Back past this Arab town on a steep hill we saw earlier, Rachel tells us this town is called Majdel Shams which is one of the largest Arab Druze communities in the Golan.



Driving out of Mount Hermon, we travelled south only a little bit to see another place, on the way down from the hill there are some small sheds with people selling fruit and vegetables by the side of the road. Reminds me of some similar stands I saw on some highways in Jordan in 2009.

The stretch of road leading up to the fortress has some slightly scary sights, I can see a glimpse of three wrecked cars at the below the side of the steep hill, yikes!

Nimrod's castle is interesting, there is a mention of this in the book of Micah:

Micah 5 : 5-6

These stairs lead into underground rooms in the fortress, but you can walk around the sides to see all kinds of history.






The fortress was built by Al-Aziz Uthman in 1229 who was a Sultan of Egypt and stands 800 metres above sea level. Nimrod himself dates back from Genesis.

Genesis 10 : 8-9

An earthquake damage the fortress in the 18th century. I was looking today on the new version (6 beta) of Google Earth to find if earthquake faults are documented, but shows the Galilee marked with a zone marked 'Dead Sea' oops, (epic geography FAIL!) Maybe another time I will be able to to research this. I do know earthquakes do happen in this country, not that I have seen but there was at least two small ones in the north a few years ago.

In my last story of this trip I will show you some mysterious biblical animals that roam around the top Hermon….

Part One. Part Two.



The ski lift was good fun, I don't think I have been on one of these before. I have never been skiing in my life, and despite snow, there isn't enough to justify a proper skiing season at the moment, even if there were, without sounding like a total wuss, my travel insurance doesn't cover skiing I don't think. Only one of the 4 ski lifts was running, its more of case its fun to come up here and see some scenery that's very different from the rest of the middle east.



These plastic sledges can be rented from a small shed, but they feel extremely cheaply made, they are highly thin, like the plastic used to make ice cream tubs, and some stress lines I saw in the middle, felt it wasn't going to last very long, still it was fun to propel down the this short hill. There was an official looking steward to stop people colliding into each other, and make sure they walk around the side back up the top.



Also at the top was border control. There is a DMZ (demilitarised zone) in between Syria and Lebanon up here, ie: a gap of land between the borders. Said a quick hello to the soldiers and asked if it was ok to take pictures.




They seem to oblige They might of been more comfortable guarding a base in Eilat maybe though



Dave decided to build a snowman, and felt that he should have hands free access to a phone



The cafe has an extra redundant piece of the machinery that operates the ski lift in the cafe as decoration. It was nice and warm in this cafe, and got some great views from the top of Hermon.

READ PART ONE HERE

After much driving up and up, we took a bit of a wrong turn, and saw an Arab town and a military checkpoint ahead, then realised it was a border into Lebanon!   

Note at the time of writing this, the Lebanese government has collapsed, meaning Hezbollah, a terrorist organisation could be filling this gap as they seek to become a satellite post of Iran, threatening Israel even more.   This really needs prayer as this huge worry for Israel, and awful for the Lebanese people as well, this country has one of the largest Arab Christian communities.

We were not in any danger at all, as this checkpoint is well protected, I took this picture of some run down farm buildings out of the window which was close by.

Just a short drive later, we reached Mount Hermon!

Mount Hermon is considered a possible place of the Transfiguration, where Jesus took Peter, James and John up for prayer, and reportedly turned bright white, where he spoke with Moses and Elijah who appeared.  The scriptures reveal it was known as two other names – 'Sirion' by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it 'Senir'.  Deuteronomy 3 : 9

The Bible's own romantic style book of Song of Solomon mentions it too in versus 4 : 8 and Psalms 89 talks about Mount Hermon giving praises to the Lord too.

Only last friday I had a Shabbat dinner with a couple from my work and they had a bottle of wine the came from this exact part of the country.   After my trip to the Dead Sea which was the lowest place on earth (ie: below sea level)    Hermon is 2,814 metres high.

Once parked and we went through the visitor entrance and a initial bit of childish exploitation of the first glimpse of snow meant a snowball fight, there was some good places to get photos done:_



Woohoo!  all manner of types of military and rescue vehicles for snow use, something most people would think you would never have in Israel…



We were hoping the girls would want a photo of themselves next to some interesting piece of winter military gear here as well, but they chose a giant plastic snowman.  Tsk.





Then off onto the chairlift, yay!!!

This requires the man operating the lift to get you positioned exactly right so quickly sit down and he raises the safety bar down.   Top: someone (probably the boss I guess) has a nice collection of different snow vehicles.   Both pictures: note the strategically placed net, in case you get scooped by the chair lift by accident, or, fall out!

check out www.skihermon.co.il

READ PART 3 HERE

On Sunday I got up very early to meet with friends to get to the snow capped Mount Hermon.

This place is not so well known by non_Israelis, as its at the very extreme north east corner of country, where the borders are for Lebanon and Syria.

After a not so pleasant start of my phone waking me up at 4am, necessary given the time to get up there, after teetering around my flat to get things together and have breakfast without waking up other room mates, strangely probably because of the weather is quite cold also at this time, I decided to do a fast sprint for no real reason on my bike out of East Tapliyot all the way through central Jerusalem all the way up Jaffa Street to the main Jerusalem Bus Station only took just over 30 minutes, quite amazing consider how slow I normally pedal.



Once off the bus close to Rachel's house, the sun was just coming up.   This trip came at a good time seeing I was disappointing in not seeing my dad up here and was also concerned about a lot of choices I have to make this year, so this excursion was a welcome change, one of a lot of blessings this week actually, getting over a stupid week_long cold another one, and also once at the bus station finding a coffee shop that was open there was another one.  I was just about to text my friend Dave to see if he was close and he was suddenly in the shop in front of me.



The drive up there is different from previous drives up north I have done.  It involved going back on ourselves to head down towards a bit of the Dead Sea, then up from the West Bank, on a main road that passes through some Palestinian towns, at times running parallel with the Jordanian border as this above picture shows.



As we overtake this Nissan Micra on the motorway, if you look really really carefully on the horizon you can see a faintly see Hermon.  Once you get as far as Tiberias, the white peaks on it start to become prominent.

            

This drive through a small but friendly Arab village up in the Galilee, we got some directions as we kept going higher and higher.  This town had a couple of interesting bronze statues that looked more like something from native American history I have seen in Arizona that from a Galilee Arab community.

This felt very different from any part of Israel I had been before…

READ PART TWO HERE

1. Before 1990, Security Council passed 175 resolutions,97 were directed against

Israel (It is 55% of all resolutions).

Newspapers reported last month that a shark that killed and maimed tourists on its Red Sea port may have been intentionally released by Israeli agents in order to sabotage the Egypt's tourist industry.

Now a vulture that strayed into Saudi Arabian territory has now been "arrested" on suspicion of being a Mossad spy.

The bird was found in a rural area of the country wearing a transmitter and a leg bracelet bearing the words "Tel Aviv University", according to the reports.

Although these tags indicate that the bird was part of a long-term research project into migration patterns, residents and local reporters told Saudi Arabia's Al-Weeam newspaper that the matter seemed to be a "Zionist plot."

And as usual, the accusations spread through the Arab media like wildfire claiming that the "Zionists" had trained these birds for espionage.

As Melanie Phillips, the British journalist has said and written recently, "what is striking is the extent to which a patently false and in many cases demonstrably absurd account has been absorbed uncritically and assumed to be true."

As Israel was hit by its worst forest fires ever, Stuart Palmer was in the midst of the disaster. Here he blogs about his personal experience as one of many citizens effected by the blaze.

Whilst sitting in a restaurant on Thursday afternoon, we were totally unaware of the drama unfolding in our adjacent national park, The Carmel Forest. Only when we returned home and switched on the TV did we realize the extent of the fire and the tragic loss of life.

The bus carrying the young prison officers to the local jail to assist in moving the prisoners to safety got caught up on the narrow road leading up to the jail by the fire that covered 1.1/2 km in 3 minutes.

Within a short time, our phone was ringing and ringing and ringing. Friends from the rest of the country and from overseas all wanted to be sure we were alright.

One phone call came from a member of the local community hospitality committee who told us that the overseas students at the University were being moved off campus and the city was looking for temporary accommodation for the students. We offered 4 beds but as it happened, we were not needed.

As we heard later "the city authorities were overwhelmed and overjoyed by the many offers they have had for housing the evacuees from Haifa University. There were over 60 overseas students who needed places and they had more than enough offers within a half hour of the call. Our group came up with 31 places in 15 minutes! We really are a great people in times of emergency!"

Amongst the many phone calls was an ironic one from a good friend in the UK who phoned from his mobile while stuck in snow to see if we were OK.

Naturally, our children were concerned and pleaded with us to leave Haifa. However, with an up to minute assessment from the TV, we went to bed and slept well. Our neighborhood is approx 5 km from the action and my wife and I did have a conversation what we should pack into the car if it did become necessary to leave. That is quite a frightening thought, what to take and what to leave. Many around the world face this dilemma where there are hurricanes and tornados but for us this was new and our thoughts were somewhat confused.

The following morning, we woke and immediately switched on the TV for the latest news. Not good, the fire was still burning out of control and within a short time the phone was ringing again and this time the grandchildren were pleading with us to leave Haifa. They were concerned that even if the fire was not going to reach us, the smoke and the chemicals in the smoke would be dangerous to our health.

After withstanding the torrent of calls, we made the decision to spend the weekend with our daughter in Tel Aviv. We then rushed around packing, cancelled the Saturday night bus we were due to take to Eilat and the Friday night invitation for supper. Did we pack anything special – no. Were we being naïve? I don't think so.

Anyway having loaded up the car we set off south with news that the parallel coast road south was closed as the fire had reached that road. Thus we were left with the main coast road and as we travelled along it we could see part of the extent of the fire. The planes that had arrived overnight were visible, flying out to the Mediterranean to pick up the water and then inland to drop the water on fire. Unmanned drones were directing operations from the air as the ground crew were unable to see the full extent of the blaze and the path it was taking.

The assistance coming from around the world, particularly the number of firefighters coming from countries like Bulgaria, Greece, Russia, Azerbijan, Rumania, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey is appreciated. This international help is particularly welcome since it is usually Israel responding to other countries disasters around the world and it is good to see that even countries who don't enjoy the best of relationships with Israel coming to our assistance.

***

Please note that although this post is taken from a time when the fires were still burning, Israel's forests are no longer ablaze. See here for more information.

This strange fog seems to happen during colder times here, I suspect this the not the whole country that has this, probably just the more mountainous places like Jerusalem, Dead Sea, Golan Heights, etc.

There was some very strong winds this weekend so all of saturday I stayed indoors and did writing, reading or watched films.  Its not nice out there as the wind brings over sand and dust from Egypt.   Today the wind is strong you can see this cafe has tied a parasol to some traffic lights.

I didn't get a picture of the view of my house although a lot of the Arab district closeby is mostly invisible.



After church on sunday night you can see the walls of the old city looking kind of fuzzy.  Me and my friend braved the cold chill before head to the house of prayer building next to the Zion Gate hotel then back to my flat to watch a bit of telly.

Today, I woke up with rain outside, this time lots of it, this made the sand that had settled on the balcony turn into a weird type of mud.   All cars looked grubby, although to be honest no one seems to bother washing their car here in Israel as all cars seem to have a layer of dust on them anyway.

I am wondering what sand storms does to your health.   In other middle east cities such as Cairo or Tehran this is a massive problem with pollution and there is a layer of smog over the city, and lots of people die each year not from smoking but from respiratory related diseases from pollution.

Forest fire, sand storm followed by at last some decent rain, it does seem like the winter season suddenly came in a week.  I was still wearing just one shirt only a week ago when out, oh well, at least it will be a bit easier to get used to the UK climate when I fly back next week.  I have yet to see a thunderstorm here though.

The Haas Promenade, close (1.5km uphill from my house) also known as the peace park had a special event on the sunday before last.

A worship event was on with several churches and Christian organisations jointly together.   There was a speech by the Mayor of Jerusalem, and one of the city's chief Rabbis, and this was filmed on God TV.  There was speakers from different Christian charities here and also a few Arab believers too.

This was a really good event, although I had to leave part way through, as it overlapped with the normal service at my regular church at 6pm.

Last Sunday I had a relaxing morning, went out to the old city, I wanted to visit the recently built big synagogue built on the site of a famous one destroyed in wars from long ago, but it was shut so this is for another day.  King of Kings Church was really good, great teaching as usual from Wayne Hilsden and some great worship music too.

After church, I went with my Arab believer friend as he said there was some special event happening at the Gilad Shalit tent.   There is a tent usually manned by two people with various pictures and news stories about the young soldier currently being held captive somewhere in the Gaza strip.   These days this street corner has got bigger as news last year confirmed that Gilad is still alive, verified by a videotape of him with a recent newspaper last year.





This sunday evening was extra special, there was a TV interview being held with Gilad's parents and brother and a famous basketball player (I didn't get his name) who came to show his support.   The tent is positioned close to some government buildings.

Anyway I am not sure exactly what is said as there was no English posters or spoken announcements.  But it is quite sobering to see something to see events shown on worldwide television and being actually there.

There are several very very long posters signed in a mixture of Hebrew and English there.

There were people opposed to event.  I am not sure what was said but someone stopped outside in a small Hyundai hatchback and yelled something probably abusive.   Across the road was another protest which someone told me was to stop the government making a deal to let out I think something like 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for this one solider.

Its crazy the rest of the world doesn't have the courage to speak out why there is something seriously wrong with why one soldier should be a traded for a couple of hundred known terrorists responsible for the deaths of Israeli civilians in past tragedies

In the past, criminals have been traded for the bodies of dead Israelis who fell in foreign ground.   This is not a new thing, when you consider when King Saul, Jonathan and his two brothers Ishvi and Malki-Shua (funny these names aren't as popular as Jonathan today  ) were killed by the Philistines, and much later their remains were found and brought home, check out 2 Samuel 21



For more from Jonathan, click here!

Was thinking the other day, about Twitter the hugely popular way of making a commentary of life events, things in the media and often how celebrities get followed and current news events get shown.

I was perhaps a bit mean with my earlier writings thinking it was a bit naff, but lately I was thinking about someone who told me that maybe the Apostle Paul in the bible was the world's first blogger, so imagine if Paul was on Twitter too, it would be interesting to see as one of the first followers of Jesus who brought Christianity to the gentiles, travelled around various corners of the Mediterranean and got put in prison a few times, how his tweets would of looked like….

SaulOfTarsius I'm outside the Sanhedrin with my fellow Pharisees. Today we are stoning some guy called Stephen. #MyBenjaminTribe #MyRomanHomies

SaulOfTarsius Feel the urge that I need to do some writing for some reason.
sent via Papyrus

SaulOfTarsius Sorry not been online for a while, crazy week. Only just got my eyesight back

SaulOfTarsius Had serious meeting with the boss. Put me straight about some things. #Salvation #FoundMoshiach

SaulOfTarsius Thanks everyone in coming to my baptism, it was a nice day

SaulOfTarsius PS YHWH told me to change my name from Saul to Paul.

SaulOfTarsius @Ananias, thanks for relaying what I needed to hear.

SaulOfTarsius Follow my new active account at @ApostlePaul

ApostlePaul Now in Damacsus. Had some help to get there whilst my sight returned #Damasq #Asyria

ApostlePaul Praying with my new friends @SimonPeter and @James #Apostles

ApostlePaul Writing a book, I am going to call it Acts. Got a feeling, it will be one of many.

ApostlePaul Oyvavoy… Has it been ten years I have been speaking the good news in Damascus now?
via carrier pigeon

ApostlePaul @Barnabus thanks for the invite to Shabbat, look forward to helping your congregation in Tarsius. #Tarsius #Nicetobehome

ApostlePaul Went and rebuked Elymas the sorcerer whilst staying Cyprus. Also got a Roman soldier following Christ. #Paphos #Κύπρος #Cyprus

ApostlePaul Leaving Cyprus to go on a mission trip to Asia Minor tomorrow, looking forward to it. #AsiaMinor

ApostlePaul Was a pleasure to stay with you #Lydia G-d bless.

ApostlePaul Myself and @Barnabus are off to Jerusalem meet new Christians #Judea #ישראל

ApostlePaul Spending 18 months working in Corinth with @Silas and @Timothy #Κόρινθος #Greece plan to see Ephesus some point soon.
via Greek post office AD52

ApostlePaul In Jerusalem in prison. At least I escaped from being killed in the temple. #depressed #WhatAboutRightsOfRomanCitizens #CaesareaJail

ApostlePaul said to the soldier today 'is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?' I'll put that in Acts 22.

ApostlePaul Out of Jail. Roman bureaucracy takes a long time, its only taken 18 months.. But Governor Felix has let me out today.

ApostlePaul Off to Malta. The Lord told me this ship really isn't safe and I dont like the look of those clouds, or how choppy the sea is.

ApostlePaul Ship got wrecked. Oh well, Maltese people offer unusual kindness though. #Malta

Please note, biblical extracts are very approximate and locations are probably not in chronological order.

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My time in Israel has come to an End and its both bitter sweet to be home in England.

The ten month long course has gone so fast but has been a fantastic experience. I've have met some fantastic people learnt some incredible truths and seen a substantial amount of a fascinating land. The course came to an end with a Graduation Presentation ceremony followed by a celebratory meal just outside of Jerusalem. We all had a great time but of course it was very difficult to say goodbyes.

The course in Israel has resulted in establishing some true friendships, learning some incredible insight into the Bible. What I have learnt has brought out the significance and importance of Israel and all Jewish people to the Christian faith. I have met a hugely diverse mix of amazing people who have all been a blessing to spend time with in their own way and have challenged me in some way. The experience on the whole has helped me to progress in my relationship with God and inspired me to share the Gospel with a whole new insight.

I would like to thank you all for you support over this year, your contribution in prayer, finances, practicalities and even interest in following my journey over the past ten months. The course has been character building and equipping in so many ways and the experience has been life changing and I am truly grateful and very blessed that this opportunity was made possible.

Jonathan Hayward is a 33 year old Christian from Portsmouth, England currently volunteering for Bridges for Peace in Israel.

Here he blogs about his experiences for Isrelate.com ...

***

Last Sunday morning I went on a prayer walk on the walls of Jerusalem's Old City.

Stunning views into and out of the old city are guaranteed….

It's quite amazing doing this walk as you get to see over into yards, gardens and roofs of all kinds of places. People in both Arab and Jewish cultures use their roofs as yards, which are usually characterised with satellite dishes, old sofas, solar panels (used to run hot water tanks) and various junk.

See more about the Never Be Silent old city prayer tour walks here.

***

Want to read more from Jonathan? Click here to view his personal blog.

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The Past month has been a fantastic time to be in Jerusalem. The Passover festival this year fell very closely with Easter. Passover is an exciting time in Israel; as people clean their houses in preparation for the week of unleavened bread and get ready for some time off!

The morning before the Passover meal, I went for a run, all the families of gilo were making small fires, and burning the rest of their bread in the streets! That evening I was able to spend the night of the Seder with Chosen People Ministries in Jerusalem with a wonderful mix of people from all over the world. the service itself incorporated all the Jewish tradition but included the relevance the feast has to the New Testament and Easter. We ate so well and met some great people and it was amazing to be here for such a great holiday!

Recently I went with the young Adults of King of Kings Community Jerusalem, to camp beside the River Jordan and spend the following Day Hiking in the Golan. We had a Fantastic time, trailing a river in the Yehudiya nature reserve. The river is formed from melting snow from Hermon and it runs through a beautiful valley cut in to the hills of the Golan. Our hike followed the river through the valley it had created and past its waterfalls. The scenery was spectacular to the point of excitement!

Our trail was tough though with many narrow passes, ladders that take you down along side the waterfalls and one of two places where swimming was the only option! But it was a fantastic time of fellowship and appreciating the wonderful world in which we live.

Academics are going really well this semester; the subjects we are covering bring so much of biblical history to life. It is hard to believe that my time at ICB is ending with a mere 2 months left before graduation. Therefore, amongst the studies we are trying to fit in as much of this fantastic country as possible!

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The second semester is now upon us, we started it all of with a revisit to Biblical Tamar to help the site volunteers, Derek and Kate. We were preparing for 50 guests from the states who were coming to stay in exchange for some excellent cooking! We hade a blessed time of fellowship with them and we were lucky enough to meet a Holocaust survivor who was also staying with them during our stay, which as you can imagine made some very interesting conversation.

Additionally we have also Just returned from volunteering at the mid_year messianic student conference where we helped in the kitchen, cooking for around 120 young Israelis who met together for fellowship. It was a wonderful event to be a part of, situated just outside of Tel Aviv. The event was blessed with some wonderful weather and we were able to connect with many believers and encourage one another especially those away from family.

The first week of college has begun and the heavens have also opened over Jerusalem. Which is such a blessing despite the cold and wet! There were reports that at the Jerusalem market, it erupted in cheers as the rain began to fall! Jerusalem surprisingly receives the same level as annual rain fall as London, it just tends to come all at once as it seems to be doing at them moment! But the rest of the country isn't as fortunate as the dead sea resides around one meter every year and the Galilee also, despite recently rising a meter, is many more meters below a good level. So the rain truly is a blessing here despite the cold that follows it!

Classes this Semester are covering some fantastic subjects; Biblical Hebrew is getting to the more in depth areas, we are also looking at Gods covenants with man despite the fallen world in which we live, also a modern history of Israel, looking at the miracle of Israel's re_birth and survival over the last 60 years and we are covering the backgrounds in which the New Testament was written. All of which are fantastic subjects so I'll look forward to updating you all as to how they go, as well as what Jerusalem is like during some fantastic Jewish Festivals this Term.

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Recently, Israel has received a great deal of rain which is very important and a huge blessing during this season. The Negev [pictured below] recently had the majority of its annual rainfall in one night, which was unlike anything it has seen for hundreds of years! It was enough to wash away at least two main bridges along the Egyptian boarder, one of which was British built during the time of occupation.

We have just returned from our archaeology tour, an intensive course that falls in between the two semesters. It consisted of both excavations and surveys in rather remote locations. The timing of which was fantastic, to see the desert come to life with grasses and small flowers and streams running through the baron ground was wonderful.

We were blessed to stay for some of our tour with a guy named Abishai, a Yemenite Messianic Jew who along with his family run a small hostel. His testimony was astounding and was such a blessing to hear. He spoke of how when he came to the Lord very much like Noah, he was told to build his small hostel in preparation formany orphans.

So from the back of his house he put together basic accommodation and a Bedouin style congregation tent with a small fire and stocked up on mattresses, blankets and pillows without any clear purpose.Before he had finished he was housing 80 Sudanese refugees! Many of these people flee the Sudan to Egypt however Egyptian boarders laws often mean many are shot at when crossing into Israel and sometimes, tragically killed.

Despite the pressure from the government, military and some of his neighbours he housed them for two years finding the men jobs whilst providing beds, clothes and food for their families thanks to the Lord's provision. He explained how he argued with authorities saying not long ago, the Jewish people were refugees in the land and it was down to the generous support and love of many Christians that helped their settlement. His testimony and selfless faith wasn't only encouraging and challenging but a blessing as well!

After much touring I am now home in Gilo, preparing for the second half of our intensive Archaeology course before the beginning of our second semester.

Living in Gilo is very enjoyable, it is situated on top of a hill next to Bethlehem, as a result the views are wonderful on all sides, making runs and walks all the more enjoyable.

With the majority for the work for the semester completed I am now trying to focus more on my Hebrew studies as well as being more involved with various congregations. I have been attending King of Kings congregation on Sunday evenings but I am looking to be involved in serving in some way when time allows. Although there are so many different ministries in Jerusalem it is difficult to make decisions!

Many Blessings,

Jonny

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Greetings to you all, my name is Jonny Billitt and I'm from Cambridge England. I am currently blessed to be spending ten months living in Jerusalem studying with Israel College of the Bible.

The Isrelate team have kindly given me the opportunity to relay what life is really like behind the media vale, which hides the true quality of this land. Along side my studies I am able to visit all over Israel experiencing all the diverse mix of cultures that exist here today.

I am currently living in Gilo, a Jerusalem neighbourhood, which seems in the middle of some political tension at the moment but it is surrounded by some wonderful views on all side of both Jerusalem and Bethlehem...

Bethlehem

Gilo

Jerusalem

Although I will do my best to describe my experiences in some short posts, I would also like to answer any of your questions regarding the land the culture and the people so please feel free to express yourself and be as honest or challenging as you wish and I'll do my best to answer, hopefully through my learning I may be able to offer insight into your questions.

While I am here I hope to try and convey to you the experience of living along side both Arab and Israelis, the wonderful mix of cultures in the land and try encourage you to visit a wonderful place mixed with many cultures, climates and countryside!

Many Blessings,

Jonny

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Hello reader. In these next two posts, I will try to give you some idea of what I experienced in Jerusalem. The best way to do that, I think, is to tell you about what really impacted me as opposed to just giving you a tourist trail narrative. So, here we go with part one...

My first three weeks in the Holy City were spent working as a volunteer in the Media Department of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) before and during the huge Feast of Tabernacles celebration that the ICEJ organises there every year. You can find out all about the Media Department here, the ICEJ in general here and the Feast here and here. I helped the full_time staff with their regular duties before the Feast and, during the celebration itself, I was involved in a range of activities, including public relations with the ICEJ Media stand, conducting radio interviews, leading a tourist visit, translating (Spanish) and liaising with Israeli journalists. Here are some photos:

The whole Feast of Tabernacles experience was absolutely amazing so it is very difficult to pick out particular moments. However, I do feel that in years to come, the following memories will still be vivid:

• The wonderful fellowship with staff and volunteers from the ICEJ and other Messianic/Christian Zionist organisations in Jerusalem. There were so many occasions where I met someone and, after a short while, felt like I had known him or her for years. I will always remember playing Ultimate Frisbee in a park near the Knesset with one specific group of friends and then all of us sitting around afterwards talking freely and naturally about matters of the Kingdom of ADONAI. It was a real foretaste of the age to come.

• True unity in the Feast celebrations as believers from all over the world lifted their eyes individually to worship ADONAI in spirit and in truth. This was especially the case on the opening night after the Parade of Nations in which representatives of all the countries present stood together on stage waving their respective flags.

• Interviewing a hero of mine, Mr David Pawson, before the ICEJ presented him with the Nehemiah Award for his outstanding contribution to Biblical Zionism. In a time where the Word of God is treated with breathtaking disrespect and carelessness by so many public ministries, Mr Pawson shines out as one of the truly great teachers of the Scriptures. If you have never heard him or read one of his books, make it a priority to do so. You can visit his website here.

• Being reunited at the Jerusalem March (one of the big Feast events) with an old friend and mentor of mine from Spain, Samuel del Coso Román, whom I had not seen for many years. As Samuel is a humble man, what I say here will probably embarrass him but I believe that it is right to honour him publicly. Samuel personifies what it means to be a "good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:14_30) and it was he who guided me to the first signpost back to the "ancient paths" (Jeremiah 6:16). I hold this man in the highest esteem and commend him to you:

Samuel's ministry is called "Shalom_Sefarad" and you can find out all about it here and here.

• Going to the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem for the evening service at the beginning of Yom Kippur and, getting lost in the Hebrew liturgy, being guided all the way through by a warm and friendly Jewish man who was of similar age, also English, also called Ben and who happened to be standing next to me! There is no doubt in my mind that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was also looking after me as one of His family. Ben told me afterwards that, having made aliyah, he was now married and living in Israel. May ADONAI bless him and his household. Yom Kippur is one of the Feasts of ADONAI (Leviticus 16; 23:26_32; 25:8_10; Numbers 29:7_11). It is also known as the Day of Atonement and is the holiest day of the year for God's chosen people.

• Marking the end of Yom Kippur with ICEJ staff and volunteers and other friends. The streets of the city were deserted except for all those people, like us, who were "going up" to what is left of the Temple complex, the Western Wall. As I saw this scene, I was instantly reminded of the words of Psalm 122. Let us read verses 1 to 4 (Complete Jewish Bible):

I was glad when they said to me, "The house of ADONAI! Let's go!"

Pt 1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12

Hello reader. Here I will talk about visiting Armageddon before finally going up to the Capital City of the Kingdom of the King of Kings, Jerusalem…

Following one of the most special weeks of my life, I left the Galilee and headed south, full of anticipation, to the Eternal City, Jerusalem. I turned the radio off in the car and, with the windows a little down, listened to the breeze as I drove through the ancient landscapes of the Beautiful Land.

After driving for about 35 miles south_west from Tiberias, I arrived at my first stop on the way: Armageddon, or, in Hebrew, Har Megiddo, meaning ' Mount Megiddo'. As is well_known amongst believers in Yeshua and even non_believers, this is the site that is spoken about by Scripture in relation to the final battle of this age where Yeshua will return with heaven's armies to defeat satan and his allies and usher in the Kingdom of ADONAI on earth.

At this point in time, I do not know whether Har Megiddo will be the sole theatre of war or whether it will be one of many locations in a much wider conflict. However, whichever is correct, I do conclude from Scripture that Har Megiddo will be the focal point of the War of the Great Day of ADONAI_Tzva'ot. Revelation 16:13_16 in the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) states:

And I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs; they came from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet. They are miracle_working demonic spirits which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited world to assemble them for the War of the Great Day of ADONAI_Tzva'ot ["the LORD of (heaven's) armies" or "the LORD of Hosts"]. ("Look! I am coming like a thief! How blessed are those who stay alert and keep their clothes clean, so that they won't be walking naked and be publicly put to shame!"). And they gathered the kings to the place which in Hebrew is called Har Megiddo.

The CJB Glossary describes Har Megiddo:

"…an ancient town with more than twenty archaeological layers covering the period from nearly 6000 years ago until the fourth century B.C.E. It was chosen again and again as the site for a city because of its strategic location guarding a pass on the Via Maris (the "Way of the Sea") joining Egypt and Assyria and overlooking the Valley of Yizre'el (Jezreel, Esdraelon)…"

Unfortunately, Tel Megiddo National Park was closed on the day that I went there due to it being the afternoon before the beginning of Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). However, I did take a few pictures from the outside:

My main concern was to see the whole of the Jezreel Valley since, being the immediate area overlooked by Har Megiddo, I believe that it is likely to be where the War of the Great Day of ADONAI_Tzva'ot is actually fought. In 1799, Napoleon (a forerunner of the anti_Messiah) stood at Megiddo before his attempt to conquer the East and rebuild the Roman Empire. As he viewed the enormous valley in front of him, he declared:

"All the armies of the world could manoeuvre their forces on this vast plain… There is no place in the whole world more suited for war than this… [It is] the most natural battleground of the whole earth."

The best vantage point from which to see a panorama of the Jezreel Valley is the roof of the Carmelite Monastery of St. Elijah. I surveyed the landscape with a heavy heart, reflecting on the fact that, one day in this magnificent setting, men will physically try to fight the very One who created them and everything around them:

The Monastery itself is situated on the south_eastern spur of Mount Carmel and was built to commemorate Elijah's confrontation with the 450 false prophets of Ba'al (1 Kings 18:17_40), which is traditionally thought to have occurred here:

Before leaving the Monastery, I meditated for a while on the significance of these words of Elijah and prayed about their implications in my own life. I invite you to do the same:

"How long are you going to jump back and forth between two positions? If ADONAI is God, follow him; but if it's Ba'al, follow him!" (1 Kings 18:21, (CJB))

This challenge is even more serious when we consider that all false gods or idols (like Ba'al in this case) are just masks used by satan himself, who is "the deceiver of the whole world" and "the inventor of the lie" (Revelation 12:9; John 8:44, CJB). We who profess to follow ADONAI today must take heed to ourselves as there is no neutral ground between the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness. As Yeshua says in Matthew 12:30, CJB:

"Those who are not with me are against me…"

As time was getting on, I jumped in my hire car and got onto Highway 6 heading south to Jerusalem, 95 miles away. I did not want to get there after sunset on Shabbat of all days! I thought about so many things on the way, I could not begin to tell you. Suffice to say, my overriding feeling was one of thankfulness to ADONAI for having brought me to this day.

I turned eastwards after about 70 miles at the Ben Shemen Interchange onto Highway 1 and started the climb up to the City of Peace. "Going up" to Jerusalem is not merely poetic language; it is a geographical fact. Eventually, I saw the city boundary sign up ahead and my heart skipped a beat. It is really hard to articulate exactly how I felt as I approached the sign so I will not attempt to do so. You will just have to take the journey for yourself. When I passed the sign, I knew that I had finally entered the City of ADONAI for real. It is, quite simply, a moment that I will never, ever forget.

Stay tuned for my next post in which I complete my report of my experiences in Yerushaláyim…

Shalom in the name of Yeshua,

Ben