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© Focus on Jesus. Focus on Souls. ©November 18
Frankly, I don’t know how Jerusalem residents get a good and long enough night of sleep since the Muslim prayer calls start at 4:25 a.m. Obviously they have no choice but to endure it. Well, some partners did not seem to hear in their rooms as much as we did in ours. In contrast to the feelings about the wake-up calls, I appreciated all meals greatly. Almost daily, I had smoked herring, salmon, soup, a variety of salads and desserts. This morning at the breakfast table, Edith shared the spiritual warfare adventures GPSF members had had in Nigeria and Mexico. Like a little kid, I was awed and wished I could have been there too.
Today we traveled east to the Dead Sea. Then, went north through the Jordan Valley (West Bank) to the Sea of Galilee and stayed for the night there. (You may be interested in maps at http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/is.html and http://focusonjerusalem.com/maproom.html.)
Reuben maneuvered our big sightseeing bus along the narrow streets. Doron often praised his driving skills and said Reuben was the number two bus driver in town because number one had been killed in a car accident.
We rode by an area where Bedouins live. They are nomads in the Judean desert. Like Abraham, who went to Hebron (land of Canaan) in summer and stayed at Beersheba (land of Philistine) in winter. Abram built an altar for the Lord in Hebron. Hagar and son Ishmael wandered in the desert of Beersheba after being sent away from Abraham. Later, Abraham and Abimelech entered into a treaty at Beersheba. [Genesis 13, 21]
Dead Sea
We came to the north-northwest side of the Dead Sea. It is the lowest point on earth and eight times saltier than other ocean water. Dead Sea is also called the Salt Sea and Sea of Arabah in the Bible. Jordan River flows south from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. Sodom and Gomorrah were at the southern end of the Dead Sea. Earnest said last time when he came he swam in the Dead Sea. Unfortunately, it has been shrinking. With a tight schedule, we couldn’t ride all the way to touch the water. Boy, I was disappointed.
Qumran
In the picture to the left, Yvonne, Edith and Betty stood quite a distance in front of one of the caves.
Our next stop was a large duty free shop. Ladies were happy to see the bathrooms. Then, we spent quite some time shopping. This store had a large selection of the Ahava skincare products, which were manufactured by a well-known local company in the city of Dead Sea. George, a young partner, and Abraham, bus number three’s tour guide, both strongly testified to the power of the foot cream. I bought a pack. At the checkout register, we saw one lady partner purchase several hundred dollars’ worth of Ahava goods. Wow! After coming home I gave a tube of foot cream to Yolanda. She has used it as both foot and hand cream and loved it.
Leaving Qumran, we headed northward to the Sea of Galilee. Well, it’s really a lake. Along the way, Doron pointed out various places for us.
Jericho and Jordan River
Jericho means city of palms. It is now a Palestinian town. ‘The Jericho Road’ was an 18-mile road Jesus traveled from Jericho to Bethany, where Martha, Mary and Lazarus lived. Then, 1.5 miles from Bethany to Mt. Olives, continued through the Kidron Valley, and Jesus reached Jerusalem.
Near Jericho, we passed by the Mount of Temptation. It was said to be the high place devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. [Luke 4:5]
Long ago, the Lord sent Elijah to Jericho, then to Jordan. His protégé Elisha was with him. Elijah parted the Jordan River and they two crossed the river on dry ground. Then a chariot of fire, horses and a whirlwind took Elijah up. Elisha received his spiritual father’s mantle. He took up Elijah’s cloak and parted the Jordan River too. [2 Kings 2:1-14]
We saw Mt. Nebo from afar. On Mt. Nebo – over the east side of River Jordan, Moses saw the Promised Land in which God had eventually prohibited the rebellious and murmuring older generation to enter. After Moses died, Joshua became the new leader of the younger generation. He first sent two spies to check out the land especially Jericho. Rahab hid them in her house and helped them back to safety. The Lord told Joshua to have priests carry the ark of the covenant and lead the way into River Jordan. When the priests’ feet touched the water’s edge, God completely cut off water from upstream, which had been at the flood stage. The whole nation crossed over on dry ground while priests stood in the middle of the riverbed. The Lord also commanded Israelites to take 12 stones, one for each tribe, from the middle of the Jordan where the priests stood as a sign and memorial to the Israelites forever.] On the plains of Jericho, God commanded Joshua to circumcise all Israelites, who had been born in the desert during the journey from Egypt. After they celebrated the Passover and ate the produce of the Canaan land, God stopped the manna. Then the Lord gave Joshua specific instructions to march around the tightly shut Jericho in seven days. On the 7th day, with seven priests blowing trumpets of ram’s horn (shofar) in front of the ark, they marched around the city seven times and then shouted. The walls of Jericho collapsed. Israelites took the city and destroyed every living thing except Rahab’s entire family. [Joshua 2-6]
Across the Jordan River and opposite from Jericho was the region Moab. After escaping the Lord’s destruction of sin cities Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his two daughters hid in a cave in the mountains. The older daughter devised a drinking plan and got dad into incest with her. Moab was their son and the father of Moabites. The younger daughter did the same and had a son Ben-Ammi, who became the father of Ammonites. [Genesis 19:30-38]
From Moab, Ruth and her Moabitess daughter-in-law Naomi came back to Bethlehem in Judah. Their kinsman redeemer Boaz married Ruth and together became great grandparents of King David. [Ruth 1-4]
Schechem
We passed by Schechem from afar. Schechem is in Samaria and used to be the first capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. Doron said there are 600 Samaritans left there. They still have a high priest, an altar and make sacrifices to the Lord. Jacob’s well is nearby and still giving water. Now, it is a Palestinian town. In the town of Sychar by the Jacob’s well, Jesus met the Samaritan woman, who had serial marriages. Jews despised Samaritans but Jesus didn’t. He gave insight about her life, told her truth about worship and turned her into an evangelist. Because of this woman, many Samaritan’s believed Jesus was the Messiah. [John 4:4-42]
West Bank
We drove thru the West Bank by River Jordan. Much new farming has been happening. We saw vineyards, palm and banana orchards, dairy farms, chicken and turkey farms and flower farms. Doron said the West Bank has fertile soil. Israel has become one of the top cotton producers with 90% for export. We also saw the Israeli Jordanian border and the Jordan River.
We drove by Mount Gilboa. This was where King Saul, his three sons, and armor bearer all died. At Beth Shean (Beth Shan) the Philistines took off Saul’s head and nailed Saul and his sons’ bodies to the wall. [1 Samuel 31]
--- to be continued ---
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We
made a stop at the Qumran caves. There were 11 in total. We only saw one.
Qumran was where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947. They were the
2000-year-old Old Testament books. All books except the book of Esther were
found. All 66 chapters of Isaiah on scrolls were complete. Israel continues
the discovery work.