From Galilee to Jerusalem

This morning we packed our bags saying goodbye to the Ramot Holiday Resort Kubbutz on the Sea of Galilee. We headed to the Jordan River, which isn’t quite as big as many expected. Some in our group were baptized in the river this morning by one of our ordained pastors, Harold Summers. It was a privilege for many to be baptized in the same body of water as their Savior.

On our way to our next stop we drove through Kfar Kama an early town funded by Baron von Rothschild, a great friend of Israel. We then passed Mount Tabor thought to be the site of the transfiguration. The great thing about the land of Israel is that it’s not very big, about the size of New Jersey and you don’t have to drive far to see a significant place where Jesus walked or where the Israelites were.

We arrived at our next stop, Kaplan Medical Center in the town of Rehovot. Here we learned that this hospital served over 1,000,000 Israeli residents in southern Israel and we heard about the ambitious plans to expand and improve the facilities of the already top notch hospital. We learned about The Friends of Israel’s volunteer programs Hesed (adult service trip) and Origins (young adult service trip) and saw the trees that had been planted and the playground they helped build. We had a delicious lunch in the cafeteria. After lunch we drove to the other side of Rehovot and visited the Ayalon Institute. This is where a secret group of Israelis from 1945 to 1948 manufactured ammunition in a hidden underground factory that was disguised by a kibbutz. The secret ammunition factory was below the laundry and bakery building. Only a few people on the kibbutz knew about the factory and it played a vital roll in helping the Jewish people fight the British. We also got our first rain which was the first rain of the winter wet season.

As we drove up into the Judean hills we were greeted with the sight of Jerusalem! Our bus driver turned on the song “Jerusalem” as we drove into the city. It was exciting to be driving through this ancient yet modern city, knowing the history and the future of what happened and will happen here.  We arrived at our hotel, the Dan Panorama. We enjoyed another delicious buffet dinner before heading back to the bus for our next stop.

Driving through the city is much different than the wide roads around the Sea of Galilee. We were let off near a gate at the southern wall. A group of military inductees were just completing their induction ceremony where they receive their rifle and a Bible as we approached the Western Wall. What a great moment to see! We then proceeded to enter the Western Wall Tunnels, which run underneath the present Old City along the length of the original Temple retaining wall. We saw the enormous carved stones that held up the massive platform of the Herodian Temple. These stones were moved by slaves into their place. Moving along the wall we came to where we were walking on first century paving stones - the same walkway Jesus would have walked as He came to the Temple! We continued until we were moving through an even older water passage created by the Hasmoneans. This finally led us to the end where there were large water cisterns that would have been located near the Fortress Antonia where Jesus was tried before Pilate and Paul faced his accusers. Sometimes you feel like you’re going through some of these sites so quickly that you don’t have time to reflect. But it is encouraging when we go home and we read our Bible’s and we’ll be able to say, “I’ve been there!” and we’ll be able to accurately picture the places because we walked where the Bible was written.