Day 9

We apologize for the delay in getting the rest of the Israel trip blogged! Forgive us! Let's see, where were we...ahhh, yes—Israel Day 9...December 20th • First stop on this day was the valley where the Philistines came to battle against Israel, by using their "weapon" that they thought would guarantee victory, Goliath. Elah valley views made it easy to envision the battle that took place. There was a little brook (with no water in it) where it was likely that David picked up his stones from. Ronnie shows us how a sling was used. Great visual! (click to watch video below!)

1 Sam 17: By man's qualifications David was not fit for battle. BUT David had the Lord—that was his strength. Wow. • Next stop was the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. This was where Jesus healed the man who was invalid for 38 years! The pool had 5 balconies (can represent the 5 books of the Torah, the law). The lame and sick would be located around the pool and wait until the pool was stirred by an angel touching the water and then first one into the water would be healed. It was really healing of the "fittest"—the more you need healing the harder it is to get in (this can often be the case in churches as well). There was no way this man was going to make it in the pool first. Jesus chose to show mercy to him. The man couldn't DO anything to get healed, Jesus came to him and healed him.

We then had one of the favorite moments of the trip when we stepped into a church right by this site. Churches used to be made to really give glory to God through the acoustics, and this one did just that. The eight of us went in and sang out worship songs and sat there in the pews with an awe struck wonder at the sound of voices in harmony traveling up through the church's barrel vaulted ceiling up to the Lord. It was an amazing time!We traveled through different "quarters" in Jerusalem—going through many marketplaces that were full of color and interesting people.We had these yummy bagel-like things along the way. (they were less dense than bagels)In the evening we went to a service in Jerusalem. It was here where we learned about the origin's of Hannukah. We didn't realize that Jesus actually celebrated Hannukah—the feast of dedication. • Next up, Day 10 (coming close to the end of the trip!)