Israel - Day 4

On the fourth day, we left Tiberias to "live" in Jerusalem for the remainder of the trip. As we ventured toward Jerusalem, we made a few stops along the way...

The day began with a stop at the Jordan River. Several chose to be baptized. We had been given the invitation the previous night to be baptized. Some were baptized for the first time, while others who had been baptized before, chose to be baptized again for various reasons. I felt torn about my decision. Part of me wanted to be baptized in the Jordan River. Although it was not the exact location where Jesus had been baptized, there was something almost captivating about being baptized in the same river. However, deep down, I knew that if I chose to be baptized at that time, the reasons would all be wrong. My reasons for desiring to be baptized at that place had more to do with the place than with honoring Him through obedience. I had been baptized when I was 9 years old. I had taken that step of obedience in baptism nearly 21 years ago. And although my walk with the Lord has not been perfect, I was not at a point of feeling like I needed to "rededicate" my life to Him and follow that up with baptism. My reasons for wanting to be baptized in the Jordan River were all about me. The more I thought about it, the more I saw that even though it would be "cool" to be baptized in the Jordan River, I would actually be dishonoring God if I chose to do so. And as I celebrated and rejoiced with the many who did choose to be baptized, the Lord confirmed in my heart that I had made the right decision. As mentioned before, there were several (almost 70) who were baptized that day. It was a great time of celebration for the group as we worshiped the Lord through music and through these significant steps of obedience.

Worship through music before the baptisms begin

The Jordan River


A wall near the Jordan River - Nathan is practicing some Greek

We then went to Bet She'an, an ancient city that was a Philistine city at one point. It was in this city where Saul and his sons were hung on walls after they were killed in battle (1 Samuel 31). Later, it became a Roman city, and most of the ruins are from that time period. It was interesting to see bits and pieces of the city. And it's always amazing to me to see original pavement from hundreds (and even thousands) of years ago. When we design roads, we design it for a 20 year life-span...and even then, roads need many repairs to maintain them over the course of those 2 decades. To see pavement still standing after hundreds of years...wow. Of course, there were no cars or trucks traveling on those roads, so roads held up much better. Plus, with all the design standards and land development changes over the course of time, it's better that we use cheaper materials so roadway improvements can be made more easily and cheaply. Anyway...enough of my "roadway" talk (even though my blog site is called "Roads Through My Mind"). Here are some pics from the area, instead.

Original road (including original pavement) built by the Romans.

Can you guess what this is? It's an ancient public restroom. Seriously. And when I say, "public"...I really mean "public". There weren't separate restrooms for men and women. Nor were there private stalls. Along the back wall, there was a trench that served as the community "toilet". It takes the whole "going to the bathroom in groups" to a different level.

There were several mosaics on the sidewalk in the city. If a little water is poured on them, the colors of the mosaics really brightens up. This is a mosaic in Greek...so of course, this gave Nathan another opportunity to practice some Greek. :o)

We climbed up part of the moutain to get the view of the city. The tour guides said the only reason to hike up the trail would be for the view. And it was a great view! I'm glad we ran up there in order to get a few pictures.

The city behind us

On the same mountain but from a different angle.
The mountain in the background is the border between Israel and Jordan.

Our next stop was at Gideon's Spring. Based on the description of the area in Scripture, it makes things pretty obvious that this is the actual location where God cut Gideon's army down to 300 men to fight the Midianites (Judges 7). A professor from Moody taught on the passage right by the spring, which is behind him.

Gideon's spring


The journey continued toward Jerusalem, and along the way, we passed by a community along the way that was where Jericho had been.

At one point, we stopped at a gas station for a little break. There were a couple little shops right there, too. In the gas station parking lot, there were 2 camels. Not a typical sight around here, but it seemed to be "normal" in that area. Now, in case you're wondering, I didn't actually see the owner fill the camels up with gas. It seemed like they were camping out there more to make money by providing very brief camel rides to tourists. We resisted any desire to ride a camel and instead, went in search of freshly squeezed pomegrante juice. We were told there might be some there. Unfortunately, no one had that juice, so we got a can of pop for $3 (yes, you read that right...that was the typical price for a can of pop...which is why that was the only pop we drank the whole trip)...and also a $5 smoothie...which was good, but probably not worth the $5 it cost us.

After a long, full day, we made it to Jerusalem! We stopped briefly at a very scenic place, took a few pictures, and began our many encounters with the aggressive vendors in the city before heading to the hotel to eat some dinner, sleep, and get ready for the next day of adventures.