1 Israel 2009 Days 1 and 2

Day 1/2 — USA • ISRAEL (Fri. March 13) TEL AVIV (Sat. Mar.14) • Depart from the Atlanta to Frankfurt, Germany to Ben Gurion Airport.

Meals and overnight on board.

• Tel Aviv LofB:5; B:183; My Notes: 1-2 • Arrive at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport (Lidda) and met our guide, Bernice Missulawin who welcomed us to the Land of the Bible and escorted us throughout our stay in Israel. Israeli guides are legendary for their knowledge and dedication. Bernice was really on top of her game and watching all the time to be sure we got the most out of every site! She says that it is the end of their rainy season and they are praying for more rain (but only at night so it does not ruin our trip… those prayers were often honored… we laughed about how the rain kept holding off until after dark :) April 2009 marks the first centennial celebration of the founding of Tel Aviv.

Tel - artificial hill of older cultures (implies age, destruction and rebuilding) Aviv - "Springtime (implies new life) from Ezekiel's prophecy of the dry bones Ezekiel 37:21-22 " then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms."

Story about Ben Gurion, 1st Israeli prime minister… "after the British pulled out the Syrian tanks began to descend on the farmers in Galilee and told B.G. that it would take a miracle for them to survive, his response, "Anyone who lives in this land and does not believe in miracles is simply not a realist…"

Lydda (is where Peter was when he got the message about Dorcas and came to Yaffa.

Visit Old Jaffa, the traditional home of Simon the Tanner, and from where Jonah sailed.

• Teaching about Peter in Jaffa: (3456, 3457) •

Yafo also spelled Jaffa or Joppa , Arabic Yafa major city and economic centre in Israel, situated on the Mediterranean coast some 40 miles (60 km) northwest of Jerusalem. Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as a

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Mediterranean coast some 40 miles (60 km) northwest of Jerusalem. Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 as a Jewish garden suburb of the ancient Mediterranean port of Jaffa (now Yafo), with which it was joined in 1950. By the beginning of the 21st century, the modern city of Tel Aviv had developed into a major economic and cultural centre. Tel Aviv–Yafo. ( 2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 4, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9071570

According to Christian legend, Jaffa was named after Noah's son, Japhet, who built it after the Flood. There are others who believe that the name derives from the Hebrew word "Yofi" - beauty. From archaeological discoveries and ancient documents we learn that Jaffa existed as a port city some 4,000 years ago, serving Egyptian and Phoenician sailors in their sea voyages. Historians believe that Jaffa is the only port in the world which can boast uninterrupted inhabitation throughout its entire existence.

• Many Biblical Sites are located approximately according to custom but Jaffa is certain...

• Royal Port (Only Port) The biblical account mentions that the cedars from Lebanon for the construction of King Solomon's Temple came in via Jaffa. (2 Chronicles 2:16) • And when wood was needed for the Second Temple it, too, arrived by way of Jaffa. (Ezra 3:7) • Jonah departed from this city in his flight from God. (2 Jonah 1:1-3:1) • Adjoining the territory of the tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:46) • Greek legend tells of the chaining of the beautiful Andromeda to the rocks facing Jaffa's shore.

• Jonah left Jaffa to run from God to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3) • Philip the Evangelist taught the Etheopian Eunci and then went to Caesarea Maritima by way of Yaffa… probably preached here before Peter.

• Simon the Tanner lived in Jaffa, (Acts 9:43) • Apostle Peter raised Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:42) • Had vision of the sheet of unclean foods which opened the door of evangelism of the Gentiles... left the next day for Caesarea Maritima (just like us)  God was fulfilling the next step of his promise to Abraham that "in you all the nations of the world will be blessed…" (Genesis 26:4) • Roman legions, Richard the Lion Hearted, Napoleon and Turkish sultans all conquered the city; but with the eclipse of the Ottoman Empire, the city's vitality declined. Pasted from <http://www.inisrael.com/tour/telaviv/jaffa.html> •

Crusade Church of St. Peter • Pictures:  St Peter's Catholic Church (3461)  Marking Historical Site outside St Peters (3466) • Belonged to Catholic church since 12th century; refurbished in 18th century.

• Napolean's troops in Acre (Akko) realized here that his dream of conquering the Eastern World would be stopped…left many soldiers dying of the plaque for the monks to care for.

• Pastor Reeder: We have all been raised like Dorcas, we should follow her example New Section 1 Page 2

• Pastor Reeder: We have all been raised like Dorcas, we should follow her example and begin serving immediately… We need to be like Peter and be ready to go where God sends us even when it is not something we might normally consider.

• Yaffa is at the Southern most end of the Plain of Sharon.

• Philistines were south of Jaffa in territory of Dan. Tribe of Dan moved up north toward Mt Herman.

• view of modern Tel Aviv (3468)

• Aladdin's Lighthouse (3469)

Travel to Natanya: Coastal Road to Herzilya • Yaffa was a walled city until the beginning of the 20th century (walls erected by the Turks) • Jerusalem (capital/Wash DC) Tel Aviv (business center/NYC) • Shabat begins when it is dark enough to see three stars.

• Jordan River supplies 60 % of the water to the Sea of Galilee which provides 1/3 of the water to all Israel.

• Israel has no natural energy resources except the sun. Solar panels used to heat water in tanks on the rooftops • Name "Palestine" comes from ancient "Philistine" • Railway spelled the end of the "Forests of Sharon" when all timber harvested and left only malarial swamps. (Major project of Israel: reforestation) • Herzilya - named for Theodore Herzil father of modern Zionism; expensive coastal homes; many foreign ambassadors choose to live here Spent the night in Natanya, capital of the Plains of Sharon, at the Blue Bay Hotel & Spa (3565, 3470, 3471).

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Via Maris is the modern name for an ancient trade route, dating from the early Bronze Age, linking Egypt with the northern empires of Syria, Anatolia and Mesopotamia — modern day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Its earlier name was "Way of the Philistines", a reference to a passageway through the Philistine Plain. At this point the Way branches into two Ways — one along the Mediterranean coast, through Megiddo, and the other following an inland route through the Jezreel Valley, the Sea of Galilee and Dan. "Via Maris" is Latin and means "the Way of the Sea". The name is based on a passage from the Vulgate (the New Testament in Latin translation) from the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 4 verse 15: the land of Zebulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles).

There is also a reference to the Via Maris ("the way of the sea") in Isaiah 9:1.

The King’s Highway was a trade route of vital importance to the ancient Middle East. It began in Egypt, and stretched across the Sinai Peninsula to Aqaba. From there it turned northward, leading to Damascus and the Euphrates River. Numerous ancient states, including Edom, Moab, Ammon and various Aramaean polities depended largely on the King's Highway for trade. The Highway is referred to in Numbers 20:17-21: Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King's Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.'"

Many of the wars of the Israelites against the kingdoms of the trans-Jordanian highlands during the period of the Kingdom of Israel (and its sister-kingdom, the Kingdom of Judah) probably were at least partly over control of the Highway.

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