Israel and Petra
May 14-30, 2007
BL 459, Three College Credits
Prof. Phillip J. Long, Grace Bible College
Day 1 - (Monday, May 14) USA to Israel. We begin our journey as we depart from the Grand Rapids Grace Bible College parking lot, to Chicago and board our El Al Israel flight for Israel at 6:00 pm.
Day 2 - (Tuesday, May 15) Arrival in Israel, Beersheba, Scorpion's Pass, Biblical Tamar. We begin the first day with a stop in the Valley of Elah, where David killed Goliath and arrive in our desert home at Biblical Tamar Park. We move into our air-conditioned rooms and prepare for dinner and a nights sleep.
Day 3 - (Wednesday, May 16) Tour tel Tamar, hiking up Mt Hor, and the waters of Miriam. Our days in Israel start with breakfast at 7:00 am and then departure to the first places of interest at 8:00 am. We take a tour of tel Tamar, fill our water bottles and are led on a hike up Prayer Mountain and over the top to the healing water well. The bus picks us up and we go to Mt. Hor, the burial place of Aaron, eat our lunch and then on to swim in the waters of Miriam. We are back to Tamar for dinner and an evening of fellowship and study.
Day 4 - (Thursday, May 17) Tamar to Petra and overnight in Jordan. We leave our rooms with overnight backpacks and are bussed to the Israeli/Jordan border in Eilot where we cross over and are greeted by our Jordanian guide and bus driver. We travel up the mountains of Edom and into Petra where we walk into the fabled lost city of the Nabaeateans. We can only walk through this huge city of ruins that was built near to the time of Christ. We stay in a Petra hotel overnight.
Day 5 - (Friday, May 18) Petra to Aquabah. This is a day of touring Jordan and Aquabah, the Jordanian sister city to Israel's Eilot. We check into our Red Sea resort hotel and go scamper down to the beautiful sand beaches for our time in the sun and water. Or, we can just relax in our rooms, or walk to the shopping areas and begin to load up on the presents for family and friends.
Day 6 - (Saturday, May 19) Aquaba to Eilot to Timna and Tamar. We cross over the border to Israel, after breakfast, and go to downtown Eilot where we get a chance to see the other side of the Red Sea resort area. We continue on to the Timna Nature reserve, where Solomon's copper mines were located, and return to our rooms at Tamar.
Day 7 - (Sunday, May 20) Masada, Ein Gedi Park, Dead Sea swimming, Tamar. This morning we ascend by cable car to Masada and spend much of the morning exploring the Herodian palace where the Jewish zealots held out against the Roman Empire. From Masada we visit the wilderness oasis of Ein Gedi where David hid from King Saul and then we go to Ein Boquek to float in the Dead Sea. This is our last night at Tamar.
Day 8 - (Monday, May 21) Qumran, St. George's Monastery, Jerusalem. We pack up and leave our desert home and after a stop at Qumran, the city of the Essenes, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found, we will visit St. George's monastery and climb the steep path to the buildings and chapels hanging from the walls of the Judean mountains. We arrive in Jerusalem and move into our rooms tired but happy, ready to enjoy the bountiful Israeli dinner buffet.
Day 9 – (Tuesday, May 22) Jerusalem. We start our day with a panoramic view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. We walk down the Bethany road to the Garden of Gethsemane and then across the Kedron Valley to the Old City and the Western Wall. We offer prayers there and then go into the Old City to soak in the atmosphere. We return to our rooms full of thoughts about this Old City.
Day 10 – (Wednesday, May 23) Robin Memorial, Yad Vashem, Samuel’s tomb, Ben Yehuda St.
We begin to day by walking into the memorial areas of he national cemetery where famous peole in Israel are buried. We continue on to Yad vvashem where 6 million Jews who were willing in the gas ovens during WWII are memorialized. We drive next to Samuel’s tomb and climb the tower that overlooks Jerusalem and end the day in downtown Ben Yehuda street to finish our Jerusalem shopping.
Day 11 – (Thursday, May 24) Jerusalem Model, Shrine of the Book. Begin the day with a visit to the miniature model of Jerusalem from the Second Temple period. We go next to the Knesset, the Israel Parliament building to also visit the new justice building. The day ends with a visit to the Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed.
Day 12 – (Friday, May 25) Silwan, Hezekiah's Tunnel, Cardo, and the Jerusalem Quarter. Visit the Roman Cardo in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and see the wide steps which led up to the Temple at the southern wall excavations. Visit the tunnel that King Hezekiah built in 701 BC to alter the course of the waters of Gihon so that potential enemies could not take them and the Silwan Valley.
Day 13 – (Saturday, May 26) Galilee. We will travel through the Jordan Valley, to Beit Shean to see the ongoing excavations of this Decapolis city. We then move into our Kibbutz rooms on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Day 14 – (Sunday, May 27) Galilee and environs. Through the Ya'ar Yehudiya Nature Reserve to the fortified village of Gamla, the "Masada of the North." From Gamla around the shores of the Sea of Galilee you will drive to Capernaum. The ancient synagogue and the house of Peter, view the stone carving of the Ark of the Covenant and continue to Tabgha, the traditional site of the Multiplication. At the ancient city of Korazim, mentioned in the Talmud and New Testament, see the basalt stone synagogue decorated with carvings of flora and fauna. Continue via Tel Dan to the Banias springs at Caesarea Philippi, one of the sources of the Jordan River.
Day 15 – (Monday, May 28) Megiddo, the biblical Armageddon, on the Plains of Esdraelon. Here you will explore the ancient Underground water system and visit the museum. Rising 1970 feet from the plain of Jezreel, Mt. Tabor lays claim to being the site of the Transfiguration. Travel along the shores of the Mediterranean to Caesarea, where Peter baptized the centurion Cornelius and see the Roman amphitheater, aqueduct and old crusader port built by Herod. Journey through the Carmel mountains to Mukrakha where the prophet Elijah battled with the prophets of Baal.
Day 16 – Tuesday May 29) Galilee Boat to Tiberius, Mt. Arbel, Mount of Beatitudes, Zippori. We take a morning sail on the Sea of Galilee to Gennesaret and see the ancient fishing boat at Nof Ginosar. View the Galilee from Mt. Arbel and travel on to the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. End the day with a visit to Zippori, an important site for Jews and Christians. Excavations here have uncovered remains of early settlements mainly from the Roman and Byzantine periods, among them a crusader castle and church, public and residential buildings, a theater and colonnaded street.
Day 17 – (Wednesday, May 30) Israel to USA. We will spend a part of the day touring in Jerusalem, departing for Ben Gurion airport to catch El Al flight # 027 and leave after midnight at 12:50 am, sleeping to the sound of the jet engines and arriving in Chicago at 8:10 am. We board our bus and meet our families and friends in the Grace Bible College parking lot at 2:00 pm happy to be home!
Grace Bible College
Professor Philip Long
1011 Aldon St. SW
Grand Rapids, MI 49509
Email: Plong@gbcollege.edu
Phone: 616-261-8568