St Aldates Interns’ trip to Israel 2019

Galilee & Jerusalem itinerary & notes

Sunday, 28 Apr
Dugit Messianic Centre
Lunch at Beit Immanuel
Load cars & drive north, through Tel Aviv and along the coast (routes 2, 67, 77)
Muhraqa, Mt Carmel (“The Place of Sacrifice”)
Views over the Jezreel Valley
Places in view (and associations): Megiddo (One of Solomon’s fortified cities, Armageddon),
Mt Tabor (Deborah), Jezreel (Ahab and Jezebel), Hill of Moreh (Gideon)
Bible: 1Kg 18 1-2, 17-40 Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel
Elijah: he turns the hearts of the people back to God – Mal 4:5; Lk 1:13-17; Mt 17:10-12
Short walk though the woods to a view point
Arrive at the Oasis Hostel, Tiberias
Lovely views of the Sea of Galilee
Walk by Old Tiberias harbour and lakeside
Dinner (pizza!)

Monday, 29 Apr
(watch sunrise over the Sea of Galilee)
Mount Arbel, near Tiberias
How Herod (the Great) dealt with the bandit problem
Carob lookout over the Plain of Genessaret and the Sea of Galilee
View of the Horns of Hattin (where Saladin defeated the Crusaders in 1187)
Time for a Bible study overlooking the Sea of Galilee
Cliff walk, view of the Valley of the Doves
Buy lunch etc at Magdala supermarket
Eat lunch at the Ginnosar Kibbutz Centre
Ancient Galilee boat exhibition
Bible: Mk 4:35-41 Jesus calms the storm
Capernaum. Pilgrimage and archaeological site
Visit the Church suspended over the site of Peter's house
The 4th C. synagogue built on the foundations of the 1st C. one
Excavated streets and small houses built from black basalt
Basalt grain mills and olive presses: Gethsemane = Gath (press) Shemen (olive oil)
Mt of Beatitudes
Bible: Mt 5-7
Quick look at the River Jordan from the bridge just above where it enters the lake
(currently fuller and faster flowing than in the past 6 years)
Bethsaida view point, on the Golan heights (NE of the lake)
Bible: Jesus and the desolate places; Mk 1:35-45; 6:10-44
Quick stop at Gergesa (where the herd of pigs ran down the hill into the lake)
Bible: Lk 8:26-33 – The healing of Legion, the demonised man
Drive round the East side of the lake
Pit stop at MacDonald's(!)
Dinner in Tiberias (pitta falafel)
Tuesday, 30 Apr
Tel Dan nature reserve
Walk among the streams and springs of the largest source of the river Jordan
The High Place built by Jeroboam son of Nebat
Bible: The salutary story of the tribe of Dan
Rev 7:5-8 The 12 tribes, but Dan is missing
Jdg 18:1-6, 11-20, 27-31 Tribe of Dan conquers Laish, institutes its own priesthood
1 Kg 12:25-30 Jeroboam builds the golden calf altars at Dan and Bethel
1 Kg 13:33-34 Judgement on Jeroboam for his idolatry. Amos 8:14
2 Kg 10:28-31 King Jehu kills all the prophets of Baal, but leaves the golden calves
1 Jn 5:20-21 NT warning of idolatry
Worship songs
Viewpoint looking north towards Lebanon
Canaanite mud-brick gate from about 18th C. BC
Bible: Gen 14:11-16 Abram passes by Dan to rescue Lot
The Atlantic Pistachio tree (good for climbing)
The wading pool (with splashing!)
Lunch in the park (with avocado)
Passed by Banias (Caesarea Philippi), then past Nimrod's fortress (Moslem, 13th C.)
Mt Bental (an extinct volcano on the Golan) with a view over Syria and the UNDOF buffer zone
Drive through the Golan and down into the Yarmuk valley by Jordan
Drive along route 90 down the Jordan valley
past Jericho then turn right and up to Jerusalem

Wednesday, 1 May
Drive down to the Dead Sea, stopping at the Sea Level lay-by
Drive past Qumran at the north end of the Dead Sea
Stop just off the road to see the receding shoreline
En Gedi nature reserve
Walk up Wadi David (by path and in the water)
Splash around in a pool
Rest at David's waterfall
Bible: 1 Sam 24:1-22 David cuts off the corner of Saul's robe
Masada – the fortress palace built by Herod the Great,
Also, the last refuge of the Jewish rebels/zealots in 73 AD
Lunch, Explanatory video, then up to the top by cable car
Views from the watch tower, visit Herod's palace and bath house
Find out how Herod got his plentiful water supply
See the remains of the Roman siege ramp
Bible: Ps 18:1 – David very likely used this place as his “stronghold”
Ein Bokek public beach (in the southern part of the Dead Sea)
Float in the buoyant, oily water of the Dead Sea. Remember to move slowly!
Return to Jerusalem

Thursday, 2 May
Holocaust Memorial Day.
We met in Davidka Square, the siren sounded at 10am and everyone stood still for 2 minutes
Garden tomb
Explanation of "skull cliff" and the tomb by our guide, Boyd
 Look inside the tomb
Bible reading (Mk 14:22 - 16:22) and worship in "the Snook"
Mk 14:51-52 a young man (perhaps John Mark) escapes by running away naked
Mk 15:34 Jesus quotes Ps 22:1 thereby hints at its fulfilment there and then
Gift shop
Lunch by Damascus gate
Damascus gate, built on the previous Roman gate with Herodian stones
Entered the Muslim quarter of the Old City then down the Valley road (El Wad)
Austrian Hospice
View the Old City from the hospice roof
Walk down part of the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows)
by the location of the Antonia Fortress (Roman barracks) to the North of the Temple Mount
Bethesda pools
Singing in St Anne's church which has a remarkable acoustic
St Anne's is the best preserved Crusader church in Jerusalem (built 1138)
Bible: Jn 5:2-9
Jesus, on the Sabbath, heals the man who had been an invalid for 38 years
Archaeology: the healing pools & the large rainwater cisterns
The 5 colonnades were around the large cisterns and across the divide in the middle
The cistern water was used for cleaning animals and for washing the temple area
Left the Old City though the Lions gate (or St Stephen gate)
Walked down the Kidron valley (aka the Valley of Jehoshaphat)
Bible: Joel 3:1-3 – the judgement of the nations
Vews of the Mt of Olives, including the gold onion domes of the Russian Orthodox church
Tomb of the Virgin (traditional place where Mary the mother of Jesus was buried)
Down 47 steps to a church cut in to the bedrock of the valley
Many icons, censers and stonework blackened by candle smoke and incense
Greek, Armenian, Coptic (Egyptian) and Syrian congregations have services there
Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations (aka The Basilica of the Agony)
Ancient olive trees; they can survive over 1000 years by regenerating – Is 11:1
The church was built in 1924 on the foundations of a Byzantine (4 th C.) church
Low light levels inside because of the (coloured) alabaster windows
The ceiling cupolas have stars like the night sky with symbols of the donor countries
Walk across the Kidron valley, past Absalom’s pillar
Views from the road of the Kidron valley and the 3,000 years old City of David
Look at the archaeological excavations south of the Temple Mount
Part of a wall/tower dating from the time of Solomon – lead archaeologist, Eilat Mazar
Nearby were found 2 bullae (clay seal impressions): 1. King Hezekiah, 2. Isaiah the prophet
The steps where people would meet before entering the Temple area
Through the Dung Gate and up through the Jewish quarter
On to the roofs above the souk with a view of the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives
Walked back through the souk, out of the Jaffa Gate and along the Jaffa road

Friday, 3 May
Yad Vashem – the holocaust memorial and museum
(travel by the Light Rail)
Christ Church coffee shop, the Old City etc.
Shabbat evening meal with Anthea & Nev
Shabbat blessings with Challah bread and sweet wine
Saturday, 4 May
Christ Church
Spring Fair set-up
Ramparts Walk from Jaffa gate to Herod's gate
Walk through Old City
Spring Fair activities (Children's Zone)
Walk to Garth & Vibeke's from Christ Church
via Herod's Family tomb (with intact rolling stone)
BBQ dinner with Garth & Vibeke
Various stories/testimonies about CMJ's work

Sunday, 5 May
Christ Church morning service
Sermon by Rev David Pileggi from Acts 9:36-43 about Tabitha & generosity
Lunch at Christ Church
Visit CC Museum
Models of Christ Church, the Temple Mount (1873) and Jerusalem in 1st C.
Christ Church
Brief talk about the church (dedicated in 1849) and CMJ's mission
Bible: Rom 9:1-5 – Paul’s heart for Israel informs CMJ’s ministry
Olive tree stained glass windows illustrating Rom 11:17-24, 29, 31
Walked though the Armenian quarter to the Jewish quarter
past the “walled city” within a walled city
The Cardo in the Jewish quarter
The colonnaded street from 135 AD when Emperor Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem
He changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina and the land to Syria Palestina
The Madeba map – part of a Christian pilgrims’ mosaic of the Holy Land (Madeba, in Jordan)
The Broad wall
Excavated during the rebuilding of the Jewish quarter after 1967
Built by King Hezekiah about 701 BC, for the impending Assyrian attack by Sennacherib
Bible: Is 22:8-11 – Isaiah lists Hezekiah preparations for war with some criticism
Is 36 – 37, 2 Kg 18:13 – 19:37 and 2 Chr 32:1-23 all document God’s delivery of Jerusalem
Hurva square
Shoreshim shop (bible-based gifts)
The menorah (7-branched golden lampstand) designed for the 3rd Temple (not yet built)
Walked through some narrow streets (e.g. Shuvt road) in the Jewish quarter
Temple Mount archaeological park
Bible study on Acts 2:1-4
The “house” filled with the sound of a mighty rushing wind was God’s House (the Temple)
Peter’s first sermon was in the courts of the Temple and 3,000 were baptised
The Western Wall
Walked through the souk and the Christian quarter
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The chapel of Adam below Golgotha
The 1st C. tombs at the back of the Syrian Chapel
Walked through the crowds and down to the chapel of St Helena (mother of Constantine)
Many crosses carved on the walls by pilgrims in Crusader times
Walk out of the Old City via the New Gate
Back to King George St via the concrete cushions at City Hall
Monday, 6 May
Walk via Herod's gate, Muslim quarter, Lions gate, Kidron valley to the Mt of Olives
Mt of Olives
Classic views of the Old City
Recording of Esther's latest hit
Bible: Zechariah 14, esp Zech 14:8-9
Dominus Flevit chapel ("the Lord wept")
Look at the numerous ossuaries in the necropolis
In the chapel, viewed the Old City through the window above the altar
Sang "Great is your faithfulness"
Sat in the shade overlooking the Kidron valley and the Old City of Jerusalem
Bible: Lk 19:41-44; Mt 23:37-39
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and prophesied its destruction
2 Sam 15:13-17, 30-37 King David wept as he went up the Mt of Olives fleeing from Absalom
Walked down the Mt of Olives past the Jewish cemeteries
Lunch in the shade by the Kidron valley
Kidron valley tombs
The tomb of Bnei Hezir (a priestly family) from the 1st C. AD
Explored inside to see how the tombs were laid out
The tomb of Zechariah carved out of solid rock
Walked outside the Old City walls up Mount Zion
Zion Gate
Showing bullet damage from the 1948 war of independence
Jerusalem Walls park
The remains of the back entrance to Herod’s palace
Christ Church