JERASH, A CITY OF THE DECAPOLIS

"When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes; two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. . ." (Matthew 8:28)

1-15-08

The text is about Gadara, another city of the Decapolis. It was in that region that Jesus healed the gadarene-demoniacs. I wanted to point out that Jesus performed a miracle in a similarly sized and sophisticated community as Jaresh. Jaresh was a city of Roman design and culture; a city of about 30,000 people. A couple of things impressed me about Jaresh that I found to be true in other Roman ruins as well. Unless the geography forced otherwise, the streets were laid out true north/south and east/west. The stones in the streets were laid in a diagonal pattern so that a wheel would not impact it full-force. The Romans also put in an expansion strip in the streets every 20 feet.

The other matter that impressed me about Jaresh was their theater. It is one of the ways that we know that Jaresh was a community of about 30,000 for the theater had seats for 3,000. This is another example of excellent Roman engineering. Each of our group had an opportunity to stand at the echo center of the theater and speak. No matter where anyone was positioned in the theater, the speaker could be heard. When I had the opportunity to speak from the echo center, it was just like someone put a microphone in my hand and I was speaking through a good PA system. If I stepped one step in any direction, the amplification was gone. Virtually all of us asked, "Why can't we build this way today?"

The 15th began at 5 a.m. because we were to leave Jordan and cross over into Israel. It meant packing all of our baggage into the bus. We packed, ate breakfast and were on the road by 7:30.

After Jaresh, the day was only half over. I will tell you about that tomorrow.

Grace&Peace,

Tom

PETRA PICTURE

This is a picture of the most recognizable ediface in Petra.

PETRA

"Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down declares the Lord" (Obediah verse 4).

1-14-08

Actually, the book of Obediah was written to the Edomites, not the Nabateans who literally carved the city of Petra out of the rocks. But there was a sense in which those who inhabited this area of southwest Jordon thought themselves invincible. After the Edomites were destroyed, the Nabateans moved in and built their civilization. By controlling the trade routes they became very wealthy and powerful, developing a civilization that would last nearly 400 years.

The drive to Petra was 3 1/2 hours. During that time we passed landscape similar to Nevada's; it was extremely barren. Jordan is not an oil-producing state and it gets very little rain. In terms of population, it is about equal to the size of Israel, a little better than 5,000,000. The primary sources of income are phosphate mining and tourism, though there is some agriculture. We saw some greenhouse/nursery operations and some chicken ranches.

What makes Jordan such an important state in the middle east is its leadership. The royal family is highly regarded because their leadership is stable and sound. Jordan is an important dynamic for stability in the region. Any foreign aid we send them is well deserved. Jordan is predominantly Sunni; they are less rigid and easier to get along with.

This day the temperature was in the high 30's and low 40's. As we hiked the 2 1/2 miles into Petra I was glad that I had packed a fairly warm jacket. The city of Petra is a necropolis, a city of the dead. Many of the dwellings carved out of the rock were actually tombs. After the Nabateans left, the Bedouin's used them for dwellings.

Petra was our only site that day. We were there for about 4 hours. By the time we returned to the hotel it was nearly 7 p.m..

The Nabateans had a secure income, secure water and a secure dwelling place, yet when a civilization does not walk in God's ways, it is not secure.

Grace&Peace,
Tom

LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED

"Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. . ." (John 14:1).

It wouldn't have taken much to talk me out of going to the Holy Land. Flying is not one of my favorite things to do. I knew no one else on the tour, and then there is also the question of safety while on the tour. But I had a purpose for wanting to go and resolved to see it through regardless of my anxieties. Once I started on my way to Sioux Falls Regional Airport, I was okay. I experienced anxiety only twice during the trip. Old city Jerusalem is a maze of narrow, crowed streets. I didn't think I would ever get out if I was lost in there, though I think I could handle it now after being in there a couple of times. The other time was when we were taking off on the flight home. The 747 was covered with snow even after a deicing. Even the little Jordanian stewardess, who apparently was a Christian, crossed herself on that very slow lift off. Even in those times, my anxiety was not a problem as I trusted being in God's hands, what ever His purpose may be. What ever a person may do, he cannot escape risk, our times are in God's hands.

We left Sioux Falls at 1:00p.m. on the 12th and arrived in Amman, Jordan at 4:20 on the 13th. We lost 8 hours, crossing 8 time zones. It is almost 6,000 miles from JFK in New York to Amman--not stop. We flew Royal Jordanian Airlines. While on the plane, they served us very well. We couldn't have asked for better service.

It was about a 45 min. drive from the airport to Regency Palace Hotel. The accommodations were excellent and the food is excellent too. There is something for every taste, though it is a thoroughly Mediterranean/Mideast diet. It is good, but after a couple of weeks and American Burger and fries will be a banquet.

Amman is a modern busy city. The four-lane highways are clogged with traffic. The culture is very contemporary. They have about every major American chain from McDonald's, Toys R Us, to a Cadillac-Hummer dealership. Their equivalent to MTV is decidedly Arabic in flavor.

I had talked to Verizon about enabling my phone so that I could use it in Israel. They set me up for that. I had assumed that I would be able to use it in Jordan too--I was wrong. I'll tell you more about that later.

We had to be up at 6:00 a.m. for the 3 1/2 hr. drive to Petra, so I didn't stay up late. We put in long days on this tour! We were not slackers.

Grace&Peace,
Tom

AN INTERNATIONAL LAND

"They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring a grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. And I will also take some of them as priests and a levites, says the Lord" (Isaiah 66:20-21).

One of the thoughts that struck me early on was that the Holy Land is an international land. During Jesus' early life and ministry in Galilee he would have seen, and perhaps, talked to the caravans that travel the road to the sea--the via maris. These caravans came from as far as India and China carrying silks and spices.

Following the fall of the Ottoman empire after WWI, about every country with a state church built a church building in Jerusalem. Each country battled to build the tallest church, I believe the Germans built the tallest. Each of these countries still maintains a presence there.

In Jerusalem there are more tour buses than in Branson, Missouri and each of them is loaded with tourists from many countries. We saw tour groups from Korea, Japan, China and India to name a few. All of them may not have been Christians or Jews, but they all came to see what happened in the Holy Land. It occurred to me that if a person was so motivated to become a tour guide, many seeds of the gospel could be planted without being offensive. The location itself tells the story.

I have the deepest respect for tour bus drivers. They drive those big buses around the narrow streets of Jerusalem without getting a scratch. They maneuver them through seemingly impossible tight spots. I had thought the best drivers were Iowa farmers, but after being in Jerusalem I have changed my mind. If you need a great driver, get a Jerusalem tour bus driver!

Grace&Peace
Tom

THE CHOSEN

"For many are called but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14).

Most of the people who read this blog know that I have been in the the Holy Land during the last couple of weeks, arriving home on the 23rd. I went to the Holy Land with a group from Sioux Falls Seminary. I usually audit a January term class every year at the seminary in the areas of psychology, counseling, marriage and family. This year I saw the offering of an educational Holy Land tour and decided to do that. It was only by the grace of God that I made the trip because I registered at the last possible minute of the last possible day. In fact the one who did the registrations at the seminary for this trip did not think I would be able to go. I tell you all this because on the last day of our tour, the tour guide told us, 'Not everyone who says they want to go comes to the Holy Land. I believe that those who come are chosen.' I'm not sure I agree, yet in my case it certainly seems to be true that the Lord wanted me on this tour.

I had some personal reasons for wanting to go. One was simply to have a greater understanding of the Scriptures so that I could better teach, preach and counsel. We alter our environments, but our environments alter us too. How did the environment of Bible times shape the lives of those who lived in the land of the Bible? Our tour guide told us a story about one tour group that he led that went to the desert where Masada is located. One of the leaders of that group used the bus riding time to preach to his people; he was a Baptist preacher. He condemned the Hebrew people for so quickly falling away from the Lord when they were making their journey to the promised land. He condemned them for their grumbling and complaining. Then the air conditioning on the bus broke down. It was the Baptist preacher that started grumbling and complaining first. Traveling in that desert without food and water would make one wonder if Moses had led them to the desert to die--the environment shaped the people. Experiencing the environment of the area goes a long way towards understanding.

Over the next couple of weeks I will try to share more thoughts about why I was chosen.

Grace&Peace,
Tom