Greetings on our last night in Israel. It’s been an unforgettable week… the stories are piling up. We’ve barely had time to keep a sketchy journal. After four days in Jerusalem, we learned our way around – from the Mount of Olives, down the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane then up to the Lion’s Gate. Just inside, we sang worship songs and hymns in the pitch-perfect acoustics of St. Anne’s and up the hill down narrow cobblestone streets of the Via Dolorosa. The Archeological exhibition at the ancient Herodian Wall (the South West corner) gave us a sense of the sheer enormity of the construction effort – and then the sheer horror of the crushing Roman defeat of the Jewish rebellion of 70AD. Following the Western Wall north, under the city down tunnels deep beneath ground level, we got as close as one might to the spot where the Holy of Holies was restricted to an annual visit by the High Priest. We watched as hundreds approached the Western Wall with round-the-clock fervent prayers for the restoration of God’s presence in that place.
The last two days took us out of the city to Qumran and the community of the Essenes, then north through the Jordan River Valley and the ruin at Beth Sh’an where Saul and his sons had the corpses put on display in humiliation. It opened the door for David’s reign. The kibbutz at Galilee hosted us for the night, and in the morning, we boarded a quaint replica of a first century boat. We crossed over to Capernaum on a picture perfect day; read passages from the Gospels that came alive on the spot. We followed the steps of Jesus when he found his disciples, among them fishermen from these shores. Then over to Nazareth and up to Mt Carmel where Elijah faced the prophets of Baal. There, we met with Vonnie and Greg at the Mt Carmel Assembly. We got a glimpse of their work with a gathering of Messianic believers making a profound impact on their international community. We finished the day off at Caesarea, where Paul sat in prison for nearly two years; finally appealing to Rome; where he was sent for trial.
We follow his journey to the same city in the morning. Early morning. We depart the hotel for Ben Gurion Airport at four in the morning.
Still more to come.
Ken
The last two days took us out of the city to Qumran and the community of the Essenes, then north through the Jordan River Valley and the ruin at Beth Sh’an where Saul and his sons had the corpses put on display in humiliation. It opened the door for David’s reign. The kibbutz at Galilee hosted us for the night, and in the morning, we boarded a quaint replica of a first century boat. We crossed over to Capernaum on a picture perfect day; read passages from the Gospels that came alive on the spot. We followed the steps of Jesus when he found his disciples, among them fishermen from these shores. Then over to Nazareth and up to Mt Carmel where Elijah faced the prophets of Baal. There, we met with Vonnie and Greg at the Mt Carmel Assembly. We got a glimpse of their work with a gathering of Messianic believers making a profound impact on their international community. We finished the day off at Caesarea, where Paul sat in prison for nearly two years; finally appealing to Rome; where he was sent for trial.
We follow his journey to the same city in the morning. Early morning. We depart the hotel for Ben Gurion Airport at four in the morning.
Still more to come.
Ken
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