We have had a wonderful time, but God knows that I am so anxious to see my Wife and Children 

The sun is setting on our last evening in Jerusalem 

A hummingbird enjoys the lantana 

Coming out of the tomb 

A water lily that caught my eye 

Bro. Greeley stands in the rebuilt Synagogue 

After lunch at Yad HaShemona today 

You can even float on your belly!! 

This is over our heads, but we couldn't touch bottom if we wanted to... 

It is sooooo easy!!! 

We enjoyed floating in the Dead Sea 

Another look at the fire damage 

It sure was cooler in than out!! 

Relaxing in the little pool that Benjamin and Joshua discovered last time 

And Bro. Greeley!!! 

Bro. Erik really enjoyed it!! 

We did enjoy the smaller falls 

It was so sad to see that a careless person had caused a serious fire at Ein Gedi, last week, because of this we were not allowed to hike all the way up to the large waterfall, for safety reasons 

Close up 

There were many Ibex all around 

Wild Ibex at Ein Gedi 

Putting the prayer requests in the Western Wall, that were sent in by those who support the Work in Jerusalem 

Close up of how the sping flows into the Wadi, and remains of an ancient aqueduct 

An ancient spring in the Wadi, near the place where Elijah was fed by the ravens, and not too far from the traditional place where Jesus fasted in the wilderness and the Mt. of Temptations 

Close up view 

With Bro. Erik in front of the Monastery, The only way in is a long, hot hike, There are only 5 Monks living in this famous place  

Wadi Kelt looking toward Saint George Monastery 

A view of the Judean wilderness, near Wadi Kelt 

We were stranded for a couple of hours, parked inside the Old City, when a parade of thousands of children and parents, came from all over Jerusalem to celebrate 

The other side of the new bridge up to the Temple Mount, The old dirt ramp is being removed, and it will expose more layers of Holy history 

It looks so big when you are standing there, Looking up  

Wilson's Arch at the Western Wall 

A close up of the new bridge that leads to the Mughrabi gate into the Temple Mount 

A sign about the "Holly" city, You see, It is sometimes hard to find the right spelling when translating Hebrew to English 

A view toward the Western Wall, from the upper part of the Old City 

Nablus, the site of ancient Shechem 

Read Joshua 8:30-34 

Looking toward Mount Ebal (Mount of Curses) 

Ruins on the top of Mount Gerazim (Mount of Blessings) 

Modern Shiloh 

Standing on one wall of the ancient Tabernacle site and the other wall is in the background... 

The actual ancient press, there were both wine and olive presses found here for use in the Tabernacle 

Sign near the press 

If you look closely,You can see Bro. Greeley and the rectangle area of the Tabernacle, the stones were covered with the animal skins 

Sign at the gate 

Standing in the gate of ancient Shiloh  

It is so exciting to stand where the Tabernacle stood for so many years!! 

A Hanukkia set up in the Synagogue

Inside the Synangogue, where memorial candles are being lit, and perhaps barren women are coming to ask God for His intervention 

An ancient Synangogue dedicated to Hannah, later used as a mosque, it is also near the burial place of Eli the Priest 

Ready to preach 

Bro Erik and Sister Nancy, take it in... 

Inside the church 

Can you tell that I really like Mosaics? 

It is sad to see these mosaics that are nearly 1600 years old....unprotected and beginning to fall apart 

Look at the detail 

Some of the beautiful mosaic from the church floor

Inside the church, the stones at the bottom of the walls are original stones from the Byzantine times 300-600 AD. 

This is the reconstructed church, it is sad to see it falling into disrepair, many people are afraid to come here these days 

Sign near the reconstructed Byzantine Church at Shiloh 

The entrance to the modern settlement of Beit El, Bethel-"House of God", where Jacob had a divine visitation with God 

Perhaps near the site of the Biblical city of Ai 

One last view of the Valley 

Read about the "Valley of Blessing" in Ecc.2:6 and in 2 Chronicles 20:26, It is also believed that Solomon made several references to this valley..."The Garden Enclosed" 

This fertile valley runs between two rocky mountain ranges 

More views of a small portion of this valley 

The beautiful garden in front of the church 

A beautiful church overlooking the " Valley of Blessing " (Berachah) 

This is a chamber that leads down into a crypt from the Byzantine period, where they found the graves of Christians, who worshipped in an ancient church built over these wells, They also found oil lamps from that time with inscriptions about Jesus being the "Light of the world"

An Arab man who showed us these wells, gave us water that he had drawn from these wells and chilled, it was a hot climb up and we were thirsty, before I drank this water, I knew what I had to do, So I poured out the first part of it as an offering to the Lord 

They are doing some excavations and improvements near the Wells of David, an ancient wall dating back to the time of David has been found 

I am standing over large Cisterns in Bethlehem, referred to as David's wells,They are fed by the same wells that David longed for a drink of their water, and then poured out the water to the Lord, When 3 soldiers broke through enemy lines and brought him a drink 

These pools were some 30 feet deep 

Another one of Solomon's pools 

This is one of the water troughs that brough water down from the spring to fill the pools 

One of the 3 pools know as Solomon's pools, see the blog for more information 

The "Milk Grotto" believed to be built over the cave where Joseph and Mary, hid with Yeshua, before leaving for Egypt 

This wondow is in a chapel over the cave where Jerome is believed to have translated the Bible into the Latin Vulgate 

Another view of the ancient beautiful mosaic floor 

The orginal mosaic floor of the old Byzantine church, a few feet below the present church in Bethlehem 

The Door of the Church of the Nativity, it was shortened to 4 ft. tall to keep the Mamelukes from ridding their horses inside the church 

With Brother Olafur from Iceland, in Bethlehem 

"The Incredible Edible egg" 

Some of the young people from the Gaza area, who are wearing orange to protest the disengagement 

An Israeli Army band 

Showing the different resources of the farms 

Floats, Displaying the "Seven Species" of the Land of Israel  

Uri Lupolianski, The Mayor of Jerusalem kicks of the Jerusalem day parade, on Sunday evening. Residents of Israel come from all over to celebrate Jerusalem, especially the young people from the Kibbutzim and the Moshavim (Farms).

Inside of the Exhibition hall of the photos from the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway line.It ran from 1892 until 1998. The railway line has been renewed and this 73 minute journey, follows the same route of a century ago, only now it terminates in Malcha, one of Jerusalem's southern neighborhoods. The historic Jerusalem station remains deserted. 

The first locamotives and railway cars for the Jaffa-Jerusalem line were brought in by ship, and unloaded onto this long pier on which a track had been laid. That way they were taken directly to shore, and from there to the site of the future Jaffa station, more than a kilometer away.The railway opened in 1892. 

Another view of the model trains among the ruins 

It was a very interesting mix to see the model trains winding between the ruins of this fortress. 

There is a temporary exhibit of model trains and a history of the railroad line between Jaffa and Jerusalem, called "Train Tracks to Jerusalem" on display at the Tower of David museum.

I wanted to show you the platform, where the Gaither Homecoming Videos, Jerusalem and Israel, were filmed. It is in the middle of the Tower of David museum complex. 

A close up of the Temple Mount as it looked in the 1860's, from the model 

A model of Jerusalem as it looked in the middle 19th century(1860's). The model is made of zinc and was done by Hungarian artist, Stefan Illes in 1872. It traveled around the world on display for some years and even had a showing at the World's fair. It ended up in a store room in Genva, where it remained until the early 1980's. It was returned to Jerusalem, as a loan and is on display in the Tower of David museum. 

A model of the Southwest corner of the Temple Mount from the Second Temple period, the time of Yeshua 

Some "bullets" from the days of the Crusaders 

A view from the tower of the Museum courtyard 

Another view from the tower, the roof tops of the Old City 

A beautiful view from the Phasael tower looking toward the Temple Mount 

The only remaing of the three towers of Herod's palace.They were named after his brother, his good friend an his wife: Phasael, Hippicus and Miriam. This one is believed to be the remains of the Phasel tower.

An inside overview of the Park where the museum is.This is the origianl site of Herod's palace during the 2nd Temple period. 

Where we spent the morning, learning about the history of Jerusalem 

The moat around David's Citadel, built during the Crusader Era 

This is a view from Jaffa gate, looking toward David's village and the King David hotel 

This is the entrance into the new Holocaust Museum at Yad Vashem. It is the most unbelievable display, I have ever seen in my life. To see everything and listen to all of the testimonies of survivors would take many hours. The emotion of it all left me feeling drained and weak. We could not take pictures inside, but I have posted their website on my blog.  

My Butterfly bush never looks quite like this one !!! 

It is my deepest desire to be "faithful" and not "fearful" 

Bro. Erik is always happy to stick his feet in cool water 

Brother Greeley enjoys his first visit to Gideon's spring 

Our last stop on our 3 day tour of the Galilee before returning to Jerusalem, was Ma'ayan Harod- The spring of Gideon at the foot of Mount Gilboa 

Another view of this paradise 

We enjoyed a swim in these beautiful waters, these natural pools are fed by warm springs that keep the water at an almost perfect temp. year round 

One of the beautiful pools for swimming at Gan Hashlosha (Sahne) 

We wanted Brother Greeley to see Bet She'an, so we stopped for a quick tour, I sat in the shade and enjoyed reading in the book of Numbers 

Brother Greeley in the back seat 

We are remembering the many miracles of Yeshua, that took place on and near this very body of water 

Looking toward Tiberias from our boat 

Bro Erik is our captain on a morning boat ride on the Sea of Galilee 

A picture taken in the Templars Tunnel 

The Suk (Arab market)of Akko 

More ruins of the ancient city of Acre (Akko) 

These boys were having a geat time jumping off the ancient walls of this Crusader city, into the sea 

A view in the old harbor city of Akko 

The lighthouse in Akko (Acre) 

A picture taken from the cable car 

Another look at the cable car that brought us down and took us back to the top of the cliff 

This sign explains the tunnel, click on the picture to enlarge 

A view of the railroad tunnel from the time of the British Mandate 

Me with the "Elephant's foot" 

A formation in the chalk mountain called,"The elephant's foot" 

The color of the water is so amazing, it makes you want to jump right in!! 

Another view from inside 

A view from inside the path that winds around the natural grottos that have been carved out by the sea 

The cable car that took us down to see the grottos, see the articles in the blog for more information about this beautiful place 

The view from the Parking lot of Rosh Hanikra, in the North of Israel, on the Mediterranean sea and just near the border with Lebanon 

The first blooms and little fruit coming on the pomegranate tree 

A view of the inside of the ruins of the Synagogue 

A Maronite Christian Church in Bar'am, this was a Arab Christian village untill the War of Independance in 1948, this church is just a few meters away from both of the ancient Synagogues that were found there. 

The Brothers stand in the door of the Synangogue 

This stone beam was found in place after all of these years 

Details of the door of the Bar'am Synagogue 

The entrance to the ancient Synagogue of Bar'am, in the Norythern Galilee region of Israel 

An example of one of the metal coffins that were found here in Bet She'arim 

A quote to show you, how important it was for Jewish people to be buried in "The Land", bodies were often brough from other lands where the Jewish people had been scattered, so that they could be buried in Israel and many of these Diaspora Jews of the times were buried here in Bet She'arim 

I am sitting on the "benches structure" above the tomb of Rabbi HaNassi, it served as a meeting place for gatherings, as it is said "To hold in it a convocation upon the grave" 

Believed to be the Tomb of Rabbi Yehuda Ha Nassi, who died in 220 AD., He was the head of the Sanhedrin, when it was moved to Bet She'arim 

An image of a Mennorah found inside one of the tombs 

One of the 135 Sarcophagi found at Bet She'arim, a famous burial place during the Talmudic and Mishnaic times 

Some of the many tombs found at Bet She'arim, Read the article on the blog for more information 

Elijah, with His sword raised to slay the prophets of ba'al 

On Mount Carmel, with the brothers, "The place of burning" looking over the place where the "showdown" took place 

Last Friday at my favorite restaurant at Abu Ghosh