2017-6-16 Transitions, Explanations, and Excuses

Brethren and Friends,

     I entered Israel on June 2, 2017, and spent the first five days in a Bed & Breakfast two miles north of the Caesarea Maritima National Park. These were full, fun, and productive days which I'll call "2017 - The First Journey" but they were also too frenetic to discuss here. So, that will have to wait for another time. However, in these days I rented a car and explored Galilee a bit, discovering a missing museum, an elusive Emperor (likely a huge and headless statue of Hadrian in a very beautiful red porphyry), snorkeled my way around Herod the Great's middle harbor, and worshiped with the Nazareth Church of Christ (along with Evertt Huffard's tour group of 86 saints). In all, a most satisfying few days. Pictures and further explanations follow.

NOTE: All pictures on this blog will be posted in their original (higher definition) size so you can "right click" on them to open a separate tab and then in that window "right click" again to save, go full size, or zoom in. Feel free to use them as you wish.

"Hadrian's (?) Statue"

For more on this, see also Ferrell Jenkins Blog at this address:

   Ferrell Jenkins on the "Hadrian's Statue" Discovery

I sculled my way around the harbor for exactly one hour on the shorter, six location route, 

in the middle, as pictured and described on the placard, although in reverse order.

The next two photos are the front and back of the Harbor map.

My Galilean sojourn ended on June 6th, when I drove back to the Ben Gurion Airport, met Landon and Kristina Wadley who flew in from Greece, drove them immediately to the Dov Hoz Airport on the beach in Tel Aviv, and spent three hours in a little four place charter plane with them over Jerusalem, Jericho, Qumran, En Gedi, Masada, and Caesarea Maritima.

Here is one photo from the airport and each of these six locations:

Dov Hoz Airport with Landon and Kristina:

From left to right: Jerusalem, Temple Mount, Kidron Valley, and a bit of the Mount of Olives:

Jericho in foreground, Dead Sea in the back:

Qumran Community ruins in upper right.

Cave complex where Dead Sea Scrolls found in lower left:

EnGedi Canyon where David and Saul met (1 Samuel 24)

Roman siege ramp, Masada Plateau, and Dead Sea

Be sure to read Ferrell Jenkins blog on this location at the following link:

Ferrell Jenkins on possible Biblical references to Masada

Caesarea Maritima

Lower left is middle (wet) & inner harbor (now dry, note grass), Hippodrome in center along beach, 

Herod's Promontory Palace  at center right, and rebuilt Theater in upper right:

Closeup of the middle harbor I which I swam:

The Wadleys and I then raced back to Ben Gurion and met Barry Britnell's Tour Group to spend ten days under his most excellent and insightful guidance. We also had an outstanding Israeli guide whose name is Ghassan (Gus) Makhalfeh and who speaks five languages (English my favorite). But again, we covered so much territory and so very many important Biblical sites that I'll call the time spent with Barry and his group, "2017 - The Second Journey" and reserve daily expositions of that expedition for a later time.

This brings us to 7 o'clock on June 15th in a nice restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean Sea at Joppa (or Yaffa as it's called here). The tour group ate a most delicious last meal together of lamb and chicken before making the bus drive to Ben Gurion where sometimes rather emotional goodbyes were made among our intrepid band of adventurers. "The Fellowship of the Britnells" was sundered and "2017 - The Third Journey" began.

It commenced in a shared taxi (called a "sheroot") apparently commanded by one of Jehu's direct descendants, for verily, "his driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.” (2 Kings 9:20). I met two women who had come into Israel for a "Healing Arts Seminar" and by the time we'd ricocheted off about 83 speed bumps (sometimes actually skipping the rear tires in the process) and being banged around like the clapper in a bell through the corners (on the back row of five seats one Israeli man actually fell completely over onto his left side next to me) I asked one of them if the damage being done to our internal organs during the ride might qualify us as the the first patients at the seminar. Perhaps either her injuries or her terror did not permit a response.

Staggering out of the sheroot not quite half a mile from the famous "Damascus Gate" I wobbled my way downhill along the walls of the "Old City" of Jerusalem only to discover that the Gate was closed due to a terrorist incident while I was in the sheroot. A 23 year old policewoman had been stabbed to death by three Palestinian teenagers (themselves killed in a hail of bullets). 

Welcome to the Wild Wild East.

Ergo, I marched a quarter of a mile back up the hill, entered the "New Gate" (called such because it was built in 1886 making it about 300 years younger than the other seven gates). The road inside was torn completely up by construction so I picked my way through the jobsite, trying to find the Austrian Hospice. Unfortunately, since the incident was only 90 minutes old, I was twice confronted with other blocked streets so it took 45 minutes and 1.3 miles (I track everything on my phone) before I finally made it home to the Hospice where I'll spend a total of 14 days. All in all, I was in a good deal more danger in the sheroot than I was in Jerusalem but it was now 10 o'clock after a very long day in which, all together, I'd walked about 3 miles in high heat. Ah sleep, blessed sleep.

Since 14 days in Jerusalem using the Austrian Hospice as my base really begin at this point 

I'll summarize these days individually and in separate blogs to follow, entitled 

"2017 - Third Journey - Day 1" and then "Day 2" etcetera 

until I must reluctantly leave the land of milk and honey.

Go with God and God will be good

Larry H