Thursday, June 5, 2008

BIBLE PLACE NAMES -- TRY IT --

THIS IS BET SHEAN



Short Tour of Place Names
South to North Old Testament (TaNaKh) to New Testament
You're going there, so you had better know where you are when you get there!

The time is quickly arriving when we will be almost able to smell the air of Israel in our imaginations. Here we are picturing the ElAl jet sitting there waiting to engorge us for the great ride to the Holy Land. We are going to be like Jonah in reverse. He was in the belly of a whale for three days before being spewed out onto the shores of his destination. He was running away when the whale caught him. We are convinced that we are running in the right direction, toward the land of God and His people. I some ways we are also like the Israelites leaving Egypt and going to the land of milk and honey. We are going to reach it in the opposite direction than the way that Joshua brought them in...we will coming in from the west and Joshua took them in through Jericho, southeast of Jerusalem. No matter, our whale will disgorge us in Tel Aviv and we will have two glorious weeks of intellectual, emotional and spiritual discovery. I'd like to have some fun with you now, just to let you have some fun to. I'll throw some place names out and you will either recognize them as familiar to you, or not. Ready?

Jerusalem Familiar
Bethlehem Familiar
Ein Gedi HHmmm?
Bethany Familiar
Gethsemane Familiar
Hinnom Valley HHmmm?
Abu Gosch HHmmm?
Qumran Familiar ??
Jericho Familiar
Bet Shean HHmmm?
Tiberias HHmmm?
Capharnaum Familiar
Caesarea Philippi Familiar
Cana Familiar
Nazareth Familiar
Caesarea Maritima HHmmm?

Since you have the Internet and you are familiar with Google, you might want to have a little preparatory fun and see what you can turn up about the places that did not ring a very clear bell with you. You can add a little spice to the game by asking yourself what biblical character(s) are associated with it and how, before you go to Google, of course.
We are preparing two orientation meetings before departure. The first one to get to know one another more than we do now...that should be easy. The second one will be a solid, down to earth orientation to the region itself. The date of the first meeting will be in early July (time, date and place TBD) and the second will be two weeks before departure.

If you have forgotten what the exchange rate between the dollar and the New Israeli Shekel is, you may click here for a quick report. I'll be getting back to you soon.

PS Your friends and neighbors only have three more weeks to register and get on board.

No comments: