Grace Bible College

May 8

We visited a number of sites related to Jesus today. We started at the Jordan River baptismal site, although the real baptism of Jesus was in the south near the Dead Sea.  This is an convenient location for tourists and there are several baptism areas to accommodate larger groups. Josh Tweist commented that it was a bit more touristy than he expected.  He was right.

We drove through Tiberius and up to Mount Arbel, one of the Horns of Hattin.  This is a very high scenic overlook into the northwest corner of Galilee, essentially all of the locations we were about to visit.  The cliffs are rugged, but we are quite safe, despite the impression you get from this picture.  From Mount Arbel, we drove to the Mount of the Beatitudes. While this is not the actual location of the Sermon on the Mount, it is the general area of Jesus’ teaching large crowds and I think that it is a good place to visit and reflect on the Beatitudes.  The church closes from noon to two, so we had to rush a bit, especially in the gift shop.  I was fine with this, but I got a few glares.

From the Mount we drove to Capernaum.  The crowds were manageable, and we got to Peter’s house at just the right moment, in between two very large groups.  While I was teaching in the shaded area an unusual thing happen.  A man had a video camera and I thought he was just taping the synagogue scene behind me.  He was video taping me as I talked through Mark 2:1-12.  It was more than a little strange, and he stayed right on me until I was finished. He never said a word to me.  (if you every read this blog, mystery man, let me know what you thought of the lesson!)

"Over by that Tree"

We got to walk down to the Sea at Capernaum, something I have never been able to do before.  We had a nice view of the sea, looking south to Tagbha (the traditional site of the feeding of the 5000) and the Church of the Primacy (the traditional site of the restoration of Peter). Both of those were closed for Mass, so we did not get to see the nice mosaics at Tagbha.

We had an excellent lunch at the Jesus Boat museum in Ginosaur.  Pizza was a popular choice,  but I maintained my commitment to falafel.  The Jesus Boat tour is always good, the way the boat was discovered and preserved is amazing.

After the Jesus Boat we drove to two of more out of the way locations, Korazin and Kursi.  Korazin was one of the cities which Jesus cursed when they rejected him as messiah.  It features a nice third century synagogue with a “seat of Moses” and some interesting decorations.  Kursi is the traditional site of the casting of the demon Legion into a herd of pigs.  There is a little Byzantine chapel there, but little else that could confirm the location.  It is more or less opposite Tagbha, where the disciples set out the night before, but it is impossible to be certain.

Tomorrow we head into the desert, visiting Qumran and En Gedi.  We eventually will get to Tamar south of the Dead Sea.

May 7

We started the day by driving to Bet Shean, a city which is nicely excavated to the Roman era, although the Tel has has some remains from early Israel history.  It was an unusually cool and cloudy morning, making the time spent exploring this site quite nice. I have been there several times before and I noticed several improvements and continued excavation.  For example, a portion of the main street (Cardo) has been modified to show the condition after the major earthquake which destroyed the city.

From there we drove up into the Golan Heights and had an excellent overview of the whole Sea of Galilee.  The day was so clear that we could see across the lake and all the way from the north to the south.  The road up to this overlook is extremely winding, causing a few stomachs to turn!

We made our up to Mount Ben Tal, which is about a far as you can drive north in Israel.  The place was a military site until the 70’s, but is now a destination for Israelis and those of us who want a good view of Mount Hermon, and into Syria and Lebanon. Do not worry it is perfectly safe, there is a huge military presence in the area, and the UN observers are usually present as well.  A highlight for me is Coffee Anan, a coffee shop with a nice gift shop which sells items made in the Golan Heights.  Anan is the Hebrew word for cloud, so the shop is “coffee in the clouds.”

Sadly, it was so overcast, we could not see Mount Hermon, although there was snow still at the lower elevations.  It was also quite cold, maybe in the low  60’s.  Along with a high wind, it was chilly.  Our driver, Feras, warned us that we would be very cold, so I explained to him what “we are from Michigan” means weather-wise.

We drove to Ma’sada, a Druze village where we had a nice lunch.  I had Druze bread, which is a sandwich made of a thin bread, like a tortilla but even thinner, with two sauces spread in the inside.  I ate a little dish of fresh local olives as well.  Very tasty.

Our next stop was Banias, which is the site of Ceasera Philippi.  I read the story of Peter’s confession in Mark 8.  After a short time talking about this passage we walked up to the Temple of Pan and looked at some the Roman remains.

Our last stop of the night was Tel Dan, a nice hike though the jungle-like national park.  The highlight is the city gate and the sacred area.  They have a large metal structure set up to show the general size and shape of the altar Jeroboam built there after the kingdom split.  Remember that he built to golden calves in Bethel and Dan, this was the norther limits of his kingdom.  We were able to hike over to the middle bronze era gates to the city, which are the only such gates Israel (perhaps the world, or at least that was the claim of another another guide who came in after us).

It was a long drive back to Ma’gaan, but since it is Sabbath here there was light traffic, especially driving through Tiberius, which is usually a real traffic mess at that time of day.

Sadly, we have a prayer need.  One of the Rochester kids, Robin, seems to have eaten something which bothered her, and she was quite I’ll on the bus.  My guess is the road up to the Golan Heights was a contributing factor, but she spent most of the day sleeping on the bus.  She seems better now, hopefully a good night sleep will put her right again.

We visit several “Jesus” sites tomorrow, I expect a great day.

In the Pistachio Tree

We visited Petra today, which is always a highlight of tours to Jordan.  We got an early start and had a leisurely walk to the Siq, the famous gorge which serves as the entrance to the necropolis of Petra. Our guide, Sufiyan, did an excellent job pointing out key features of the Siq.  I am pleased that our group was attentive and ask some very good questions.

We arrived at the Treasury, which is not really a treasury at all but rather a tomb (probably for Arteas III or Arteas IV).

"Choose Wisely"

The building is properly known as el-Khazneh and is a magnificent sight, especially when you first glimpse it through the Siq.  There were a number of changes from earlier visits.  First, the excavations under the tomb make it impossible to go up on the steps.  This is a disappointment, since you cannot see inside the rooms.  Second, the park authority has restricted the Bedouin from selling in front of the Treasury.  This is a welcome change!  Third, donkeys are no longer allowed in front of the Treasury.  While camels are still available, the “mess” from the donkeys is no longer a problem.

We walked around toward the theater, which is still closed.  We were able to see some of the theater but most of the interesting parts were behind a fence.  My guess is that it will remain closed to reduce that destruction of the site by  tourists.  It is a fact that the rise in tourism at Petra has degraded many of the sandstone carvings.  Maybe I will come back to this point later.

We had a snack and water about noon, and then people were able to explore on their own for two hours before heading to the bus.  I hiked with most of the GBC students to the “Royal Tombs,” a set of tombs several hundred feet up the canyon walls.  Some of the braver souls hiked about as high as possible, a bit higher than I was willing to go.  I will admit to staying behind and praying a great deal.

As we waited for the others, a little Bedouin girl came up and helped Kaleigh and Amy down some rocks.  This cute little girl was maybe five years old, barefoot, named Dima. She gave Kayleigh a necklace “for free,” and Kayleigh gave her two dollars.  She did come back and ask for more money and to help us get down once again.  I did notice more young children than usual, many who ought to have been in school.  I suspect they are used to tug at the hearts of the tourists, which is a sad thing to see.

On the walk back out of Petra, we had an unusual experience for this time of year: it sprinkled just a bit of rain.  The day was quite cool (for Petra), probably 85 degrees. We had a nice cloud cover and a cool breeze most of the morning.  By 5:20 our guide got a phone call telling him it was raining heavily and there was a possibility of flash floods.  We had left about three hours before this, so there was no danger to us.

We did have a boy of rain on the drive back, but no real problems. We were back to the hotel a bit after 6pm, I expect everyone will sleep soundly!

May 4

The Citadel in Amman. We started at 8:30, after a decent breakfast at the Jerusalem Inn in Amman.  We arrived at the Citadel of Amman, and spent about a hour there.  I was impressed with the remains of the Temple of Hercules, although there is not much restored. The location has two advantages.  First, it has a great view of the city of Amman.  Second, there is a small but impressive Jordanian Antiquities museum.  I was impressed with the collection, and would have been overwhelmed, but the Dead Sea Scroll collection had just been moved to the new national museum. 

Madaba. This is the so-called “city of mosaics,” and they are not kidding. The main attraction is the Madaba map, the oldest tourist map in Jordan.  The church is modern, but the mosaic is sixth century.  There are several locations which are recorded on the map which might serve as a “confirmation” of a site identification. For example, Tamar is on the map directly south of the Dead Sea, approximately where the Ein Haseva is, suggesting that the site is in fact “biblical Tamar.”

Mount Nebo.  This was the first time to Mount Nebo for me, so I was fairly impressed with the view.  It was very hazy, although we could see the Dead Sea and a bare outline of the Jordan.  The mountains in Israel were visible across the valley. Unfortunately the church was closed for repairs, so we missed they mosaics.

Driving to Petra.  Unfortunately there is not much to see between Madaba and Petra, except desert. Lots of desert.  We arrived at the Marriott in Petra at 5:30.  This is a very nice hotel, our guide rated it third best in Petra, and it is about the nicest we will stay in.  Unfortunately, we leave early tomorrow for Petra.

General thoughts.  Great guide, Sufjan.  Aside from having a very cool firs t name, he gas knowledgeable and clear in his explanations.  He arranged an excellent “bag lunch” (sandwich, chips, banana, and desert cake, plus drink) for $7. Better than Subway, although it did include a fresh cucumber, which I ate dutifully. Perhaps this will not catch on as a new snack item.

We are all safe and healthy, thanks for checking in!

No free wireless n the O’Hare international terminal.  I had hoped to get my first post in before the flight, but that was not to be.  Instead, I typed a few notes waiting for the plane to take off.  The trip to Chicago went very well, no traffic at all.  Since everyone was on time, we ended up at the airport about an hour early.  I thought the desk opened at 5pm, but as we stood in line at five, a man put up the “we open at 6pm” sign.  Ah well.

Once the Royal Jordanian desk opened, Check in went very fast.  In fact, TSA security went quickly and every one was courteous and efficient.  I fully expect my full body scans to be on the internet by morning, but that is the price you have to pay.  Amy and I got seats in the back of the plane, Amy has a window seat and looks forward to seeing the Atlantic ocean in the dark for hours. At this point the flight does not seem full, but there are a lot of people straggling in.

Ready to Fly?

The fight to Amman was about 12 hours, a long time in a plane.  We ate twice (good food, chicken with a couscous type rice),but I did not sleep much.  There is a large family distributed throughout the plane, and for some reason the congregated at my seat.  One kid kept leaning on my seat back, oblivious to the fact that I was (a) there and (b) trying to sleep.  Later I got up to use the lav and saw him slumped over sleeping, so I “accidentally” bumped him awake. That was probably a sin, but I did enjoy the justice of it all.

I tried reading from the iPad during the night, and this worked well. I used Logos, having put the Anchor Bible Dictionary on airplane mode.  This means the app downloaded the whole thing so I can use it outside of a wifi hotspot. I spent a couple of hours cramming on the sites we will visit in the next few days.  I also have the Holman Atlas set up for use.  Sadly the Archaeological Encyclopedia is unavailable for iPad use.  I will probably comment more on Logos and the iPad, this is a technology experiment for me!

We are now at our hotel in Amman, Jordan.  Everyone is safe and happy, although seriously exhausted after the trip.  Sadly, no free wireless in this hotel, so if you were expecting an email from someone, it will be delayed until tomorrow.