Thursday June 9, 2005
Well we left Tuesday night (4 am) from Calvery Church on a big shuttle bus. Rob and Robert Wynalda, Dr. Lawrence, Ted McCully, Josh Elyea, Beka Osbun and I were the group from WCBC added to a group total of about 50 people. We arrived at the Chicago airport later that morning and went through tight security at EL AL Airlines. We flew on a huge 747 with a second story and the main floor had 4 center rows (seats) then 3 seats in each row on each side of it. We all got our own TV. They fed us like 4 meals over the course of the flight. It took us about an hour to get to New Jersey then stayed on the plane there while other people loaded then had about an eleven hour flight to Tel Aviv. Well we got here safely! Praise God! After we collected our luggage and everyone in the group, we hopped on a big charter bus to go to our first site. The time difference is about 7 hours from EST but we wanted to quickly get into this time zone, so we started hiking! We drove about 15 minutes and stopped first at an olive grove. Kent Dobson talked about the uses for olives. He is trying to get us to view things from an Eastern way of thinking. How the people were thinking and reading when the Bible was written. So first we determined the uses and importance for the olive (oil, give light). They gave light just like the Israelites were supposed to be the light on the hill that could not be hidden. Also, the leaves on the olive branch are green on one side and have sort of a shiny, silvery back so when they blow in the sun, it shines. One ore thing he stressed was where Jesus talks about Him being the root of the tree and Israel, His people, were the branches. The only way we, as gentiles, can have a strong root is to be grafted into that tree (Romans 11:11...) next we walked up a hill which used to be a part of the city of Gezer. We learned a bunch of Geography (Coastal Plain, Shephelah, Judah Mountains, Judah Wilderness, Rift Valley) Next we walked to a different part of Gezer where the archaeologists dug down (believed that Gezer had been destroyed and rebuilt 27 times) to where Solomon's Palace once stood! We peed in one of the rooms here! =) After that, we went to the erected stones. These were uncut stones that were stood on end to remember events or covenants. These were called Masaba (pl:Masaboat). Later on in the Bible, God commands they not be used any more because people tended up worship the stones rather than remember the event and God's work like their original intent was. Then we ate lunch. After lunch we drove in the bus to see a Gan. Gan means garden in Hebrew. It was SO different from what we think of as a garden being! This was on a hillside, made in many horizontal layers (steps). Different families "owned" a different part of it and it required a ton of work to keep something like this good! He has us all read verses relating to a Gan so we could "re picture" it in our minds. Some were from the Garden of Eden but one of my favorites was Isaiah 5:1-7. It was just crazy how it was almost EXACTLY what we were seeing (wine press, watch tower...) After that he had us all grab a rock and each of us placed one on a wall that had been started by Kent's previous groups. he wanted to show the amount of work it takes to build up a wall or Gen and how easy it would be to sort of ignore it, but if they didn't work really hard at it and keep it up it would be ruined for future generations. After the Gen we headed to our first hotel. We get to shower, pee in a toilet, eat at a table and sleep lying down! Hooray! ha ha it's only been two days without that stuff. Ended up being a pretty good dinner, some type of breaded chicken and over cooked noodles. Sleep was very nice until the freaky wake up call!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Day 2 - June 10
Friday, June 10
Yummy quick breakfast. Woke up at 6, breakfast at 6:30 and on the bus at 7. First place we stopped this morning was a wheat field where the wheat had just been harvested. He spoke about the chaff being separated from the wheat. All you do is rub it in between your hands, then blow and the wheat stays while the chaff blows in the wind. We saw a pole (poles) with wire connecting them that the strict Jews still use today where on the Sabbath they can't walk more than 1000 paces outside the city. We walked up on a hill which was the city of Bet Shemesh, which was a part of the tribe of Dan. Samson (meaning light) was born here. We discussed his Nazarite vow, how he couldn't drink wine or even touch grapes or ANYTHING to do with grapes. (Yet the vineyards were everywhere) He couldn't touch a razor to the head and could not go near anything dead or touch anything unclean. We discussed his mistakes and how he was supposed to be a light (as his name means). We discussed the vows we can make (our own Nazarite Vow) but NOT for the purpose of witnessing to others, but between us and God. Other people will notice, they notice when something is different about you-even in the world of "Christians." But remember, it is about your relationship and covenant you make with God. Our sins affect generations to come, not just me!!! Random side note: I guess the Bible says that God only put His little finger into the 10 plagues in Egypt but His whole hand into the crossing of the Red Sea. They remember that by saying "10 plagues in Egypt, 50 at the Red Sea" I guess. His point was if His little finger could do all those plagues... how much more can He keep His promises to us like clothe, feed and protect. We all held up our pinkie and said the Shamah again reminding us of His great power. After the story of Samson we had a potty break and us girls got to pee under a huge fig tree! ha ha then we walked unhill to another part of Bet Shebeth where they had their city cistern. That was so cool! It was steps down into it then a big empty stone cave. There were 4 wings off it kind of in the shape of a cross. All the houses had a gutter system to drain all rain water into this cistern for the summer months. Girls would walk down into it with pails to get water out. When they found it there were still pails sitting on the bench believed to be from when the city was attacked the girls just set them down and ran! He mentioned the passage in Jer. that talks about the people were wanting to drink from their own cisterns which were cracked and dirty rather than God, the living, true, water. Next we drove to Azekiah. A big steep hill we climbed, where Israelites camped during the battle with the Philistines. He pointed out where each of the tribes camped. The Israelite Army was afraid of Goliath, they had forgotten about their God. David comes and the first thing he thinks of is not being killed by some 9 1/2 foot tall guy but how the Israelites were not letting their God be known! Saul had the mind set or armor fights armor but God didn't. David grabbed 5 (significant # maybe, Torah?) smooth stones, not b/c he needed that many but possibly for a different purpose. He shot Goliath with a rock (Jesus was called the rock) right between the eyes (where the Jews were supposed to bind the commands of God (Deut 6) and he fell on his face (worshiping something). David's focus was totally on God. We each picked up a smooth stone from the riverbed where David most likely got his 5 from, held them up and said the Shemah. Next we went to an actual Roman amphitheater. That was interesting... wasn't as moving for me as it should have been though. The Romans built it especially for the purpose of being entertained by murdering Jews whom they captured. There were the seats all around the top, the main dirt floor, and the big underground hole where the vicious animals were kept. Most of the Jews/Christians were probably new to Christianity and said "look, I know my religion is only 10 or so years old but I believe it with all my heart, all my soul and al my might I am ready to be killed for it." And we stood there today. In the exact same spot some 2000 years later, believing in the same God. Wondering how strong our faith is. Next we drove to a wine press that was probably used by someone for a business or something. First was a round table (stone) and a groove went around the middle of it where they would place the olives. They had a huge stone to crush them all. Then they gathered them and put them in baskets. They put these under a large log that was weighted down by rocks and the first press was called virgin, then they would press it again. That was a cool place! next was lunch , then the vineyard at Lachish. Talked about Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. You will only bear fruit if Living in Him. We climbed the hill to the city of Lachish. Hezekiah was King there (Isiah 37). He was a good king where everything bad happened to him. He had as awesome prayer at the end of his life but it is hard for me to understand prayers like that. How can we still believe in God when EVERYTHING seems to be going bad and wrong? I don't' really get it. Bot God gives him 15 more years to live and praise Him. We are now in Arad where it is a big, very modern city now. The hotel is pretty nice. Has an American Outlet! Yea! =) Well good day =) My allergies are better! Time for us to sleep!
Yummy quick breakfast. Woke up at 6, breakfast at 6:30 and on the bus at 7. First place we stopped this morning was a wheat field where the wheat had just been harvested. He spoke about the chaff being separated from the wheat. All you do is rub it in between your hands, then blow and the wheat stays while the chaff blows in the wind. We saw a pole (poles) with wire connecting them that the strict Jews still use today where on the Sabbath they can't walk more than 1000 paces outside the city. We walked up on a hill which was the city of Bet Shemesh, which was a part of the tribe of Dan. Samson (meaning light) was born here. We discussed his Nazarite vow, how he couldn't drink wine or even touch grapes or ANYTHING to do with grapes. (Yet the vineyards were everywhere) He couldn't touch a razor to the head and could not go near anything dead or touch anything unclean. We discussed his mistakes and how he was supposed to be a light (as his name means). We discussed the vows we can make (our own Nazarite Vow) but NOT for the purpose of witnessing to others, but between us and God. Other people will notice, they notice when something is different about you-even in the world of "Christians." But remember, it is about your relationship and covenant you make with God. Our sins affect generations to come, not just me!!! Random side note: I guess the Bible says that God only put His little finger into the 10 plagues in Egypt but His whole hand into the crossing of the Red Sea. They remember that by saying "10 plagues in Egypt, 50 at the Red Sea" I guess. His point was if His little finger could do all those plagues... how much more can He keep His promises to us like clothe, feed and protect. We all held up our pinkie and said the Shamah again reminding us of His great power. After the story of Samson we had a potty break and us girls got to pee under a huge fig tree! ha ha then we walked unhill to another part of Bet Shebeth where they had their city cistern. That was so cool! It was steps down into it then a big empty stone cave. There were 4 wings off it kind of in the shape of a cross. All the houses had a gutter system to drain all rain water into this cistern for the summer months. Girls would walk down into it with pails to get water out. When they found it there were still pails sitting on the bench believed to be from when the city was attacked the girls just set them down and ran! He mentioned the passage in Jer. that talks about the people were wanting to drink from their own cisterns which were cracked and dirty rather than God, the living, true, water. Next we drove to Azekiah. A big steep hill we climbed, where Israelites camped during the battle with the Philistines. He pointed out where each of the tribes camped. The Israelite Army was afraid of Goliath, they had forgotten about their God. David comes and the first thing he thinks of is not being killed by some 9 1/2 foot tall guy but how the Israelites were not letting their God be known! Saul had the mind set or armor fights armor but God didn't. David grabbed 5 (significant # maybe, Torah?) smooth stones, not b/c he needed that many but possibly for a different purpose. He shot Goliath with a rock (Jesus was called the rock) right between the eyes (where the Jews were supposed to bind the commands of God (Deut 6) and he fell on his face (worshiping something). David's focus was totally on God. We each picked up a smooth stone from the riverbed where David most likely got his 5 from, held them up and said the Shemah. Next we went to an actual Roman amphitheater. That was interesting... wasn't as moving for me as it should have been though. The Romans built it especially for the purpose of being entertained by murdering Jews whom they captured. There were the seats all around the top, the main dirt floor, and the big underground hole where the vicious animals were kept. Most of the Jews/Christians were probably new to Christianity and said "look, I know my religion is only 10 or so years old but I believe it with all my heart, all my soul and al my might I am ready to be killed for it." And we stood there today. In the exact same spot some 2000 years later, believing in the same God. Wondering how strong our faith is. Next we drove to a wine press that was probably used by someone for a business or something. First was a round table (stone) and a groove went around the middle of it where they would place the olives. They had a huge stone to crush them all. Then they gathered them and put them in baskets. They put these under a large log that was weighted down by rocks and the first press was called virgin, then they would press it again. That was a cool place! next was lunch , then the vineyard at Lachish. Talked about Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. You will only bear fruit if Living in Him. We climbed the hill to the city of Lachish. Hezekiah was King there (Isiah 37). He was a good king where everything bad happened to him. He had as awesome prayer at the end of his life but it is hard for me to understand prayers like that. How can we still believe in God when EVERYTHING seems to be going bad and wrong? I don't' really get it. Bot God gives him 15 more years to live and praise Him. We are now in Arad where it is a big, very modern city now. The hotel is pretty nice. Has an American Outlet! Yea! =) Well good day =) My allergies are better! Time for us to sleep!
Day 3 - June 11
Saturday, June 11
This morning we drove to a wheat field where we all got out and watching a shepherd standing with his flock of sheep and goats. After watching him for a while it reminded me of my day with McKenna. He has noone to talk to, he has out here alone all day long...no time for anything else. I just mentioned that to Beka and realized that that is another difference in Eastern/Western mindsets. What do I see as being worth my time? What would I be doing if I were NOT wasting my day? We learned so much about shepherding today! It's such a central theme in Scripture because that's what so many ppl were or at least understood back then and we have no idea! I'll say all the things I can remember learning about the real shepherds and I'm sure they've been paralled in the Bible already between God and his "sheep." The sheep really do know the voice of their own shepherd. They follow, sometimes it takes rocks being thrown or the shepherd running after one sheep to bring him back so the rest don't follow. They must trust their shepherd to lead them where they will be able to eat and yet have enough left in places for all year round. They must trust the shepherd to find them water. They must follow closer to the shepherd when it is getting darker out. It seems so obvious that God would call Himself the shepherd and us the sheep. Who knows, He probably invented shepherding just for that! Psalm 23 The LORD is my Shepherd (leads, protects) I shall not be in want (He provides), He makes me lie down in green pastures (small, sparce, sprouts of grass. Green maybe 1-3 months of the year but then turn brown. Not too much, but just enough), He leads me beside quiet waters (finds water in the desert), He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness (switchbacks that the shepherd leads the sheep on to go down steep hills where if they would do it their way, they would go straight down and slide/fall so their death - on almost all hillsides in the mountains.) For His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me (the real shepherd will stay with the sheep to protect them) your rod and your staff, they comfort me (used to lead, guide and protect)... We next stopped and saw an Eshel tree or a Tamarisk tree. The kind that Abraham planted in Gen 21:33. The neat thing about it was that it served him absolutely no purpose. Why did he plant it then? For future generations! He was thinking of God's covenant with him. How often do we do things for the benefit of us and our future generations? kent brought up the topic of songs we sing in churches. If they are songs about feelings & stuff, that passes and fades. If they are true words of the Bible it will never fade. Also, different things we do in churches & ways we think. Went up to a cannonite city in the desert called Arad. Rains only 12-16 inches a year so they work with that. We went into one of the houses/rooms in that city that was like Lot's house. I'm not sure why he compared it to that but oh well. We talked abotu Lot and Sodom & Gomorah. Ezekial 16 tells us why God destroyed Sodom. The Bible says the reason was because they didn't take care of the poor and needy. That was crazy. We like to ignore Bible texts sometimes. The ones that either we don't find so convenient or the ones we read and see noone else obeying that one or not finding it to be so important so we ust skip over it too! Why?? Next we walked over an Israelite temple. Only known one left standing in Israel. It was realy cool, all the rooms were there just as described in the Bible. The alter was the exact dimensions as commanded in the text. We walked into the Holy of Holies and the Holy Room. Their real word is house, not temple, so we talked about how it was God's house... God was close to the people. Something I just thought of, random. Somewhere we read that the Israelites married God in the desert. It sais He became her husband. God has so much to say about that. Before we left God's house, we all touched the alter and sang the doxology. Next thing we walked probably a mile to a bedowin tribe. They are the desert people. One the way 3 young, precious, girls & one boy ran out to meet us. They pointed to our stuff for us to give them food (american treats) adn they just hung all over us. They wanted to know everything about us and our stuff so they kept pointing & stuff. The house we went to was a big cement home (square) and we all sat under their front canopy. They are a super hospitable tribe. According to tradition, they must entertain, feed and shelter any stranger for free for at least 3 nights. They gave us hot tea when we arrived and then made us bread over the fire. They had a ton of camels! After lunch we drove to the Judah mountains and climbed down into a large wadi. A wadi is an empty riverbed in which when it rains heavily in the mountains all the water drains into these. Rushes into them causing flash floods of up to 70 ft high! Those, by the way, are the #1 killer in the desert! We say another sheep herd here. We went off and read by ourselves. Psalm 23, 46, 131 & Deut 6-8. I can't blame the Israelites for complaining in the desert. It can be nasty. No water!
This morning we drove to a wheat field where we all got out and watching a shepherd standing with his flock of sheep and goats. After watching him for a while it reminded me of my day with McKenna. He has noone to talk to, he has out here alone all day long...no time for anything else. I just mentioned that to Beka and realized that that is another difference in Eastern/Western mindsets. What do I see as being worth my time? What would I be doing if I were NOT wasting my day? We learned so much about shepherding today! It's such a central theme in Scripture because that's what so many ppl were or at least understood back then and we have no idea! I'll say all the things I can remember learning about the real shepherds and I'm sure they've been paralled in the Bible already between God and his "sheep." The sheep really do know the voice of their own shepherd. They follow, sometimes it takes rocks being thrown or the shepherd running after one sheep to bring him back so the rest don't follow. They must trust their shepherd to lead them where they will be able to eat and yet have enough left in places for all year round. They must trust the shepherd to find them water. They must follow closer to the shepherd when it is getting darker out. It seems so obvious that God would call Himself the shepherd and us the sheep. Who knows, He probably invented shepherding just for that! Psalm 23 The LORD is my Shepherd (leads, protects) I shall not be in want (He provides), He makes me lie down in green pastures (small, sparce, sprouts of grass. Green maybe 1-3 months of the year but then turn brown. Not too much, but just enough), He leads me beside quiet waters (finds water in the desert), He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness (switchbacks that the shepherd leads the sheep on to go down steep hills where if they would do it their way, they would go straight down and slide/fall so their death - on almost all hillsides in the mountains.) For His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me (the real shepherd will stay with the sheep to protect them) your rod and your staff, they comfort me (used to lead, guide and protect)... We next stopped and saw an Eshel tree or a Tamarisk tree. The kind that Abraham planted in Gen 21:33. The neat thing about it was that it served him absolutely no purpose. Why did he plant it then? For future generations! He was thinking of God's covenant with him. How often do we do things for the benefit of us and our future generations? kent brought up the topic of songs we sing in churches. If they are songs about feelings & stuff, that passes and fades. If they are true words of the Bible it will never fade. Also, different things we do in churches & ways we think. Went up to a cannonite city in the desert called Arad. Rains only 12-16 inches a year so they work with that. We went into one of the houses/rooms in that city that was like Lot's house. I'm not sure why he compared it to that but oh well. We talked abotu Lot and Sodom & Gomorah. Ezekial 16 tells us why God destroyed Sodom. The Bible says the reason was because they didn't take care of the poor and needy. That was crazy. We like to ignore Bible texts sometimes. The ones that either we don't find so convenient or the ones we read and see noone else obeying that one or not finding it to be so important so we ust skip over it too! Why?? Next we walked over an Israelite temple. Only known one left standing in Israel. It was realy cool, all the rooms were there just as described in the Bible. The alter was the exact dimensions as commanded in the text. We walked into the Holy of Holies and the Holy Room. Their real word is house, not temple, so we talked about how it was God's house... God was close to the people. Something I just thought of, random. Somewhere we read that the Israelites married God in the desert. It sais He became her husband. God has so much to say about that. Before we left God's house, we all touched the alter and sang the doxology. Next thing we walked probably a mile to a bedowin tribe. They are the desert people. One the way 3 young, precious, girls & one boy ran out to meet us. They pointed to our stuff for us to give them food (american treats) adn they just hung all over us. They wanted to know everything about us and our stuff so they kept pointing & stuff. The house we went to was a big cement home (square) and we all sat under their front canopy. They are a super hospitable tribe. According to tradition, they must entertain, feed and shelter any stranger for free for at least 3 nights. They gave us hot tea when we arrived and then made us bread over the fire. They had a ton of camels! After lunch we drove to the Judah mountains and climbed down into a large wadi. A wadi is an empty riverbed in which when it rains heavily in the mountains all the water drains into these. Rushes into them causing flash floods of up to 70 ft high! Those, by the way, are the #1 killer in the desert! We say another sheep herd here. We went off and read by ourselves. Psalm 23, 46, 131 & Deut 6-8. I can't blame the Israelites for complaining in the desert. It can be nasty. No water!
Day 4 - June 12
Sunday, June 12
Today was Masada! I was so excited and don't know why! I only heard about Masada a little bit right before the trip so I knew practically nothing about it but now I am excited to learn more through the Bible if it is in there and Josephus. First we stopped at an overlook then wove our way down the mountain. I got car sick so I went to the front of the bus and that helped a ton. I still don't know a ton about this sity but I guess Harred the Great built it for himself kinda to show his might. Somehow Jews got up there and lived. They were known as zealots. I don't know much about them either but they were so strong in their faith in God, zealous for their faith. They were known for dying for their faith. They didn't WANT to die for the faith, but they wanted to live for it. It was such a beautiful city and looked over the Dead Sea. Harred had a sauna built in it, a pool for cerimonial cleansing, a temple, synagouge, man and so many other things. Nine huge cisterns! We got to go in one. He dammed up a wadi so all the water would flow into all his cisterns because it didn't rain. Every inch of the place was covered in plaster so every drop of rain that fell was used. Josephus records the attack of the Romans/Jews on the city while the zealots were there. The Romans built a huge seige ramp and huge battering ram/catapult they used to break down the wall. The zelots would not let themselves be killed or captures in this way so the men killed their families, then themselves. Josephus records the details because when they got up there they found a woman and children hiding who told the whole story. The Romans were so shocked at the zealots dedication they didn't kill these people. At the end we all yelled the shema really loud as to yell down to the Romans. Suspecting that was possibly the zealots' last words. Next we went to the desert/wilderness of the Negev called Tzin. It was this huge canyon with a trickling stream running through. We saw ibex (deer/gazelle looking things). They were walking right on the edge of the cliffs just like in the verses we read! SO totally cool to see! Psalm 18:33, Hap 3:19. Also, we saw Nesher which is a vulture and read Ex 14. We talked about how it doesn't seem fair for God not to let Moses enter the promise land for one mistake he made. He was supposed to be leading those sheep... we climbed up the cliff on stairs! Can't believe we did that! Next we drove to some city to see a room that is like one we will see in Jerusalem but easier to see here so we will be better able to picture it when we got there. It is where Jesus was taken on trial. We talked about the crisifixion story. Barabus was a zealot?
Today was Masada! I was so excited and don't know why! I only heard about Masada a little bit right before the trip so I knew practically nothing about it but now I am excited to learn more through the Bible if it is in there and Josephus. First we stopped at an overlook then wove our way down the mountain. I got car sick so I went to the front of the bus and that helped a ton. I still don't know a ton about this sity but I guess Harred the Great built it for himself kinda to show his might. Somehow Jews got up there and lived. They were known as zealots. I don't know much about them either but they were so strong in their faith in God, zealous for their faith. They were known for dying for their faith. They didn't WANT to die for the faith, but they wanted to live for it. It was such a beautiful city and looked over the Dead Sea. Harred had a sauna built in it, a pool for cerimonial cleansing, a temple, synagouge, man and so many other things. Nine huge cisterns! We got to go in one. He dammed up a wadi so all the water would flow into all his cisterns because it didn't rain. Every inch of the place was covered in plaster so every drop of rain that fell was used. Josephus records the attack of the Romans/Jews on the city while the zealots were there. The Romans built a huge seige ramp and huge battering ram/catapult they used to break down the wall. The zelots would not let themselves be killed or captures in this way so the men killed their families, then themselves. Josephus records the details because when they got up there they found a woman and children hiding who told the whole story. The Romans were so shocked at the zealots dedication they didn't kill these people. At the end we all yelled the shema really loud as to yell down to the Romans. Suspecting that was possibly the zealots' last words. Next we went to the desert/wilderness of the Negev called Tzin. It was this huge canyon with a trickling stream running through. We saw ibex (deer/gazelle looking things). They were walking right on the edge of the cliffs just like in the verses we read! SO totally cool to see! Psalm 18:33, Hap 3:19. Also, we saw Nesher which is a vulture and read Ex 14. We talked about how it doesn't seem fair for God not to let Moses enter the promise land for one mistake he made. He was supposed to be leading those sheep... we climbed up the cliff on stairs! Can't believe we did that! Next we drove to some city to see a room that is like one we will see in Jerusalem but easier to see here so we will be better able to picture it when we got there. It is where Jesus was taken on trial. We talked about the crisifixion story. Barabus was a zealot?
Day 5 - June 13
Monday, June 13
En Gedi - Ibex Springs. This morning we hiked up En Gedi to the spring of En Gedi. I guess the water that flows through there is the water that flows from Jerusalem and is hundreds of years old! We talked about Mime Haim or "living water." The definition of living water is and water from God without man transporting it - Any rain, stream...not stagnant. We talked about Jesus' temptation by Satan in the desert. Kent had us close our eyes. He named off words - Almighty, powerful, omnicience, omnipresent, omnipotent, awesome, love. He asked us what we pictured in our minds when we heard those words which describe God (western way of thinking). He then asked us what pictures came to our minds as he spoke - good shepherd, living water, bread of life, shade. The Hebrew Bible is full of those pictures which tag along great meaning and understanding to people. Our next trail we went on today was in the desert, En Gedi, in a wadi. It was a huge canyon and beautiful! The temp was about 108 degrees as we hiked early afternoon so we were pretty sweaty and warm throughout the hike. Finally, we stopped at a beautiful spot. there was green everywhere in this part of the Canyon because there was a small creek running through with a little pool. One thing we talked about was in the N.T. one day some people bring before Jesus, a woman who was caught in the act of adultry. According to the text, this woman should have been stoned, so the people wanted to see what Jesus would say should happen to her. Just the day before Jesus had introduced Himself as the Living Water (Mime Haim). So Jesus picked up a stick, started writing in the sand and said, "let him who has no sin cast the first stone." They all turn away, the oldest to the youngest. Noone knows what Jesus was writing, but read Jeremiah 17. There is such a simularity and those men had and entire text memorized. The coolest thing happened next. Ken t was comparing Jesus/God to the living water we were looking at. He walked down to it and splashed some on his face, which is what most of us did to cool down when we first got there. He said that is sometimes how we look at God. We'll use Him for comfort when we need it, leave and come back when we need more. Then he very quickly jumped into the pool; clothes, shoes and all waited in there till he was soaking wet, then got out. "That is what we need to do with God, what He wants us to do, jump full in" he said, "questions and all, don't just be satisfied with a splash on the face, but be soaking wet in God." He told us to all jump in and soak ourselves in God. Man, water has never felt so wonderful! After, we all had thouroughly enjoyed our soaking. Rob paointed out that some things are there also that make it not feel like such a perfect "swim" all the time. Some of us may have ruined shoes, or money (by getnig it wet) and we had to hike a ways in the heat and sweat a lot first in order to enjoy it like we did. Next, we drove to Qumran. first we ate lunch in the air conditioning, ran into Josh VanderZouwen who was there with his BBC clan. that was funny to see someone we knew in the middle of Israel! After that, we started exploring. The temperature was over 110 degrees here. It was crazy hot. It felt like we were outside standing under the hot sun PLUS a hot furnace blowing heat on us with uver gust of wind. We talked about the Escenes. the group of people who lived here. They were Levite men who moved here with texts of scripture to study and copy. They thought the desert was the place to be closest to God and sons of light. They made many many copies of Scripture. Everytime they were writing, if they made a mistake they would have to roll it up and bury it. Whenever they got to God's name, they would go out and do Mikvah (Ceremonial washing) sl they would not be unclean. They did it in between each letter of His name!! Well I'll quit now, we are in Galilee right now and we've got another long day ahead of us!
En Gedi - Ibex Springs. This morning we hiked up En Gedi to the spring of En Gedi. I guess the water that flows through there is the water that flows from Jerusalem and is hundreds of years old! We talked about Mime Haim or "living water." The definition of living water is and water from God without man transporting it - Any rain, stream...not stagnant. We talked about Jesus' temptation by Satan in the desert. Kent had us close our eyes. He named off words - Almighty, powerful, omnicience, omnipresent, omnipotent, awesome, love. He asked us what we pictured in our minds when we heard those words which describe God (western way of thinking). He then asked us what pictures came to our minds as he spoke - good shepherd, living water, bread of life, shade. The Hebrew Bible is full of those pictures which tag along great meaning and understanding to people. Our next trail we went on today was in the desert, En Gedi, in a wadi. It was a huge canyon and beautiful! The temp was about 108 degrees as we hiked early afternoon so we were pretty sweaty and warm throughout the hike. Finally, we stopped at a beautiful spot. there was green everywhere in this part of the Canyon because there was a small creek running through with a little pool. One thing we talked about was in the N.T. one day some people bring before Jesus, a woman who was caught in the act of adultry. According to the text, this woman should have been stoned, so the people wanted to see what Jesus would say should happen to her. Just the day before Jesus had introduced Himself as the Living Water (Mime Haim). So Jesus picked up a stick, started writing in the sand and said, "let him who has no sin cast the first stone." They all turn away, the oldest to the youngest. Noone knows what Jesus was writing, but read Jeremiah 17. There is such a simularity and those men had and entire text memorized. The coolest thing happened next. Ken t was comparing Jesus/God to the living water we were looking at. He walked down to it and splashed some on his face, which is what most of us did to cool down when we first got there. He said that is sometimes how we look at God. We'll use Him for comfort when we need it, leave and come back when we need more. Then he very quickly jumped into the pool; clothes, shoes and all waited in there till he was soaking wet, then got out. "That is what we need to do with God, what He wants us to do, jump full in" he said, "questions and all, don't just be satisfied with a splash on the face, but be soaking wet in God." He told us to all jump in and soak ourselves in God. Man, water has never felt so wonderful! After, we all had thouroughly enjoyed our soaking. Rob paointed out that some things are there also that make it not feel like such a perfect "swim" all the time. Some of us may have ruined shoes, or money (by getnig it wet) and we had to hike a ways in the heat and sweat a lot first in order to enjoy it like we did. Next, we drove to Qumran. first we ate lunch in the air conditioning, ran into Josh VanderZouwen who was there with his BBC clan. that was funny to see someone we knew in the middle of Israel! After that, we started exploring. The temperature was over 110 degrees here. It was crazy hot. It felt like we were outside standing under the hot sun PLUS a hot furnace blowing heat on us with uver gust of wind. We talked about the Escenes. the group of people who lived here. They were Levite men who moved here with texts of scripture to study and copy. They thought the desert was the place to be closest to God and sons of light. They made many many copies of Scripture. Everytime they were writing, if they made a mistake they would have to roll it up and bury it. Whenever they got to God's name, they would go out and do Mikvah (Ceremonial washing) sl they would not be unclean. They did it in between each letter of His name!! Well I'll quit now, we are in Galilee right now and we've got another long day ahead of us!
Day 6 - June 14
Tuesday, June 14
Wow, these days are going by so quickly! Well my memory, Beka, is downstairs right now calling her mom so I'll start with what happened at the end of the day today and work my way up until this morning. Well first of all I must document our shower situation. We have one big bathroom with a normal bathtub/shower on one side and on the other there is just a big shower head on the wall with a drain underneath and that is right next to our toilet. We figured we got the handicap room. So last night Beka couldn't figure out the regular shower so we both used the one by the toilet. Tonight while I was taking a shower, Beka tried the other one once more and got it working! So to make a long story short, we took showers together, seperately tonight, that was fun. So moving on backward to the reason we showered. After our delicious dinner tonight we got our suits on and headed down to the Sea of Galilee. Our hotel is right on the shore and it was beautiful! The water wasn't that deep in our little cove thing and wasn't nearly as cold as Lake Michigan! The water wasn't salty either! I was expecting salt water. That was so refreshing. Once it started getting darker out we could see all the lights from near by cities come on, on the hillsides. [Can't forget! Beka and I decided we needed to make one of our famous pee spots the Sea of Galilee so we did just that tonight!] We could also see the mountain we had just returned from hiking, which I will tell about now - Mt Arbal. Jews lived here, honestly I don't know much else but when the Romans were capturing all these cities, Mt Arbal was one of them. this took place about 80 years?? before Masada. the reason that is important is because of what the Jews did when the Romans came up and attacked. Just like in Masada, these people would rather have killed themselves than by the hands of Roman soldiers. There are stories of the men pushing their family members off the edge of the cliff (built into the side of the mountain) and then jumping off to their own death. the mountain was about 12,000 ft above sea level and we climbed to the top. The top was the most fun because we started cheering on the people who were coming up yet. We had a big cheering tunnel going and everything. Before that we came from Bet Saida (vfishing city). About 5 of Jesus' deciples were from this town, right by the Sea of Galilee. Jesus probably spent quite a bit of time here. Previous to that we were in Capernaham. They had made like a huge amusment park type-feel out of it which kinda stunk but it was a big/important city and people now a days love anything to do with making money! Thise city was so big/central/important because it was a part of the Religious Jews tringle and more importantly along the Via Maris. Jesus called his disciple, Matthew, from here. It is one of the three cities where Jesus performed "most of His miracles." (Matt 11:20) Because of the volcanic activity in this area there was a great amount of balsalmic rock. The people of this town used this rock to make flour/wheat grinders and shipped them out. Here, we talked about how Jesus in Luke 17:2 condems those who might cause a child to stumble or sear their questioning minds. Parenting is a freaky job! We didn't stay here too long but also discussed the fact that carpenters in that day probably worked more with stone than they did with wood. Before that was Korazin. this city was also made primarily out of balsalmic stone. they had an example of a "narrow gate" that we all (well most) walked though. It was definitly easier to go around it rather than through! they also had a manger made of stone. Here we discussed Jewish education. This city had a school. Before the kids reached the age of 5, their parents were primarily responsible for thier teaching. They would start school at the age of 5 (half day) and learn about the Torah. A saying from them was that they wanted to "stuff them with the Torah like an ox." The goal for every young child by the age of 10 was to have the Torah completely memorized. They were so devoted to that text!! Between the ages of 10-15, they would begin to learn more books, begin to study under a Rabbi, become decisiples, have Bar Mitspha (age 13 for boys) and Bat Mitspha (age 12 for girls), they would also likely marry. A couple interesting things...when Jesus parent's took Him to Jerusalem and forgot him there, he was discussing with the leaders in the temple. they were blown away! He probably had the Torah memorized by this time. Another thing to do with age is that all Jesus desciples were probably about 12-20 years old. that is so different from what we have heard our whole lives! This morning we went to the Mt of Beatitudes (supposed site). Pastor Ed had the sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) memorized so he quoted that for us while we looked down over the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was such a hunple man. It is so hard for me to be humble. I would think that the way to "get my same out there" if I were Jesus would be to go to the big cities, heal huge groups of people at once. Jesus focuses on individual people. That is just so amazing to me. Think how many people (still today) know the name of Jesus rather than those people all around the world who work to make their names known and try for huge successes.
Wow, these days are going by so quickly! Well my memory, Beka, is downstairs right now calling her mom so I'll start with what happened at the end of the day today and work my way up until this morning. Well first of all I must document our shower situation. We have one big bathroom with a normal bathtub/shower on one side and on the other there is just a big shower head on the wall with a drain underneath and that is right next to our toilet. We figured we got the handicap room. So last night Beka couldn't figure out the regular shower so we both used the one by the toilet. Tonight while I was taking a shower, Beka tried the other one once more and got it working! So to make a long story short, we took showers together, seperately tonight, that was fun. So moving on backward to the reason we showered. After our delicious dinner tonight we got our suits on and headed down to the Sea of Galilee. Our hotel is right on the shore and it was beautiful! The water wasn't that deep in our little cove thing and wasn't nearly as cold as Lake Michigan! The water wasn't salty either! I was expecting salt water. That was so refreshing. Once it started getting darker out we could see all the lights from near by cities come on, on the hillsides. [Can't forget! Beka and I decided we needed to make one of our famous pee spots the Sea of Galilee so we did just that tonight!] We could also see the mountain we had just returned from hiking, which I will tell about now - Mt Arbal. Jews lived here, honestly I don't know much else but when the Romans were capturing all these cities, Mt Arbal was one of them. this took place about 80 years?? before Masada. the reason that is important is because of what the Jews did when the Romans came up and attacked. Just like in Masada, these people would rather have killed themselves than by the hands of Roman soldiers. There are stories of the men pushing their family members off the edge of the cliff (built into the side of the mountain) and then jumping off to their own death. the mountain was about 12,000 ft above sea level and we climbed to the top. The top was the most fun because we started cheering on the people who were coming up yet. We had a big cheering tunnel going and everything. Before that we came from Bet Saida (vfishing city). About 5 of Jesus' deciples were from this town, right by the Sea of Galilee. Jesus probably spent quite a bit of time here. Previous to that we were in Capernaham. They had made like a huge amusment park type-feel out of it which kinda stunk but it was a big/important city and people now a days love anything to do with making money! Thise city was so big/central/important because it was a part of the Religious Jews tringle and more importantly along the Via Maris. Jesus called his disciple, Matthew, from here. It is one of the three cities where Jesus performed "most of His miracles." (Matt 11:20) Because of the volcanic activity in this area there was a great amount of balsalmic rock. The people of this town used this rock to make flour/wheat grinders and shipped them out. Here, we talked about how Jesus in Luke 17:2 condems those who might cause a child to stumble or sear their questioning minds. Parenting is a freaky job! We didn't stay here too long but also discussed the fact that carpenters in that day probably worked more with stone than they did with wood. Before that was Korazin. this city was also made primarily out of balsalmic stone. they had an example of a "narrow gate" that we all (well most) walked though. It was definitly easier to go around it rather than through! they also had a manger made of stone. Here we discussed Jewish education. This city had a school. Before the kids reached the age of 5, their parents were primarily responsible for thier teaching. They would start school at the age of 5 (half day) and learn about the Torah. A saying from them was that they wanted to "stuff them with the Torah like an ox." The goal for every young child by the age of 10 was to have the Torah completely memorized. They were so devoted to that text!! Between the ages of 10-15, they would begin to learn more books, begin to study under a Rabbi, become decisiples, have Bar Mitspha (age 13 for boys) and Bat Mitspha (age 12 for girls), they would also likely marry. A couple interesting things...when Jesus parent's took Him to Jerusalem and forgot him there, he was discussing with the leaders in the temple. they were blown away! He probably had the Torah memorized by this time. Another thing to do with age is that all Jesus desciples were probably about 12-20 years old. that is so different from what we have heard our whole lives! This morning we went to the Mt of Beatitudes (supposed site). Pastor Ed had the sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) memorized so he quoted that for us while we looked down over the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was such a hunple man. It is so hard for me to be humble. I would think that the way to "get my same out there" if I were Jesus would be to go to the big cities, heal huge groups of people at once. Jesus focuses on individual people. That is just so amazing to me. Think how many people (still today) know the name of Jesus rather than those people all around the world who work to make their names known and try for huge successes.
Day 7 - June 15
Wednesday, June 15
Woke up at 6 again this morning. Sad, that's all I can remember without Beka's help! =( She is reading her Bible now so I don't want to disturb her to ask what we did. I haven't been living for God alot lately. I have been trying too though, but it hasn't seemed to be working. Anyways, today I was thinking about things I could do pretty well or things that people compliment me on and I started thinking that I could be really useful for God because of that, He could really use me fore alot of good. I know, that is totally wrong thinking from what I've been hearing all my life, so why do I even think it!? How do you make yourself humble? How do you make yourself believe things you don't? Well... back to this morning, after devotions and sh'ma under the tree in front of the hotel we went to Gamla. This was a Jewish zealot town, in fact, it was the birthplace to the zealot movement. One of the oldest synagogues ever found is located here. We sat in it and learned about the customary synagogue service in Jesus' time. When they first men together they talked and discussed what was going on in eachother's lives. Next, they spoke the Shema. Next, was 18 benedictions (prayers)/praying Scripture. Then came the reading from the Torah. This sounds like it was the most anticipated part of the service. The umm...someone... would go to the Torah closet and touch his hand to it then kiss his hand. He would then bring it out and there would be much rejoicing and praising because of it's value to the people. Then each person would do the kissing thing as it was brought around. Someone (usually anyone including 13 year old boys or 12 year old girls, unless there was an important person or Rabbi present) would read approximate 8 chapters then roll it up. That person would then follow with a short sermon (dercsha) concerning the passage. Next the people would have a time of discussion about the dercsha and if a priest was present, he would give their aaronic benediction. So anyways, this city was one of Roman's first stops in their raid. There was a man named Joseph who lived among them who, when the time came for these men to kill their families rather than be captured, ended up being the last one. Either he was captured fast or became chicken, but he ended up getting away. He told the Roman leader that he fulfilled the prophecy in the Bible of the statue with like a head of gold...the guy was religious and thought that was pretty neat. Many good things kept happening to him so he believed this guy. He made him like a son to him and renamed him Josephus. Josephus' main job was to follow the Roman army around and record every raid on a city. Some Jews saw him as a traitor but he has given us so much valuable historical information! Next, we can't remember what it was called but it was like you typical Jewish city. It was really cool because alot of Jesus' parables/stories make so much more sence now. First we saw what your typical two story house looked like. We went through Jesus' saying "there are many rooms in my Father's house, I go to prepare a place for you." We discussed your typical Jewish process of marriage and engagement and how Jesus is the bride groom. He goes to His Father's house to prepare rooms for believers (his bride) and noone knows when He is returning. Next we went into one and looked at the roof. The type of roof the paralytics friends would have had to dig through to get him down to Jesus when the house was so packed. Then we saw waht a lamp looked like and how it sat on shelves ont he wall. Purpose was to give like to the whole place. Obviously, we wouldn't want to cover it up or hide it. Next, we went to the second level outside and saw an oven. They used to mix dung and salt together. The salt would help cook/flavor the food but after it had been used once it was good for nothing else but thrown out onto the street to be trampled by men because it had lost it's saltiness. We then took a rabbit trail and talked about how open the topic of sex was in those times. It is SO SO different in our culture today! Hardly any parents bite the bullet and talk to their children. That is the place kids need to see and learn what a good things it is and that is the only place they don't learn that. Lunch was next, bees were over everything like crazy! After Lunch we went to Tel Dan. My first impression was how absolutely beautiful the city was! The first thing we noticed was the sound of super fast rushing water. There was a beautiful river rushing through the city that just came from nowhere it seemed. We walked a path for a bit, through the woods. It was kind of like a jungle or rainforest or something. One of the things he mentioned was that because the first thing we noticed was the natural beauty, why wouldn't one want to build a city there. First of all the city was Laish, center of Baal worship. It was captured by the tribe of Dan and renamed. They ended up having a golden calf that they worshipped, like they used it to represent God. The sin is obviously that God told them not to make any graven images but Kent mentioned a different point as well. He said the sin of the golden calf is taking something that man is comfortable with, something we we can see and understand. We/they didn't take enough time/care to listen to what God already said about worship. Our final stop today was Caesarea Phillippi. This is another beautiful town/city. Another water source to the Jordan flows through here and that just adds so much life to it. The problem was that this was a terribly pagen city. It was the center of worship to the god Pan and had temples to Augustus and Zeus. This was all going on during Jesus' time and Jesus takes His disciples (at least some) down here. These are the religions in Jesus' day that He/His disciples had to put up with and rival against. It is here that He asks "who do people say that I am?" "Who do you say that I am?" That how much easier it would have been to answer that back at their own town with people/things they are comfortable with as opposed to a place like this where these type of gods are worshiped and the practices are going on? On our way out we stopped by a 1000 year old olive tree who's branches were still growing good because the farmer had taken time/care to graft them in. There were also shoots on the ground and there was a cool verse for that.... of course I can't remember it now.
Woke up at 6 again this morning. Sad, that's all I can remember without Beka's help! =( She is reading her Bible now so I don't want to disturb her to ask what we did. I haven't been living for God alot lately. I have been trying too though, but it hasn't seemed to be working. Anyways, today I was thinking about things I could do pretty well or things that people compliment me on and I started thinking that I could be really useful for God because of that, He could really use me fore alot of good. I know, that is totally wrong thinking from what I've been hearing all my life, so why do I even think it!? How do you make yourself humble? How do you make yourself believe things you don't? Well... back to this morning, after devotions and sh'ma under the tree in front of the hotel we went to Gamla. This was a Jewish zealot town, in fact, it was the birthplace to the zealot movement. One of the oldest synagogues ever found is located here. We sat in it and learned about the customary synagogue service in Jesus' time. When they first men together they talked and discussed what was going on in eachother's lives. Next, they spoke the Shema. Next, was 18 benedictions (prayers)/praying Scripture. Then came the reading from the Torah. This sounds like it was the most anticipated part of the service. The umm...someone... would go to the Torah closet and touch his hand to it then kiss his hand. He would then bring it out and there would be much rejoicing and praising because of it's value to the people. Then each person would do the kissing thing as it was brought around. Someone (usually anyone including 13 year old boys or 12 year old girls, unless there was an important person or Rabbi present) would read approximate 8 chapters then roll it up. That person would then follow with a short sermon (dercsha) concerning the passage. Next the people would have a time of discussion about the dercsha and if a priest was present, he would give their aaronic benediction. So anyways, this city was one of Roman's first stops in their raid. There was a man named Joseph who lived among them who, when the time came for these men to kill their families rather than be captured, ended up being the last one. Either he was captured fast or became chicken, but he ended up getting away. He told the Roman leader that he fulfilled the prophecy in the Bible of the statue with like a head of gold...the guy was religious and thought that was pretty neat. Many good things kept happening to him so he believed this guy. He made him like a son to him and renamed him Josephus. Josephus' main job was to follow the Roman army around and record every raid on a city. Some Jews saw him as a traitor but he has given us so much valuable historical information! Next, we can't remember what it was called but it was like you typical Jewish city. It was really cool because alot of Jesus' parables/stories make so much more sence now. First we saw what your typical two story house looked like. We went through Jesus' saying "there are many rooms in my Father's house, I go to prepare a place for you." We discussed your typical Jewish process of marriage and engagement and how Jesus is the bride groom. He goes to His Father's house to prepare rooms for believers (his bride) and noone knows when He is returning. Next we went into one and looked at the roof. The type of roof the paralytics friends would have had to dig through to get him down to Jesus when the house was so packed. Then we saw waht a lamp looked like and how it sat on shelves ont he wall. Purpose was to give like to the whole place. Obviously, we wouldn't want to cover it up or hide it. Next, we went to the second level outside and saw an oven. They used to mix dung and salt together. The salt would help cook/flavor the food but after it had been used once it was good for nothing else but thrown out onto the street to be trampled by men because it had lost it's saltiness. We then took a rabbit trail and talked about how open the topic of sex was in those times. It is SO SO different in our culture today! Hardly any parents bite the bullet and talk to their children. That is the place kids need to see and learn what a good things it is and that is the only place they don't learn that. Lunch was next, bees were over everything like crazy! After Lunch we went to Tel Dan. My first impression was how absolutely beautiful the city was! The first thing we noticed was the sound of super fast rushing water. There was a beautiful river rushing through the city that just came from nowhere it seemed. We walked a path for a bit, through the woods. It was kind of like a jungle or rainforest or something. One of the things he mentioned was that because the first thing we noticed was the natural beauty, why wouldn't one want to build a city there. First of all the city was Laish, center of Baal worship. It was captured by the tribe of Dan and renamed. They ended up having a golden calf that they worshipped, like they used it to represent God. The sin is obviously that God told them not to make any graven images but Kent mentioned a different point as well. He said the sin of the golden calf is taking something that man is comfortable with, something we we can see and understand. We/they didn't take enough time/care to listen to what God already said about worship. Our final stop today was Caesarea Phillippi. This is another beautiful town/city. Another water source to the Jordan flows through here and that just adds so much life to it. The problem was that this was a terribly pagen city. It was the center of worship to the god Pan and had temples to Augustus and Zeus. This was all going on during Jesus' time and Jesus takes His disciples (at least some) down here. These are the religions in Jesus' day that He/His disciples had to put up with and rival against. It is here that He asks "who do people say that I am?" "Who do you say that I am?" That how much easier it would have been to answer that back at their own town with people/things they are comfortable with as opposed to a place like this where these type of gods are worshiped and the practices are going on? On our way out we stopped by a 1000 year old olive tree who's branches were still growing good because the farmer had taken time/care to graft them in. There were also shoots on the ground and there was a cool verse for that.... of course I can't remember it now.
Day 8 - June 16
Thursday - June 16
This morning Kent's devotion was on 'who is my neighbor?' We read the parable of the good sameritan. We did a background check before we went on to learn a little more. First, he said parables were never made up stories, they were always from a story in the O.T. text. This one I can't exactly remember which one it came from but it has something to do with Jews captucing Sameritans (or the other way around) and brought them back to their own city but then felt bad so they put balm on their wounds and sent them back on donkeys. So you get to the parable and the first two travelers pass by this sameritan because if they had gone near him, they would have been unclean for wherever they were headed. the third guy stops and helps this enemy to people in a like way to the O.T story. 'we love God only as much as the person we love the least." First place we went today was a modern Jewish synagouge. It was mostly young boys there at this time but it was interesting to see some of their traditions and stuff. From there we drove to Beth She'an. This city was I guess a good example of hellenism. Hellenism was the beginning of western thought. It included things like the theatre, arena, gymnasium, temples, art, library and practice of medicine. Their philosophy was that man is at the center of everything and man is the measure of all things. They had very broad roads, compares to the "narrow gate" we saw in the Jewish village. Had co-ed bathroom with a stage where live music was played! We discussed how everything is done and made for a reason. Nothing is neutral, everything has a worldview behind it. The disciples and Jesus had to struggle with these things a little bit (or a lot) whenever they went into a greek or roman city. Following lunch we drove down to the Jordan River. We talked about Michveh again and kent said we could all do that if we wanted to as a covenant to remember changes or whatever. Next we went to Susita. Another Hellenistic city, temple to Ceaser and also a Christian church. Here we talked about the story of the naked, bloody, deamon possessed guy. That story took place here and the herd of pigs ran into the sea after the deamon was transfered to them. Jesus told the guy to go tell the city about what happened to him and the text says they were all amazed!
This morning Kent's devotion was on 'who is my neighbor?' We read the parable of the good sameritan. We did a background check before we went on to learn a little more. First, he said parables were never made up stories, they were always from a story in the O.T. text. This one I can't exactly remember which one it came from but it has something to do with Jews captucing Sameritans (or the other way around) and brought them back to their own city but then felt bad so they put balm on their wounds and sent them back on donkeys. So you get to the parable and the first two travelers pass by this sameritan because if they had gone near him, they would have been unclean for wherever they were headed. the third guy stops and helps this enemy to people in a like way to the O.T story. 'we love God only as much as the person we love the least." First place we went today was a modern Jewish synagouge. It was mostly young boys there at this time but it was interesting to see some of their traditions and stuff. From there we drove to Beth She'an. This city was I guess a good example of hellenism. Hellenism was the beginning of western thought. It included things like the theatre, arena, gymnasium, temples, art, library and practice of medicine. Their philosophy was that man is at the center of everything and man is the measure of all things. They had very broad roads, compares to the "narrow gate" we saw in the Jewish village. Had co-ed bathroom with a stage where live music was played! We discussed how everything is done and made for a reason. Nothing is neutral, everything has a worldview behind it. The disciples and Jesus had to struggle with these things a little bit (or a lot) whenever they went into a greek or roman city. Following lunch we drove down to the Jordan River. We talked about Michveh again and kent said we could all do that if we wanted to as a covenant to remember changes or whatever. Next we went to Susita. Another Hellenistic city, temple to Ceaser and also a Christian church. Here we talked about the story of the naked, bloody, deamon possessed guy. That story took place here and the herd of pigs ran into the sea after the deamon was transfered to them. Jesus told the guy to go tell the city about what happened to him and the text says they were all amazed!
Day 9 - June 17
Friday, June 17
Friday again already! I can't believe we've already been here so many days! This morning we had devotions again and then headed toward our next hotel in Jerusalem, with a few stops along the way. Our first stop was right in the backyard of Nazareth, Jesus' hometown. We looked at/walked through fields. Parable of the sowing of the seeds is about making sure our hearts are full of good soil and all the bad is out so the farmer/God can plant. We all grabbed stones from the farmers field and threw them out to represent what can be done in our hearts. Next we went to Mt. Carmel where Elijah had the compitition with the worshippers of baal. After eating lunch there we went to Caesarea. This place was so cool! I guess I didn't learn a ton about the history and stuff of the city but I know Herod (biggest & best type of guy) had hs house right here on the mediteranian Sea. It looks like it was an absolutely beautiful city! The water here was just so stinkin' awesome! We stood in the middle of the sports arena and Kent had us picture the Hebrews 11 people and family members sitting in those stands and cheering us on in the race that Paul writes about. 'such a great cloud of witnesses.' [BTW I just thought of this, yesterday, we were talking about schooling. christian/public/home and which is the right/wrong option and which is just prefered. Everyone has different opinions of course but at the end we recited Deut 6 where it talks about impressing these words/your godly lifestyle onto your children. I can never forget that my children oneday learn first and foremost from me as a parent and it is my responsibility to teach them!] Also, in this city we went and sat in the theatre. We discussed things like how much we should be in the world in order to influence it. We talked about how much we encourage those christian kids who want to go into missions/bible training or seminary but the ones who are very gifted in other areas like art and things. Their parents mostly are their church also, need to be encouraging these kids from day one to pursue their dreams all while showing them that godly example that they need to learn if they are going to be using their gift out there in the world of non-believers. they also need their community to stand behind them. We drove from there to a quick stop at a scale model of the entire city of Jerusalem during the second temple period. Next we drove down town to the Western/Wailing Wall. Jews come from all over the world to pray here because it is the closest to the real temple (only original wall still standing). we went up to it and said the shema but didn't feel too much. There were so many people there praying, expecially because we were there on Shabbot. then we drove to the Olive tree Hotel. this hotel is the bomb! It is just beautiful, but my and Beka's room has a porch overlooking the city! It is sooo cool! Dinner and dessert were fabulous. Then us and the guys just sat out on the porch and talked. That was a great time. Beau and Esther miscarried this past week, pray for strength for me as I'll be e-mailing this tomorrow and then calling them later on. I don't really know what to say. BARUK HASHEM.
Friday again already! I can't believe we've already been here so many days! This morning we had devotions again and then headed toward our next hotel in Jerusalem, with a few stops along the way. Our first stop was right in the backyard of Nazareth, Jesus' hometown. We looked at/walked through fields. Parable of the sowing of the seeds is about making sure our hearts are full of good soil and all the bad is out so the farmer/God can plant. We all grabbed stones from the farmers field and threw them out to represent what can be done in our hearts. Next we went to Mt. Carmel where Elijah had the compitition with the worshippers of baal. After eating lunch there we went to Caesarea. This place was so cool! I guess I didn't learn a ton about the history and stuff of the city but I know Herod (biggest & best type of guy) had hs house right here on the mediteranian Sea. It looks like it was an absolutely beautiful city! The water here was just so stinkin' awesome! We stood in the middle of the sports arena and Kent had us picture the Hebrews 11 people and family members sitting in those stands and cheering us on in the race that Paul writes about. 'such a great cloud of witnesses.' [BTW I just thought of this, yesterday, we were talking about schooling. christian/public/home and which is the right/wrong option and which is just prefered. Everyone has different opinions of course but at the end we recited Deut 6 where it talks about impressing these words/your godly lifestyle onto your children. I can never forget that my children oneday learn first and foremost from me as a parent and it is my responsibility to teach them!] Also, in this city we went and sat in the theatre. We discussed things like how much we should be in the world in order to influence it. We talked about how much we encourage those christian kids who want to go into missions/bible training or seminary but the ones who are very gifted in other areas like art and things. Their parents mostly are their church also, need to be encouraging these kids from day one to pursue their dreams all while showing them that godly example that they need to learn if they are going to be using their gift out there in the world of non-believers. they also need their community to stand behind them. We drove from there to a quick stop at a scale model of the entire city of Jerusalem during the second temple period. Next we drove down town to the Western/Wailing Wall. Jews come from all over the world to pray here because it is the closest to the real temple (only original wall still standing). we went up to it and said the shema but didn't feel too much. There were so many people there praying, expecially because we were there on Shabbot. then we drove to the Olive tree Hotel. this hotel is the bomb! It is just beautiful, but my and Beka's room has a porch overlooking the city! It is sooo cool! Dinner and dessert were fabulous. Then us and the guys just sat out on the porch and talked. That was a great time. Beau and Esther miscarried this past week, pray for strength for me as I'll be e-mailing this tomorrow and then calling them later on. I don't really know what to say. BARUK HASHEM.
Day 10 - June 18
Saturday, June 18
First thing this morniing we were able to go to Bethleham. I guess the Palestinians are trying to conqure Bethleham right now fromt eh Israelites. Israelites are not allowed across the border. They put up a huge wall (200 Miles long) across the Gaza strip or something to prevent suicide bombings. It is patroled, so that was interesting! I never pictures Bethleham to look like this! Once we got in we drove up to Herod's palace up there. He "built" a mountain on top of the highest hill, where he could "watch over" all of Bethleham, Jerusalem and see Jordan as well. We talked again about the differences between Harod's kingdom (king of the Jewsm thought he was messiah) and Jesus's kingdom. One was a kingdom of power, prestige and fame - the other, a kingdom of humility, gentleness and faith. Look where each stand today. One is rubble, the other is all over this world! Baruk Hashiem! next, we went to Jonney's shop. He was our tour guide in Bethleham since our other ones couldn't cross the border. His business has been suffering lately because of the war and no tourism for the past 5 years. Next, we walked back across the border and drove to the Mt. of Olives. We tried to go to the temple Mount (even though I don't know what it is) but it was closed off for some reason. We walked through "Old Jerusalem" to lunch, streets were covered with meat markets and people selling all kinds of things. Very tight spaces. We came out at the Jaffa Gate, then walked to St Ann's Cathedral. It was a beautiful building but intentionally built so nothing on the two sides was symetrical. They did this to remember that only God is perfect. Kent wouldn't allow us to talk but had us all stand on the front steps and w started singing the Doxology. It has the most beautiful acoustics! We sounded so good and it echoed and everything. Woah, that was beautiful! Next, we walked down the Via De La Rosa (Way to the Cross). We ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It didn't look all that big or grand from the outside but I guess some lady built this huge church building around what was believed to be Jesus's burial place. It was a really big, decorated, and dark place. We all felt a little more awkwardness than anything else there. It kinda came down to no matter what denomination those people are, if they were Christians, they were brothers. So we need to watch the way we are treating others and thinking of ourselves. Also, just something to think about... we remembered how just this morning we talked about how Herod as king wanted glory, fame and praise. Jesus cam ein humility, not the same type of king at all. All the stuff going on at the church seemed to be making Jesus into the king He didn't want to be. Tonight I was able to e-mail Esther and call Jen, I enjoyed that (they miss us!). After dinner a bunch of people came over to hang out on our cool porch off our room. We played catch phrase and talked for a little bit. that was a blast for our last night in Israel! Aw...sad to leave but so excited to be home at the same time. Rob bought us (Beka and I) these really beautiful necklases. He put them in our room and we opened them after everyone left. We were so excited we ran down and hugged him. That was very nice of him! Barok Hashiam!
First thing this morniing we were able to go to Bethleham. I guess the Palestinians are trying to conqure Bethleham right now fromt eh Israelites. Israelites are not allowed across the border. They put up a huge wall (200 Miles long) across the Gaza strip or something to prevent suicide bombings. It is patroled, so that was interesting! I never pictures Bethleham to look like this! Once we got in we drove up to Herod's palace up there. He "built" a mountain on top of the highest hill, where he could "watch over" all of Bethleham, Jerusalem and see Jordan as well. We talked again about the differences between Harod's kingdom (king of the Jewsm thought he was messiah) and Jesus's kingdom. One was a kingdom of power, prestige and fame - the other, a kingdom of humility, gentleness and faith. Look where each stand today. One is rubble, the other is all over this world! Baruk Hashiem! next, we went to Jonney's shop. He was our tour guide in Bethleham since our other ones couldn't cross the border. His business has been suffering lately because of the war and no tourism for the past 5 years. Next, we walked back across the border and drove to the Mt. of Olives. We tried to go to the temple Mount (even though I don't know what it is) but it was closed off for some reason. We walked through "Old Jerusalem" to lunch, streets were covered with meat markets and people selling all kinds of things. Very tight spaces. We came out at the Jaffa Gate, then walked to St Ann's Cathedral. It was a beautiful building but intentionally built so nothing on the two sides was symetrical. They did this to remember that only God is perfect. Kent wouldn't allow us to talk but had us all stand on the front steps and w started singing the Doxology. It has the most beautiful acoustics! We sounded so good and it echoed and everything. Woah, that was beautiful! Next, we walked down the Via De La Rosa (Way to the Cross). We ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It didn't look all that big or grand from the outside but I guess some lady built this huge church building around what was believed to be Jesus's burial place. It was a really big, decorated, and dark place. We all felt a little more awkwardness than anything else there. It kinda came down to no matter what denomination those people are, if they were Christians, they were brothers. So we need to watch the way we are treating others and thinking of ourselves. Also, just something to think about... we remembered how just this morning we talked about how Herod as king wanted glory, fame and praise. Jesus cam ein humility, not the same type of king at all. All the stuff going on at the church seemed to be making Jesus into the king He didn't want to be. Tonight I was able to e-mail Esther and call Jen, I enjoyed that (they miss us!). After dinner a bunch of people came over to hang out on our cool porch off our room. We played catch phrase and talked for a little bit. that was a blast for our last night in Israel! Aw...sad to leave but so excited to be home at the same time. Rob bought us (Beka and I) these really beautiful necklases. He put them in our room and we opened them after everyone left. We were so excited we ran down and hugged him. That was very nice of him! Barok Hashiam!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Day 11 - June 19
Sunday, June 19th
This morning was Hezikiah's tunnel. I guess Hezekiah built this to get water into the city of Jerusalem. It was 27 hundred years old and 560 yds long. We had a good time walking through there! Next, we walked to the Southern Steps of the temple. After lunch we went to the Holocost museum called Yad Vashem. That was a really neat experience.We were told ahead of time to expect to come out with more questions than we went in with. It would seem like if you went into an information museum you would come out with more questions answered but he didn't want us to answer the question of, "why?" We don't know why the Jews were treated this way. There was and is no explaination. From what I gathered from the museum though, was that somehow someone decided Jews weren't people and therefore needed to be swept off the face of this earth. they had pictures, props, artifacts, letters, personal belongings all throughout the place. They also had video "Interviews" with Jewish suervivors of the Holocost. Those were what moved me the most. Them recounting what they saw, heard, felt. It is hard for me to imagine! Man, I feel aweful for what happened. After we got out we went through the Children's memorial. Out of the 6 million Jews killed, 1.5 million of them were infants and children. The cool thing about this one was how unique it was. You walked into complete darkness except for little lights. What it was, was five candles in the middle surrounded by tons of mirrors. The effect was exactly 1.5 million little lights! That was so crazy. After the museum we stopped at some park to "recap" the trip. We took communion and gave our "1 minute story." Some things that impacted me most on this trip were asking questions, I tend to think all mine are dumb or the teacher won't know, or else I feel like it is something I am susposed to know already. Kent said "the text can handle it, don't be afraid to ask questions." Another was the difference between Harod's and Jesus' kingdoms. Which is in rubble now and which is still standing? There were a fwe more things like just being in a different culture (to be a Jew is to remember) and a different way of thinking of things like the Text. From there we went to Boaz's (our tour guide) house, his wife along with David's (our bus driver) wife cooked us a wonderful last dinner in Israel. We had a great time there and now I am on the plane! Man, I wish I was just home right now!
This morning was Hezikiah's tunnel. I guess Hezekiah built this to get water into the city of Jerusalem. It was 27 hundred years old and 560 yds long. We had a good time walking through there! Next, we walked to the Southern Steps of the temple. After lunch we went to the Holocost museum called Yad Vashem. That was a really neat experience.We were told ahead of time to expect to come out with more questions than we went in with. It would seem like if you went into an information museum you would come out with more questions answered but he didn't want us to answer the question of, "why?" We don't know why the Jews were treated this way. There was and is no explaination. From what I gathered from the museum though, was that somehow someone decided Jews weren't people and therefore needed to be swept off the face of this earth. they had pictures, props, artifacts, letters, personal belongings all throughout the place. They also had video "Interviews" with Jewish suervivors of the Holocost. Those were what moved me the most. Them recounting what they saw, heard, felt. It is hard for me to imagine! Man, I feel aweful for what happened. After we got out we went through the Children's memorial. Out of the 6 million Jews killed, 1.5 million of them were infants and children. The cool thing about this one was how unique it was. You walked into complete darkness except for little lights. What it was, was five candles in the middle surrounded by tons of mirrors. The effect was exactly 1.5 million little lights! That was so crazy. After the museum we stopped at some park to "recap" the trip. We took communion and gave our "1 minute story." Some things that impacted me most on this trip were asking questions, I tend to think all mine are dumb or the teacher won't know, or else I feel like it is something I am susposed to know already. Kent said "the text can handle it, don't be afraid to ask questions." Another was the difference between Harod's and Jesus' kingdoms. Which is in rubble now and which is still standing? There were a fwe more things like just being in a different culture (to be a Jew is to remember) and a different way of thinking of things like the Text. From there we went to Boaz's (our tour guide) house, his wife along with David's (our bus driver) wife cooked us a wonderful last dinner in Israel. We had a great time there and now I am on the plane! Man, I wish I was just home right now!
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