LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Timothy 2:15, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

It was quite a trip; that is not a sufficient statement about being in the area the Lord walked and taught. We were able to see so much in a short time. Sometimes, when I read God’s Word, I read too fast. I miss so much of the meaning when I do. Seeing the ruins of the “cities” and the areas where Jesus walked and hearing the teaching from our guide and from our pastor have reinforced the thought to slow down and to really slow down, to study and not just read God’s Word.

 

As I reflect on our journey, we heard so many times that this was the “traditional place” or “this is thought to have been” where something happened. It does not really matter as much as the Bible saying it did. In addition to the individual places I have described, we saw Capernaum where Jesus taught and healed in the synagogue. The synagogue is still pretty well preserved, and we sat on benches there listening to teaching. We saw the ruins of where Peter’s house was supposed to have been and was reminded of his mother-in-law being healed by Jesus. It was in Capernaum that Jesus told Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew to follow Him.

 

We saw many areas around the Sea of Galilee where Jesus fed the multitudes with a few fish and loaves of bread. We saw the place where Jesus appeared to his disciples after His resurrection and listened to teaching on the Mount of Beatitudes and the Mount of Olives just as the disciples did when Jesus was with them. May I tell you those two places were extra special to me because of the time I have spent studying His teachings from those two places!

 

We took a tram to see the site called Masada where Jewish zealots took over a fortress built by King Herod in 30 BC. In 68 Ad the zealots revolted against Roman rule and Masada became their place to resist the Romans. The Romans besieged Masada and the 960 zealots committed suicide rather than fall to the Romans. The architectural remains were pretty amazing; Charlotte and I continually discussed how they were able to survive there. Storehouses, large cisterns for rainwater, barracks, an armory and the remains of King Herod’s palace were there for us to be amazed at.

 

We saw more ruins at Quman. This was the place that a Bedouin shepherd in 1947 threw a rock into a cave and heard the breaking of pottery. It was here seven clay jars were found containing the Dead Sea Scrolls which had been wrapped in linen for close to 2,000 years.

 

Charlotte and I got to pray at the Western Wall (the Wailing wall) in Jerusalem. Yes, the men and women had separate areas in which they could pray. We saw where Jesus healed the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda, the Upper Room (It was a reconstructed building since the original had been destroyed.), and the house of Caiaphas and the courtyard where Peter denied the Lord three times. There is a church there where a dungeon can be seen; it is thought to be where Jesus was detained after His arrest.

It was a journey that we will not forget. It has changed how I read God’s Word in several way. I am able to visualize the events I read about. That is significant to me. Being there and hearing the teaching has made me rethink how I study God’s Word; it does not matter how much I read at one sitting. I want to better understand what I read in order to receive as much from it as possible. I have begun a chronological daily reading of the Bible and I am doing a study that is slower where I try to dig in for greater understanding. I wonder how our journey will help in that study!