Several months ago, Robert and Jeff, the two buddies I hiked on the John Muir Trail (JMT) last summer with a side trip up Mount Whitney, asked about taking on another segment this summer. Since I have had some problems with my back since the last trip, I was hesitant, but said yes anyway.

The allure of the high Sierra with its pristine air, its frigid clear water, and the sheer overwhelming beauty are difficult to resist for a life-long outdoor enthusiast, not to mention the forced unplugging from the rest of the world for a few days. Just not having a bar on the cell phone is a joy—I left my watch in the truck too.

The plan was to begin at Onion Valley above Lone Pine, California, on the east side of the Sierras, climb up over Kersarge Pass then travel north for six days to Bishop Pass and then over and down above Bishop, CA.

The plan sounded good until we heard reports of massive snow still plugging the passes, the result of a very wet winter that saw record snow packs.

One Facebook site recommended  that “wise hikers would consider another plan.”

Bishop Pass is difficult enough, but we would have needed crampons and ice axes at the least. The California winter of historic proportions left dozens of feet of snow and had already caused hundreds of Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) hikers to by-pass the Sierra and skip to Chester California for the rest of the trip to Canada.

The plan for many was to return to Chester and finish the trip southbound through the Sierra—we passed a handful of grizzly bearded individuals who had already returned from the Canadian border to finish, if indeed they are able.

But for us of the 60+ crowd, it was time for Plan B .

The JMT from Yosemite to south of Mount Whitney runs regularly from 10,000 to 12,000 feet and Whitney itself to 14,500 feet. To the north, though, the PCT to Lake Tahoe is several thousand feet lower, usually 7800 to 9200 or so feet. Lower elevation promised clearer trails or so we thought.

North of Yosemite on CA 108, Sonora Pass is 9600 feet in altitude and the PCT going north gets to a max of 10,600 feet just a mile or two later before dropping to the 9200 feet or lower altitude. The hike from there to Carson Pass sixty-two miles northward seemed like a reasonable alternative and the weather report predicted clear skies for the week. So two days before our trip we changed plans—the travel to our two terminals was several hours less as a bonus.

We met up in Carson City last Sunday and dropped one vehicle at Carson Pass. Then on Monday morning we piled in my Ranger and drove two hours south to Sonora Pass Highway (along which is a Marine mountain warfare training center). At the top we were greeted by very pleasant temperatures around 70 degrees, donned our 30-35 pound packs and got on our way.

We immediately began to ascend to 10,600 feet, quite the exertion after coming straight from Redding. But the rugged beauty, the snow still abounding and the exquisite color show of very late spring flowers in the Sierra were enough to hold my attention and fill my heart with the joyous wonder of God’s creation. I was exactly where I wanted to be.

Did I mention that my back had been hurting? For the last year, I’ve had some persistent dull lower back pain especially on the left side. Not enough to impede any activity except trail running, but almost always there.

A thirty-five pound weight on my back was not therapeutic.

By the end of the first day the back was “chirping” at me, though not sharply. Over the next days, it not only chirped but at times sharply stabbed. Nonetheless, with some daily ibuprofen and Tylenol and a generous amount of stretching I was able to persevere to the end.

We hiked as few as six miles on the final day to as many as fifteen on day four. Each day we ascended multiple passes, descended into valleys and canyons, traversed over a dozen significant snow banks, crossed streams, walked through forests, sagebrush, meadows full of color, swarms of mosquitoes, by blue lakes, beside rugged peaks punctuated with glacial size snow banks, then set up camp hungry but satisfied with the breathtaking beauty we had beheld.

There was danger on the trip, but not from bears or any other critters.

On the fifteen mile day, we hiked from Ebbetts Pass to Wet Meadows Reservoir over several ridges and valleys. The large feature of the day was Raymond Peak, which we had seen from afar the day before.

On the way we met a husband and wife sitting on the trail. The wife told us they were considering returning to Sonora Pass. “My feet hurt,” she said. But more pressing was the notice on her trail app that warned of a difficult to traverse “scree” below a snow bank several miles ahead. The app had a red triangle warning.

I am glad they turned around because that warning was well taken.

We talked with several others coming south who told us their tales of getting past that point. Then when we got up and around the high point of the trail around Raymond Peak, we saw what we would face across the Raymond Creek valley. The trail came to an abrupt halt next to a 60 or more degree snow bank before starting again about a forty yards over. Below were loose rocks, a small creek, and a steep and muddy grass bank, all above a precipitous drop of a hundred or more feet.

Not a place for the faint of heart to cross!

When we arrived and looked at our options, we formulated a plan, then carefully descended through a narrow rock chimney. We used our hiking poles for support to cross the steeply dropping creek and grass bank, then scrambled up the loose rock scarp that went up to the trail on the north side.

I crawled over the last few rocks on hands and knees.

We prayed before and thanked the Lord afterward for helping us along the way.

Though we did have a few more snow banks to cross the last two days (and a major thunderstorm to soakingly hike through), those few minutes were the most teeth-clenching of the trip.

Saturday afternoon we finished with a six mile hike over several more passes to Carson Pass before the storms hit again (we encountered heavy rain and hail on the trip back to my truck on Sonora Pass). Tired but satisfied, we were exhilarated and full of joy at what we had experienced the previous days.

A burger and beer in Markleeville was a nice treat on the drive back to my Ranger at Sonora Pass.

For me the exertion and pain was far outweighed by the continual delight of magnificent wilderness all around.

I felt small against the immensity of the mountains and the vast starry sky at night.

The Perseus meteor shower even provided some heavenly fireworks.

And being away from the news of the day and the daily grind was refreshing and mind-clearing as well.

Whether my body allows me to do another trip like this in the future I don’t know, but this one will remain dear to my memory.

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Invitation to “Critics of the Bible”: In September and October I will be teaching an on-line class via Zoom “Critics of the Bible.” If you are interested here is the link to sign up. I’d love to have you.

Here is the course description:

“It is almost axiomatic that people trust the Bible when scholars trust the Bible. In the last few centuries, famous critics of the Bible, such as Voltaire and Spinoza, have used their formidable intellects to influence other scholars to ridicule divine inspiration. As a result, Scripture generally has no standing within the university to serve publicly as a legitimate source of truth. Doubt has been injected into Western Civilization such that whole nations have unmoored themselves from biblically revealed truth. In this course students will be given the opportunity to learn how to defend the authority of Scripture and stand firm in God's Word.”

But alas we are home and it’s time for me to return to In Plain Sight as a Bible site, not a travel site (though I do look forward to incorporating insights from my trip to Israel when called for).

So below are a small list of things to expect from In Plain Sight in the days ahead.

1. In the weeks ahead, I turn back to the Sermon on the Mount and will take up verses or chunks of verses for the next several months until finished.

2. The basic material will be available for all subscribers, but I will begin to put the Greek insights and other materials behind the paywall for paid subscribers (of course I want you to do that if you like!).

3. As I have mentioned before, I plan to begin a long project on the interpretation of Revelation when finished with the Sermon on the Mount, probably in September (and if Jesus does not return before then).

4. Occasionally I will write something off topic (like the Maradona post) or a travel post if I am somewhere interesting. No matter what, I desire to write any of these off topic posts with a view toward thinking about God and the Bible.

5. Finally, Substack has made a few nice changes to the site both visually and organizationally, allowing for the organization of posts into sections. Another change is the ability to add tags. Though I am not the most techie of people, I do plan to incorporate some of these as I am able.

I do have a request or two.

First, if you are finding this Substack site helpful, inspiring, interesting or positive in any way, I would appreciate any feedback you have and would ask that you share the site, or individual posts, on your networks (Facebook, etc.).

Second, I love comments to the posts of any sort. If you see a mistake, please let me know (like Madonna instead of Maradona—thanks Michele). If you disagree with my interpretation, please let me know (and why). If you have something to add, please let me know. If a post has helped or encouraged you, please let me know.

Third, if some comment thread gets started that you would like to chime in on, please do it! Good (and respectful) back and forth discussions can be highly enlightening.

I am loving the privilege to study and write consistently about the Bible.

Thank you for reading.

Peace,

Jackson Painter

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An Invitation

Are you interested in learning New Testament Greek? I will be teaching an intensive course with 50 hours of live instruction via Zoom from June to August. Please contact me at jack.painter@gmail.com or go to https://www.rightonmission.org/intro-to-new-testament-greek for more information. I would love to have you!

Naples, Italy is our current place of residence for a few days. I had no idea of what to expect when we took our flight from Tel-Aviv on Sunday.

From the swift transit through the Napoli airport to the wild taxi ride to the “interesting” room on the fifth floor of an ancient building with marble stairs and a minuscule elevator to crowds walking in one direction decked out in soccer related clothing (we found out quickly that SSC Napoli, the local football team was on the verge of the top league championship in Italy and had played to a 1-1 tie that evening and pizza was non-existent because of the crowds) to the 10 pm pasta dinner we enjoyed, I could have never imagined a first evening like this.

Monday we took the subway and moved to a flat a mile and a half away with a nice balcony overlooking a bustling intersection and train station. Fortunately our doors have thick glass to knock out most of the noise. We also have a kitchen and a market across the street (in addition to many small fruit and vegetable, meat, and fish markets all around) so we are able to eat some meals at home.

Not pizza, though. There is no way to replicate the Margarita pizza that is made in restaurant after restaurant and unlike any in the States (it’s the sauce). Since pizza was invented here I guess that is to be expected.

Tuesday we arose and walked 1.5 miles to the Garibaldi station where we met a van for an excursion to Pompeii and Herculaneum for the next six hours. I had visited Pompeii back in 1983, but did not remember much. With a guide, I saw and learned way more. Both sites were destroyed in AD 79 from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, but the destruction was quite different for each. Pompeii suffered more destruction from ash and hot gases, while Herculaneum was covered with flowing lava. Of the two, Herculaneum, though much smaller in area, had the more impressive remains, especially the frescoes on so many walls. Little did we know at the time that the most spectacular finds were somewhere else.

Our guide pointed out indications of Christians’ presence at the sites, but later I read that scholars dispute these (what’s new!). Whatever the case, Acts and Romans indicate a distinct presence of Christians in Italy when he arrived less than twenty years earlier, just north of Naples (see Acts 28), so the likelihood is quite high there were Christians around. 

No matter the early presence of Christians in the first century, over its history Naples is about as Catholic as you can get. As we have walked the center of the city, it seems there is a large church on almost every block (kind of like the South in the US) that is full of stunning architecture, sculpture, painting, organs, inlaid marble, soaring ceilings, massive domes, and lots of candles. The main cathedral (Duomo) was begun in the late 1200s and mostly completed in the early 1300s. The patron saint Gennaro was martyred in the early fourth century and his relics are in the church.

Most every church had tombs incorporated in niche after niche, in the floors, and in crypts under the church, many with elaborate marble sculptures. The sheer scale and detail was overwhelming.

Except for the Duomo, the external facades of the churches gave no indication of the beauty inside.

It seems there are two religious expressions here: Catholicism and football (more on football in a separate post). 

Catholicism is certainly alive here. Church after church had some sort of service going on when we entered no matter the time of day. The expression is certainly traditional (and seemingly full of Marian devotion too) but evidently fervent and sincere. As a Protestant I have a difficult time assessing these expressions, but God certainly knows the hearts of all who participate.

 Back to Pompeii and Herculaneum. Today we went to the Naples Archaeological Museum, a veritable trove of material finds from both places and a whole lot more. We arrived at 9 am, left at 11:30 for lunch (Margarita pizza again), then returned for another two hours after lunch. The third floor and half of the second floor were given over to Herculaneum and Pompeii, including frescoes, mosaics, bronze and marble statues, bronze implements, bronze dishes, and Roman glass (I am sure I am forgetting something). As so much on this trip, we were overwhelmed with visual information. 

The most intriguing section was the collection of erotica from Pompeii (I won’t include any photos here; let’s say they were as explicit as any material today—not much has changed). Apparently the collection was hidden for well over a century until finally displayed in 2005.

I can see why.

The collection does give us insight into the thoroughly sexualized pagan culture of the day, a culture ultimately changed by the infusion of the gospel message.

We returned to our flat exhausted once again, but delighted for our day, though we are ready to leave for home tomorrow.

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An Invitation

Are you interested in learning New Testament Greek? I will be teaching an intensive course with 50 hours of live instruction via Zoom from June to August. Please contact me at jack.painter@gmail.com or go to https://www.rightonmission.org/intro-to-new-testament-greek for more information. I would love to have you!

What a trip!

Even though this is my ninth time to Israel, I have enjoyed it the most. I love coming with students, but being with friends and sharing with them what I have seen and experienced (along with several new experiences for the first time) has been very rewarding. In the days ahead, I need to think about whether I want to lead more trips here.

After spending three nights in Tiberius, we left Friday morning and drove past Magdala and the Arbel Cliffs around to Capernaum. The group had decided on two spots to visit of the many on the northwest end of the Sea of Galilee: Capernaum and Mt of Beatitudes (scores of loaded tour busses plying the road made this an easy decision). 

Capernaum, of course, was Jesus’s home base, probably at the house of Peter. From very early, even the first century, one house in Capernaum was revered as Peter’s house and over the centuries several churches were built atop the spot. Today the archaeological remains are visible and a modern church hovers above.

Just north of the house is an elaborate and fairly well-preserved fourth century synagogue which lies atop first century stones—very likely from the synagogue Jesus taught in.

Our most meaningful time at Capernaum was on the other side of Peter’s house overlooking the Sea of Galilee to the south. We could easily imagine Jesus teaching from a boat there and I read a short passage in Mark 4 of Jesus doing just that. Afterwards we just sat in silence for a few minutes taking in the peace and significance of the place.

About ten minutes away and up the hill stands the modern Church of the Beatitudes. When we arrived I figure 200 tourists were there (our rest stop took a while!). Nonetheless in the church itself, though busy, we were able to sit in silence for a few minutes and contemplate Jesus’s words. We found a grassy area off to the side and I read Matthew 5; we finished by praying the Lord’s Prayer. A good ending to our time in Galilee.

Our next destination was the sprawling city Nazareth, where we overnighted. On the way we found a nice winery for lunch with a spectacular view to the south and east including the Sea of Galilee.

The drive into Nazareth was the toughest of the entire trip. I was somewhat expecting it since I had been on a number of busses in the past winding the narrow streets. But actually driving, even in a car, was an adventure, almost nightmarish, with tight turns, 20 degree down hill grades with cars pressing on either side, and a dead end or two with a turn-around.

The map programs were challenged to say the least.

Nonetheless, we made it to our place unscathed and after checking in made our way a few blocks to the Church of the Annunciation, built atop the traditional spot of the annunciation to Mary and some first century ruins. The number of tourists and several masses taking place made contemplation difficult, but the church itself, with art from around the world and colorful stained glass, was a sight to behold.

That is about all there is to visit in Nazareth. We know Jesus grew up there and started his ministry in the synagogue there but no archaeological evidence remains. Outside of town to the south is a cliff that is the traditional spot where the crowd took Jesus to throw him over (Luke 4), but it is traditional at best. We did not stop to see it (though I have in the past and it gives a great view of the Jezreel Valley and Mt. Carmel).

After a nice dinner, sleep and a great breakfast, we made our way on Saturday morning out of Nazareth (way easier than getting in) and west through a pass in Mt. Carmel to the coast and our last destination, Caesarea Maritima. We dropped our luggage at our accommodations, then spent several hours walking the enormous ruins of another place that is connected forever to Herod the Great.

Herod took a small coastal town called Strato’s Tower and turned it into a magnificent major port city with a large artificial harbor constructed of recently developed hydraulic concrete. Along with a palace jutting into the Mediterranean, a theatre, an amphitheater, a temple to Roma and Augustus oriented toward Rome, a sewer system flushed by the sea and who knows what else, Herod founded a city that flourished for 600 years, then continued in use through the early Islamic and Crusader periods. 

Caesarea was also a significant location for early Christianity.

Peter came here early on to bring the gospel message to Cornelius and his family. Philip moved here and raised seven daughters. And Paul was brought here for safety by the Romans from the wrath of the Jews in Jerusalem, who branded him a heretic for following Jesus. Paul remained in custody in Herod’s palace-turned-Roman-praetorian for three or four years and may have written several letters from there (Philippians is often mentioned as a possibility). Paul gave defenses before Felix, Festus, and Jewish King Agrippa II, before being transported to Rome. 

For me, Caesarea recalls my first trip to Israel when I dug at the foundations of Herod’s temple for a month, and at the same time came upon the topic of my dissertation, the Roman cult of Mithras at Caesarea. The site has been excavated substantially more in the past 30 years, but is still recognizable, and brings back great memories.

Today our trip ended with a drive to Ben-Gurion Airport, returning the car, and going through the (arduous) process of getting through the Israeli security. Thank the Lord it went without a hitch. We now fly to Naples for a few days (during which I may or may not get a post out).

Thank you all for reading and I welcome any comments.

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An Invitation

Are you interested in learning New Testament Greek? I will be teaching an intensive course with 50 hours of live instruction via Zoom from June to August. Please contact me at jack.painter@gmail.com or go to https://www.rightonmission.org/intro-to-new-testament-greek for more information. I would love to have you!

But let me back up. I mentioned our hike to Magdala and the beautiful modern church there. Here are some photos of the church:

So on Thursday morning we had a bit of breakfast, then piled into the car (without luggage!) for a short drive up to Gamla Nature Reserve. I’ve been there once before, but did not get to where I wanted. Gamla was a Jewish town on a spur from the Golan Heights (first century Gaulanitis) that overlooked the Sea of Galilee in the distance. The notoriety today comes from Josephus’s account of their defense of the city against the Romans in the Jewish War of AD 66-70. Apparently they held off the Romans for several days, but in the end flung themselves off of the cliffs when defeat was inevitable.

The Gospels never indicate Jesus went there, but along with Hippos/Susita, could be Jesus’s reference to a “city on a hill” in the Sermon on the Mount.

The excavations revealed a first century synagogue, along with those at Masada and Magdala, one of the earliest synagogues in Israel we are aware of (there is evidence of first century synagogue at Capernaum too). There are certainly many more (the Gospels and Acts mention numerous ones), but these give an idea of their layout and construction. The hike down and back up was rugged but fun.

From Gamla we went north to Mt. Ben-Tal and looked over into Syria, just a few miles to the north and east. Prior to 1967 Ben-Tal and the entire Golan Heights belonged to Syria, but they lost the region at that point. The pass between Mt. Ben-Tal and Mt. Hermon was likely the route Paul was heading to Damascus when he encountered his vision of Jesus.

One of the amazing features of all the north end of Israel is the massive amount of agriculture, especially temperate fruit like apples and cherries, possible from the water available and the high altitude. As we continued our trip the terraced hill-sides were brimming with fruit trees, then at lower elevations changed to olive trees.

Our last two stops were related. Both were large springs from which the Jordan originated.

First Banyas.

Banyas is the current name of Paneas or better known as Caesarea Philippi. This spot has an enormous spring flowing out from the the mountain and the spring apparently flowed straight out of a cave in the ancient period. Over several hundred years numerous temples were built on the site, mostly to honor Pan (hence Paneas). Herod the Great built a temple honoring Caesar Augustus, and his son Philip named the city Caesarea (hence Caesarea Philippi). Agrippa II (the one Paul made his defense before) made this his capital.

We, of course, remember this place primarily for Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Messiah, Son of God. Where exactly that confession took place no one knows, but Jesus’s reference to the “gates of Hades” in Matt 16:18 could be an allusion to the spring cave as an entrance to the underworld, thus a reference to death and all of the pagan myths surrounding Hades.

Our next stop was Tel Dan, site of the ancient city of Laish, which became Dan when the tribe of Dan migrated there in the time of the judges. The most striking feature of the site are the massive gushing springs from the foot of Mount Hermon that produces 250 million cubic meters of water a year

But historically there are several other notable sights: first, the Israelite King Jeroboam declared this a cult site and a golden bull was set up here as well as a temple and a huge altar. Second, two large city gates have been excavated, one from the Middle Bronze Age (time of Abraham) and one from the Iron Age (Israelite Kingdom). Finally an inscription featuring the phrase “house of David” was discovered here during excavations.

That was a long day (and drive) but well worth it. We have now seen the land “from Dan to Beer-Sheba.” One of the notable observations is the movement from absolute desert in the south to the lush and agriculturally rich land to the north. 

It is also easy to see why Jesus set up his primary ministry in the Galilee as a true cross-roads to the north, south, east, and west, and separated enough from Jerusalem to allow his preaching to flourish.

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An Invitation

Are you interested in learning New Testament Greek? I will be teaching an intensive course with 50 hours of live instruction via Zoom from June to August. Please contact me at jack.painter@gmail.com or go to https://www.rightonmission.org/intro-to-new-testament-greek for more information. I would love to have you!

We are now in Tiberius next to the Sea of Galilee and finishing a “day off” to recover from days of driving and walking. Most sights were closed today for Independence Day in Israel, and a significant one at that. Today is the 75^th anniversary of the establishment of modern Israel.  So here is a summary of our past several days:

After a reasonably good night’s sleep in Arad, we had breakfast, loaded up and headed to Tel Arad just a few miles away. The line from Beer Sheva to Arad is the northern boundary of the Negev Desert. Tel Arad is directly south of Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, which are all in the Judean hills, making it a prime location for a military outpost to defend the road to those cities.

The most dominant feature of Tel Arad is not the fortress, but the remains of a large (for that time) Canaanite city which flourished just up to the time of Abraham. 

Most impressive to me was the way they captured water in this desert location. The city was like a bowl that funneled water into a catchment at the center bottom. Ingenious.

The fort at the top of the hill was from the time of David down to the exile. Interestingly, a mini-temple existed there with an altar and a sanctuary. It appears priests may have carried out sacrifices in parallel with Jerusalem, but on a very small scale.

From Tel Arad we went south to En-Avedat National Park, another “spring in the desert.” We hiked in a high-walled canyon for a half-mile or so. The highlight was seeing Griffon vultures lounging on the cliffs or soaring in circles above.

We lunched overlooking an enormous geological feature even further south, Makhtesh Ramon, which looks like a giant sinkhole in the earth, but is actually water erosion causing a huge cirque-shaped bowl. Impressive.

We turned back northwest toward Ashkelon on the Mediterranean coast, making one more stop at Tel Beer-Sheva (Beer-Sheba) where Abraham made a covenant with Abimelech over the use of a well in Genesis 21.

We were delighted by the city of Ashkelon (one of the five Philistine cities in the Old Testament—the others were Gaza, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron). Our lodging was a block or so from the beach and we ate a great meal at “The Jack” right on the beach (all of us bought t-shirts from there when we left and wore them the next day).

Monday we made our way up the “shephalah,” the low hills between the coastal plain and the Judean hill country. During the United Kingdom and later the kingdom of Judah, a series of fortress cities were built to defend the interior of Hebron to Jerusalem and Benjamin to the north. We visited three of these, Lachish, Tel-Mareshah, and Tel-Azekah. All three fell to Assyria and then Babylon.

Azekah, though, also looks over the Elah Valley, the place David killed Goliath. From the top of the tell, we could see (and visualize) how the entire event took place as I read the story in 1 Samuel.

.

We had a little time buffer, so we found a nearby winery for some tasting. The Elah Valley, Sorek Valley (Samson’s valley) and Aijalon Valley are brimming with vineyards and produce some exceptional world-class wines. I would say that is a very biblical thing to do!

Our overnight was at Yad-Hashmonah, a small community just west of Jerusalem, with stunning views all the way to Tel-Aviv.

I had a decision to make. With two major Israeli holidays, one their Independence Day, my planned travel to Shiloh, Nablus (Jacob’s Well) and Samaria, all in the West Bank, seemed iffy at best. So we decided to by-pass that area and drive straight north near the Jordan River to Galilee.

Our first stop was Beit She’an, a huge archaeological site with a 5000 year history from the early Canaanite period down through the early Islamic period. When a wounded Saul fell on his sword and died, the Philistines hung his body on the walls of Beit She’an (at the top of the huge tell). The Assyrians destroyed that city, but the strategic location at the cross-roads of several trade routes made it ripe for rebuilding after Alexander the Great conquered the area. The city was named Scythopolis and in the Roman and Byzantine periods grew into a magnificent and very large city with temples, theaters, and bath houses. Most of the city center has been excavated, but it is evident there is much more. We walked the ruins for about two hours.

Our second and last visit for the day was Mount Tabor, the traditional site of Jesus’s transfiguration. On the way we passed near the Harod Spring where Gideon selected his 300 men, then Shunem and Nain, where Elisha and Jesus raised the dead, and Endor, the home of Saul’s witch. 

Mount Tabor is a free standing mountain rising about 1,900 feet. The road switched back and forth up one side—we dodged about fifteen vans barreling down the hill to pick up bus groups below, then squeezed by another couple of cars on a one lane road near the church. The trip was worth the wait. The church at the top was beautiful as well as the view. Churches have existed there on and off since the fourth century to commemorate the Transfiguration. The current Roman Catholic Church has a main church focused on Jesus and two side chapels dedicated to Elijah and Moses. On the way down, we met a huge group of Eritrean pilgrims hiking up from the parking lot half way down the mountain, celebrating as they made their way up. Quite the sight.

Last night and today were quite interesting with fireworks and today multiple passes of military aircraft in formation to celebrate the day. The group wanted to do something, so I suggested we walk to Magdala, the home of Mary Magdeline. The site has been extensively excavated in the past several years and a synagogue from the time of Jesus was discovered. Jesus very likely taught there. The walk was three+ miles there so we had out daily exercise. The walk was worth it. The synagogue and rest of the site were a palpable connection to the first century. One unique piece (at least so far) of synagogue furniture was found probably for resting and reading the Torah scroll.

We also visited a beautiful church dedicated not only to Mary Magdalene, but all of Jesus’s women disciples. Sitting in the sanctuary gazing out over the Sea of Galilee was a tranquil experience of resting in God’s presence.

Even with the long hike, we felt very refreshed at day’s end.

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An Invitation

Are you interested in learning New Testament Greek? I will be teaching an intensive course with 50 hours of live instruction via Zoom from June to August. Please contact me at jack.painter@gmail.com or go to https://www.rightonmission.org/intro-to-new-testament-greek for more information. I would love to have you!

I arose before 4am and caught a sherut to the airport to rent a vehicle for our trip. I was back to Jerusalem with the car at 7:30, just in time for our last breakfast at Christ Church Guest House—great breakfast every morning! We rented a seven passenger vehicle for six people, so let’s say it took some creative packing to get us and the luggage in the vehicle. A van would have cost us at least $1k more, and I did not want to drive that large of vehicle. The day bore that out with a few tight parking situations.

After squeezing in (everybody is fairly comfortable), we made our way under East Jerusalem through a tunnel, ascended Mount Scopus (almost a continuous ridge to the north with the Mount of Olives), then began the steep descent past Bethany to the south and Anathoth to the north (the home of Jeremiah) down toward Jericho.

As soon as we crossed the crest, the landscape changed dramatically.

While Jerusalem is quite green, especially in spring, the landscape on the east slope of the Mount of Olives down to the Jordan River is mostly brown with scarce green plants holding to what little water is in the soil.

This is the Judean wilderness.

This is the place of Jesus’s forty day fast.

This is the setting for the Parable of the Good Samaritan. When Jesus said “A certain man went down to Jericho” he meant it. It is easy to visualize robbers in this desolate area.

We passed the giant Jewish settlement city of Ma’ale Addumim, then pulled off a few miles further and down a narrow, curvy 1 ½ lane road to a gate that led down to St. George of Koziba Monastery. The only way to see the monastery is to actually hike down a very steep road for about a half mile, but the first view is breathtaking.

The huge monastery clings to the south side of the Wadi Quilt and looks as though it grew out of the wadi walls. The monastery was established and first built in the late fifth and sixth centuries AD, destroyed by Persians, rebuilt in the 12^th century, fell into disrepair, then restored from 1878-1901.1 We did not go across the wadi to the monastery for time’s sake, but the view itself was worth the hike.

Our next stop was Khirbet Qumran, the ruins of the Essenes settlement where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Our visit to the Shrine of the Book on Thursday set the perfect stage for what we saw.

A couple of things stood out.

First, to try to live in the desert by the Dead Sea was a feat. The residents constructed a water system that collected winter rains, stored it, and brought it in to the settlement via a small aqueduct. They needed quite a bit of water. The other notable sight was the five mikva’ot in the settlement, one huge, for the twice daily purification baths the adherents took before meals.

We observed the famous Cave Four right near the site where many thousands of scroll fragments were found. Other of the scrolls caves meant a long steep and very rocky hike, so we declined. 

Our next stop was supposed to be En-Gedi, but the Shabbat visitors filled the parking lot to overflowing and I knew that Wadi Arugot was just south, so we went there. It was quite busy too, but not as much. Both spots feature spring-fed streams from high up the western wall of the Dead Sea, and constitute a major oasis—David and his men hid there from Saul. The springs provide water for and amazing array of wildlife and for some date cultivation toward the Dead Sea. We only hiked in a half-mile or so to see the stream coming down the wade (a cool slide for swimmers in one spot). A true spring in the desert.

Another short drive brought us to the highlight of the day, Masada, a towering butte about two thirds of the way south on the west side of the Dead Sea. Herod chose this monolith for one of his audacious building projects, a fortress with two palaces, one of which had three levels built into the north end of the butte. Even the ruins are spectacular. Many years after Herod died, Jewish Zealots made their last stand against the Romans on Masada, a story in itself.

We accessed the top two ways. Two took the tram up and four of us went up the so-called “Snake Trail.” Today it is a wide gravel trail with many steps and some hand rails that switches back and forth to the top. When I went up it 30 years ago the trail was about two to three feet wide with no stairs and nothing but sheer cliffs to the side. I am sure that some accidents led to the current state. In any case, it was a good climb with the temp about 80° and we enjoyed the ruins at the top.

Our last stop of the day was at Neve Zohar on the Dead Sea where everyone but me floated in the dense salt water (I have done it several times before and have no desire to again). We then proceeded a short drive further to the town of Arad for our lodging and dinner.

Another good, but tiring day in Israel!

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An Invitation

Are you interested in learning New Testament Greek? I will be teaching an intensive course with 50 hours of live instruction via Zoom from June to August. Please contact me at jack.painter@gmail.com or go to https://www.rightonmission.org/intro-to-new-testament-greek for more information. I would love to have you!

Before coming I had asked the president of Jerusalem University College (JUC), Dr. Oliver Hersey, if he would give our group a tour of the JUC campus. All of the trips I have made with students since 2004 have been under the auspices of JUC, and I have always stayed on campus, so I wanted our group to see it. Besides that, the campus has a great deal of historical and archaeological interest on a number of levels.

After breakfast we made our way down to JUC, a ten minute walk outside the west wall of the Old City. Along the way, we observed the remains of the entrance to Herod’s Palace, the most likely place of Jesus’s trial and torture.

Upon arriving at the gate and announcing our arrival, Dr. Hersey met us and after introductions gave us a short history of the campus. It was built as a boys school for local children around 1850 by the Anglican Bishop Gobat , the counterpart to the girls school at Christ Church (we are staying in the girls school building). It served as such until WW2, but was abandoned when war broke out in 1948. It remained that way until JUC moved in as the Institute of Holy Land Studies in 1967, right after the six day war. The building interiors have been updated over the years, but the character has remained the same. Bullet holes from the ’67 war still pock the walls.

The main archaeological interest is that the campus buildings are built into the bedrock and lie directly on top of the wall first built by King Hezekiah, then rebuilt by the Romans. The current Old City walls built by Saladin in the 1500s are several hundred yards to the north.

Speaking of archaeology, JUC now has an archaeology lab full of artifacts from the dig at Gezer to the east—added since I was there in 2019.

After showing us around the buildings, Dr. Hersey took us to the Protestant Cemetery directly next to the campus. Unfortunately there was some recent vandalism of the graves by some Jewish boys. Nonetheless we saw some graves of several prominent archaeologists of the past, most notably Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, also the founder of JUC Dr. G. Douglas Young, and that of Horatio Spafford, the author of “It is well with my soul.” Spafford lived in Jerusalem for many years as a member of the American Colony, a 19^th century Christian sect.

At the end of the cemetery was another archaeological treat. First we saw the remains of what is almost certainly the Essene Gate in the south wall mentioned by Josephus. Further, we saw recently excavated Jewish stepped ritual purification baths (mikvaot) from the first century, recently discovered, which were right inside the ancient walls. More and more finds from the time of Jesus come to light almost daily it seems.

JUC itself is an evangelical Christian college that provides long and short-term programs primarily aimed at helping Christians to connect with the history and geography of the Holy Land, so they can better understand the Bible. I have personally benefitted immensely from JUC in my personal understanding of the Bible and for my teaching. I am happy to see them flourishing, even in the midst of ups and downs politically and socially around them. JUC has remained laser focused on their mission and it shows.

When we left we turned  down the steps toward the Hinnom valley and went down a concrete tunnel that the Israelis had constructed for an escape route prior to the 1967 war. 

Cool.

After lunch we walked a mile and a half to the Israel Museum.

The highlight was seeing actual Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book—amazing!

They also have a fantastic archaeological wing (to be expected) and a tremendous collection of 15^th to 20^th century art, including some Rembrandts, Van Gohs, Gauguins, Cezannes, Monets, and Picassos, among others (not so expected).

Our walk to and from the museum took us through West Jerusalem and past the American Embassy. It was another long day, but well worth it.

Today (I am including today because we are hitting the road tomorrow and I don’t know when I’ll get another post out) was a “rest” day. A truer statement would be “unscripted.” In the morning several of us walked up to the (unmarked) Herod’s family tomb that Herod the Great constructed for his family (he built himself a huge mausoleum at Herodion). What is cool is the perfectly round hewn stone that rolled over the entrance—exactly like what would have been in front of Jesus’s tomb.

From there we walked a hundred yards or so up the hill to the King David Hotel, hotel to hundreds of famous world leaders, entertainers, and others for the past ninety years. See if you can recognize any signatures in the photo below. Going up some steps I saw photos of Jimmy Carter, Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, Simon Perez, the Clintons,  Angela Merkel, and many others. I hear tell the current room rate is $1400 per night.

We then went on down the hill another mile to the Monastery of the Cross, a monastery begun in the 6^th century to commemorate the tree that Jesus’s cross was hewn from. Needless to say legend is involved, but the church was beautiful and very old (11^th century). It was well worth the walk.

Besides a bit of shopping I chilled for the rest of the day (and got this written). We also are packing to leave early tomorrow. I am going at 4:45am to get a rental car at the airport, drive back and get the others. We then begin the second half of our adventure: traveling around the country for the next week. I hope I have time to post, but I am sure it will be more sporadic. Please keep us in your prayers for safe travel.

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An Invitation

Are you interested in learning New Testament Greek? I will be teaching an intensive course with 50 hours of live instruction via Zoom from June to August. Please contact me at jack.painter@gmail.com or go to https://www.rightonmission.org/intro-to-new-testament-greek for more information. I would love to have you!

Hebron is deep in the West Bank and few foreigners venture there.

After Wednesday I understand why—it is difficult to get to and without a good guide very hard to navigate. 

Fortunately, a former student of mine in the Philippines, Jack Sara, is a Palestinian Christian and the president of Bethlehem Bible College (BBC). He helped me find a guide and so Wednesday morning, we caught a bus to Bethlehem to begin the adventure.

The receptionist at BBC helped us find local transportation that was a quarter of what a taxi would cost for the fourteen mile trip. When we arrived in Hebron, we were met by Leena Hammouri. She is a Palestinian guide from Hebron who got her guide training at BBC a number of years ago (she is Muslim).

As soon as we met up with her, she took us to the Ibrahim Mosque—and quickly, so that we could get in and see everything before late morning prayers (Muslims pray toward Mecca five times a day).

This mosque is situated over the cave of Machpelah that Abraham bought for the family burial site. The Bible tells us that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Joseph are all buried there.

The mosque was at one time a church built in the crusader period, but the outer shell was actually constructed by Herod the Great in the late first century BC and was built of the same dressed ashlar stones as seen on the retaining walls of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem—impressive. So at first it was a synagogue in the first century, then church and synagogue, then mosque.

Today there is a half mosque, half synagogue at the site with commemorative tombs for each of the Patriarchs and wives (the cave is far below). That is an interesting story in itself, but one I’ll hold off on.

Upon entering we removed our shoes and Lynn, Michele, and Mandy had to don long robes with a hood that was supposed to cover all arms and their hair (it almost worked!).

The entire area was spectacularly arrayed with Islamic art, mostly Koranic calligraphy, and massive Turkish wool rugs covering the floors. The “tombs” of Abraham and Sarah were behind barriers (and were also seen from the synagogue side). The shrines to Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Leah were in the mosque portion. Joseph’s tomb was in another area totally separate.

Leena patiently described both the history of the mosque and the Islamic customs. It was quite an education for us.

After leaving the mosque (and a welcome “break”), we went around to the other side of the complex. Israeli Police guarded that area, and we had to state we were Christians to be able to go to the synagogue side (Palestinian Muslims, thus our guide, were forbidden—a theme that continued through the visit).

What a contrast!

The Jewish side was radically different in every way and reminded us of what we had seen by the Western Wall and in the area at David’s tomb with many Orthodox Jews studying and praying there.

We could hear the Muslim prayers going on on the other side of the partition and saw the tomb shrines from the opposite side.

Surreal.

Within our first hour of being there we were slammed with the political and social realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In the hours following, Leena indicated to us over and over how oppressed the Palestinian residents feel with forced closures of businesses for thirty years, occupation of housing, taking of land for Israeli settlements, the ubiquitous presence of Israeli police, cameras, and observation towers, and other actions.

Unfortunately it wasn’t just her words; we could see the actual evidence over and again.

We finally made it out of the old section of the city controlled by Israeli security (deemed H1) and to the bustling Palestinian controlled H2, and finally to the bus station and our ride back to Bethlehem.

Leena was an extremely gracious host who educated us and took us to some great shops (we had some amazing carrot juice!) and other interesting spots. We hope to stay in touch and send others to experience her expertise.

I have been to Israel now nine times and have seen and felt the tensions over the years. The Israeli’s penchant and felt need for security in the face of enemies who wish their destruction, is in stark contrast with the Palestinians’ frustration with the security wall, Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Israeli forces on the Temple Mount and other aspects. Above it all the lack of political will on both sides to come to a win-win solution is evident and sad, because neither seems to actually want it, while the people suffer.

Another almost invisible factor is the Palestinian Christian population that simply wants to live quietly and serve the Lord, but who get lumped in with everyone else.

Our visit to Hebron brought all of this to much clearer focus and is a motivation to pray for peace and show Jesus’s love to all involved.

Our return trip took us back to Bethlehem and a visit to the Church of the Nativity. While the visit there was well worth it, our visit to Hebron continued on our minds.

We made it back safely to Jerusalem and had another wonderful dinner together. We ended up walking another 5+ miles for the day, making 23 miles walked so far. 

At no time during the entire day did we ever feel unsafe and in fact could see the providence of God every step of the way.

But in ways big and small we now see the world a bit differently after this day’s trip.

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Are you interested in learning New Testament Greek? I will be teaching an intensive course with 50 hours of live instruction via Zoom from June to August. Please contact me at jack.painter@gmail.com or go to https://www.rightonmission.org/intro-to-new-testament-greek for more information. I would love to have you!

And what a day it was.

An MA in Historical Geography student from Jerusalem University College, Gabbi Graber, joined us to take us through the City of David and the Davidson Archeological Center. Gabbi is from Alabaster, Alabama, not far from Birmingham. She did a fantastic job of explaining all of the archaeology of this very complex area. I wasn’t surprised that she is planning to pursue a PhD in Archeology.

After walking down and out of Dung Gate near the Western Wall, we made our way back to the City of David, the spur of land running to the south from the Temple Mount (we had purchased our park passes there on Monday). Gabbi took us up to an overlook where we saw some of the same topography as from the Mount of Olives, but from a different (and much lower) perspective. She pointed out that Jerusalem is surrounded by higher hills then read several passages from the Psalms that mention that very thing

.She next showed us what is believed (but argued about) to be David’s Palace—a “proto-aolic” capital found near there suggested strongly to the excavator the royal function of this large structure, and it does fit the evidence, but skeptics always abound!

We then went down to “Area G” to see a stepped wall that appears to be a part of the foundation for the palace structure about and apparently built around the time of David. Later some wealthy Jerusalemites built a house on the side of that hill, and a number of clay seals mentioning several people in the Bible, especially from Isaiah and Jeremiah, were found there. Wow.

We then made our way further down the hill to the water system. The Gihon spring, which still flows after thousands of years, is the very reason people built Jerusalem, even though it was somewhat exposed to enemies. Over the course of centuries, various attempts were made to secure the water supply from any invaders. The most famous and effective attempt was by King Hezekiah, who, likely under duress of the Assyrians, had a tunnel built to channel the spring water to a pool inside the city walls (later at least called the Pool of Shiloach or Siloam—the water from the spring was “sent” down the tunnel). We donned our water shoes, rolled up our pants and proceeded to slosh down the ⅓ mile tunnel with water flowing past our feet (and even up to our thighs at times). Sometimes we had to stoop or squeeze though narrow portions, but finally made it. The water was certainly refreshing to our feet! This is one of those classic experiences for any visitor to Jerusalem.

At the bottom we observed the remains of the Pool of Siloam where Jesus sent the blind man to wash and be healed (Gabbi read that part of John 9 to us and made some great observations about how Jesus “sent” the blind man to the pool named “Sent”). Then she showed us a Roman street from the first century currently being excavated—the blind man would have walked down that street to the pool—but we walked up the adjacent drainage canal (think all the stuff coming down from the temple after sacrifices and all sort of other stinky stuff) that has been fully cleared. Tough walking for tall people! Fortunately all of the first century smells are long gone.

At the exit, we observed some current excavations called the Givati Parking Lot excavations. Layers from the Iron Age, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic periods are all represented. It was likely a place where government officials lived at one point.

Our final time with Gabbi was spent in the Davidson Archaeological Center. Just this past month the Davidson Center opened a brand new museum, which had some great movies and other visuals to help interpret the site.

Fantastic stuff.

Then we hit the sunshine and heat to actually observe evidence of the Roman destruction of Herod’s Temple complex: massive stones were dropped to the street below (the same street that started at the Pool of Siloam down the hill). The street was mangled from where the stones hit. Other remains of the Temple complex we saw were the giant stair case (Robinson’s Arch) and the south steps and mikveh complex leading to gates in the south wall of the Temple that most pilgrims would have taken up to the main platform of the Temple in the first century. Gabbi talked to us about how this was the likely location for Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2 and provided a great place for three thousand people to get baptized.

Jesus probably taught on those very steps, too.

We finished our time with Gabbi there and were (and are) extremely grateful that she took time out from studying for her upcoming comprehensive exams to share her knowledge and insights with us. Thanks, Gabbi (and Roll Tide)!

Needless to say, we basically chilled the rest of the day, but had some great conversations with the deacon who preached at Christ Church and later with some German visitors at dinner (a delightful Armenian Restaurant with some amazing food). I forgot to mention that in the morning a siren went off for about two minutes and all Jerusalem stopped to remember the Holocaust. We got to discuss that with the German visitors—Christians all—and their emotions at that  moment. A moving conversation and a great end to a great day in Jerusalem

.

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And so it is.

Days have been shuffled because we are blessed to have a couple of guide on two days, one for Tuesday for the archaeology of OT Jerusalem (and some NT) and then Wednesday a trip deep in the West Bank to Hebron led by a student at Bethlehem Bible College who actually lives in Hebron. So the NT day got pushed back to Monday and ended quite differently that I envisioned it, but in a very good way.

I almost feel angels guiding our paths around.

Originally I had thought we would taxi to the Mount of Olives and work our way back toward the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. 

But everybody wanted to walk. 

Thus the schedule morphed to this:

Walk through Armenian Quarter and out Zion Gate, visit traditional sites of the Upper Room and David’s Tomb, walk down beside the south wall past Dung Gate to City of David (where we bought national park passes) then down to the bottom of the Kidron Valley where some Hasmonean era tombs rise from the floor (Tombs of Absalom and Bene Hezir), then up a very steep climb through a Jewish cemetery to the top of the Mount of Olives overlook (for a stunning view of Jerusalem), up the hill further for a falafel lunch and the Mosque of the Ascension (Muslims believe Jesus ascended too!) and, then back down to the Dominus Flevit chapel, Garden of Gethsemene and Church of All Nations, then up the other side of the Kidron Valley through Lion’s Gate (at the north end of the Temple Mount) to St. Anne’s Church and the Pool of Bethesda, and finally a trek along the traditional Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (CHS) which encloses both Golgotha and the site of the empty tomb. 

Brutal; almost seven miles of walking; but everyone could not have been happier. 

What a day.  

Now for a couple of comments and highlights:

I mentioned the “traditional sites” of the Upper Room and David’s tomb. Almost every site we visit during the trip must be labeled traditional, because though we know events happened in Jerusalem or Galilee, the exact locations remain unknown for the most part. Not until the fourth century did many of these sites get selected because of the influx of pilgrims after Constantine became emperor. Very few sites have a strong likelihood of being the exact site. In Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is one of the very few. The rest are “in the vicinity of” or shots in the dark at best. Nonetheless, they are meaningful for contemplating the last week of Jesus’s life and celebrating the resurrection.

The view from the Mount of Olives overlook is always stunning (most photos of Jerusalem you see are from there).

What I love is that the topography of the whole area is easy to see and explain (thank you to Jerusalem University College—JUC— for all the information they poured into my head over seven trips). And of course, this sight (in a much starker version) is what Jesus and his disciples would have seen as they crested the Mount of Olives from Bethany and descended to the Kidron Valley—and when Jesus looked down on the Temple and predicted its destruction in Mark 13.

In each chapel or church along our route (Dominus Flevit, Church of All Nations, St. Anne’s, the Roman Catholic Chapel in CHS) we removed our hats, sat down, and had a few blessed moments of rest, quiet, and time to pray and contemplate. 

We will no doubt remember St. Anne’s most vividly.

 This church honors the mother of Mary (and this is the traditional birthplace of Mary). Its current building was constructed in the 1130s and has pre-Gothic Crusader architecture. The acoustics are extremely alive and groups will often sing. So the six of us sang “I Love You Lord” very softly in the very middle. The sound went up and around and totally enveloped us. 

Heavenly.

Right next to St. Anne’s is the Pool of Bethesda, the site of Jesus’s healing of the lame man in John 5. This is another of the sites closer to certainty than most (on Tuesday we will see a couple more).

The final place I’ll comment on is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This site confuses many because it is inside the walls of Jerusalem. But in AD 30 it was outside the walls, just to the north of Herod’ palace (check out another Substack, Approaching Jerusalem by one of my former JUC profs, Chandler Collins, for some great material on the walls and gates of Jerusalem). Very likely Jesus appeared before Pilate in that palace—the Tower of David/Citadel defended the north end of the palace—then he was led out a gate (the Garden Gate?) just east of Jaffa Gate to a small hill, Golgotha, where he was crucified, then buried close by in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb. So this site of the crucifixion and resurrection is very ancient in tradition and likely correct. 

But … the route of the traditional Via Dolorosa has almost no veracity. 

Pilate’s governor’s seat was not north of the Temple where the first station of the cross is, but in Herod’s Palace near Jaffa Gate. Nonetheless that route is highly revered by hundreds of years of pilgrims and certainly useful for contemplating those last hours on Good Friday.

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Breakfast here at Christ Church Guest House was what I expected and more: eggs, fresh veggies, olives, hummus, baba ganoush, fresh yoghurt, great bread, and some truly amazing chocolate filled croissants (and plenty of coffee).

After breakfast, we walked a few steps to Christ Church. Christ Church is the oldest Protestant church in Jerusalem and has long had a focus on a mission to Jews. As I mentioned yesterday, I have been to quite a few services and this one was similar to the rest with an Anglican liturgy (for the first Sunday after Easter), a wonderful worship time with songs in English and Hebrew, an amazing sermon on John 20 and Jesus’s appearances in the upper room, and a joyful time of fellowship. The international flavor of the congregation, both residents and guests, makes it delightfully different from most US congregations, besides the fact that WE ARE WORSHIPPING IN JERUSALEM! I very much doubt there will be another opportunity to attend a church, so this was a true treat

.

Despite the jet lag, our time here is limited, so we pressed to begin our exploration of Jerusalem. The first thing we did was walk across the street from Christ Church to the Tower of David complex. The Tower of David, located just south of Jaffa Gate, is a citadel, currently with medieval walls from the Muslim period, that has foundations back to Herod the Great and the Hasmoneans before him. There are some amazing models of what Jerusalem looked like in various time periods.

After going through the museum, we took the rampart walk along the walls of Jerusalem to the south. The great thing about this walk is the view out to new Jerusalem and the ability to look down and across the Old City from a high vantage point. The current walls were build by the Muslim ruler Saladin in the 16^th century, but they are built upon foundations going back as far as the 3^rd c. AD and some portions on the west side to the 2^nd c. BC. 

We came out just near the Western Wall then walked back up through the Jewish Quarter to Christ Church for a bite to eat. I had misread the reservation for our next activity so we made a quick turnaround and made our way back down to the Western Wall. The activity was an underground tour of the “Great Bridge.” That bridge was an aqueduct that went all the way back to around 200BC and was used until the 1930’s to bring water to the Temple Mount. Only recently have excavations taken place under ground to figure out the entire structure. Charles Warren had first explored this area 150 years ago. Our guide did a fantastic job and I saw something totally new.

Afterwards the three of us guys went into the study area adjacent to the Western Wall. We watched as two giant Torah scrolls were returned to their cabinet. Scores of Orthodox Jewish men dressed in black and some with Shma boxes on their foreheads were praying and studying there. Quite the site.

But that did not even compare with what was to come. After leaving the Jewish area, I led the group toward Damascus Gate to the north. Little did I know that a sea of Muslims would be headed the other way to the Temple Mount for Ramadan services (I think). We now know what salmon feel like. Though it may sound scary, we felt totally safe the entire time.

After finally leaving that road, I bought some ground Turkish coffee with cardamom to fix before breakfast, then we made our way back to Jaffa Gate and Christ Church.

Dinner was had outdoors at an Armenian restaurant near New Gate. Good food, good friends, and some amazing Palestinian wine ended the day on a wonderful note.

Our first full day was as close to a perfect day that I could ever think of or imagine. Thank you, Lord.

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Beginning today I will spend the next two weeks focusing on our travels here (I am almost done with the seventh beatitude, so I may get that on out). Along with Lynn, two other couples from our church are along for this fantastic trip to the Holy Land.

So … you get to follow along with our adventures and a few photos. And of course any insights on the Bible that come along the way.

Our flight left Redding yesterday, and after a layover in SFO, we flew first to Istanbul on Turkish Air, then on to Ben Gurion airport just east of Tel Aviv.

We made our way to Old City Jerusalem via a sherut (taxi van). Normally the sherut would let us off at the bottom of the hill (at the northern end of the Hinnom Valley, aka Gehenna) and we would walk up and through Jaffa Gate by the Tower of David (more on that tomorrow). But the driver brought us all the way up into Jaffa Gate—50 yards from the guest house!

We made our way right around the corner to Christ Church Guest House. This is my ninth trip to Israel, but the past seven, I stayed at nearby Jerusalem University College with the students I accompanied every other year. Most trips we went to Christ Church Anglican congregation for worship on one of the Sundays, always a fantastic experience, and I always though it would be great to stay at their guest house tucked away from the tourist bustle near Jaffa Gate.

We are staying in Jerusalem for the first week as we explore Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron, then we are planning to rent a vehicle for the second week as we go to the Dead Sea, the Negev, Beersheba, Ashkelon, then up through the center of the country to the Sea of Galilee and north of there, Nazareth, over to Caesarea, then back to the airport for departure (some of us are headed to Naples for a few days on the way back).

Traveling to Israel is always a great experience for me, though the others in my group are way more excited, since for two it is their first time (and for Lynn and Bill their second, though many years ago). Every time I come I see many of the same things, but there are always new discoveries that have happened in the interim. It has been four years since I was last here, so the new stuff is double what is usual.

In the past four years, excavations in Jerusalem around the Temple Mount and just south have exploded with new finds. I hope to see at least some of these.

Of course, this is a very “interesting” time to be in Israel.

Passover and Easter just passed last week and the end of Ramadan is almost here (this coming Friday). The recent judicial reform proposals are still being debated. And tensions in the West Bank, Gaza, and southern Lebanon still simmer. In my past trips, there has never been a problem, so I don’t expect any this time. Americans are mostly welcome anywhere—we do bring tourist dollars after all. I have always felt welcome wherever I have gone.

Even with all of the external hubbub, being here is very calming and always joyful. Seeing with my eyes the mountains and hills where Jesus (and David, and Jacob, and Abraham) walked, going into churches that commemorate deeds and interactions of Jesus, going to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, ascending to the Temple Mount, and so much else, is so helpful for my own ability to interpret scripture (and to add some detail to my posts here).

This morning I am hearing the familiar sounds of church bells, crows and sparrows, calls to prayer from mosques, and I think I even heard a Ramadan canon go off. All of these sounds are surprisingly comforting.

We would appreciate your prayers as we are here for safety (and not to get lost!). Whether I get a post out every day or not I don’t know, but I will try.

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Thank you

First, though, I’d like to say thank you to all of you who have subscribed or who have regularly come to the site from Facebook or elsewhere. I get to see stats of the numbers who open, share, etc., and seeing those numbers is very heartening to me!

I would love to see comments or have you send me any feedback on my posts. Obviously, I am most concerned for explaining the Bible clearly, but how I present my study is important for you and me in making this site as useful as possible. So please let me know what you like and what you don’t via email or comments.

The Next Three Weeks

This coming Friday, Lynn and I are headed to Israel for two weeks then to Naples for a few days. We’ll be with two other couples. This will be my ninth trip to Israel, but at most once for several of the others. I’ve been following the news of politics and some violence, so we are going with eyes wide open. Since I am the de facto most experienced, I plan on modifying our itinerary as necessary. There are lots of tourists there though so I don’t expect problems. Please pray for us!

During the three weeks, or at least the two in Israel, “In Plain Sight” will focus on our travels in Israel with at least a few photos for every post. At this point, I don’t know what exactly I’ll write (or how often), but I will certainly connect our travels as much as possible with the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. Once again comments are welcome!

Changes on Substack

For many of you, this Substack site may be your first. I decided to come to Substack because of its focus on writers and good writing and the ability to build a community of subscribers who are personally invested at some level in the site. Some may be aware that the success of Substack is causing some waves in the internet sphere. No longer can writers automatically post to Twitter.

At least a stated reason is a new feature called Notes.

It is a place to post short-form “notes” similar to tweets. I believe that everyone subscribed to a Substack blog has access to Notes, both to read and to post, from either a web-browser or the Substack App. So as a subscriber to “In Plain Sight” you have total access.

My plan is to use the Israel trip to try out Notes for “in the moment” comments and photos. So check out Notes if you like.

Try Notes

My Plan for “In Plain Sight”

Going forward, I envision—with the Lord’s help—going through the entire Sermon on the Mount, at least passage by passage, and more granular by verse as needed. The SM is at the heart of Jesus’s teachings and relates to so much else in the rest of the Gospels. I’ll have another post or two before Friday, then get started back after Israel.

After the SM, I am planning at this point to dive into the book of Revelation. That dive is of course a huge one, but one I’ve been wanting to take for a while. Some of you have already been in either classes or bible studies I have taught on Revelation, so you may have some idea of my approach. I will likely not get started until at least the fall or beginning of the year, but that is the plan at least.

Once again, thank you and please pray for us in our travels!

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An Invitation

Are you interested in learning New Testament Greek? I will be teaching an intensive course with 50 hours of live instruction via Zoom from June to August. Please contact me at jack.painter@gmail.com or go to https://www.rightonmission.org/intro-to-new-testament-greek for more information. I would love to have you!