We had never talked about it before this past year, and I never seriously considered making such a trip before. It just so happened that as I expressed in earlier posts to this blog, having spent so much time listening to all of the available podcasts from Brian Zhand, pastor of Word of Life Church , and also the teachings from the BEMA discipleship podcasts, it has sparked an interest in going on a tour to see the land of the Bible.
It mostly originated with hearing Brian talk about his previous tours, (some 26 or more times) and some of the sites that they visit. One site in particular is called "Tel Megiddo". It is called that because there are 26 generations of cities built on top of each other dating back thousands of years, and each layer is called a "Tell, or Tel" or generational levels from which archaeologists are able to discover the artifacts from these previous cities.
It has become famous among most modern bible teachers as the future site of a so called "Battle of Armageddon" in which according to those who do not properly interpret Scripture will tell of a battle in which Jesus will wipe out an army of 200 million people with a sword coming out of His mouth while riding a white horse! Much of this nonsense has been promoted by the "Left Behind" series because of a literal interpretation of the book of Revelation. Such an interpretation ignores the whole nature and character and purpose of the life and ministry of Jesus!! And it presents God as wrathful and vengeful on a creation of His own making, and to which John tells us instead that God SO LOVED the world! God is LOVE and is demonstrated in the life of Jesus! And while I was originally taught that same vengeful story-line decades ago, I have long since rejected such nonsense, and found that Brian Zhand speaks of a Jesus who would rather die for His enemies than to kill them...such preaching resonated with my own beliefs, that I told Cindi... this is the person I want to visit Israel with! And with that, plans were made to go on this trip.
We were certainly NOT disappointed. When Brian and Peri announced the tour, it was full within 24 hours. So they graciously agreed to open up a 2nd back to back tour, which we booked. Sure there were many more sites to see, and you can't see them all in one trip, but I was so impressed by the schedule of what we did see and do, that it more than exceeded our wildest expectations! I don't feel like we missed out on anything! I even got to float on the Dead Sea!! But I was not one of the more hearty souls who braved the cold and were baptized in the Jordan River. Brrr.
One of the highlights of the trip, after we had visited Mt. Carmel, and Mt. Arbel, after we went for a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, and went to the Mt of the Beatitudes, and after we visited the ruins of Ceaserea, and Magdala, (the home of Mary of Magdalene), after we visited many churches, and visited Qumran, and was on the Mt. of Olives, and walked down the path of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and visited the Garden of Gethsemane, and walked the Via Dolorosa, and visited the Garden Tomb, along with many more sites in-between, the last item on the tour was, we went to Hell and back!
Did you want to re read that last sentence? Does it sound like I am being facetious? Well, provocative maybe, but I am serious. One of the other reasons for our going on this trip was Brian's descriptions of going to this literal place of Hell, which was antithetical to at least what most of the churches teach as hell.
"Gehenna" or the valley of Hinnom, used to be a place of child sacrifice to the god of Molech, This valley afterwards became the common receptacle for all the refuse of the city. Here the dead bodies of animals and of criminals, and all kinds of filth, were cast and consumed by fire kept always burning. Jesus was warning Jerusalem, that unless they repented, their city would be destroyed and become a pile of refuse like this Gehenna dump "where the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die!" It was not meant by any means to indicate a literal fiery place of eternal torment for all those who did not trust in Jesus for their salvation which has been the threat of the vast majority of church teaching for centuries. Such teaching has defamed the very nature and character of God and has kept more people from believing in the immutable love of God than has ever drawn them to Him.
This is a picture of (left to right) Cindi, Peri Zhand, myself, and Brian Zhand in Hell. Or at least what used to be Gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom, or the city dump for Jerusalem.
Notice the sign in the right side background... No fires allowed! So much for the fiery torment that is threatened, and the place of the so called "last day bar-b-que!
As Brian has mentioned, even hell has been redeemed, and is now a park and a place to visit and have a picnic!
This is one of some 1600 pictures and videos, and I am in the process of sorting out some of the best to put together a type of video-photo journal of the experience. And when I finish doing that, I will be sure to post links to it in a future post where I will write again of the Brian And Peri Zhand Israel Tour 2022.
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