12-week Ultrasound

That little sucker was MOVING today. I'm getting really, really excited!

Day 4 Pictures

Sunday (Day 4) Pictures

Link To More Pictures

Saturday (Day 3)

Photo Album Links

Jen's working on getting full sets of captioned photos up. Here are the first two:

Day One (Caesarea, etc.)

Day Two (Various spots around Sea of Galilee)

Masada, Qumran, Floating In The Dead Sea, The Mountain Of Life vs The Mountain Of Death

Masada--Fortress built by Herod The Great. After the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, this was the location of the "last stand" of some of the Zealots. They holed themselves up in this location, basically a mountain surrounded by walls overlooking the Dead Sea, and the Romans lay seige to the place. They ended up committing mass suicide before the Romans could capture the fortress.

Jen's mom, Susan, standing behind a model of Masada. On the front of the model is Herod's palace there. On top of the mountain is the fortress itself. Behind her are some of the original walls of Masada.

Qumran--Location where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found--a powerful reminder that God could and has preserved his Word. The scrolls proved that the Old Testament that we have today is the same as the Old Testament that they had before the days of Christ.

Here's a shot of one of the caves in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

The Dead Sea--This was just a fun little side trip to the lowest spot on earth. The Dead Sea has so much salt and mineral content that it is incredibly buoyant. You can't really swim in it, but a human body floats on it almost as much as if wearing a life jacket.

Today's most significant moment spiritually for me came from Tony's comments about Masada, contrasting it to the Mount Of Beatitudes which we had visited. The Mount Of Beatitudes was a mountain of life, where Jesus spoke words of hope, instruction, love, and life. And many there heeded his words. The mountain at Masada was a mountain of death, because those hidden there thought that by hiding there, they would force God's hand and he would send the Messiah that *THEY* were awaiting. They had missed the real Messiah 40 or so years earlier because they had shaped him into to the image they wanted him to be. When God "failed" to deliver, they committed suicide in their despair.

How often do I walk down a similar path as the Zealots on Masada: shape God into the image I want him to be, and when he doesn't "deliver" based on that image, allow myself to sink into disappointment with him. May I "have ears to hear" and heed the words of Christ, such as spoken on the other mountain, instead.

--Ben

TUESDAY: Temple Mount, Pool Of Bethesda, Via Doloroso, Israel Musesum, House Of Caiaphas, The Upper Room

Temple Mount—It is located on Mt. Moriah. Abraham went here to offer Isaac. Temples were built here by Solomon, Saul, and Herod the Great. Herod’s stood in the days of Jesus. It was destroyed in AD 70 . The Jews tried to rebuild it in AD 135, and the Romans viewed it as an act of rebellion and destroyed it, putting up a pagan temple. Byzantines conquered in AD 330 and knocked down the pagan temple, leaving nothing on the site for three centuries. The Muslim Arabs conquered in AD 640, and built the prominent structure which stands there now: The Dome Of The Rock.

Tony talked a bit about the politics of the area at this sight. The three statements he made in conclusion really resonated with me, based on what I've read in the past and what I've seen and heard this week:

"The Muslims fear that the Jews will blow up the Dome and rebuild the Temple. The Jews envy the Muslims for having a building at this sacred sight. Fear and envy create hatred."

Contrast that to...

"...perfect love drives out fear..."--I John 4:18

John spoke here about the Jewish sacrificial system at the temple, from Leviticus 1:1-5, how the people would bring a lamb, place their hands on it, and as it was slain, their sins would be transferred to the animal. And John The Baptizer said "Behold, the Lamb Of God who takes away the sins of the world!" He also referred to the Book Of Hebrews where it shows how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies and sacrificial system.

Pool Of Bethesda--Jesus healed a paralyzed man here in John 5:1-15. The remains of this pool have been found.

Via Doloroso--There are 14 Stations Of The Cross that were created by tradition--some not mentioned in the Bible. I won't go into all of the details of them here. Just check the Wikipedia Page if you want to know more. We walked the Via Doloroso, which goes through the streets of Jerusalem. It was, uh, kind of crowded.

Israel Museum--The two major things we looked at here were a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, and a very large (1:50) model of Jerusalem in the ancient times. Here's a shot of the model.

Caiaphas's House--The location where the High Priest questioned Jesus during that fateful last night before the crucifixion. The actual home is not there, but excavations have revealed the exact location.

Upper Room--The sight of the Last Supper. Also no remains, but the exact place.

Probably the biggest thing that stuck out today was a part of John's message at the Temple Mount. After teaching regarding the sacrificial system, he spoke powerfully about how when the Temple veil was split at the moment of Jesus's death, it was symbolic of the fact that now there is no barrier between man and God. Through Christ, we have direct access to God. Good stuff!

The Basic Geography Of The Trip To Date

It occurred to me that many of those reading are probably like me before I got here: without a good idea of the basic geography of Israel. Here's a map and a quick explanation (partly for myself so I can remember it all).

The locations circled in red are the more well-known ones that we've visited so far. To give a quick recap of where we've been, we landed in Tel Aviv, and drove north along the Mediterranean. The first place we visited, Caesarea, is located near Hadera (not circled). We would eventually spend that night in Tiberias, which is not shown on this map, but is a town located on the western shores of the Sea Of Galilee. The next day was spent almost entirely with the Sea Of Galilee within sight. Everything in this post would be reflected there. On the next day, we went north and east from Galilee. We were within sight of both the Syrian and Lebanese borders at different times before returning back and having the baptism in the Jordan, which flows into and out of the Sea Of Galilee. (I'm not 100% certain, but I *THINK* the baptism was on the north side of Galilee. On Sunday morning we packed the bus and left the hotel in Tiberias. We went to Nazareth, and a couple of other places, then traveled south in the West Bank area, essentially right along the Jordan River, to Jericho, viewing the heavily-fortified border with Jordan for miles and miles along the way. We entered Jerusalem Sunday evening shortly before sunset. The rest of the trip will be spent in and around Jerusalem, with the exception of an excursion down to the Dead Sea, I believe. Hope that helps.