Journey to Israel: The Arrival

Welcome, friends! I’m excited to introduce you to a new addition to our website – our blog! And what a way to start with journal entries from our pastor as he travels to Israel with The American Israel Education Foundation. I pray you will enjoy his insights and pictures. Come along on the “Journey to Israel” and visit all week for more updates.

Cheers, Lady Dee

We landed in Tel Aviv around 7:30am PST on 8/23/16. The AIEF (American Israel Education Fund) has provided some excellent reading materials in advance of the trip that I was able to read during the flight. The materials gave historical context to the challenges over the past few centuries that the Israeli’s have experienced. The surprising thing about the materials was the amount of diversity within the country that supports the innovative mindset.

When we arrived in Tel Aviv, the airport was pretty lively. Then we began our bus ride to Jerusalem.

We have a knowledgeable guide named Avriham that goes by Avi. He told us that many of his countrymen have biblical names and tend to shorten them as a type of nickname.

While traveling from Tel Aviv we moved east through the Shefelah “lowlands” where many battles took place within the scripture. He also pointed out that the Shefelah also referred to the low morals associated with the region and coincides with the book of Judges and 1 Samuel chapters 1 & 2.

He also mentioned that these lands were the same area that Israelis battled against the Philistines 3300 years ago. King Solomon also fortified Tel Gezer in this area since it was strategically located with access to Jerusalem. He also brought out some of the political differences in that Israel doesn’t have a type of separation of church and state. In order to marry it has to be done via religious means but they will honor marriages done in other countries. He mentioned that many secular Jews will travel to Cyprus as a type of “Vegas” style marriage which is then acknowledged by the government.

During the portion of the drive while “ascending” to Jerusalem we began to read the Songs of Ascent (Degrees) from Psalms 120-126. It was awesome knowing that we were travelling along the same road that those same psalmsists had penned while going to the temple for worship (pictured above).

Next we walk to dinner and I was really blown away by the historical look and feel of the buildings.

We had dinner with a gentleman by the name of Zev Chafets who has an interesting background as a secular Jew. While having dinner he looks over the horizon and points out Mount Zion. I almost lost my mind. During his presentation we had to speak loudly due to the outdoor rock concert taken place at the bottom of Mount Zion. Our guide then pointed Gehenna which was considered the gates of hell and the same place that pagan priests sacrificed children to the god of Molech.

-TH

You can join our 24-hour prayer vigil for Pastor Tyrone over the next week. We’re believing God for the protection of his travel party and for divine revelation as he absorbs all of the information and insight from this experience.