Set the Scene

One of my greatest highlights of the trip, one that will forever change the way I pray, happened this morning.  I didn’t know it then, in fact, I didn’t know it was my favorite tell Mrs. Alfreda testified later during the night service. 

 Mrs. Alfreda was battling sickness the whole trip.  There were days she couldn’t make it to tour, but
I know she was praying for us. But there are days when everyone has to come along, like when we are changing cities.  Such with this day. We were leaving the Dead Sea and making our journey to Galilee.  Mrs. Alfreda was hanging on to Jesus for help and strength.  She testified that as the bus pulled out of the hotel that morning,  she didn’t know how she was going to make it,  but the Lord spoke to her and said, “Shout it out. Holler this out.”

 Usually one to do her best to obey, it wasn’t shouting she questioned.  She said, “ Lord, I will scare the people on this bus if I just start shouting.  They’ll think something is really wrong.”  She went onto tell us in the service that her pastor, Pastor Josephine Flemings, has always taught her people: “when the Lord asks you to do something and you don’t see how it could happen or how it could possibly fit in pray and ask God to set the scene.”

Mrs. Alfreda began to talk to the Lord, “if you want me to shout this out you’re going to have to set the scene for it.”  As she was praying, Pastor Jerry was encouraging people from the front of the bus to share a scripture with enthusiasm.  Pastor Thomas, who also have been battling sickness the whole trip, felt prompted to shout the scripture with strength:  “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57  (NKJV)  he shouted from the back of the bus.

 That word “victory”  caught in Pastor Jerry.  He said, “ I don’t believe I have ever done this before but I believe the Lord wants to hear a shout a victory. . I don’t even know how to get it started…”

 Well, there was someone midway back on the bus that did!  As she began to shout,  the whole bus corrupted in the shout. Everyone participated.  No one even noticed Mrs. Alfreda’s shout.  It wasn’t even the loudest.

 Look what God did.  He set the scene for Mrs. Alfreda to be able to obey. She thanked everyone that night in-service for obeying, especially Pastor Jerry.  I wish I could describe to you the joy and surprise that erupted from the room.  It is always a delight to see the Lord lead so specifically. If you have ever tasted this dish, you can’t get enough of it.  You want more.

 As for me, my prayer life has shifted.  “Okay, God, if you are asking me to do this, set the scene.  Set the scene.” Glory!

This was the morning also where it was on Mrs. Susan’s heart to pray for ISIS to be defeated. Rolland also prayed against the spirit of anti-Semitism in the world. 

On our way north, we stopped at an overlook of En Gedi. Even though we were in the valley hiking yesterday. This outlook provides a stunning view of this oasis in the desert. Meir showed us how to find the image of the dove that is this valley. The valley is the body of the dove; the mountains are its wings. It is the cave at the top near the waterfall where it is believed David hid from King Saul. Pastor Jerry read the scripture attributed to this place Psalm 57:

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!

For my soul trusts in You;

And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,

Until these calamities have passed by.

I will cry out to God Most High,

To God who performs all things for me.

He shall send from heaven and save me;

He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah

God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.

My soul is among lions;

I lie among the sons of men

Who are set on fire,

Whose teeth are spears and arrows,

And their tongue a sharp sword.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

They have prepared a net for my steps;

My soul is bowed down;

They have dug a pit before me;

Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and give praise.

Awake, my glory!

Awake, lute and harp!

I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing to You among the nations.

For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,

And Your truth unto the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Natalie sang, “Your Love, O Lord” in response.

Elizabeth sings “Cave of Adullam”

Speak to me, speak to me in my cave of Adullam. 

Reach to me, reach to me. No one cares for my soul. 

I thought I saw your kingdom, 

but it's not going to happen like I thought it would happen. 

Remind me, remind me of the vision you gave me. 

Remind me, remind me what anointing oil is for. 

I need to know you're near me. 

I need to know you are holding me just as closely 

As the day you took my life and gave me a vision, 

as the day you poured the oil and gave me a dream. 

I can't believe this is happening. 

How does a shepherd become a king?

Pastor Thomas shares:

I am so thankful for everyone who is on this trip. There is not a single person I would want to be without. The Jewish people have a toast.”L’chaim” To life! The Holy Spirit is working deeply within

me today that some of you are choosing death over life. Weakness is designed for the strength of God to be made perfect. Many just simply agree with the enemy and do not even attempt to fight the enemy or press through the burden, but, today, today is a day of victory. Choose life. 

We arrived in Qumran which is in the West Bank. Qumran is the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. It has been mentioned in the last couple of days that the history of modern Israel was contingent upon several key things. The validity of Jewish homeland, the right for Israel to exist in this land, has come up over and over. Whether it is Pastor Thomas speaking on the first day about the Balfur Proclamation or the visit to the Friends of Zion museum, we have been examining this topic. In Jerusalem we saw the real artifacts that were found here. The Dead Sea Scrolls became a testimony that had been hidden in these mountains for 2,000 years. Why weren’t they found at any time earlier. They had an appointed time to be discovered at approximately the Zionists were declaring Israel has a right to exist. This archaeological find joined that chorus to say: here is historical proof that Jewish people lived here.

I had never been to Qumran before. I was surprised to discover that there was a community here called the Essenes. They were a community of priests that according to some of their writings had separated themselves from Jerusalem to pursue pure study of the scripture without the distraction of politics and the bribery that was rampant in their day. They were scribes who were only allowed to copy the scripture 3 hours a day so that mistakes were limited. If they made a mistake, they could scratch it out and write over it, but if they made a mistake on the name of God, they had to burn the complete scroll.

These scrolls were written as Hebrew is today from right to left (we read and write left to right.) Before papyrus they would chisel words in stone. When you carve it you can see it better if you are writing right to left. Your hand doesn’t cover the marks you are making. 

Mrs. Barbara asked how they were able to keep straight lines. They pressed lines into the papyrus and instead of writing the letters from a baseline up. They used the line to pull the letters down. 

Meir’s father was a scribe and he used to say to him, “I’m making another copy of the Torah.” The first edition came from God to Moses. The rest are copies. In the time of the Essene priests it would have cost a 10 year salary to have a copy of the Torah. Scribes and priests had them for study and to copy. Today, we read the Torah three times a week, Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. Monday and Thursday were market days in ancient Israel. Many people were illiterate, so they would gather to hear the scripture read in the market place. If you go every Saturday to hear the reading, you will hear the whole Jewish Bible (Old Testament) over the course of the year.

Many believe the Essenes practiced Judaism the best. To avoid the corruption that was around the Temple, they moved to Dead Sea. It was men only for a while, but they realized they needed to have families so that their traditions would not die with them. 

Archaeologists found the oldest phylactery here. Phylacteries are little boxes that hold a portion of the Torah in them. Taking the Word and literally binding it to their mind, heart and hand. 

Since 1947 to today, there have been 900 scrolls discovered. They were stored inside jars of clay in

the caves you see along the hillside. This seemed to be the library of the Essenes. 300 of the scrolls are copies of the Bible. Other scrolls are manuals of discipline, and commentaries. They found a copy of every book of the Old Testament here except Esther and Nehemiah. Both of which were written in Babylon. Meir informed us that Nehemiah has only been accepted in their scripture for 1000 years. 

Qumran also had a Micah. A place of ritual cleansing. If people were to keep the Law, they needed a place to be cleansed, if they were not going all the way to Jerusalem. So people from all around would come here for ritual cleansing. Meir told us that 40 days ago, it was raining so hard that there was a waterfall coming off the mountain above Qumran. It would have filled the ritual bath.

One reason the scrolls were untouched for 2000 years is that the Romans came through here on their way to Masada. The priests would have hidden their work in the caves. They were either taken away from here and scattered over the countries, but most likely they would have refused to leave and would have been killed here. Near Qumran is a cemetery with countless people. Countless because it is illegal to excavate a Jewish cemetery. It is considered holy ground. 

The voices of those that gave their lives here were resurrected in the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls as testimony to the right for Israel to exist.

We moved on to Jericho. Not everyone’s favorite, but we took cable cars to the top of the Mount of Temptation. 

Pastor Jerry had shared earlier at En Gedi, if we are to choose life we are to remember that “Man does not live, by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  This is the word Jesus gave in response to the enemy who tried to tempt him after 40 days of fasting. Commemorated here on the mountain. And here… they have a restaurant suspended on the side of the mountain. Sad to say the only thing we did on the Mountain of Temptation was eat. Lol. We feasted on the word and the pita.

We came off of the mountain to a place known as Elisha’s fountain. Where the bitter water was turned sweet. We have personally received and believe that God moves in this place. Several trips ago we had a time of prayer and anointing here. There had been at least five miscarriages between two of our congregations. The grief was great. It says in the scripture about Elisha’s fountain.

“ Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.’” 22 So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.” 2 Kings 2:21-22

After we returned, there were 9 healthy babies that came!

Pastor Aaron Simms stood and shared:

Reading from Mark 10:46-52 NASB

46 Then they *came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.”50 Throwing aside his cloak, he
jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “[q]Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has [r]made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.” 

Wow… Jesus asked “What do you want me to do for you?” and what came out of Bartimaeus’s prayer was what was coming out of him as Jesus walked by. His prayer wasn’t I want to receive my sight. He was crying out, he was driven, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” That was his prayer from the heart. Have mercy on me. 

Right before this story in the scriptures, in the same chapter. We have another account. We have a group of men who have something coming out of their heart. Jesus’s question to them was the same, “What do you want me to do for you?” You’ve got James and John walking down the road, they come to Jesus in verse 35: “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” Jesus’s response is “What do you want me to do for you?’ They say what they want Him to do for them which you know the story. It’s a big deal:

37 They said to Him, “[n]Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking… this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. 41 Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with [o]James and John.” 

What was in their hearts right then came out. These men are the best of us. What was in their heart was not “Son of David, have mercy on me!” In this moment it was, “Son of David, exalt me.” Exalt me. There prayer was not immediately answered. They didn’t walk away seeing. The fruit of that was conflict in the kingdom. The fruit of that jealousy, and hurt and harm.  If there is any exalting to be done among us, it is to be done by humbling ourselves in the sight of the Lord. Letting Him do any of that at the proper time. These are two stories of Jesus asking, “What do you want me to do for you?” and the man that came with “Son of David, have mercy on me!” had his prayer immediately answered. Amen.

Mrs. Barbara then stood and said that it was on her heart that we all be anointed. Everyone has a need. Not one of us is left out. It could be physical or spiritual. It could be for the “here am I” part. 

Pastor Jerry spoke up, “Pastor Aaron just shared about Jesus asking “What do you want me to do for you?” It requires a response from us. It is not too much to ask for healing. This is a place where Elisha turned the bitter waters into sweet waters. This is a place where God healing is still flowing. Anoint one another. The waters are stirred. If you want to be prayed for come forward.”

Everyone began anointing one another and praying. Even people not of our group got in line. It was a beautiful time of love and covering and community. Standing in belief in and for one another.

We reached Galilee and had an evening service. A beautiful time of review and sharing:

We started off by different ones calling out scripture:

Mrs. Jewell: “Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people,

    come to my aid when you save them,” Ps. 106:4

Pastor Josephine: “2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,” Titus 1:2

Rolland: 35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,” Luke 12:35

Brent: 11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, 2 Thessalonians 1:11

Molly: 32 I will run the course of Your commandments,

For You shall enlarge my heart.” Psalm 119:32

Dana: “God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1

Dale: 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Vanessa: “ if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Pastor Kim gets up and leads us in a song, “God loves people more than anything.”

Pastor Josephine stood and shared that she had asked God in her prayer closet about some things she wished to see come to pass before she finished her days. She asked to come to Israel. She didn’t know she could be so full.

Pastor Thomas said “Hope starts before Faith can move in.”

We spoke for a little while about how the meeting room we were in there in Tiberius was a meeting room used very often on the last couple of trips with Rev. Helm. We talked about the Waitings on God and the power in stepping away from our everyday activities to wait on Him. This room was once filled with some of the most talented, passionate people from all walks who longed to see the kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

The question arose, “What is the reason for your hope?”

James Doss began to share his first memories of early Waitings. He said he was only tall enough to look through the back of the chairs. He was amazed when people were prayed for and healed. It was where his desire for the kingdom began. His hope was that God would truly have His way and be able to hear His voice clearly.

Pastor Jerry Keller shared specifically about a memory from this room. “Going back to Molly’s scripture. Something happened in this room to enlarge my heart. Before I came into Rev. Helm’s ministry, I had been apart of a prayerless ministry. Rev. Helm’s ministry was full of prayer. I was in a season of God beginning to operate in my heart. I wondered if there was something physically wrong with me. Instead of going to a doctor, I decided to test it out for myself. I started doing wind sprints in my back yard. If this is a physical, I am going to blow this thing out. All I got was out of breath for a minute or two. It wasn’t the same feeling I was getting in my heart.

It was in this room in Galilee. I was sitting about there. Someone had gotten up to sing. I realized at some point. Rev. Helm had locked eyes with me. When you are in a room of several hundred and the person on the platform is sitting there staring into your eyes. You don’t dare to look away. It got to a certain part in the song. My heart started that beating strangely thing again. Without breaking his gaze, he reached up and tapped his heart to express to me that it was operating in his heart too. I do not have hope in politics, I have hope in God.

Mrs. Barbara: Hope is expectation. What is the reason for this expectation in me?

Pastor Kim: “My Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness!”

Elizabeth: Pastor Kim! I was singing that on the cable car today for some of our passengers that were afraid. “On Christ the Solid Rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand!”

Sondra: Today when Meir shared about the meaning of Ebenezer… Thus far He has helped us! Amen!

Dale: My reason for the hope is the thrills, romance and adventure. I am thankful for the time of romance in the Garden Tomb yesterday.

Katie: Before we even left the airport. My hope was filled. I am so thankful for the love poured out on my dad.

Brent: My hope is… Pastor Kim’s response in jumping up to sing. My hope is that joyful quick obedience. What God starts never ends.

Pastor Jerry: Pastor Kim’s response is so instructive.

Pastor Thomas: Our God, our Help in ages past,

Our Hope for years to come,

Be Thou our Guard while troubles last

And our eternal Home!

Rolland: God calls, He expects us to respond with “Here Am I”. He is in the doing.

Natalie: (reviewing) My hope is built on nothing less. Here I raise my Ebenezer. What God begins never ends.

Pastor Jerry: I am so thankful that Natalie obeyed the Lord and found us. She hopped on her bicycle as a high schooler and came to us. Just her for awhile. I don’t know many high schoolers who would do such a thing.

Sheba: If it hadn’t been for Rev. Helm coming to Israel. Then you guys, then me. I would have never come. I would not have been able to bring more back with me. I am so thankful for God’s drawing through it all.  God said, “I am here” My hope I God is pouring into them (my friends and family I brought) so I can pour out. Disciples begat disciples. When you said, “Here Am I” Now I can do it.

Alfreda: “You heard my cry and then delivered me.” She then tells us the story I relayed to you at the start about the shout of victory on the bus and setting the scene. Glory!!

She finished with: God has a way of keeping you up. Watch the move of God.

We sang: “Blessed Assurance” and “Hope’s Anthem.”

Pastor Taylor shared: “Christ in you the hope of Glory!”

Pastor Thomas begins the message for the evening:

I am so thankful for this time of review and sharing. Speaking your hope. He’ll give you wisdom if you ask for it. We must wait for heavenly wisdom to descend.

Luke 18:15-17

15 Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

The disciples tried rebuking the people form bringing their kids to Jesus. They probably thought Jesus didn’t have time for kids. On the Mount of Beatitudes there were 5,000 men. There was no count of woman and children. It was the whole community.

The disciples were trying to save up some Jesus like there a limited quantity. 

(my mom used to quote vs. 16 out of context from the King James: “Suffer little children!” I remember thinking to myself… I don’ think that means what you think it means” Jesus meant it as “allow” or let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them.

In the late 80’s at Palm Beach Gardens Christ Fellowship, Rev. Loran Helm preached a whole month of Sundays on one subject. Receiving the kingdom as a little child. He shared that all the ills of society could have been managed by teaching a child how to receive properly. Prisons would be emptied if these people could have learned this from a young age.

1. We want what is not ours.

2. We want what is ours too quickly.

3. We aren’t thankful for what we do have.

He spent awhile describing what a “little child” was. Rev. Helm said it is about the age range where you know what a shirt is, but you don’t know which hole your head goes through.

He spoke of the difference between a spoiled child and a childlike one. Are you thankful? We don’t need more stuff. We need more appreciation. Your riches may increase, but how about your appreciation. One is a leanness to your soul, the other enlarges your heart.

How tedious and tasteless the hours when Jesus, no longer I see. … When I am happy in Him December’s as pleasant as May.

We ought to be givers. To bless and encourage. When we are impatient, we accuse God of not caring. If you weren’t trained as a child on these things, you will be trained now through the circumstances of life. Sometimes what we want, we don’t need at all. It is vital that we receive like a little child.

A time for testimony opened up again and Trion began to share with us how much she had been enjoying her trip. She was so thankful for the sense of community even though we were all from different states and backgrounds. She said, “I haven’t always felt welcome. I remember in our house that even thought people despised us, we still prayed for them. God took care of us.  My daughter is off at college. The Lord promised me He would take care of paying for it. But just like we do (I didn’t say this to Him), I didn’t believe that He actually would. So I got two jobs while I was going to school myself, but you can’t do that for long. In December, I said, “Jesus, I can’t keep this up.” He reminded me that he didn’t ask me to and that I had stopped trusting along the way. “When you let me be God, I will be.” I said ok, I’ll leave it to you. I quit the weekend job. My daughter’s bill was coming due, I didn’t have it. Just in time, I got an email saying a grant had come in and would cover almost all of the bill. Praise God! I didn’t have to carry the weight of it into this trip. He carried it for me,”

Mrs. Dana spoke up saying it had been a battle to actually get to come. Some people had come to her and said she shouldn’t come to Israel. Instead of arguing with them, she went to prayer. “Lord, I need you to have this conversation for me.” The next Sunday, she came home from church to a message from the person who had told her not to come: ‘The Lord told me, Dana needs to be on this trip. I heard Him. Let me know how I can help you.” Dana walked outside and began praising the Lord for answering her prayer! She called Sheba right then and they praised God together for it.

Pastor Jerry finished the service by saying maybe another thing we need in receiving as a little child is not to reject what He’s trying to give us. I believe I could trace a lot of my ills to this. 

Oh God, enlarge our hearts to receive as a little child and choose life.

Discomforting the Comfortable

We packed up and said goodbye to Jerusalem. On the bus, as we departed, we had a time of devotions.

Pastor Aaron prayed:

We were almost to our first destination there in the Negev Desert. Natalie comes to the front of the bus and begins to pray for those carrying burdens. She was almost done with her prayer when the bus erupted with excitement at the sight of baby ibexes. Ibex look kind of like a cross between a goat and an antelope. They are common in this area. 

We get to En Gedi and proceed up the path. En Gedi is the place where David hid from Saul. Pastor Thomas shared:

David had to get out of dodge, but he wasn’t alone. He had 400 men with him. If he wanted to go to the desert. He needed to get to a water source. He ran because he held this truth to be self evident: Touch not God’s anointed.

The other day we took a wrong turn and ended up in a cistern. It was dripping with water, but it was broken. How do I know? If it were a working cistern it would be filled with water.

Not too far from here another king, another time. King Herod on Masada made a place for himself to run to if he were ever chased. He had storehouses of food and yes… cisterns. To collect water. To provide for himself and his men. King Herod hew out cisterns to save himself. They were man made and now they are broken they do not hold any water.

But here, David’s stream, it still flows. The living water is still here.

“For My people have committed two evils:

They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,

And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13

I shared the other day that we have a fairy tale version of Christianity. Like Goldilocks, we have a need to be comfortable. (this porridge is too hot. This too cold. This bed is too hard. Etc.)

But God, He discomforts us. Strive to enter into rest

You won't accidentally trip into the kingdom. David wasn't looking to be attacked by a spear. He loved Saul. It caused David to come to dryness of flesh and soul. To come to the wilderness. But David stayed near the living water both physical and spiritual.

When you try to save yourself by building cisterns. You may be able to hold water and stay afloat for a little while. But it won’t last forever. Go to the fount of Living Water. You carve out cisterns where you don't need Him. It's the faithfulness of God that breaks your cistern so you need Him. God has a process in you life. Yearn for living water. Is what you are pursuing living water? He'll give us everything else.  Seek first the kingdom and all things will be added. When I am not trying to work it out myself.

We played in the lower waterfall. Natalie and Katie got soaked.

We got on top of Masada and Meir told us the story of what happened here.

Once upon a time there was a king named Herod. He was not a king by birth but by political appointment. He was the son of a rich family from Edom. His parents sent him to Rome like many wealthy parents in ancient Israel to study in the house of Augustus. Yep, that Augustus, who would be known to us all as Caesar Augustus. When Caesar began to look for someone to help manage his governmental interests in Israel. He chose the guy that had lived in his house who was from the same region. Edom was a neighbor to Israel. So Rome dubbed Herod King of the Jews, even though he was not Jewish and was not of the House of David, like all the kings were supposed to be. The Jewish people hated having him as their representative. Their ambassador. Their intercessor with Rome because he did not plead their cause. He sided with the Romans. Herod was paranoid. He thought everyone was out to get him. He began building fortresses all along a route that led back to Edom. Of course, there was Jerusalem. But then he had Herodian in Bethlehem. And the next stop on his place to flee was Masada. He had storehouses of food that could feed 1,000 people for 3 years. He had huge cisterns filled with enough water to sustain people in the desert and for him to take luxurious baths. To me one of the craziest things is that Herod never actually stayed here, nor did he ever climb the mountain. He stood at the bottom and observed the progress, but he never used it.

The real story of Masada begins when Rome is tired of dealing with the Jews as a people. They

believe the only way to manage the unmanageable people groups is to scattered them across the known world so they cannot form a revolution. Divide and Conquer. The Diaspora involved a process of sweeping through the country of Israel and gathering up all the Jews and shipping them off to various ports of call. Rome heard there was still a group of zealots that had taken over Herod’s palace at Masada that still needed dealt with.

Masada is a natural fortress. This mountain has no other connecting range. It is fairly easy to protect. Someone tries to climb up, you throw a rock and crush them. (Insert Meir’s Rolling Stone joke here). There are plenty of rocks atop so no shortage of ammunition. So how did Rome defeat them? They built a ramp up to the gate. Using Jewish slaves so that the zealots on top would not kill their brothers. It took one year for them to build the ramp up to the gate. They finally battered the gate and broke it open. Knowing that the Israelites had no where to go and they would conquer them in the morning. The Romans went back to their camp to rest for the night.

 

That night the camp gathered together. Their leader basically said Would you rather watch your wives assaulted and your children led off as slaves or die as free men in a free Israel? Each man killed his own wife and children. Ten men were chosen to kill the other men. Finally, lots were cast for the one man who would kill the others and then fall on his own sword. They found the pot shards with names inscribed on them.

When the Romans arrived in the morning, they found the bodies of the slain. To make their

point that they were not starving or defenseless. They had a pile of food and a pile of weapons showing they did not do this from despair but from choice. They have a record of what happened because a woman and her two children were found hiding in one of the cisterns.

Half of our group descended from the mountain. The rest of stayed on the mountain to tour more of the ruins. The church that was up here. The pigeon house also known as an ancient mailbox. The synagogue was beautiful. There is a new addition to the synagogue, the side room where they found the pieces of scroll including the chapter of Ezekiel has been turned into an

office for a scribes to hand copy the Torah. The scribes were in there working away. It is wild to me that this is their office. This place has a fresh occupation.

The craziest thing started to happen. On the mountain opposite of ours a dark cloud loomed. It kept getting closer and darker. And then the lightning started. We cut our tour a little short to avoid lines at the cable car. As we got off the cable car, it began to rain. Our driver Motti said he personally has only seen rain in the desert one other time. We are in an awesome time and place. And a fount of living water flowed from heaven!

We came off of the mountain and had lunch. I thought there might be an international incident with myself and the clerk running the snack bar. I went to pay with my shekels and he pointed down and gestured ‘is this yours?’ There was a $5 bill precariously draped in the candy display. I said ‘no.’ But he panicked and I thought I could see him thinking, “I don’t want to be responsible for this!” He wanted me to take it and I had the same, “I don’t want to be responsible for this” shaking of my head. He sighed, picked up the bill like it was diseased and dropped it on the shelf behind him. Praying and hoping someone would come and claim it or it may just stay there forever.

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We headed from Herod’s palace on Masada to Herod’s Dead Sea a spa and hotel at the southern end of the Dead Sea. Many of the pilgrims enjoyed the half day off to rest up either by napping,

floating in the Dead Sea or scoring a massage in the spa. The food was off the charts! The dessert table was full of artistry and finesse. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

The Way of Suffering

First off Wednesday held the greatest blessing: Meir!!

Meir has been our guide for the last several trips. He had a previous engagement and was only able to join us for this last day in Jerusalem. We miss Shany, but are so happy to have this time with Meir.

We drove around the city. Meir began to explain to us that until 1967, the road we were driving on was a No Man’s Land between Jordan and Israel. This road was a moat that Herod built to protect Jerusalem from the north. There is a story about a hospital that was on the edge of the No Man’s Land. There was a French nun who was standing at a window in the hospital. She began to laugh so hard her false teeth fell out of her mouth, the window and landed in No Man’s Land. There was no retrieving them without an international incident. It took two weeks of bureaucratic intervention to get them back to her.

We walked around to the walls of the city into the cemetery in front of the Golden Gate. This provides a spectacular view of the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane.

I once heard a message by Beth Moore. She went throughout the Scripture. Old Testament and New, and catalogue how God’s presence entered and left the city. It says that to the fill the Temple, the spirit of God took this route: down the Mount of Olives and up passed us into the city. Jesus came into the city the same way, was crucified and then left the city and ascended into heaven by the same route back up the Mount of Olives.

We moved on to the Pool of Bethesda/ The Church of St. Anne

As we walk past the church. There was the sweetest Irish priest who shook Meir’s hand. He look at us all and said: “Thank you for coming today. The Lord is surely in for a treat!”

Pool of Bethesda

After this meeting, we proceeded down to the pool. And some of the guys mid line, took a detour and we ended up in a cistern at bottom of the Pool. There was actually water here. James sensed the power was present to heal. So we began to pray.

We went into the Church of St. Anne for some singing.

We stepped out on to the beginning of the Via Dolorosa. Meir explained the stations of the Cross. Typically, a Roman Catholic series of events (some are not found in our scripture) there is still such an appreciation for the devotion and careful contemplation given to every step.

Meir went a little more in depth about the actual crucifixion process. The Romans did not nail through the hand. There was no flesh or bone to stop the hand from being ripped through (between the fingers) from the weight of the body. The piercing would have happened between the two bones on the wrist just below the palm so the hand would have kept them on there. The would have done the same process in the leg. Nailing the lower leg between the two bones. They would have turned the leg so as to get between those bones to the wood. We know this because in a grave near the place of crucifixion, we found a bone with the nail through it in this way. He also told us that they would have bent on leg up to cover the private parts of the one being crucified.

Pastor Taylor stood on the steps and said, “I want to make sure to give the youth group version of the place we are in. Many of us who have been a couple of times try to mine the details of every spot, but I do not want our first comers to miss the fact that we are walking the Way to the Cross. It probably didn’t look like this, but it was here that Jesus walked the road in suffering that made a way for you.”

We got to the place where the Pavement was. Archaeologists have found carved in stone the

game that would have been played to gamble over Jesus’ garments. It is here that He was stripped of all of His possessions. He was left with nothing.

We were led into a beautiful chapel. Meir told us that He had never been allowed to use this room to meet in. He always had to just point at it from the back, but never sit and share in it. Wow.

He began to speak to us about the fact that Jesus’s crucifixion was unusual. The Romans did not normally go so far. They didn’t parade people through the streets and make them carry the Cross alone. They didn’t give everyone a crown and a robe. They did this to mock Jesus.

He shared that the Cardo was like the main street of ancient Jerusalem. It means heart. Heart of the city. I pointed out that it meant that the Blood of Jesus fell on the stones that mad up the heart of the city. His heartbeat flowed through the veins that are the streets of the city. If you think of Jerusalem like a heart with arteries and veins. His blood flowed through the city.

(Side note: in this chapel the art work was very interesting. The Cross above the altar included the four spcies from the book of Daniel. If any of you have every studied the temperaments. You would recognize: the lion, the ox, the eagle and the man. Each were painted on the four corners of the Cross.)

We went down to the pavement. Pastor Kim read the Scripture:

Molly began to sing the Via Dolorosa. It was so powerful.

We spent a moment praying at the pavement. When we stood to go the guide from the group behind us came and asked to speak to the girl who was singing. Their whole group was so sweet. They wanted to know who she was and thanked her for not holding back. (We got them information on how to find her music online. Molly Keller is on itunes, Spotify and youtube. I put her album on especially when I need to find a peaceful place of worship. Check her out!)

From this point we had an interesting decision to make. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the Cross/Calvary) has been under renovations fro several years now. Today was the unveiling. This

meant it was going to be very crowded and that dignitaries from all over would be coming. (Erez who showed up at the church of St. Anne told us that it had taken him a while to get there from Jaffe Gate

because they had blockaded off sections because the Prime Minister of Greece was there. So as we do often, we had a quick change of plans.

We headed instead to the German Colony for lunch and then on to Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem is the Holocaust museum here in Israel. Pastor Jerry had shared earlier in the week that when God loves something, there are people in this world that will hate it and try to destroy it. This is true for God’s people. There is so much information and so much devastation it is hard to express. Two things stood out to me. We walked through the Children’s Memorial. It took a very long time for an artist to be found that would be willing to tackle this feat. No one wanted to make a visual representation of the children dying in death factories (which is what the concentration camps were.) The artist they finally found was an engineer. He strategically places thousands of mirrors to reflect off of each other. He placed five candles in the room which represented the 1 million children who died in the Holocaust. Ranging from one day old to 18 years old. The mirrors catch the light of the candles and bounce around the room. The reflected lights represented all of the possibilities

lost. These children would never grow up and have families of their own. A voice over the intercom reads the names, places and ages of the children. I asked Meir how long it takes for the recording to repeat itself. “One million names? Two weeks.”

I guess what really struck me was the fact that right here, I was speaking to Meir. If he would have been born in Europe. This may have been his fate. His lineage would have been cut off. He has four children and fifteen grandchildren. There would have been none of this.

Jesus’s words: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The other thing that caught my attention while we were walking through was Ryan Teddy’s response. He asked me to walk with him through the museum because he didn’t want to be alone and he thought he might just cry the whole time with his dad, Brent. So we walked through. Ryan has just started learning about the Holocaust last year in school. I remember my

own exposure to this dark time in history at the same age. I told him to let me know if he needed to move on from one space to another. Watching him, the part that caught in him most were not the graphic images of mass graves. I mean it rips everyone’s hearts, but Ryan became overwhelmed at the sight of lists of names. He would just look at me and say, “I can’t…” I guess seeing their names side by side and the lists going on forever overwhelmed him. He asked me about the striped clothes. I had just walked by a video of a woman sharing that she and the other women were put into a room full of barbers. Their heads were shaved. She said, “All of a sudden, we could not recognize one another.” I explained to Ryan that everything was taken from these people, even their identity. They were given striped clothes and numbers tattooed and sown to their coats. Their humanity was stolen. Their names.

We stood before one list and I felt Ryan come stand at my shoulder. I heard him breathe sharply when he saw another list, but when he saw whose list, he sighed a great big sigh of relief and he relaxed a bit. This was Oscar Schindler’s list of people that he saved through his factory. It wasn’t nearly as long as the other list, but it was full of hope. I explained to Ryan that Mr. Schindler lost all of his wealth in trying to save one more Jew from the camps, from death. He grieved that he wasn’t able to save more. He has a tree planted in the garden here of Righteous Gentiles. He is also buried in Jerusalem. A great honor. People visit his grave everyday and thank him for sparing their lives and the lives of the ones they love.