Chill Bump Moments in Israel (1st Article of 6)

If there was ever a Bible verse that is the foundation of the Christian faith, it is 1 Corinthians 4:18 I memorized years ago; “ So we fix out eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal.”  And there are other passages that make the same point; i.e. Hebrews 11:1 that says “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”   And we could go on with many other verses of scripture  that make this very important foundational point of our faith.  Simply stated, our Christian journey is a faith walk and not a sight walk.  I get that really well.

But I will have to admit, it is pretty cool to actually see some of what you believed by faith for pretty much all your life.  My wife and I had that unforgettable opportunity recently as we traveled to Israel with a group of about 43 other similarly minded folks. It was a bucket list item for us.  It turned out to be more more than a  bucket's worth.

The trip we signed up for was led by Andy Cook, a long time friend and former pastor at Shirley Hills Baptist Church in Warner Robins, GA  who founded a ministry called Experience Israel Now.  Andy has been taking groups to Israel for almost 20 years. He also has a multi-media ministry where he travels in the United States to churches and other groups to take people to Israel who cannot go there physically.  His knowledge of God’s Word  and his ability to communicate and connect the dots between the Old Testament and New Testament with the the geography of where it actually took place is astonishing and very moving.  We also traveled with Boaz Shalgi,  a Jewish guide who joined us in Israel.  Between Boaz and Andy, we were in information  and emotional overload the entire trip.  And life change overload.  Additionally, this particular tour was sponsored by our church, Southside Baptist in Warner Robins, so we had our pastors, Jerry Walls and Matt Walls who led services, taught and preached along the way.  And one of our worship leaders from church, Greg Harris, came along to lead worship at all the sacred places.

Our Group of Travelers on the Mount of Olives

The tour was masterfully planned and took our group on an intentional journey, both physically and symbolically.  For the record, this was a “hiking” tour as opposed to what I guess would be a “traditional” tour.  In other words, we spent very little time visiting historical places where huge churches have been built over them and you stand in line to see what has been pretty much commercialized for centuries.  We worked very hard to see most of the places we saw.  For a 63 year old gray headed man who is not in the best of shape, maybe my greatest takeaway was that I was able to do what I physically thought was impossible for me.   According to my IPhone app, I hiked 48 miles during our 8 days in Israel. Some on our trip hiked more.  For the most part, it was mountain hiking in temperatures that were over 100 degrees.  We spent the first three days in the intense heat of the desert and then spent the next three days in what turned out to be the intense heat of the Galilee.  When we arrived at the Sea of Galilee, I think we all felt like the Israelites who had been wandering in the desert and all of a sudden saw the Promise Land.  Not kidding.  Seeing that famous lake from the window of the bus when we drove up, where so much of Jesus’ ministry took place, almost took my breath away.  The fact that we had been literally in the extreme conditions of the desert for three days when we drove up, I’m sure had something to do with the impact.   Oh yes, there is a lesson there for all of us -  only when we endure through the difficult times can we really appreciate the beauty of the wonderful times. Actually, we got no relief from the heat during our three days in Galilee and afterwards when we were in Jerusalem for the final three days.

But in spite of the heat - and right dab in the middle of it - we experienced many “chill bump” moments that had a way of cooling us off.

Boaz teaching at Herodium that towered over Bethlehem 

It is important to know that Israel is the archeological hotspot of the entire world.  Very smart people with great passion, using cutting edge technology and lots of hard labor, are uncovering more and more every year.  I learned that at Tel is a man-made mountain. There are many of those in Israel.   The illustration we were given is like putting a cap on your head, and adding another on top of that, another on top of that, another on top of that, etc.  Over the centuries, cities and civilizations have been built on top of each other.  The archeological digs are about moving one cap at a time , studying each civilization as they get to it, to eventually get to the first city.  In other words, when we arrived at a first century synagogue or amphitheater or palace - or whatever,  it was evident that an enormous amount of digging and archeological work had taken place or was still taking place there.  From my view,  the term “mind boggling”  would be an understatement.  A huge understatement. 

I certainly won’t forget the places we visited. From now on, when I read about them in the Bible or hear preachers or teachers talk of them, I will have a different perspective. Places like King Herod’s fortresses and elaborate palaces built all over Israel and an evil King who tormented his people.  When I read those verses in the New Testament that say “In the time of Herod King of Judea” I understand better the time in which Jesus was born.  Herod was one evil egotistical man who had all power and wealth.  He was hated by the Jews.  After seeing so many of his elaborate fortresses that towered over Judea, I can see much clearer why the Jews would have been excited that a potential new king had arrived.