I am now in Jerusalem city! Yes, the Holy Land!
We flew into Tel Aviv Sunday afternoon from Istanbul and it was a great flight. They served us a meal that we weren’t even expecting and a very good and fresh meal at that! Our main dish was slices of tomatoes with slices of cheese topped with lettuce as garnish. Side dishes included hummus, a tomato olive base sauce, and a chocolate mousse for dessert. This was the best meal I had on all my flight experiences. Turkish Airlines. That’s the way to fly!
Well, once we flew into Tel Aviv, that’s when all my jitters broke loose. I have heard that the passport control was intimidating, but I haven’t experienced any “interrogation” like I did at Tel Aviv. The passport control guard asked my reason for coming to Israel, if I was with a group and how many were in my group, where I was staying, how long was I staying, if I knew anyone in Israel, where was my ticket to fly out of Israel. A lot of those questions I didn’t have an answer for, so I kept on saying “I don’t know”. He seemed to get frustrated with my inability to provide him concrete answers, so after making a few calls, he asked me to stand aside. My teammate was next in line and he asked her the same questions he asked me and again, she wasn’t able to give him concrete answers, but finally he let us go on. So be prepared for an interrogation when you arrive to Israel.
After getting through passport control lines, we took a bus to head out to our campsite, and after eating dinner, it began to rain. It rain throughout the night, and even though a majority found a covered porch to sleep under, a few people still got wet from the rain that blew in from the winds. 🙁 So much for the false security of staying dry under a covering!
After getting through passport control lines, we took a bus to head out to our campsite, and after eating dinner, it began to rain. It rain throughout the night, and even though a majority found a covered porch to sleep under, a few people still got wet from the rain that blew in from the winds. 🙁 So much for the false security of staying dry under a covering!
Monday morning, we took a tour through Galilee, Bethsaida, and Capernum. The tour guide took us through the first few chapters of Mark in our tour. There are a couple of points that he made in our tour that were interesting to me, and I want to share them with you:
1) Jesus was a physically built, strong man. We know Jesus as being a “carpenter”, but carpenters built not only tables and shelves but houses, houses not made of wood but of heavy rock. Wood for building was expensive to get and was imported (remember, the cedars of Lebanon that were used for building the Temple?). Jesus turned over the money changers’ tables in the Temple and these tables were not made of wood, but of rock. Our westernized view of Jesus’ physical appearance makes him look like a man with no physical power. But He was a man with great physical strength!
2) Only Jesus could bring a man who worked for the Roman government (Matthew the tax collector) and a man who’d kill anyone working for the Roman government (Simon the Zealot) together as brothers. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, could bring peace between enemies.
3) In God’s sovereignty and wisdom, He geographically placed the nation of Israel to literally bring all nations together. Israel geographically connects with Europe, Asia, and Africa.
1) Jesus was a physically built, strong man. We know Jesus as being a “carpenter”, but carpenters built not only tables and shelves but houses, houses not made of wood but of heavy rock. Wood for building was expensive to get and was imported (remember, the cedars of Lebanon that were used for building the Temple?). Jesus turned over the money changers’ tables in the Temple and these tables were not made of wood, but of rock. Our westernized view of Jesus’ physical appearance makes him look like a man with no physical power. But He was a man with great physical strength!
2) Only Jesus could bring a man who worked for the Roman government (Matthew the tax collector) and a man who’d kill anyone working for the Roman government (Simon the Zealot) together as brothers. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, could bring peace between enemies.
3) In God’s sovereignty and wisdom, He geographically placed the nation of Israel to literally bring all nations together. Israel geographically connects with Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Tonight, we are planning to observe the Sabbath (Shabbat) with our host, an orthodox Jew. He is having us read the Torah and find connections with readings from the Bible and have a study/discussion for each meal during Shabbat. I am looking forward to the feasting! 🙂
