Israel - part 4

We've been home from Israel for about 9 days. Finally getting back on a regular sleep schedule. And still basking in the glow of an amazing adventure. If you have not been to Israel, you need to make it a priority to go. (Have I said that before?) Here are a few more fun memories.

King Hezekiah built a series of underground tunnels to carry the water sources into the city and keep the people safe from their enemies. Now, these tunnels are accessible to walk through! 2 Kings 20:20 ~ "As for the other events of Hezekiah's reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?"

This is Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. A little boy was herding goats in the area and one of the goats stumbled into a cave. The boy went in to find the goat, and he stumbled on some parchments. The boy couldn't read, and brought some of them home to his mom, who nearly threw them into the fire she was using to cook their dinner (she didn't read either). When the father came home, he had a feeling they might be something important and took them to those who validated they were ancient copies of the Old Testament! See the cave openings in the rocks? The parchments were found in these caves and others. Fascinating!

En Gedi is the place where David was hiding from King Saul. Saul is trying to find David, to kill him. David is hiding in a cave, and Saul enters that cave. When Saul is not looking, David cuts off a piece of Saul's robe. When Saul leaves the cave, David comes out and shows him the piece of cloth in order to say "I could have killed you, but I didn't". Remember that story? This is us at En Gedi. It is along the Dead Sea, and there are rock formations, trails, waterfalls, etc. A beautiful place. We hiked up the mountain.

View on the climb . . .

"I'm the king of the world!"

View from the top. The Dead Sea.

On this day, we saw a group of Hasidic Jewish boys on a field trip. Note the side curls.

Our final day, we visited the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. A sobering, honoring place. This was one of the statues as you entered the museum. Notice the many stones laid on the sculpture. In Jewish cemeteries you will see stones laid on the graves, rather than flowers. The stones symbolize the rebuilding of the temple one day, and it is honoring to the deceased to have stones laid in their remembrance.

Also on the last day, we had a little free time and wandered around Jerusalem for a few hours. I had one of the best treats in my life. No exaggeration. Gelato! This was a "small" cone, believe it or not. You got to choose 2 flavors. Mine? Dark chocolate and peanut butter. Yum!

On the final evening, Steve Green did a concert. He and Dick are such a great team. It was a wonderful way to end our journey.


The Bible will never read the same for us. Seeing the actual places we've read about . . . connecting the dots of scripture . . . what a privilege to be there!


One of the questions that we had as we visited Jerusalem was this: When Psalm 122 says, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem", doesn't that seem like a futile request, in light of the fact that we know until Jesus returns there will be unrest and opposition to this country? And one of the Dallas Seminary professors gave us a "light bulb moment". He said, "We should pray that Jerusalem comes to know the PRINCE OF PEACE, Jesus". Now that's a prayer we can pray! "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you . . . " (Ephesians 1:18)