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Israel 2015

May - June 2015
A 34-day adventure by Paul Read more
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  • Paul BernardIsrael 2015
    Day 15

    Day 3: Morning

    May 21, 2015 in Israel ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We are learning to organize Scripture as a “walker” would (nothing to do with Walking Dead here). Our typical ways of organizing Scripture are either by theology or by or by topic or by the layout we have in our Bibles. In Biblical times though, literacy and access to the text of Scripture was virtually non-existent. People didn’t pass books to one another, they passed on places. They built altars in places to remember the movements of God. Deuteronomy reminds us to pass on the stories of God to our children as we “walk along the roads.” Travelers would move from place to place and as they did, they would move from story to story.

    Stories fill these places.

    Rarely do we organize Scripture geographically. But now, as I walk among the stories of the Old and New Testaments, I find that “place” creates connections of Biblical texts as I have never seen. One place carries so many stories. Each one is an important reminder of the ways in which God has broken into this story of humanity.    Read more

  • Paul BernardIsrael 2015
    Day 15

    Excavations, Holy Sepulcher

    May 21, 2015 in Israel ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We woke up early this morning and headed back out into the Old City. This time we went to visit the excavations in the area of the southern side of the western wall (Temple Mount Excavations). We sat on the steps that used to lead up to the temple, the probable location where Jesus taught and learned as a 12 year old. This was also the likely location of Peter’s sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2. We read Peter’s sermon from the steps and listened in as Peter pointed behind himself to David’s tomb. We could see the tomb from where we sat and it was not hard to imagine that we were there.

    From there we headed into the heart of the Old City and spent the rest of the morning absorbing the massively complex Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Here, pilgrims from almost every Christian faith tradition find themselves in awe. For those who don’t know, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built on what was likely the site of Jesus’ death and burial. Golgatha. Good archaeological and historical evidence points to this being the very place where Christ died for you and for me. You can imagine the sense of awe you might feel as you walk amid devout believers, venerating this holy site. The church houses the highest point of the rock quarry that once made up the hill of Golgatha, as well as the traditional tomb of Jesus.

    We’ve learned that there are connotations associated with all places. In other words, every place evokes thoughts and feelings when someone speaks its name. When people of the Bible say, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” it shows that there is a connotation that is associated with that place. Similar to the connotations we have when we think of place names we know such as “Hawaii,” “Compton,” “Detroit.” As modern readers of ancient Biblical texts, this is largely lost on us. At best, a place name is simply another dot on the map (for those who even bother to look at a map).

    But each name carries so much more.

    I left the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and wandered alone back through the shops and vendors of Habad Street. Haggling and turmoil all around me, but I was lost in the sense of inspiration. I am coming to understand some of the connotations of the name “Jerusalem.” But I am only scratching, scratching at the surface.    Read more

  • Paul BernardIsrael 2015
    2
    Day 16

    Early to rise

    May 22, 2015 in Israel ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    I found a sport climbing area a five minute walk from the school. New friends with ropes. Enough said...

    Off to the land of Benjamin today. More later.

  • Paul BernardIsrael 2015
    Day 16

    Ancient Jericho

    May 22, 2015 in Palestine ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Read above, but I GPS'ed this spot with this footprint just to remember where we were.

    This is our professor Dr. John A. Beck. Kindred spirits in many ways, especially in our love for the wilderness and the Word of God. He's just a lot smarter than I am. :)Read more

  • Paul BernardIsrael 2015
    Day 16

    Judean Wilderness to Jericho to Gezer

    May 22, 2015 in Israel ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Today we left Jerusalem for the first time and headed out into the wilderness east of the city. This is known as the Judean wilderness. This is the same wilderness in which Jesus chose to set his parable about the good Samaritan. It is the wilderness in which Jesus was to be tempted by Satan. It is stark and barren and wild and honestly, human beings have no good reason to be there.

    Except, I think, to learn to rely on God. Wilderness is a great classroom and the lessons learned here can be learned nowhere else. Jesus faced the same question in the wilderness as the Israelites did before entering the Promised Land. The question God asks in the wild is, "Will you trust me, even if the fundamentals for your survival are stripped from you?"

    One psalmist prayed, "Let me know how fleeting is my life." Standing on the edge of a cliff above a rugged canyon, watching dark gray shapes soaring in the sky below you reminds you: the wilderness is a death-ready place.

    And then we watched as a Bedouin shepherd grazed his flocks on the steep ravine sides far below us. And the twenty-third Psalm jumped off the landscape. Yes. The Lord is my shepherd. And I will not take one God-forsaken step without Him. I need nothing but Him.

    We read a poem called The Peace of Wild Things

    When despair grows in me
    and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
    in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
    I go and lie down where the wood drake
    rests in his beauty on the water,
    and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things
    who do not tax their lives with forethought
    of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
    And I feel above me the day-blind stars
    waiting with their light. For a time
    I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

    :)

    We stopped in Jericho to explore excavations of ancient ruins. Jericho was actually way smaller than I had always thought. Maybe only about 10 acres. The same size as David's Jerusalem. Tiny really, but so important to the people of Israel as they moved into the Promised Land. We then traveled the Jericho-Gezer Road across the plain of Benjamin, watching so many stories of God unfold as we crossed the landscape. We stopped at the traditional tomb of Samuel and ended the day studying more archaeology in Gezer. 12 long hours, packed with information and scenery.

    Tomorrow, we head to Mt. of Olives and then back into the West Bank area then south to visit Bethlehem.    Read more

  • Paul BernardIsrael 2015
    Day 18

    Mount of Olives

    May 24, 2015 in Palestine ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Our travels yesterday included a stop at Mt. Scopus and a good look at a first century tomb as Jesus would have been buried in. We took long, winding walk down the Mount of Olives. With thousands of other tourists and pilgrims, vendors and swindlers (not to mention “Jerusalem Taxi” camels), we stopped at the holy sites on the hill including the traditional site of the Garden of Gethsemane (Church of the Nations), and the church where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. We then headed south from Jerusalem to the egotistical Herodium. We spent the afternoon at the traditional site of the Shepherds Field and then on to Bethlehem to finish the day.

    There were so many lessons wrapped up in our travels today. Seeing the Old City of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives broke down many pre-conceived ideas I had about the city; the most prominent of which is that Jerusalem isn't really on a hill. More like down in a ditch. I was always taught that it was a “city on a hill...” which is true if you’re coming to Jerusalem from fifty miles out. It is a truth for travelers.

    But once you get here, Jerusalem is down in a valley with mountains rising on almost every side. It’s not the lowest thing around, but it comes close. The entire two mile long ridge of Mount of Olives looks down on the city. It begs the question why David chose this spot for the capital city and eventually the Holy Temple of God. It seems to many who visit that the lower elevation would compromise the perception of divine credibility. “What kind of god lives in a hole?”

    I read Isaiah 2:2. “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills.” And I am reminded once again that God’s got a plan, and once again, it’s the very thing we don’t expect.

    I am learning that place participates with struggle. Let me explain that. As Jesus agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane over his impending death (which included not just extreme physical pain, but an encounter with the full-on wrath of God), the Judean Wilderness was right there. Within a half-day walk, Jesus could flee His purpose and be lost in the crags and canyons of the wild just to the East of the garden. From the Mount of Olives, Jesus could see a way out. This moment might be the closest we come to losing our salvation. He is on the cusp of walking away.

    We learned (an advantage to walking this land) that often in the Bible when someone walks to the east, bad things happen. Adam and Eve are cast to the East, the Tower of Babel is to the East, David flees to the East…

    So that night, even though he seemed ready to walk east, Jesus went west to Jerusalem and the cross.

    Standing in the olive trees, I could feel a tiny corner of His temptation to flee. It worried me and made me glad the fate of the world was not resting on these broken shoulders.    Read more

  • Paul BernardIsrael 2015
    Day 20

    Mass at Holy Sepulcher & Temple Mount

    May 26, 2015 in Israel ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today we had a day off class, and we were free to do as we pleased. A few of us decided to wake up early, drive the sleep from our eyes and attend a pre-dawn Latin mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The empty streets (see photo) were such a different experience than the chaos of the days before. When we got to the church, we could hear the music before we walked in. Gregorian chanting, done in the great room of that cathedral was certainly something to behold (photo). It is (if you’ll remember) the likely place of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. There isn’t much to compare to a high mass in that kind of setting. It was something that I will not soon forget.

    After the mass, we made our way down to see if we could get up onto the Temple Mount. This is the structure that used to be the foundation for God’s Holy Temple, but now is the site of a mosque called the Dome of the Rock (gold-domed structure in photos). The Dome of the Rock is a magnificent piece of architecture that was completed in the 1300’s. The mosaics (see photos) are absolutely stunning.

    For Muslims, this place on the Temple Mount is considered the third most holy place on the planet (after Medina and Mecca). Of course, the Jews consider the Temple Mount their most holy place and as Christians, we make our own claim on the place, alongside the Jews.

    The temple mount is not always open to foreigners, but right now, there is enough peace between the Palestinians and Jews that we were granted access. As we made our way up the steep ramp from the site of the Western Wailing Wall to the top of the Temple Mount, a Jewish man below shouted “Remember, it is not the Muslims who are discriminated against, it is the Jews!” For the time being, I could make nothing of that comment, but that would change soon.

    As we walked through the archway onto the Temple Mount, we were greeted with very contrasting impressions. We were surrounded by lush gardens, beautiful fountains and breathtaking architecture. But the tranquility was broken by large groups of old men in traditional Muslim garb chanting to Allah, heavily armed soldiers shouting various things at various people, and Muslim women chanting loud prayers in high-pitched voices.

    We weren’t quite sure what to think. Or how to feel.

    We made our way around the mount, ourselves being shouted at a few times for stepping where we were not supposed to step or trying to go where we were not supposed to go. It was very tense, and this feeling was exacerbated when a group of Jews came onto the Temple Mount and all eyes turned to them. Most Jews are forbidden on the Temple Mount (and I suspect many would not be caught dead there), but some choose to go anyway to get that much closer to the Holy of Holies.

    As they entered the courtyards, the chanting Muslim women started yelling at the Jews in screams of anger, running over and shaking fists. This caught everyone’s attention and suddenly, a group of men reading from the Koran abandoned their studies and started to close in as well. Shouts of “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is greater) filled the air from both men and women. The Jews were immediately surrounded by security police who escorted them to a corner of the Temple Mount where they could worship, unmolested by the Muslims. The fray died down and we scurried down to the safety of less tense places.

    As I watched this unfold the man’s words echoed in my ears, “It is not the Muslims who are discriminated against, it is the Jews!” and I had new insight. This hatred has existed for a long time and there is nothing easy about the answer. Both faith traditions lay some valid claim to this area. But, as we walked away, it was so obvious that all was not right with the world. Shalom was not here.

    There was once another ancient conflict between the Jews and a group of people called the Samaritans. Jesus addressed it in John 4 “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

    And the heaviness of the day was lifted as our team broke bread together over dinner. Although it isn’t always obvious, things are going according to plan.

    I won't be posting for the next few days. We take a field trip to the south and the Negev, a stark desert regions. Temperatures of 110+ to be expected. I'll keep good notes though and post when I return to Jerusalem.

    In the mean time, Shalom!    Read more

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