Arriving in Israel

As you regular visitors know, this is a devotional, exegetical bible-study sort of blog.  Due to my present circumstances, it is going to look more like a travel blog.

At 5:05 p.m. local time, my two friends and I arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.  Just writing those words seems unreal.  My very confused body only adds to the surreality of the experience.  Local time is now 8:30 p.m., as I begin this post.  That is seven hours ahead of good old Eastern Standard.  Even though I was able to sleep for about six hours on the plane (it's an 11-hour flight from JFK to Tel Aviv), I'm going to head off to bed after finishing this first entry.  None too soon....

It was pouring rain when we arrived.  Our driver, Jiries, commented how unusual it was for them to get such a "gully washer".  (You can imagine he did NOT use that terminology...) . I replied that we had just brought "showers of blessing".  :)

Arriving in the neighborhood where our rented flat is, we tried to find it with no success.  The locals who were renting it to us via Airbnb were not answering the phone.  In the pouring rain, my close friend from childhood, Debbie, and Jiries were wandering around trying to find the place.  It was tense for a few minutes.

Our neighborhood lies within walking distance of the Old City.  In fact, and I'll take a picture in the daylight tomorrow, you can see the Temple Mount from our balcony.  The neighborhood used to be near the border between Israel and Jordan, years ago before the war, and snipers would regularly shoot down onto targets from the tops of buildings.  Chris, Debbie's 17-year old nephew (and my other traveling companion), read online that the Israeli Black Panther party was founded in this neighborhood.  The upper floors of the buildings are newer than the lower ones.  Our flat is on the 3rd floor.

Jiries drives a Skoda, which is a manual transmission car (a newer model) made in the Czech Republic.  He is a very capable driver, based on his driving us from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this evening.  He will be taking us on tours for part of this week that we are here.  Because we arrived at the start of the Sabbath, the airport was and the roads have been practically deserted.  Driving near Old Town Jerusalem we saw many Orthodox Jews walking, wearing their ecclesiastical regalia, including big black hats (tonight with rain slickers over them).  Visitors to orthodox neighborhoods must enter on foot.  No vehicles are allowed, and we are not sure if that is merely a Sabbath phenomenon or not.

I stared at the walls of the Old City, straining to see through the car's rain-strewn windows.  The city walls were last rebuilt in the 1541 by an Ottoman Turk who ruled the Ottoman Empire for over 40 years, Suleiman the Magnificent.  Jerusalem has 8 city gates, including the oldest....the Eastern Gate (also called the Golden Gate or the Mercy Gate) which faces the Mount of Olives and which was sealed shut by Suleiman in 1541.  Suleiman was one of the greatest of the Ottoman caliphs, and he ruled the empire for 46 years.

Perhaps the holiest gate in all the city, Jews have long predicted that when their Messiah comes He will enter through the Eastern Gate.  (Is there any wonder Suleiman sealed it?)  Suleiman was too late, though.  Jesus entered the city through the Eastern Gate on Palm Sunday, riding on the back of a donkey.  Messiah has already entered through that gate in triumph, (see Matthew 21) with worshippers shouting, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

Zechariah 14:4, Ezekiel 43:4 and 44:1-3  and 46:12 are all passages/verses that are interpreted by Bible scholars as being messianic prophecies and some having dual fulfillment.  Jesus fulfilled some OT prophecies when when he entered the city through the Eastern Gate on the first Palm Sunday.  Because Zechariah 14:4, a "return of Jesus Christ" or "second coming" scripture, indicates that His feet will not only touch down on the Mount of Olives but will literally split the mount in two, it goes to follow that He would afterwards enter the city again by the Eastern Gate.  Scriptures even describe it as being sealed (centuries before that occurred).  How marvelous to anticipate that great day when it will be opened yet again, on the day Messiah returns!

Shabbat Shalom!  And, good night.....