....remember, lest you forget.

Shalom everybody!!

Well, if I were to try and type all the adventures, experiences, and lessons that the past few weeks have entailed, I am afraid my fingers would fall of before I could complete the task. So since I’d like to keep my fingers, let me just highlight some of the highlights for you. :)

So, buckle up and hold on tight for a fast-forward tour through the past few weeks.

Negev (wilderness) …. (10.14-10.17)

….remember, lest you forget.

Something I remember very vividly is at one point our bus pulling of to the side of the road and Bill (our professor) allotting us thirty minutes to sit in the Wilderness of Paran (location of the wilderness wanderings) and reflect on Deuteronomy 8. This passage convicted me of the flippancy and forgetfulness with which I sometimes approach God’s faithfulness. While sitting on the cracked ground amidst dead shrubs and scattered rocks, I resolved to remember, to remember God’s perfect providence to the children of Israel and to me. This thought of God’s faithfulness was accompanied with thoughts about humility as I considered verse two. Just as God knew exactly how Israel needed to be humbled then, so He knows exactly how I need to humbled now. The more I thought about this, the more I came to remember (something so obvious yet so often forgotten) that I am an unworthy recipient of God’s grace. Thus, I ought to live in humility for I have nothing to be proud of, nothing to boast in, except Christ. I could go on and on about how this passage triggered much meditation, but I will close with this. It seems ridiculous, even down-right disgraceful, how quickly the Israelites forgot the deliverance that God granted them from Egypt. Yet, how often do I forget to praise God for His daily supply of all that I need. I am just as guilty as the Israelites. O that I might thank God more.

Our itinerary was jam-packed. We traveled all around, up and down the Negev, stopping at Beer Sheba, Nahal Zin, Avdat, Mizpeh, Maktesh Ramon, Kadesh Barnea, Elat, Timnah, Qumran, and Arad. So, as you can imagine, the wheels on the bus were going round and round and round getting to all these places. And we stayed in different hostels and hotels each night.

I really enjoyed our stop at Elat. Here we enjoyed a day at the beach and a night on the town. We had the opportunity to snorkel in the Reed Sea (Moses parted) which was absolutely amazing. What a display of God’s creativity!! Schools of fish darting to and fro, shimmering silver in the sunlight reflecting through the water, coral all shades of wonderful colours, and silence, pure silence, apart from my steady breathing exaggerated through the snorkel. Then later that night we enjoyed a bit of the night life in Elat. Music and dancing, food, crowds, shopping, and bungee-jumping (at least for two of us;) were all part and parcel of the night. And as if that didn’t already make the day, the view from the hotel topped it all off, with a gorgeous panorama of the sea, back-dropped by Jordanian mountains. Not to mention, it was a full moon, a big white ball suspended in the big, black sky.

Now to finally finish this fast-forward tour through the Negev, our last day entailed a hike up and down Masada, a visit to the Qumran caves, and a stop at salt deposits from the Dead Sea. Let’s rewind and pause at Masada for a few sentences. Did you know that Masada is the second most visited site in the Israel (the first being the Wailing Wall)? I didn’t, but now I understand why. Well, the day got off to an early start. By early I mean 4:30 AM, which is the earliest I have ever woken up on purpose!! haha. However, it was well worth it, as a group of us were able to make it up Masada in time to catch a spectacular sunrise, colours of burnt orange and fierce golden smearing the sky. God is quite the artist let me tell you!! Also, while up here we spent a few hours exploring the ruins of one of Herod the Great’s fortresses. Later on during the day we hiked up to Cave 4 of the Qumran caves. (Our legs were definitely exhausted that night and sore the next morning!!) Here in these caves, many biblical texts were found, known as the Dead Sea scrolls. All in all it was a fantastic and profitable trip, one I will not soon forget.

Let’s see, what else? Well, just the other week we visit MeaShearim, the most Jewish neighbourhood in the world. We also went to a Sukkot Fair. This was right around the time of the Jewish holiday, Feast of Tabernacles, aka: Sukkot. It is a time for the Jewish people to recall the journey to the Promised Land and the trek through the wilderness to get there. It is a time of joy and remembrance, and is widely celebrated by people building sukkots, which are booths. Each family builds one and lives in it for about a week, which is a way of remembering how their fathers lived through the years of wilderness wanderings. They also use what is called a ‘lulav’ (which is like a long reed) during the daily prayer services in the synagogue. So, at this Sukkot Fair, we saw dozens and dozens of Orthodox Jewish men purchasing their lulavs. However, before purchasing, one must inspect it carefully to make sure it is presentable before God. They want to bring their best to God. What a testimony this was to me!! Do I bring my best before God?

We’ve also been to Samaria, where we went to the ancient sites of Bethel, Ai, Shiloh, Shechem, Mt. Gerazim, and Tirzah. And we continue to make a weekly trip into the Old City of Jerusalem on Shabbat afternoons. This is always a high light of the week for me because it means more shawarma and falafel… and more bartering, which I am proud to announce is improving. :) While in the Old City a few of us met a young American couple just married with a baby, and they invited us over. So, we went and had a wonderful time. They live in an old Arabic house and had warm pita and humus awaiting us, the typical here in Israel, but o so delicious. Turns out they moved out here just for the heck of it and they absolutely love it. So we had a good night with them, chatting up a storm….

Speaking of a storm, just this week we spent a rainy day in Tel Aviv for the day, which could be summed up in these words: puddles, people, pigeons, buses, benches, bikes, shops, alley-ways, talks, and walks. We also went to Jaffa, which is Joppa from the Bible. Here we read the account of Jonah, and God decided to send some sound-effects. Just as we were getting to Jonah 1:4 "but the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea" there was a loud roar of thunder followed by a mighty flash of lightening. It definitely made the story that much more vivid. And then the rain began to fall and so we ran for cover in an inside mall.

And that is life in Israel my friends.

Tomorrow morning, we leave for an eight-day trip to Galilee. So, I’m anticipating many good times ahead. Stay tuned. :)