In June of 1996, I was given the opportunity to travel to Israel for work. During that trip, I was able to spend some time touring the Holy Land. It was a wonderful chance to see and experience the land of the Bible. Below is my journal entry during my visit to the land where Jesus walked.

Sat, Jun 15, 1996

Last week, I was on a 8 day trip to Jerusalem for work. It is nice when a business trip lands you in a place where you’ve always wanted to go.

When I became a Christian about five years, I started reading the Bible more and more. It was so fascinating. As I read, I learned about:

Jerusalem–the city of David,
Jericho–where the walls came tumbling down,
Bethlehem–where Jesus was born,
Bethany–where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,
Bethabara–where Jesus was baptized,
Galilee–where Jesus spent most of his life,
Cana–where Jesus turned the water into wine,
Nazareth–the city where Jesus learned from his father the trade of a carpenter.

I read about all those places, and more. But now, I was about to experience Israel.

I arrvied in Tel Aviv Monday evening about 5pm. It had been a long day of take offs, landings, lay overs and in-flight movies. I didn’t get to see much of Tel Aviv, because the airport was located on the east side of the city. And, we were headed east into Jerusalem.

After going through immigration, our driver greeted me and we were soon heading up into the hills of Jerusalem.

Since it was still early evening, I was able to see much of land during this forty-five minute taxi adventure. It was obvious that this country had been through wars and political struggles. Soldiers were seen everywhere toting their automatic weapons. Military outposts–strategically placed–were seen throughout the area. Soldier stations were covered with coils of barbed wire to keep out the unwanted.

When I first arrvied, I could sense an uneasiness in the air. A new prime minister, Mr. Netanyahu, had just been elected days before my visit. "Was this going to cause to uprisings or rebellion?" This thought sat guarded in the back of mind.

When we first arrived in Jerusalem, I was surprised to find this city nestled in the valleys and mountains of the terrain. I then realized how good a defense this city could have against any ground attacks.

After I checked in to the Hyatt Jerusalem, I joined a co-worker for a quick tour of the Old City and dinner. When I first saw the Old City, it became obvious that it was the focal point of this area. High walls circled around the entire Old City. These walls were about 30 to 40 feet tall, made of thick, solid stones. Even by today’s standards, these walls were incredible. This was truly a fortress.

In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem (Ps. 51:18).

We entered the Old City through the Jaffa Gate at the west side of the Old City. As I was about the enter the Old City, I began to think about this city of Jerusalem. Here, 3000 years ago exactly, this city was established by king David; here, Nehemiah returned with a group of Jewish people to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem; here, battles were fought in the name of God; here, Jesus was condemned to death and killed, only to rise on the third day. My excitement began to rise as I got closer to the entrance.

When we got inside, it was obvious that the street merchants were closing up their shops and heading home. We had arrived right at the close of the day. Cars zoomed in and out of the Old City. Carts and buggies were packed with souvenirs as the people headed home for the night.

Our first stop was the Western Wall–the most holy place to the Jewish people. This western part of the Temple Mount contains the actual stones of the walls of the temple built be king Solomon.

Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David (2Chr. 3:1).

When we arrived, it had become obvious that this area within the Jewish Quarter had been attacked recently. We had to walk through metal detectors past armed guards to enter this area. The Hassidic sect of Jews were easy to spot. Their long black overcoats (on a relatively warm night), black pants, black hats, prayer shawls underneath their coats and long beards gave them away.

As they prayed along the Western Wall, they would rock back and forth towards the wall. According to tradition, the Jews from Poland would read their Torah late at night by candlelight. Each one would have to lean forward to read their portion of the Law. The result was that everyone rocked back and forth to read and pray. That tradition was carried over to the Jews today.

For the next few days, we spent some time touring the Old City during the evenings, since we had to work during the days. We were able to walk down the Via Dolorosa, the street where Jesus walked his final walk. We visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the traditional place where Jesus was crucified and buried. I toured the citadel of king David, where he commanded his troops to go off into battle.

On Friday (which is the first day of the weekend for the Jewish people), I was able to take a tour down to the Dead Sea. We were going to the Masada. I had never heard of this place–the Masada.

When we left Jerusalem, we were not more than 5 minutes out of the city when it became obvious that we had entered a desert. It was such a drastic change from the city of Jerusalem just five minutes ago. No buildings were built in this desert region. Occasionally, you would see shepherds with their goats or sheep along the sides of the road, but this area was not a popular place for buildings or homes.

As we drove along the west side of the Dead Sea, it was apparent that this place was the lowest point on the entire earth. Desert all around us. No trees or plants. No animals or wildlife. Nothing can live in this sea because it is 33% salt. Oceans are about 4% salt, and even the Great Salt Lake in Utah is only 20% salt. In fact, there is a crab that lives in the Great Salt Lake. They brought some of those crabs to the Dead Sea to see if they could live there. They died immediately. This sea was truly dead.

When we arrived at the Masada, it looked just like any other mountain side. However, this one particular side of the cliff was different. The actual mountain had an entire valley around it. The top of Masada was flat, and it was only about 1500 feet by 500 feet. Upon this mountain, one of the king Herods built a small village for the Jewish people.

This place was very unique, and the village was well designed, being that it was built around 50 to 60 B.C. A fascinating array of aqua-ducts poured rain into 9 giant cisterns. Being that it only rains in this area twice a year, water was a precious commodity and had to be well managed.

Herod’s palace was built on the north point of the mountain, overlooking the beauty of the Dead Sea nestled within the valley. Standing in Herod’s palace was breathtaking. The cool breeze from the south made this location ideal for a palace.

Since Herod was a converted Jew, over 900 Jews moved to the Masada to seek refuge from the Romans. They lived their in peace for most of their lives. Around 73 B.C., the Romans decided to take over the Masada. Because of its unique location, the Romans soon realized that a siege against the Masada was a much more difficult task than they had planned. In fact, it took them more than three years to build a ramp up to the Masada.

Just prior to reaching the top, all of the Jewish men got together and had a meeting. They agreed that if the Romans had captured their village, they would probably take them and their children as slaves and rape the women. So, they had a plan. Each man of the household would first go and kill his wife and children. Then, of the few hundred men left, they would draw straws. Ten men would be chosen to kill all the other men. After those ten men remain, straws were drawn and one man would kill the remaining nine. Finally, the last man committed suicide. This gruesome plan was completed just prior to the Roman’s siege of the Masada. Were it not for the two women and five children that hid, this story of the Masade would still be a mystery today.

After we left the Masada, we arrived at one of the beach areas of the Dead Sea. Because of the extremely low altitude of this area, the sunlight reaching us is filtered more and provides a more healthy exposure to the sun, or so they say. I still was sunburned.

I went swimming for awhile in the Dead Sea. Well, swim is not a good word. Whenever you "take a swim" in the Dead Sea, you don’t swim at all. You just float. And, that’s all that I did there–float. Your body just bobs up to the surface. I never tried, but I think it would be impossible to go under water there.

On our journey back, we stopped in Jericho. This is the oldest city recorded on earth at 10,000 years old. The majority of people in Jericho were Arabic. There is an oasis of fresh water in Jericho. Otherwise, this city would be empty. Also, nearby Jericho is the Jordan river just before it feeds into the Dead Sea. This is also fresh water that irrigates much of the Jordan Valley. On the west side of the Jordan river is the Judean area. On the east, the Moab mountains.

Then the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho (Num. 22:1).

On the west side of Jericho are the Judean mountains. Between Jericho and those mountains is the traditional site of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness or desert. On the side of that mountain that faces Jericho, there is a monastery built in the traditional sight where Jesus was tempted by Satan after 40 days of fasting and prayer.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-2a).

On the next day, I went on a different tour. We started by driving up the Jordan valley to Nazareth. In the southern part of Israel, much of the land is desert. As you drive up to the Galilee region, the land changes, even though you are still below sea level.

As we drove north, the land was changing from a brown desert to a lush green agriculture region. Farms of banana plants, orange trees and watermelon fields cover the entire Jordan valley. It was amazing to see this land so green and vibrant.

As we approached Nazareth, I was surprised to see that this city was at the top of a mountain. As we twisted and turned up the winding road, our attention was directed to a lone mountain off to our right. It was the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration.

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus (Mark 9:2-4).

As we entered Nazareth, the busyness of day was quite obvious. Most of the population in Nazareth was Muslim and Christian. Muslims have their holy day on Friday, while Christians have theirs on Sunday. So, Saturday was very busy in this city.

While in Nazareth, I visited the Church of the Annunciation. It is here that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus.

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary (Luke 1:26-27).

As we continued north over the mountain, we entered Cana. In Cana, Jesus performed his first miracle. At a wedding, he turned water into wine.

This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him (John 2:11).

As we drove down the mountain out of Cana, we came to the sea of Galilee. Through the winding roads, we headed to the north part of the sea. We came to a monastery. This was the location that Jesus delivered the beatitudes.

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:1-3).

The first city we visited on the sea of Galilee was Capernaum. This city was actually just discovered and rebuilt about 70 years ago. No one lives in Capernaum, because it has only been recently restored. The actual synagogue and church were recently excavated. This synagogue was were Jesus taught.

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law (Mark 1:21-22).

As I stood there in the synagogue, I thought about how Jesus actually healed people while he was in this same place where I stood.

Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out… The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching–and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him" (Mark 1:23, 26-27).

Capernaum was also well known because it was home of Simon Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples. We were able to see Peter’s home and the tools used around his time. This was such a beautiful town, because it was positioned right on the northwest side of the sea of Galilee. You could stand in the synagogue and feel the breeze from the sea which was just a few hundred feet away.

While the tour guide talked about this city, he continually referred to it as Kapher Nahum. That was the Hebrew pronunciation. The city was possibly named after the prophet Nahum or some other person with that same name. This was Cape Nahum.

We then drove south to Tiberias. This was also a well known town in the Galilee region. This was one of the locations where Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves to feed thousands of people.

Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill (John 6:23, 26).

Present-day Tiberias is a resort town. People from all over the region were there to spend the weekend on the beach, water skiing and swimming. Being that it was Saturday, the place was packed with people.

We then took a boat rode across the sea of Galilee. As I rode across the sea and looked around, I remembered that Jesus had walked on this sea during a storm.

When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake (Mark 6:47-48a).

As we headed south after our boat trip, we crossed over the Jordan river. Again, we were surrounded by fields of fruits and vegetables. The green land was prospering from the fresh water of the sea of Galilee.

On my last day in Jerusalem, I was able to spend some more time in the Old City. I walked to the east side of the city through Stephen’s Gate to see the Mount of Olives. I walked by the garden of Gethsemane. It was here that Jesus prayed to God that he might be spared his painful death.

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matt. 26:36, 39).

My last day in Israel arrived too soon. I had to leave Jerusalem at 5:00am to catch my 8:00am flight in Tel Aviv. I remember watching the sun rise over Jerusalem. I thought about Jesus as he entered Jerusalem one last time before his death.

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you" (Luke 19:41-44).

My journey to Israel was truly filled with wonderful insight as I walked where Jesus walked. To see this land where God chose to have His people dwell was very exciting. But in some ways, it was also very sad. It was a land torn by strife and wars. Maybe that’s why God tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps. 122:6).