesting aspect of this city was the intricate water system. The Canaanites developed a cistern and a tunnel shaft measuring over 45 meters which led down to an underwater spring. This spring provided an ample water supply within the walls of the city--very important if an enemy laid siege to the city.

From Tel Hazor, we traveled to the ruins of the ancient city of Zippori. Zippori was a large and sprawling city located on a hill in the lower Galilee and is currently under extensive excavation by archaeologists. The city has a system of streets, public buildings, houses, a huge theater, bathhouses, a synagogue and several churches dating back to the Roman and Byzantine periods. In addition, this city was occupied by the Crusaders around 1178 AD. They built a huge citadel which served as a lookout over the valley below. The structure still exists, and we were even able to climb to the top of it to take in the view.

The synagogue and the Byzantine house within Zippori currently hold some of the best preserved mosaics in all of Israel. The floor of the synagogue has a preserved mosaic which measures 15 x 7 meters. The mosaic has inscriptions in both Greek and Aramaic and is divided into several panels. The panels represent several Bible stories arranged horizontally across the floor. This mosaic was amazing to see! The intricate design and production of the mosaic took years to complete.

After exploring Zippori, our group headed for a trip to the top of Mt. Tabor. Mt. Tabor is generally considered to be the “traditional” site for the Transfiguration of Jesus. However, Tim led a discussion on the matter as to whether or not this was indeed the actually site. Many biblical scholars think that the actual site of the Transfiguration was atop Mt. Hermon. Nonetheless, Tim made a great point as not to get into the “X marks the spot” mentality, but rather to realize that we may never know the exact location, but we know that it occurred and that we are in the correct area in which it occurred.

This traditional site of the Transfiguration, as was other sites, is currently under the control of the Franciscans. There is a church at the top of the mountain as well as a residence of the monks. Now, this mountain is very steep. The road up is very narrow and winds back and forth, sort of like Lombard Street in San Francisco…but worse! The road is so narrow, in many places only one car can pass on the road. Needless to say, the friendly confines of our travelling home (our bus) could not drive up the hill. The solution was to park at the visitor’s center and take a “taxi” to the top. Now, you are probably thinking what I thought: “Wow, a local taxi. Sounds exciting.” Indeed it was, but not for the reason you may think.

Upon conclusion of our “taxi” ride, many of us were introduced to what may be considered the “Disneyland” of Israel. Each of the taxi’s can hold 8 people. Imagine a small minivan from the 80’s, with no seat belts and squeaky breaks. Our local driver pleasantly greeted us, and then the ride was on. He took off at a high rate of speed, rounding corners at every opportunity, apparently not wanting to waste any time for our journey by applying the breaks. We held on for dear life as we sped up the hill, swerving often to avoid the taxis driving down the hill with the same vigor. Roberta, Cathy and Cheryl weren’t sure whether to laugh or cry, while Tom tried to take advantage of the swerving car to snap a few photos out the window.

Half way up the mountain, I noticed the tip jar near the center console (which had a few dollars in it). My mind flashed back to a Starbucks a few weeks prior… I usually like to donate a dollar to the always starving baristas. I thought to myself I’d gladly give that same dollar to our driver if he kept us alive a few minutes longer. We made it to the top in one piece. Upon arrival, our driver smiled and shouted, “We are here!!” We gathered our senses and stumbled out the door. I tossed a dollar in the jar and thanked him for the wild ride.

The top of the mountain was very beautiful. The church was Catholic and built in the Byzantine style and reminded me of the many churches we saw in Rome. We read some passages on the Transfiguration and Tim provided a brief teaching for us. After taking some photos, we headed back to our taxi and made our way back down the mountain to our bus.

We headed back to the Sea of Galilee to the Kibbutz Ginosar, where they have an ancient boat on display which dates back 2000 years ago. The boat was found buried in mud in the Sea of Galilee by two fishermen. Experts managed to recover and restore the boat. The boat gives us an amazing view of what a traditional fishing boat looks like in the time of Jesus.

We ended our day by taking a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.

We embarked at the adjacent harbor and set sail to the city of Tiberius, about 35 minutes away. Earle provided a talk to the group about the time of Jesus and how he used the area of the Galilee to spread His message throughout the known world. Nicole sang a beautiful song for us and we had an awesome time to reflect and concentrate on our Lord. The experience of being on the Sea of Galilee…where Christ performed many miracles…was amazing! We thanked God for the beautiful day, hopped back on our bus, and headed back to our Kibbutz.

(Submitted by Steve Rego of the Rego Tribe.)

Israel and Jordan Day 4

Day 4: After several miles of hiking yesterday, we all woke up a bit sluggish today, but again filled with anticipation about what this new day of travel would unveil. We left our hotel and drove to the city of Madaba (the biblical city of Medeba), about 30 kilometers from Amman. This city is best known for its Byzantine mosaics and one in particular—the earliest surviving map of the Holy Land (roughly from Lebanon to Egypt), dated several centuries after the birth of Christ. Today, a Greek Orthodox church has been built over the mosaic and tourists from all over the world come to visit this site daily.

Next we visited the site that for many of us has been the most powerful experience thus far—Mt. Nebo. This is the vicinity where Moses is believed to have been buried and also the locale where God brought Moses to show him the Promised Land that he would not be permitted to enter because of his disobedience. We were all so moved by this place. From our vantage point, we could look down, thousands of feet below and out into the west and take in the Dead Sea, Jordan River, the city of Jericho, and far in the distance, the Mediterranean Sea (it was actually too overcast to see the sea today). As we read the words of Deuteronomy 34, thought about all that we were surveying, and then considered how faithful God had been to fulfill his promises—leading the Israelites into the land of Canaan to claim their inheritance—we were all struck with a sense of wonder at it all. Earle shared a stirring message with us about Moses’ final encounter with God and Joshua’s preparation to succeed him as the new leader of the Israelites. Nicole led us in singing “Psalm 121” and many of us were moved to tears at the power of the Lord’s presence in that place at that moment.

We drove down to the Plains of Moab, said good-bye to our Jordanian guide, Aladdin, our driver, Hassim, our security guard, Ramadan, as we crossed the border to return to Israel. Our Israeli guide, Pilar, was there to greet us and we were all very glad to see her and continue with our journey toward Galilee.

Once we arrived in the area of the Galilee, we came to the Jordan River and several folks from our tour decided to be baptized! The experience was not what many of us expected (unfortunately being baptized in the Jordan has become highly commercialized), but it was still very special. Earle and Tim baptized Candy Walhood (OR), Debbie and Jayne Mercer (Earle and Julie’s daughter and granddaughter), Tim and Tiffany Thompson (WI), Lena (Christine) Satterlee, Flo Shiroma, Barb Benda, Pat Robinson (Marla Hazen’s sister), and ‘Spike’ Smith (who came to faith in Jesus this week!). After the baptisms, we all sang “How Great Thou Art” and enjoyed such a sweet time of fellowship and celebration with one another.

We drove to the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, up into the high country (near Lebanon and Syria) and settled in at our accommodations for the next three days—a kibbutz (sort of a Jewish commune established by Israel allowing people to live, work, and volunteer to serve the nation and provide services like growing crops, providing education, caring for livestock, etc.,…) called The Hagoshrim. This has been the lodging that we’ve all been most excited about. It’s set in a wooded area with streams, waterfalls, wildlife, and absolutely delicious food! What a blessing this day has been! Just listening to the stories of all the folks being baptized made this trip MORE than worthwhile. The power of Jesus to save and change lives never ceases to touch our hearts deeply and challenge us to continue to boldly and compassionately share the ‘good news’ of the gospel.