Chill Bump Moments in Israel (Article 3 of 6)

Burned ruins of Hazor

To be honest, I had heard of Hazor but there is no way I could have told you what happened there.   After being there and walking through the city gate and looking at the ruins, I can tell you as long as I live I will never forget the story now.   While we were there, Boaz asked us to look and take a picture of the wall near the foundation.  I looked at it and took the picture.  It was obvious the bottom of the wall was black as if it had been burned.  I still did not understand.  Then Andy asked me to read the first 15 verses of Joshua 11 to the group.  The story is about Joshua taking on all the enemies as they entered the promise land, as Moses commanded him to do.  When I got to verse 13, I could hardly read it.  “Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds - except Hazor, which Joshua burned.”   My chill bump moment in the midst of the unbearable heat was here again as it hit me we were standing in the middle of the place that Joshua burned.  These stories we have read about all our lives really happened.  They are not fairy tales but historical truth.  Again, we don’t have to see to believe but it sure is pretty cool to actually see it with your own eyes. 

Then there  was Ancient Dan which was one of the most beautiful places we saw during the entire trip.  The story we talked about was from 1 Kings 12:28-29.  “After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves.  He said to the people, ’It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your Gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’  One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.”  I realized we were sitting directly in front of the ruins where the golden calf was worshiped.  The chill bump moment came when we begin to sing and worship the one true God at that sight - almost as if we were staring the enemy down.  I realized I need to be more  of a “staring the enemy down” type person.I will never forget that moment.

Ancient Dan

We then went to Bonias (also known as Caesarea Philippi -  and Paneas)  where the false god Pan was worshiped.  We learned that the pagan worshipers were attracted to what they considered “weird” things.  The fact that a spring came out of a cave on the side of the the mountain made them believe this was a god.  Their worship included killing babies and having orgies in front of their god at the mouth of that opening in the mountain that was called the “Gates of Hades.”  Incredibly one of the most famous stories of the New Testament came from Caesarea Philippi.  In Matthew 16 we learned that Jesus brought his disciples to this pagan Greek village. My first thought, and I had this thought several times during this tour, was that Jesus just did not happen to be walking by.  It was a long journey from Galilee to Caesarea Philippi.  We were reminded of the heart of Jesus’ ministry.  He consistently went to the most God forsaken places.  And He went to a lot of trouble to go to those places. It was in this  pagan place in the midst of so much evil and pagan worship where Jesus asked his disciples (v13)  “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  And “Who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter’s famous answer was “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”    And Jesus response included these words  (v18 ) “And I tell you that your are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”  The terms “rock” and “Gates of Hades” took on new meaning in the context of this story.   The pagans were worshiping a rock at a place called the Gates of Hades.  For sure the disciples understood what he meant when Jesus made that statement.  My chill bump moment was when I understood it in that place and i understood better than ever before that much real ministry takes place completely outside the walls of our church.

Janet and Laura Dees after conquering Mt. Abel

We stood on top of Mt Arbel and understood the effort it took to climb that mountain.  Our Mt Arbel experience had a couple of options. Option A was to follow Andy and hike up that huge mountain in the intense heat.  Option B was to take the bus and make a stop on the way up to see the ruins of a first century synagogue.  I chose Option B along with about 20 of my fellow travelers.  The truth is it was not an easy hike even for us Option B folks in that heat to the synagogue and then to the top of the mountain from where we parked the bus.  For the Option A folks, it was more than brutal and turned out to be the most difficult hike of the trip.  My brother in law took Option A.  At one point, he seriously thought about texting me (he knew I had my phone on) to tell me to tell his wife Carol he loved her. He didn’t think he would make it.  We (Option B) were standing at the top of the mountain when the Option A hikers began their last climb to the top.  It was a sight to behold to see their exhilaration because they had made it.  That was a chill bump moment in itself.   But the real chill bump moment came when we were told that in all likelihood, when the Bible talks about Jesus escaping the crowds  to a mountain to get away to be alone with His Father, this would have been one of those mountains he would have climbed.   The lesson for us was the great effort Jesus went to to be alone with God.  And we thought about all the little things that get in our way for the most important part of our day as a Christian.   Andy asked us all to find a rock on the top of that mountain  (maybe like Jesus did) and pray.  I can tell you it may have been the most powerful moment I have ever spent in prayer. Ever. 

Magdala

Magdala was only recently discovered within the last several years. Unlike most of the ruins we visited, this was not discovered by digging through the ruins of other villages or towns to get to it.  A private developer was building a hotel and hit something in the process.  Archeologists  discovered the city had been covered by mudslide probably caused by an earthquake centuries earlier.  Again, to think we were sitting in the midst of the ruins of Magdala was an overwhelming thought.   Magdala is not mentioned specifically as a place that Jesus visited, but the Bible does say he visited all the villages in the region so almost certainly He did.  We do know that Mary Magdalene came from there.  In that setting we heard the Biblical teaching about fringes: “Speak to the children of Israel.  Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.” (Numbers 15).  Among other things, the hem or edge of a garment stood for the wearer’s authority.  It was not a superstitious thing to touch the hem of a garment but a belief that a person could experience the power of His person and authority.  It was in that setting that one of our female co-travelers emotionally quoted the passage from Luke 8 about the woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years and could not be healed.  “She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.” During that encounter, Jesus went on to say, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.  Go in peace.”  Listening to that scripture in that place was another incredibly powerful moment of the tour.  My chill bump moment came as I got just a glimpse of the pure faith of a very emotional Alisia who quoted the scripture. And because of that I got a glimpse of the pure faith of the woman with the issue of blood.  And even if only for a fleeting moment, I got a glimpse of the power of simple “hem touching” faith.