Day 7 in Israel

We have moved and now we are staying at the Olive Hotel in Jerusalem. So far the hotel seems very nice. Here are the places we visited today:

1-Cana. This was the very first place where Jesus performed a miracle. Jesus turned the water into wine at a wedding. We took time to have a devotional and read from John 2:1-12. The miracle is specifically called a “sign” because the purpose of the miracle was to affirm the deity of Jesus Christ.

2-Bet Shean. This is a city that is in the Jordan Valley. The site is famous partly due to the fact that there are so many archeological remains of the city. In this city was located, for a period of time, the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin were responsible for putting on the trial that led to Jesus’ death.

3-Me Casa Pizza. We stopped for lunch and had Israeli pizza. It was quite good but I did wish that they would throw some meat on it. BTW: neither Muslims or Jews eat pork. Eating pork is forbidden in the Quran.

4-Mt Olives. By far this was my favorite site. Mt Olives is in Jerusalem and it is also right by the location of the Jewish temple. Consider this, Jesus taught about the end times in Matthew 24-25 on Mt Olives (Olivet Discourse), Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on Mt Olives, Jesus ascended into heaven on Mt Olives, in Zechariah 14:4 there is a prophecy that at the Second Coming Jesus will return to Mt Olives. On top of that, as I mentioned, the temple grounds are right next to Mt Olives. The biblical history of this location is absolutely amazing! Today there are approximately 100,000 people living on Mt Olives and most of them are Palestinian.

Observations:

Just a sense of amazement when it comes to the biblical history on Mt Olives and Jerusalem. As I mentioned above, everywhere you look in this area you are reminded of the life of Christ. Favorite location so far.

The battle for this geography has been intense. In fact, many have said that there have been more wars here than any other place in the world. Why? Christians, Jews, and Muslims all see this area (temple in Jerusalem) as one of their most holy sites. It is deeply disturbing that so many lives have been lost in the name of religion.

Zechariah 14:4 tells us this, “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.” What does this mean? In my opinion it is telling us that one day Jesus will return for a second time to Mt Olives! For those who know Christ this will be a glorious day. For those who don’t know Jesus it is a time of utter despair. It was fascinating to stand on Mt Olives and reflect on the idea that Jesus is coming to that very spot.

I continue to think how sad it is that many people seem to make an idol out of these holy places. I think it is a great idea to come here and think about the life of Christ. It is so unfortunate that others are acting like these locations and artifacts are supernatural in themselves. You see people kissing things like the rock where Jesus prayed while in the Garden of Gethsemane.