Detour.....Ashdod

The students flight has been delayed. Jerusalem is preparing for lock-down for snow. We came to Ashdod because we'll stay overnight with the students. It's blowing a gale. Unfortunately you can't see the HUGE waves on the Mediterranean Sea!

The Continuation of Galilee

Galilee was a WONDERFUL experience but it was very exhausting.

My class at the watchtower at Hazor. Hazor was a very important, huge city in Old Testament times. It was destroyed by the Assyrians. We took this picture because we talked about Ezekiel’s teachings about being a watchman on a tower for Israel. A watchman could see the enemy army, long before they came close to the city. It was their responsibility to warn the inhabitants of the city so that they could prepare. We then talked about our modern counterparts (the Prophet, and the Twelve, parents, etc) and our personal responsibility.

Me at Har Ben Tal. This is up on the Golan Heights, on the border with Syria. We could hear military fire from the Syrian civil war while we were there. While we were there we talked about Paul’s experience on the way to Damascus, and I used Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk that encouraged people not to be paralyzed in their spiritual journeys because they are waiting for spectacular spiritual experiences.

Jill and I in an old canon turret at Har Ben Tal

Me at the Roman aqueduct which took water from Mount Carmel to King Herod’s Caesarea Maritima. The aqueduct is 12 miles long. Caesarea Maritima is where Paul was imprisoned for 2 years before being sent to Rome. The theater is still standing where Herod Antipas died (Acts 11).

Me at Chorazin. The picture is about the Sermon on the Mount teaching about the beam and the mote (Matt. 7:3-4). You can see the stone beams acting as the roof, and in my hand is a tiny speck of stone, which is a mote.

Abby and I at Yardenit. This is where the Jordan River leaves the Sea of Galilee on its way to the Dead Sea. This is a baptismal site. There were people being baptized the day that we were there.

Christmas in Jerusalem

It is Christmas day! Merry Christmas! Yesterday we went in to Bethlehem. It is not something that we’re normally allowed to do. We spent the afternoon lining up to get into the Church of the Nativity. We made it, but only just. They were chasing us out at the end telling us that they were closing. But it was a great opportunity to be there and think about Christmas from a different perspective. There was a real festive atmosphere in Manger Square. I loved it! Then we walked out and went to the Bethlehem Branch for a Christmas social. It was about a 30 minute walk. On the way the street was lined with police and army because there were some dignitaries in a huge motorcade rushing past us. The street that we walked along was Hebron Road, the same road that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob walked along and also the road that Mary and Joseph would have travelled between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. So that was fun to think about it. At the Branch we read Luke 2 in English and Arabic; sang some carols, including O Little Town of Bethlehem, and then had some refreshments. It was a lovely evening.

Us at Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. The Church of the Nativity is in the background.

Cherie at the Manger in the Church of the Nativity

Cherie playing the organ in the auditorium of the Jerusalem Center

Christmas Eve with the Bethlehem Branch

Bro & Sister Hopkin (service couple in the Galilee), Becky, Cherie, and me in the back—waiting in line to get into the nativity grotto

This morning we got up, had brunch with other people in the Center, and now we just came home, opened presents, and are cooking dinner. We have invited one of the Service couples to come and eat with us. They had family come and stay and unfortunately one of them had a stroke while we were in Galilee. So they've had to stay a little longer. So it will be fun to share our Christmas meal together. Then we’re going to go up into the auditorium where the Jones will play Christmas carols on the piano and organ.

The first five days in Galilee

It was such a busy week trying to grade papers and exams and get ready to go to the Galilee. We have been up here for 5 days and we’ve had some amazing experiences!

We left Jerusalem early on Monday morning and we had 3 stops on the way: Bet She’an, Nazareth, and Mount Arbel. The Bet She’an picture is a selfie

 of me climbing the ancient tell and looking down at the Roman occupation, which they call Scythopolis. The major event that took place on the tell was that when the Philistines defeated King Saul’s army, they took the bodies of Saul and Jonathon and hung them on the walls of Bet She’an until the men from Jabesh-Gilead came and took them and gave them a burial. in the New Testament times, Bet She’an was the capital city of the Gentile association of cities known as the Decapolis (Greek = 10 cities). It is possible that Jesus came and preached here, but there is no specific reference to it.

At Nazareth we went to the Church of the Annunciation. 

 This picture is a selfie outside the grotto which tradition says was the home of Mary in Nazareth and the place where Gabriel came to announce to her that she would be the mother of the Son of God.

 This pic is the excavations of the homes in the first century village of Nazareth. Nazareth was a very small insignificant village at the time and the village’s well is just north of here, so it’s pretty certain that Jesus would have grown up in this area.  

Me with Abbie in the church built over an ancient synagogue. This site commemorates that Jesus taught in the synagogue in Nazareth, and gave (from Luke’s perspective) his inaugural sermon when he reads from Isaiah 61 and declares that he is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. I have never been in the synagogue before, so it was wonderful to be able to go there.

After Nazareth we went up to Mount Arbel where we had a panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee. The rains were coming, so the air was actually quite clear—it was the clearest that I have ever seen it up there and we could clearly see the Golan Heights on the east side of the sea (where we have been staying on a kibbutz on the sea shore—BEAUTIFUL!!!!!). Just after I finished teaching the rains came down in bucket loads and we all got drenched, but it was absolutely worth it.

On Tuesday my class went out on a field trip while the other class stayed at the kibbutz and had classes. We went to a number of churches: the Mount of Beatitudes, Peter’s Primacy (commemorates the story of John 21), Tabgah (commemorates the feeding of the 5,000).  

This is one of the scenes on the door leading into the chapel at Tabgah. I thought that it was interesting to see the combination of images of Christ’s crucifixion, along with either his “pressing the winepress alone” or, possibly, standing in the waters of baptism. The former probably works better, but the door looks out on a courtyard with a ritual bathing area.

This is at Nof Ginnosar. It is a first century boat that was discovered in the Sea of Galilee a number of years ago. It gives us a real glimpse into what 1st century fishing boats looked like. After we left here we took a boat ride back to out kibbutz. It poured with rain while we were in Nof Ginnosar, so the journey was rough, and we did it at night, so we had a lot of fun singing Master the Tempest is raging and Jesus, Pilot me and talking about when Jesus stilled the storm and later came to the apostles when they were in difficulty at night in a storm.

We then had 2 days of very heavy rain. The other class had their field trip in the rain, which was difficult for them, while my class stayed back for classes. The second day my class was supposed to go out on a field trip, but it was too wet so we had another day of classes. Today both classes went up to Gamla.

 This may have been the city when Jesus spoke about a city set on a hill in the Sermon on the Mount. During the Jewish Revolt in 66 AD it was a place that the Roman attacked. They killed 5,000 people and the other 4,000 committed suicide by jumping off the cliffs. It is VERY mountainous and the trek down to the ruins was VERY steep (8,500 steps there and back) and muddy and slippery. I wasn’t sure that I was going to make the trek, but I decided to give it a go. I wanted to get to the synagogue, which is one of the largest and best preserved from the 1st century. I was very slow and careful going down, but I made it and I have a picture to prove it!

It was hard climbing back up but I just took my time—one step at a time. I didn’t want to look up because if I did I would have given up :o) This area is also a nature reserve so we were climbing with eagles soaring around very close to us—It was gorgeous!

Recap of Jordan as well as Field Trips to Bethlehem and the Jewish Quarter

I think that last week I sent some pictures of our trip to Jordan, but I didn’t send much commentary. So here I go. It was a great trip. The stops that were most memorable for me were Machaerus, Petra, the Jabbok River, and the Baptismal site on the Jordan River. 

Machearus was a palace fortress that Herod the Great built on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. It was built to protect the border with the Nabateans and it was also used as a prison. In fact, it was here that John the Baptist was imprisoned for criticizing the marriage of Herod Agrippa to his brother’s wife, Herodias. It was also where John was eventually beheaded. It is out in the middle of nowhere and there were a LOT of uneven stairs to go down and climb back—without any rail, which wasn’t wonderful for my knees or ankle, but I started the trek a little before my students to give me some extra time. Of course, they all caught up and overtook me. The view from the top was magnificent, but I didn’t get any photos because when we got up there I started teaching, and then in the middle it started pouring with rain! So we stayed for a while and then once we started going down, of course, it stopped. But as we started going down two of the guys from my Old Testament class (we switched classes just before we left for Jordan) came up independently and offered to help me so that I didn’t slip on the wet, slippery stones and to help me up all of those difficult stairs. I was so grateful for them. So they are in the picture with  Machaerus in the background. Ben is on the right and Adam is on the left.

Petra was an ancient Nabatean city that controlled the lucrative north-south trade routes. They displaced the Edomites who moved into southern desert area of Canaan and eventually became known as the Idumeans. (Herod the Great was an Idumean). You enter the city by walking for about a mile through a narrow canyon known as the Siq. Then all of a sudden you look up and you can see the Treasury cut into a massive rock face wall. It was so magnificent to see it. The camel picture was taken in front of the Treasury. It cost $3 to sit on the camel, have it stand up, take some pictures and then have it sit down again. Even though I have done this before, it was a horrible feeling when they stood up and sat down. I thought for sure that I was going to be thrown to the ground! It cost $5 if you wanted to walk around in a circle—but I was too cheap! We had lots of free time. Many of the students made treks up to the High place and to the Monastery. I knew that I couldn’t do both. In fact, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to do either. But I decided that I want to at least try to climb to the Monastery. Even though I am going to come here 3 times, during winter there’s a good chance that it will be wet and in summer it will be way too hot. So I decided to take my time and go as far as I could. I had students walking with me, but I was afraid that if they stayed with me they wouldn’t get to the see it themselves, so I shooed them off to go do it with their friends. Even so, one couple stayed with me all the way. I don’t know if I would have kept going if they hadn’t been with me. But I was SO GLAD that I kept going. It was absolutely magnificent to turn the corner and see it! I stayed up there for a while to recuperate and then headed down. Going down was so much worse for my knees than going up! And I’ve paid the price for the next 10 days! And I think that a tortoise would have been faster than me walking out of the Siq and back to the bus! There was a carriage that I could have paid to take me out, but it was so bumpy that I would have gotten whiplash. Some of the elderly people who I saw in it looked like they were hanging on for dear life! Next trip I am going to try and climb to the High Place.

The Jabbok River was the place where Jacob stopped with his family on his way back from Haran. This was the place where Jacob had his wrestle with the messenger from God and had his name changed to Israel. This site was the completion of his spiritual journey, which began at Bethel where the Lord invited him to enter into a covenant, but at a time when Jacob wasn’t sure that he wanted to enter into it. But by the time he came to the Jabbok river he had matured spiritually, and wanted the covenant more than anything else. He called the place Peniel, which in Hebrew means the “face of God.” Later he recalls that this was the place that he was “redeemed from all evil” (Gen. 48:16). So we took some time to talk with the students about this temple experience and God’s hope that all of us would have a Peniel experience in our lives. I’ve included a photo of me at the river and one of Spencer and Bryce in a contemplative moment.

 Oh, the other thing that was fun in the Jordan trip was to go to the traditional site of Jesus’ baptism on the Jordan River. As a faculty we had gone to the Israeli side, but it was a great time to go with the students and to talk about the supernal events that took place there. I’ve include a photo of the archaeological discoveries of ancient baptismal places. 

This week we had two field trips: Bethlehem and the Jewish quarter. Bethlehem was a great site. We went first to the Herodion, where Herod the Great was buried and then raced into Bethlehem to try and get their before all the cruise ship buses. Fortunately we got there before they did, but it was still a matter of going down to the grotto, take a picture and then be pushed out. There wasn’t much contemplative time. We did however get to go next door to the Catholic church and spend some time there. They have the grotto where Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, which was the standard biblical text until Erasmus. It was great to be there. We got some time to sing some Christmas carols and the sound was divine! Then we went and spent the evening in Shepherds’ Fields looking out over Bethlehem. The students put together a nativity program and we sang lots of Christmas carols, and Christmas will never be the same again!

Our trip to the Jewish Quarter focused mainly on Herodian Jerusalem, which was during the time of Jesus. After the Six Day War, much of the Jewish quarter of the Old City had to be rebuilt and so they took the time to excavate first. They found the remains of the residential area to the west of the Temple mount. It seems to have been where the priestly class lived because the houses were clearly interested in ritual purity. The priests seemed to have lived in opulence and were trying in imitate the Roman aristocracy. This is probably the backdrop for Jesus’ cleansing of the temple—that he would not allow the “widow’s mites” of the pilgrims to the temple to fund the excesses of the Sadducees. We finished the trip on the ancient stairs that led to the entrance of the temple. I’ve included a picture of the South West wall of the temple mount. This was the place where the ancient priests would stand and blow their trumpets. Part of the rock where the priest’s stood has been excavated with an inscription identifying it as the place of trumpeting. This was probably the pinnacle of the temple mentioned in the temptations of Jesus.

Well, this has been a long epistle this week. This program is physically, emotionally and spiritually demanding, but I have to say that have come to love these students. I’ve never had such an experience like this with students. They are amazing and I am loving participating on this spiritual journey with them.

Visit to Petra

At Petra

Indiana Jones: Eat your heart out!

Coming out through the canyon into Petra and this is the first picture of the Treasury carved into the mountain

Me on a camel in from of the Treasury. Oh my goodness it is scary when the camel stands up and then sits down. I was sure that I was going to fall off!

 Missy, Liza, Me and Emma with the amphitheater in the background

Picture 4: One of the spectacular views as I was climbing up to the Monastery

The Monastery

Finished with the Old Testament and moving on to the New Testament

This week has been a little different pace for me. It was exams week, so I had my final Old Testament class on Sunday. It was hard to say goodbye to this class. I have grown to love them and will miss them, but I am looking forward to getting to know the other students as we begin our New Testament journey together.

There were two main events this week—both on Monday. Technically it was a reading day, but in the morning we went up to our biblical gardens at the center and pressed the olives. The center has one of the few working ancient olive presses in the country.   The girls and I working  to crush the olives. 

After the olives are washed they are put in this large stone basin and they are crushed by the rotating rock. Donkeys were probably used to turn the lever but today the students and us were the donkey! It was hard work! The first time I tried it I jumped in with the students and of course the boys have lots of energy and I was running to just try and keep up with them! Of course, I don’t have the correct shoes on for running to keep up with the boys. That lever was heavy! Once the olives are crushed they are put into rope bags and then put into a press. There are two types of presses at the center. One is the screw press. I'm standing next to it, with the oil draining out of the bags.

 The screw press dates to the Byzantine period and would not have been used during the time of Jesus. The other press is a lever press. You can see a photo with the students around it. This is the type of press that would have been in use in the first century. The oil that we made here will have a bitter taste and we won’t be able to use it for culinary purposes because we are pressing the olives in the sunlight. This would never have happened anciently because the sun causes a chemical reaction in the oil. I think that I said in an earlier post when we were at Mareshah that anciently oil presses were found in caves in inside dwellings—which is an important element to remember when we think of Gethsemane (“oil press”). It wouldn't have been in an outside garden; it would have been in a cave. Each of the students will be given a small bottle of oil from our efforts this week. Although it won’t be good for eating, it will be perfectly fine for all other uses.

The second highlight for me was Monday afternoon. I went with the girls to Ikea .  I'm standing in front of the Hebrew Ikea sign).

 I went along for the meatballs! You don’t get a lot of comfort food here :o) It was just lovely to be able to get away with the other women. 

We had a wonderful time. I got practice reading the Hebrew signs and everyone and then I could actually work out what they were saying, which was very exciting. I did end up buying a small fake pine tree that I’ll use for a Christmas tree and a fake poinsettia plant so that I’ll have at least some Christmas decorations. As you can imagine, they’re not prevalent in Israel!

Well tomorrow we’re off to Jordan for 4 days. I’m looking forward to that. I've never been there before, so I’ll get to go to Mount Nebo, Machareus, Petra, Amman, Jerash, the Jabbok River, and the traditional site where Jesus was baptized. So you’ll have to wait a week for pictures and news of those sites!