The Golan Heights

In the late afternoon, I arrived at Nimrod's fortress, a supposedly impenetrable fortress built by the Crusaders on the Golan Heights. I prayed for a bit before entering the fortress. The walls made of very large, thick, rectangular stones were fascinating. Each stone required many men to lift it up when the walls were constructed. Once in place, with other stones on top, they were immovable....like our refuge and fortress who is God, like the Church when we-the living stones-each take our place in the house of God.

Besides this personal insight, God spoke a few things to me about the Golan Heights. As I prayed there and spoke with the farmers there, like Uri, I listened to them explain that their land was a battlefield a few years ago but now it's peaceful and they feel secure. I knew that there are not just men and women protecting their borders, but many angels. I also believe the Lord said that the terror from the North is looking to strike again.

Here is a pic from the top of a mountain called Keren Nephtali, the horn of Nephtali. There was an amazing view of the Hula valley below, and the border of Syria across the valley. Note the lack of life in Syria. Israel used to look exactly the same. But now the mountains are covered with evergreens and all sorts of life, even the one I was standing on. God reminded me of Isaiah 41:19-20:"I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it." Even as God's bringing the land to life I also believe He's bringing his people back to life again as they come to know His son.

The Kinneret

Early in the morning on Friday I went to pray in the Galilee area, known as the Kinneret in Hebrew. Popular belief is that the name of this lake comes from the word kinnor, an ancient Jewish harp/lyre, because it's shaped like a kinnor. My group's first stop was Capharnaum. The 1st century Kfar Naum, or town of Naum had a thriving fishing industry with a large fleet of fishing boats stationed about a mile outside the town. We approached a Franciscan monastery, where the Catholic monks bought the land that contained the ancient town of Capharnaum and went through the iron gates. It looked like an old abbey with gardens surrounding it, except as we walked to the far side of the garden, there lies a whole village of ruins concealed by the foliage. The Franciscan archaeologists and friars dug down and excavated the entire town in recent years. We went to see the House of Peter (see the insula sacra on the map), which is the authentic site, based on historical documentation and archaeological evidence. His house was the second largest in Capernaum, a town built beside a road to Rome, a strategic place to spread good news. (The largest house there belonged to the head of the synagogue. ) The Franciscans built a church building that's suspended above Peter's house so that all can view the remains of the house beneath. Was Peter a poor fisherman? Far from the truth, he was the top business man in town! Local historians believe he ran the largest fishing business for the community. It was this influential man that Jesus asked to come follow him, and Peter left everything he had to be with Jesus.

After a time of bible study and prayer in the remains of the Synagogue Jesus preached in, we took our bus to the mountainside that is believed to be the site of the Sermon on the Mount. This place has fabulous acoustics. On the road there, minutes before we saw the gates to the site, I heard a choir singing high praises and worshipping God softly. I thought- there must be a convent nearby with a choir or something, or maybe someone was playing a CD on the bus. I said to Katherine, my Aussie buddy who sits next to me every day on the bus "Hey, do you hear that singing?" She said, "no." She paused a moment and a big grin spread on her face. She said "The Lord must be really blessing youuu" in her Aussie accent. I still heard the choir singing so I asked another person, and they couldn't hear it either. At that moment I was in awe and Katherine said "Must be angels singing." I heard it for several minutes after that. So beautiful. Then, one by one, groups of pilgrims coming to the site began to sing worship songs. Our group also followed suit and joined the choir.

Uprooting

On Thursday morning we left toward the Galilee in the North, Jesus' stomping grounds. Our first stop on the way was Masada. Now, before going into what God did on this trip today, I have to say that His hand was all over sending me with this particular group. You see, our guide is no ordinary Israeli tour guide. He's an extraordinary Godly man who left the US to live in Israel many years ago. Since then, he's become an accomplished historian, student of archaeology, antiquities, the Hebrew language, and the Bible. He connects all of the above together. He's devoted his life to educating the Body of Christ about Israel and has many important connections in the land. That being said, we went to Masada, the home of two palaces build by King Herod the Great. Early in the morning, we hiked up the mountain to this site on a high plateau overlooking the Judean desert (the Negev) and the Dead Sea. The most important thing I got from this visit was that Herod, who Rome used as a puppet to expand the empire in Israel, was a Helonist at heart. This means that he worshipped beauty and pleasure. The love of both, which pervades our Western culture to this day, goes all the way back to Greek and Roman influences. Devout Jewish people (and devout Christians) have opposed everything that Helenism stands for since it distracts people from loving God with all their mind, heart, and strength. After that cool and timely instruction, I began praying against the spritual influences behind these "Helenistic" values in modern day Israel. Valuing that stuff has lead many away from pursuing knowing God.

Next, we went to Beit She' an for the afternoon. This city was once the largest Roman city in Israel. There, I we learned so much more about the practices done for the worship of beauty and pleasure, and how the Roman gods were those that you could'nt approach to fellowship with, and were worshipped out of fear. (That reminded me of the idea of God that I had as a child as a Roman Catholic). The Romans built their city as an extention this Philistine city, whose army killed King Saul and hung his body there. (1 Sam 31 8-10). Now, God reminded me that the Philistines also had gods they worshipped out of fear- Ba'al and Ashtaroth- and their acts of worship involved worshipping pleasure. Is it a coincidence that the Romans chose this site to build their temples and bath houses, next to the high place of worship for the Philistines? I think not. I began praying against the old spiritual influences in that place, that the demonic in Israel would be uprooted in that place and declared that doors to the worship of pleasure and beauty and distant gods that hurt people would be shut. We left Beit She'an late in the afternoon and arrived that night in the Galilee in the small city of Tiberias. I'll blog more soon about Fri visit to Galilee, Sat visit to the Golan Heights, and Sun visit to Old Jerusalem. Had some internet problems & very long days this week. Love you all!

Night in the Desert

We left En Gedi for the Dead Sea and stopped for lunch and a quick dip at Ein Bokek. This land is utterly alien. At 1300 feet below sea level we rode along pale blue shores with thick rims of white salt. A sheer haze of water vapor gently shrouded the mountains of Jordan. There lies a warm supersaturated solution that feels almost like oil, a seabed spackled with chunks of salt crystals that can cut skin. The thermometer reads 44 degrees Celsius in the bright sun. Here, the richest supply of minerals in the world lies in a wasteland. As we left I asked God- why is the Negev barren? And how do the Bedouin people who've made this place home fit into God's plan for the world and for Israel?

On the road to the Bedouin village of Kfar Hnokdim, we passed through Arad, a city the Israelis rebuilt in 1962, near the ruins of Tel Arad (the Canaanite city Moses conquered). In that moment I was amazed by God's enduring love to have made a way for the Jewish people to rebuild the desolate places in Israel. As we approached Kfar Hnokdim from a distance, I was delighted to look upon an oasis in the desert! It's a tiny piece of land fed by underground springs, not the dry place I expected. The Bedoins lead us to a traditional tent, divided into one side for the men and another side for the women, where we layed down our packs and relaxed on mats while the Bedouins prepared for us. Before they served us dinner, they brought us to ride their herd of camels, a taste of Bedouin life. After we rode, we joined the leader Muhhamed in his tent to share life with him and listen to his detailed description of traditional life, values, and customns. Then, he sang to us while he played a lyre. He invited me to play percussion for his song with a Bedouin coffee grinder.

Later that night there was no sound in the camp except the rustling of the palm trees and the chirping of crickets. Our tour leader invited us to walk beyond the camp to spend time alone in prayer. Outside the oasis was complete stillness, no sound except the gentle desert wind in your ear. I know why so many from the Bible escaped to places like this to pray. There's NOTHING here to distract. While I interceded for the Negev, God lead me to read out part of Isaiah's prophesy to the land. Isaiah 54, and Isaiah 47-49. The Holy Spirit led me to declare his Word in Isaiah 41:18 to the land: I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I began to feel God's heart for the land, his desire to bless Israel. I layed my hands on the ground and called the springs to rise up from the deep according to his word.

We slept in an enormous tent, open to the warm night air of the desert. God woke me up just before sunrise. He also woke up the friend I mentioned earlier who is in Israel on a mission trip. We walked outside of the camp to see the sunrise. We were so in awe of God we worshipped him together and prayed for his hand over our lives in the light of the early dawn.

Pools in the Desert

After leaving Qumran, we traveled to En Gedi. In the midst of a dry wasteland, En Gedi is life; it is the only sufficient source of fresh water near the Dead Sea. It is a twisting gorge of cascading waterfalls and numerous pools, fed by a large spring at the top. It's falls are flanked by lush foliage and Acacia trees. People and families from all around were there to swim in the pools and find relief from the scorching heat. At the top of the gorge, I saw the remains of two caves. From the lower cave, now fully open to the sky, David and his mighty men made a treacherous climb up the falls to hide in the upper cave from King Saul and his men. If you read Psalm 104, David uses many verses that describe En Gedi. After standing at this breathtaking site and reading the scriptures about David's struggles, God's love at work in David's life takes on a concrete reality.

Springs on Parched Ground

This morning we left Jerusalem for the Negev, the Judean desert. On the way out of the city we passed the mayors office, with bullet holes blanketing the front wall. Almost immediately we saw the old wall of Jerusalem with railroad workers frantically working nearby to complete Jerusalem's first internal railway system. After passing the Kidron Valley (the Valley of Jehosephat), we passed through the long tunnel going through Mt Scopius. Upon exiting the tunnel we found ourselves in the desert. It was a portal to a new world. There were small Bedouin settlements scattered about, with people working under the shade of tents and shacks to protect them from the scorching mid-morning sun. Their heads were wrapped in traditional coverings. Next, we passed the city of Jericho in the distance. Our guide Tom, a historian who loves Jesus, explained how the city is an enormous oasis fed by 5 springs. The Arab family that owns the springs has become very wealthy from selling the water. I was grieved to hear from Tom that Israeli government had decided to give the city back to the Palestinians, after the Lord gave it to their ancestors through his miraculous power. As we decended to -400 feet below sea level we came near the Dead Sea. It was barren wilderness with an occassional grove of date palms that were fed by springs. The date palms are one of the only trees that thrive in the salty soil near the Dead Sea. They actually cleanse the soil. On the way to Qumran National Park, the site of the Essene sect's scrolls (The Dead Sea Scrolls), we passed by Wadi Droga, a dry riverbed that runs from the East side of Jerusalem to the Dead Sea (see Ezekial Ch's 36-38) . We explored Qumran by hiking up the mountains through the wildreness to see the caves where the 1st century Old Testiment scrolls were buried and the old aquaducts built by the Essenes to collect water. I had plenty of moments to pray on a breathtaking hike along the edges of clifts, overlooking the mountains and the Dead Sea. High up, we had to do some rock climbing without ropes. As I had to trust God to keep me safe, God brought this scripture to life in me: "He makes my feet like hinds' feet and sets me on my high places" 2 Samuel 22:34, Habakkuk 3:19 I shared this revelation with a friend on the tour. She shared with me that she'd just read the book Hinds Feet on High Places before coming to Israel and it was a Word to her from God that He was bringing her to a deeper level of trust in Him. She's on a two month mission trip here in Israel. I'm so happy to be a part of what God is doing in her life.

The Adventure Begins

After arriving at my gate in Newark Liberty, I had the good fortune to sit down directly adjacent to 3 ladies who are part of the group I'm traveling with in Israel. Within a few minutes Katie (29 yrs old from Pittburgh), Sarah (18 from Arkansas), Melissa (18 from Arkansas) and I were laughing together like friends who've know each other for years. We went on to share personal stories of how we came to have relationship with God. When we got on the plane, Katie & I were able to sit next to each other after many people in another tour group missed their connection. It was a smooth ten and a half hour flight. We arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv around 9:30AM Israeli time after a beautiful sunrise and bright views of the mediterrenean coast, covered with stucco homes and modern skyscrapers that speckled downtown Tel Aviv. The clean, modern airport was a swirl of laughing vacationers and conservative jewish and hasidic families, covered heads, arms, ladies with long black skirts. Customs went smoothly and we met one of the tour leaders in the spot we planned.We rode a small bus 45 minutes to Jersusalem.

The weather changed dramatically from hot humidity to a dry heat. Similarly, the scenery transformed from flatlands covered with vineyards and farms to low hills covered with brush to low mountains covered with forest. Kathyrn, the Aussie tour leader, told the story of how the mountains used to be bare. Since the land was resettled after 1948, something amazing has been happening to the landscape. It's turning green again as trees are sent here and planted, a gift from the nations of the world. She pointed out the Australian gum trees that were planted and growing on the edge of a wooded area, planted in the past few years. As we entered into Jerusalem, I was reminded of a vision I had as a young college student of a middle eastern wall made of large sand-colored bricks: almost every building in the city is made of them! It is a beautiful city and the area near our hotel is peaceful. I feel safe here. Tomorrow we leave for the Dead Sea and camping overnight in a Bedouin village.