March 19, 2000. Pope John Paul II is expected to be in Israel throughout the week. He plans to visit many biblically and historically significant sights, and basically, the whole country is catering to his schedule. Streets throughout Jerusalem have been scoured clean, traffic schedules have been altered, and security has been beefed up considerably.

We at IBEX don’t expect things to be much different than normal, especially since we’ll be spending the second half of the week in the Negev desert — far, far away from any commotion. However, some of us hope to get into Jerusalem next Sunday to sneak a peak at John Paul crusin’ around in his pope-mobile.

As if this weren’t enough to make our week exciting, Tuesday also happens to be the celebration of the Jewish festival Purim, which commemorates the dramatic salvation of the Jews in the Book of Esther.

Some call Purim the “Halloween of the Jews” because everyone dresses up in exotic costumes and acts utterly ridiculous. Over the centuries, the holiday has developed into one big party.

One of the traditions during Purim is to read and act out the Book of Esther, cheering for the heroes (Esther & Mordecai), and jeering for the villain (Haman). Even the Messianic Jews get in on the action.

I got a taste of this during last Sabbath service, at Jerusalem Assembly. Pastor Menno, preaching on the story of Esther, was interrupted throughout the sermon not with “amen” or “praise God”, as you might expect during a sermon, but with booing and noisemakers, every time the name “Haman” was mentioned! It was quite a distraction, and I couldn’t help but laugh. After the service, we all enjoyed eating little cookies called “Haman’s ears.”

25 years ago, I had the privilege of traveling to Israel for a semester through the Master’s College IBEX program. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, I’m sharing highlights from my journal, emails, and photos. Feel free to share your own IBEX memories here as well!

“Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:11-12).

Like other aspects of end times prophecy, there is probably an “already/not yet” dimension to Jesus’ words here. We are living in the last days (2 Tim. 3:1; 1 Jn. 2:18), yet as birth pains increase (Matt. 24:8), it will undoubtedly get worse. Will the church be present during this tribulation (Matt. 24:9, 21, 29)? My theology says no.

There is nothing in the text of Matthew 24 that hints that believers will be absent through all of this. Quite the contrary. But there are other places that comfort us about shielding believers from the hour of trial (Rev. 3:10; 1 Thess. 1:10; 2 Pet. 2:9), and of a sudden, unexpected rescue from God’s judgment (1 Thess. 4:17; 1 Cor. 15:52; Jn. 14:2-3; Titus 2:13).

Is Jesus coming back? Yes. Could it be soon? Absolutely. Will there be multiple phases or stages to his return, including a rapture of believers before the tribulation? It appears so, though it may be impossible to know for sure until everything unfolds.

As my theology professor Dr. Pettegrew once said, it’s easy to understand how different theological systems and tribulational views have arisen, though pretrib rapture seems best. It’s definitely the most encouraging system!

In the meantime, we are told to guard against false prophets and be ever wary of the risk of our love growing cold (Rev. 2:4). Come Lord Jesus!

We spent a lot of time in Jerusalem during IBEX, and even visited the Temple Mount. On March 16, 2000, after our Shephelah trip, we got to go underground and see the Western Wall of the Temple Mount from a different perspective.

Just to clarify, the Western Wall or “Wailing Wall” is not the temple wall itself. Rather it’s the retaining wall that provided a platform for the temple built above it. The temple dates back to the time of David and Solomon in the first temple period, then Zerubbabel and Jeshua in the second temple period. Herod the Great greatly expanded the area and gave its current shape. The temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, and the Temple Mount sat empty until the Muslims built a mosque there called the Dome of the Rock in the 7th century AD.

The southernmost part of the Western Wall is exposed to the outside, where Jewish men and women gather each day to pray. Just to the left, there is an area you can enter and go underground through the Western Wall Tunnel.

An exhibit at the entrance of the tunnel showed a model and a sign with the area we would be walking. In total, the Western Wall of the Temple Mount was 1601 feet long.

Once inside, you can see a series of arches that date back 1300 years. The Arabs built archways to create a flat and stable surface for their homes and streets above, filling in the Tyropean Valley that would have existed in Jesus’ time.

One of Herod the Great’s bricks is an astonishing 100 feet long, 11.5 feet tall, and 14.7 feet deep made of solid limestone. Engineers calculate it weighs 570 tons — heavier than 200 elephants. How did they even move it here and stack it so perfectly?

You’ll notice all the paper scraps in the wall. These are little prayers of people who placed them in the Wall. In this area, you’re only 180 feet from where the Ark of the Covenant once rested and the Holy of Holies. This is considered by Jews to be the closest you can get to God.

Herod was a brutal king, but he was a brilliant architect. Each block bears his trademark chiseled frame design, also visible in Hebron and Caesarea. Herod built the wall at a slight angle as an optical illusion. Every block is recessed 2cm to give the impression of scale and symmetry.

At the northernmost section of the Western Wall, Herod didn’t have to import bricks at all. He simply carved “wallpaper” right into the limestone bedrock itself.

Not far from here, Matthew tells us that “Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:1–2).

Sure enough, the temple was destroyed soon after. While much of the Western Wall remains, it bears testimony that this world quickly fades away and we should be ready at any time for the return of our true king.

25 years ago, I had the privilege of traveling to Israel for a semester through the Master’s College IBEX program. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, I’m sharing highlights from my journal, emails, and photos. Feel free to share your own IBEX memories here as well!

March 16, 2000. The other day, I shared about my Jerusalem trip and walk through Hezekiah’s Tunnel with the IBEX Friends & Family. Our main field trip with the visiting families was on Thursday, when we visited the lush Shephelah (Heb. “lowlands”) region of Israel.

We descended west from the Hill Country to the Aijalon Valley, then southward to Tel Beth Shemesh. Little remains of this ancient city, which overlooks the Sorek Valley, the home of Samson.

As we stopped to overlook the valley, we read our Bibles and imagined two lowing cows casually returning the Ark of the Covenant from the land of the Philistines.

As you might recall, the Israelites had taken the ark from the Shiloh Tabernacle to the battlefront, where it had been seized by the Philistines (1 Sam. 4-5). After defying the pagan gods in their temples and plaguing the city folk with rats and tumors, the Philistines placed the ark on a cart, and Yahweh miraculously brought the ark back to its homeland.

“And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh.” (1 Samuel 6:12). What a sight that must have been!

(On a side note, it was shortly after this the ark was brought up from Beth Shemesh to the hill country at Kiriath Jearim (1 Sam. 7:1-2). That is the location of Moshav Yad Hashmona and IBEX! As I peer out the window right now from the computer lab, I can see the hillside where the ark rested for twenty years.)

Next, we followed an ancient highway known as the “diagonal route” to Azekah, an impressive plateau overlooking the entire region of Palestine. To the east, we could clearly see the Valley of Elah, and identify approximately where David and the Israelites vanquished the Philistines in the famous story of David & Goliath.

Shortly after, we actually drove into the Elah Valley, stopping at the river bed to pick up five smooth stones and test our skills at the sling.

Then, we were off to Adullam. This heavily forested hilltop served as an ancient asylum for David and his “mighty men” while fleeing from Saul. It was easy to see how several hundred men could hide from their aggressors. Some of the caves were enormous, plunging deep into the earth!

While exploring one of the caves, I was astonished by the utter darkness; only my trusty flashlight could guide me along. Could it be such a situation that David had in mind when writing “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path“?

We continued our journey southward by visiting the Guvrin Valley and an intricate network of caves carved out during the Second Jewish Revolt (132-135 AD). We climbed around in the vast underground system for a good hour.

By the end, I was drenched in sweat and covered with dirt. “Uh-oh, what was that the bus driver had said about staying clean?” No worries! I just turned my shirt inside-out and was ready to hop back on the bus! By the way, the parents didn’t accompany us on this little bonus excursion.

By mid-afternoon, we were standing at Tel Lachish. Lachish is one of the most important cities in all of Israel, looking high over the Lachish Valley and beyond. It was well-fortified – a sentinel for the Hill Country to the East.

Here, we saw the only remaining Assyrian Siege Ramp, and I couldn’t help but wonder why the citizens didn’t destroy this ramp following Sennacherib’s invasion. Surely, those who survived the Assyrian attack were endangering their very existence by allowing the siege ramp to remain. Could it later have been used as a convenient road to bring food and supplies into the city? I don’t have any idea. At any rate, Lachish was rebuilt after the Assyrian conquest, and became one of the last cities in all of Judah to hold out against the Babylonians (Jer. 34:6-7).

We concluded our day by climbing Tel Gezer, another pivotal fortress that prevented invasion from the West. This important site is mentioned in 1 Kings 9:15-17, where Solomon rebuilt the city and its gates after Egyptian attack and seizure.

1 Kings 9:15–17 And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the Lord and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife; so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and Lower Beth-horon.

Even now, the distinct six-chambered gates can be seen in all three cities – Hazor, Megiddo, and here in Gezer. This was one of the most strategically located fortresses in all Israel, for it defended the important route from the West to Jerusalem: the Aijalon Valley and Beth Horon Ridge.

25 years ago, I had the privilege of traveling to Israel for a semester through the Master’s College IBEX program. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, I’m sharing highlights from my journal, emails, and photos. Feel free to share your own IBEX memories here as well!