Today is My Last Day

It is about eight o'clock in the morning. Emily and I are all packed to leave for the States tonight at 12:30 am. We have our final exam. I spent last night preparing for the test, so I feel pretty good about it. However, I need to review, so this blog will be short. I wanted to include some pictures from the last field study that we had in the area of Galilee. If I have the time later on this afternoon, I plan on writing a few more blogs. If not, I will have post-Israel blogs up over the weekend...



This picture was taken at Dan. Dan is flowing with streams and rushing rivers. It receives its water from Mt. Hermon (elevation of over 9,000 feet) in the north. The snow and rain from Mt. Hermon flow into Dan.



On the top of Mt. Arbel I was able to overlook the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. Behind me you can see the Plain of Gennesaret and the Rosh Pinna Sill. We made a descent along the cliff of Mt. Arbel and traveled into the Arbel Pass. At one point in the descent, I was climbing on the wall/edge of the cliff. Pretty awesome.







On the boat crossing to the northern end of the Sea of Galilee!!

A Fun Night in Galilee

When we visited the regions of the Jezreel Valley, Upper and Lower Galilee, Samaria, Dan, etc... we stayed in Tiberius, a town on the western side of the Sea of Galilee (or Lake of Galilee). I was exhausted, but a group was going out to explore the area and thought to myself, "How often does one have the opportunity to walk around a port town that Jesus and the disciples spent time in? Not often!"

We made it down to the lake after a very long and steep descent from our hotel (thanks to my keen sense of direction...eh hem).
Honestly, I felt as if I was at a beach town back in the states. There was techno music blaring from shops, bars, and ice cream stands running parallel with the lake. When we all sat down under a canopy on the deck overlooking the lake, we simultaneously commented on the fact that our background music to this experience was Justin Timberlake- absolutely ludicrous.

Regardless, the night was filled with laughs and stories. We took the time we had together to share testimonies of Christ in our lives...and that is something I will never forget and intend to cherish about this experience. How amazing our God is- the great orchestrator. He allows us to cross paths with perfect strangers, leading us to distant places, by His grace that we might know Him more and glorify His name. Priceless.

Emily!

This is the beautiful Miss Emily D. Ford (soon to be Emily D. Barney). She has been my roommate this entire trip. Em has been a god-sent. I have been learning and growing alongside her this entire journey. Lots of laughs, tears, and prayers. She has a beautiful heart and is passionate about the Lord. She deserves a special place in this blog. Love you Em...and hopefully you don't wake up and freak out because I am still typing next to you at two in the morning.

Oskar Schindler's Grave

Pretty self-explanatory. This is the site of Oskar Schindler's grave. My friend Joanna and I decided to take a stroll (up a few hills) to see his grave. Joanna has wanted to see Schindler's grave since she watched Schindler's list several years ago. Apparently Jews still come visit the site (as well as tourists and the like) and continue to place stones on his grave just like they did at the end of the movie.

The Reality of the Gospel Message

So, as many of you can see, I am attempting to catch you up on the past week and a half. There is far too much to tell and describe to you, but these next few pictures hold much significance (though they may not be as appealing as the waterfalls).

This past Thursday we had a free day. However, before the free day began, we had a tour of the Garden Tomb scheduled at 8:30 a.m. Not much of a free day, huh? Well, that was exactly the attitude I had walking into the tour. I was tired, I had laundry to do, and not to mention an exam the next day. I had no anticipation or expectation for the tour that lay ahead of me.

The Garden Tomb, like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is a "traditional" site for Jesus' tomb as well as where he was crucified. Our tour guide (a British, witty, charismatic Christian) explained to us that the Garden Tomb may have been a possible location for Jesus' tomb, but Dr. Steve believes that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the more probable location. Regardless of whether or not Jesus was buried at the Garden Tomb, it was at this site that the Holy Spirit interrupted me with the reality of the gospel once again.

May I remind you, my body was weak and my desire was not to be up at 8:30 in the morning by any means. Yet, it was precisely during that time that God chose to meet me. Our charismatic, dry-humored, British tour guide began to explain to us that "though Jesus may not have been buried at the Garden Tomb, the reality of his victory over death and sin remains. In Christ the believer receives freedom from guilt, sin, and shame and for that we have reason to rejoice." He continued, "His grace is sure and is sufficient for all of our sins and weaknesses. Jesus Christ won the ultimate victory and he leaves us an empty tomb because He lives as the One who redeemed us from all of our transgressions."

It was then that the reality of the sufficiency of Christ's work on the cross as well as the security of His grace was made known to me yet again. His righteousness has been imputed to me by faith. In that knowledge I rejoiced and continue to rejoice as I reflect on His secure work yet again.

I could not push back the tears that began to form. As they slipped from underneath my sunglasses and rolled down my cheeks I treasured the reality of my living Savior. So many people travel to the Holy Land expecting God to meet them there. I have been watching men, women, and children kiss ancient artifacts or wait in line for hours hoping to touch the piece of stone that Jesus laid on when he was buried. All of them searching for hope, for redemption, for justification. Now, I am not the judger of a man's heart, and I would love to believe that many of these people know Christ. However, I do know that "broad is the road that leads to destruction and narrow the road that leads to life..." and oh how my heart aches that these people may know and understand that justification comes only by faith!

How sweet it was to be reminded on that Thursday morning of the grace that has washed all my sins away. May you be reminded as well.

Here are some more pictures from the Garden Tomb... (the group that you see worshipping was a group visiting from Europe singing the song, "He's Alive!" It was powerful.)

Waterfalls at David's Canyon

After spending quite a bit of time in En-Gedi, just off the coast of the Dead Sea, our group headed over to David's Canyon. This was a spot in the Judean Wilderness where David spent a lot of time. This is a picture I took of the group, as Dr. Steve read to us many of the Psalms. Dr. Steve was telling us that the Judean Wilderness, unlike the Great Wilderness, was a place of refuge. For shepherds, and those who truly know the land, even though the desert is dry and hot, it is a refuge for them because they know how to access water. So in David's Canyon, we traveled alongside streams and walked by waterfalls.

I also found it quite interesting that when David asked God to "lead him to a rock that is higher than I" (I'm sorry I cannot site the specific Scripture reference for you, my roommate Emily is fast asleep next to me and I don't want to wake her up looking for my Bible) he was not looking for a rock to stand upon. Rather, he was looking for a rock that was larger than him in order to find shade in the midst of the scorching desert heat. This dramatically changed the way I read some of the Psalms. The land truly causes Scripture to come even more alive. Below are some pictures from this site.

And more...

So this was pretty funny. Our group had just finished our camel ride (which I showed you a picture of below...and for all of you wondering, the guy I am sitting with is like my little brother--he is a FRIEND) at the Bedouin Dude Ranch. After our ride, we all lounged in the Bedouin tent and drank tea, ate pitas, and sang songs. This is a picture of my friends singing and dancing with the Bedouin who was teaching us about their culture. One of the best experiences I have had on this trip. There is nothing like sleeping in a giant open tent in the middle of the desert.



Behind me is the southern end of the Dead Sea. Later on that day we swam in it and of course I worked really hard at keeping the salt from entering my mouth and eyes. Yet, somehow a tiny drop of water seeped its way into the corner of my eye and I experienced much pain. I decided it wasn't worth freaking out about so I just chilled, laid back, and bobbed in the water like a beach ball (there is such a high concentration of salt in the Dead Sea that you float--it was pretty neat). Anyway, this picture was taken just before hiking to the top of Masada- a fortress built by the Hasmoneans (specifically the High Priest Jonathan). Eventually the fortress was taken over by Herod the Great who used it as a place of refuge in the Judean Wilderness. Who was he seeking refuge from? His enemies of course... the Jews. Around 66 A.D. the Sicarii (men of the dagger- a radical religious group) who were a part of the Jewish Revolt, took over Masada. However, not too long after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Masada was again conquered and this time by the Romans. There were many Jews who committed suicide (or so the historians say) at Masada instead of surrendering to Rome. Below are more pictures from this site.