Trip to Israel and Jordan for the Feast of Tabernacles 1998

Part 5

Sunday 11 October — We got up early again, with an early breakfast and suitcases outside the rooms to be loaded onto the coaches. We departed and arrived safely in Jericho, a town with a good water supply and a casino which opened recently. This is not the original Jericho, that was destroyed when the Israelites marched round it for seven days. But it’s near to the original site. We went to the top of a hill and admired the view. There were lots of green plants and trees, more so than other places in Israel.

Then on to Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, and then to Tiberias, where our hotel (Sheraton Four Points) is located. But, it was too early for the hotel, so we went to the Caprice Diamond factory/showroom, where an Englishman shows us a film on diamonds and takes us on a short tour and then into the showroom, where some people bought some jewellery at discounts, but unable to open their purchases until reaching the airport to avoid paying tax.

We had lunch at a restaurant by the Sea of Galilee where we had St. Peter’s fish to eat. Then we went to the hotel. This was by far the most confusing hotel I have stayed in. We went in and, not realising this was the top, it was then confusing to find our way around. We were directed to lifts (elevators for Americans) going down to our rooms, but actually they only go down to floor 6. From there we had to walk along a corridor to more lifts and then down to our floor. But this was not obvious at first and meant a lot of back and forth trying to figure out where to go. I eventually arrived at my room, took the key out of the envelope only to find it was the wrong key! Arrh! This place was getting to me. Back to the lobby, which is not an easy route. Got the right key and then found my way back to my room. The hotel in Jordan was difficult to navigate around the alleys from room to hall, but this hotel was more confusing.

We had some free time before dinner, and after dinner an informal service to start the Last Great Day with John Robinson asking people what they liked about the feast, who was over 70, how many feasts people had been to, and so on.

Monday 12th October — After another early breakfast on this Last Great Day we left early for a trjp on the Sea of Galilee. The boat just about held us all (about 133) plus crew, and we cruised out to the middle to admire the view. Some of us went to the front, and posed as in the picture. Sharon suddenly thought she was Rose in the film Titanic and stood at the front with her arms outstretched (see photo below).

Then we had the blessing of the children — a minister blessed the three young children on the tour from two families.

The Sea of Gallilee is actually a large lake, much smaller than what I thought it would be. It was very calm and peaceful. However, when storms come here they can be very fierce (as in Christ’s time).

We stepped ashore near a museum about an old boat that was found in the Sea from the first century. We quickly looked around it and the shop there before getting back on our coaches which were waiting for us in the car park. Then on to Capernaum, and again those in shorts had to cover their legs.

Here we also saw the location of ruins of what was supposed to be the house of the apostle Peter. Well, it could have been his house, but who knows?

Also there are ruins of an old synagogue, built on top of ruins of the synagogue from Christ’s time, possibly the one He visited. Some of the remains bore the name of Tiberias, showing that this Roman governor existed, and he gave his name to the town of Tiberias (where our hotel was located).

After that we went to the Mount of Beatitudes where Christ gave the sermon on the Mount. Another church building here and a garden, nicer than previous ones. The garden is especially nice, beautiful and peaceful, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Also there were small printed cards for people to take, with the words of Christ when He gave the beatitudes:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meak, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
— Matthew 5:3–12

That afternoon we had the Last Great Day service and a sermonette by Charles Melear, then two pieces of special music: The Desert Shall Blossom, sung by Sharon, Renee and Mark, and then How Beautiful, sung by Renee and Adrienne as a duet. The sermon by John Robinson focused on the Great White Throne Judgment.

Around 18:00h some of us departed by foot to find a place in town where Jews were celebrating the end of the Feast. Eventually, after walking for ages, we found the place but it was too late, they had already finished. So we looked around a bit, and then walked to the restaurant where we were scheduled to have dinner, by the Sea of Galilee.

Our table was right on a small balcony over the edge of the lake. Then we were given copies of the group photo that was taken on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem a few days earlier, and a certificate labelled “Attestation of Pilgrimage: By this attestation be it known that ____________ by virtue of fulfilling the Biblical injunction has ascended to Jerusalem, the Holy City, Capital of Israel and is henceforth authorized to bear the title of Jerusalem Pilgrim”, signed by the Mayor and the Minister of Tourism.

During dinner a boat pulled up alongside us and a man waved some red flares around, which looked quite good. Then after dinner back to the hotel. Most of us singles sat outside by the pool, under the stars, watching the moon rise over the Sea of Galilee, and white bats flew overhead and around the swimming pool. We stayed there a while, chatting joking, it was so pleasant, but eventually we had to return to our rooms and bed.

Text and photographs copyright by David King, unless stated otherwise.

Some images on this site have been enhanced.

Save this page on...

del.icio.us    digg    facebook    Reddit    StumbleUpon

Pay us using Paypal: