Up to Jerusalem
Today, our ninth day, we left the Dead Sea and made our way up to Jerusalem. We made three significant stops along the way (really 4 but one was unexpected). Our first stop was the unexpected one. We found ourselves in the middle of the wilderness, feeling and perceiving its power, when we are stopped at a highway project being done. Immediately to our left were camels, a number of them, including a little baby one. As we talked about these desert four-wheelers and Nir explained why they were a horse designed by committee, a driver from a vehicle waiting behind us approached the traffic policeman directing cars at this work site. What insued was priceless as Nir detailed each step. The man lodged his complaint; they then discuss army service or cousins in significant positions; and ended their dance with the angry driver assisting in directing traffic. Amazing.
After a long wait, continued to our real first stop: Beer Sheva. In the Bible you will see it as Beersheba. After Lot and Abraham parted ways because their flocks were so large and Abraham gave Lot the choice to select the fertile valley, Abraham settled here. (When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, the whole region was pelted with fire and brimstone, turning the fertile valley into what we see at the Dead Sea area today. Brimstone can be found in digging in the region)
Abraham dug a deep well. The people in the town also created a cavern to collect rain water. Abraham made a treaty with Abimilech, a Philistine king, at this well. The collection area reminded us of Megiddo.
From there, we traveled north to the Elah Valley. We departed our bus to walk into the field along a dried up brook. Azekah (Philistine territory) was to our south. Sokoh (Israel territory) was to our north. We stood in between. Somewhere here, Goliath taunted Israel. And we read the story of David defeating him in 1 Samuel 17. Yes, we picked up stones. Jeff even found some Roman glass in the brook. We were reminded again of the power of the Name. And that our battles are not about the people in front of us, but are heavenly battles.
Winding through the more fertile areas of grape vineyards and “hummus” fields (chick peas), we came to the outskirts of the Jerusalem municipality. Along the way we saw remnants of the Roman road that led from Jerusalem to Ashkelon. We passed through a checkpoint into the West Bank, and out another before we dropped Nir off along the road to Jerusalem from Bethlehem, and entered into the not so “little town of Bethelehem”. Being former military, Nir was not allowed to go with us into Bethlehem. So our guide there was Sana’a. As we traveled to the Shepherd’s field, she spoke of the transformation of Bethlehem from a majority Christian town two decades or more ago to now being less than 20% Christian (Catholic, Greek Orthodox and a very small percentage Evanglical). She spoke of how hard it is to live here for non-Muslims, and of the vow she made to her father to be one of the last to remain if necessary. The Shepherd’s Fields gave us a wonderful sense of the Biblical story, including a visit to a large cave complex where they would have kept the sheep and lived. We sang with another English-speaking group in the little chapel there. Following lunch, we made our way through the winding streets to the Church of the Nativity. With the line too long to go down into the grotto where tradition holds Jesus was born, Sana’a explained the Orthodox, Armenian, and Catholic sections of the church to us, including the restoration of the mosaics (third angel from the left had been hidden under dirt for over 500 years). We then went down into the cave complex where St. Jerome translated the Hebrew Bible into Latin (that translation is called the Vulgate). There was also a section where they buried the bones of the children killed by Herod. Originally this was a part of the larger cave connected to the place where Jesus was said to have been born.
A trip to a store to purchase gifts in Bethelehem and we made our way through the border checkpoint and on to our last home in the Holy Land, the Prima Kings Hotel in Jerusalem. Tomorrow, we start on the Mt. Of Olives in our exploration of the Holy City.
A few glimpses from our day:
Abraham dug a deep well. The people in the town also created a cavern to collect rain water. Abraham made a treaty with Abimilech, a Philistine king, at this well. The collection area reminded us of Megiddo.
From there, we traveled north to the Elah Valley. We departed our bus to walk into the field along a dried up brook. Azekah (Philistine territory) was to our south. Sokoh (Israel territory) was to our north. We stood in between. Somewhere here, Goliath taunted Israel. And we read the story of David defeating him in 1 Samuel 17. Yes, we picked up stones. Jeff even found some Roman glass in the brook. We were reminded again of the power of the Name. And that our battles are not about the people in front of us, but are heavenly battles.
Winding through the more fertile areas of grape vineyards and “hummus” fields (chick peas), we came to the outskirts of the Jerusalem municipality. Along the way we saw remnants of the Roman road that led from Jerusalem to Ashkelon. We passed through a checkpoint into the West Bank, and out another before we dropped Nir off along the road to Jerusalem from Bethlehem, and entered into the not so “little town of Bethelehem”. Being former military, Nir was not allowed to go with us into Bethlehem. So our guide there was Sana’a. As we traveled to the Shepherd’s field, she spoke of the transformation of Bethlehem from a majority Christian town two decades or more ago to now being less than 20% Christian (Catholic, Greek Orthodox and a very small percentage Evanglical). She spoke of how hard it is to live here for non-Muslims, and of the vow she made to her father to be one of the last to remain if necessary. The Shepherd’s Fields gave us a wonderful sense of the Biblical story, including a visit to a large cave complex where they would have kept the sheep and lived. We sang with another English-speaking group in the little chapel there. Following lunch, we made our way through the winding streets to the Church of the Nativity. With the line too long to go down into the grotto where tradition holds Jesus was born, Sana’a explained the Orthodox, Armenian, and Catholic sections of the church to us, including the restoration of the mosaics (third angel from the left had been hidden under dirt for over 500 years). We then went down into the cave complex where St. Jerome translated the Hebrew Bible into Latin (that translation is called the Vulgate). There was also a section where they buried the bones of the children killed by Herod. Originally this was a part of the larger cave connected to the place where Jesus was said to have been born.
A trip to a store to purchase gifts in Bethelehem and we made our way through the border checkpoint and on to our last home in the Holy Land, the Prima Kings Hotel in Jerusalem. Tomorrow, we start on the Mt. Of Olives in our exploration of the Holy City.
A few glimpses from our day:
So fascinating!!
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