For our last day here, we headed out to the Valley of Elah and went there via Bethlehem, so we could get an idea of how far David traveled to go see his brothers in Saul’s encampment there. When we arrived at the valley, we departed the bus and walked down to the creekbed where Malcolm had us read through the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17) as a drama. Malcolm handed out the various parts, got volunteers to read their parts, then he narrated the story. Let...
Today was our last ‘big day’ on the tour. We were off at 7:30 again this morning, on our way to Temple Mount. We entered the Old City of Jerusalem via the Dung Gate, went through security (just like at the airport), then on up the ramp the Temple Mount (not what the Muslims call it, but what we know it by). This was quite an experience. While making our way up the ramp, there were these big clear plastic things all stacked up near the entrance to Temple Mount....
We head out about 7:30 AM every morning. We have a 6 AM wake up call, with a 6:30 AM time for breakfast in the hotel dining room. Since we didn’t bill this tour as a ‘vacation’ or ‘holiday’, we don’t feel too bad. This tour is a pilgrimage to the Holy Land … and very physical. I don’t know if this is interesting to anyone, but we thought you should know. And after having quadrupal bypass surgery 2 years ago, this tour is definitely a tribute to my heart...
A view of Temple Mount from the Garden of Gethsemane (Mount of Olives)… Our day today began on the Mount of Olives. We had a extra person along on this day of touring, too–‘Ganit’ was her name. She was a local who was studying for her tour guide exam and wanted to spend a day with Malcolm so he could work with her and train her. He’s very good at that. We were pleased to have Ganit along for the day. It gave her a lot of practice with her...
This morning, we pulled out of Kibbutz Ginnosar in Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee. We spent four fantastic days in the Galilee region and today we went up to Jerusalem via the Mediterranean Sea. Before I leave the topic of Galilee, however, let me talk about a few things we learned there–especially on the last day. Our final day at the kibbutz was a Sabbath day. So, the greeting for the day was “Shabot Shalom”, or Sabbath Peace (Have a peaceful Sabbath!). Also, our breakfast that morning was not...
Our day today began with a quick trip from the Kibbutz (where we’re staying) over to Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle turning the water at a wedding feast into wine. There is a Catholic church near the site in Cana that allowed us to use one of their courtyard chapels for our group to meet. We met, Malcolm explained some about what was going on biblically in the story, then Maria read John 2:1-11: The Wedding at Cana. I then talked about God’s sovereignty being shown...
We began our day today a a new site to me (actually operational as a archeological site for 5 years or so). We went to ancient New Testament Magdala. What an incredible dig this was! It’s the home of Jesus’ friend, Mary Magdala. And Magdala was a very important town in Jesus’ day–a very large city of at least 15,000 or so. We also discovered it was a very wealthy community–known for its fish production. The Romans actually called it ‘the house of fisheries’. Also yesterday, we could not have...
Our day began at a high point in the Galilee area-Arbel. There is an ancient New Testament city called Arbel. Also the mountain itself is called Arbel. So, we began the morning by climbing Mt. Arbel. We didn’t go up the cliff side, however, but took the road in from the back side of the mountain (in case anyone was wondering)… From the top of Arbel, we had the most fantastic view of the entire area of Galilee! And since we got in after dark the night before, this was...
After a great night of rest, we had a good breakfast at our hotel by the Dead Sea, enjoying the beautifull morning sun as we ate. We then did our checking out, loaded up on the bus, and we were off to our first stop at En Gedi (2 Sam 23-24). As we loaded the bus this morning, we began with a song–led by my partner in ministry, Maria–and a prayer. Malcolm then prepared us for our stop at the Strongholds of En Gedi… Malcolm, our guide, had things timed...
Folks, we’ve had a tremendous day as we begin the journey of the people of God from OT to NT. Days 1 & 2 of the tour were basically getting here to Israel and to the Dead Sea area in particular. Because we were up for so long coming over (again, not much sleep on the plane), today was a short day so the group could take advantage of some afternoon time for extra naps, a dip in the Dead Sea (or a float in the Dead Sea, I should...
