We packed our bags and checked out of the Grand Court Hotel. Leaving Jerusalem, we traveled north, skirting around the West Bank. Our security guard believed it would be unsafe to travel through the West Bank.
During the three hour trip, Michael gave us a historical overview of the Land, from biblical times to today.
Our security guard spoke of his time as a military commander in Gaza. They destroyed Hamas tunnels in 2014. The day after they withdrew, Hamas was already rebuilding them.
We crossed the mighty Jordan River and entered the Hula Valley.
We visited a moshav (like a kibbutz but more economic autonomy for the members) in the Golan Heights. They are far enough from the border to not be evacuated. The couple who welcomed us are believers. We planted trees for the 1200-tree memorial the moshav is doing for the 1200 victims of October 7.
A good friend (and tour guide) from previous trips, Ohri, is stationed nearby he was able to get permission to drive over and see us. It was great to see him again.
While we were visiting I heard a distant boom. Ohri said that’s just the Iron Dome getting a rocket. He said we had nothing to worry about as they’re not targeting where we were.
The sun was getting low as we finished up.
We drove down to Tiberias to a great hotel on the Galilee. Dinner was delicious. Time to quit and get some rest for tomorrow.
We spent a day around Jerusalem to prepare our hearts for the days of service. Our group includes 74 believers from 10 different countries. The goal of the trip is to bring hope and healing through the love of Jesus to the hurting people of Israel.
We started on the Mount of Olives. Michael spoke of the three times we know of when Jesus wept. All three were on or near this mountain. David’s flight from Absalom crossed this mountain.
We walked down the Palm Sunday path, and into the Garden of Gethsemane. The Church of All Nations is a great reminder of Jesus’ time in the Garden.
We had a time of prayer and worship in the private olive garden across the street. You can join our prayer by praying by name for the hostages from this list: https://firmisrael.org/praybyname/
We had a great learning time and lunch at Christ Church. The organization has been in the Land for 180 years. By the way, the coffee shop is great if you’re ever in the area of Jaffa Gate.
Notice the olive tree depicts both a menora and a cross. There is no cross in the church. The building combines characteristics of both church and synagogue.
We visited the Kotel, the Western Wall.
And of course, there’s always a great dinner at the hotel in the evening.
The tour we had planned for November had to be canceled because of the war. Then I heard about FIRM Israel and their work in the Land. Ruby (15) and I decided to join their Hope and Healing Trip.
I booked tickets to Rome and then Rome to Tel Aviv to save money. Then I found the process called self transfer can be tricky, and the two hours we had in Rome was considered too short. I finally decided to stop worrying and take the chance, rather than buy direct tickets. I also wasn’t bashful about asking people to pray specifically for our Rome connection.
We left Newark on Monday evening.
Flying east shortens the night considerably.
We had a good flight to Rome. The process for entering Italy, then Israeli security, check-in, and security again all went smoothly. We had a good 30 minutes extra. Praise God!
The first glimpse of Israel, as we crossed the coast from the Mediterranean, was exciting.
We saw evidences of the war almost immediately. Signs pointing the way to shelter, and posters of hostages told me it was not the same Israel I had visited a few months ago.
We did the automatic passport thing to get a visa ticket, went through the line to speak to an officer, and then through the gates. We were in the Land!
We found out the direct flight from Newark to Tel Aviv had been canceled.
We found the Hope and Healing people in the meeting area in the exit hall.
I plan to post more about this trip, God willing. Part of my vision for our Israel tours has always been to bridge the schism between the Jewish people and Christians. During this time of trauma and difficulty there are opportunities to show the love of Jesus.
After a week of 4 AM breakfasts we returned to a more relaxed schedule. We walked to the Grand Court Hotel for our pickup bus and transferred to a meeting place at the Mount of Olives overlook. We found our bus 14 and rode down, down, to sea level, and down, down, some more.
At Kahlia Beach on the Dead Sea we met our Bedouin guide Ali. We embarked on a desert safari advertised as for “the more adventurous.”
Ali first took us to a high cliff overlooking the Dead Sea. The air was hazy with dust and some humidity. Ali said it may be from a storm in the Sahara or somewhere. This kind of weather is hard on people with asthma.
We took the 4×4 Toyota deep into a nature reserve in the Judean wilderness. Ali has a wealth of knowledge of the desert plants and animals. He also has a great sense of humor, mentioning something about getting lost in the wilderness for forty years. Easing the Toyota across boulders in a washed out part of the trail, he said not to worry, it’s his wife’s car
He found a bit if shade under a cliff and served us watermelon and cookies.
Then we went looking for scorpions.
This tree he said is a Bedouin forest. It’s actually a thorn tree, maybe like the one used for Jesus’ crown of thorns.
We finished the day with a float in the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth.
At Shiloh we used the normal excavation method of working in 5 meter squares. We “drain the bathtub,” taking down the level of the square in a uniform fashion, unearthing pottery pieces and other objects inside the square.
In addition, they have a full-time metal detectorress, Ellen Jackson. She usually finds several coins per day around the site. When she comes to your square, you remove all the metal tools and vacate the area. Usually it’s time for a water break.
One of the unique features here is the emphasis on sifting. All of the dirt, minus the rocks, from the square is sifted. The team on dry sifting finds additional bones, flint, pottery, etc. The small pieces left in the sifter screen are then bagged in mesh bags.
The bags from dry sifting are then wet sifted. Additional small objects, including coins and scarabs, are found using this method. Julia and I first learned about wet sifting at the Temple Mount Sifting Project back in 2019.
We had a great week if digging and sifting. We’ll stay in the land for a couple days of exploring.
We’ve been on the dig for two days now. We’re enjoying it immensely. We start with breakfast at 4 AM and on the bus by 4:59. The trip from Jerusalem to Shiloh is through some amazing countryside.
We’re a onsite erecting shade cloth by 6 or earlier. We find about 2,000 pieces of pottery per day. Today we found a sling stone just outside the city wall. We’re working in a Bronze Age layer. George helped discover a wall.
We have lunch at 10:30. We stop digging at 1:00 PM. We wash the pottery, then stop at the gift shop for refreshments. The buses depart at 2.
With dinner at 6, we went exploring this afternoon. We went through Damascus Gate and did some shopping in the market. We visited Udi at Blue and White. We stopped by Moshe’s shop to say hello. We were going to take pictures at the cardo painting but the room was full of IDF soldiers.
We arrived in Tel Aviv on Saturday morning. George and Caleb are traveling with me on this archeological trip. We are participating in the dig at Tel Shiloh for a week. We spent most of the day setting in, resting, and eating.
Next day we joined a group of the dig people on a bus tour. Our first stop was Beit She’an.
After a lunch stop we visited the Harod Spring. The spring flows from a cave. This is the site of Gideon’s army being reduced to 300. The main point of this story is not that the 300 best men were chosen, but that the battle is the Lord’s.
We also visited Tel Jezreel. We saw a winepress, and thought about Naboth’s vineyard. The Tel was mostly unidentified stones, with nothing reconstructed.
During Holy Week we are reminded of the events in Jesus’ final days in His pre-resurrection body. The week was filled with the activity of the spring festivals. Thousands of visitors filled the streets of Jerusalem and Temple Mount.
Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday are special days celebrated by many Christians. The Christian observance of Easter does not follow the Jewish Passover date. In 325 AD the Council of Nicaea decreed Easter Sunday would be the Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. The Passover observance follows the lunar-based Jewish calendar. This year Easter is only a few days after the Jewish Passover.
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Coming from Bethany, He descended the steep slope of the Mount of Olives on a donkey. He didn’t ride a horse, as an earthly king would. The donkey symbolized His coming in peace and lowliness.
Zechariah foretold this:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.
Descending the Mount of Olives, toward the Kidron Valley.
Crossing the Kidron Valley, Jesus entered the Holy City. We don’t know if He used the Eastern Gate or the Sheep Gate. The Eastern Gate is also known as the Golden Gate, and the Gate of Mercy. It has been shut for the past five hundred years. Ezekiel 44 references a gate on the east that is shut.
The Last Supper that Jesus shared with His disciples was a Passover feast. We could also call this the First Communion. The four cups of wine in the Passover seder symbolize four aspects of the deliverance. “I will bring you out,” “I will rescue you,” “I will redeem you,” and “I will take you.” It was on the third cup, the Cup of Redemption, that Jesus said, “This is my blood of the New Covenant.”
Later that night He spent time praying to His Father in the Garden. The word Gethsemane is associated with the olive press. From this, and from the name of the mount, we can be quite certain that the garden where Jesus prayed had olive trees. There are several beautiful gardens of olive trees on the slope of Mount Olive. It is a meaningful experience to sit in the garden and think about Jesus’ time there, and what He suffered for us.
A garden of olive trees
The crucifixion took place at the place of a skull. Near the site of the Garden Tomb is a cliff face that looks something like a skull.
A place of a skull
The Garden Tomb is a place to remember Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. The Christian inscription inside the tomb dates to the fifth or sixth century. It includes the cross stylized to resemble an anchor, as a reminder of 1 Corinthians 6:9. The letters alpha and omega signify Jesus.
Most scholars believe the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to be the more likely location of Jesus burial. But more important than the true location of the tomb is the fact that on the first Easter Sunday, the tomb was empty!
Inside the empty tomb
Our next trip to Israel is scheduled for November 16 to 28 of this year. If you’d like to see the places where Jesus lived and walked, we still have openings.
We are accepting registrations for our trip to Israel. The dates are November 16 to 28. We’ll be flying from Newark nonstop to Tel Aviv. The price is $4,229 per person with double occupancy.
Consider this opportunity to see the Bible in real life.
Our first stop this morning was at the market. Simon, our guide, said this time would be the best time to visit while the Jewish people were getting ready for Shabbat. It was very interesting to weave our way through all the people, taking in their normal shopping experience. And of course we found a few food items to try and others to take back with us to the states.
Because of rearranging the schedule, our next stop was an extra bonus! We headed over for a quick visit to Bethlehem. We saw the Church of the Nativity and had the privilege of singing several Christmas songs in the church which had great acoustics. Then we walked through what would have been something like a shepherd’s cave. It was fun to imagine those many years ago when the area was a pastureland and the amazement the shepherds experienced on that special night!
Our next stop was an olive wood manufacturing shop. It was very interesting to see how they created the beautiful scenes and figures we saw for sale.
And a final finished piece.
The afternoon was hastening on and it was time for us to head into the Old City of Jerusalem as Shabbat was quickly approaching. We were dropped off at the Jaffa Gate and walked through the city to Tova’s house. Tova is an Orthodox Jewish lady that Andrew’s had met on a previous trip.
Pillars from Hezekiah’s timePart of the old Roman Via in Jerusalem
We were with Tova as she welcomed in Shabbat by the lighting of the candles. Then she took us to a balcony overlooking the Western Wall as many Jewish went to pray.
After Tova taught us on the balcony, we wound our way down to the Western Wall. She requested that we wouldn’t take any phots while we were there this evening out of respect. It was quite a special experience to join with the many people there who had come to pray and also to sing and rejoice!
A little while later we walked back through the city and to our hotel where Tova led us in the Shabbat meal rituals. After supper, we enjoyed singing again. First we sang some songs from the Psalms for her and then she taught us a round in Hebrew, which I personally very much enjoyed.
