We Leave Tomorrow.

We leave the Lowcountry behind tomorrow morning, and head for the Holy Land. We'll post pics here, and also at Facebook. I don't anticipate having internet access from Thursday to Saturday, so don't expect any pictures until Sunday at the earliest. Thanks in advance for your prayers, and looking forward to talking with many of you when we return. Shalom, Chaverim!

--Ben

Day 01 Departure Wed 9/10/08

• Leave from Charleston Airport at 6:30am.
• We’ll be in the Newark airport with a very long layover most of the day.
• Depart Newark 4:05 pm. Direct flight to Tel Aviv.
  

Day 02 Thu 9/11/08

• Arrival Tel Aviv
• Sharon Plain valley north to Caesarea by the Sea (Caesarea Maritima)
• Sunken Harbor
• Hippodrome
• Theatre – built by Herod the Great
• Roman aqueduct
• Galilee
• Drive to Muhraka (“burnt offering”) on Mt. Carmel with panoramic view of Plain of Jezreel (Esdraelon) Kings 18: confrontation between Elijzh and prophets of Baal
• Drive on to Megiddo ~ background for Armageddon (Revelation 16)
• Cross country to Arbel cliff for view over Sea of Galilee
• Dinner and overnight in Tiberias (B, D)
  

Day 03 Fri 9/12/08 Sea of Galilee

• Drive up Golan Heights for panoramic view of lake from the east.
• Cross to the Mount of Beatitudes (Matthew 5-7)
• May walk down hill to lake, meeting at Tabgha
• On to Capernaum
• One-hour wooden boat trip on lake modeled after one from Jesus’ time (Mt 14)
• End day at place where Jordan River flows out of lake
• Back to hotel in Tiberias overnight (B, L, D)
  

Day 04 Sat 9/13/08 Sources of the Jordan

• To Hazor, the largest Canaanite city for brief visit and view of Mt. Hermon
• Solomon rebuilt Hazor during his reign to guard the northern approach to Israel.
• Inhabitants of Hazor taken into captivity by tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria.
• To Dan for nature walk beside Upper Jordan with views of ancient ruins including the Israelite high place that supported a golden calf (1 Kings 12)
• To spring of Caesarea Philippi (Banias) where Peter confessed his recognition of Jesus as Christ (Mt 16).
• Visit remains of 1st-century AD palace of Agrippa II.
• Drive around Mt. Hermon to glimpse Damascus, 45 miles away.
• Back over Golan Heights to hotel for dinner and overnight (B, D).

Day 05 Sun 9/14/08 – Lower Galilee and Jordan Valley / visit Nazareth, Beth Shean and Jericho.

• Nazareth – We may choose a visit to the spring of the ancient village; a walk through the bazaar over the site of the ancient village to the Church of the Annunciation with a visit there; or a view from the “brow of the hill on which the city was built (Luke 4) looking toward Mt. Tabor in the Jezreel plain.
• We will then cross the plain and descend through the Jezreel Valley to Beth Shan (aka Scythopolis). Here we will climb the tel and view the setting for the death of Saul (1 Samuel 28 – II Samuel 1). We will then survey the magnificent Roman and Byzantine ruins: theatre, bathhouses, ancient rest rooms, market areas, colonnaded streets.
• We will then drive through the Jordan Valley south to Jericho. At Jericho we visit the tel of this oldest city and view the traditional mountain of Jesus’ temptation.
• Ascending the Roman road along WadiQilt, we stop for a look at St. George’s Monastery Finally, atop Mt. Scopus, we behold majestic Jerusalem where we will have dinner and overnight.

Day 06 Mon 9/15/08 – O Jerusalem! and Bethlehem

• Begin the day on the Mount of Olives, with the Old City tilted toward us.
• After an orientation, we will descent the traditional Palm Sunday road to
• Dominus Flevit (“The Lord weeps”), remembering Jesus’ entry. (Luke 19). We continue on down to Gethsemane.
• Gethsemane – Visit to the garden and the church (quiet time).
• Drive on to Mt. Zion to the grounds of a church called Peter in Gallicantu, which affords the best view of early Jerusalem from the west. Here, the Assumptionist Fathers propose was the house where the High Priest Caiaphas interrogated Jesus.)
• Driving south, we visit Solomon’s Pools, Jersalem’s main source of water for almost 2000 years.
• Passing the monastery of hortus Conclusus (“the sealed garden”) in Artas, we go to Shepherd’s Fields.
• We conclude the day with a visit to Bethlehem, walking through its alleys and markets to the Church of the Nativity before returning to the hotel for dinner and overnight. (B,D)
  

Day 07 Tue 9/16/08 – Jerusalem – The Old City

• We transfer to Dung Gate where we will walk up to the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site. We ascend to the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site of Islam, located on the traditional site of the ancient Temple Mount where it was once thought the Temple stood.
• Just to the north we find the Pools of Bethesda (John 5) and St. Anne’s Church perfectly preserved from the Crusader period and with remarkable acoustics.
• We then follow the Way of the Cross (Via Dolorosa) back as far as the Holy Sepulcher. From there we walk through the Christian Quarter through the Arab Souks past the Armenian Quarter and exit the Old City through the Mt Zion Gate to visit the Upper Room and King David’s Tomb on the grounds of Mt. Zion. We will then return to the hotel for dinner and overnight. (B, D)
  

Day 08 Wed 9/17/08 – The Rift Valley

• Today we will drive to Bethany, the home of Martha and Lazarus.
• From there we drive through the Judean desert to Qumran. Here we view Cave # 4, which contained the greatest quantity of Dead Sea scrolls
• We continue south to Masada where we will take the cable car to the top, visiting Herod’s mountain bunker and the last stronghold of the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 AD).
• We then enter the nature reserve of Ein Gedi, rich in flora and fauna, and walk to a lovely waterfall. Here we can also try to imagine a possible cave that brings to mind the biblical reference (1 Samuel 24: 1-3) “Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. He came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave.”
• We conclude the day with a float in the Dead Sea (at minus 1390 feet, as low as you’re ever likely to get) before we return to Jerusalem for dinner and overnight. (B, D)
  

Day 09 Thu 9/18/08 – The Archeology of Jerusalem and the New City

• We begin with a modern tunnel that enables us to examine the length of the outer Herodian Temple wall -mostly preserved in mint condition - including two stone blocks each weighing about 600 tons
• We then examine the ruins near the south side of the Temple complex, including steps where we may be certain that Jesus and the disciples walked.
• We may then descend the slope of the first Jerusalem (“City of David”) to the Gihon spring, and view the knee-high water through Hezekiah’s tunnel, which led the water to a pool at a safe remove from Assyrian arrows.
• We then motor to West Jerusalem passing by the Knesset to the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Israel Museum, including the outdoor model of Jerusalem as the city may have looked in 66 AD.
• We close the day at the Garden Tomb for a special visit and the possibility of having a private communion on the grounds. We will return to our hotel for dinner and overnight. (B, D)
  

Day 10 Fri 9/19/08 - Free Day

• Today we will have a day of leisure for personal interest and last minute shopping. In the early evening we will have our farewell dinner before a late departure back home on our flight from Tel Aviv.