Still enjoying the glow of memories from our travels in Israel and Jordan, it is time for retrospection. For many years my brother guided groups of Holy Land travelers as a ministry adjunct. We did not participate in any of those tours. They were offered during my prime early spring classroom teaching time. Looking back, however, perhaps a more diligent effort to gain leave time would have been in order. My brother had told me there was lots of science to blend with the faith-affirming consequences of walking where Jesus walked. He was right.
Let’s talk about three g’s for starters: Israel’s geography, geomorphology, and geology. The progression of g’s takes us from knowledge of locations and physical features of the land and the people living there, to a more detailed description of visible surface features, and finally to the more basic science of geology--what ancient and ongoing forces have birthed and molded complex features such as Israel’s mountains, deserts, valleys, rivers, and seas? There is enough knowledge to be acquired in these areas to necessitate several lifetimes of detailed study.
In technology research and agricultural innovation Israel is a world leader. Discussions of applied science in areas such as the future of the Dead Sea dominated several of our bus tour discussions. Under serious consideration is a plan to transport water from either the Red Sea or the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea. This unique water body is 1377 feet below sea level and is rapidly evaporating. Gravity would accomplish the task. We’ll discuss the many potential benefits of such a plan in another post. Israel’s thriving agriculture was a joy to behold. Innovations and advancements by Israel’s agricultural technologists have also become a model for the world.
Visits to dozens of archaeological sites (archaeologists are scientists), together with the prophetic scriptural expertise of Dr. Jimmy DeYoung made the many locations we visited spring to life in ways we could not have imagined. These sites bespeak biblical events of long ago as well as events yet to come.
Israel has been reconstituted as a nation in only the past sixty years after two millennia. The existence of the city of Jerusalem, having been conquered thirty-six times in the past three millennia, and even the nation of Israel itself, is a divine miracle beyond human explanation. I must report to my readers that both Israel and Jerusalem are alive and well.
