Sharing Jericho from our tour in Israel

Recently I taught Adult Vacation Bible School at Fairview Baptist Church. The lessons were simple, and well known: Zacchaeus (little man up in a tree), Samaritan Woman (came to the well), Nicodemus (came to Jesus at night), Blind Bartimaeus, and Jesus’ rebuff to his disciples of “Let the children come to me.”

Fairview Baptist Church, Statesville, NC

The group I was teaching was well versed in the scripture, and I knew some of them had studied the Bible stories twenty or more times. I did not feel comfortable moving away from the curriculum lessons, so I prayed, and the Lord showed me how to teach the all too familiar lessons in a different way.

Ben Gurion Airport on our 2012 trip to Israel

The inspiration came because of my recent trip to Israel. I could see, feel, and hear elements of the Bible stories through my experiences at the locations and on the very streets these events took place.  I decided to take my class “on location” so they could experience the stories also.

"Elisha's Well" in Jericho

For the first lesson I brought my class to the well in Jericho, Israel. As we sat facing the well, I told them how important water was for the land of Israel. Elijah had visited this well and healed its waters.

Bedouin village in Jordan. Mt. Nebo is in the background

Not only had Elijah visited Jericho, but also Joshua as Israel was entering the land. The people came down from the mountains of Nebo and crossed the Jordan River (on a familiar trade route). They prayed at Gilgal, and then approached the walled city of Jericho.

Excavated walls of Jericho. Notice the different types of walls.

After marching around the walls seven times, the walls fell down. They gave the first city taken in the land as a “first fruits” offering totally dedicated to God. Only Rahab and her family were saved.

Date Palm farm south of Jericho near the Dead Sea

I showed the class that Jericho is in a rich agricultural valley. In addition to commercial opportunity which came from Jericho sitting on the trade routes, they raised sheep, camels, dates, bananas, and other produce. Taxes were collected on each commodity and at every opportunity.

A village in Jordan Valley. Olive Trees in foreground.

The amenities of Jericho drew the richest people in the world. Jericho is well below sea level, so winters are mild.  The air is dry and allergies are few. Herod had a palace in Jericho and Cleopatra had business interests in the area.

Ruins of King Herod's Winter Palace in Jericho

Zacchaeus was the Roman-backed IRS. Within the lessons monologues were given by the toll collectors on the roads, the agricultural tariff takers, the commercial tax agents who received a portion of goods sold, and the real estate tax assessors. All of these “publicans” worked for Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector. He was very rich.

Camel for Tourists entering Jericho

The Bible tells us Jesus entered Jericho from the north. As he approached the city gates a blind man called out for healing. Jesus healed him before entering the city. As the report of the healing spread through the city gates, Zacchaeus heard. Because he was short, he could not fight the crowd and climbed up in a Sycamore tree (the saviour he wanted to see).

Perhaps Zacchaeus climbed a tree like this in Jericho city square

Jesus called him down, and ate lunch at his home that day. The discussion at the home of Zacchaeus is not recorded in the Bible, but the results are. This man of wealth, who in a sense lorded over the people of Jericho, gave half of his wealth to the poor. Then he restored fourfold all that he had taken illegally.

Class members shared with me what they received from the lesson. My journeys to Israel enabled me to share the old story in a refreshing way. Can a trip to Israel refresh and bring a new sense of reality to your understanding of God’s word?

Join me next time

I am planning a trip to Israel in 2018, probably in June. To accomplish this I need 45 people who will travel with me to Israel. The cost will be about $5,000 per person (start saving money now)! … Let me know you are interested … and I will put you on the mailing list (no obligation at this point).

I will let you know through e-mails the steps in the planning process. If you are interested, you can help confirm the date (June 2018), or help set another date. I will be asking along the way what you want to see in Israel. Over the next year (until March 2017) I will be collecting ideas in order to plan. Then I will be talking to an experienced tour leader who will help put the trip together. (The price and plans will be complete about a year before the trip). My e-mail is KosherCopy@gmail.com. (Write to let me know you are interested, or to ask questions).

I will let you know of other plans as they develop, such as a potential add-on dig in the land, or an add-on side trip. What I need now is simply people who are interested (no obligation) and ideas for the trip.

Israel Adventure - Day 11

This morning we started with an early fast breakfast from Aroma Coffee, and then a quick departure to the Old City. We began our tour with a walk around the perimeter of the walls to the south. Dr. Ilan showed us the different levels of the walls from the bedrock up. He showed us where the walls were at different places in different time periods. They were not as they appear today.

In the picture above bedrock can be seen below the walls (above the grass). There are tombs chiseled into the soft chalk bedrock, showing that at one time this area was outside of the city. There are rocks above the tombs from the Roman Period (130-443 AD). Above those rocks, and slightly inside, are walls built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1535 AD).

While we were standing by the wall, we looked across the Hinnom Valley. At the bottom of the valley is Sultan’s Pool, perhaps the Serpent Pool of Jesus’ time. This was part of the irrigation system for farms which lay below the city. Just above the pool is the old aqueduct which snakes around and into the city. Above that are homes built in 1860 - in a sense, Jerusalem’s first suburb.

We then walked south to the Zion Gate. This was on the Green Line in 1948 and several fierce battles were fought here. The walls are pocketed with the bullet holes from shelling and battle.

Continuing on the south wall, we passed a dig being done by UNCC (University of North Carolina Charlotte).

Further along our walk we saw this dig. Dr. Ilan told us this was originally a parking area which was to be developed as a five story parking garage. Israeli law requires that an archeological survey must be done before anything new can be built in Israel. When the survey was done, ruins were discovered from the Turkish period, then by digging, the Roman, Greek, Hasmonean, and earlier. This is not surprising because this area is near the Tyropoeon Valley or Cheesemaker’s Valley, which runs through the center of the city. Four years into the dig, the garage was cancelled and the archeological find was placed along a walking path which leads to the Temple.

Further along the walls we saw more tombs cut into the bedrock. During the time of King David this area was inside the city, so the tombs must have come later. Jewish law forbids burial (except for kings) inside the city walls where people live. As the city walls move in and out and people necessarily come to live near the tombs, the Rabbis developed ways of ritually cleansing the tombs. Bones are removed and blessings are spoken so people can build on top of the tombs. That is what happened with these tombs, and they were refitted as cisterns with plaster on top, and houses above the plaster. The wall above the tombs is late period Ottoman.

Along the way we saw these concrete road barriers (like are being installed on I-77). I wonder why we can’t make them look this good in America?

We came to the Old City of David (currently outside the walls of the city) where the Gihon spring is located. One objective of the day was to descend to the spring and see the ancient fortifications.

We walked through the upper ruins, where the excavator thinks King David’s palace is located.

This is Silwan, a neighborhood across the Kidron Valley from the City of David. In Biblical times Jerusalem looked much like this with the palace at the top (which is why David could look down and see Bathsheba on the rooftop).

Today the hillside looks like this, with remains of structures at the bottom. Some of the residents at the bottom of the hill are listed in the book of Jeremiah. The houses on this hillside go back to the time of King David, so people lived on this hillside for 500 years. Dr. Ilan talked about how difficult archeology and dating become when people can live in peace in an area for so long, without destruction levels to help date the civilization.

This blurred picture is what the city of David probably looked like. The Temple is at the top of the hill, the palace (Solomon’s) at the mid-section. The path to the Temple can be seen winding up the hill. The Gihon Spring can be seen just below the shine on the bottom left of the picture. This spring was fortified behind strong walls in order to protect the city’s water source.  We walked down to Gihon Spring.

Here is one wall protecting the spring as it appears today. The wall extends to the second floor and beyond. It is wide and built of large stones. The group continued through Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Because Sarah was there last week but had not traveled through the Canaanite Tunnel, the three of us traveled that path. We saw the Canaanite wall (when Melchizedek was king) and other ruins. We walked down to Siloam Spring.

As we returned we saw an area the Romans used to quarry stone. They removed a lot of rock, so no archaeological work can be done. There appears to be two large tombs (behind me) on the hill. This could be the tomb of King David.

Following the tour we saw the Skirball Museum, Hebrew Union’s archeological museum. They have displays from Dan (where they are currently digging), Gezer (a past dig), and other sites. They have models of different gates at Dan, pictures from their digs, pottery, and other finds. We ate a Syrian hummus lunch with Dr. Ilan after seeing the Museum.

On the way home we visited the Jerusalem YMCA, a beautiful art deco building. We also saw a Herodian Tomb. We ate a dinner of Potato Kreplach and Spinach Tarte.