Jerusalem!

We made it to Israel.

We made it to Jerusalem!

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.

Nice view from our window.

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.

View of the Citadel (aka Tower of David) from our room window.

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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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!

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