A Land of Both Ancient and Living
Stones - We certainly go to Israel to look at stones - the ancient
stones of the archaeological sites that we visit - from stones that made up the
walls of the Old Testament village of Dan, to street stones that were probably
walked on by Jesus. Seeing these stones and visiting these sites can
certainly enrich one's faith.
After being here, you will never read your Bible the same - every page will come
to life like never before.
But we also go to interact with the Living Stones of the land - the real people who live there now. Sorry, the news networks just don't come close to giving you the whole story. The squeaky wheel still gets most of the grease! In addition to the people we will meet on a daily basis - in the hotels, restaurants, etc, - we also include in this tour several scheduled conversations with individuals that will share powerful and unique insights on life in modern Israel/Palestine: Mr. Bob Lang, who is a resident of the Jewish Settlement of Efrat in the West Bank, Pastor Ashraf Tannous, a Palestinian Lutheran Pastor in Bethlehem, and Pastor Mark Brown (pictured, right), administrator of Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem for the Lutheran World Federation. You will never watch the news with the same eyes or ears again.
You will see and appreciate how this particular piece of land gave birth to our Bible - it's not Kansas or California or South Carolina that comes through in the biblical stories, it is this land:
Repeated a number of times in Exodus and elsewhere in Scripture, this description of the land may not match with your imagination. Yet, it is accurate. Much of Israel is rather rugged, even somewhat barren. "A land flowing with milk" is a reference to goat's milk and points the the land's ability to support herds of sheep and goats. That doesn't mean green pastures as far as the eye can see! But with hard work and determination, and God's favor, it can be done
The reference to honey does not involve bees. It is actually a reference to the jam or "honey" made from the fruit of the date palm tree. This is an indication that the land can support agriculture. Unfortunately, this is not indicative of acre after acre of flat fields consisting of thick, dark topsoil. Much of the land is anything but even and farming has to be done in valleys and terraced hillsides. But again, with hard work and determination, and God's favor, it can be done.
You may be surprised at the size of Israel.
Here you can see the size of Israel compared to the continental United States. At its maximum extremes, Israel is about 260 miles North-South by about 60 miles East-West. This is one of the reasons its politics is so complicated. Ranchers in Texas might be able to compromise over a disputed few hundred acres. But in Israel, every square foot is holy ground sacred to multiple faiths and peoples for numerous reasons. In addition, one of the wonders of Israel is how much variety of climate and geography is packed into this little sliver of land.
Only about 20 miles inland from the coast one finds the Judean Hill Country, atop which sits Jerusalem at an elevation of about 2600 feet above sea level.
Move westward only 20 more miles and you encounter the Judean Wilderness, at the extreme edge of which sits the Dead Sea at an elevation of 1400 feet BELOW sea level. When the New Testament refers to John the Baptizer being "in the wilderness," the above image is the visual reference.
The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth. For this reason, all the water that flows into it, such as from the Jordan River, has no way out but evaporation. So all the millennia of minerals that have washed in have no way out. This makes the water over seven times saltier than ocean water. The water is so dense, and given the extra atmospheric pressure due the low elevation, you literally float in the Dead Sea water. There is lucrative industry in extracting the minerals from the water and manufacturing beauty products, such as the Ahava line. In fact, people come from all over the world to bathe in the Dead Sea water for its healing characteristics for various skin conditions.
To the north is the beautiful and fertile Galilee. This shot is just above the Sea of Galilee. Notice the Jordan River, and its size compared to the two-lane road next to it. No, the Jordan is not the Mississippi! In fact, due to the extensive water usage from the Sea of Galilee for drinking and crop irrigation, the Jordan gets much smaller than this to the South of the Sea of Galilee, especially in the hot, dry summer months.
We will certainly see the mark left on Israel by the Romans. This is part of the massive port city called Caeserea Maritime built by Herod the Great. Every Roman city had a theater proportionate in size to the city's population. This one has been restored and is actually used for concerts and other performances. It looks out over the Mediterranean Sea!
Israel actually has about 160 miles of beautiful coast.
In addition to its geographic richness, Israel/Palestine is also sacred ground to the world's three great monotheistic faiths:
Judaism - here Jews pray at the Western Wall.
Christianity - this is the Church of All Nations which sits next to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Islam - this is the Dome of the Rock mosque which sits atop Jerusalem's Temple Mount.
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Israel has all this richness to offer those who visit, and those who visit leave changed forever!
Following is a link to a very well-done YouTube video which gives breath-taking aerial view of several sites across Israel/Palestine. The link will open in a new window.