Trip to the Holy Land (Part 5 - The Sea of Galilee and Mt. Hermon)

After crossing the Jordan river into Israel, the atmosphere seemed to be a bit more relaxed.  We were safe and it felt like home.  It was indeed the land of milk and honey where all the available land was used in an efficient way to maximize the available land resources and keep Israel as a self-sufficient country.  They can't count on any neighbors to any great extent so efficiency is at a premium.  The roads along the Jordan were solid farming communities dedicated to every imaginable crop including bananas.  Contrast this to the opposite side of the river in Jordan where half completed buildings and communities littered the valley.

Tiberias would be our hub for several days.  The ancient city, named for the Roman emperor Tiberius, sits on the Western shore of the Sea of Galilee and our hotel had a magnificent view of the sea and Roman ruins everywhere.

We started with a boat ride to take us to the northern edge of the sea.  While on the boat, we took the opportunity to read many of the scriptures related to Jesus teaching his disciples about being fishers of men and the story of Peter walking on the water.  

I took a moment to peer over the edge and wondered if I had the courage or faith to do what Peter did and step out of the boat.  My swimming skills are not that great, but had to be better than Peter's.  In his day, swimming was almost non-existent and the most hazardous part of of a fisherman's work was drowning.  Drowning was one of the worst forms of death - sinking to the bottom of the unknown sea.  And yet Peter stepped out and walked on his own until he panicked.  I always assumed the answer Jesus gave to him, "Ye of little faith" meant Peter's lack of faith in Jesus, but another interpretation could be that Jesus was encouraging Peter and expressed a bit of disappointment in Peter's lack of faith in himself.  He had enough faith in Christ to step out, but lacked faith in himself to continue.  Well, he still got further than I did.  

We boarded a bus and headed north to the Golan Heights to see the head waters of the Jordan River and get a glimpse of Mount Hermon.  The debate continues on the site for the Transfiguration of Jesus.  Some believe it happened on Mount Tabor near the southern Galilee while others claim Mount Hermon.  After seeing Mount Tabor at 1900 feet in elevation and comparing it to the snow covered caps of Mount Hermon at over 7000 feet I am leaning toward Mt Hermon.  From a distance it is a beautiful mountain and I could see why a couple of disciples wanted to build 3 shelters: one for Elijah, one for Moses and one for Jesus.  

Another reason is the significance that this is the headwaters for the River Jordan.  The river starts as a wide stream and seems to come right out of the base of the hill and continues into the Sea of Galilee before exiting and continuing south to the Dead Sea.  It seems surreal that the river starts a bit above sea level and by the time it hits the Sea of Galilee it is already 700 feet below sea level and ends 1400 feet below at the Dead Sea.  But the river symbolizes life and what better way to connect the Transfiguration.  Even the tree seen in the photo is growing right out of the hill following the start of  the river Jordan.  This photo is looking downstream standing at the base and just above where the river spills out of the rock.  I'm not a scholar, but the dots seem to connect.

We made two other stops.  One to the site of the Sermon on the Mount and the other to Capharnaum, the likely home of Peter, James, John and Andrew.  Both are on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee.  It was hard to find a spot where the Sermon may have occurred, but a church is located at a beautiful setting above the lake and it was easy to envision Jesus talking to many people in this lovely setting.  

Close by, we took a short bus ride to a church located near a rock that Jesus used to lay out the 2 fish (along with the 5 loaves of bread) to feed 5000 people gathered at the time.  (See Mark 6:30-44).  Jesus could not send a group of people away hungry and performed one his many miracles.  After all ate and were satisfied, the disciples were instructed to clean up the area and they gathered up 12 basketfuls of extra bread and some pieces of fish.  No one left hungry.

 

The church is called the Heptapegon which is the Greek word for "the place of seven springs."  The number 7 pops up a bit in Christianity.

An altar was built over the rock and the church contained several beautiful works of stained glass art.  

At the end of the day, we witnessed a beautiful sunset over the Sea of Galilee.  

Trip to the Holy Land (Part 4 - Petra & Mt. Nebo)

Crossing borders is a nightmare.  We left Mt. Sinai and drove along the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (aka Gulf of Eilat if you are in Israel) which happens to be a gulf off the Red Sea.  At one point close to Eilat, it is possible to see four countries (Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia).  In order to get into Jordan from Egypt, we had to cross into Israel which took 2 hours, spend the night in Eilat, then spend another 3 hours leaving Israel to get into Jordan.  I hate standing in lines.

After several hours traveling though pretty rough country in a bouncy, bouncy bus we arrived at Wadi Musa (which is translated as the Valley of Moses).  From the city, the view is spectacular.  

The Bible tells us that Moses did not take the direct route into Israel from Mount Sinai, similar to us.  Moses was almost to Israel and did not receive permission to travel through the land of Edom (border crossing issues in that day I presume) so he back-tracked through present day Eiliat and up through Wadi Musa headed for Mt. Nebo.

If you look in the bottom right side of the panoramic photo, you will see a winding trail which is the entrance to Petra that leads into the narrow canyon of rose colored rock.  Petra was at the center of a trading route and was influenced by many cultures.  The "city" is carved out of rock and the buildings take on a look of Greek and Roman buildings.  These structures where not homes, but rather tombs.

One could spend several days exploring deep into the canyon and wander in many different directions.  Unfortunately we had only a few hours and every step we took toward the center of the canyon was down a gradual slope.  Unfortunately that also meant we had to retrace our steps back up hill to return.  It was possible to rent a horse taxi for the journey, but we chose to walk.  One of the hazards was that the horse drawn carriages yielded to NO ONE... so you had to jump out of the way.  Whenever you heard the clopping sound echoing through the canyon over the Roman roads, it was time to hug the walls.  While along the wall, it was time to admire the handiwork of carved water channels that directed fresh water to the center of the city.   Each side of the canyon wall had a 12" wide trough carved into it which was covered with stone slabs to keep the water fresh.

One of the most famous tombs is called the Treasury.  Many people know it from Raiders of the Lost Ark since the building was used in some of the scenes.  

The photo on the left was the first glimpse of something spectacular we were about to see as the narrow canyon was opening in front of us.

And a few moments later the sight on the right was visible until the rock opened to reveal the entire "building" in the photo below.  

This section was the main attraction and a gathering point prior to exploring more of the canyon.   All the tombs were hand carved and not sure how long one of these would have taken to finish.  Here the Greek influence can be seen from the style, but our guide pointed out that other buildings are copied from all around the Mediterranean.  When these were carved, someone had to develop plans from various buildings they had seen, sketch them and instruct the workers to carve the intricate ornamental features.

After exploring, we drove another few hours along western Jordan through the desert headed toward Mt. Nebo.  At this point I can see why the Israelites were disappointed and impatient.  They had almost reached the Promised Land, yet they were still walking through this miserable desert and rough country... we had it easy in a bouncy, bouncy bus yet I could see their point.

We know at about this time the Israelites started complaining against God and Moses that he had brought them all the way from Egypt only to die is this desert.  (We weren't quite to that point, but indeed it had been a long day for us too).  Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among the people and many died and soon they realized they had sinned against God so Moses prayed for the people.

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.'"  Numbers 21:8

To the left is a sculpture of the bronze snake at the top of Mt. Nebo. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake (sin) and looked at the bronze snake (Christ), he lived.  God is the master at foreshadowing.


The picture below is the top of Mt. Nebo where God showed Moses the whole Promised Land before him.  On a clear day, it would be possible to see all of Judah from here, but on this day it was hazy and we could barely make out the Jordan River.  The mountain is also where Moses died since God would only allow him to see Israel and not enter it.  However, we would be in Israel by night fall... that is after passing through one more border crossing which took another 2-3 hours.  Should've brought one of those venomous snakes to get people motivated to stamp a passport.

Trip to the Holy Land (Part 3 - Sunrise on Mt. Sinai)

After a long bus ride, we arrived at the monastery of St. Catherine's at the doorstep to Mount Sinai.  The air was  crisp and much cleaner than Cario, although that should have been expected since we were in the mountains away from all the cities and it was cold... very cold.  (I was glad I packed my winter jacket with a ski hat and gloves.)  We ate a cafeteria dinner that was just barely on the side of edible (that is - portions were) and had to keep the stray cats at bay to finish our meals in the group dining hall that seemed to have no barriers to keep the pesky critters out.  But they seemed to enjoy the meal better than anyone else as it looked like this was a common disposal method for the food.

The wake-up call came at 1:00am to board the bus for a short ride to the base of the mountain and the same chef provided a bagged breakfast meal that I should have left behind as it only added dead weight for the assent to the top.  Apparently neither dinner nor breakfast was his specialty.

At 2:15am we mounted camels that would be the best mode of transportation for the first part of the journey.  We had a choice.  The options were to walk all the way, OR pay for a camel to take us the first 4 miles to a base camp and then continue on our own for the final assault of 750 "steps" to the very top.  The camels were a good choice.

Immediately the head guide paired each of us with a local Bedouin who took us separately to his camel.  At that moment, I became a bit concerned as my daughter was separated from me and it was pitch black and I couldn't see more than 2-3 feet beyond my hand.  Even though I called out to her seconds after we left each other, there was no response and I didn't like the situation.  Then my Bedouin handler said to me, "You tip me."  I think that was the only English he knew and I wasn't sure if it was for the ride or to get my daughter back.  For the next hour and a half I rode this camel that seemed to be thinking he would prefer to walk me off the edge or brush me off on the mountain ledges.  The handler must have been commanding the camel left or right in Arabic every time he got close to the edge.  But in any case, I never would have made the first 4 miles on my own stumbling over the uneven and rocky path in the dark.

While it was a bit disconcerting not knowing where my daughter was, the solitude was amazing and I had never seen so many stars before.  With no light for hundreds of miles around, the stars were all out and I stopped counting after 20 plus shooting stars.  At the base camp, she was waiting for me in a warming tent with a few others from our group.  I gladly tipped every Bedouin once I saw her.

We waited in the warming tent to avoid the cold and then made the last push to the top a little before sunrise.  The term "750 steps" is nothing I expected.  First, there had to be more than 750 of those buggers and steps... if they were that, they definitely did not meet code.  This was treacherous walking and a flashlight was a must have device, but it would have been better had I been in shape.  I then remembered that it was a mere 8500 feet in elevation and the lack of oxygen took it's toll.

However, the Lord did not disappoint and He greeted us with a beautiful sunrise and topped it off with the clouds in the shape of a cross.  This had to be one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed.

I am not sure how many photos I took, but I did not want to miss this sight.


It was amazing how many people were there to share the experience from all over the globe.  The most memorable were all the Nigerians singing on the way up and several singing on the way before the sunrise ever got there.  I think they did not expect the cold weather as we passed them on the way up.  I hope they did not miss this.




Here is a look back to the mountain we climbed.  We could not see this in the dark... only flashlights bouncing along the trail way above our heads.

It took a little over 2 hours to walk back down and our head guide stayed with us the whole time.  His name was Saba and he is pictured in the middle with my daughter.


















The camels made for great images... not something I get to see everyday.


Also, along the way, Saba pointed out Elijah's basin.  Please see the video attached at the bottom.


Here is one last look at the mountain view after sunrise.

On the way, I took this picture thinking that when Moses spoke to the Israelites after getting the 10 Commandments from God, he might have stood on this ledge or one like it.

I always wondered how so many Israelites could be in one place to hear Moses, but the valley opens up below providing a great amphitheater.








Later that day as we were on the bus headed north toward Israel, the guide had us look at the mountain range that would run continuously toward the Holy Land.  Mount Sinai was made of granite but these mountains were made of sandstone and it was notorious for being a place that one could get lost and guides were needed since every canyon and turn looked identical.  The Arabic name for the range meant "maze" and that made complete sense that Moses would not proceed unless he had God leading the way.

Even though Moses had spend his middle 40 years in this same desert before leading the Israelites at this moment in time, he knew he could not make it through those mountains without God.  After the golden cafe incident, God threatened to let them go on without him, but Moses would not leave Mt. Sinai until he convinced God to lead them.  I guess Moses understood what he was up against for the final part of the journey as he knew they would have been lost in the maze without God.


Next blog - Petra in Jordan.

Trip to the Holy Land (Part 2 - Travel to Mt. Sinai)

I was happy to leave Cario.  While it has so much history and many sites to see, the city is very polluted and several in our group developed persistant coughs and irritations.  The heavy, humid air keeps the pollution around, but it does provide for spectacular sunsets.

I had no time to setup for this shot and I snapped this out of the bus window and was pleasantly surprised by the results.











We left Cario on a bus headed toward the Reed Sea area (not the Red Sea as we were a bit to the north) to cross under the Suez Canal.  I have no pictures of the Canal and the authorities try to prevent easy access to the area by making large berms to restrict the view and keep it secure.  Sorry - but nothing to look at, although the guide did say the view of a large container ship passing across the desert floor looks a bit out of place, but none were seen as we drove.

We stopped at two oases where Moses brought the Israelites along the way to Mt. Sinai.  The first stop was Marah where the water was bitter, but became sweet when Moses threw a stick into the water.  I did not think it was wise to sample the water so I do not know if it was still sweet or not, but it looked a bit muddy to me.  I don't think my immune system could handle this one, so I passed.

At this stop, I became a bit more aware of potential dangers.  Throughout our time in Egypt, the travel agency provided armed guards to accompany us everywhere.  Once we left Cario, I felt a bit relieved to be away from so many people, but our guard stayed alert.  At Marah, our group out numbered the locals trying to sell items, but it seemed strange to see a 60 plus year old man dressed in a ragged "Tourist Police" uniform (gold stripes on the shoulders) chasing down a young boy that was probably 10-12 years old.  Apparently the kid had done something to provoke the "policeman" and when he finally caught him, he was berating this kid and slapping him across the face.  This was upsetting to see, but then I noticed our guard pull his sports coat to the side and place his hand on his revolver.  His next reaction seemed strange as then he looked everywhere but at the policeman and the hysterics happening right in front of him.  I suspect he was thinking this could be a diversion to something a bit more sinister.  He did not intervene in the local dispute, but I learned that he did not trust anyone.

The second oasis was Elim where the Bible noted there were 12 springs and 70 palm trees.  We were the only ones around and spent some time wandering the area and climbing to get better views of the colorful mountains.  This was a welcome break from the drive.







After traveling through the Desert of Sin, we stopped at a Bedouin camp to have some tea mixed with local herbs.  I had several cups and the mixture was very soothing so I decided to buy a bag of this herb, which only takes a very small pinch to provide an over-powering aroma to the tea.

After the negotiation process, they gave me a clear plastic bag with chopped up leafy green particles.  When I went through US Customs, I felt like a smuggler trying to bring in some illicit drug.  There was no identifying label, but the baggy made it through every check point along the way.

While we were there, the Bedouin let us handle the farm animals.  When we came back to the US, does this mean I need to claim I was around livestock?

The Bedouin's camp (or village) is situated close to the valley of Rephidim where Joshua fought the Amalekites and where Moses watched the battle in the valley below.  As told in Exodus, when Moses raised his arms to God, the Israelites were winning the battle and when he let his arms go down, they started losing.  To help Moses, his brother Aaron and another named Hur held his arms up when he could no longer do it on his own.  I always envisioned a large mountain with Moses looking far off into the distance to see a battle on some plains.  After driving through this valley, it was much easier now to see Moses looking down several hundred feet into a very tight gap in the mountains which seemed only wide enough for a highway road.

After this, we were on our way to Mount Sinai and arrived at the camp just at twilight, but not in time to see the mountain we were to climb later that night at 2:30am.

Next blog:  Mt. Sinai at dawn.

Trip to the Holy Land (Part 1 - Egypt)

I've been gone for a while and have not had a chance to update my blog.  However, today I am going to vary the style a bit and give my readers a chance to experience some of the sites we saw on our trip to the Holyland.  First of all, I never envisioned the opportunity to travel to the Middle East, but when the Youth Pastor at my daughter's school started organizing it, we jumped at the chance and are very grateful for all the hard work he put into it to keep the group together and it was enhanced by some very good Christian guides.  The Bible came to life.

We started our journey in Egypt to follow the path of Moses.   As you might imagine the Pyramids are amazing feats of engineering.  If you look closely, after 4000 years there has been a bit of "recycling" going on as it was an easy source of building materials for the locals since the Pharaohs were dead and nobody cared if parts were confiscated.  Only one of the 3 pyramids has any remnants today of the limestone face that made it a perfectly clean structure and not the haphazard laying of blocks that we see today.  Historians indicate that the top peak was a gold cap 10 feet tall which would have been an awe inspiring vision seen well beyond the Nile.  However, today no golden cap remains and all three structures are missing at least 10-15 feet of material all the way around, from top to bottom.  See the indent about 1/4 of the way from the top and follow it down to the ground.  This is the rugged jigsaw block we see today.

These were amazing tombs for the most important Pharaohs and were most likely laden with treasure beyond belief.  It didn't take a rocket scientist to know where to look to rob it and nothing remains today.  However, we did have a chance to see the treasure of Tutankhamen at the Cario Museum.  He was buried further south in a hidden tomb under tons of rock.  This boy king reigned for 9 years and if the treasure were proportional, it would have been amazing to see what would have been in the great pyramids.  We saw only the highlights on our short tour from King Tut and it was mind blowing.  First of all, by the time Howard Carter found the hidden tomb (the ancient Egyptians got a bit smarter and decided not to advertise the location so much), he was greeted by a burial room with a huge golden box that had to be 15 feet tall, wide and deep.  (It was wooden, with gold embossed around it).  Then inside that box, was a second golden box.  Then a third... and finally a fourth golden box.  Inside that was the sarcophagus, made of wood with gold covering it.  Then inside, was a solid gold casket weighing 232 pounds of Nubian gold which in today's value would be $5.2 million if melted down by itself but is so much more valuable for the exquisite artwork.  Finally inside was the mummy with the famous headdress commonly seen above.  This does not take into account, the 150 pounds of gold necklaces with precious stones on top of the mummy.  Did I say this was amazing, but think what treasures where in the big pyramids shown above for the most important Pharaohs of the day.

In any case, all those treasures did them no good.  We learned an interesting fact that it was the belief of the Egyptians that after death, the heart was removed and weighed.  If the heart was light as a feather, the Pharaoh would have an after life.  If it was heavy, it was eternal damnation.  If the scale was balanced, then the Pharaoh was judged.  Here is a copy of the depiction of the heart decision.  The top row is the judgement.  Our guide had us read part of the Bible where God made the Pharaoh's heart hard.  Could "hard" be a reference to "heavy" which is what the Pharaoh would have feared?  We may never know, but it is an interesting theory by our guide.

Some may not know this, but the Giza plateau is just across the Nile outside of present day Cario.  We stayed less than 10 minutes from the Pyramids, but the elevated area is the beginning of the Sahara Dessert.  The ancient Egyptians kept life and death separated by the Nile.  Everything to the West was for death (tombs and dessert) and everything East was life and where they lived.  As we traveled toward the Sinai out of Cario, we had to cross the Red Sea.... well actually go under it by bus.  (We went under the Suez Canal since Moses wasn't around to part the Sea).  Numerous scholars say that the parting of the Red Sea was actually the parting of the Reed Sea and due to a misunderstanding by translators.  Where Moses started, it would have been more likely to take the Northern route across one of the lakes to escape the Pharaoh.  Our guide had an interesting take on the momentous occasion.  Since the Jews had spent close to 400 years in Egypt they would have known the customs and beliefs of the Egyptians.  One was that Death was on the west side and Life on the east side and in order to get to "Life" one had to cross a body of water.  So Moses used the Reed Sea (which is quite deep in parts) as a means to keep the Pharaoh's army from chasing them down in the open dessert and as a way to show the Israelites a symbolic means of going to a new "Life" out of the "Death" they were in by crossing from West to East.  Perhaps this is right... perhaps it is just interpretation... but another interesting theory to consider.

Next part... Mt. Sinai at sunrise.

2010 - Jimmy's Year in Review (The Top 11 Incase You Missed Them)

Me Knows Better Than to Say This... But I will.  For my three (semi-) followers who don't really log on to see what's happening in my blog on any regular interval, I thought I would provide a quick summary of the Top 11 blogs of my choosing.  (Eleven because Ten is over done and eleven is a pretty good number).  This should help you incase you missed nothing of importance.  These are not the ones which created the most buzz (if one can say that about my musings), but ones which I enjoyed writing and laughing about.

Number 11:  Eagles and Harleys and Claws... Oh My
Jimmy's glad he's not this stupid... to be disproved below.

Number 10:  Jimmy Is Disillusioned By Politics  
The most ironic sign I've seen.

Number 9:  Jimmy's Wife Comments on Last Blog
Continuing discussion on my favorite sweatshirt.

Number 8:  Jimmy's Sign From Above  
Perhaps its time for Jimmy to get glasses.

Number 7:  Jimmy Needs Glasses
Yes - Jimmy does need glasses... really.

Number 6:  Jimmy Turns Hawaiian  
Maybe you heard about a recent milestone.

Number 5:  Whoa... For a Second Jimmy Thought  
Jimmy relives an event my brother wants to forget.

Number 4:  Jimmy's Apology to Target Corporation 
You didn't hear this from me.

Number 3:  Jimmy's Crappy Luck  
Home repair taken to a new low.

Number 2:  Jimmy's Electrical Adventure
Jimmy just needs to leave the tools alone.

And my daughter's favorite story...
Number 1:  The Art of Winter Driving - Jimmy Style  
Suggestion to stay off the roads.


Let me know your favorite story because I'm sure there is more in there to write about later.

Thanks - have a great and safe 2011.

Jimmy

Jimmy's Basic English Deficiency

Me Knows Better Than to Say This... But I will.  OK, now that I've confessed to not hearing and understanding the differences between "Meat" Vodka and "Mint" Vodka, I can mention another time when what I thought I heard did not match what was actually said.

While waiting for a flight out of Taipei on China Air, an announcement came over the public address system for what we thought was to apologize for the longer than normal delay in boarding.  The Taiwanese airline employee started speaking in broken English with a heavy Mandrin accent, "We would ike to apahagize fo the incompetence."

Immediately one of my fellow passengers asked, "Did she just say they were apologizing for their incompetence?"

Another guy sitting across the aisle chimed in, "No, she said 'incontinence.'"

Either way - no good.

However we later figured she was trying to say, "We apologize for the inconvenience."

Jimmy hopes this hearing deficiency doesn't create another international incident.  Either that, or there is an opening for some English language courses in Taipei.