JD: You started out in Jerusalem and take it from there. What have been some of your impressions of Jerusalem, the highlights of your time in exploring the city and how you think these things have helped you as a student of the word of God and as a Bible teacher?
DJ: My impression driving around in a car where I was on my own vs. being in a big tour bus they were quite different. You don’t really get what’s going on around you, you just have somebody take you when you’re on a big tour bus. But with some of these smaller tours that we’ll be taking in vans it was very important for me to learn how to drive around the city.
From a Biblical prospective try to put yourself back even
into the Biblical times the time of Christ but thinking about standing on the
Mount of Olives where the Lord is going to return and looking west to where the
Temple is going to stand. And right now the Dome of the Rock is there and we
know that that is going to have to come down for the rebuilding of the Temple
and then thinking about the millennial Temple. Looking across the Kidron Valley
and thinking about all these things that took place it just challenges you to
really dig into the word of God even more.
JD: Then after Jerusalem you travel down to the Jordan River
Valley, to Jericho, then to see the site where Jesus is thought to have been
baptized, over then to the Dead Sea then South to Qumran and on into Ein Gedi.
What were your thoughts on these places?
DJ: I had never actually driven up to Jericho before and what I
found was of course the tour buses don’t go there and what I found was there
was a big red sign that says this is Palestinian territory which I thought was very
ironic. The very first city that was given to Israel by God is now prevents
Israeli citizens from even entering into that town. To stand where Jesus was
baptized is an awesome thing. To see the extent of the Dead Sea, one day will be
made fresh water and fisherman will actually catch fish there where no fish can
live. To see what God’s going to do during the millennial. Going to Qumran and
thinking about how much that confirms that the Bible has been preserved over
the millennia. And then down to Ein Gedi where David escaped from Saul. Again
just an amazing thing to see all of these things in person.
JD: David James just back from Israel with his impressions on
his visit to the Land of the Bible.
We report this information because it is setting the stage
for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
