Day One

We have completed one day of touring in Israel. It was a great day. We went to Chorazim where Kay Arthur gave an overview of the entire Old Testament. It was phenomenal! For the first time I understand the story of the Old Testament in chronological order and tied in with the history of Israel.

After that we went to Dan which was really neat especially once I had some understanding of the significance of the area (1 Kings 12 if you are interested). Basically Jeroboam built two golden calves for the people to worship so they wouldn't travel to Jerusalem to worship. He didn't trust that God would continue to use him as King over the northern kingdom and feared that Rehoboam would steal the Israelites from his kingdom if they traveled to Jerusalem (in the southern kingdom) for the feasts and times of worship and sacrifice. Because of his lack of trust he led the people astray and sacrificed his position of influence.

We traveled up to the borders with Lebanon (the picture of the rock with chains around it) and Syria, which seemed a little alarming to me. We heard military exercises (ie. bombs) near Chorazim. Later on we'll go down to the border with Egypt for those of you who want to begin worrying now. I'm pulling for a field trip to either the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.

We also went to Caesarea Philippi which is where the following event (one of my favorites) recorded in Matthew 16 occurred.

13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

It was very meaningful, but I'll let you read my mom's blog if you want to know more.