July 27, 2018

To understand the Bible and God's plan for the future, you must visit the land of Israel

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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.

As David James reported it is an amazing study with Bible in hand to visit the land of the Bible. You see Israel past, touch Israel present, and visualize the Jewish state future. If you are able to visit Israel it will make your Bible come alive and help you to better understand God’s plan for the future in the location where the end time scenario will be played out.