Part One of our Trip to Israel

As a general rule, I do not post pictures of the most obvious sites. I try to post the more unusual ones.

Join me on this journey.
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Have never seen this. We have boarded in Athens Greece, but we are waiting for a passenger who is coming by ambulance to the plane. He is Israeli, injured in Greece, and they are bringing him back home to Israel. They have converted the back rows to a bed for him. Amazing. Israel leaves no one behind!

First time to be at Armageddon since Iran, so closely alligned with Russia, (Gog and Megog?) attacked Israel directly. I look at it a little differently now.

Location where the demons left the demoniac, went into the swine, and the swine went into the sea. East side of the Sea of Galilee.

When we get on Daniel Carmel’s worship boat on the Sea of Galilee, the Presence of Jesus is so powerful. My eyes get very “leaky.”

My 16 Thoughts and Observations on Israel’s Memorial Day (yesterday - May 13) honoring all who have fallen in battle, and Israel’s Independence Day (today - May 14; declaring its Independence May 14, 1948) celebrating its 76th birthday (although it is actually 3,000 years old).
1. Although I was here during the firing of rockets by Hamas in 2014, this time - during this intense war - is much more sobering and serious.
2. When we arrived, we were the only ones coming through passport control. Normally there are hundreds. It was empty.
3. Our flight was cancelled. Rosemary had to do many “workarounds” to get us here, which meant going from (as I posted before) San Diego - Newark, New Jersey - Frankfurt, Germany - Athens, Greece - Tel Aviv, Israel.
4. Usually there are lines of buses at each site. But now, we are usually the only ones there. Israel was drawing 4 million people per year. Now, almost none. (Additional note: Since posting, we have met one group from Brazil, one from Singapore and one other group from the U.S.)
5. Most sites are closed, and are opened just for our group.
6. We have gone to many of the large tourist/pilgrim restaurants, which are now empty except for us. It is shocking. And sad.
7. We are the only tourists/pilgrims at the hotels we have stayed in. All the rest of the people there are families, with lots of young children, all of whom have been displaced by the war, part of the 80,000 persons who have been evacuated from the north because of the threat of Hezbollah (as well as from the south because of Hamas).
8. Israel has been traumatized by October 7, by the rise of antisemitism globally, by Biden’s doublespeak, by Iran’s April 14 direct attack with over 300 missiles, drones, etc.
9. Israel was very united after the October 7 attacks. That is not necessarily the case now.
10. Israel is used to short wars. (Think “Six Day War” of 1967.) This much longer war has taken / is taking a toll on the nation.
11. The hotels apologize for not having as many young people on staff to assist. They are in the war. Our bus driver is way older than we have ever had. The others are in the war.
12. It is a somber atmosphere here. They describe some nights staying fully clothed, sleeping in recliner chairs, with backpacks beside them, ready to run for cover.
13. One ministry we talked to works with the few Holocaust survivors that are left. They are 90 to 100 years of age. They cannot move nearly fast enough to get to a bomb shelter. So they are equipped with backpacks to have beside them if they are trapped in a collapsed building, and are trying to survive until help can get them out.
14. We must stand with Israel.
15. God will stand with Israel.

Happy 76th Birthday Israel !

Mountains of Gilboa where Saul and Jonathan died in battle.Hill in picture below, where they were buried.(Significant, in part, because of the covenant between David and Jonathan - 1 Sam 18 - and the implications for Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth - 2 Sam 9)

For you Wesleyans: My late father - Burtis Garlow - was so proud that the Wesleyans were able to get permission from the Catholics nuns at the convent at the location of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, to post this memorial in honor of the Wesleyan’s 1978 Jerusalem Conference. (I came here with my father once, in 1981.)It has become a tradition for some of us to gather for a group picture at the plaque each time we come to this sacred site.

Looking east across the Jordon River at Jordon… at the Mountains of Gilead. Does anyone remember the old song, “There is a balm… in Gilead”? The balm refers to a healing substance like frankincense. In the song, it refers to Jesus or the Holy Spirit as a healer.

1. Mt Nebo - where Moses saw the Promised Land and died.
2. Elijah’s School of the Prophets where he trained them, and where he went to heaven as his mantel fell on Elisha
3. The Dead Sea - and right near the Jordan River inlet, the actual place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
4. The Valley of the Foreskins. The Israeli males born during the 40 years in the desert were not circumcised, so they were circumcised after they crossed the Jordan River but before they went to battle at Jericho.

Our new Jewish friend Rita expressed what all Israelis are feeling: Shock that the nations are turning against them. Her four sons were called into the IDF after October 7. Listen to her heart.

NO ONE (or almost no one) TALKS ABOUT THIS, or so it seems to me. BUT IT IS SIGNIFICANT.
Zechariah 14:7 and Ezekiel 47 together prophesy that in the end times, when Messiah comes, the Mount of Olives will split north and south, creating a huge east-west crevice, which will release the already existing aquifers to send water from Jerusalem west to the Mediterranean Sea and east to the Dead Sea.
The influx of massive amounts of fresh water will cause the Dead Sea to be able to support life, in contrast to its chemically laden, brackish water now.
There will be plant and animal life.
As an eschatological precursor, it has already begun to happen!
I have come to Israel 25 times, beginning in 1981.
In recent years, fresh water aquifers have formed, flowing under the mountains from Jerusalem to the edges of the Dead Sea, causing green foliage - trees & plants to miraculously grow (pictured), along the Dead Sea which presently allows no life to survive. Birds have moved in to the green foliage on the edge of the Dead Sea. They have brought fish eggs. Tilapia fish (St. Peters fish) are now along the edges of the once “dead” body of water.
This is, in my opinion, a glimpse of the prophesy. This is a type of “hors d’oeuvres,” sort of an “appetizer course” for the full prophecy yet to come.
In my opinion, this is one of the very important untold stories of Israel, another indicator that Messiah is coming!

With our great friend Aaron Lipkin. He is not merely in the IDF, he is a superb lecturer on biblical archaeology. So engaging.

Same pose. Same day. Different hours. Dead Sea. Israel.

DEAD SEA DYING. Thanks to the unfortunate policies of Bill Clinton, and the arrangements he coerced on Israel, the country of Jordan is siphoning off half the water of the Jordan River, thus the Dead Sea has been retreating for about 25 years, with the shoreline changing, and consequently massive sinkholes developing, including the land under two resorts which due to collapsing soil, had to be abandoned.
Policies have consequences. “Politics”
matters. This is a manmade problem. It was avoidable.

Prior to Bill Clinton’s Oslo Accords, Jews could live in or go to Jericho (which is quite possibly the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world). Now? No. Jews can’t go there. Tragic. Policies matter.

Shabbat dinner - Jerusalem. Families with small children all around us. Remarkable.

One of the most tender and moving places in Israel: the dungeon where Jesus was kept the night before he was crucified for my sins. Sobering.

I am an extrovert. I try to get acquainted with every person I meet, even on an elevator. If we are traveling at least 4 or 5 floors together, I will know their life history by the time they step off, and have made a new friend. (That used to embarrass my kids: “Dad, stop talking to everyone!”).
While we were at the Mount of the Beatitudes on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee a couple days ago, a group a short distance from us began worshipping before having communion, so we joined in singing with them from our location for our communion service, about 30 feet away. When the worship had ended we clapped, and hollered across the distance, “Thank you.” They all smiled back.
Today we were in Jerusalem in the dungeon where Jesus was held on the night before His crucifixion. That same group came out as we were ready to go in.
I introduced myself and asked who the leader was. They were from South Africa. The leader was Heinz Winkler who had won “African Idols” in its first year, 2002, the same year that Kelly Clarkson won “American Idol.” He went on to compete globally and came in 5th. He launched a pop music career. God called him to switch to worship music in 2016. Four years later God called him to plant a new church, so now he is a pastor. Google him.
We met so many people today - all of whom were strangers until we stopped and talked. Now we have a bunch of new friends.

IN JERUSALEM: Praise God President Trump refused to listen to all the cowardly, but instead chose to affirm Israel by moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv (not Israel’s capital) to Jerusalem (which IS Israel’s capital). Only VP Mike Pence, Sec of St Mike Pompeo and Ambassador David Friedman said “Yes, move it.”
All the others were driven by fear: “You will start WWIII.” It did not.
We were there on May 14, 2018 for the moving of the embassy on the 70th anniversary of Israel founding.
Jews were dancing for joy in the streets.

On Pentecost Sunday - in Jerusalem at the “southern steps” - where the Acts 2 Day of Pentecost occurred which launched the Church.

50 HUGE TUNNELS- LARGE ENIUGH FOR TRUCKS CARRYING ROCKETS! Egypt knew. And the U.S. had to know. What deceit. A total violation of the treaty of Egypt and Israel, brokered through the U.S. How could Israel ever trust our American leadership again? Tragic.

Remarkable Light Show at the Tower of David in Jerusalem.

TEARS. I have been to Israel 25 times, but I have never been moved more than I was today after hearing the story of Gush Etzion.
All the young people, young couples - after sending their children away to Jerusalem for safety - were all killed defending their kibbutz on the night of May 13, 1948, just before David Ben Gurion declared Israel’s independence on May 14, 1948.
The videos were jolting. All of us were in tears when it ended. The lit bunker is where the last ones were killed by the Jordanians.
18 months later, the Israelis retrieved the bodies.
19 years later, the children who had been sent to Jerusalem, came back to the abandoned kibbutz and reestablished it.
If you get to Israel, go there. Hear the story. Take Kleenex.

One of the greatest places to visit in Israel is the FRIENDS OF ZION (foz) Heritage Center in Jerusalem, built by Mike David / Mike Evans. This is a profoundly moving and impactful experience. If possible, go there as you are ready to leave Israel as this is a type of “commissioning” and “impartation” moment. So very moving.

Murdered

We were with the Red Heifer in Texas when just a young calf. Now we are seeing them in Israel, over 2 years old. Three of the five are still qualified. The actual Red Heifer ceremony’s timing is not known.

KNOWING THE MOUNTS OF JERUSALEM:
Mt Zion (sometimes refers only to Temple Mount, sometimes all of Jerusalem, sometimes the area west of Temple Mount);
Mt Scopus (location of Hebrew University, connected to Mt of Olives)
Mt of Olives (location of Garden of Gethsemane, location of the ceremony on the Red Heifer - 2,000 years ago and soon again, the correct location for the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus [it is not the other locations that some have suggested], and the location of the Second Coming of Messiah);
Mt of Scandal (location where Solomon’s concubines were kept);
Mt of Evil Counsel (location where Judas hung himself, headquarters of the United Nations)

The amazing Joseph Bau Museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Joseph and Rebecca Bau were the couple who got married in the Schindler’s List movie.) Their daughters - who are like sisters to Rosemary- operate the world’s smallest museum, but is wonderful. Joseph Bau was the Walt Disney (animator) of Israel. He was a genius. He was passionate about laughter and loving life. Watch for the new movie BAU, ARTIST AT WAR. We went to the preimere in Florida in February. It is great. When in Israel, see their museum.

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Blessings,
Dr. Jim Garlow
CEO/Founder
Well Versed

Rosemary Schindler Garlow
Co-Founder
Well Versed