Through the Holy Land | Redeem the Time (2024)

Introduction

I recently spent a week and a half touring Israel with the Jackson Hole Bible College crew, and it was the trip of a lifetime! I’m already planning my next trip back to the Holy Land. And now I’d like to share part of that experience with you.

Our tour guide packed as much as he could into those 10 days to really give us an overview of the country, so that meant we hit the ground running as soon as we got there. Due to flight delays and rerouting, I didn’t arrive in Israel until Thursday, March 2 at 4 a.m., while everyone else arrived on Wednesday evening. I made it to the hotel around 6 a.m. right as everyone was getting ready for breakfast. Sleeping the last two nights in either a plane or an airport, jet lag on that first day was miserable. I literally fell asleep standing…twice! It ended up being a blessing, however, because I never had any trouble with waking up in the middle of the night. It was the fastest cure to jet lag.

Each morning, we met for breakfast at 6:30 a.m., so we could begin our tour at 7:30 a.m. Fatigue was definitely a struggle throughout the week, which made it hard to focus and process everything we were seeing and learning, but now that I’ve been back in Mexico, it’s been able to settle a little more in my mind. That being said, I will try my best to remember which pictures go to which of the biblical sites. :)

It would be too hard to share all of the places that we went, so I’ll just give you some of the highlights!

Day 1-Thursday

On the first day, we were privileged to have a devotion time on Mount Carmel where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. We also toured the location of one of Herod’s many palaces on the Mediterranean Sea, Megiddo, a cool underground tunnel, and a theater from biblical times. We ended our day at the Sea of Galilee, which is where our hotel was for the next three nights, and it is absolutely beautiful! It was incredible staring at the water knowing that Jesus had calmed a storm here about 2,000 years ago.

Day 2-Friday

The next morning, we visited Nazareth, the home of Jesus when His ministry began. Although the city is modernized now, we visited an area that an organization has dedicated to making it look as accurate as possible to how it would have been in Jesus’ day. A lady from the U.K. took us through the village and introduced us to the people dressed up as various laborers such as a shepherd, a weaver, a craftsman, a gardener, and a potter. The best part of this tour was at the end when we entered a replica of a synagogue and reenacted the account the account in Luke 4:14-30, where Jesus was thrown out after reading from Isaiah 61. It was incredible and made the account come to life! After lunch, we went to Capernaum and saw the remains of an actual synagogue Jesus would have been in. This was followed by a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee!

Above: Visiting with Abraham the Shepherd at Nazareth, testing out the olive press, watching someone make pottery in a similar fashion to Biblical days!

Below: Shlomo showing us a synagogue actually visited by Jesus. Me, Allie and Mara enjoying the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.

Day 3-Saturday

On the third day, our native tour guide Shlomo Ben-Asher took us to the Mount of Beatitudes. Because we were one of the first groups there, we were able to sit pretty close to the area where Jesus would most like have actually been when He preached to the multitudes. The mountain creates a natural amphitheater effect, enable the crowds of people to hear Jesus without the modern technology of microphones and speakers. As we stared out at the peaceful greenery facing the Sea of Galilee, Shlomo read to us the Beatitudes in Hebrew, which was really neat. We also took a short walk that day in Tel Dan, which is a beautiful, lush part of Northern Israel where we sat on the steps that were part of the altar King Jeroboam created for golden calf worship in 1 Kings 12:25-33.

At the end, we came to the corner of Israel that borders Lebanon and Syria. Shlomo explained to us how Israel does not have any peace treaties with those two nations. He said Israel tries to make peace with as many nations as possible, which caught my attention. I know it might seem like an insignificant statement, but it made is so easy for me to see how Israel will readily accept the antichrist and make a peace treaty with him. They are so desperate for peace in the Middle East that they’ll jump on the opportunity. The thought both saddened me and also gave me hope because I know God is going to use that time to finally restore Israel and fulfill His covenant with them.

Day 4-Sunday

As tired as I was, it was our last morning at the Sea of Galilee, so on Sunday (March 19), I woke up early enough to read a few chapters in my Bible on the rocks by the sea. I was able to watch the sunrise, and it was stunning. I’m so glad I decided to do it. We had a small church service on Galilee before heading out to the Gideon Spring, where the Lord reduced Gideon’s army by having the soldier’s drink water from the spring (Judges 7). After this, we went to Bet She’an and saw the old bath houses and palaces from biblical times. Then we were in for a special treat: we visited the Qumran caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls are found! For those unfamiliar with the Dead Sea Scrolls, they are the oldest and fullest copies of the Old Testament, along with other historic literature, that validated every Old Testament book to be canonical (that is, accurately considered Scripture). That afternoon, we were given free time to swim in the Dead Sea—it was so relaxing and such a fun time of fellowship after the exhaustion that had accumulated over the past few days.

Day 5-Monday

I think this had to be one of my favorite days. We went to Masada, which was originally built by Herod to be a “getaway” palace, although he never used it. Later, it was a place of refuge for Jews fleeing the Roman soldiers. There was only one way to get up this mountain, so it was the perfect hideaway. We rode up in a cable car up, but there is a trail to hike it, and I definitely plan on going back to do just that someday, Lord willing. The Jews that hid here couldn’t stay forever because there is no water or food sources. Their place of refuge eventually became a trap. However, they didn’t want to give their enemies the pleasure of victory, so rather than die by the hands of the Romans, I believe ten men were appointed killed everyone hiding there, then they cast lots to kill each other, with the final man dying by suicide. When the Romans arrived, all they found were the slaughtered Jews. There were a few women and children who hid and escaped, living to tell the story. Today, the Israeli military takes their trainees up to Masada to commence their graduation ceremony to enter the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), challenging them to sacrifice everything for their country like those men did. It’s a sad, sobering story, but the rich history there fascinated me.

Afterwards, we hiked at the springs of En Gedi, which had some amazingly beautiful waterfalls. This is the place where David fled to hide from King Saul and after stumbling upon Saul’s army, he cut off a piece of Saul’s robe while he was sleeping rather than killing him, demonstrating his trust in the Lord for vengeance (1 Samuel 24). Following lunch, Shlomo surprised us by taking us to the hillside that overlooks the Greek Orthodox monastery built along the Jericho Road, where Jesus would have walked when He went up to Jerusalem. The site was untainted by tourist attractions, crowds, and modern buildings, so it was such a peaceful, quiet place to visit and a great way to end the day before heading to Jerusalem for the remainder of our tour.

Day 6-Tuesday

Jerusalem was by far one of my favorite places to visit, and we spent a whole four days there! The newer architecture has been built to replicate the old stone structures that were used during Jesus’ day, so it really gives you the feeling that you’re walking back in time. I am not normally a city person, but Jerusalem was absolutely stunning and historic! We went to the Mount of Olives, walked down the Palm Sunday Road and saw the Garden of Gethsemane, where a giant cathedral has been built in honor of the site. According to church tradition, they claim the fenced in portion of the garden is where Jesus prayed to the Father to have the cup removed before surrendering His will to the Father. However, because of all crazed idolatry all the people visiting have made out of the site, and the overbearingness of the church, it was hard to enjoy. As Shlomo accurately described it, it was a “zoo.” Later that day, we visited a quieter portion of the garden, and Dr. Paul Benware (one of my professors from JHBC) gave a short message on the fateful night where Christ’s submission changed our eternal destiny. We were given a few moments of alone time to spread into the Garden and pray, thanking the Lord for what took place there 2,000 years ago. It was such a special moment, and much more impacting than the earlier visit. I’ll probably never read that portion of Scripture the same (Matthew 26:36-46). Nearby, we also visited the tradition site of the House of Caiphas, where Peter denied Jesus three times.

Day 7-Wednesday

The next morning, we visited the Temple Mount where the Muslim mosque with the golden dome is located as well as the wailing wall. The situation is interesting here because the Arabs have control of the temple site, so Jews aren’t allowed to go there for worship (the wailing wall is as far as they’re allowed), yet Israel has military possession of the location, so there is a strong presence of the IDF. Although this has undeniably been the site of the Temple Mount for years, there are some theories that it might be located somewhere else in the City of David. It will be interesting to do more research.

After the Temple Mount, we went to Hezekiah’s Tunnel which ended at the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed the blind man (John 9). What I enjoyed most about this site, aside from walking through a narrow underground tunnel of water, is that it is not tradition but verifiably true. It is unarguably the actual pool of Siloam from Jesus’ day, and it was only recently excavated.

That afternoon, our guide took us to the Holocaust museum. We only had an hour and a half to spend inside, and realistically, you need about 7 hours because there is so much information. It’s absolutely incredible. It’s such a sad period, but it is so important that we remember what happened or we will be doomed to repeat it. I’m grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to preserve this important time in human history. If you ever have a chance to go to Israel, don’t leave without visiting this museum.

Above: Mosque at the Temple Mount and the Southern Steps.

Below: Entrance into the Hezekiah Tunnels. Andrew, Rayden and I at the end of the tunnel. The excavation site of the Pool of Siloam.

Day 8-Thursday

After briefly visiting the Pool of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the lame man on the Sabbath (John 5:1-17), we drove to Shiloh, which was the site of the tabernacle before Jerusalem was the capital. This is where Hannah prayed for Samuel in 1 Samuel 1-2. That afternoon, we visited the Temple Institute museum, where there are several display rooms containing “temple-ready” vessels and priestly garments. There’s even a transportable, scaled-down stone altar. These have all been built in a part of the institute’s efforts to rebuild the temple, so all of the articles have been made according to the Torah law. At the end, we watched a video from the institution, promoting their cause to “Rebuild the Temple” and encouraging visitors to donate. This was probably one of the biggest “aha” moments for me in Israel. It was amazing to see how they have the pieces already in place for the third temple, and this is significant in biblical eschatology (the study of end times). There are four temple periods described in the Bible: King Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8), the rebuilding of the temple after the Babylonian captivity (Nehemiah), the temple where the antichrist will set himself up (Dan. 7:25, Matt. 24:15, Rev. 13), and the true temple of Christ’s 1,000 Messianic Kingdom. The Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah, so they are still looking for their Savior. That is why rebuilding the temple is so important to them, but what they don’t realize is that they’re literally setting themselves up to receive the antichrist. It was amazing to see the pieces of biblical prophecy falling into place!

This was our last night in Jerusalem, so a small group of us decided to explore the streets of Jerusalem, and this was the best night of the whole trip without question. It was fun to see Jerusalem in the dark, and we revisited as many of the sites we had seen that day as we could. We came across many adventures including almost getting locked in overnight at the Southern steps at the Temple Mount, meeting the Jerusalem Santa Clause, discovering a creepy room in the YMCA basem*nt that looked like a church, and almost crashing a Jewish wedding! Five miles later, we exhaustedly called it a night.

Day 9-Friday

We went back to the wailing wall this day, so we could tour the Rabbinical tunnels. The intelligence and ingenuity of the workers in those days is mind-blowing! Everyone thinks modern man has developed and progressed intellectually, but seeing the design of those tunnels proves the genius of ancient man, contrary to what evolution teaches.

Although we had seen the Church of the Holy Sepulcher the day before, which is the supposed site of Christ’s crucifixion and burial, we went to the Garden Tomb, which is another possible site for the burial tomb of Jesus. At the cathedral, there were hundreds of people crowded inside this building full of idolatrous imagery. There was a sense of fearful dread and pleading from the dozens of people desperately kissing the tombstone, standing in line to touch a rock Jesus supposedly bled on, and gawking at the walls decorated with religious trinkets. Even if this was the actual crucifixion site, I couldn’t enjoy it because the daunting building was too distracting because it had turned into a religious circus, much like at the Garden of Gethsemane but even worse. However, the Garden Tomb was a quiet, serene place that held reverence for the site without idolizing it. One of the workers told us, “We don’t know for sure if this is the tomb, but it’s not about the place—it’s about the Person, Jesus Christ.” That impacted me greatly. There were a few other church groups there, and rather than the sense of terror I sensed in the other tourists at the church, there was a sense of worshipful gratitude here. Looking at the empty tomb, we were reminded that all of our hope rests on the hinge that Christ resurrected from the dead. We were able to commemorate this special time with a time of singing, communion and a message. Praise the Lord, for the power of the resurrection! And because our Savior lives, all fear is gone—we who are in Christ can be confident that our salvation is secure.

We ended our day exploring the streets in Jaffa along the Mediterranean Sea. As beautiful as it was, after a few hours, I was ready to leave. On the surface, it appears to be a bright city, filled with the ocean breeze, lined with flea market vendors, large groups of people playing on the beaches or socializing in the restaurants. But it was merely a façade of people living in “debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry,” as described in 1 Peter 4. If carousing had a definition, it’s Jaffa. It was yet another reminder that true joy only comes through Jesus—trying to fill that God-shaped hole in our hearts with worldly things will only give us temporary pleasure but eternal pain.

Above: Rabbinical Tunnel!

Below: The Garden Tomb. It is empty for He has risen, hallelujah!

Conclusion:

If you read through all of that, I’m impressed! It was a lot of information and hopefully, I didn’t bore you with too many details—and yet I still feel like I barely skimmed the surface of everything we did on that trip. If you skimmed through it and looked at the pictures, I still want to thank you for taking the time to share with me in this journey. I learned a lot that week both historically and spiritually, but I want to share with you the main takeaway from that trip.

I already touched on it earlier in my post, but I want to again emphasize the reality of biblical prophecy. As awesome as it was walking where Jesus walked, I found myself meditating more on the idea that Jesus is coming back—to this very spot. Israel is special not only because it’s where Jesus had His ministry, but it’s special today because God’s story for the Jewish people isn’t over yet. The first time Jesus came, He was a humble baby, but the second time He comes, He will be a powerful King.

The Jews will first experience the painful 7-year Tribulation described in Daniel 7 and Revelation, and it will be the worst human genocide in all of history. There has never been a time like it nor will there ever be. But the Lord is going to use this to bring Israel to repentance and finally fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant completely.

The Gospel isn’t just the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It’s His life, death, burial, resurrection and return. He is coming back to judge, so we need to be warning people of their eternal danger and share the Gospel whenever the opportunity arises. We don’t know when it will be too late. And if you haven’t placed your faith in Jesus, don’t wait any longer. Today is the day of salvation—now is the time!

I hope to one day go back to Israel during my lifetime, Lord willing, but if not, I know for certain I’ll be back in the New Jerusalem! I’m so thankful the Lord gave me this opportunity to visit the Holy Land.

“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

2 Peter 3:11-13