Read: 2 Timothy 3:10-17 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/2-timothy/3.html)
Sing: This Little Light of Mine, UMH 585 Shrine of the Book The building’s white-tiled dome is shaped like the lid of the first jar in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were found at Qumran. In contrast nearby stands a black basalt wall. The black-white imagery symbolizes the theme of one of the scrolls – The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness. The rest of the structure, two-thirds of it below ground level, recalls the caves in which the scrolls were found. The Shrine of the Book holds all seven of the scrolls found in what is called Cave 1 at Qumran. A facsimile of the scroll of Isaiah, arranged around a huge elevated spindle, provides a dramatic centerpiece in the exhibition hall under the dome. Also in the collection is the Temple Scroll, the best preserved of the Qumran scrolls. At more than 26 feet long, it is the longest of the Qumran manuscripts. The Community Rule is the rule book for the group that wrote or copied the library of scrolls – believed to be a group of Essenes, a strict Jewish sect, who lived an austere lifestyle in their remote desert surroundings. The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Archeology Wing The museum’s permanent exhibition of archeology is devoted to the ancient land of Israel – home to peoples of different cultures and faiths for thousands of years. Presenting some 6,000 finds, mainly from archeological excavations in Israel, the Bronfman Archeology Wing tells a unique story arranged in seven chronological chapters, shedding light on momentous historical events, cultural achievements, and technological advances, while revealing the everyday lives of the peoples of the region from the Stone Age through the Ottoman Period. This was a really wonderful display of ancient artifacts that we did not have enough time to enjoy. We had to move quickly from one highlight to another. Perhaps I can visit again when I have more time to muse.
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Read: Nehemiah 6:15–7:3 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/nehemiah/6.html)
Sing: Shalom to You, UMH 666 The Israel Museum is the largest cultural institution in the State of Israel and is ranked among the world’s leading art and archeology museums. Founded in 1965, the Museum houses encyclopedic collections, including works dating from prehistory to the present day, in its Archeology, Fine Arts, and Jewish Art and Life Wings. The museum also features the most extensive holdings of biblical and Holy Land archeology in the world. Model of 1st Century Jerusalem Construction of the Model of Ancient Jerusalem was undertaken in the 1960s by Hans Kroch, owner of the Holyland Hotel, in memory of his son Jacob, who was killed in Israel’s War of Independence. Originally in the grounds of the hotel, it was transported in 1,000 pieces to its present site at the Israel Museum, three miles away, in 2006. The model covers about 43,000 square feet, using a scale of 1:50. A human figure on this scale would be about one and a third inches high. The time is 66 AD, the fateful year the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans erupted, resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This is also the time when Christianity was in its formative stages and the Dead Sea Scrolls were being created. The crucifixion of Jesus was only 36 years before, and the mound of Calvary can be seen just outside the Second Wall but well inside the new north wall begun by Herod Agrippa I. The ancient city was then at its largest, spreading over 440 acres – more than twice the size of the present Old City. Read: Ezekiel 47:1-12 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/ezekiel/47.html)
Sing: For the Beauty of the Earth, UMH 92 We had our lunch at Qumran National Park and then headed down to the shore of the Dead Sea. About half of our group wanted to float in the sea. Nader (our guide) told us not to think of it as swimming because he said we did not want to dive into the water or get our heads under the water. He did not explain why except to say that the extra buoyancy of the water, that is ten times as salty as ocean water, makes it very hard to stay under. I waded in and remained in a standing position as I paddled out to where I could not touch the bottom. I was floating without any effort with my armpits out of the water! The real reason for not diving into the water or putting your head underwater is that the water tastes terrible! Take my word for it – you do not want to get even a little bit of this water in your mouth or on your lips. I did get some in my mouth accidentally and it was horrible (it did not taste salty at all). I do not like the taste of alcohol but since one of my bus mates had a beer I asked if I could take a swig to get that horrible taste out of my mouth. I took a swig of beer and swished it around in my mouth and then rubbed some of the beer on my lips to get the taste off them as well – wonderful relief! The Dead Sea is quickly approaching the 1,400 feet below sea level mark. The water level is dropping an average of about three feet per year due to the diversion of fresh water from the Jordan River Valley into Israel and Jordan. This diversion of the inflow of fresh water also means the minerals in the Dead Sea (minerals like magnesium chloride and potassium in the form of potash which is harvested from evaporation pans at the southern end of the sea) become more concentrated – and make the water taste worse. There are no fish in the Dead Sea and very few boats operate here. The low humidity, high air pressure, therapeutic water, and soothing black mud still attract many visitors today as it did Herod the Great and Cleopatra in the 1st century BC. Some of our group used this time to treat themselves to a mud bath. Dead Sea skin products are popular in Israel and around the world. But the continued drop in water level is making it hard for the seaside spas to survive. One day this will all be healed. Read: Psalm 46 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/psalms/46.html)
Sing: Onward, Christian Soldiers, UMH 575 Like “an aircraft-carrier moored to the western cliffs of the Dead Sea” (Jerome Murphy-O’Connor) the palace/fortress of Masada floats on the eastern fringe of the Judean Desert between En Gedi and Sodom. A National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, this warship of the desert is topped by the ruins of Herod the Great’s luxurious residential palace on the north-facing prow. Elaborately designed and decorated, Herod’s palace cascaded in three tiers down the cliff face, each tier connected to the level below by a rock-cut staircase. On the western side of the warship’s 1,800 feet by 900 feet deck are the remains of Herod’s ceremonial palace and administrative center. The largest building on Masada, it covered nearly 54,000 square feet. Herod’s creature comforts included bathhouses and a swimming pool. The most elaborate bathhouse had a hot-room with the floor suspended on low pillars. Hot air from a furnace was circulated under the floor and through clay pipes in the walls. To supply water in this arid setting, a sophisticated system channeled winter rainfall from nearby wadis into huge cisterns quarried low into the northwest of the mountain. Water was then carried by men and beasts of burden up winding paths to reservoirs on the summit. The lower cisterns alone are estimated to have a capacity of over ten million gallons. Herod planned Masada as a palace stronghold and desert foxhole, and fortified it with walls, gates, and towers. He wanted a place of refuge in case the Jews should rebel against him, or the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra (who coveted Judea) should try to have him killed. Before Herod the Hasmonean’s had used Masada as a fortress and after Herod the Romans stationed a garrison here. One of the first events of the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans was the conquest of Masada by the Sicarii in 66 AD. The last of the rebels fled to Masada after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and joined those already at the fortress under the command of Eleazar Ben Yair. In 73 or 74 AD the Roman Tenth Legion Fretensis laid siege to the mountain-top fortress. The legion, consisting of 8,000 troops built eight camps around the base, a siege wall, and a ramp made of earth and wooden supports to the west. Captive Jews brought water and food to the troops, apparently from En Gedi. After a siege of a few months the Romans pushed a siege tower with a battering ram to the top of their ramp and broke through the rebels’ fortifications. They found that of the 960 rebels all but two women and five children had been killed or killed themselves. The Romans kept a force stationed here for another twenty-five or thirty years. After that Masada was left to the desert before a monastery of hermits was founded here in the 5th century. Two hundred years later the rise of Islam apparently led to the end of the monastery. Masada faded into history for over a thousand years until scholars identified the site in 1838. Some explorations occurred over the next one hundred years and then major archeological work began in the 1950s. Masada National Park opened in 1966 and the first cable car was built in 1971. Conservation and restoration work continues today. The complexity and luxury of Herod’s fortress/palace is overwhelming. The engineering is every bit as impressive as what was done at Herodium and on the Temple Mount. The work that the Romans did to breach this fortress is also extremely impressive. I would like to come back some time and watch the sound and light show they do on the west side of the mountain during the summer months. One of the great advantages to visiting Israel in the winter is how comfortable it was here at Masada and down at Dead Sea shore. Read: Psalm 119:105-112 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/psalms/119.html) Sing: Wonderful Words of Life, UMH 600 In the foothills on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea a Bedouin goat and sheep-herder by the name of Mohammed Ahmed el-Hamed threw a rock into a cave in an attempt to drive out a missing animal. The sound of breaking pottery drew him into the cave, where he found seven clay jars containing scrolls that had been wrapped in linen for nearly two thousand years. This happened in 1946. Eventually parts of about 850 scrolls were found in eleven different caves in the area. These ancient manuscripts were in various states of decay and completeness. Only a few were intact, the largest being more than twenty-five feet long. Most were written in Hebrew, some in Aramaic, and a few in Greek. Most were on parchment, with a few on papyrus. Their preservation had been aided by the hot, dry climate. The Dead Sea Scrolls include at least fragments of every book of the Old Testament except the book of Esther. They are the oldest existing copies of the Old Testament and they generally confirm the accuracy of later manuscripts. The non-Biblical scrolls give a new insight into the Jewish society in which Christianity began. The prevailing view is that the scrolls were written or copied by a devout group of Essenes, a strict Jewish sect formed in reaction to what they saw as the religious laxity of the Judaism practiced in Jerusalem. The Essenes at Qumran lived an austere lifestyle in their remote desert surroundings. Study of the Jewish law went on in shifts around the clock. The community gained the admiration of the Roman statesman Pliny the Elder, who wrote, “They are unique and admirable beyond all other peoples in that they have no women, no sexual desire, no money, and only palm trees for company. Owing to the influx of newcomers, they are daily reborn in equal numbers.” The Essenes believed the end of the world was imminent. They never married because they wanted to be ritually pure when the Messiah appeared. The Essenes arrived in the area towards the end of the second century BC. In 31 BC there was a serious earthquake and the sect abandoned the site. Within twenty-five years they returned and rebuilt. The Qumran community was driven from its wilderness retreat by the Romans in 68 AD, leaving its library of scrolls hidden in caves for safe-keeping. Ruins of the sect’s communal site remain, including an aqueduct, cattle pen, cemeteries, cisterns, dining hall, kiln, kitchen, laundry room, pantry, pottery workshop, ritual baths, stable, watchtower, and writing room. Members of the sect lived in huts and tents nearby or from time to time occupied the caves they had dug to practice isolation. After the discovery of the first scrolls archeologists began looking for the center of the Essene activity in the area. A team of French archeologists excavated the area between 1951 and 1956 and found additional scrolls and early structures. These finds supported the theory that Qumran had indeed been the nucleus of the Essene community. The site became a National Park in 1967. Read: Joshua 5:13 – 6:25 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/joshua/5.html)
Sing: How Great Thou Art, UMH 77 It is reputed to be the oldest town on earth. The Israelites brought down its walls with a great shout and trumpet blasts. Here Jesus healed Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, and dined with Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector. Cleopatra and Herod the Great both coveted this lush oasis and competed for its resources. The name Jericho means City of Palms and it still lives up to its name. Water from Jericho’s powerful perennial spring provides irrigation for abundant fruit, flowers, and spices. “When the orange and lemon trees are in bloom, in the spring, the air is so heavy with their perfume that the visitor is sure he could bottle some of it and take it home with him,” writes archeologist Godfrey Kloetzli. The spring is associated with the prophet Elisha, who purified its waters by throwing salt into it. In addition to being the oldest town on earth Jericho is also the lowest town on earth at over 820 feet below sea level. Tel al Sultan The first hunter-gatherers settled here around 9000 BC. Archeologists have unearthed the remains of more than twenty successive settlements at Tel al Sultan (or Sultan’s Hill), a sun-baked earthen mound a mile and a half north of the modern city of Jericho. The fifty feet tall mound was formed over the centuries as towns were destroyed and new ones were built on their rubble. The most striking discovery unearthed is a thick-walled stone tower, twenty-three feet high and twenty-five feet across, dating back to 7000 BC. Zacchaeus’ Tree Near the center of the city, a centuries-old sycamore tree recalls the incident in which the tax collector Zacchaeus, too short to see over the crowd, climbed a sycamore tree’s branches in order to see Jesus. The African sycamore fig should not be confused with the sycamore of Europe and North America, which is a different species. The Mount of Temptation The Mount of Temptation, with a gravity-defying monastery clinging to its sheer face, is traditionally regarded as the mountain on which Christ was tempted by the devil after his 40-day fast. The summit of the mount, about 1,200 feet above sea level, offers a spectacular panoramic view of the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, and the mountains of Moab and Gilead. Traditions dating from the 12th century place two of the devil’s temptings on the Mount of Temptation. The temptation to turn a stone into bread is located in a grotto halfway up the mountain. The offer of all the kingdoms of the world in return for worshipping the devil is located on the summit. We only had two or three hours in Jericho – I would like to come back and spend two or three days here! And then make the climb to Jerusalem. It is good to have dreams. Read: 2 Samuel 15:13 – 16:4 (lwww.biblestudytools.com/nrs/2-samuel/15.html)
Sing: Go, Tell It on the Mountain, UMH 251 The Mount of Olives, a long ridge to the east of Jerusalem, is the location of many biblical events. At nearly 2,700 feet above sea-level, it is Jerusalem’s highest point and offers unrivalled vistas of The Old City and its surroundings. The ridge, also called Mount Olivet, takes its name from the fact that it was once covered with olive trees. This day of touring Israel was the first bright, sunshiny day since we arrived in Jerusalem. Yet it was still cool enough that I wore a long-sleeve shirt and my windbreaker as we gathered for our group picture. There were only two of these people that I knew before this trip but we had a lot of fun together. We were a combination of four different groups from six different states. I think there is something about seeing these holy sites together that builds a bond between us. Our guide and our driver were so good to us and good at their jobs - I would go with these folks anywhere! After we were done taking our group picture there were vendors available for camel or donkey rides. James decided he wanted to ride a camel. He gave the vendor a nice tip and got a little extra time on the camel – what a wonderful experience! Until the destruction of the Temple, the Mount of Olives was a place where many Jews would sleep out, under the olive trees, during times of pilgrimage. During the siege of Jerusalem which led to the destruction of the city in 70 AD, Roman soldiers from the 10th Legion camped here. In Jewish tradition, the Messiah will descend the Mount of Olives on Judgment Day and enter Jerusalem through the Golden Gate. In this hope Jews have long sought burial sites on the Mount of Olives – there are more than 150k graves here now. Come, Lord Jesus Read: Psalm 88 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/psalms/88.html)
Sing: Rescue the Perishing, UMH 591 The lower two levels of The Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu are a guardroom/dungeon and a prisoner’s cell cut from the bedrock. If this is the site of Caiaphas’ home then this would have been where Jesus was held captive waiting for sunrise and the gathering of the Sanhedrin on the first Good Friday. The lowest level is a pit which served as a cell that could only been accessed from above using a harness and rope to lower and raise prisoners. Even if Jesus was not brought to this pit, Peter and John would have spent some time here and been whipped in the dungeon above. (Acts 4-5) The Ancient Stepped Street On the north side of the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu is an ancient stepped street which runs east and west down the steep grade of Mount Zion into the Tyropoeon Valley. These steps were uncovered during the archeological work done in the late nineteenth century. Just over one hundred yards of this street have been uncovered. This street may have continued to the bottom of the Tyropoeon Valley and the Pool of Siloam (see John 9). There is disagreement about just how old these steps are. Some scholars believe that they date to the time of the Second Temple and would have been in use by Jesus and his disciples as they traveled between the city and the Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, Bethphage, and Bethany. Others believe that this stepped street dates from the time of the construction of the Byzantine church in the fifth century. Thank God that we do not have to go to a certain place to walk with Jesus. Wherever we are and whatever our circumstances we can give ourselves to Jesus here and now. Devotional Trip – Day 5, Site 3 ... The Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu
Read: Mark 14:27-31, 66-72 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/mark/14.html) Sing: Freely, Freely, UMH 389 Gallus Cantus means cockcrow in Latin. So imagine being Peter when the cock crowed. We have all been where Peter found himself in that instant: in denial of our relationship with Jesus Christ; in denial of our place in his kingdom; in denial of his place in our lives and in our hearts. You and I might not put it into words as Peter did that night but we do act out our denial by doing things we should not do and saying things we should not say and by not doing things that we should do and not saying things we should say. You and I have been in Gallicantu! That is the power of this place. Even if you have never been in Israel you have been in Gallicantu – we all have. The Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu is in a relatively new building but it has a long history that is illustrative of many sites in the Holy Land: a major church built here in 457 was damaged in 529 during the Samaritan Revolt and destroyed in 614 by the Persians. It was rebuilt around 628 and destroyed in 1009 by the mad Caliph Hakim. The church was rebuilt around 1100 by the Crusaders and destroyed in 1219 by the Turks. Then a chapel was built, but it was destroyed around 1300. The present church was completed in 1931 and renovated in 1996. As you may be able to gather from the name given to this church it is believed that this is the site of the house of the high priest Caiaphas. Evidence for this includes the remains of buildings from the Second Temple period found in the midst of the foundation pillars of the 5th century church. Some of these remains are cut from the bedrock and include a kitchen, a silo, and a flour mill. Artifacts found include cooking pots, a complete set of weights and measures for liquids and solids as used by the priests in the Temple, coins from the Jewish revolt against the Romans, and a door lintel with the word “korban” (sacrificial offering) inscribed in Hebrew. The Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu is built on four levels, all built upon the steep eastern slope of Mount Zion. The top level is the main sanctuary. There is artwork everywhere including ancient mosaics uncovered in excavations of the site. The most spectacular art is the stained glass cross built into the domed roof and featuring a dazzling variety of colors. Down one flight of steps is a large chapel that seems to spring from the bedrock. This chapel is also decorated with many beautiful pieces of artwork and includes an opening in the floor which allows one to look down into the two lower levels. Through this opening you can also see three Byzantine crosses cut into the rock between levels. Read: 1 Chronicles 29:26-30 (www.biblestudytools.com/nrs/psalms/50.html)
Sing: I’ll Praise My Maker While I’ve Breath, UMH 60 Below the Upper Room is King David’s Tomb, minus King David. This state of affairs came to be through the confusion over the site of Mount Zion. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the banishment of all Jews from the new city of Aelia Capitolina in 135 AD, the original Mount Zion (the City of David) was lost to living memory, and the new Mount Zion (the Temple Mount) had become a garbage dump. Therefore, Mount Zion moved across the Tyropoeon Valley and along with it the sites which were supposed to be on Mount Zion. Let me try to be clear about this: the hills called Mount Zion haven’t moved, they are still right where they have always been. What has moved, is the name. There have been three hilltops called Mount Zion: the first was in the City of David; the second was where Solomon built the First Temple and where the Second Temple was built and where the Dome of the Rock now sits; the third hill called Mount Zion is this site of the Upper Room and King David’s Tomb. Since the Bible says that King David was buried in the City of David and since the City of David was on Mount Zion pilgrims looked for the King David’s tomb on what they thought was Mount Zion: they never found it. The Crusaders used three very old walls (from the 1st century church/synagogue cited in yesterday’s devotion) to create the tomb we see today. The real tomb of King David has never been found on the original Mount Zion or in Bethlehem or anywhere else. Over the centuries acceptance of this site grew among Christians, Jews and pilgrims. From 1948 until 1967, when Jews did not have access to the Western Wall, this was a major pilgrimage site and a focal point for prayers. As with the Western Wall, this site is divided into a side for men and a side for women. |
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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