Hello everyone! Here are more of the pictures from our trip to Israel in April!
This is the "Jesus Boat". It is a fisherman's boat found in the Sea of Galilee when the water level went way down. It is from the time of the disciples! Peter's maybe?!
This picture is taken in front of the "Gideon Spring", the place where Gideon had his army drink water to decide who should stay and who should go!
These are the ruins that were found of the ancient city of Beth Shean.
These are the ruins that were found of the ancient city of Beth Shean.
Pastor Bill standing between some pillars on the main Promenade of the city.
Standing on top of Mount Scopus to get our first view of the city of Jerusalem! It was amazing to actually be standing there!
We arrived in Jerusalem on Friday night, which is the Sabbath, or Shabat. These are the Shabat elevators. They went continuously up and down, stopping at each floor so that the Orthodox Jews would not have to push the buttons. We were told to make sure to avoid these and we made it until the last hour of the next day before one of us made the mistake of trying to push a button and it began to sound an alarm! We jumped out of it and into a regular one and made our get away! I'm sure we were caught on camera somewhere, though! :)
Standing on top of Mount Scopus to get our first view of the city of Jerusalem! It was amazing to actually be standing there!
We arrived in Jerusalem on Friday night, which is the Sabbath, or Shabat. These are the Shabat elevators. They went continuously up and down, stopping at each floor so that the Orthodox Jews would not have to push the buttons. We were told to make sure to avoid these and we made it until the last hour of the next day before one of us made the mistake of trying to push a button and it began to sound an alarm! We jumped out of it and into a regular one and made our get away! I'm sure we were caught on camera somewhere, though! :)
Continuing our descent into the Old City by a path that may have been the one that Jesus took when He rode the donkey into the city with crowds shouting Hosanna!
The Eastern Gates, or Beautiful Gates. These are the gates that Jesus will walk through into the city at His second coming! The Muslims sealed them, thinking that would keep Messiah out! HA! :)
The Eastern Gates, or Beautiful Gates. These are the gates that Jesus will walk through into the city at His second coming! The Muslims sealed them, thinking that would keep Messiah out! HA! :)
The Garden of Gethsemane.
A 3000 year old olive tree in the Garden of Gethsemane. This would have been there when Jesus was there and also at the time of Solomon!
Our guide says that these were most likely the type of thorns that were used to make the crown of thorns that Jesus was forced to wear. Quite a bit more vicious looking than you imagined, right?
Our guide also told us of the custom of putting prisoners in solitary confinement by lowering them by ropes into a pit through a hole in the floor such as this one. Jesus would have been lowered into one just like this!
Our group waiting for our turn at the next stop on our tour. It was a perfect time to rest! We have Pastor Bob Yandian, Loretta Yandian, Donna Tredway, Glenna Slaight, me, Pastor Bill Novak, Kathryn Benish and Jerry Benish.
The rest of our group! Dr. Paul Stanton, Peggy Woods, Gary Woods, Karen Carmichael, Dr. Don Tredway, Gwen Olin and Pastor Yandian again! It was a great group of people to spend a week with! Thank You, Jesus!
A closer view of the Temple!
This is a panel on the outside of what currently takes up space on the Temple Mount. It is on the front of the mosque referred to as the Dome of the Rock. Our guide said that this panel next to the front door represents who resides here! Do YOU see what WE saw? Demonic!
We visited the Temple Institute where they are making the furniture and utensils needed for the rebuilding of the Temple. They have everything made except the Ark of the Covenant! Come quickly Lord Jesus!
We were able to go underground at the site of the Western Wall to see these amazing foundation stones from the original Temple Mount. These are huge stones in one piece starting where Dr. Paul is way over to the right and ending...
...where Tony is at the left! Massive!
The beautiful ladies of our tour group! Front right is Dr. Karyl Stanton who was taking the previous picture where I named all of the people!
Our entire group, except for Karyl taking the picture again. On the left is our tour guide, Tony Gafni. We were at the bottom of Masada.
Pastor Bill standing by an Acacia tree.
Here I am sitting ON the water of the Dead Sea! It was impossible NOT to float!
Me on the bus on our way to another interesting place in Jerusalem!
My roommate, Karen, singing worship to the Lord in one of the churches in Jerusalem. Her voice was beautiful and the echoes were amazing!
This was a parade of Jewish young people from all over the world who came to celebrate the Israeli Independence Day!
There were three people beating these drums and then this man blew the Shofar. It was fantastic to experience!
...until we return!
We had an amazing and life changing trip! The flight was the very best flight I have ever been on, and it was almost 12 hours in the air from Atlanta. This was AFTER our flight from Minneapolis! Thank You, Jesus! If you are interested in seeing Israel, let me know as soon as possible. We are considering a tour in May 2011, but we need a minimum number of people to be able to go! Would love to take you there!
Have a wonderful rest of your summer!
Shalom in Him,
Robin
