TUESDAY
NOVEMBER 4
ARRIVE IN ISRAEL & JERUSALEM
Welcome to the Promised Land. You have arrived at Ben Gurion Airport, located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
When you arrive in Israel, you may hear the passengers around you applaud the pilot for bringing them safely to the homeland.
When you exit the aircraft, you will eventually come to a long series of moving walkways. At the end of those moving walkways, you will see scanning machines on the left and right side of the hallway.
Step in line, insert your passport, look into the camera, and a little blue and white ticket will be spit out from the machine. keep this little piece of paper very secure. It is your entry pass into Israel. You will need it throughout your trip.
It’s always a good idea to snap a picture of it on your phone to keep it handy.
From there, follow the crowds through a series of walkways. Eventually, you will come into a grand entryway with beautiful Jerusalem stone surrounding you.
At the bottom of the walkway turn right to proceed through immigration.
Once you have collected your bags and exited customs, a Philip’s House representative will be standing ready to welcome you to Israel.
Keep an eye out for someone with a Philip’s House shirt holding a sign that says Philip’s House.
There is a coffee shop immediately to your right. That will be our gathering point. It’s easy to order something to drink and eat from the touch screens. There will be restrooms and your adventure in Israel will begin.
Travel up to Jerusalem. Jesus, as an observant Jew, visited Jerusalem 3 times each year to celebrate Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. In the Gospels, 7 different visits to Jerusalem are recorded.
Your trip is called an aliyah or ascent upward, because Jerusalem is 2,474 feet above Sea Level. Factor in the depth of the Dead Sea at 1,300 feet below Sea Level and Jerusalem stands 3,774 feet above the lowest point of the land. The Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134) were written to be sung on your way up.
Stop in to view the Dead Sea scrolls at the Shrine of the Book and watch your imagination come alive with the Model of Jesus’ Jerusalem at the Israel Museum.
Your evening will be at Leonardo Hotel Jerusalem near the Damascus Gate and the Old City.
Meditate Scriptures
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1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
4 Restore our fortunes, Lord,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.
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1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord[a];
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.[b]
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”9 You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[c]
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who can fathom the Spirit[d] of the Lord,
or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
or showed him the path of understanding?15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.18 With whom, then, will you compare God?
To what image will you liken him?
19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A person too poor to present such an offering
selects wood that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
to set up an idol that will not topple.21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.