My Favorite Place on Earth

My last two days in Israel have been great. Yesterday I picked up a friend of mine, Justin Bourge in Jerusalem and we headed north to the Sea of Galilee. On our way we stopped at Armeggedon. The place where the final battle will take place. I have been studying the end times prophecies the last few months and it was nice to see a place that not only has history but also has a future significance in biblical prophecy. There was a city built on a hill called Megiddo that looks out over the valley. A Roman Emperor, if i am not mistaken, looked over the land and said it was the greatest battlefied he had ever seen. Megiddo has 26 layers of ruins of ancient cities. The reason this small mound and surrounding area was so important was because of its location. It was basically the center of the world. The major trade routes came thru this valley so control over it was of utmost importance. The location might also explain the reason for it being the site of the final battle.

Pictures really cant do this place justice.

This video doesn't really capture the size of this valley. Very cool place.

I then headed up to the Sea of Galilee. It is considered one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. It is 7 miles wide and 12 miles long. It is also the place where Jesus did 75 - 80% of his teaching. On the east side of the lake is Mt. Arbel. Also known as the mountain of prayer. I have been a lot of places and seen a lot of very cool things but this is by far the most awesome place I have ever been on earth.

I don't have the words to describe this place. You can see the entire Sea of Galilee. The Jewish people would refer to wind on a hot day as a gift from God and when I felt the breeze on top of this mountain I could totally understand why. Rabbis used to climb this mountain early in the mornings to pray for their people. It was not an easy hike but they considered the walk up the mountain as part of their prayer. They didn't have the science to understand how our bodies sweat, so they considered it to be a miracle. They were grateful to the Lord for their sweat. We can now explain how our bodies cool themselves off with perspiration, but does that make it any less of a miracle and worthy of gratitude to out maker. If I could live anywhere in the world, and I mean anywhere, it would be on top of this mountain.

I am getting ready to head to the airport. Got a long thirteen hour flight ahead of me. If there is one thing God has taught me on this trip it is this: Acknowledge the Holy Spirit. The people of the old testament did not have the presence of God living inside of them. We have one third of the Trinity, God in Spirit walking with us everyday. I honestly thought I would "feel" closer to God over here. But God has taught me that His presence is always with me, in Jerusalem or Louisville. It doesn't matter where you are His Spirit is with you, to help you, counsel you and g strengthen you to spread the Good News.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. - Acts 1:8

Jerusalem, David and Goliath, and The Ark

Since my last post, I basically just been hanging out in Jerusalem. Very cool place. There are two main parts, new city and old city. The old city is the area inside the original walls of Jerusalem. It is divided into 4 quarters. Jewish, Arab, Armenian, and Christian. Each quarter has its own feel, smell, and cleanliness. About 40,000 people live inside the old city. I did not realize how large it was until I got lost this morning for about an hour. Note to self: Get a map before you start walking thru the old city. I finally camp across a bedouin shop owner who was very kind. He took me in his shop, introduced me to his brother, called someone he knew from Texas and put me on the phone with them. Awkward. He then took me to the 3rd level of Jerusalem, the rooftops. He explained to me how the Armenians came to Jerusalem, brought as slaves by the muslims to build the mosque. He was hilarious. He was laughing at the Jews because they are waiting for their Savior and they believe that he will come from Bethelehem, the City of David, but they wont give him a visa so he can come to Jerusalem to save them. Right now the town of Bethlehem is not considered to be part of Israel and the people there have very few rights. Very odd. He finally sold me a map and I was on my way. The city is made up of narrow alleys and small shops. I finally made it to the Western Wall.

Its also known as the Wailing Wall, because the Jews mourn over their Temple and this is as close as they can get to the place where the Temple used to be. To the left of the Wall is a small hallway, full of Jewish text. There were men praying, reading, talking. There were also 10 cameras on the back wall controlled by the Muslims who are weary of the Jews tunneling under their Mosque.

This is really the only significant place that I took pictures of inside Jerusalem. Most of the other sites have been buried with a church on top. Each church claiming a significant role in the trial, crucifixion, and burial. Beautiful churches but I prefer to see the sights that haven't been commercialized, I guess you could you say. I will get to some of those in a second. This morning I started out at the Mt. of Olives. This is the place Jesus ascended and the place that He will return from Heaven after the tribulation. But thats a whole different story, but very cool none the less.

- View of the old city from Mt. of Olives. The highest place in Jerusalem. That is the eastern wall of the old city.

Jewish Cemetery on Mount of Olives

- Largest of Jewish cemetery in the world – many believe that it started during the time of King David. Reason for that is the Biblical significance of the mount of olives and the direction of east from Jerusalem. The bible in picture or literally depending on your theological view sees the presence of God always coming from the east. Life comes from the east. God living – in/on the Ark comes from the east.

- Burial Practice in Jesus' day- practice double burial. When a person died – the body had to be put in the ground within 24 hours. The first burial was very quick - just in a cloth. In 6 to 18 months they would return and dig up the remains of the person. The flesh was gone. The bones would be put into a small box and placed in a family tomb. They would slowly fill the small box.

- it is a Jewish custom to visit a grave once a year and place a rock on the grave, flowers will die and wither, but a rock will last forever.

• Zechariah 14:1-5 – says that the Messiah will come and he will stand with his feet on the Mount of Olives and he will assemble the nations before him in the valley and he will judge them. So the Jewish people said that God comes from the east – therefore the Messiah will come from the east – the judgment will take place towards the east and for that reason the cemetery was built on the Mount of Olives because they wanted to be first in line on the day of Judgment.

I then walked down the hill to Gethsemane. There was no Garden here at the time of Jesus, just an oil press and a group of olive trees. Olive trees have no rings, so it is very hard to date them, but most believe that the trees that are still there are the original. There was a beautiful church built next to the Olive trees built upon the rock the Jesus supposedly prayed on.

O So yesterday Larry and I went to two sites that were really awesome. The first place we stopped was a town called Beth Shemesh. The valley to the east of this town is where Samson lived.

- Samson grew up in this Valley

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Years later in this same valley, the Ark of the Covenant was returned by the Philistines. Quick story: The Israelites were in trouble, they werent living right and they were losing battles. So they run to God for a quick, we are in trouble, fix. So they decide to take the ark into battle to help them win. It doesnt work, they are defeated and the ark is captured by the Philistines. So the Philistines put the ark in the their temple of Dagon. They enter the temple the next day and the statue of Dagon is lying face down facing the ark. So they pick the statue up. The next day they come in and the statue is lying in the same place but his head and arms had fallen off. This is where we get the term dag on, because thats what the Philistines said when they saw the statue. Thats a joke that I stole, but i think its hilarious. Anyways. The philistines are starting to worry about this ark. The people of the town start getting tumors so they decide to move it to another town and the same thing happened. After seven months the Philistines had enough. The decided to return the ark, but they were very curious about the Lord. They wanted to know if this was a coincidence or if it was the Lord. So they put the ark on a cart behind two cows and said if the cows walk to Beth Shemesh then we will know that it was the Lord. And sure enough they let the cows go and watched them walk right to Beth Shemesh. The people of this town saw the ark coming and rejoiced. They placed the ark on this rock.

1 Samuel 6:18 - The large rock at Beth Shemesh, where they set the Ark of The Lord, still stands in the field of Joshua as a witness to what happened there.

About 6 miles south of this valley is another town called Azekah. Between and Socoh sits a valley between two hills. This is the valley where David killed Goliath. More than any other place, seeing this really brought the story alive to me.

A view of the valley from the hill the Philistines camped on.

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The battle took place to the right those white tents. The Israelites were camped on the opposite hill.

The field were David killed Goliath

A view from the Israelites side to where the Philistines camped.

- the stream where David picked 5 smooth stones, it is dry most of the year, only flows after a rain.

- 5 stones from the stream bed

I could have stayed at this place all day. Its not even marked, I had to just park on the side of the road and hike up the hills. On the Philistine side was a young boy watching over a flock of sheep and on the other side was a farmer. I could just picture Goliath walking down into the valley calling out the Israelites. Then David walking down picking up 5 stones as everyone watched. This boy was headed for certain death and every one just stood by. I can imagine the panic that followed Goliath falling to the ground. It would have been hard for the Philistines to even see the stone, it must have looked like Goliath just got hit by a sniper or just fell over dead. I love Davids motives. He wasnt doing this to be brave or to get glory, or to show his brothers up. David is saying, ‘I want the world to know who God is, so I’m going to do what I do."

And the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

- 1 Samuel 17:46

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Day 3 in Israel

Got up this morning at 5 am and got on the road by 6. Stopped and got gas and a croissant and made my way up north. Its amazing how the land changes over here. Within three hours you can drive from the desert, to wheat fields, and then into rolling hills that look just like your in Kentucky.

I arrived at Mt. Carmel about 8. Mt. Carmel is a mountain range that sits a few miles from the Mediterranean and Haifa, the 3rd largest city in Israel. I was looking for a certain place on Mt. Carmel, the site where Elijah battled the Prohpets of Baal. Apparently everyone who comes to Israel, comes with a group and has a tour guide who knows where certain sites are. But if u are traveling alone and without a tour guide, you are literally on your own. I am still not sure how I found this place, but God is good and I made it.

The story of Elijah on Mt. Carmel is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. I am sure most of you all know it, but I will give you the short version real quick. Ahab was the king, Elijah was the only prophet of the Lord, the people of Israel were worshiping a god named Baal, who had 450 prophets at the time. So Elijah convinced the King to summon everyone to Mt. Carmel, the poeple of Israel as well as the prohets of Baal. So Elijah asked the people to choose one god, Baal or the Lord. He then set up a contest to show the people who the true God was. There were two bulls, one for Baal and his prophets and one for the Lord and Elijah. Elijah told the people that whichever God answers with fire and consumes the bull is the treu God. Everyone agreed and the prophets of Baal went first. The Bible says that the prophets danced, hobbled, and shouted from morning til noontime. Then Elijah began to have fun with them, he knew that there was no shot of them winning. So he mocked them saying "maybe your god is on vacation, or daydreaming, he may even be asleep, or better yet he may be in the bathroom." So what did these fools do in response? They screamed louder and even began to cut themsleves so they were bleeding out everywhere, this lasted into the evening. Picture this, a huge crowd is gathered around and all day they have been watching these prophets dance, scream, and bleed. And then there is Elijah, chillin on a rock laid back laughing. We always think of people in the BIble being so serious, but Elijah was a funny guy, someone that I am going to def hang out with in heaven. Ok so back to the story. So finally Elijah steps in and says its my turn. He then digs a trench around his bull and gets some volunteers form the crowd. Tells them to cover the bull with water three times. So the bull is now soaked and the trench is full of water. He then prayed "God prove to these people that you are the true God and bring them back to you." Immdediatley fire came down from heaven and burned up everything even the water in the trench. The people praised the Lord. Then all the prophets of Baal were siezed and killed.

This is the first thing you see when you get to the church which was built on the historic site. It is Elijah killing one of the prophets. I thought that Elijah reclining on a rock with a smile on his face would have been a much better statue, but thats just me.

Inscription next to the statue

The view towards the Mediteranean

After I left Mt. Carmel I headed west to Nazareth. I was expecting a small quite town. When Jesus lived in Nazareth it was a small community made up of just a few families. That is not the case today. Its the most crowded, hectic cities I have ever witnessed. Driving in Nazareth is an adventure. The streets are narrow, there are people everywhere, and then everyone drives like they are late for their own wedding. I got yelled at by an elderly woman for not driving fast enough thru a group of tourists. I finally found a parking lot and walked toward the old town. Nazareth has three main attractions, 3 churches built on the historic sites. First the Bascilla of the Annunciation. This a huge cathedral built over an ancient byzantine church where Mary, the mother of Jesus, was informed by an Angel that she would be with child.

The next site is the Church of St. Joseph. Only about 100 yards from the Cathedral above, this church is a small chapel built over the house that Jesus grew up in.

The third site, which was hidden behind a market, was the Nazareth Synagogue. A church built on the site of the original synagogue that Jesus taught at when he returned to Nazareth. The first two places in Nazerath were very touristy. People everywhere. But it was like no one knew or cared about this place.I was walking thru a market came to a dead end and saw this sign.

Very cool place, I stayed in there for a few minutes, very peaceful, a few monks came in and said a quick prayer. I almost felt like I was not supposed to be there, like I had walked past the do not enter sign. I just couldn't figure out why everyone was so concerned with Mary and Joseph and not waiting in line to get into this place. Driving out of Nazareth I prayed that I never forget that its all about Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

On my way home this afternoon, I found my first McDonalds with a drive thru. I ordered a chicken sandwhich and fries. The chicken was bad, but the fries were awesome. God is good!

Going into Jerusalem tomorrow.

Day 1 in Israel

Today was my first full day in Israel. Got an early start, 6 am I was up and on the road. 6 am over here is 11 pm on the east coast. I decided I was going to drive to the Dead Sea. I am staying with Larry O'Bannon a former UofL player who is playing professionaly over here now. He lives about 10-15 minutes from the Mediteranean Sea, about 30 mins from Jerusalem, and probably an hour from the dead sea. But I decided to take the scenic route (2 hours) and drive thru the countryside. The first picture below is my rental car with about 9 horsepower, a man on a bike beat me up a hill today. But it does play my ipod which makes driving much more enjoyable.

The first hour was mostly farmland with the occasional town. The picture below is of two camels grazing in a field.

The second hour was all downhill and all desert. Apparently the dead sea is one of the lowest places on the earth.

This was my first glimpse of the dead sea.

The Dead Sea was nothing to write home about, nothing on it but a few hotels. Basically a big body of water in the middle of the desert that you can't drink. Can you imagine being the first person to discover the Dead Sea. You are traveling thru the desert, exhausted, tired. You then come over a ridge and see this

Now thats a beautiful sight til u run down there and realize that you cant drink any of that water. Haha. Ok back to my trip. So once I got to the Dead Sea I turned north and drove about thirty minutes to En Gedi. One of the coolest places I have ever been to. You really have to understand the history and the location of this place to fully appreciate it. En Gedi is an oasis that lies between the desert region and the Dead Sea. It is the place that David and his men hid from Saul in 1 Samuel 23. It is a series of waterfalls and caves. Here are a few pictures:

The last picture is of two boiax, i think thats what they are called. They were running around everywhere. I stayed at En Gedi for a few hours and left as it was getting busy. Drove back thru Jersusalem, which was nothing like I expected. Very modern. The highway system is here in Israel is better than I have seen anywhere, but the drivers are all crazy. Went to a basketball game lasnight. Larry and his team are in the playoffs. Great atmosphere! Reminded me of a PRP- Butler game, but each team had a section of super fans. The had drums, fog horns, flags, banners and never took a break, even when their own team was shooting free throws they were banging on the drums and screaming. Jerusalem scored the first basket and their fans threw confetti all over the court, delayed the game about 5 mins. No one even cared, the refs just laughed. Very cool experience.

Driving thru the countryside today I got to see alot of people in Israel just living. I saw farmers, kids waiting for school buses, construction workers. I know it sounds crazy but I guess I figured life would be easier over here but its not. People over here just like anywhere else are just trying to survive life. It doesn't matter if Jesus walked thru your town or drank form your well. That doesn't make life any easier. One of the devils greatest tools is everyday life. He wants us just to survive, just get by. He wants life to be a constant struggle, to just "get thru" 90% of your life to enjoy the other 10%. But thats not how God intended life to be. Yes, we are going to have troubles, but don't forget about the good news, the bible says to take heart, cheer up, be happy because God is bigger than all of those troubles.

We all know someone who seems to have figure this out, they live life to the fullest. They walk to the beat of a different drum. The person I am thinking about always looks like he is walking in a park with the Andy Griffith theme song in his head. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I think this comes from the daily reminder of the hope we have in Jesus Christ and the prayer of David to " return to me the joy of my salvation."

I will repost in a few days, just hanging out today no big plans. This 7 hour time change is getting the best of me so far. I will probably get used to it right before I come back. Thanks for reading. God is good!