Day 7 Passover Dinner at Bethel Shiloh Biblical Garden

Came to Bethel in the present Palestinian Autonomous Region. It is recorded in Chapter 28 of Genesis that Jacob fell asleep here. "He dreamed that a ladder stood on the ground, with the top of the ladder touching the sky, and an angel of God was on the ladder, going up and down." This ladder represents Jesus in the New Testament, connecting people with God, so that people can get God's blessing through him, and God can get a built home on the ground.

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I met two Jews on the road. One returned to Israel from New York in 1993, and the other returned from Canada. I listened to their experiences. There are Muslim villages around here. In early years, there were road bullies ambushing Jews, which was especially dangerous. There are many weeds and thorns around. You should be very careful when walking.

Then we went to Shiloh in Ephraim, the ancient capital of Israel, where Hannah crossed her husband to pray to God for a son in the book of Samuel. The twelve tribes of Israel plotted their land here and set up the tent of God.

Shiro is also very dangerous. I heard that bulletproof glass was needed when driving here a few years ago.

I happened to meet David Rubin, the former mayor of Shiloh, and some of his books were sold in the store nearby. In 2001, he and his son were attacked by terrorists. He survived the attack and devoted himself to children's charities. His book supports Trump, criticizes the incompetence of the Democratic Party, and vividly depicts his despair after being injured and the inaction of Israeli officials. He makes me feel very good at telling stories.

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We visited the ruins of the Samuel tent and the place where the Israelites worshipped God in the wilderness.

There was an episode on the way back to Israel. The border police got on the bus and asked the passengers to check their passports. They seriously questioned whether they had brought gifts, whether they had self-defense weapons, and whether anyone had joined or left on the way. This further exaggerates the tension on the border.

The last attraction of the day is the Bible Garden near Imam Wusi. This area is inhabited by about 20000 Messianic Jews, Jews who believe in Jesus. They were expelled by the Jewish community for their faith, and the Muslims in Palestine next door were also hostile to them, so they were in a very bad situation.

There are tools for pressing olives and making wine in the garden, and a small pond. Believers witnessed that when they met half a month ago, several Jews threw frogs at them. Instead of fighting back, they prayed for these people. The children also went to see if the frog was hurt. It was a living witness that they were released into the pond in the garden.

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In the restaurant of the Bible Garden, we wore the robes of the Jesus era and ate a Passover dinner in the Jesus era with pottery bowls.

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For the "Last Supper", people's impression largely comes from Leonardo da Vinci's famous paintings, that is, "I want to book 26 seats, but we only have 13 people", all of whom sit on the same side. In fact, the real dinner scene may be more similar to a concave low table, with people sitting around the table on three sides.

Let's talk about the seats for dinner. Jesus is the master, sitting second from the right. John sat first from the right and could lean on Jesus' chest (John 13:25), while Judas sat on Jesus' left hand. How sad Jesus should be that the most trusted person around betrayed himself. Peter sat at the end of the left side, very proud and charming.

Jesus brought water to wash everyone's feet. Peter said proudly, "Lord, will you wash my feet?"

Jesus answered, "If you do not wash, you will have no share with me."

Peter said proudly, "Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and head!"

Jesus said that foot washing was enough, and taught his disciples that the greatest should be the smallest. (John 13)

In the era of Jesus, people should lean against the soft collapse, support their body with their left arm to keep balance, and take food with their right hand. However, my hands are too short to reach the table. They ate unleavened cakes, chicken and vegetables, and grape juice pretending to be red wine.

Drink with Crystal on the roof of the hotel in the evening. Holding liquor and figs, I said that I asked Sister Lily that figs represent the sweetness and richness of Christ's life. Let's go to enjoy Jesus on the roof.

Day 8 Sde Boker and Balan

Early in the morning, I left Jerusalem in the middle of Israel, took a car south to the Judean mountains, and arrived at Kibbutz, a Jewish community in the desert called "Sde Boker". At the beginning of the founding of Israel, settlements like Kibbutz gradually emerged, forming a collectivist industrial and agricultural system. There are more than 400 people in this Kibbutz, who live a commune like life. They eat, live and live together every day, and are respectively responsible for laundry, cooking, farm work and so on. Unity and friendship, regardless of you and me. We ate highland barley and watermelon for lunch, and then went to visit the wilderness.

Under the guidance of God, Moses took two million Israelis out of Egypt. He followed the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, built accounts, and wandered in the wilderness for forty years. When we arrived in the wilderness of Zin, there was really nothing to eat, so God sent mana down from heaven to Israel.

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Think about the romantic color of manna, which is scattered in the wilderness like white frost. It looks like ice cream everywhere. Later, I heard that none of it is delicious. It has to be processed after picking it up. It tastes no better than dry bread. The worst thing is to pick it up in time. Pick it up every day, or it will be broken after two days.

Manna represents the word of God, which needs to be constantly read as a supply and updated. Forty years of monotonous wilderness life tempered the Israelis and finally arrived in Meidi.

"You should also remember the LORD your God. The journey that led you in the wilderness these forty years is to test you and test you, to know how your heart is, to keep His commandments and not to test him. You should let yourself starve and give you manna, which you and your ancestors did not know, so that you can know that man does not live by food alone, but by everything that comes out of the mouth of the LORD. In the past 40 years, your clothes have not worn out and your feet have not swollen. "(Deuteronomy 8:2-6)

Too bad. There is nothing to eat in the wilderness. It's super hot. We can't complain. The Bible is set to complain that there will be fire snakes. Too bad, too bad.

Different from the scattered small trees in Zin Desert, the wilderness of Paran looks flat and open, and it is also the place where the Israelis passed when they came out of Egypt (Numbers 10 to 12).

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The Makhtesh Ramon was once a vast ocean, retaining the remains of ancient marine life. Later, the sea floor was lifted and washed by water to form a basin, showing red and green minerals.

Day 9 Dead Sea Tel Aviv

En Gedi, which means "the spring of the lamb", is located in the wilderness of Judah on the west bank of the Dead Sea.

According to the book of Samuel, Saul, the king of Israel, wanted to get rid of his competitors and go to En Gedi to capture David. As a result, he went into the hole of the sheepfold alone and met David and his followers. David could have killed Saul, but he only cut off the corner of his opponent's robe. Saul was filled with remorse and burst into tears.

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The Dead Sea originates from Mount Hermon in northern Israel and flows southward into the Jordan River. Because the volatilization is far greater than the inflow, the salt content of water is as high as 34%; And because it is more than 400 meters below the sea level, the oxygen above the water surface is very abundant.

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The Dead Sea floats. The skin is a little sore when the salt water is too salty. Hurry up to the shore and hold the fluffy little camel to suppress the shock.

The next stop is Joppa. God sent Jonah to preach the gospel in Nineveh. Jonah refused and was swallowed by a big fish. After three days and three nights, he vomited it out to Joppa. Finally, he had to go quietly.

The port is close to Tel Aviv, and tall buildings stand not far from the winding coastline. Crystal and I took the time to visit the city. In the park, many people are wearing rainbows, and the big decibel sound is playing music with a sense. Walking toward the downtown, I had the illusion of returning to New York. Unlike Jerusalem, it embodies a fast and dynamic lifestyle everywhere, just like other international metropolises.

Beyond the world of religion and belief, Israel has a scientific and modern side. Its information engineering and life sciences are at the forefront of the world, and the famous Technology Israel Institute of Technology and Weizmann Institute of Science, as well as Google, Apple, Microsoft, IBM and other companies have headquarters in Israel.

The experience in the milk flowing place a few days ago showed us how Israel can cope with water shortage. There are rows of rubber drip irrigation pipes attached to the roots of small plants all over the road, and the water supply is completely controlled by computers. I also personally experienced Israel's seawater desalination technology. Although the water is not good to drink, it is also a miracle in dry land.

For dinner, everyone invited the driver, Amigo, to eat together. Crystal and I, as well as other children, were sitting outside the restaurant. We didn't know what was happening in the room. We saw two brothers holding Amigo and singing Hallelujah to praise the Lord. Amigo said reluctantly that we should leave him, so depressed