March 18 - Tuesday in Jerusalem A total of 25 of us are traveling together in Israel. We were blessed to have a sufficient group for a smaller bus. We have also been blessed to have no laggards or complainers. Not one difficult moment with the group. Not one moment of fright or concern. No one injured. A blessed adventure. We left the hotel at 7:40AM and arrived at the Mount of Olives before 8AM…the first group to arrive. A lot of joy of traveling in Jerusalem is timing. If you are the group behind large groups….WAIT! Our tour guide is an Israeli Jew very experienced and apparently well-known and liked. More than once he has negotiated special considerations. For example… The entrance at the Mount of Olives is to a church that entrance fee is to also see the church. Churches compete in Jerusalem. There are three on the Mount of Olives that each share is the likely spot where Jesus ascended. On day one our tour group predicated that we did not desire to tour shrines. Thus, the challenge of the Garden of Olives. Our tour guide negotiated that we could enter…the first group…and we did not see the inside of the church. We did stand in a courtyard and looked to the Eastern gate of Jerusalem, a gate which was closed by a Moslem general. Moslems were buried in front of the gate to prevent Jesus from ever entering Jerusalem without being defiled. The view of the Eastern Gate (closed) with the early sunrise is stunning. I do not know of any equal to such a view that I have knowledge of or have ever witnessed. For the record, when Moslems conquer Jewish lands they kill, enslave or drive out the Jews. Not one Jew is allowed to stay peacefully in Moslem territory. Even in Arab inhabited Jerusalem Jews are persecuted, stoned, threatened, etc. To the contrary when Jews conquer they treat Moslems with respect. In some wars between Jews and Arabs the Arabs bring their wounded to the battlefront and ask the Israelis to please give them medical treatment. Medical help is offered without charging and the injured are returned to the Arab families at the border. Back to the Mt. of Olives. It was a most sobering experience to be certainly within yards of where Jesus walked. To be near where He prayed. To be in the area where He was arrested. To be on the mountain from which He ascended into heaven with angels promising that He would return. Salesmen never miss a chance. Out of the gates and salesmen were on the streets. Nevertheless, we were deeply sobered as the bus moved out of Jerusalem taking us towards Jericho and the Dead Sea. Before long we saw Bedouin camps. Tents in the desert. We learned that there are about 200,000 of these nomads. However, since Israel gained control of the Negev Desert life for these people is changing. Once they typically had 4 wives…and up to 30 children. Mostly an illiterate people. Now Israel requires all the children to go to school and buses run through the Negev taking the children to school. Sixty-two percent of the girls graduate from college or university. About 160,000 of these ancient peoples live in cities and towns. Only about 40,000 live in the desert. Now men typically have one wife and 3 or 4 children. Remember that most of these people are Arabs. Yet, in spite of Israel’s kindness and generosity the Arabs typically maintain a strong desire for the day when Allah will control all of Jerusalem. There is no way to describe the Dead Sea on paper. About 33% salt content. You can lie down and float. Salt forms hard as rock. The water level is dropping 3 feet per year. In Abraham’s day it would have been much higher. Even in Herod’s day skin treatments and perfumes were produced from the Dead Sea. Today it is a most profitable international business, to which Laila and the other women on tour made a contribution. We moved on to Masada where the story is that an ultra-conservative Jewish sect took control of a mountain-top fortress which had been built with palaces by Herod the Great (killer of babies when Jesus was born). A top Roman general took time to build a dirt ramp (which still stands) almost 900 feet high until Roman armor could pierce the walls of Masada. You can Google “Masada” for the rest of this fascinating story of how Herod lived in luxury, how water was brought to the fort, etc. Cisterns that could hold 10,000 gallons of water were built on top of the mountain. We took a chair lift up the mountain. Walked down. Oh, My! From Masada we traveled further into the desert to what seemed like nowhere. We weresurprised to find a huge camp of tents, camels and Bedouins. A Jewish man had developed a business with these nomads of hosting guests. Riding camels. We were welcomed to a tent of hospitality. A small fire had created hot coals. After some time a man dug into the fire, pulled out what was about the size of a large pizza crust, laid it on the ground and began to pat it with his hands. Dust of ashes rose into the air. He kept beating the object. Finally it became clear that it was bread. He picked out ashes that had burned into the bread, broke the bread into pieces and served. I was surprised. I asked for a second piece. Others joined me. Sitting on the floor eating. Spending the night in tents. I slept 9 hours. Could not find hot water for refreshing this AM. Up early this AM…the sounds of the desert are enchanting, drawing one in. Driving away sounds of the city. Making one to understand how Abraham and others like him could develop DNA calling such places beautiful. Time for breakfast. If it is as good as dinner last evening I may just stay another few days. Not really, in 24 hours we will be in Germany on our way home. But before this day is over we will visit the valley where David faced Goliath and the Garden of Gethsemane. On the backside of my mind is the thought of home. My wonderful Pastoral Staff has not shared anything with me other than that it snowed and Sunday services were wonderful. Strange it is how calm things are when I am gone. I look forward to seeing you Sunday. Pastor Bare Philippians 4:8
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 13:33:52 +0000
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