Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Friday, The Pinnacle of the Trip

Without a doubt, the high point of the trip was on Friday.  It was a powerful experience to walk in the steps of Jesus and see some of the places where He was at the end of His life here. 

John 19:13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. The picture above is of the Pavement, where Pilate "put Jesus on trial."  What a joke to think that a mere mortal could put the King of the Universe on trial!  At the time that Jesus was there it did not have a ceiling like it does now.  It was out in the open.  But the paving stones that are there seem to go back to the time of Christ.

We soon began to travel the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows) to see where Jesus ended his journey at an "Old Rugged Cross."  Hebrews 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. That gate was the Damascus Gate.  Two roads intersected outside this gate and it was a prime place for the Romans to crucify "criminals."  That helped to make the example better known.  Also, by having the crucifixion by the road people could read the accusation that was fastened to the cross. The approximate site of Jesus' crucifixion is now a Moslem bus station.  The mouth of the "skull" is covered over.  A look at an old photo from the early 1900's shows the "skull" more clearly than today. Here is a picture of the Damascus Gate and then a picture of Golgotha. The Damascus Gate picture is focused on the level where it was at the time of Christ.  What you see on the right hand side and above is where the gate is today. 






Damascus Gate Above right
 


"Place of the Skull"

We soon entered the Garden Tomb area.  Our guide in the garden was a retired British minister who was volunteering his time there to lead tours and talk with them about the Crucifixion, tomb, etc.  I believe his name was Paul Weaver.  His discourse on the crucifixion was absolutely powerful!  I remember as a teenager singing "Up Calvary's Mountain," for the first time, as I recall.  The message of the song overwhelmed my heart as I thought of such love.  As our guide talked of the execution of our Savior it overwhelmed my heart as well.  "Such love, such wondrous love, that God should love a sinner such as I, how wonderful is love like this."
Soon we were privileged to leave the area of Golgotha and enter the garden tomb.  Thank God that we have not believed in vain!  Our hope is in the Christ of the empty tomb.  What a thrill to enter there where death seemed to reign for a few long days.  There is a sign inside the tomb that says it all, "He is not here, for He is risen."  Israel should be high on your list of places to visit.  The Israelis treasure their tourist business and work hard to protect it.  I felt very safe there.  God bless and thanks for following my efforts at blogging our trip!  I plan an addendum post on some thoughts that I had while journeying home.  Here is a picture of the garden tomb. 
 
 
 

Monday, March 18, 2013

Thursday at the Temple Mount, Etc.

Our group arrived back at the David Citadel Hotel late Wednesday night after a wonderful day. Thursday morning kicked off with another fabulous breakfast.

Then we headed over to the Temple Mount hoping to be permitted access. The days and hours are strictly limited by the Moslems, who control the activities there. It was a day that a number of Bar-Mitzvahs were being celebrated there among the Jews. When a boy turns thirteen he celebrates that. There were musicians playing various instruments at different celebrations. I saw drums, clarinet, saxophone, and ram's horn.


We finally made it into the Temple Mount, with only minutes to spare before the entrance was closed to visitors. There, on top, was The Dome of the Rock. The Moslems feel like Abraham attempted to offer sacrifice of Ishmael there. Jews and Christians believe that Abraham was told by God to sacrifice Issac there. Solomon's temple as well as the second temple were built upon the mount. Nebuchadnezzar completely destroyed Solomon's temple. After the Babylonian captivity the second temple began to be rebuilt. Many years later Herod the Great trained 1000 priests as masons to help finish it. In A.D. 70 the second temple was completely destroyed fulfilling the prophesy of Jesus. The ultra-orthodox Jews won't visit the top of the mount because they're afraid they might step on the Holy of Holies. Our guide showed us exactly where he feels the Holy of Holies is. The group picture is right in front of the spot that our guide felt was the Holy of Holies.  We also went to the Wailing Wall, so named because of the prayers and cries to Yahweh for restoration of the Temple, etc.  It was a privilege to be able to pray at the wall, but it is an even greater thrill to know that we can call upon the God of heaven from any place in the world!  Here is a pic of the Wailing Wall area.  Let's pray for awakening and revival among the Jews!  We owe much to the nation of Israel and the Jewish people.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Trip to Galilee on Wednesday

It's hard to explain how a trip to Israel affects you spiritually. That was very true on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. We did not get to go to Bethlehem because it is under Arab control, but I will include a photo here of a young shepherdess (Moslem) at an area overlooking Bethlehem that we visited on Tuesday afternoon. Our guide felt it was not safe to visit Bethlehem.

We ate early on Thursday morning and left for a trip that would take us as far as the North side of the Sea of Galilee. UDee (sp?) was our Bus driver and he did an excellent job. The city of Jericho could be seen off to our left as we traveled North toward Galilee. It also is in Arab control. I've included a picture of some of the barren area that we passed through headed North. some of that area gets about a half inch of rain a year. Our travels took us by the border of the country of Jordan to the East of us. Finally we made it to the North side of the Sea of Galilee and crossed over the Jordan River, which feeds into the Galilee. At that point the river is very narrow, though it widens some later.

We arrived at the ruins of the city of Capernaum. Here Jesus healed Peter's mother in law and did other miracles. He also foretold that Capernaum would be destroyed. Matthew 11:23 - And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

Included is a picture of the synagogue ruins at Capernaum. We ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant down on the Sea of Galilee. It was thrilling to afterward take a boat ride out on that famous body of water. It became somewhat windy as we rode though not stormy. It was a good reminder of how Jesus can calm the storms in our lives, even today.

One of the highlights of the day was a baptismal service at the Jordan river.  Dr. Mark Smith and I were privileged to baptize some from our group who wanted to be rebaptized and also to baptize his son Doug who had not been baptized yet.  We don't know the exact spot where John baptized Jesus, but it was still a thrill to be in the same river.











Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Visiting in Jerusalem

What a wonderful day Tuesday was (I'm beginning this Wed morning). We started with an unbelievable breakfast. That picture doesn't show half of what was there. I'll try to include a picture of that breakfast. We drove up to the Mount of Olives to start our tour day. There Duke and Ido both talked to us for quite a while - very interesting! Jesus' Ascent back to heaven happened there. You could overlook some of the Eastern wall, including the Eastern Gate that is sealed at this time. We walked the Palm Sunday road that Jesus traveled on donkey at His triumphal entry. We visited the site of what is believed to be the ruins of Caiphas' house. There is a dungeon there where Jesus possibly was kept the night He was arrested. Our guide took us to the traditional site of the Last supper. We toured David's tomb. All guys had to wear a covering on their head and visit that site separately from the ladies.

How moving for a follower of Jesus to visit Jerusalem! It is a wonderful spiritual experience to visit and meditate on these things







Monday, March 11, 2013

Arrival in Israel

I didn't know how this trip would affect me emotionally. After we flew in to Israel and got on the bus to go to Jerusalem, our guide Ido began to talk to us. He is a Christian Jew who is full of his subject. He said that no matter from which direction you approached Jerusalem it is an ascent. The Ben Gurion Airport that we flew into is on the coast. So we went from about sea level to around 2400 feet above sea level. When we got near Jerusalem he played on the bus audio player, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, lift up your voice and sing, hosanna in the highest, hosanna to our King." He played the whole song and I felt like weeping for joy! Think of what God's holy people have to look forward to!

The bus took us to an overlook above the Kidron Valley. We could see from there the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Temple Mount, etc. there is much to look forward to this week as we walk where Abraham, David, Elijah, Elishah and a host of others walked and lived here. But a greater than all of them was born in Bethlehem, not far from Jerusalem.

Because of the all night (10 hour approx) flight, they brought us to the hotel to rest and refresh. We ate a fabulous supper that would cost an arm and a leg but it was included in our tour price. Then we went to our room on the ninth floor. Bro. John Smith and I are rooming together.

There is a picture first of heading to immigration, the third is of the Mount of Olives, the second shot is toward the Temple Mount (you can see the golden Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount). The next two pics are just part of our meal. I forgot to photo the main course!









Crossing the Atlantic

It's nearly three in the morning EST and we're flying at 32989 feet above sea level at 664 mph. Outside the plane it's minus 72 degrees. It's a little tough to sleep sitting up between two people. So I thought I would put a few thoughts on the IPad. I'm listening to the Barnard family singing. The picture of Bro and Sis. Barnard is from a few months ago at the church they pastor.

We're nearing the country of Spain, north west of Portugal. There's just a little over 4 hours to reach Tel-aviv, Israel. Thank The Lord for traveling mercy over the last 23 hours! The picture of the map shows where our plane is at the moment, though I won't be able to publish this post until I can get wi-fi...perhaps at the Tel-Aviv airport. It will be thrilling to walk where Jesus walked and I hope to publish some IPad photos from there.









Sunday, March 10, 2013

We've made it to JFK. Our lunches were a little squashed! Still good. We attended church at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Heard a very good message - Snapshots of Christ. By Pastor Jim Cymbala.
We're supposed to g o through another security check soon and board around 8:15 to fly to Israel.




We've made it as far as Charlotte, North Carolina! Waiting at the airport for our flight to JFK in New York.