January 31, 2000. This first week in Israel has been busy indeed! We’ve already been to Jerusalem on three different occasions, finished a week of classes, attended an authentic Messianic Jewish Sabbath service, and…oh yeah, had a snowball fight. Yep, that’s right, a SNOWBALL FIGHT!

The last thing I expected when I got to Israel was to have snow; after all, the weather here is supposed to be comparable to southern California. But sure enough, not one week into the semester, we had a full-fledged Israeli snowstorm, and the first ever IBEX snowball fight! Just so you know, this is extremely rare. I guess the Jerusalem area only gets snow, on average, once every five years. However, there’s been about three snowfalls in the last five years. At any rate, we were pretty excited, and took full advantage of it.

Let me tell you a little about our trip to Jerusalem yesterday, which focused on many Old Testament regions and events.

We arrived in the city just before 11am, and Bill hurriedly led us through Jaffa Gate and down the streets of the Armenian and Jewish Quarters so we could get a tour of a giant topographical model of Jerusalem. It traced the expansion of the city from the time of the Jebusites until Hezekiah’s time. This helped familiarize us with the area we would be studying.

Afterward, we walked a short distance to “Hezekiah’s Wall” or “Broad Wall,” a massive barrier that was built to protect the city from the Assyrians. We also viewed a remnant of an Israelite tower during Hezekiah’s day on the north side of the city and then visited the traditional sites of the Upper Room and King David’s tomb. We moved southward, seeing Oskar Schindler’s tomb in an old Catholic cemetery, and looking over the Hinnom Valley, which was still white from the snowfall. How ironic to see this area, termed “Gehena” by the Greeks, covered with snow!

Looking to the southeast, we could see the snow-capped mountains of Moab far in the distance, beyond the Judean wilderness and Dead Sea (which isn’t visible from Jerusalem). In Old Testament times, this view would have been a continual reminder to Israel that the enemy was never far away, and that only God could protect the land. In fact, many aspects of the land were designed by God to force Israel to depend on Him. He intentionally placed this land between Egypt and Mesopotamia, political “superpowers” to the north and south. When Israel turned from the Lord, God punished the Jews through foreign invasion and exile. But when Israel was obedient, her borders expanded, and her neighbor’s strength diminished (the kingdom under David and Solomon is a perfect example)!

Even mundane things such as the water source provided Israel with a lesson in faith. God didn’t provide Israel with a continual water source like the Nile River in Egypt. After all, what kind of faith would that require? It was always going to flow, nourishing the land year after year. Rather, God forced Israel to depend on His gracious provision of rain, and this was directly tied to the righteousness of the people. What vivid object lessons these must have been!

We then traveled east to the Eastern Hill and the actual location of Jerusalem during David’s reign. Perhaps I should stop just for a minute to explain the layout of the city. The walls now encircling what we refer to as “Old City” Jerusalem were actually built by the Turks in the sixteenth century. The city of Jerusalem during the Israelite period was actually a little south of where the “Old City” rests today. Hence, a lot of ancient Jerusalem is nothing more than an Arab neighborhood south of the Old City walls.

In the afternoon, we descended a cave until we reached a 40-foot vertical shaft called “Warren’s Shaft,” which is one possible way that Joab entered the Jebusite city during King David’s siege. This whole region has cracks, fissures, and caves carved in the limestone, which were once very useful for carving tombs, tunnels, and irrigation routes.

After climbing back out of Warren’s Shaft, we made our way over to the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus sent the blind man to be healed. Most of the group, excluding myself and one other person, used Hezekiah’s Tunnel to travel from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam. I desperately wanted to go, but wasn’t feeling very well, so I just decided to go another time.

We concluded the day by visiting a more likely location of David’s tomb, an area which Hadrian later turned into a quarry. This immediate region is mentioned in Nehemiah 3:16: “After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, official of half the district of Beth-zur, made repairs as far as a point opposite the tombs of David, and as far as the artificial pool and the house of the mighty men.”

This was probably the most eventful and interesting day so far in Israel. It was exciting to hike down into the very area where so much biblical history has taken place. I wasn’t very interested by the “traditional” church sites that have fallaciously memorialized sites such as David’s tomb and the Upper Room.

Far more interesting for me was just walking around the land south of “Old City Jerusalem,” where we know many biblical events actually took place. Probably most striking was the topography of the Eastern Hill, where the “City of David” and Mt. Zion actually stood during David’s, and Jesus’, time.

When we viewed it from the higher Western Hill, the Eastern Hill seemed tiny, almost insignificant. The Arab houses on the hill seemed to blend right in with the Kidron Valley on the far eastern side. But when we finally reached the Eastern Hill, and later had to climb up the southeastern side by the Pool of Siloam, I realized just how steep it really was. It was easy to understand why the Canaanites had chosen to fortify this region: a high city wall combined with the natural moat of the Kidron Valley would make enemy attack extremely difficult. Well, that’s enough for now! Have a wonderful week! ~Because of Him, Stephen

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!

January 30, 2000. Our first time in Jerusalem was on Tuesday – our second full day here in Israel. The rest of my week was filled with classes, working at the computer lab and the kauppa, and doing a little homework. On Saturday, we went into Jerusalem for Shabbat Service, and then afterward, most of us wandered around in the city for much of the afternoon.

Some hiked to the Mount of Olives, some saw the YMCA Tower and King David hotel, but I was with a group that went up to the top of this German Lutheran Church. I don’t remember the name of it, but I think it’s perhaps the tallest structure in the Old City. From the bell tower, we had a beautiful view in every direction.

On Thursday and Friday, it snowed 8-10 inches, and even on Saturday, many of the hills and buildings were still covered with white. What a beautiful sight! This is very uncommon, from what I understand.

While the view was breathtaking, the weather was still cold on Saturday. By evening, I had a fever, which was probably due to the wet snow, the brisk winds, and the low temperatures. When we got back to the Moshav last night, I was shivering uncontrollably. After dinner, I went straight to bed, missing the “Ben Yehuda Blitz” last night.

This morning, I got up feeling much better, though still not 100%. I had enough strength and energy to participate in the Old Testament Jerusalem walk today, though I chose not to wade through Hezekiah’s Tunnel. I’ll share more about that trip tomorrow.

January 29, 2000. Our first week has gone by very fast, and I’m sure it will go increasingly faster. I have learned a lot already, and am so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to come. Right now, I am sitting in my first Sabbath service at Jerusalem Assembly. Here are some of my sermon notes….

We are learning about Zechariah 13:2-6. A day is coming when the Lord will return, and He will remove all of those distractions vying for our attention. What a day that will be! Jesus Christ will fill the “whole screen” of the world’s view. False prophecy, something that is now common and acceptable, will someday be a disgrace to both God and man. Today, there is a market – an inflation – of false prophets because there is a demand for them. But someday, there will be no demand!

How do you measure repentance? When the Lord is worth more than anything – even family. If God is really my Lord, then I must treat His word with holiness. He is not simply the “neighbor upstairs.” This description reveals only ignorance. God purchased our lives with His blood, and now we are His property!

January 28, 2000. Shabbat Shalom! This is the typical greeting for someone on the Sabbath, which is right now.  I just finished working at the kauppa, where I worked for 1/2 hour immediately after chapel, which I attended right after chapel band setup/prayer meeting, which was right after dinner, which followed an afternoon of work study, which I had done since lunch, which occurred after my two classes this morning.

Yes, I’ve been on the go since 8 AM this morning. That’s one good thing about moshav life. I always make time for breakfast. I figure since I’m paying for food, and I don’t have a meal plan option, I’d better get the most for my money.

Anyway, for some reason, many have said, and I agree, that we get hungrier here a lot more. Part of this is because we don’t overindulge at meals like we often do in the states. We have good-sized portions, with more breads and veggies than back home, but less greasy, fatty foods. I think that’s what makes us hungrier more often. At any rate, I think it’s good for us.

The food doesn’t seem as bad as some had warned. It’s not all normal American food, but some of it’s pretty good, and some of it I just simply avoid.

My work study job is multi-faceted. I’m the computer lab guy, sending out emails every night at 10PM. I’m also the “kauppa” guy, running the kauppa (Finnish for “store”) each evening for ½ hour. Beyond these duties, I’m a general helper for Todd Bolen, who is one of the teachers here. He’ll have me doing office work, etc, and I might be helping the other work study guy, Dave Torres, do some gardening once it gets warmer.

Chapel went really well tonight. I was in charge of planning out the music section, and then a man named Dave Schmidt delivered the sermon. I started out with a short devotional/Bible reading (Isaiah 14:24-27), then we sang 2 hymns, had a time of group prayer, sang 2 choruses, a student gave a short devotional, we sang another hymn and chorus, and then Angie closed our time.

After that, Dave Schmidt came up, and preached a good message on Solomon’s choice of wisdom. I really enjoyed planning the songs and scripture reading. I’ve never done anything quite like it before. It was like organizing a miniature service. I chose the theme of God’s sovereignty, and then selected all of the songs/scriptures to revolve around that thought. It was very meaningful, and well worth the time put into it.

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!