Kingdom History – Page 30 – Gregory Scott Blog

Israel Travel Journal, Day 7

This was our first full day in Galilee.

We spent the day around the coast of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus did most of His ministry. We started at the Cliffs of Arbel, where historical battles had taken place and through which winds the trail from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee, a trail Jesus no doubt walked.

As always, though, we were not there to worship a place, kiss the ground, or collect soil for reliquaries, but to understand the place so that we could better understand the Bible.

From there we drove to the Mount of Beatitudes (of Sermon on the Mount fame) (Matthew 5).

It’s a large hill more than it is a mountain, and there is a church on it now. One could see how Jesus, standing on the hill could have spoke to a very large crowd without the use of any amplification. Continue reading “Israel Travel Journal, Day 7”

Israel Travel Journal, Day 6

Today we left for Galilee.

Our first stop was the road to Emmaus, where Jesus appeared after His resurrection and explained the Scriptures to two travelers. (Luke 24:13-49).

While there, Arie also showed us the valley where Joshua fought the five kings and the Lord did a celestial time-out for a day so that Joshua could fight with the sun to his back.

Next we journeyed to Caesarea, a city on the Mediterranean where the Holy Spirit first fell on Gentiles (Acts 10) and where the Apostle Paul was imprisoned for nearly two years (Acts 23:23-26:30). Continue reading “Israel Travel Journal, Day 6”

Israel Travel Journal, Day 5

We had the morning off to do whatever we wanted, which our group seemed to appreciate.

After lunch we headed to Jaffa (Joppa in the New Testament), where Peter had his vision on the roof of the house of Simon the Tanner. (Acts 10:9-16).

We saw the house tradition says was the house mentionted in Acts. It’s on the dock, and it struck me that when Peter had the vision, which made it clear to him the Gospel was for the Gentiles, i.e, all the world, not just the Jews, Peter would have been looking west with a clear view west into the vastness of the Mediterranean.

In Jaffa, Arie gave us a history lesson about Napoleon’s battle here in 1799 and the plague that decimated his army. Continue reading “Israel Travel Journal, Day 5”

Israel Travel Journal, Day 4

Today we journeyed away from Jerusalem, past Jericho, south along the coast of the Dead Sea.

The first thing I noticed as we headed south was that we were going downhill, continually. As we did, the grass on the hills slowly morphed into sand and rock. The Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on earth at 1,385 feet below sea level

Our first stop was in Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. One of the first questions one asks here is how peopled survived in an arid land like this, given that the water in the Dead Sea is undrinkable? The answer: cisterns.Those who lived here created an ingenious system of channels to capture and direct the rainwater coming down from the mountains into large cisterns where it was stored until needed.

We stopped next at En Gedi, an oasis where David and his crew camped when he was trying to stay out of the way of Saul’s spear. (I Samuel 23:29; 24:1).

We trekked up the path along the spring, up and up around the rocks, at each level finding a new waterfall collecting into a pool surrounded by steep rock walls. We stopped at one of the higher pools, sat down, took off our shoes and dangled our feet in the water. Cool place. I can see why David came here. Continue reading “Israel Travel Journal, Day 4”

Israel Travel Journal, Day 3

Up early again today, and then off to the Israel Museum to see, among other things, parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a back-yard sized recreation of the ancient City of Jerusalem.

Much of what we’ve done thus far has been intended to imprint on our minds a picture of Jerusalem and the surrounding area so when we read the Bible we can visual what we are reading. It’s working.

Last night, now familiar with the surroundings, I spent two hours reading the New Testament narrative, from the Last Supper to Jesus’ trial at Caiaphas’s house. I couldn’t put it down now that I could visualize the places as I read.

Mid-morning found us at Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Museum). Arie gave us a guided tour of the museum, sprinkled with stories he had heard from his father-in-law, who had survived a concentration camp as a fourteen-year old boy, immigrated to Israel and later became a Christian.

Continue reading “Israel Travel Journal, Day 3”