Gideon - spring of Harod - Judges 7
Mount Gilboa - 2 Samuel 1
Saturday morning, March 20, back home in Modesto
We are home! After 18 hours on a plane, we arrived in San Francisco at 9:30 AM on Friday morning. Thankfully we were able to sleep on the plane. I was also able to finish reading a book I had started on the plane ride over. We also watched a few movies.
Once we got home, we were able to pick up our kids from school. Our kids had made a “Welcome Back” sign and along with Grandpa and Grandma bought an “edible arrangement” – a delicious fruit array. We shared a few gifts with our family that we
picked up for them in Israel. Lori and I struggled to stay awake through the afternoon and evening, but we had a great night of sleep last night.
We thank God for the experience that we have had over the last few weeks. We are also so thankful that God answered our prayers and helped the time away from our kids go so well. My parents did a great job with the kids. All we heard were great reports about the kids while we were gone.
This will be my last blog about the trip. However, in the next few days I will try to post some of the audio from our tour guide, Frances Oppenheimer, and our seminary professor, Dan Wallace. During our trip I recorded their comments, particularly the ones that related to biblical history. Mainly for the other 40 people in our bus, I thought I would post the “Best of Dan and Frances” on my blog to remind us of the great information that Dan and Frances passed along to us.
Thank you for your prayers during our trip. It truly was an experience that we will never forget!
Today was our last full day in Israel. Tomorrow evening we head back home. I will have one more posting in a few days, to let you know that we got home safely and to give you some final reflections. I will also be sharing some reflections from the Holy Land this Sunday (March 21) at church.
We began our day a little later than normal, leaving the hotel at 8:00. This extra hour made a huge difference. Typically in the mornings we have been Skyping our kids and posting blogs. We have coordinated our schedules with my parents back home, so that we can Skype them at 6:00 AM Israel time, which is 8:00 or 9:00 PM back home the night before, depending on whether we are before or after the time change with daylight savings. It has been fun to see the kids on the computer and talk with them. The last time we Skyped, however, our home internet wasn’t working. We had to settle for a phone call using our calling card (25 cents a minute - not too bad). Even though we had a little extra time in the morning, we still were rushed.
Our first stop was the Israel Museum. At the Israel Museum there is a model of ancient Jerusalem. It was very helpful to see what the ancient city was like after having seen so many ruins.
We then continued on to the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum area. This is where the Dead Sea Scrolls are kept. The roof of the building portrays a lid of the pottery that held the scrolls. As I shared yesterday, these scrolls were found at the site of the Jewish Qumran community near the Dead Sea and date to at least 68 AD. Our seminary professor, Dr. Dan Wallace, gave an example of the importance of this find. Ancient manuscript discussions can be confusing, at least it was for me in seminary, but I’ll do my best here.
There are two ancient copies of the Old Testament that are used for the Bible translations we have today. One is written in Hebrew and is called the Masoretic text and the other is a Greek text called the Septuagint. The Masoretic text is from 800 or 900 AD. The Greek translation comes from 100 to 150 BC. These two ancient Old Testament copies are virtually identical, except for a few slight variations. When there is a variation, there is a footnote at the bottom of the page in the Bible. Psalm 22 is one of the places where these two texts differ. Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm where David shares the suffering that he experienced. This also anticipates and describes the suffering that Jesus endured on the cross. The opening verse says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Later on in verse 16 is says, “They have pierced my hands and my feet.” The Masoretic text does not include this phrase in verse 16. Instead, it says, “Like a lion.” Only the Greek text says this. Jewish and Christian scholars have debated the correct reading. Some Jewish scholars have said that Christians have somehow tampered with the ancient Greek text. The discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls have given insight into this debate. Manuscripts from Psalm 22 in the Dead Sea Scrolls agree with the Greek text that says, “They have pierced my hands and my feet.” We now have Hebrew texts that are very early that say the same thing as the Greek translation. The Dead Sea Scrolls vindicate the Christian reading of this Messianic Psalm.
Next we continued on to the Holocaust Museum (Yad Vashem). This was a very sad and sobering experience. It is a place to remember the terrible atrocities that the Jewish people faced under Nazi Germany. During this terrible time nearly one third of
the Jewish population in Europe was murdered. In Poland alone there were 3.1 million Jews before World War 2, and 3 million Jews were murdered during the time of the war. We began by walking through the Children’s Memorial. As we walked through this darkened room, names of children, ages, and countries of origin were heard. Our guide is a wonderful Jewish woman named Frances whose parents emigrated from England to New Zealand at the outset of the war. She asked each of us to listen as we went through and remember the name of one child. The Jewish tradition is to place rocks on memorials instead of flowers. Outside the memorial was a memorial statue where each of us said the name of one child, Mose – 16 – from Latvia, as we placed a rock on the statue.
We then continued into the main museum that chronicles this terrible time. This museum reminds us that each of these people had a story. Despite the historical background, it is hard to understand how this could have happened. The Holocaust has shaped the people and the nation of Israel. While I came to Israel to learn biblical history of this place, it is important that we came to this museum to remember modern history.
The remainder of our day was free time. We went back to the old city of Jerusalem before returning to the hotel. On Thursday we will have a Communion service, see a few more sites, and then fly out in the evening. I am looking forward to getting back home to our kids, but we have so much appreciated our experience here.
Today we traveled out of Jerusalem into the wilderness toward the Dead Sea. As we drove out of Jerusalem it became more and more arid. Israel is much like California, with a rainy season in the winter and then many months of dry weather. (Even though we are here close to the rainy season, it has been in the 80’s and 90’s. Today for the first time it got cool in Jerusalem. Our day was spent in the desert, however, where it was still warm.) The Hebrew word for wilderness or desert has the same root as the word speak. It is often in the wilderness where God speaks to us.
The hillside going into the wilderness is the scene for the 23rd Psalm. Lori took this picture through the bus window. The hillside was green because of recent rains. There were crisscrossing paths from thousands of years of goat and sheep feet. In the 23rd Psalm David asked for green paths for his animals. He also asked to be led by still waters. In the south of Israel the water comes from flash flooding as water rushes down from other places above like Jerusalem or Hebron. You can’t have your animals drink rushing water that is filled with debris. The psalmist asks for the Lord to show him a pool where the debris has settled so his animals can drink from it. The wilderness is also a sharp and dangerous place. The hillside casts dark shadows so that it is hard to know where safety is. You can trip and fall into a ravine. But even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we fear no evil.
As we drove into the wilderness our first stop was Masada. Masada is an isolated mountain top fortress above the banks of the Dead Sea. Herod the Great built a palace fortress here as a refuge in case the Jews revolted against him. In the first century there was a group of Jewish extremists known as the Zealots. The Zealots were nationalistic, wanting to take back Israel from the occupying Romans. It is thought that Judas Iscariot, Jesus’ disciple who betrayed him, might have been a Zealot. In 66 AD, about 30 years after Jesus, the Jewish people revolted against the Romans and the Zealots took back Masada. The Romans crushed the revolt in Jerusalem and eventually in Masada. Remains from the Roman siege on Masada can still be seen today. The Romans attacked by building an earthen ramp up the mountainside. Israel ceased to be a nation in 73 AD when the Romans captured Masada. The nation ceased to exist unit it was reestablished in 1948.
From Masada we traveled about 15 minutes to Ein Gedi. Today Ein Gedi is a National Park in Israel. It is an oasis in the desert with several springs to provide water. This place is mentioned in the Bible for its beauty (Song of Songs 1:14). This is also the place where David hid out in the caves from Saul (1 Samuel 24). In the picture on the right you can see some caves on the hill behind me. (I recently taught from this passage in my message series on David. This is where Saul went into the cave and David cut off the corner of his robe.)
At Ein Gedi we saw a Hyrax (see picture). A Hyrax is a rodent-like creature that lives in the crevices of rocks. It is even mentioned a few times in the Bible, where it is also called a Coney (Psalm 104:18; Prov. 30:26).
We then continued on to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. At Qumran, a Jewish religious group called the Essenes meticulously copied Old Testament manuscripts. It was at this site in 1947 that a Bedouin shepherd threw a rock into a cave and heard a pot break. He went in to discover manuscripts of the Old Testament that dated back to at least 68 AD, when the Romans destroyed the Essene community in Qumran. Archeologists have described this as the greatest archeological discovery in the 20th Century. Qumran is so significant because prior to this discovery, the earliest Old Testament manuscripts we had were from 1000 AD. Qumran manuscripts validated the authenticity of the later manuscripts that had been the basis of our translations of the Old Testament.
We ended the day by “floating” in the Dead Sea. I do not say swimming because, as maybe you might already know, the Dead Sea is so salty that you float on the top. The Dead Sea is also the lowest place on earth.
I will probably put one more posting on the blog from our trip before we return. We have one more full day in Israel, and then Thursday evening we fly back.
For the last two days we have been in Jerusalem. This morning as I write of these experiences I can hardly believe that I have been in these sacred places. What a profound blessing it has been. After a week of being in Israel, I am still adjusting to the time change. I am very tired in the late afternoon and evening, and wake up at about 4:00 in the morning. I think part of the reason I have not been sleeping really well is because of the excitement of being at this place. In this first picture you can see a bagel that we had near the temple area. Instead of cream cheese or other toppings for the bagel, the street vendor gave out herbs (hyssop) to dip the bagel into.
We began our time in Jerusalem on Sunday morning at the southern steps of the temple (left). It was a time of worship, with Chuck Swindoll speaking. As our group sat and worshiped together, we sat in the same place that Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus. The same place where Jesus came and entered the temple. It was also on these exact steps the Apostle Paul sat and was schooled in the Jewish faith under Gamaliel.
We then toured around the temple mount area (right). We walked through the ancient ruins of walkways, cleansing and ceremonial baths for pilgrims entering the temple, and places to buy sacrifices and exchange money for the temple tax. We eventually came to the Western Wall, where people of the Jewish faith still gather to pray.
We also toured around the ancient City of David, the place where David first built his palace and established the city of Jerusalem after defeating the Jebusite inhabitants. As the ruins were scattered up the side of a hill it was easy to see how David could have seen Bathsheba from the roof of his palace. There is also a tunnel here that King Hezekiah built to bring water directly into the city. The tunnel protected the water supply from the invading Assyrians. This is also near the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a man born blind. The seminary professor who was on our bus was sick that day, so the tour guide asked me to read the passage from John 9 about this pool. One of the ways I have experienced God in this trip is by reading Scripture at the exact places where the events took place.
From here we went to ruins of the Antonia Fortress at the north side of the temple. This is where Jesus was flogged and where the soldiers mocked Jesus. While the exact fortress was no longer there, the water cisterns and stones from the floor and adjacent street were still present in this now underground ruin. At this place again we paused to read Scripture and to pray as we remembered Jesus’ suffering.
On Sunday we ended the day by going to the Pool of Bethesda (left). This is where Jesus encounters the man who had been crippled for many years and asked, “Do you want to get well?” Again I read Scripture for the group at this place. This pool had a tradition of providing healing. Archeological study has shown that these two Olympic sized swimming pools had a geological composition that would cause bubbles to be released into the water. Less reliable manuscripts of this miracle added an explanation of these bubbles, saying the blind, lame, and paralyzed who were at this pool waited for an angel of the Lord to stir the waters and provide healing for the first one to enter the pool. This description is not included in newer translations, such as the NIV or TNIV because the oldest manuscripts do not explain the account this way. This tradition of healing also does not correspond to the rest of the Bible. God does not just help those who help themselves. God would not want us to push others out of the way so that we can experience the blessing of God first and more powerfully. His mercy and healing are available to all. As Jesus approached this man, he could see his despair. He had no one to help him into the water to gain a chance for healing. In this place of hopelessness, Jesus and His Kingdom break through. “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
Monday was the day that we experienced the most holy sites of the Christian faith. We began at the Mount of Olives across the Kidron Valley, where Jesus began his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. As we looked over the city we could see the Beautiful Gate, where Jesus entered the city on Palm Sunday and where Jesus will enter again when he returns. It was at the Mount of Olives where Jesus ascended into heaven and it is here where Jesus will return. We walked down the road from the Mount of Olives. It was on a road going down this mount that people placed their cloaks and palm branches. We came to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed and where Jesus was arrested after Judas betrayed him with a kiss. In the picture are olive trees that may have grown from the time of Jesus.
We then came to Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified, and to the tomb of Jesus. Since the first century the church has revered the holy place where Jesus was crucified and resurrected at a place that is now called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. When this massive church was first built at the time of Constantine, the hillside was cut away to build this church around the tomb of Jesus. Six different Christian traditions (Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Coptic, Armenian Orthodox, Syrians, and Ethiopians) all claim parts of this church as their own, with different monuments and ornamentation to commemorate this special place. Instead of feeling that the gaudy ornamentation somehow ruins this holy place, I saw the different murals, mosaics, statues, candles, and shrines as being ways that people from different traditions and cultures have revered Jesus through the ages. In the picture you can see the rock behind the glass showing the place where Jesus’ cross was placed on Golgotha. I was powerfully moved to see the place where Jesus died for my sins and the place where Jesus rose from the dead.
It is 5:30 AM right now and we are getting ready to go to Masada today and the Dead Sea. We have two full days left on this journey.
Today was another great day. We had some incredible experiences that I’ve listed below. We probably will add another posting on Monday evening. We’re having a great time, although we find ourselves napping on the bus as we are still catching up on sleep.
We began our day at 7:00 AM with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. The whole group pulled the boats together in the middle of the sea, and Chuck Swindoll spoke on Mark 6. Jesus fed the 5,000 (really about 15,000 when you include women and children) and then sent the disciples out onto the Sea of Galilee to go to Bethsaida. As the disciples traveled to the middle of the Sea, a terrible storm came up. Shortly before dawn, Jesus walked to the disciples on the water and calmed the seas. One of the saddest verses in the Bible then follows. Matthew 7:51-52 reads, “They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.” Chuck challenged us to consider the condition of our own hearts. In what direction are we sailing? For some on this trip, this challenge may be more memorable and more important than the sites that we are visiting.
We then traveled to Beth Shan. In 1 Samuel 31 the wounded King Saul took his own life. The Philistines then took his dead body and the body of Saul’s sons, who were also killed in battle, and fastened them to the wall of Beth Shan. 2 Samuel 1 follows with David’s beautiful lament. Later, during Roman times, the Romans renamed this city Scythopolis and built a gladiator arena, theater, temple, and stone city. These ruins were incredible.
From there we had lunch at the Spring of En Harod. This is the spring where God reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 10,000 to eventually 300 men – those who had good manners and did not drink the water like a dog by lapping it up with their tongues (Judges 7). God used these 300 men to overrun the Midianites with trumpets, smashed jars, and torches, to show that it was not their own strength that saved them. We saw the spring, and could look across the valley to where the Midianites would have been.
A highlight for the day was then going to the Jordan River to the place where Jesus was baptized. This is a site that just recently opened up. Many of the guides had not been there before. It is directly on the border. Across the river is the country of Jordan. There were Israeli soldiers posing with some of the women in our group, and Jordanian soldiers waving from the other side of the river. The evidence for this site being the actual baptism site is strong, because of the proximity to Jericho and the presence of churches on this site since the third century. As I looked up to the sky, I imagined the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove in this place (Matthew 3). With Mt. Nebo behind this area in Jordan (where Moses died), and Jericho just across the river, this is also the likely site of Joshua leading the people of Israel across the Jordan River to fight the battle of Jericho and enter the promised land. It was incredible for me to touch the water and image the men carrying the Ark of the Covenant stepping into the Jordan River at flood stage. The water from upstream stopped and piled up “in a great heap” 16 miles away so that the nation of Israel (numbering more than a million) could cross the river on dry ground! (Joshua 3)
We ended the day going up to Jerusalem. We actually traveled south along the Jordan to go to Jerusalem, but in Scripture it is always described as going up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is physically up because it is on a hill. But is also spiritually “up” because it is a place to experience God. The people of Israel traveled to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage. As they went they sang “songs of ascent.” These songs are listed in Psalms 120-134. These songs encouraged the Hebrew people as they traveled in the wilderness up the dry, rocky, hot, and at times dangerous road to Jerusalem. Chuck Swindoll read some of these psalms for us as we went up the highway.
“I will lift my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2
“He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber.” 121:3
“The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.” 121:5-6
“When they said, ‘Let’s go to the house of God,” my heart leaped for joy. And now we’re here, oh Jerusalem, inside Jerusalem’s walls! Jerusalem, well-built city, built as a place for worship! The city to which the tribes ascend, all God’s tribes go up to worship, to give thanks to the name of God – this is what it means to be Israel. Thrones for righteous judgment are set there, famous David-thrones. Pray for Jerusalem’s peace!” Psalm 122:1-6 (The Message)
We began our day in Caesarea Philippi, the farthest area north that Jesus took his disciples. This was a place of pagan worship of the god Pan. We saw the ruins of this temple. At this place Peter makes the great confession that Jesus is the Messiah. Had Peter made this confession in Jerusalem, the disciples may have tried to make Jesus king on the spot. At this remote, pagan place Jesus explains that he must suffer, die, and be raised from the dead. It was amazing to be in this area where Jesus identifies the profound nature of his coming, which Peter and the disciples did not understand until after his death and resurrection.
We then went to Dan. The northern area of Dan has springs that become the Jordan River (Jor - meaning flows from, Dan). There is also the archeological site of Tel Dan (tel – meaning city). At Tel Dan we saw an ancient city gate from the time of Abraham. Abraham went to Dan to rescue Lot. We also saw a site here
where Jeroboam led the northern nation of Israel to worship a calf instead of traveling to Jerusalem to worship at the temple (notice metal square altar area in picture). Tel Dan also includes a city gate from this time period, where the king would rule and administer justice. (In the picture a guy is sitting on the “throne area” at the city gate.)
We have enjoyed the scenery and the food in the Galilee area. Lori even ate some “St. Peter’s Fish” for lunch. This is a beautiful, quiet place where Jesus ministered and preached. Tomorrow we head to Jerusalem. Chuck Swindoll will be on our bus as we ascend to the city of David.
Our next post might be on Sunday, depending on our internet access at our next hotel.
We have now had two days of touring in Israel. Each day is somewhat rigorous. By 7:15 we have eaten breakfast and are off for a day of sightseeing. We return to the hotel for dinner, and are done at about 8:00 PM. Last night at dinner I met Chuck Swindoll and the emcee, Paul Sailhamer. After hearing our story of receiving this trip as a gift from the church, Paul asked me to come up front and tell the story for all 600 people to hear. The picture here is Chuck Swindoll speaking at the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).
We have really enjoyed Israel. In many ways it is similar to California with its agriculture. There are fruits, nuts, and many different irrigated crops. There are rolling hills with many of the same wildflowers as California. Having heard the names of towns from Bible stories, there is an immediate familiarity. Seeing the sights gives a whole new insight into Scripture.
The first stop we made was to Caesarea. Herod the Great built this Roman city, which included a theater, a hydrodome for chariot races (like Ben Hur), and a palace. Pontius Pilate lived here at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. Cornelius, the first Gentile Christian, lived in Caesarea, and Paul was imprisoned here for two years.
We also visited Megiddo. Megiddo was a strategic city on a hill near an important trade route. There has been a lot of archaelogical excavation in Meggido. Meggido was originally a Canaanite town with Baal sacrifice. Later, after the city was conquered by David, Solomon fortified the city. Many major battles occurred in the Jezreel Valley below this city. One of them was when Barak and Deborah fought Sisera. This is also the valley where Jesus will triumph in the Battle of Armagedon.
About 10 years ago this tomb was found along a roadside, as the lanes were being widened. It is similar to the tomb that Jesus was buried in.
We went up to Mount Carmel, where Elijah had a showdown with 850 prophets of Baal. Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to have their god send fire down to consume an offering. The Baal god was the god of lightening. Only the true God responded with fire, and Elijah triumphed.
The last picture I’ll show you is Capernaum. In Luke 4, Jesus heals a man who is lowered into a house, likely Peter’s mother-in-law’s house. Jesus teaches in the synagogue, and goes back to Peter’s mother-in-law’s house to heal. The synagogue ruins are in the picture, which is taken from the neighboring house where Jesus healed.
We really have enjoyed the Galilee area. It is beautiful. One of the guides at a site we saw today was named Conner, an Israeli Christian in his 20’s. I don’t know his story, but he was so excited to share about Jesus in Nazareth, and to bless us. As each of us left, he shook our hands, looked us in the eyes, and said, “God bless you.” We are truly blessed to be in Israel. Like Conner, may we be blessed to bless others!
We found a place in the hotel with free internet access, so we may put another post up on Friday evening.
Tuesday evening, 10:00 PM at the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Tel Aviv
After several months of anticipation, today we arrived in Israel! We had a 5 hour flight from San Francisco to Toronto, and then a 10 hour flight from Toronto to Tel Aviv. There was a person from the tour agency to greet us, and we headed on a tour bus from the airport straight to a banquet room in a Tel Aviv Hotel to join the rest of the group for dinner, with our hosts Chuck and Cynthia Swindoll.
Next to the city of Tel Aviv is the ancient seaport of Joppa. In biblical times ths city was called “Jaffa”, and was the place where Jonah boarded a ship to flee from the Lord’s command to go preach to the Ninevites. (From our hotel we can see the Mediterranean Sea.) In the New Testament, Peter raised Tabitha from the dead in the city of Joppa. Peter also had a vision from the Lord in Joppa, leading the conversion of Cornelius. Tomorrow we head to will be staying in a hotel in Tiberias.
On the airplane we were surprised how many young Jewish families there were.. As we struggled to sleep, we were often interrupted by crying children. We remember those days. We heard one of the Jewish boys near us calling out to his father, “Abba!” Abba was the familiar term for our heavenly Father that Jesus tells us to use in prayer. Wow! What a powerful image.
Chuck Swindoll’s encouragement to us this evening was to walk a little slower, look a little longer, and listen a little better during our time here. There will be information overload as we see the sites and learn about what happened. But rather than struggle to get the best camera shot, we need to allow God to speak to us though our time here. (This is probably a good word for us where ever we are.)
On a personal note, I figured out our international calling card, and we called home to my parents to say, “We made it!.” The kids were in school when we called. Tomorrow morning before we leave I will try to figure out the internet to post this blog and then skype our kids (Wednesday, 6:00 AM in Tel Aviv will be Tuesday, 8:00 PM in Modesto – 10 hours time difference).
Our next post may be Thursday evening. Thanks for your prayers!
This church member asked me if I would be open to going on such a trip with Lori. If Lori and I were interested, she would contact others in the church to see if money could be raised for this trip. After a few days of prayer and discussion, I responded back that Lori and I would be interested. My parents would be available to watch our kids. Because a gift such as this is substantial, I also said that our Elder Board would need to approve the gift. The Board meeting was about two weeks away. The deadline for the funds to be collected was at the end of November. If this was going to materialize, clearly God would have to bring everything together.
for an Israel trip. I am using this in my daily devotional life. Another book that I am enjoying is by NT Wright, The Way of the Lord. Wright gives a theological understanding of pilgrimage. In fact, this is the one book that I would highly recommend to anyone going on a Holy Land trip. It does not go into details about different sites, like other travel books. Instead Wright talks about what it means to experience the Holy Land. What are the Christian implications of a trip to Israel? Here are some of NT Wrights thoughts that have jumped out to me.