To the east of the Old City of Jerusalem rises the Mount of Olives. When on top, you look down at the Old City, including the Temple Mount. The Temple was not built on the highest point in the area, interestingly enough. Separating Jerusalem from this hill is the Kidron Valley. Thousands of tombs are scattered around the hillside of the Mount of Olives. Tours often drop people off up top, but it isn’t too much of a walk up if you can handle the climb. Along the way, there’s some interesting places we stopped at. On the side of […]
Category Archives: Travel
Gated Community
Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. Psalm 122:2 Our trip began in Jerusalem. We exited our shared taxi and walked into the Old City. We were staying inside the city wall! Ancient cities were typically surrounded walls for defense. However, they still needed to allow everyday traffic to flow in and out of the city. Therefore they installed gates. Most cities or towns had a single gate. Larger cities had more. The Bible talks about the building of Jerusalem’s walls. The original city captured by David was tiny. Hezekiah did a substantial expansion, adding a wall to […]
Guided Tour Map
This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, `We will not walk in it.’” Jeremiah 6:16 I’ve created a new map below of my latest trek around Israel. It’s easy to read the Bible and forget that these places are real. Going there a few times has opened my eyes to the geography of the country. How do different cities interact? How did people get from place to place? They […]
Not All at Once
Why is the Torah compared to a fig tree? Because most trees (olives, grapes, dates, pomegranates) have their fruit picked at one time, but the fig tree is picked gradually. And so it is with the Torah: one learns a little today and much on the morrow, for one cannot learn it in one or two years. Bamidbar Rabbah 12 Figs ripen from before Shavuot until Sukkot (the summer). This lengthy harvest season makes it difficult to commercially grow them because you have to keep slowly harvesting them, which isn’t efficient or cost effective. However, it provides a great object […]
Around the Lake
Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Psalm 98:7 I’ve spent some time around the Sea of Galilee the last few days. It has allowed me to see the lake from several angles. The lake is about 700 feet below sea level, nestled in the Rift Valley with hills going up it on most sides. The Sea of Galilee is also a major source of Israel’s water supply today. Because of drought conditions, the lake has been dropping, but the last couple winters it has risen a couple meters! You can […]
Looking Up
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:3-4 We spent the last two nights on the shore of the Dead Sea. The moon was just past full last night as we captured some nice tripod pictures out of our window. We’ve made our way to the Golan region just east of the Sea of Galilee. There is less light here, allowing us to see more stars.
The Wheat Harvest
He grants peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat. Psalm 147:14 As I continue to travel around Israel, one of the blessings of visiting at this time of year is it’s the time of the wheat harvest. Last time I mentioned that Shavuot (Pentecost) marks the beginning of the wheat harvest. As we’ve gone around, I’ve noticed the wheat fields and many of them have been harvested already. As we stood on top of Tel Azekah, we saw a combine harvesting the wheat fields below us. The Bible mentions several stories happening at the time […]
A New Adventure
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4 Today is Pentecost on the Christian calendar. (The Jewish calendar reckoned it on last Wednesday) Honestly, I don’t think the Church gives this […]
Crackpot Ideas
Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” Jeremiah 18:5-6 When visiting ancient sites, pottery pieces can be found all over the place. With its abundance, understanding it yields a greater understanding of the past. How can these little broken pieces of fired clay help us so much? Why are they so important? As you pick up one of these ancient relics, the first […]
Dots on the Map
As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, “Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh in the presence of the LORD.” So the men left and went through the land. They wrote its description on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh in the presence of the LORD, and there he distributed the land […]