My Pilgrimage to Israel (2013) - Part One

Theater in Caesarea where St Paul testified to Herod Agrippa 

I had maintained a list of personal and professional goals for several years.  Some of the goals were short-term in nature.  Those would include items such as "read # books in 2013".  Other objectives would be longer term such as personal and professional aspirations, etc.  Most of my goals seemed noble enough.  However, in January 2012, I decided to clean the slate to "recalibrate" - to assure that I was properly aligning myself with God's plans.  So, I immediately eliminated every line-item on that sheet except one - a trip to the Holy Land.  I had that one marked as a "sometime before I die" objective.  One month after making these changes, my friend Pastor David Hayes, announced that he was arranging a January 2013 trip to Israel.  He was inviting whomever would like to join him in this pilgrimage.  I immediately contacted him to get the details.

Usually, a year in advance, most things seem easily doable.  That is, until the idea of leaving your wife and children behind as you hop a jet bound for the middle-east starts playing tricks on your mind.  It seemed that every fiber in my being was telling me that it wasn't a good idea.  In fact, only 6 weeks before we left, rockets were being sent from Gaza toward Tel Aviv (the very city in which we were scheduled to land). Nonetheless, as the trip approached, God made it very clear to me that this trip was meant to happen...and I followed his lead.

With the exception of a couple that were meeting us in Israel, our entire team assembled in Philadelphia.  We were joined by a group of Christ followers from Tennessee, Alaska, Indiana, North Carolina, New York, and Alabama.   After a long 12 hour flight, we landed in the rainy city of Tel Aviv and jumped on a bus headed for Galilee.  Within 10 minutes of leaving the airport, our tour guide informed us that we were in the land of the ancient Hebrew tribe of Benjamin.  That announcement was enough to start my head spinning and stirred a tremendous amount of reflection and emotion.  Soon after, we could see an outline of Mt Carmel where the prophet Elijah (you know, the guy who flew off to heaven in a fiery chariot) confronted the false prophets.  I was right in the middle of the land of the Holy Bible...of milk and honey...of Abraham, Isaiah, King David, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.  To say that I felt inspired and somewhat overwhelmed is a major understatement.

I once read that 80% of Jesus' ministry took place in Israel's northern region of Galilee.  Our home base for three nights was in Galilee's ancient Roman city of Tiberius situated on the Sea of Galilee.  It was from this location that we would drive to visit Caesarea (also an ancient Roman city), Tel Megiddo (Armageddon), Nazareth and Bet She'an on our first day.

Caesarea sits on the Mediterranean Sea where 2,000 year old pottery shards are still washing ashore.  The Apostle Paul was imprisoned here for two years (either in Herod's palace or Pontius Pilate's residence) because of his testimony about Jesus Christ.  As our tour guide, Tsippi, explained the facts behind Paul's imprisonment, a rainbow (a biblical sign of God's promise to man after the great flood) sat over the location of his imprisonment.  Tsippi exclaimed: "God is so good".  There is no doubt in my mind that we were supposed to be there at that very moment - and I was glad that I followed God's lead.

Next stop: The Valley of Armageddon - the location where John prophesied the final battle between good and evil.