Day 5 & 6 – Beit Shean, Gideon’s Spring, Dead Sea, Masada, En Gedi, Qumran and Abraham’s Tent

I will attempt to get us caught up on two days of the tour. I will try to make it brief without losing a bit of the sense of what we experienced.

Our first stop on Day 5 was Beit Shean, which is most known for as being the city where Saul and his son Jonathan were hung when they were killed on Mount Gilboa after being defeated by the Philistines. While there is not much to see in regards to that incident, it is always exciting just to know what took place in the area you are visiting.

The most remarkable part of visiting Beit Shean is the Roman city of Skythopolis. Truly it is one of the most amazing archeological digs in Israel. This city was discovered when the local municipalities were building a playground for the children of the city. Years later what unfolded was an entire city (see photo on left). The city was destroyed by an 8 or 9 point earthquake. It was spectacular seeing where the massive columns of the city toppled over breaking the road beneath them.

As for me, there has been new discoveries with each trip. On our first trip to Israel, the bus stopped at an amphitheater and we were able to get out of the bus and see the arena and the places where the animals were kept, animals which unfortunately were used in killing the Christians, which the Romans enjoyed for their entertainment. How tragic it is how depraved a man’s heart can be.

This arena was used for gladiator fighting and this trip we were able to get out of the bus and wander about the arena (see photo on left). At one point we entered the room where the gladiators would enter the arena. Needless to say it was surreal, knowing that 2000 years before men were waiting to go out into the arena and fight to the death. You could just imagine the sounds of the crowd and the anxiousness of the gladiators as they were waiting to walk out.

After Beit Shean, we visited Gideon’s Spring, where the Lord scaled Gideon’s army of 32,000 down to 300. We had a bible study in Judges 6 & 7, learning how God provides the victory against what can seem like insurmountable odds. What a reminder to us that we must trust God in our every circumstance, even when it seems like we will be defeated. God is always faithful!

As we prepared to head south, to the Dead Sea, we found out that the road had been flooded out and thankful for the quick thinking of our bus driver and tour guide, we took an alternate route which added about a half hour to our trip to the Le Meridian, the hotel at the Dead Sea. We got there in plenty of time to go and swim, or I should say float in the Dead Sea. The water was a bit too cold for me, although I did go in long enough to say that I did. We spent some time in the indoor heated Dead Sea pool (same water as outside).

The salt content is at 38% which is unbelievable considering the Pacific Ocean is less than 1%. As you can see by the photos, everyone had a good time and the next morning we would be off to Jerusalem after stops at several more sites. Some of you have asked about pictures of our bus driver, Avi Maletsky, and tour guide, Ronnie Cohen...so here they are! (see photo on left)

Our first stop on Day 6 was Masada. Masada in another most amazing archeological discovery that the historian Josephus wrote much detail about. We went from the lowest point on the earth, 1,400 feet below sea level, to 1,400 feet above sea level to a city built on a mesa type mountain. Originally, it was a city and palace built by Herod, to flee from any insurrection that might occur. He was quite paranoid about such things. There is no indication that he ever stayed there and after 70 AD when Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed, close to 1,000 religious Jewish zealots took refuge up there and lived for several years before being overtaken by Rome when they found out that they were there.

The tragedy of the story is that rather than face the brutal slavery by the Romans, they chose to take their lives. They drew lots for ten spots, then agreed that one by one each of the ten would kill the families that remained, then the one would take the remaining ten’s lives. This enabled only one, to commit the unforgiveable sin of suicide, according to Jewish law. I would recommend, if you have not yet seen it, to get ahold of a copy of the miniseries that was done capturing the event. It stars Peter Straus and Peter O’Toole. I asked our tour guide how historically accurate it was and he indicated that it was quite accurate.

Our next stop was En Gedi, which is where David hid in the caves. It is referred to in 1 Samuel 24 as the Rocks of the Wild Goats. Pastor Jason did a bible study there, exhorting us in the importance of being honorable in our actions by loving our enemies. When David could have taken Saul’s life, he chose to honor God instead. We took a great little hike up a trail to the various falls in the area. No doubt, David and his men would have bathed in the very springs and natural water falls we were seeing. The various animals that were running around were an added treat.

As we proceeded towards Jerusalem, we stopped at Qumran, the place where the dead sea scrolls were found. We watched a film about the strict sect of the Essenes who committed themselves to copying the Scriptures. In 1947 a Bedouin shepherd boy threw some rocks in an attempt to scare his flock away from the caves and back to him. You can see, by the picture on the left, the cave where many of the scrolls were discovered.

Our final stop before Jerusalem was Abraham’s Tent, or Genesis Land, which was just 20 minutes from Jerusalem. The trip from Qumran to Abraham’s Tent is quite spectacular, driving through the Judean wilderness where Jesus would have traveled on his way from Galilee, past Jericho, and into Jerusalem. It was also, somewhere in the Judean wilderness, where Jesus was tempted by Satan for forty days and forty nights.

Of course, as you can see by the picture on the left, the highlight of Abraham’s Tent was the camel rides. After putting on our cloaks, provided by Abraham himself, we mounted the camels. This was the second ride I took on a camel, the first was with Jenny, and I have to say it was much more ‘painful’ than I remember. As the camel was heading down the road, my legs started cramping up and I was wishing that the camel ride was over. Everyone, who wanted to, got a chance to ride a camel...not something you do every day!

We arrived in Jerusalem by early evening where we will stay for four nights before heading home. It is amazing how tiring touring can be. All we do is eat breakfast, get on and off the bus a bunch of times, eat lunch, get on and off the bus a bunch of times, eat dinner...and then pass out for a good night’s sleep. There is not a lot of chumming around at night, people are just too exhausted. Fortunately the beds are comfortable and you never have to worry about a wakeup call, because it is pretty rare for anyone to be able to sleep past 5:00 AM. We will probably get into a good sleep routine about the time we head home.

Tomorrow, we head to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. I hope that this post finds each of you well. We miss you and are looking forward to being home again. So...until tomorrow...Shalom!

Day 4 – Golan Heights, Mt. Bental, Caesarea Philippi, Tel Dan, Golan Heights, and Mount of Beatitudes

I aplogize for the delay in Day 4, as it turns out several of us got sick, including Jason and I, but we are feeling better today and should be back on track.

With Day 4, came more rain, but the spirits of everyone continued to run high. After all, we are in Israel in the land where Jesus walked. Come rain or shine it is a blessing to be here. At one point in the previous day of touring, while we were waiting for the boat, Avi Maletsky, our bus driver, busted out his accordion for a little music. I will try and send the video in the next couple of posts.

We started day four with a tour of the Golan Heights. It is hard to believe that Israel has survived so many years of being persecuted and unfairly harassed. Our bus driver spent 17 years of his childhood, from birth, in a bunker (a bomb shelter) in the ‘kibbutz’ En Gev. He said it was terrible having Syria, from the Golan Heights shoot at them 5 or 6 times per day for many years. It was hard for him to talk about it. Even today, while we have been here, the Hamas continues to fire at Israel from Gaza. Truly it is a picture of darkness vs light, evil vs darkness.

It is not unusual for people to ask me if it is safe to come to Israel. After being here three times, and making friends like Avi, David (our previous tour guide), Ronnie Cohen (our current tour guide) and Steve and Pat Apple (Calvary Chapel Tel Aviv), you don’t think about the danger much. You begin to think of it as coming to visit old friends who live in this environment 24/7. It is a privelege to be here to support them. They are very thankful that we come.

We visited an old army post at the top of Mt. Bental. Unfortunately, as you can see in the picture, it was snowing and so foggy that we couldn’t see much of anything. At one point, it started hailing a bit, and the hail was hitting us in the face like buck shot. It was a bit painful and fun all at the same time.

We then proceeded to Caesarea Philippi where Peter answered Jesus’ question, “Who do men say that I am?” Peter, inspired by God the Father declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then acknowledged that it was upon that statement of faith, that Jesus would build His church, and the gates of Hades would not prevail against it.

I had the blessed opportunity to teach from this bit of Scripture found in Matthew 16. The setting was majestic as directly behind us, stood these mighty rock walls with various shrines to pagan Gods carved out of them. Our guide told us that the residents of Caesarea Philippi, were so into sacrificing to these gods that their hope would be to somehow, in their sacrifices, to prevent falling into ‘Hades’. This of course makes the conversation between Jesus and Peter all the more meaningful.

After our time at Caesarea Philippi and a great lunch at ‘kibbutz’ Kfar Blum, we headed all the way north to Tel Dan. We visited this ancient city that dated back to King Rehoboam, who re-instituted calf worship, for fear that the Jews who were now part of a divided kingdom would head to Jerusalem to worship. How easy it was for him to convince the people to worship a golden calf, in the same manner as the gold calf that the Israelites worship while waiting for Moses on Mt. Sinai. I guess some things never change much. People today are just as easily swayed to worship many other different gods rather than acknowledging the one true God.

One of the most amazing things we saw at Tel Dan, was a Canaanite gate which was dated some 4,000 years ago to the time of Abraham (see photo on left). It is most likely, that Abraham would have passed through this gate at one time or another. Tel Dan is also the site where the first discovery of King David’s existence was found. It seems that virtually wherever you go in Israel, there is one sort of archeological dig or another going on...and I am sure many more to be discovered.

Our day of touring ended, beautifully, at the Mount of Beatitudes (see photo on left). It was raining when we got there, so we did the bible study in the bus, looking at the natural amphitheater that the rolling hills of Galilee provided. It was here that Jesus taught what has become known as ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ (Matthew 5, 6 & 7). After the study, the rain stopped and we were able to get out of the bus and get a closer look. It was the first time in all of my visits here that I has seen it from this vantage point. Truly it was one of my favorite visits.

Our next day of touring will begin our journey to the south, ending at the Dead Sea. So until then...Shalom!

Day 3 - 2000 Year Old Boat, Baptism in the Jordan, Lunch on the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum and Boatride on the Sea of Galilee

As it turns out, our good weather was shortlived and by the morning of the third day the rains and storms of Israel it. Needless to say it set the stage for an adventurous stage of touring.

We started our day looking at a boat that they call the 'Jesus boat' because they were able to date it to the times of Jesus. It

was pretty spectacular when you consider how they came upon it and the ingenuity it took to preserve it while they were digging it out. They had to keep it wet constantly because once the air hit it, it was crumbling into powder. The metal bars that you see are holding the pieces of the boat in place. They soaked the boat in a wax solution for 16 years before they were able to put it on display.

Immediately following the viewing of the boat and a little shopping at the souvenir place in the museum we headed to take a ride in a boat to Caprnaum, the town where Jesus' ministry was headquartered. What an adventure that turned out to be! We stepped outside to the dock and, literally, by the time we got to the boat, the rain was coming down sideways. At one point some of us actually thought we might be blown off the dock. There we were, standing on the boad dock waiting for the boat to come, being pelleted by the rain. When our guide saw that the boat we were about to get on had no screens on the side to prevent the rain from blowing in, we opted to postpone the ride until later. Thus began our planning our day based on what we thought the weather might be.

Figuring that we were all soaking wet already, we opted to head to the Jordan River to hold a baptism. God was so gracious to provide a break in the weather as we baptised around twenty people from both churches. You can get an idea of what the area looks like where we baptized. Pastor Jason and I are getting ready to baptize Kevin McCarthy in the picture on the left.

After the baptism, we headed back to the 'kibbutz' to change clothes, and then it was off to a fish lunch on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee. Most of us ate the fish, served with the head on it. It is called 'talapia', and is the very kind of fish that is caught in the Sea of Galilee. It was really quite tasty, and as you can see by the picture, some of us (P.J.Dattilo) ate everything...but the bones!

Our next stop was Capernaum. Probably one of the most amazing sights of the tour. As I mentioned earlier, Caperaum was the sight where much of Jesus' ministry is centered. He spent a lot of time there and we learned that in some respects He was the resident Rabbi, in the sense that he would have spent a lot of time teaching in the synagogue there.

You can see a picture of a synagogue on the left. While this is a newer synagogue than in Jesus' day, they know that part of the floor are the original floor. When they were digging up the site, they discovered a box of Roman coins underneath the old floor which dated back to the times of Jesus. It was pretty incredible to think that we were standing on the very same floor where Jesus would have taught.

Although it continued to rain, we had a bible study underneath the trees next to the synagogue and then spent time looking at the various ruins that made up the town. It is unbelievalbe how many ruins there are in Israel. Everywhere you turn, they are discovering an older part of Israel. It is exciting to know that the bible is used to confirm what these places are and the reason for their existence.

We finished our wet day of touring with a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. The boat we had, had the screens to keep the rain off of us. We were able to have a sweet time of worship and a bible study on the boat. It was a great way to end a good day of visiting the area where our Lord spent so much time ministering. As you drive around the Sea, you can just imagine the crowds of people, walking with Jesus, just waiting to hear Him speak. What a glorious time it must have been!

Day 2 - Caesarea, Mt. Carmel, Megiddo, Nazareth and Cana

Sorry for the delay in getting Day 2’s blog out. When we got to the ‘kibbutz’ (hotels that are run by communities of local Jews who began settling in Israel when it became a state in 1948) at the Sea of Galilee, they informed us that they had no internet. So I will be posting two days worth this.

We begin touring each day at 8:00. We began Day 2 with a trip to Caesarea. Caesarea was established by King Herod the Great, the king of Judea, who received the title, the Great, not because of his popularity but rather by the fact that he was such an amazing builder. He always had building projects going on, so much so that when he was alive, many of the people in Judea were employed on one or another of Herod’s construction projects. Caesarea was his vacation home of sorts, and sat right on the Mediterranean sea. The setting was magnificent it was not difficult to imagine what it must have been like in that time. Though there are only ruins left, there are enough to get a visual of what it must have looked like.

We started with a bible study in a restored theater, where Paul would have made his appeal before King

Agrippa (Acts 26). After touring Caesarea, including a hippodrome (where they would hold chariot races, gladiator fights and sadly enough the brutal killing of Christians), we headed off to look at a Roman aqueduct, which Herod built in order to get fresh water from Mt. Carmel to Caesarea. It seems that he wanted a fresh water swimming pool (see picture upper left). The aqueduct was 8 miles long with a variance of only eight inches from Mr. Carmel to Caesarea, all that was needed to flow eight miles.

Mt. Carmel is the place where Elijah slew the 450 prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). There is nothing overly spectacular about Mt. Carmel, other than the fact that you know that you are on the mountain where it all took place. However, what is so very spectacular to me is the view of the Valley of Armageddon, where the final battle against good and evil will take place. It was Napoleon Bonaparte who said, upon seeing it, said that he had never seen a finer location for a battle than this valley. It is also known as the ‘Jezreel Valley’ or the ‘Valley of Esdraelon’. I had the opportunity to do a study on 1 Kings 18, with an emphasis on the danger of ‘faltering between two opinions’. Just like Elijah is was a ‘troubler of Israel’, so we will be troublers of those who are hostile towards God. Darkness hates the light.

Upon leaving Mt. Carmel, we headed to the ancient city of Megiddo. Actually, there have been some 25 cities that have been built there, one upon the other. Each one built, destroyed, another built, another destroyed and so on for thousands of years. Some of the ruins which we saw dated back to the times of Abraham. We saw ruins of Solomon’s stables, where he would keep some 450 horses. Horses were incredibly expensive in that day and 450 would have been a large number. Perhaps the most startling thing we saw was a ‘high place’ where the Canaanites would have sacrificed there. We concluded our time at Megiddo with walking down over 100 feet to a sistern that held the water for the city.

As the day concluded, we headed back to the Sea of Galilee, driving through Nazareth, which is now a modern city, and Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle. We were all thankful for our guide, who was able to point out parts of the original city of Nazareth.

Until tomorrow...Shalom!

Day 1 - Arrival in Tel Aviv, Israel

I am going to try and blog our trip to Israel, along with photos of the various sites we visit. It may prove to be an exercise in futility for two reasons. Number one, it is the first time I have tried blogging with photos, and number two there is no guarantee that we will have internet access at all of the hotels we will be staying at. So, here we go!

We left Seattle at around 12:30 PM on our way to Atlanta, GA where we would catch a 10:45 PM flight to Tel Aviv, Israel. There is a total of 39 of us traveling together, fourteen from South Hill Calvary Chapel and another 25 from Calvary Chapel Marysville. Everyone is pretty excited about the trip. Several of the people have been to Israel before including the Calvary Chapel Marysville pastor, Dave Woodward and his wife Shannon, along with several others from their church.

As for us, this will be my third tour of the Holy Land. The first was when my wife Jenny and I came with a group of other pastors to familiarize ourselves with what a tour looks like and how to host your own tour. I didn’t want to bring a group of people from the church without understanding what I was seeing.

In the Spring of 2007, we brought our first group from the church. I must say that the second trip was even better than the first. There is so much to see here that you come away the first time with a bit of an overload of all that there is to see. My second trip here was definitely more meaningful as even more of the glorious history of this amazing land began to fall into place. Things just start making more sense. The opportunity to teach short bible studies at the various sites we visit is an amazing privilege.

As for this year’s trip, I am looking forward to it even more so. We have one person from the church returning on this trip. All the rest of the people are experiencing the trip to Israel for the first time. One thing that is a real bummer for me is that Jenny isn’t with me. She was with me the first two trips and I already miss her. My oldest son Jason, who is also one of my assistant pastors at the church is with me, so that is certainly making this trip all the more special.

We are spending the night in Tel Aviv, at the Dan Panorama hotel. The hotels we stay in are very nice hotels, three and four star hotels, and this particular one is my favorite in Tel Aviv. It sits within walking distance of the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea and within eyesight of the ancient city of Joppa.

Joppa was the home of Simon the Tanner, whose house is by the sea (the Mediterranean Sea) Acts 10:6. I love walking along the shore at night, listening to the waves crash against the rocks, imagining how many times the apostles Paul and Peter sailed from the port of Joppa. Joppa was also the city that Jonah went to, to catch a boat to Tarshish, in disobedience to the Lord’s command for Jonah to go to Nineveh.

Tomorrow, we have a wake-up call at 6:30, breakfast at 7:00 and on the bus for a full day of touring by 8:00 AM. We will drive through Joppa on our way to Caesarea, then on to Mt. Carmel and Megiddo. We will conclude our day of touring by driving through Nazareth and Cana on our way to a kibbutz we will stay in, right on the shores of Galilee.

So until then...Lord willing, I will fill you in on the happenings of the day tomorrow!

"God is easy to find...if you really want to find Him!"

Several years ago I was playing golf with a couple of friends when, on the 11th hole one of them made a ‘hole in one’. It really was an amazing shot and though we were all excited, yelling and screaming, understandably none of us was more excited than the one who hit that incredible shot. As we were walking down the fairway of the next hole, my friend was still beaming about his accomplishment and as he passed by a couple of players on the adjacent hole, he said to them, “Someone just got a hole-in-one on the last hole.” Of course when they responded with, “Who?”, he proudly said, “Me!” I have never let him live than moment down.

Just as my friend was eager to be known, so it is, even more so, with God. In fact, God is so eager to be known, that he has preappointed the times and places of people’s dwellings, just so that He might be discovered. Doesn’t that just blow you away?

Acts 17:26-28
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

How sad it is when people suggest that God is difficult to find. Nothing could be further from the truth! Acts 17 tells us that God determines a person’s time and place of birth with this primary purpose in mind, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him. Don’t you just love this picture of God hoping that we will cry out to Him?

This is how much He loves us! And, lest someone think He is unreachable, the writer assures us, He is not far from each one of us. It was James who said, Draw near to God and he will draw near to you, James 4:8. And so, the next time someone suggest s to you that it is hard to find God, remind them of these verses. The issue is never that He is hard to find, but rather that people just don’t want to find Him!

“No matter how hard you strive...you will never arrive!”

I have begun, once again, to read that most amazing book, The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer. If you have a heart that hungers and thirsts for God, it is a ‘must read’. I find that each time I read it, I underline more of it than I had previously underlined. Before I know it, I will have underlined it completely. Then, I suppose, I will have to get another copy and start all over again.

As I read this morning, I found my heart beating faster and faster as I was stirred to go deeper with God than ever. I want to go deep with God. I want to know Him more each day than the day before. I am easily discouraged by the times I fail to do this.

I am continually amazed at how much of God there is to discover. I will always remember, what I once heard a pastor say about the striving to discover God. He said, “No matter how hard you strive...you will never arrive.” I remember thinking that this was a depressing thought, much like going on a trip where you know you will never arrive at your final destination. As I pondered on his statement, I soon discovered its truth, realizing that the reason you never arrive is because there is so much of God to discover.

In the opening pages of The Pursuit of God, there is an introduction entitled Tozer’s Legacy. In it the writer writes, “Perhaps the continued usefulness of this book can be attributed to the writer’s (Tozer’s) great spiritual discovery that to seek God does not narrow one’s life, but brings it, rather, to the level of highest possible fulfillment.” Oh what a wonderful truth this is!

I pray that the Lord will never grow tired of my fumbling through attempts to discover the depths of who He is. I thank Him for His love and patience with me through that process. He is so good!

In the coming weeks, I will be sharing different things that the Lord stirs deep within my heart as I read through the pages of The Pursuit of God once again. My hope and prayer is that you might be encouraged by it and drawn into the exciting journey of discovering that there is more of God to be discovered, than we will ever fully discover.