Israel/Jordan 2008 - GROUP PHOTO

Here we are in the Garden of Gethsemene...

Marilyn's Watercolours from Israel and Jordan

While I was writing my blog, Marilyn was getting the measure of Israel and Jordan with her watercolours. Here is some of her work.

Some final thoughts.....

Was the trip everything I thought it would be?

Absolutely!

When you travel to the Holy Lands with over 50 other Christians, including your own Pastor, the opportunities for teaching, discovery and learning under the umbrella of expanding your faith journey are tremendous. This was an opportunity I was ready for. What I didn’t know was how much I needed it.

I’ve got a marked up Bible – with names dates and places to remind me of what we saw and heard. When I open it, it shouts at me.

In case you haven’t picked up on this in the rest of the blog, Scripture and reading the Bible mean a lot to me and I’m trying to think of the multiplication factor this trip has given me in that pursuit. For example, when I read the Beatitudes again – having been in the place where Jesus gave them – is it 10X, 100X, 1000X? – right now I’m going with a million!

Also, the historicity of the Bible and its relevance in today’s secular world went up in my estimation. The homilies that Kim, Duke and Glen gave us, based on the places we were in, left me moved and thankful that they were able to drive home the Bible’s message in today’s world.

Would I go again? In a heartbeat. In the meantime, I’ve got so much to go over and study, especially in my morning quiet time. Life just got a whole lot busier. Bring it on.

Sunday June 1, 2008 – The trip home

With little sleep, we head for the bus for the last time. At the Tel Aviv airport, the security as we leave is thorough, lengthy and focused. On in our group – Joe – is pulled aside and asked more detailed questions, but he returns to us with no further follow on. Into the air, we head for a connecting flight in Rome.

Joy is carrying her “sticks” and makes it onto the plane with them at Tel Aviv. However, as we go through Rome airport security, they won’t let them through. You just have to shake your head, when world class security at Tel Aviv says OK and the Italians have a different view. Oh well, Joy takes it in stride.

Rome airport lives up to its reputation as just awful. This time, clearing security is better, but the waiting area has a new surprise – door alarms that go off for 30-45 minutes at a time with airport officials hopelessly inept. Marilyn fished out her ear plugs.

Finally we’re on the plane for the long trip home, catching some little sleep.

Arriving in Toronto, it’s great to be home!

Saturday May 31, 2008 – Returning from Jordan to Tel Aviv

We’re in a beautiful hotel in Jordan, right on the Dead Sea and we have some time in the morning to go down to the Dead Sea for a “swim”, which should be more accurately described as a “float”. We walk down around 5:30am while the sun is not punishing and the water is merely “very warm”. Wading in, you can feel the pressure of the 30% salt content water pushing up on your feet. I’m told that if you get beyond the point where your feet are not on the bottom, you are upright in the water like a cork. We opt to go in a bit, and lie on our back. And you do truly float. I should have brought the morning paper to read!

We enjoy some time in our beautiful room and Marilyn paints in the area outside our sliding door, overlooking the pool. I blog away. But it’s time to check out.

On the bus, Kim picks up on the “thankfulness” theme as we begin to wind down, and there’s so much to be thankful for after a trip like this. Duke cranks it up with his guitar on the way to the border.

Glen had to return early to a conference in Vancouver, but he’s left a letter which Kim reads and it’s packed with thanks and encouragement. He thanks our guide Tom, he thanks us for our gift and he asks us to remember Duke and Kim. He reminds us that our spiritual growth is most important and that we should lay aside whatever is keeping us from a full relationship with God. He asks us to take a quiet moment to invite Jesus into our life, again. Through Christ’s sacrifice, we start eternal life right now. And he closes with “Let’s have fun!”

The border crossing back into Israel was a lot smoother than coming into Jordan and we’re able to stay on the bus with our bags all the way to Israeli customs and security. Our Israeli guide Tom is there to meet us and we drive back through Jerusalem, lunching in Jaffa before getting to Tel Aviv for one last “night”, if you can call it that – we’ll be up at 1am to head for the airport and more security before we board a 5:30am flight.

Mount Nebo and Jesus’ Baptism at the Jordan River – Friday May 30, 2008

Leaving our hotel at Wadi Mousa, Kim leads us in Compline, an inspired choice given that this is usually a service done at the end of the day. Today, however, we’re going to Mt. Nebo where Moses saw the promised land and then died at 120 years of age. So we celebrate Compline in recognition of the end of Moses “day”. Kim points us to Deuteronomy 31:1-6 & 34 where Joshua will succeed Moses as Moses prepares to die in Moab. Kim highlights Verse 6 as one for the ages: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you and forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

We drive on the King’s highway to the Desert highway. There used to be trees, but they were all cut down during the Ottoman time after the railway was built between 1890 and 1900. The narrow gauge railway lines are still in use for freight only. At one time, passengers would go between Istanbul and Medina, Saudi Arabia.

We have a long ride to Mt. Nebo so this gives Fatih, our guide, lots of time to talk about Muslim marriage traditions and customs. There are three things in a marriage contract – a dowry, a settlement if the man divorces her and an arrangement for dividing the apartment and furniture in the event of a divorce. If a man wants a divorce, he says “I divorce you” - said three times over a period of time. A woman can ask for a divorce, but has to give a reason. A man can remarry but needs the approval of his first wife. If a woman commits adultery, the man is not obliged to pay the divorce settlement.

We stop at a spot on the Desert highway, buy a hat for granddaughter Eva and drink some amazing Turkish coffee. It’s black, inky and “chewy” with an inch of sediment left in the bottom. Yum! Peter needs to lay some of this on at his Easy Restaurant in Toronto.

Duke takes to the mike on the bus and leads us in a homily based on Genesis 19:30, which describes how the Moabites were “formed” by Lot and his daughters. Fast forwarding to the book of Ruth, Naomi and her daughter Ruth are Moabites who go to Israel because of famine. Ruth ends up marrying Boaz, and their family is the lineage to the house of David – and to Jesus – this line picked up in Matthew’s gospel. Duke’s key message is that no matter where you come from or what your circumstances are, redemption and forgiveness are always available.

Fatih, our guide, has listened to Duke’s reading about Lot and takes the mike. He diplomatically lets us know that Lot is a prophet according to the Koran a prophet can commit no sin – so the Biblical version of Lot and his daughters is problematic. Duke raises the “diplomacy” stakes by suggesting that the issue is between the two books, but not between he and Fatih.

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We come to Mount Nebo and get to see the view Moses would have seen, looking over to Jericho and the entire Jordan Valley down to the Dead Sea. We can even see the hills of Jerusalem in the far distance. This was the Promised Land. In the heat at the top of Mt. Nebo, Duke picks up on the “Promised Land” theme: What is your promised land? What does it look like? God has a shape for that home or settled place in your life. Moses was denied entry to the Promised Land because he showed arrogance after God told him where to find water. The blessings of water come from God, the Jordan comes from water out of a rock – how are we investing our life so that the people who come after us will be blessed through us?

Looking through the rest of the site, there are 6^th century archeological mosaics from a Greek Church that were on display. Paul John Paul II visited the site in 2000.

After lunch in Madaba, we drive down about 1,200 meters to the Jordan River site of Jesus’ Baptism. All four Gospels tell the story: Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-12, Luke 3:21-27 and John 1:29-34. As we arrive there, we see the hill where Elijah was taken up to Heaven.

At the Jordan, Kim reads the Luke 3 account of Jesus’ Baptism. John the Baptist is described as confronting people – why are you here and picking up on that, Kim asks us what we need to confront in our life? – attitudes, being less cynical of others, changing attitudes with family members, people in the workplace. Realizing that our pilgrimage is ending soon, Kim challenges us to understand what God is saying to us about what has to change. As pilgrims, we should leave this place as changed people.

Here the border between Jordan and Israel is just the river and in the 40C heat we touch our fingers in a baptismal font and reach down into the Jordan. Some fill water bottles to take home.

We drive on to the five star Marriott Jordan Valley, right on the Dead Sea.

Petra - Thursday May 28, 2008

From our hotel in Wadi Mousa we get on the bus and head for a day at Petra. It’s not a long drive, so Kim has to be economical with time and leads us by reading Matthew 6:31-34, an encouragement for all of us for every day. He highlights Verse 33 as a good one to memorize and take to our heart: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

The site of Petra is classified as the second wonder of the world, after the Pyramids. It was part of the Indiana Jones movie and that sparked more tourism interest. Discovered in 1812 by “modern” Europeans, we now we will see it in the daylight. On the way down to the Treasury building, we pass many tombs, some plain, some with decoration. In Nabatean times, tombs were left open and the dead were celebrated. Some of the tombs had obelisks, showing Egyptian influence. Apparently the Nabateans believed in an afterlife and these tombs were part of that preparation.

Parts of the canyon were chiseled out by hand to make a passage – called a “siq” (Editor’s note: there’s a good Scrabble word, if you can get away with it). In the passage, the Nabateans made water channels to carry it to cisterns. As well, they laid clay tiles to carry water to where it was needed. At the main entrance, an arch used to go across, but it collapsed in 1886. As we look up we can see the chisel marks from 2,000 years ago. There are recessed areas to honour the gods of their day and some of the places would have been quite elaborate with inscriptions and marble facades.

The “Treasury” is actually a tomb for one of the Nabatean kings. The Bedouins, who controlled the area for a long time prior to European interest thought there must be gold or treasure hidden and they made a bit of a mess looking for things. Nonetheless, you can’t help but be amazed at these “structures”, carved and chiseled out of red sandstone. The area is vast.

Other parts of Petra include many impressive tombs, an amphitheater and the place where up to 40,000 people may have lived.

The pool back at the hotel was refreshing indeed after a long dusty walk into Petra and out again in high temperature and hot sun.

Aqaba to Wadi Rum, Little Petra, Petra by Night – Wednesday May 28, 2008

The hotel we stayed at in Aqaba brought new meaning to the term “Five Star”. It was a beautiful hotel overlooking the Red Sea and we were sorry that only one night was possible. An excellent buffet was laid on with seating inside or out, depending on how hot or cool you want to be. After our evening meal, we walked to a local convenience store to get some bottled water and saw a group of young men watching TV outside and smoking their hookahs. When we arrived back at the hotel, the lobby was filled with cigar smoke as it is just fine to do that in Jordan.

Kim led us in Morning Prayer on the bus as we left Aqaba. He chose Matthew 2:1 to read from to remind us that the gifts of the Magi – gold, frankincense and myrrh – were all part of a trade system that was controlled by the Naboteans in Petra where we will be heading. Petra is not mentioned in the Bible, so we’re going from the historical record on this one. Maybe the “three Kings” started from here.

The Nabateans were master traders and influenced a large area, including Damascus at the time of the Apostle Paul. They knew how to build elaborate systems to catch water in cisterns using open drains and clay pipe. These places, including Petra, controlled the camel (ships of the desert) caravans and the Nabatean tax system took a piece of the action as it passed through, providing safety in return.

At the time of John the Baptist, Herod Agrippa was married to the Nabotean daughter of Eritus IV, but that wasn’t enough for Herod as he took his brother’s wife as well. John the Baptist preached against that and for his trouble he was beheaded – but not before he baptized Jesus.

So as we drive north from Aqaba, we think about John the Baptist, the trade routes and power struggles, then and now.

We’re driving first to Wadi Rum, a place of incredible beauty and solitude, known as Desert of Mountains. Created by the action of water at what would have been an old river delta, the red sandstone rocks and hills fill in the desert like blobs of drippy chocolate cake. The action of rain and wind over time add to the effect. Lawrence of Arabia referred to one of the places we saw as The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. We were driven around in small trucks, sitting on benches in the truck bed. Stopping at a few places, we walked around and took in the breathtaking views and snapped away with our cameras. We were taken to a Bedouin tent and served hot, sweet tea before moving on to our next stop – a camel ride. Most of us got on and we led out into the desert by our Bedouin guides. We returned for lunch to a “million star” Bedouin tent hotel.

Driving on, we come to Little Petra, a smaller version of what we will see later. Rooms have been carved out of the soft sandstone and this would have been a stop for rest and refreshment as caravans moved through the area. The Nabateans dug a channel through the rock to gain access to an area surrounded by rock.

Our hotel – the Taybet Zaman in Wadi Mousa – is a former village, converted into a rustic stone complex that gave the effect of being in a place hundreds of years ago, if you could ignore briefly the modern amenities, which of course we can't.

That night, we went down to Petra and took part in Petra by Night. It’s a 45 minute walk down to the famous treasury building where we sat under the stars and listened to some local singing and flute music. It’s a beautiful place and the cool of nighttime, walking by candlelight was worth the long walk in and out.

From Jerusalem to En Gedi, Masada and Jordan – Tuesday May 27, 2008

We’ve spent part of six days in Jerusalem and now it’s time to leave and we head on the highway to Jericho. Coming the other way into Jerusalem are commuters and it looks just like the DVP in Toronto. Kim leads us in Morning Prayer and he reads the Parable of the Good Samaritan – Luke 10:25-37. In the midst of Israel with different religious backgrounds and a world the same, the relevance of Jesus’ Parable is palpable.

Tom tries to get us into the Samaritan Inn to see a site and tries two routes. It’s the West Bank and there’s nothing doing so we move on, passing a site that Muslims celebrate as the resting place of Moses.

We drive by Qumran again and remember the importance of the Dead Sea scrolls. Tom gives us the skinny on the Dead Sea – 30% salt content, made up of three salts – sodium bromide, potassium choride and magnesium. This creates a chemical industry on both sides of the border and is an important export for both Israel and Jordan. On the Israeli side, 400 workers are employed, 300 at one time, with the other 100 rotated out for leave. One of the concerns is that the Dead Sea is evaporating and there’s a joint Israeli/Jordan study to look at bringing sea water from the Red Sea and installing hydro electric dams to capture some energy for desalinization on the 400 meter drop from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The engineer in me is all ears.

We stop at En Gedi on the shore of the Dead Sea and go for a hike while others go “swimming” in the Dead Sea. It’s a natural hiking area, with waterfalls and water seeping out of the rock springs. This is a true oasis in the middle of the Judean desert as the springs flow year round. There’s a Biblical reference to this place in 1 Samuel 24 and we go to the area where there was a two level cave and David cut King Saul’s garment while he was resting.

Further down the road and again in sight of the Dead Sea we come to Masada, where the zealots made their last stand against the Romans. After the zealots were defeated in Galilee, and then Jerusalem, they withdrew to Masada in 70 AD, a fortress that Herod the Great built. The Romans surrounded them, but couldn’t penetrate in any way and finally determined that they had to build a siege ramp that took three years to complete. On the eve of their certain capture, the zealots killed themselves – first the man taking his own family, and then the men drawing lots down to the last ten, and finally the leader killing himself. When the Romans arrived the next day, all they found alive was a mother and two children who were hidden in a floor – spared presumably by their father and husband.

After the 1948 war, some serious archeological work was done and an old, worn Torah scroll was found. In Jewish tradition, worn scrolls are placed in a storage place in the synagogue called the kazim. The part of the scroll that was worn out, presumably from reading it many times was Ezekiel 37 – The Valley of the Dry Bones. That Scripture must have given them tremendous hope during the siege.

How could they have lasted for three years without running water and food? Herod had filled huge cisterns with water and the storehouses were filled with grain and supplies to literally feed an army. So the zealots just moved in.

We went up and down to the Masada fortress in a Swiss built gondola and toured the site of Herod’s three tiered palace, the synagogue and the store rooms.

Driving further south, Kim helps us with references to three good leaders who operated in this area.– Moses in Numbers 20:14, King Solomon working with King Hiram of Tyre in 2 Chronicles 2 and Jehosophat.

We pass the area that was the silver and copper mines of King Solomon.

Pressing on, we come to the border with Jordon where we have to shlep our bags across a no man’s land, show our passports about four or five times and wait for a bus, sitting on the kerb. Not a great “welcome” to Jordan.

Loading up, we’re taken to our hotel in Aqaba, a beautiful spot on the Red Sea, so the memories of the border crossing dim quickly as we enjoy the hospitality and comfort of a five star hotel.