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TRACING THE FINAL WEEK OF JESUS' EARTHLY LIFE:
The final week Jesus walked this earth in his human form, the week was a fulfillment of several ancient prophecies.
The ascent up from the Mt of Olives into Jerusalem.
Matthew 21
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to the Daughter of Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”a
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
THE TEMPLE
After his entrance on the donkey he went straight to the temple. One account says he looked around and left till morning and other accounts made it clear he was none too happy about what he saw and took care of it that day. Either way, all the accounts are clear that Jesus "Cleaned House".
One of he business stalls set aside for the purpose of selling to the worshippers. The trouble is that these were down on the street and the temple was up high on the mount. The sellers had moved their wares and money changing right up into the courtyard.
The courtyard of the Temple
Matthew 21:12-13
Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’f”
Steps leading up to the Temple.
The Psalms are filled with chapters labeled "song of ascent". Our guide told us that as the worshippers 'ascended' to the temple they would recite a line from the Psalm on each step. One step at a time slowly ascending and reciting.
Psalm 122
A song of ascents. Of David.
1I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
2Our feet are standing
in your gates, O Jerusalem.
3Jerusalem is built like a city
that is closely compacted together.
4That is where the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
to praise the name of the Lord
according to the statute given to Israel.
5There the thrones for judgment stand,
the thrones of the house of David.
6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.
7May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”
8For the sake of my brothers and friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your prosperity.
A Rabbi teaching on the temple steps, just as Jesus might have done.
This is the "Pinnacle of the Temple".
This corner stone would have been sitting at the highest point of the temple. The Herald would have sounded the horn to announce news to the city. Anyone standing here would have been heard and seen all over Jerusalem. They know this is the pinnacle stone from the writing you can see etched into the stone.
Our "Herald" sounding the alarm.
And is this the very pinnacle stone where Satan took Jesus during his time of temptation?
Luke 4:9-12
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
He was taken to the very place where all of Jerusalem would be able see Jesus prove himself "the Son of God". I just stood there staring and wondering, "Is that the VERY stone Jesus stood on while he and Satan were engaged in conflict?"
The stones of the Temple.
Luke 21:5-6
Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
Matthew 26:1-5, 14-16
When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."
I was at 2 places that the Bible talks of miracles very specifically, the Pool of Siloam and the Bethesda Pool.
Sitting on the steps of the "Pool of Siloam".
Nehemiah 3:15
15The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Col-Hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofing it over and putting its doors and bolts and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam,e by the King’s Garden, as far as the steps going down from the City of David.
The pool stones with a mural painting depicting a traditional scene by the pool.
John 9
1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”3“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7“Go,” he told him,“wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
Bethesda
John 5
1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesdaa and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.b 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”7“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
You can see at the far end the steep steps the man would have had to traverse even to reach the water. Now I have never understood this "stirring of water" and one person gets a healing if they get there first. I have since learned the "Rest of the Story" so to speak. One of the pagan gods that was worshipped was supposedly behind this "blessing". A friend that was explaining this to us asked why Jesus didn't just drop that man in the water if that was what was needed. His astute 10 year old quipped, "Because, he would have drown!" That got a laugh from us all. Of course a paralyzed man would drown. But that wasn't the reason, really. Jesus healed without the water, stirred up or not. He didn't even seem to acknowledge the man's belief system.
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
The Mount of Beatitudes
There was a church here and lovely grounds kept in pristine condition. Kept pristine because we, the masses, were fenced away from it. This is where Jesus sat and taught a huge crowd. He taught them a new radical way to live.
The entire teaching is found in Matthew chapter 5. Here is a portion:
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them, saying:
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(When we were leaving a Korean woman ran up to Leah and put her arm around her shoulders while her friends took their picture. Then they passed her from person to person taking her picture! They were so happy about their "find" I couldn't get mad.)
Leah and a "Friend".
STEPHEN
Acts 6:8
"Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people."
6:15
"All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel."
( Stephen had been hauled into the religious court because he did miracles in Jesus name and preached the gospel in Jesus name. Then Stephen gave them a lecture on the history of Israel culminating in him telling them they had greatly sinned by killing Jesus.)
7:54-58
When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city..
The gate through which Stephen was drug. (under renovation)
7:58-60
.....and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Standing on the street where Stephen was martyred.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Jesus, while teaching on the Mount of Beatitudes
From anywhere in the city you can see The Dome of the Rock. In a sea of sand colored buildings this bright blue and gold structure is eye catching. It cannot be ignored. Day or night it gleams and reflects. The Dome of the Rock is the place that the muslims believe Muhammad ascended into heaven. It was built in 692 AD. The area where it stands is under the control of the muslims. Some days they open the site to the public and allow them access to the Temple Mount. We were grateful that the day we had set aside was one of their open days. (Its not on a set schedule, it is random and unpredictable.)
The Dome of the Rock
In 1993 King Hussein of Jordan paid to have the dome covered in gold. That is solid gold, not gold paint. We were very respectful and careful as we walked the premisses. We did not want to cause any problems for ourselves or for anyone else wanting to view this special place. Its special because God has deemed it so. Jesus walked this area, healed the sick, rebuked the religious hypocrites, taught the masses, and according to the literal understanding of scripture, will return to this place. But for me, the one most shocking revelation came when we approached a small open-air structure.
The place where the Jewish Temple had been, (one of the disputed sites), has this little structure. The flooring has been removed and the top most part of the mountain shows. This is the place that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice. And then, it became the place of sacrifice for sin when Solomon built the first temple. I had no idea Abraham was anywhere near here when God said;
Genesis 22
“Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
There is also seemingly ordinary things going on up there.
Like a man picking olives.
Or men gathered for religious instruction. (You can see the mosque spire between the trees)
A controversy:
Will another Jewish Temple be built?
Is the Dome of the Rock on the ancient site?
Or is this area the true place where it was/should be?
(You can see the little structure noting the place where Abraham took Isaac.)
Replace the cars with camels and donkeys and I think we have a good picture of the way things were in the past in Jerusalem. We wandered around exploring this ancient city. Even though it is filled with modern conveniences , those conveniences have to work within the framework of history to some extent.
Like trying to pass a car through an opening meant for a donkey. "No Hummers in these here parts."
Or the "Dung Gate" entrance pock marked with bullet holes after the "Six Day War".
But some things never change, like this man selling fruit from a cart.
I have no reason to post this photo other than I just liked it. (Minus the tops of the heads.)
I can't really remember but I think its the church housing the "Upper Room".
This too was taken "just because".
As we walked this area we saw little children going from one place to another unescorted. Now in America, that would be scandalous because its so dangerous. So many strangers around, you would never see your kid again. But elsewhere in the world, people lived like we did "back in the day", when your child could take themselves down to the store and back and no one would worry about it. So as we traipsed along I found myself falling into step with a little guy of about age 6. He had the long curls by his ears and his little yarmulke on his head. I couldn't resist speaking to him.
me: Hi
boy: nothing
me: I bet your mother told you not to talk to strangers.
boy: nothing
me: She's right, and I will stop talking to you.
boy: runs
HEZEKIAH'S TUNNEL
This tunnel was built by King Hezekiah to divert the Gihon Spring to bring a water supply into the city. You are allowed to wade through it from one side to the other, its about a mile long. Only three kids wanted to do it out of our group and so Todd volunteered to keep track of the "Bold and the Brave". Armed with swim suits and flash lights, they descended into history.
The guide to the depth of the water so you can know how deep you will be wading.
Entrance to Hezekiah's Tunnel.
2 Samuel 5
6The king (David) and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” 7Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, the City of David.8On that day, David said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shafta to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies.
A statue of King David and his harp.
The City of David is an area basically right outside of Jerusalem, basically its a suburb. Its original wall is oblong that comes to a point at the top and bottom of the city. Here is a scale model.
The City of David is mostly rubble now. His original tomb is there, but his bones were moved. What's left of the wall is there.
The original wall stones.
1 Kings 2
10Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.
David's resting place, people believe it is holy and pray here as this woman is doing. I just saw blankets and curtains. But this is inside Jerusalem not in The City of David.
The original tomb site?
The famous "Wailing Wall".
People come here day and night and pray. They also write out their requests and stuff them into the cracks and crevices of the rocks. The papers are periodically collected and placed in a storage room. NONE are ever thrown away. We visited this area 4 times in the 13 days we were here. Different times, for different reasons.
Thursday is the traditional day for young boys to celebrate their Bar Mitzvah. When a boy turns 13 they hold a celebration and sometimes come to the wall. They bring out a huge box, probably 7 feet tall and in it is a scroll, the Torah. The boy takes it and begins to recite portions of it by memory.
A Father dancing with his son in celebration of his Bar Mitzvah.
The wailing wall has a dividing wall to separate the men from the women. But during the celebrations the female members of the family refuse to be "walled out" and so they stand on chairs and hang over the dividing wall and cheer on the boy/man. Everyone is throwing candy and singing.
There is a bridge, a very rickety bridge, that takes you from the base of this area and into the under-city excavations.
The walkway to the excavations.
When entering this area all men must wear the yarmulkes, male head covering, because this site is so close to the original site of the Temple. They have an incredible display of a model of the original temple, and how it looked "back then" and how the area looks today.
Down into the earth you descend to where they have discovered the remains of the original streets, homes, and buildings.
As we stood on the ancient pavement we could look up and see a window to the streets of today.
Down under the earth. ( sorry about the fuzzy photo)
After being in the depths, we climbed to the heights.
The Ramparts Walk, The Citadel
The famous Tower of David.
Site of the "Six Day War", Jordan below and Israel above battling it out. Other battles were also waged here over the centuries.
Blowing the Shofar.
Joel 2
1Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—
12“Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love....
Sea of Galilee at sunset.
Much of the life and ministry of Jesus was centered around the Sea of Galilee. Several of his chosen disciples were called from these shores.
Matthew 4
12When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. 13Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, along the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”e
17From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20At once they left their nets and followed him.21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
In 1986 there was a drought and the Sea shrunk in size. When that happened, an ancient fishing boat was exposed. The specialists were called in and it was estimated to be about 2,000 years old. Was it one of the boats Jesus used to stand in while he preached? Was it Peter's boat? Who knows. But what they do know is that it is the kind they used, at the time they lived, and in the place they fished.
The Jesus boat.
A model of the boat in its complete form.
One of the famous dishes in Israel is called "St. Peter Fish" in honor of Peter the fisherman/disciple.
St Peter Fish Dish
We sailed on a replica of "the Jesus boat" out onto the Sea of Galilee.
They hoisted the Israeli Flag and then to our surprise they hoisted the American Flag and played "The Star Spangled Banner"! I had tears in my eyes, I haven't heard that in 2 1/2 years. A group of Russians that came after us were moved too when they heard their anthem being played. They were moved to toast each other with Vodka!
Leah at the bow.
After we put 'out to Sea' we came to the center of the lake and then they stopped the boat.
The pastor read Matthew 14:
"22- Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat was already a considerable distancea from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29“Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
“You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Do you have faith to believe?
The start of the Jordan River.
The beginnings of the river start in the mountains near Lebanon. It is beautiful there. The tribe of Dan settled the area and we saw the remains of one of the cities. They were steeped in idol worship and the shrines carved into the rocky cliffs are still there.
This shrine held an idol of the god Pan, the goat-footed creature that played the flute.
When I saw this beautiful aged tree up there, I thought of the scripture:
2 Kings 16:3-4
... following the detestable ways of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
The River and area were so lovley, it was such a nice change after being in the desolate area of the Dead Sea.
After seeing the start of the Jordan River and this waterfall, we went to the main body of the River, the baptismal site.
The baptism site.
Todd and I both agree that we think the site we went to while in Jordan is more likely the place where Jesus was baptized. But this was pretty and it IS the Jordan never-the-less. Many people come here to be baptized (re-baptized). Whether you agree with doing that or not, many groups line up and all day there are baptisms.
And it was COLD!
While some in our group were in the Jordan, this church group from Korea was singing while waiting their turn, beautiful!
"Welcome to Bethlehem
We welcome you on your journey as we welcomed the Prince of Peace
Pray for the freedom of Palestine"
Luke 2
"1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. "
Like me, you have probably heard this story many times. And maybe, like me, you have images of the countryside, a bit barren, then a little town, and fields of shepherds. The town is deserted because its night and the innkeeper doesn't even open the door all the way to the 2 forlorn travelers. But he does have a wooden barn. .....
That is NOT Bethlehem today. This is:
And this:
Bethlehem is in occupied Palestinian territory. This wall was erected and the people of Bethlehem are cut off. There used to be a large Arab Christian population, but it has slowly dwindled because of the persecution. The wall separates Jew from Arab, but within the wall are the Muslim Arabs and Christian Arabs. The Christian businesses are boycotted and it became too difficult for many to continue living here, and so they have left. There is now just one Christian owned business.
Lots of beautifully carved wooden figurines in the last Christian business of Bethlehem.
That is the political situation. We pray for them, but our focus that day was on the spiritual and historical situation.
"6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."
We went to the traditional spot that is said to be the birth place of Jesus. A church now stands on the place that at one time was a countryside cave. Wood was scarce, but there is much stone and rocky caves so most believe that a cave was where the Inn's animals were kept. Most likely not a wooden barn as my nativity set has.
Church of the Nativity
After you enter you see many icons, statuary, and ornate decorations. Then you can descend down the stairs into what remains of a cave.
Cave Entrance within the church building.
Orthodox priest praying with his congregation at the "birth place".
You can put your finger in this hole and touch the ground Jesus was born on. hmm...
More about that on another posting.
Or maybe you want to stand where it is believed that the manger sat. (I didn't understand the wire rabbit cage set-up. though.)
Outside the church is a large area that hundreds of pilgrims descend on every year at Christmas. This year I read a report that not only the Catholic pope was there, but also the Palestinian leader, and other influential people. Everyone was singing simultaneously, with loud drums and even bagpipes! The cacophony must have been ear splitting. So glad I was there a few weeks before and missed the"celebrations."
This is the public square where it all goes down. Across from the church is a mosque with Arafat's poster.
But our thoughtful guide wanted us to see what it was truly like when Mary and Joseph made their way through the countryside trying to find a warm, comfortable place for Jesus to be born.
A cave near Bethlehem. (This is much larger than it appears.)
Grazing fields for sheep. (Imagine the angels descending down towards that hill.)
"8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christa the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
We sat in this field by the cave and sang "Silent Night".
We went to Jericho for two reasons. To see a 2000 thousand year old Sycamore tree and shop for the "famous Hebron glass". You shop in Jericho for Hebron glass because Hebron is off limits. Its in Palestinian territory. Hebron was where King David's first children were born.
Hebron Glass
As we waited for the others to finish shopping, some goats passed by.
Then a man, with his donkey and kids passed by.
But the main reason to go to Jericho is to see Zacchaeus' tree. It is estimated to be about 2000 years old, so if it isn't the exact tree Zacchaeus climbed, its one of its descendants.
Luke 19
1Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
So while everyone was looking at the tree, speculating on its history, and generally being "in the moment", Leah was dancing around crying for a bathroom. Another driver talking with Achmed told us to go across the street to the paint store. It was open. So I stuck my head in and asked for a toilet. I got a head shake and then was ignored. Back to our bus and the other driver insisted it would work. So back I go dragging my dancing child. This time they motioned for me towards the back. So we began winding our way through rooms filled from floor to ceiling with cans of paint so old Zacchaeus probably had taxed them! Now if I had just arrived from America, I NEVER would have allowed myself and my child to be swallowed up into the recesses of this dilapidated building. But as it was, I found it an exciting adventure. You never knew what might be around the next corner.
Zacchaeus toilet
At least it was a "western toilet", I thought we might encounter our first "squatty potty".
Different cultures and religions have different rules that seem normal to those who adhere to them, but odd and funny to those who encounter them from an outside perspective.
I am now used to pork substitute. In the UAE we have turkey sausage, turkey ham, turkey salami. In Israel, the dietary rules were taken up a notch;
I wanted butter for my bread during dinner. No, butter, which is a milk product and cannot be served with meat, and meat was on the dinner menu. ok
How about coffee after my meal? No, hot drinks aren't served at dinner. ok
I had to have a bagel. But look at what is on my table.
A guy from a nearby hamburger joint tried to sit at this table and was vigorously chased away. Meat and milk must not even be NEAR each other.
The money is called "shekels" and when Leah first heard she said, "Chuckles?" Yeah, sure, that doll is 5 chuckles please.
No matter where you are in Israel, you ALWAYS say you are going "UP to Jerusalem". Which seems strange when you are in the north of the country, but that is how it is referred to there.
MAIN PLAYERS:
Pastor David Mills, his wife Debbie (left) and his sister Carol (right)
David has led 12 church groups over a period of 15 years to Israel.
And lastly, the fearless chariot driver, Achmed, a Palestinian Muslim. Todd and I would lay our limited Arabic on him once in awhile. He could maneuver that bus into and out of the tightest spots imaginable, all the while hearing women and children screaming. Maybe it was just me screaming, but still.
One day when we were out in the desert Achmed wanted to take one route and Yehuda wanted us to take another. Both ways looked as if one wrong move meant we would be stuck for 40 years and would be joining the Bedouins. As they "discussed" it the Pastor told us Moses and Joshua were fighting over which way we should go. I loved Yehuda, but with the bus, I was in Achmed's corner.
All the people of the group were wonderful, but I HAVE to talk about Nolita. She introduced herself and said, "Its Nolita, not Lolita". Nolita had such a sweet and gentle personality and talked so softly. So one of the days I saw her standing there holding Yehuda's hat. Our guide, Yehuda, always took his hat off and waved it whenever he was on the move and wanted us to keep up and not loose him. So I asked her why she had "the hat". Yehuda needed to make a "pit-stop" and he handed her the hat and since she didn't know what else to do, stood there waving it. But the funniest Nolita story goes like this:
After several days of eating local fare, our group began to demand McDonalds, quite forcefully. So Yehuda finally complied and had Achmed pull into a place. We all piled out and Nolita was the first at the counter. She looked up at the menu and not only realized it was only in Hebrew but it was also different selections. No cheeseburgers here. Remember, milk and meat are NEVER mixed. Yehuda quickly made his way to the counter to make sure everyone was taken care of. Nolita by then was already flustered and her mind just went blank.
Counter guy: What do you want?
Nolita: uhmmm,
Yehuda: A burger or maybe salad?
Nolita: Ok, salad.
Yehuda: Just a salad? Do you want chicken on it?
Nolita: Yes, chicken on it.
Counter guy: So you want a salad or chicken salad?
Nolita: yes
Yehuda: Do you want chicken?
Nolita: yes
Counter guy: Your name, please.
Nolita: I don't know.
Yehuda: You don't know your name!
nuff said
Every school outing has an armed guard, sometimes its one of the parents. Its hard to see, but that is a rifle hanging down.
Just beyond that rickety barbed-wire fence is Lebanon. Don't let the serenity fool you, there are also landmines beyond that rickety fence.
THE DRUZE
The Druze are a muslim sect. I don't know how much of the traditional beliefs of Islam they still retain, but one of their teachings is far from traditional, that is for sure.
All men over the age of 60 wear these style pants. Inside the pants is a bag sewn between the legs. You can see it hanging down on his clothes. They believe that one of them will be chosen to give birth to the coming messiah and since no one knows which man, they all wear this bag to "catch the baby".
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sharonwilhelm- sharonwilhelm
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