Read: 1 Kings 9:26-28 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/1-kings/9.html)
Sing: Lonely the Boat, UMH 476 Over the years, the city of Eilat has become the ultimate resort city with hotels and beaches packed with thousands of Israeli vacationers and tourists from around the world, who come to relax in the country’s southernmost spot. The secret of this little city’s charm is its special location at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba. Eilat’s location made it strategically significant during the many historical periods in which it served as a port – starting in the days of King Solomon, through the Nabataens, the Romans, the Arabs, and the Crusaders, all of whom ruled the Land of Israel. The modern city of Eilat was established in 1950. In the early 1950s, a quay was built in the new city, and subsequently a port which became the basis for the new city’s economy. Toward the end of the 1960s, the tourism industry started developing in the city, and today Eilat is a paradise for tourists, travelers, and vacationers. We stopped and shopped at an Eilat jewelry store that specializes in precious stones of many different colors. Their work looked absolutely beautiful and I especially liked their jade pieces. The photo above was taken from in front of the store looking across Highway 90, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the city of Aqaba to the mountains of southern Jordan. The Gulf of Aqaba Just below the southern tip of Sinai Peninsula the Great Rift Valley splits in two. The western branch forms the Gulf of Suez while the eastern branch forms the Gulf of Aqaba. The entire Red Sea, including these two gulfs, is well known as a divers’ paradise. Scuba divers and snorkelers come from around the world to experience these warm waters and colorful coral reefs. I imagine that one of things that makes the Red Sea so attractive to divers is the fact that there are no major rivers which flow into it, thereby providing very little silt to cloud the waters. All of the land surrounding the Red Sea is desert or semi-desert. As we drove by in our bus the urge to go swimming was almost overwhelming for several of us. The water looked so clear and cool and the drive through the desert had parched our eyes if not our throats. The Gulf of Aqaba is bordered by Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
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Read: Genesis 12:10-20 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/genesis/12.html)
Sing: Holy, Holy, Holy, UMH 64 Today is a day of travel. We will be going by bus from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea and then south along the Great Rift Valley to the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. We will then walk across the border to Egypt and board a different bus that will take us to the foot of Mount Sinai where we will spend the night. Sunrise over the Dead Sea As we drove along the western shore of the Dead Sea the sun began to break through the morning clouds in a few small spots (remember, this is the rainy season in this part of the world). When these sunrays struck the surface of the Dead Sea it gave the appearance of the water glowing. I tried to get a photo of this beautiful scene but was having a hard time doing it from our moving bus. Finally, I got a good photo with my fourth attempt. Only after I got home did I realize that this striking photo and the photo of the rainbow over the Sea of Galilee were both taken in the morning, from our moving bus, on the same road (Highway 90), and about 70 miles apart. Yotvata Kibbutz Founded in 1957, the Yotvata Kibbutz is famous in Israel for its production of popular dairy products. Yotvata (named for the oasis in Deuteronomy 10: 7 called Jotbathah) was the first kibbutz founded in the southern Aravah (the section of the Great Rift Valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba) area in Israel. We stopped at Yotvata’s large rest stop on Highway 90 to get something to eat and enjoy their dairy products – I got some delicious chocolate and a really good milkshake. From their parking lot we could see across the rift valley to the mountains of southern Jordan – about forty miles south of Petra. We are only about a mile from the Jordan border. Read: Nehemiah 6:1-14 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/nehemiah/6.html)
Sing: This Is a Day of New Beginnings, UMH 383 Damascus Gate The Damascus Gate is located on the north side of The Old City and is the dividing point between the Muslim Quarter on the east and the Christian Quarter on the west. It is the busiest gate of The Old City for foot traffic. Vendors often fill the steps leading down to the gate and Muslim worshipers crowd the way as they gather for services on Fridays. The gate was built in 1541 by the Ottomans but its history dates back to the 2nd century AD and the Roman city of Aelia Capitolina. New Gate Unlike the other ancient gates, the New Gate was opened in 1889 by the Ottomans, giving direct access to the Christian Quarter of The Old City. Jaffa Gate The Jaffa Gate of The Old City is unquestionably the busiest gate in the ancient walls. Damascus Gate, bordering the Muslim Quarter, serves a large pedestrian population, and the Dung Gate is an important exit for visitors to the Western Wall. But Jaffa Gate, so named because it faces west toward Jaffa, is the main entrance for pedestrians and motor vehicles – buses, trucks, taxis and cars. It wasn't always so. Until the late 1800s the narrow angled gate limited wheeled traffic. A moat was an additional barrier. All that changed when the Ottoman authorities rebuilt the gate to allow the German Emperor's carriages to enter the city in 1898. Read: Acts 6:8–8:1 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/acts/6.html)
Sing: Lift Up Your Head, Ye Mighty Gates, UMH 213 Lions Gate (Saint Stephen’s Gate) The Lions Gate is the only open gate facing east toward the Mount of Olives. It stands adjacent to the Muslim Quarter of The Old City. The "lions" carved on both sides of the gate are actually panthers, the symbol of the Mamluk Sultan Baybars (1223-1277). The panthers were believed to have been part of a Mamluki structure and placed at the gate by Suleiman to commemorate the Ottoman victory over the Mamluks in 1517. This is also called Saint Stephen’s Gate because tradition says that Stephen was taken through this gate in order to be stoned. During Jesus’ time the gate in this area was known as the Sheep Gate because this is where the sheep sacrificed in the Temple were brought into the city. Herod’s Gate Herod's Gate is located at the northeast corner of Jerusalem's Old City between Damascus Gate and Lion's Gate, adjoining the Muslim Quarter. It is also called the Flower Gate because of the intricate stone design above the gate, and the Sheep's Gate because of the animal market held outside of the gate. The name "Herod's Gate" was based on the belief that King Herod's palace was located near the site. In fact, the gate was a modest entrance until the 1870s when the Turks built the more impressive gate to give access to neighborhoods north of the Old City. Read: Mark 11:1-10 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/mark/11.html)
Sing: Hosanna, Loud Hosanna, UMH 278 From the front portico of the Church of All Nations we had an excellent view across the Kidron Valley to the eastern wall of the Old City and the Golden Gate, the only major gate into the city which is sealed. There has been a gate near this location since Solomon built the first Temple. In those days it was simply called the East Gate. When returnees from the exile rebuilt the Temple they named the eastern gate the Susa Gate in honor of the Jews who had remained in the Persian capital and helped pay for the construction of this new Jerusalem. During the years of the first and second Temple the Scape Goat was cast into the wilderness through this gate. After Herod rebuilt and expanded the Temple Mount this is the gate through which Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The Romans destroyed that gate when they razed the Temple in 70 AD. The present gate was built by the Byzantines in the 6th century. The Ottomans built the present walls of the Old City in 1540. In 1541 they sealed the Golden Gate and built a cemetery in front of it in hope of preventing the Messiah from entering Jerusalem through this gate. Both Christians and Jews expect the Messiah to enter Jerusalem through this gate. I think if Jesus wants to enter though this gate nothing any human does will keep him from doing it. Read: Nehemiah 2:11-18 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/nehemiah/2.html)
Sing: Marching to Zion, UMH 733 Zion Gate The location and name "Zion Gate" appear on maps dating back to the 12th century. It is one of eight gates in The Old City wall. Located between Mount Zion and the Armenian Quarter, the gate was the setting for fierce fighting during the 1948 war. The ridge on which this gate sits is the third high point to be called Zion. The original Zion was in the City of David which is east of this location. The second Zion was where Solomon built the first Temple, today’s Temple Mount or Mount Moriah. The true summit of today’s Mount Zion is inside The Old City near the Citadel. But it is the area just outside the Zion Gate that is considered Mount Zion today. This was very confusing to me before I found the explanation in my reading at www.seetheholyland.net. Dung Gate Close to the Temple Mount and facing the ancient City of David and the Shiloach (Siloam) spring, the original gate was probably well traversed. The gate is at the lowest point of the walls, and was probably used for removing refuse and possibly ashes from the Temple. A major drainage tunnel near the gate, more than 1,965 feet long and dating back at least to Herod's days, has recently been discovered and cleared and opened for tourists. The Ottoman-built gate was small and narrow, the upper arch of which is still visible above today's gate. In 1952, during Jordan's occupation of The Old City, the gate was widened to permit vehicles to enter. The opening was reinforced with cement posts. The gate was renovated by Israel after 1967 to match the Ottoman stone and design. Read: Acts 12:6-17 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/acts/12.html)
Sing: All Praise to Our Redeeming Lord, UMH 554 The nation of Armenia was the first nation to declare itself a Christian nation. They did this in 301, before the days of Constantine, but Armenians had been living in Jerusalem since 95 B.C. The Armenian Quarter was established on Mount Zion in 301. Right before the Crusader period (1099-1187 A.D.) the Armenian Quarter began to develop. It reached its current size during the Ottoman period (1517-1917). Today the Armenian “quarter” covers about one-sixth of The Old City. We tried to find the Church of Saint James but this area is not as conveniently marked as the other quarters and they do not seem to be as visitor-friendly. It started raining on us while we were looking for the church and so we started to head back to the Damascus Gate. Along the way we found . . . The Church of Saint Mark is home to one of Jerusalem’s smallest and oldest Christian communities, but it is the setting for a remarkable set of traditions – including the claim to be the site of the Upper Room of the Last Supper. Its worship employs the oldest surviving liturgy in Christianity, based on the rite of the early Christian Church of Jerusalem. The language used is Syriac, a dialect of the Aramaic that Jesus spoke. Saint Mark (also known as John Mark) came from Cyrene in Libya. He became a traveling companion and interpreter for Saint Peter, and used Peter’s sermons when he composed the earliest of the four Gospels. Mark’s mother, Mary of Jerusalem, had a house where members of the early Church met. It was to this house that Peter went when an angel released him from prison. The Syriac Orthodox believe the Church of Saint Mark is on the site of that house – a belief supported by a 6th century inscription discovered in the church in 1940. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims Saint Peter as its first patriarch, in Antioch in 37 AD. The word “Syriac” is not a geographic indicator, but refers to the use of the Syriac language in worship. Syriac Christians see themselves as the first people to adopt Christianity as natives of the Holy Land. Often called “Jacobites” (after an early bishop), the Syriac Orthodox form one of the Oriental Orthodox churches that became separated from the mainstream of Christianity in the 5th century over a disagreement about the nature of Christ. They are not in communion with either Constantinople or Rome. Their community in Jerusalem, centered on the Church of Saint Mark, numbers only about 600 including our tour guide, Nader. Read: Galatians 3:26-29 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/galatians/3.html)
Sing: They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love, TFWS 2223 The Muslim Quarter is the largest and most populated (approximately 20,000) of the four quarters in The Old City. Developed by Herod the Great, organized by the Christian Byzantine Empire, and then occupied by the Christian Crusaders, even this section is full of churches and Christian shrines. The main streets, El-Wad (which leads to the Damascus Gate) and Via Dolorosa (which runs from the Lions Gate to intersect El-Wad), are bazaars with Muslim shopkeepers ready to sell the Christian Pilgrim a plastic crucifix or olive wood nativity set. When Jesus walked through these streets to his crucifixion they were busy even then and would have been filled with shops. Closer to the Temple Mount buildings from the Mamelukes’ reconstruction of the city from 1250 to 1516 can be seen. This area today preserves some of the fine medieval Islamic architecture. The Jewish Quarter is a thriving modern community with more than 1,000 families. It has been rebuilt out of the rubble that was left from the Jordanian occupation of the area from 1948 until the Six Day War of 1967. Since the destruction was severe, the Jews who returned to The Old City in 1967 excavated the quarter’s archaeological remains first and then built their city over, around and beside the ancient discoveries. Today there are numerous synagogues and schools for Jewish studies, along with contemporary shops and restaurants up and down the streets. The ancient Roman Cardo Street (135 AD) with its old Byzantine bazaar (325 AD) has been preserved and is filled with trendy new businesses that sell a wide variety of items, including original art work by local artists. It also has a hamburger shop that makes really good burgers. The Christian Quarter is the most visited quarter of the Old City because it includes the site of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection - the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This quarter is cluttered with a seemingly endless array of churches and holy sites whose roofs, domes and facades are built so close together that they are at times indistinguishable from one another. The streets are filled with narrow storefronts leading into shops that continue long narrow paths to the back. The market streets are noisy with modern pilgrims and shopkeepers trying to lure them into their stores. Devotional Trip – Day 8, Site 1 ... Shopping in The Old City
Read: Matthew 10:40-42 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/Matthew/10.html) Sing: As Ye What Great Thing I Know, UMH 163 Today is a free day for those of us who are going on to Egypt tomorrow. The fabulous five from the maroon bus have decided that we want to sleep late and then go into The Old City for shopping and sightseeing at 10:30. If you are looking for the hustle and bustle of a real Middle Eastern Market then entering through the Damascus Gate is where you want to go. Be prepared to negotiate on prices and you might be able to find the best bargain of your trip. Our three ladies were excellent shoppers and drove hard bargains with a number of different shop keepers. James and I were not really into the shopping but we did enjoy just absorbing the ambiance of the market. The variety and quality of items was quite high and it seems you can find almost anything you want or need in The Old City. It was a pleasure to visit with so many of the people of Jerusalem – everyone we talked with was unfailingly kind, helpful, and genuinely glad that we had come to their city. There is no doubt that tourism is the major industry of the Holy Land and the people go out of their way to make you feel welcome. But they are also trying to get you to leave as many of your dollars with them as they can. Devotional Trip – Day 7, Site 8 ... The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Read: Mark 15:22 – 16:8 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/Mark/15.html) Sing: Up from the Grave He Arose, UMH 322 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is usually crowded, it is large, and it is complex. This can make having a meaningful visit difficult. It helps to have a basic understanding of what you are seeing and how the different parts of the church are related to one another. There is only one entrance to the church. You can see that this one entrance was once a double entrance – the right doorway has been sealed. It is usually much darker inside so take a moment to let your eyes adjust, then turn right. You will see a stairway that will take you to the top of Calvary/Golgotha to the place where Jesus was nailed to the cross and crucified. It is a bit disconcerting to see a place that you know was outside the city walls now on the second floor of a building inside the city walls. At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion this site was outside of the city walls. The area had most likely been a quarry. The rock that was left exposed had been deemed unworthy for construction but suitable for executions and tombs. But now, what was outside is inside a room that is highly decorated with religious implements and symbols. As you wait in line you pass the place where they nailed Jesus to the cross. Then when it is your turn you kneel and bow below an altar to put your hand through a circular hole in the marble floor to touch the place where his cross once stood. After you have spent some time contemplating the crucifixion you move to the left and away from the altar and down a different stairway. This brings you back to the entryway where, to your left, you see the place where they cleaned Jesus’ body after he was taken down from the cross. If you continue forward you will move into the Rotunda of the Sepulcher. The place where Jesus’ tomb was located is now surrounded by a structure called the Edicule. Special examinations of this structure show that what we see today is the fourth layer of the structure, each subsequent layer built around what was there before. You will probably notice a fifth layer – steel I-beams which were added in 1947 to keep the stone edicule from falling over. (These I-beams were removed in 2016-17 during a major restoration of the Edicule.) To wait in line to go into the edicule you walk around to the left. On the back-side of the edicule there is a Coptic chapel and just past the chapel you will join the line. A priest or helper will be standing at the edicule door to let you enter when it is your turn. You will duck down to enter the outer chamber and wait to enter the inner chamber. Again, a priest or helper will signal your time to enter with one to three other people. This time you will duck lower to find the bench where Jesus’ body was laid on your right. The limestone bedrock bench is covered by marble all around and it is only the marble that you can see and touch. You have only a minute or two to kneel and pray here at our most holy shrine. |
AuthorIn matters of faith, we at First United Methodist Church, Sealy put primary reliance on the Bible. In scripture, we understand that we are all God’s children; therefore, we will be a church that cares for the needs of our church and local community through prayer, deeds, inspiration, and love in the spirit of Christ. Archives
July 2020
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Sunday Worship: 10 am Adult & Children & Youth Sunday School 9 am First Kids Mother's Day Out (Tuesday & Thursday; 8am to 2pm; Ages 1-3) Rev Pat Bell, Pastor First United Methodist Church Sealy
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