Leaving Jericho, one quickly feels the effort the bus makes to go from about 850 below sea level to what will be 2550 feet above sea level, depending on what part of Jerusalem one is actually in. Regardless of where one lives in Israel, he or she would certainly “ascend” if they were going to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not the highest point in Israel, that honor goes to Mount Hermon, however my impression is that it is certainly one the highest. Psalms 120-134 are called “Psalms of Ascent” for the very reason that these were recited as one ascended to the Holy City.
I was excited for Tracee because I remembered very clearly the excitement I felt the very first time I went up to Jerusalem. It had been a very holy moment for me when Judah and I first “went up to” Jerusalem in 2005.
One sees neighborhoods on both the east and west side of the road and then finally after going around a turn the Old City comes in to view with the temple mount and all the churches in and around the Mount of Olives and the Old City. Even modern constructions in Jerusalem have a very unique architecture. Jerusalem is actually built on many hills; (Psalm 121) and valleys. It is spread out and even without the large cement dividing wall between east and west Jerusalem the architectural differences speak reference to the respective Jewish and Arab neighborhoods. One goes from country to city very quickly in Jerusalem, at least approaching from the east as we did coming from Jericho. We did stop at a check point outside of the city and Israeli army guards boarded the bus and very nicely walked through the bus checking us out.
Our plan was to go straight to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, but we were not sure we would be able to do so as the day before there had been some rock throwing protesters in that area and tours are usually diverted away from trouble spots. Nevertheless, by the time we arrived on the Mount, it was clear that all was quiet and Yoni had known earlier that it would be ok.
There is a view from the Mt. of Olives across the Kadar Valley that is absolutely breathtaking: one can gaze across the valley to the Temple Mount with the Al Asqa mosque and Dome of the Rock on top, then drift closer to the many churches that dot the Mount of Olives including the gold plated Orthodox church, etc. and finally one is captured by hundreds of white stone above-ground tombs that make up the old Jewish cemetery on the Mt. of Olives. Of course that description does no justice to the beauty that is the view of Jerusalem from the Mt. of Olives, yet breath taking it is!
Jerusalem: built up and torn down countless times, place of Religion and war; claimed by East and West; called the place of peace (salem is a form of shalom); yet the place where The Final Battle will be fought…Holy City…beloved by our LORD Jesus…it is beyond my understanding. She is now deep, deep, deep in my heart and under my skin! I recall while writing this…pray for the peace of Jerusalem…pray that it will be as its’ name means!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
"The Judean Wilderness"
After we left our Jericho area lunch stop we moved on up towards Jerusalem, but we stopped on the side of the road about ¾ of the way to Jerusalem. Yoni wanted to show us a canyon and talk to us about the wilderness. He warned us that where we stopped would appear barren but that after stepping off the bus there would almost immediately be a band of Bedouins trying to sell us trinkets. Yoni brings all his groups to this location and perhaps a few more guides do also, although it is not a usual tourist stop, therefore the Bedouins have taken advantage of this. PUFF! Sure enough, where there was just barren country side, immediately a donkey, camel and 4 or 5 Bedouin men of all ages appeared. Almost eerie really…. These Bedouin were apparently part of a group called the Tabare Bedouin and are one of the oldest Bedouin groups dating back at least 2000 years. Bedouin actually prefer the wilderness as their living environment. The Israeli government has made some overtures to these folks to build them towns or some permanent housing and apparently all offers have been refused.
So we trekked up a little rise and then went down a sheep’s path about 50 yards and Yoni had us sit on the side of the path looking north in a canyon: “This is the Parat Canyon, it separates Ephraim from Benjamin, and goes west- east all the way to Amman, Jordan. Parat means ‘fruitful ‘and there is a spring up the canyon called En Parat, or ‘fruitful spring’. One has to know where the water sources are or they could die in this wilderness one day without water.” Indeed, there was an impressive canyon or valley that sharply fell from where we sat. Some later said they had a hard time concentrating on what Yoni was saying because he was so close to the edge and they worried about him falling down into the canyon. Apparently it was somewhere in this huge canyon that God told Jeremiah to bury a linen garment and then later to dig it up.(Jeremiah 13)
While we sat listening to Yoni, he read us the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10. Yoni made the point that if one man could die in one day without water, how much more vulnerable to death would a wounded and beaten man be. The dangers of the wilderness were well known to all peoples during Jesus time, yet religious men walked around a hurting man essentially assuring his death by not assisting him. Yoni made the point that the roads were not wide as they usually were sheep trails that became roads with high traffic, and that the men talked about in the parable would have to literally go out of their way to avoid the wounded man! Obviously then, this was not just a parable about being a good neighbor, rather Jesus was also making the point that we may hold in our own hands the life or death of another person. This is even truer if we think about the spiritual death or life we may offer or withhold.
As we sat looking at the view and taking in all that Yoni was sharing, we could appreciate a little better how the hills of the Judean Wilderness are lined with many, many paths that are parallel to each other. Almost like cords running alongside the mountain sides endlessly for miles and miles. These were narrow paths. “Narrow” is the way that leads to life…these paths were made by centuries of sheep grazing. The paths are narrow but they lead from home to the pasture and back again. Psalm 23 talks about paths of righteousness…these may be narrow, but they take us from home to where we find life.
The Judean Wilderness…death is around the corner if one doesn’t have water or know the water sources, yet paths are all over the place that lead somewhere to safety. No big signs point the way or neon lights flashing directions…just paths…paths that lead to Righteousness. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me.”
So we trekked up a little rise and then went down a sheep’s path about 50 yards and Yoni had us sit on the side of the path looking north in a canyon: “This is the Parat Canyon, it separates Ephraim from Benjamin, and goes west- east all the way to Amman, Jordan. Parat means ‘fruitful ‘and there is a spring up the canyon called En Parat, or ‘fruitful spring’. One has to know where the water sources are or they could die in this wilderness one day without water.” Indeed, there was an impressive canyon or valley that sharply fell from where we sat. Some later said they had a hard time concentrating on what Yoni was saying because he was so close to the edge and they worried about him falling down into the canyon. Apparently it was somewhere in this huge canyon that God told Jeremiah to bury a linen garment and then later to dig it up.(Jeremiah 13)
While we sat listening to Yoni, he read us the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10. Yoni made the point that if one man could die in one day without water, how much more vulnerable to death would a wounded and beaten man be. The dangers of the wilderness were well known to all peoples during Jesus time, yet religious men walked around a hurting man essentially assuring his death by not assisting him. Yoni made the point that the roads were not wide as they usually were sheep trails that became roads with high traffic, and that the men talked about in the parable would have to literally go out of their way to avoid the wounded man! Obviously then, this was not just a parable about being a good neighbor, rather Jesus was also making the point that we may hold in our own hands the life or death of another person. This is even truer if we think about the spiritual death or life we may offer or withhold.
As we sat looking at the view and taking in all that Yoni was sharing, we could appreciate a little better how the hills of the Judean Wilderness are lined with many, many paths that are parallel to each other. Almost like cords running alongside the mountain sides endlessly for miles and miles. These were narrow paths. “Narrow” is the way that leads to life…these paths were made by centuries of sheep grazing. The paths are narrow but they lead from home to the pasture and back again. Psalm 23 talks about paths of righteousness…these may be narrow, but they take us from home to where we find life.
The Judean Wilderness…death is around the corner if one doesn’t have water or know the water sources, yet paths are all over the place that lead somewhere to safety. No big signs point the way or neon lights flashing directions…just paths…paths that lead to Righteousness. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me.”
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
"On to Jericho and Modern Day Walls"
We never did give our bus a name, but after we toured Beit Shean we jumped on “Old Faithful” and headed to Jerusalem. From Beit Shean, we headed south towards Jericho, and for the first time entered territory under the Palestinian Authority’s jurisdiction as we neared Jericho. We went through a check point without slowing down much as the real security issue is Palestinians going back into Israeli controlled areas. Nevertheless, we headed to Jericho for lunch on the outskirts of the city. Geographically, Jericho is below sea level and frequently is one of the hottest places on earth outside of the usual “hot spots”. This factoid being something I had learned as a kid in 7th grade or something like that and I mention this because all the way down from Beit Shean we saw unusually green landscapes. March is the end of the short rainy season in Israel and Yoni had mentioned something about a very wet season and thus the green hue to the otherwise and brown Jordan Valley Basin. Oh, one can see hundreds of green fields from drip irrigation, but this was rain supported greenery and I just couldn’t stop staring at the very pretty green hills along the way!
The Palestinian Authority has jurisdiction over Jericho and as a result it has been isolated by the Israeli government to the point that tourists are not allowed to visit and a new highway has been built to bypass the city. Therefore we were only able to see the outskirts of Jericho as we drove around it to our lunch stop. Our lunch stop did have a bit of a view of Jericho and it was even close enough that we could hear many noises clearly. Some heard a few “pop-pops” and later we found out that there had been some protests there and tear gas has been used or something like that. Our stop was very much a tourists stop but pleasant nonetheless, what with the camels waiting nearby for tourists to ride on, the little shops and western grade restrooms. I discovered some very good ice-cream and at the time didn’t even notice that dairy was allowed to be served with meat making it technically a non-kosher eating place. That could have been the Arab influence, I don’t know.
Jericho, considered the oldest city on earth and yet Scripture indicates very clearly that it was to remain destroyed. Jericho was mentioned frequently in the New Testament and is the location of such stories as the ones about Zacheus and the blind man. Jesus passed through Jericho on his last trip to Jerusalem. I mean Jericho is one talked about place in Scripture. Today it is isolated from tourists and most non-Palestinians.
There are some new walls around Jericho…I just don’t know what they mean. Something is going on spiritually also, I don’t know what that is exactly either…but something simmers….
The Palestinian Authority has jurisdiction over Jericho and as a result it has been isolated by the Israeli government to the point that tourists are not allowed to visit and a new highway has been built to bypass the city. Therefore we were only able to see the outskirts of Jericho as we drove around it to our lunch stop. Our lunch stop did have a bit of a view of Jericho and it was even close enough that we could hear many noises clearly. Some heard a few “pop-pops” and later we found out that there had been some protests there and tear gas has been used or something like that. Our stop was very much a tourists stop but pleasant nonetheless, what with the camels waiting nearby for tourists to ride on, the little shops and western grade restrooms. I discovered some very good ice-cream and at the time didn’t even notice that dairy was allowed to be served with meat making it technically a non-kosher eating place. That could have been the Arab influence, I don’t know.
Jericho, considered the oldest city on earth and yet Scripture indicates very clearly that it was to remain destroyed. Jericho was mentioned frequently in the New Testament and is the location of such stories as the ones about Zacheus and the blind man. Jesus passed through Jericho on his last trip to Jerusalem. I mean Jericho is one talked about place in Scripture. Today it is isolated from tourists and most non-Palestinians.
There are some new walls around Jericho…I just don’t know what they mean. Something is going on spiritually also, I don’t know what that is exactly either…but something simmers….
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
"Beit Shean"
Beit Shean is located about 20 miles from the Sea of Galilee, but I think it took more like 45 minutes to drive there because of the terrain. In a nutshell, Beit Shean was the most extensively excavated site we went to, outside of Jerusalem. In Biblical times this was known for being the area near where Gideon gathered with his army and then pursued the Midianites.
What we toured however was the ancient city of Sythopolis, which was very pagan and culturally Greco-Roman. The ancient city of was founded by Scythians. These were a Cossack like people living near modern day Russia. Alexander the Great bought their services as excellent soldiers and then rewarded them with land in what is now Beit Shean. Hence the very strong Greek influence on the old city. As we toured the site the large pillars, “Cardo”or Main Boulevard, houses, amphitheater, etc were very, very impressive no doubt. But for me it just lacked a bit of meaning outside pure history. Nevertheless, Beit Shean/Sythopolis would have been the largest most important city in the northeastern part of Israel for centuries. Located in the junction of the Jordan and Hadar Valleys, it was a very fertile area and thus agriculturally prosperous. It also maintained a central location on the eastern trade route from the coast to Damascus. You would have to Google Beit Shean and look at all the images to really appreciate how large a city it was and all the amazing excavation that has been done in the last few years. It really is amazing.
Modern Beit Shean was founded by Moroccan Jews in the early 1950’s, making the modern city very young. Modern Beit Shean is gorgeous with a lot of red tile roofs and white washed walls giving it a very Mediterranean look. I could live here very easily as far as the modern city is concerned. Climate, location near the Galilee and all would make this a good place to send Henry on a mission trip….
Another clash of modern an ancient history: the hill above Beit Shean has a dead tree that is a actually a prop from some scenes from the movie “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Not really a movie I would recommend…
I would easily go back to Beit Shean and tour it again and again as an example of Greco-Roman architecture and all that, but where I would go to feel a touch of Jesus or simply be in awe without a tour guide would be any number of places in Israel other than Beit Shean.
What we toured however was the ancient city of Sythopolis, which was very pagan and culturally Greco-Roman. The ancient city of was founded by Scythians. These were a Cossack like people living near modern day Russia. Alexander the Great bought their services as excellent soldiers and then rewarded them with land in what is now Beit Shean. Hence the very strong Greek influence on the old city. As we toured the site the large pillars, “Cardo”or Main Boulevard, houses, amphitheater, etc were very, very impressive no doubt. But for me it just lacked a bit of meaning outside pure history. Nevertheless, Beit Shean/Sythopolis would have been the largest most important city in the northeastern part of Israel for centuries. Located in the junction of the Jordan and Hadar Valleys, it was a very fertile area and thus agriculturally prosperous. It also maintained a central location on the eastern trade route from the coast to Damascus. You would have to Google Beit Shean and look at all the images to really appreciate how large a city it was and all the amazing excavation that has been done in the last few years. It really is amazing.
Modern Beit Shean was founded by Moroccan Jews in the early 1950’s, making the modern city very young. Modern Beit Shean is gorgeous with a lot of red tile roofs and white washed walls giving it a very Mediterranean look. I could live here very easily as far as the modern city is concerned. Climate, location near the Galilee and all would make this a good place to send Henry on a mission trip….
Another clash of modern an ancient history: the hill above Beit Shean has a dead tree that is a actually a prop from some scenes from the movie “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Not really a movie I would recommend…
I would easily go back to Beit Shean and tour it again and again as an example of Greco-Roman architecture and all that, but where I would go to feel a touch of Jesus or simply be in awe without a tour guide would be any number of places in Israel other than Beit Shean.
Monday, May 24, 2010
"Leaving Galilee"
(Matthew 5:1-20; Mark 5)
As we pulled out of the Hotel Ramot just above the Sea of Galilee, I really felt sad. This had been a really cool hotel, with amazing day trips and interesting near misses with breaking kosher laws. I had felt spoiled both from the hotel staff and from all that we had seen and talked about. Some of the best conversations with each other and with Yoni were after supper in the sitting area. We gave Rebekah a hard time because she was the only one without an iPhone. (Or so it seemed). We talked about this later on, how special this place was to us, but I wonder how it compared to other memories now that we have been home a while.
Thanks to Yoni I didn’t get to wallow in nostalgia very long as our first stop was only 10 minutes out from the hotel at a “wide spot” in the road just above the Sea of Galilee. This area is known as Kursi on present day maps, and is one of the best places by topography where the story of Jesus encountering the demonized man called “Legion”, may have taken place. “The area of the Gadarenes”, could be many places if you look at places that could fit that name or root syllables of that name. The topography limits where this story could have occurred because of all the areas “in the Decapolis”; only one spot slopes closely to the shore before it stops a small cliff. Many of the other areas have cliffs high above even the road we were on, or didn’t even make it to the shore.
What I didn’t know was that pigs were used for pagan sacrifices of many different kinds, just as temple prostitution was very common, so apparently was the sacrifice of pigs in different rituals of the time among the pagans. One of the reasons Jesus was asked to leave the region was with the pigs drowning and the demonized man healed, the religion of the area took a big hit, as it were.
One interesting example of a clash we saw often between modern history and biblical history was the mine field we parked next to while we learned about Jesus and the man called Legion. If this was where pigs ran off into the water, then modern pigs would likely set off mines if they got past the barbed wire fence with its’ yellow sign of warning. Ironically the field was covered with very pretty yellow wild flowers. There was also a bunker close where we stopped, both Syrian placed and dating back to before the 1967 war.
As I remembered all of this for the blog, it occurred to me…I wonder if Jesus goes back to places that hold a special place in His heart, just like I would do. When we were stopped by the road learning all this, was Jesus remembering when it all really happened? Did Jesus see again the look on the man’s face after a legion of demons left and he was healed? I kinda think he does stuff like that….
As we pulled out of the Hotel Ramot just above the Sea of Galilee, I really felt sad. This had been a really cool hotel, with amazing day trips and interesting near misses with breaking kosher laws. I had felt spoiled both from the hotel staff and from all that we had seen and talked about. Some of the best conversations with each other and with Yoni were after supper in the sitting area. We gave Rebekah a hard time because she was the only one without an iPhone. (Or so it seemed). We talked about this later on, how special this place was to us, but I wonder how it compared to other memories now that we have been home a while.
Thanks to Yoni I didn’t get to wallow in nostalgia very long as our first stop was only 10 minutes out from the hotel at a “wide spot” in the road just above the Sea of Galilee. This area is known as Kursi on present day maps, and is one of the best places by topography where the story of Jesus encountering the demonized man called “Legion”, may have taken place. “The area of the Gadarenes”, could be many places if you look at places that could fit that name or root syllables of that name. The topography limits where this story could have occurred because of all the areas “in the Decapolis”; only one spot slopes closely to the shore before it stops a small cliff. Many of the other areas have cliffs high above even the road we were on, or didn’t even make it to the shore.
What I didn’t know was that pigs were used for pagan sacrifices of many different kinds, just as temple prostitution was very common, so apparently was the sacrifice of pigs in different rituals of the time among the pagans. One of the reasons Jesus was asked to leave the region was with the pigs drowning and the demonized man healed, the religion of the area took a big hit, as it were.
One interesting example of a clash we saw often between modern history and biblical history was the mine field we parked next to while we learned about Jesus and the man called Legion. If this was where pigs ran off into the water, then modern pigs would likely set off mines if they got past the barbed wire fence with its’ yellow sign of warning. Ironically the field was covered with very pretty yellow wild flowers. There was also a bunker close where we stopped, both Syrian placed and dating back to before the 1967 war.
As I remembered all of this for the blog, it occurred to me…I wonder if Jesus goes back to places that hold a special place in His heart, just like I would do. When we were stopped by the road learning all this, was Jesus remembering when it all really happened? Did Jesus see again the look on the man’s face after a legion of demons left and he was healed? I kinda think he does stuff like that….
Friday, May 21, 2010
“Bomb shelters, Bunkers and Bullet Holes”
I had never seen an active bomb shelter before we visited the Wilsons in Haifa our first day in Israel. Oh, there was a bomb shelter in our hotel in Acco for sure, I just didn’t get to see it. It was located in the basement floor of the hotel. We had been to the Messianic congregations in Nazareth, Kiryat Yam and Haifa that morning, and then went to meet to Wilsons who are from Abilene and work with Operation Mobilization; an evangelical ministry to Jews around the world. They have a “real” bomb shelter that we toured and Mary Wilson explained was qualified for ordinary and gas containing missiles. Mary explained the two heavy doors with steel and cement frames, steel doors, inner room, outer decontamination room, shower, vents, supplies, bedding, etc. I don’t remember what the others in the group thought but for me the fascination of being in a “real” bomb shelter was tempered by the realization that I would never comprehend having a bomb shelter unless I lived in Israel. This same eire feeling recurred when I explored the bomb shelter in our hotel in Jerusalem. This hotel had at least two shelters on each floor. These had a few mattresses up against the walls but not much else.
The day we went to Hazor, Dan, Banias, etc., as I mentioned we visited the old Syrian bunker over run and captured by the Israeli army in 1967. Imagine a 55 gallon drum turned on its side, but large enough to walk through and that is essentially what the bunker felt like. However, this bunker was on top of a hill, 4000 feet above sea level where it is cold at night. Stark, Cold, Bare, vulnerable is how it felt to me…all the more so as I imagined scared Syrian soldiers chained to the metal.
Bullet holes were easily seen around the Jaffa Gate when we walked by it when we were in Jerusalem. This location was where the Israeli paratroopers’ swarmed the gate and modern 1967 weapons were used to overtake this ancient gate. Bullet holes could be seen easily around the gate; the proverbial “riddled with bullet holes” comes to mind.
The bomb shelters really have me thinking…they are made with the expectation that someday they will have to be used to preserve life. Much of north Israel spent a significant time in bomb shelters in 2006 during the war with Lebanon, especially our friends in Akko and Haifa. Indeed Eitan mentioned in late 2006 that much work needed to be done on the shelters in Haifa due to the time spent in them. Our friends Eitan, Connie, Avi, Hannah, Guy, Tali, Leon, etc. just to name a few spent a lot of time in bomb shelters.
Bomb shelters, bunkers and bullets are part of wars,and while I never felt danger while in Israel, there were always signs of past conflicts: minefields, old tanks, old army bases, fences, road crossings, etc.
A Biblical word for bomb shelter might be fortress, stronghold and of course refuge. We are in a war RIGHT NOW and there is only ONE Shelter, ONE Fortress, ONE Refuge. That is the good news…the bad news would be if that is ALL God was for us. Imagine going to Israel and staying 2 weeks in a bomb shelter and not exploring Israel. Doesn’t make sense…same with God…He wants us to explore all that He is. Much more could be said about all this...but bomb shelters, bunkers and bullet holes is a good start.
The day we went to Hazor, Dan, Banias, etc., as I mentioned we visited the old Syrian bunker over run and captured by the Israeli army in 1967. Imagine a 55 gallon drum turned on its side, but large enough to walk through and that is essentially what the bunker felt like. However, this bunker was on top of a hill, 4000 feet above sea level where it is cold at night. Stark, Cold, Bare, vulnerable is how it felt to me…all the more so as I imagined scared Syrian soldiers chained to the metal.
Bullet holes were easily seen around the Jaffa Gate when we walked by it when we were in Jerusalem. This location was where the Israeli paratroopers’ swarmed the gate and modern 1967 weapons were used to overtake this ancient gate. Bullet holes could be seen easily around the gate; the proverbial “riddled with bullet holes” comes to mind.
The bomb shelters really have me thinking…they are made with the expectation that someday they will have to be used to preserve life. Much of north Israel spent a significant time in bomb shelters in 2006 during the war with Lebanon, especially our friends in Akko and Haifa. Indeed Eitan mentioned in late 2006 that much work needed to be done on the shelters in Haifa due to the time spent in them. Our friends Eitan, Connie, Avi, Hannah, Guy, Tali, Leon, etc. just to name a few spent a lot of time in bomb shelters.
Bomb shelters, bunkers and bullets are part of wars,and while I never felt danger while in Israel, there were always signs of past conflicts: minefields, old tanks, old army bases, fences, road crossings, etc.
A Biblical word for bomb shelter might be fortress, stronghold and of course refuge. We are in a war RIGHT NOW and there is only ONE Shelter, ONE Fortress, ONE Refuge. That is the good news…the bad news would be if that is ALL God was for us. Imagine going to Israel and staying 2 weeks in a bomb shelter and not exploring Israel. Doesn’t make sense…same with God…He wants us to explore all that He is. Much more could be said about all this...but bomb shelters, bunkers and bullet holes is a good start.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
"Golan Heights"
After we basked in the Banias experience we went a little bit further in the bus to a gorgeous waterfall. Technically I believe we were still in Banias, but this place was breathtaking for at least two reasons. As you hiked down and back from the waterfall the hike was enough to make you short of breath if you were as out of shape as I am; but more to the point is the power with which the waterfall at Banias flows and the tropical appearance of the area. One could slip a photo of the Banias waterfall into a National Geographic article on the “waterfalls in the tropics” and no one would be the wiser. I had to assume that Jesus would want to visit places like this on his trips, that the disciples would ask him; “teacher when we are up near Caesarea Philippi may we go by the waterfall…Thomas doesn’t believe it’s there…”
Although it seemed disconnected from the theme of the day (Paganism, I guess was the theme…) we went a little further to Nimrods’ fortress. I know the ladies in our group enjoyed this entire day, but in retrospect it was a guy kind of day, what with Ashtoreth poles, huge caves, and waterfalls and now a huge fortress called Nimrod’s Fortress. It sits on top of a hill like ice-cream does on a cone, very visible and impressive. Over 630 yards long the fortress has been attributed to Crusaders but was probably built by the early Turks and is made all of stone. Even the huge archways, window arches, and arrow-shooting “slits” were of hewn stone. Whoever controlled this fortress controlled the crossroads from Syria to Israel, southern Lebanon to Syria and north Jordan to Lebanon. When Yoni told us we “only’ had 45 minutes to explore the fortress I thought he was being facetious but it took every bit of the 45 min just to check out the main parts of the fortress. This is most certainly a place where pictures describe a place better than words.
Lastly we ascended a small mountain to an old Syrian lookout lost to Israel in the 1967 war. This was sobering, at least for me, in that the bunker we toured was all steel, old, and tube-like and I could imagine the Syrian soldiers chained to the steel by their own officers so to not be allowed to retreat when the Israelis overtook the site.(Yoni had told us this story as we went up to the bunker) At the same time, the view north-ward from this point was breathtaking! Lebanon to the northwest and Syria to the northeast; both sworn enemies of the LORD’S chosen…Pretty schizophrenic really.
Amazing day…
Although it seemed disconnected from the theme of the day (Paganism, I guess was the theme…) we went a little further to Nimrods’ fortress. I know the ladies in our group enjoyed this entire day, but in retrospect it was a guy kind of day, what with Ashtoreth poles, huge caves, and waterfalls and now a huge fortress called Nimrod’s Fortress. It sits on top of a hill like ice-cream does on a cone, very visible and impressive. Over 630 yards long the fortress has been attributed to Crusaders but was probably built by the early Turks and is made all of stone. Even the huge archways, window arches, and arrow-shooting “slits” were of hewn stone. Whoever controlled this fortress controlled the crossroads from Syria to Israel, southern Lebanon to Syria and north Jordan to Lebanon. When Yoni told us we “only’ had 45 minutes to explore the fortress I thought he was being facetious but it took every bit of the 45 min just to check out the main parts of the fortress. This is most certainly a place where pictures describe a place better than words.
Lastly we ascended a small mountain to an old Syrian lookout lost to Israel in the 1967 war. This was sobering, at least for me, in that the bunker we toured was all steel, old, and tube-like and I could imagine the Syrian soldiers chained to the steel by their own officers so to not be allowed to retreat when the Israelis overtook the site.(Yoni had told us this story as we went up to the bunker) At the same time, the view north-ward from this point was breathtaking! Lebanon to the northwest and Syria to the northeast; both sworn enemies of the LORD’S chosen…Pretty schizophrenic really.
Amazing day…
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