I had wanted to visit Israel for nearly three decades.  Just ask Karen!   Finally, we went, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. 

For me, there's something profound and inspiring about walking where Jesus walked, seeing what he might have seen.  Israel is a special place.  After all, God put into play his plan of redemption through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in that geographic location.  

I have to give credit to Pastor Greg who told us about Jerusalem University College, which is  located in the Mt. Zion area of Old Jerusalem, Israel.  We signed up for one of their adult education offerings, a study tour of the land of the Bible.  They prep you with 100 pages of map/bible/context study to complete before the trip.  So I started three months out, and I'm glad I did.  It gave me a strong context in which to put everything I saw and heard. 

What did I appreciate the most?  Having a Ph.D. Old Testament scholar, Jack Beck (a former professor), ranks high on my list, and traveling in a relatively small group of 17 people gets high marks.   

What did I like most?  I liked the emphasis on connecting the geography, culture of the times, natural history, and archeological insights with biblical events.  At every site we visited, Jack Beck would make these connections after reading relevant portions of scripture.  

What did we do?  The first five days we stayed in one location just inside the Jaffa Gate in old Jerusalem.  The first two days we walked about Old Jerusalem: the first day, we focused on Old Testament perspectives and on the second day, New Testament ones.  We sat on the Temple Mount steps in front of the Huldah Gates, facing the City of David, as our guide read relevant portions of Scripture.  We visited the western wall and the men were allowed to enter the synagogue under Wilson's Arch, frequented by Orthodox Hasidic Jews who spent their time praying and chanting.  What an experience.  Several of us chose to walk through Hezekiah's tunnel that connects the Gihon spring, outside the city of David, to the pool of Siloam inside it, constructed by King Hezekiah in anticipation of the siege by Assyria (1 Kings 1:32-40).  It was an incredible experience, and knowing that Solomon was crowned king at that very spring made it that much more memorable. 

We spent the following 3 days traveling in ever larger concentric rings around Jerusalem, visiting Old and New Testament sites, ranging from the ancient tel of Jericho, to the ancient city of Shiloh.  I loved visiting the tel of Azekah, where we overlooked the valley of Elah where Saul's army engaged the Philistines: where David fought the Philistine champion Goliath.  We spent a day down on the Dead Sea and visited Masada, Qumran and En Gedi, each of which will ring OT and NT bells for you. 

On the sixth day, we traveled north along the coastal highway and visited Caesarea Maritima, Mt. Carmel, and Nazareth, on our way to our kibbutz at En Gev, located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee where we stayed for the next two nights.  While there, we visited the Golan Heights, Caesarea Philippi, Dan, Hazor, and the "miracle triangle" of Capernaum-Chorazim-Bethsaida.  We visited the ruins at Gamala, about 5 miles NE of the Sea of Galilee in the Golan Heights, where I had the privilege of preaching a homily during a spontaneous worship service in the ruins of an ancient synagogue.  Our guide surmised there was a strong likelihood Jesus preached and taught in that synagogue since the Gospels say that when Jesus was in Galilee he was teaching in the synagogues throughout the area.  I was humbled and inspired. 

There was so much more we saw and did and studied.  But I will save that for a slide presentation and question/answer period with Karen we'll schedule this January.  Watch for the announcement.  Let me add that we ended our Israel study tour with a three day trip to Jordan to visit the Decapolis cities of Gadara, Jerash, and Rabbah (present day Amman) and the highlight, Petra.  For the sake of space and brevity, I will only say WOW! 

I hope these few words have piqued your interest in making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  Karen and I would love to go again but with you this time and to be a part of your spiritual experience as you connect the geography and culture of this ancient land with the biblical texts.   Just writing about it gets me excited all over again.  We do have a great God who revealed himself to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who by the grace of the Father and ministry of the Holy Spirit is our Lord and Savior.  What a privilege it is to walk where he walked.