Bro. Ben is spending a year in Israel and has been keeping track of his experiences in the form of a running journal. Following are excerpts from his record of a trip to the north of Israel.

The Golan
Last weekend I went to the Golan as part of a trip organized by my school. When we reached the Golan I immediately realized why they told us to bring a lot of water. It was burning up hot outside, and immediately you felt the water just being sucked out of you as your body tried frantically to cool you down.

The Golan is an area east and north of the Sea of Galilee. It is a heavily disputed territory because it was taken by Israel as part of the advances made during the Six-day war. It is an extremely strategic area because of the mountains that run along the east of it. It’s a natural barrier to tanks and land soldiers. It is also a beautiful place.

The bus took us to the beginning of a trail where we were going to hike. The hike went over, down, and around a small river. The area was looking rather rain-starved, as Israel had a poor winter last year. Still, water flowed down the middle of the valley. The trail was beautiful and a bit challenging, although without a full backpack on I couldn’t call it hard. The thing you had to watch out for was dehydration with so much walking in the sun.

We came first to a natural dam where a pool had developed. This is where we stopped to have lunch. I decided to go for a swim first and was one of the first to jump in. It was great as I let the cool water suck the heat of my body. It was completely refreshing, and felt like I had a chunk of paradise there. I got out and ate. There’s no need to dry off with the Israeli sun in the sky.

While still waiting for everyone else to finish up I started up a conversation with an Israeli who was there as well. He was a soldier who decided to go for a hike on his off day. We talked about the Golan and peace and he asked me if I wanted to join the Israeli army to which I gave him my reasons why not. I was afraid of offending him, but instead as the conversation ended he said in Hebrew “ata achi” which translated means “you’re my brother.” I thought this a rather touching moment, and I thought about it a lot as I walked on.

About a kilometer and a half later we came to the top of a ridge over which stood a hundred foot waterfall. It was so beautiful and we all pulled out our cameras. To our great surprise our hike leader told us we were hiking down there. It was very steep and in one place we needed a ladder, but when we reached it we were all breath taken. I immediately dove in and swam to the waterfall and let the water hit me in the head. I swam down deep to where the water was the coldest, giving a half effort to touch the bottom till my lungs ached from lack of oxygen, in which case I swam up, took another breath, and went down again. I was so happy there, it was just an unbelievable place. We eventually had to leave and finished the last three or so kilometers of the hike without a hitch.

The sea of Galilee
The bus then took us directly to the Sea of Galilee. I wish sincerely that I could relate to you all the different things that were going through my head as I first stepped into it’s waters. The wind was mildly strong at the time and the lake had incredible waves for its small size. Some of the waves broke at two feet. And this was not even in a very strong wind. The lake stood like a bowl surrounded by hills and mountains and the wind whipped it up as it came over the tops of the mountains. Immediately what came to mind was Christ’s own words, “Peace, be still,” and his disciples’ own amazement that even the winds and waters obeyed him.

I also imagined Christ standing there on the shore calling out to the disciples, “Cast your net on the right side,” and later, “I will make you fishers of men.” The sea is a shallow lake and you can walk out a very long way before needing to swim, so if Christ was calling from shore the disciples could have only been in very shallow water. This makes the miracle of the catch all that more impressive because how would you ever expect to catch any fish in six feet of water, yet the nets were full. And it’s also easy to imagine Peter running out into the water and pulling the catch to shore. One other thing to be said about the sea is that it is very warm. Yet it is still refreshing.

A nighttime swim
That night I decided I was going to come back and take a picture across the Sea toward Tiberias on the other side. So I set up my tripod and put the setting on for the shutter to stay open. While the picture was exposing, I couldn’t resist the urge to go out in the water. It was so warm and wonderful and the moon was so bright that night. That night was the evening before Ashleigh Lonson’s baptism, so I said a prayer for her there in the water of the Sea, after which I dove in. I can’t really explain it but, all alone at night out there in the middle of the Sea, I felt very connected to God, and when I dove in I felt cleansed somehow. I thought about the many brothers and sisters in early Christian times who would have been baptized in this very lake. Recently Bro. Duncan Heaster baptized a sister in the lake. It was very personal and something I very much would like to experience again. After I got out, again with no towel, I let the hot air dry me.

The Israel Museum
Today was a big day, as I went to the Israel Museum for the first time. The Dead Sea scrolls are just fantastic, and it’s amazing how they are preserving them. Part of the museum is an in-depth look at Essene culture, and actually many comparisons are presented between it and Christianity. They have small portions of the scrolls on display, and the complete replica of the Isaiah scroll, which when rolled out doesn’t look very large. The timing between the finding of the scrolls and the restoration of the Jewish state is absolutely astounding, and my view is that it’s a miracle from God, because contained within that very scroll of Isaiah is a prophecy that this would all come to pass.

The museum was huge and it was much more than anyone could take in a day, but I plan to go back. Unfortunately they don’t allow pictures, therefore I couldn’t take photos of any of the scrolls, so you all will just have to go yourselves. There was also a very interesting exhibit on the crusader period, and the crusader kingdom.

Ben Brinkerhoff, Jerusalem, Israel
April 1999