Saturday, March 27, 2010

Saying Goodbye to Israel and Heading Home . . .

Thursday was a free day for us before leaving for our flight Thursday night. Some chose to take it easy or to do a little more sightseeing. Several of us made one last shopping trip. We found some things to stuff into our already-full suitcases and enjoyed spending the day together.

A little after 5 p.m., we gathered in the lobby of our hotel and moved our luggage onto the bus for the drive to the airport. We then boarded the bus and drove to a very nice Jerusalem restaurant called The Olive and Fish. We had a delicious dinner of traditional Israeli dishes and shared a wonderful time of fellowship together. After we had eaten, we boarded the bus for one final time. As we left Jerusalem, we again listened to "Jerusalem" playing on the sound system and took in our last look at this marvelous city. As we left the city, we looked back and saw Jerusalem on the hill awash in lights. It is in my heart forever! We arrived in Tel Aviv and checked in at Ben Gurion Airport. We cleared security and our flight departed Israel a little after midnight. Our flight was about 11 hours long, so we arrived in Newark around 6:30 or so in the morning. It was a little easier to sleep on this flight than it was going over. At Newark, we went through customs and everyone went their separate ways for the final leg of the journey. Betsy, Helen, Mary Ann and I arrived back in Shreveport around 5 p.m. Friday. It was a long day, but we had an unforgettable trip! Now, on to sorting pictures, taking care of things at home, and treasuring memories for a lifetime! God bless you, and I pray that someday you, too, can take your heart to Israel!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Your Comments Please . . .

I have heard from some of you that you have not been able to post a comment. That is my fault and I am so sorry! I am new at this and finally figured out what I needed to do to make it easier for you to post a comment. So, now that it's fixed, I hope you will feel free to comment. Thanks so much for reading and traveling along with me! God Bless You!

Saving the Best for Last . . .

Today, Wednesday, is our final day of touring, and we began by going back to the earliest days when Canaanites, and Jebusites in particular, controlled the site of Jerusalem. We started with a visit to the ancient City of David, which has a lookout deck to see the entire surrounding area. Our guide pointed out the spring of Gihon and the original Pool of Siloam, which has only recently been excavated. We have visited the heights and depths of Jerusalem! From the lookout point on Mt. Zion, we descended into a 4,000 year old tunnel built by the Canaanites. Jerusalem is a city built of stone -- a combination of old and new. From the tunnel, we walked the short distance to the home of Caiaphas, where Peter stood in the courtyard and denied the Lord Jesus. Caiaphas' house faces the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. They have excavated rooms for purification rites, as well as a dungeon where Jesus would have been held. Karen taught us at this site and contrasted the character of Peter with that of the Lord Jesus.
From Caiaphas' house we walked to the site of the Upper Room where the Last Supper was thought to have been held and also the room where the disciples and followers of Jesus were wiating for Pentecost. A Catholic church has been built over the site, but it is still most likely the location of the room. Karen shared another wonderful teaching time with us in the Upper Room location. This teaching was called "Behold the Lamb", and 3 of the ladies on our tour sang "Behold the Lamb" at the conclusion of the teaching time.
By this time, we were getting tired, as we had walked all morning with only brief stops here and there. Someone spied an ice cream stand, and before long the whole group was giving the shopkeeper a booming business! Today was one of our warmest days (mid-70s), so the ice cream was quite refreshing. We then walked back to our bus, and we were taken back down to the Temple Mount area for a time of shopping and lunch.
At 3:30, we drove outside the city gate to Calvary. There have been various ideas through the ages as to where Jesus was crucified. Once a person sees the cliff known as "Skull Hill", it is obvious that this must be the site. The mountain is a quarry, and there is no mistaking the skull eyes, nose, and mouth. Sadly, this cliff hangs over a present-day bus stop. As buses came and went, horns honking, and people coming and going, I was reminded how like our world today this is! Countless people live their lives oblivious to the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made for them. They are caught up in the busyness and the emptiness and miss the Savior Who was right there all along. From the view of Calvary, we walked a short way through a lush, green garden. Soon, we arrived at what is believed to have been Jesus' tomb. The tomb is a part of the same quarry system as Calvary. Again, this site is so obviously the right one. It meets every criteria of the Biblical definition of the tomb of Jesus. It was outside the city walls, and it was a Jewish tomb with a "rolling stone" opening. In front of the entrance to the tomb was a channel used for rolling the stone into place. This tomb is known to be at least 2000 years old. It is located on Mt. Moriah and was buried in the ground for hundreds of years before being excavated in the 1800s. The garden area in front of the tomb was found to have an underground water system and a winepress, both at least 2000 years old. The water system and winepress indicate that the garden had to be owned by a wealthy person like Joseph of Arimathea. We were ushered to a quiet enclave in the garden, where Karen gave our final teaching time of the trip, "A Place of Remembrance". We concluded this special time with communion of matzah bread and grape juice served in olive wood cups which we were given as a special remembrance of our time at the garden tomb. After we sang some hymns, we walked over to the tomb itself and went in, a few at a time. It looked as I had imagined it might. When the tomb was excavated in the 1800s, there were some Crusader artifacts in it, but there was no evidence of human remains or that a body or bodies had ever decayed in the tomb. The tomb is empty -- He is risen! That is the best news of all!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

In the Old City and the Land of the Philistines . . .

Monday morning began with a trip to the Old City and a walking tour as our guide taught us about the old wall and pointed out some of the gates. We then moved along to the Pool of Bethesda, where Karen taught us from John 5 about the healing of the man who was crippled for 38 years. We were challenged to think about what is paralyzing us, and where God is telling us to get up and walk with Him. Afterwards, we walked over to Saint Anne's Church and sang hymns with another group of tourists who were there.
Our guide took us over to the Broad Wall excavation site -- a wall that dates back to the first Temple era, from 1000 to 586 B.C. He said that when they began to excavate under the Jewish quarter of the Old City, they found a "walking" museum -- they are just beginning to uncover many more archaeological treasures! We next visited the Temple Institute, which was established in 1988. The purpose of the Institute is to prepare everything for the Third Temple. The Jews want to be ready to rebuild the Temple when their Messiah comes. Sadly, they do not realize that He has come and that His Name is Jesus. It gave me goosebumps to see all that they have made ready and to hear of their plans. We saw the Table of Showbread and the Menorah, both made to the exact specifications that God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai as recorded in Exodus. The Jews at the Institute have 72 of the 93 vessels ready for the Temple, and they have begun work on the priests' clothing. After lunch, we visited the Western Wall, perhaps better known as the Wailing Wall. There were many bar mitzvahs being held, as Monday is the traditional day for them. Our day ended with a fascinating tour of the underground tunnels below the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. It was unbelievable how they twist and turn all around, and there was even an aqueduct system under the wall!
After a packed day, we walked from our hotel a few blocks to a restaurant for dinner. Our hotel was preparing for Passover, so they had to get rid of all of their leaven and were unable to prepare a meal for us. We all really enjoyed the restaurant. It was a 3-course meal: appetizers of pita bread with make-your-own fillings of vegetables and sauces, main course of chicken kabobs and a chopped steak type of dish made with lamb, and baklava for dessert. Afterwards, we walked to a very nice avenue of shops and browsed with some of the other people on our tour.
Tuesday morning arrived bright and early, and we headed back to the Old City, this time to the Southern Wall. Haim, our guide, pointed out to us a street that has been excavated and dates back to Jesus' day and Herod's Temple. Jesus prophesied in Mark 13:2 that "not one stone will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down". We saw for ourselves that that was exactly what happened in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the Temple. Our guide pointed out massive stones that had once been at the very top of the Temple that were now even with the street. Karen gave a powerful lesson on being "living stones" as we sat on the Southern Steps of the Temple. These steps are the very ones which Jesus would have used and are the location of His teachings to the common people of His day.
We then left the Old City and took the bus out to the countryside around Jerusalem. We followed the path of the Ark of the Covenant when it had been stolen by the Philistines as we visited Kiriath Jearim (I Samuel 6:-7) and Beth Shemesh (II Samuel 6). The last teaching time of today was held in the Valley of Elah by the now-dry creekbed where David found his stones to kill Goliath. We then returned to the city for a picnic lunch. Afterwards, it was museum time. We saw a to-scale replica of the city of Jerusaelem at the time of Herod, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Holocaust Museum.
Tonight, we again had dinner at a restaurant and will start out again tomorrow for our last full day of sightseeing in Jerusalem.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Jerusalem . . .

What an unforgettable day this has been! We left our hotel at the Dead Sea early this morning and began the journey to Jerusalem. The weather has been gorgeous every day, and today was no exception with a cloudless blue sky and a cool breeze greeting us this morning. We made our first stop near Jericho at a Bedouin store and then began our ascent to Jerusalem. From any direction, one must always go "up" to Jerusalem. As we got closer, several of our group members took turns reading the Psalms of Ascents, beginning with Psalm 120. We read through Psalm 126, and then it was time to start watching for Jerusalem. We drove past Bethany, and I knew we were getting close. We went through a checkpoint and then entered a tunnel. When we came out the other end of the tunnel, there was Jerusalem! The song "Jerusalem" was playing on the cd player in the bus, and we all joined in and sang as we took in the beautiful City of God. I will always remember the emotion of that moment! Our Israeli guide, Haim, shared with us a Hebrew blessing that is said any time a person enters Jerusalem for the first time or after a long absence: "Thank You, LORD, for letting me live to see this moment." That is exactly how I felt. It was awesome!
Our first stop was the Hebrew University where we were able to sit and look out over Jerusalem, hear a brief history of the city, and get our bearings. Afterwards, we walked down Palm Sunday Road, the narrow, descending road that Jesus used to enter Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover week 2000 years ago. We had to hold on to the rail and walk single file, because the ancient stones have been worn so smooth that they are as slippery as glass. We stopped at a 3,000 year old Jewish cemetery which faces the Eastern Gate of the Old City Wall. The Muslims have shut this gate and have their own cemetery outside the gate. They know that Messiah is supposed to enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate, so they have done everything they can think of to keep Him out. But nothing will be able to keep Jesus from entering that gate when He returns!
We then walked a little farther down the Palm Sunday Road to Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. This was one of the most special times on our trip. Karen presented a teaching time there in the Garden, and then we were invited to spend time alone with God among the olive trees. To kneel to pray in the place where Jesus had so often gone and where He sought time with His Father before He was arrested was overwhelming. Some of the trees in Gethsemane are over 2500 years old, so they were there when Jesus was.
We boarded the bus, and everyone was quiet and reflective as we drove to a kibbutz for lunch. After lunch we visited the Shepherds' Fields of Bethlehem. You can still see where the shepherds would have been watching their flocks the night of Jesus' birth, and, in fact, several shepherds came through the area while we were listening to Karen's teaching. As we listened to the recounting of God's wonderful announcement of Christ's birth, we were reminded of the over 200 Old Testament prophecies which were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Just as the angels announced the birth of the Messiah, believers today are to be God's spokespersons for the Gospel.
We then went to the city of Bethlehem, which is under Palestinian authority. We had to change buses and guides, as our Israeli bus, driver, and guide were not allowed to cross the border. It was a different world on the Palestinian side! We visited the Church of the Nativity and shopped at a store that is run by Arab Christians. After leaving Bethlehem, we drove to our hotel, the Leonardo Plaza. We enjoyed a delicous dinner tonight and will sleep well after such a busy and exciting day!
Tomorrow we will go into the Old City. I still can't believe I am here!

Saturday, March 20, 2010