Masada, En-Gedi, and Qumran!

Greetings Everyone,

Well I just emerged from 3 days in the Shephelah and the desert wilderness, and I am exhausted. So much to update you on, and so little time. First, I’m in the process of adding approximately 250 new photos to my yahoo site. These will contain the highlights of the past 3 days. Locations featured will be: Masada, En-Gedi, Qumran, Beth Shemesh, the Temple at Arad, and many more. Please check out my photo site at:

http://photos.yahoo.com/robkol2

I will be updating this throughout the week, so please check back frequently. I got really close to some Ibex at En-Gedi, and got a great close up of one. Seeing the Ibex scale the steep jagged cliffs is amazing. It definitely reminds you of Habakkuk 3:19, probably words of David (2 Samuel 22:34), “Make my feet like the feet of a deer.” The deer of the desert where David was hiding are the Ibex of mountain goats. They can climb nearly impossible vertical paths without falling because they have the perfect feet. They have been given a very tough path but can handle it because of the feet God has given them. I was first told this analogy while on a trip to Israel/Turkey with Ray Vanderlaan (www.followtherabbi.com), and seeing the visual illustration drove the point home even more.

En-Gedi was an amazing experience. It is this beautiful oasis right in the middle of the most awful desert you can imagine. There are many waterfalls, and lush green plants. En-Gedi is where God brings living water to a dry, parched land, as only He can. What an amazing illustration of God’s love.

Another amazing point in our recent journey was a visit we paid to Qumran. This is the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the 1950’s. It was at this site that the Essene community lived during the 2nd temple period (time of Jesus). Some scholars believe that John the Baptist was an Essene. At this site they found the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible. They were approximately 1,000 years older than the previous “oldest version” we had. They were an almost spot-on match for our other texts, and really supported the veracity of the Scriptures. We visited the infamous cave #4 at Qumran (see pictures on my yahoo website). This cave contained more significant documents than any other, including a complete copy of the book of Isaiah. Oh by the way, the most commonly found books at Qumran were Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Isaiah. And what are the most frequently quoted books by Jesus, Peter, and others in the NT? Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah, amazing!

Also during the past 3 days we made our way to Masada, the impenetrable mountain fortress. This fortress is filled with a rich history. It is here that many believe David spent some significant time hiding out from Saul. David writes in the Psalms, “God you are my rock, my Masada (translated as “fortress in English).” This fortress was later rebuilt as a luxurious palace for Herod the Great. It then became the location of the final battle between the Zealots and the Romans around 70 AD. Masada held out long after Jerusalem fell, and it was the last place conquered by the Romans. Josephus tells the story of how the Zealots discovered they were defeated, and all committed suicide rather than live a life of Slavery. Nowadays, Masada is a national symbol, and symbolizes the last stand of the rebellion against the Romans. We saw several F-16 fighter jets fly by and dip their wing towards Masada in tribute. Many soldiers are taken to Masada to be commissioned and it is here that they promise, “We will not let Masada fall again.” What an amazing site. Again, take a look at my pictures; I took about 80 at Masada.

I was disappointed that we couldn’t walk up the Snake Path, but I’m definitely going to do that on my own sometime. We walked up the Roman siege ramp (only a 400 ft. hike). The snake path is a 1,200 foot hike, and I think you’d have a greater sense of accomplishment if you took this route to the top. Oh well, we didn’t have the time, and at least we were able to walk down the Snake Path. I definitely plan on returning to Masada (hopefully with some of my friends from the States) and dragging myself and whoever wants to come with me up the Snake Path.

Well, that’s it for now. I have so much more to write! There is never enough time in the day. So frustrating. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well. Drop me an e-mail at robkol2@gmail.com

Serving Him,

Rob Kol

Jericho and Central Benjamin Plateau Update, Part 1

Friends,

I just returned from another 11-hour field trip. Yesterday we set out to explore the Jericho road, Old Testament Jericho, New Testament Jericho, and the Central Benjamin Plateau. We ended the day with an inspiring walk along the Emmaus Road. This is the road where a resurrected Jesus appears to some of his followers in Luke 24.

The Jericho road was an amazing road with tons of history behind it. This is the road where the Good Samaritan story/parable takes place. It is also the road that Jesus walked along when he was traveling from Jericho to Jerusalem right before his crucifixion. The story of the Good Samaritan is so amazing when placed back in its original cultural context. More on this story in a later posting. Today I want to focus on one of the most important stories that took place in Jericho, the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector.

It is so important to understand the cultural background of this story. The first thing that is important is the occupation of Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector working for the Sadducean priests. Also, he lived in Jericho, which was where many of the wealth Sadducean priests had their vacation homes. The Sadducees made a fortune off of the temple taxes, but they had a problem collecting these taxes because of the purity laws they followed. It was believed they would be made unclean if they touched any money with Caesar’s image. This was due to the fact that the money represented a graven image, or idol, and by touching it they would be unclean. So what the Sadducees did was basically hire a bunch of people to do their “dirty work,” and collect their money. So by doing this they created a whole class of people who were unclean. These tax collectors couldn’t worship in the temple, couldn’t touch their family members, and weren’t allowed to touch any other clean people. This is one reason many scholars believed Zacchaeus climbed the sycamore tree to see Jesus. He couldn’t be amongst the crowds because he would’ve made them all unclean. Also, the tax collectors were some of the most despised people in the country. The Jewish people in Jesus’ day were taxed somewhere in the 80-90% range. So Zacchaues probably wouldn’t want to be out in public that much.

Jesus comes Jericho and meets Zacchaeus in Luke 19. During this meeting Jesus uses an amazing teaching technique that we sometimes miss. This technique came to be known as “remez” during medieval times. Remez means “hint” or “allusion.” This was a technique used by some of the best Rabbis to make their point. By using remez you would quote the beginning or the end of the verse but leave out the ending. Your audience would know the rest of the verse (b/c almost all Jewish people in Jesus day had the Bible memorized) and fill in the rest for themselves. It would be a more powerful point to your audience b/c they had to “do the work” to find out the point you were making.

I’ll try to give some examples of this to help make more sense. Hopefully I have some Star Wars fans out there. Let’s say you came to me and said, “Rob, “is it possible to try to be a disciple?” And I said to you, “think of Yoda and the X-wing fighter.” Now, having seen the movie you might realize during this scene Yoda says, “Try not, do or do not, there is no try.” This would be an example of me using remez. I gave you a hint or allusion to the point I was trying to make, and you had to fill in the rest to see the point I was making.

Lets try one more example. Say you came to me and said, “Rob, how can I see the Kingdom of Heaven?” To use remez in this situation I would simply say, “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish Ruling Council.” Having your Bible memorized, like a good first century disciple, you would know I was referring to John 3. You would be able to fill in the blanks and realized that Jesus tells Nicodemus, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

Now back to the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Jesus runs into this unclean tax collector Zacchaeus, and Zacchaeus says, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back 4 times the amount.” Jesus replies with the most brilliant statement ever. He simply says, “Today salvation (Jesus) has come to this house, because this man, too, is a Son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.”

Jesus uses a brilliant remez here. The phrase “Son of man came to see and save what was lost” is a quote from Ezekiel 34. Look it up in your Bible and see if you can think what Jesus was hinting at by quoting Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel is talking about how the spiritual leaders of Israel have failed, and are leading all of the people astray. He then goes on to say that God is going to destroy the spiritual leaders of Israel because of this; and God will seek and save the lost because the spiritual leaders have failed to do so.

So Jesus is basically slamming the Sadducees for the way they have been treating the people. They have made people like Zacchaeus unclean, and failed to lead them spiritually. Jesus maintains that God will punish the Sadducees because of this, and Jesus will seek and save the lost. In his statement Jesus also lifts up Zacchaeus by referring to him as a “Son of Abraham.” By doing this he is basically telling Zacchaeus that he is still one of God’s chosen people, and God still loves him. Jesus is saying Zacchaeus, even though you are broken, lost, and hurting, God still loves you and wants to save you. What a powerful image.

Jerusalem Approaches Field Trip Update

Greetings from Jerusalem!

I have just returned from 11 hours out in the field where I participated in our latest field study, entitled "Jerusalem Approaches." What an exciting day! We began the day exploring the Mount of Olives. This mountain is filled with so much history, its incredible. David fled Jerusalem via the Mount of Olives when his son Absalom attempted to overthrow him. Jesus took this same route into the city the day of the triumphal entry. One interesting thing we observed on the Mount of Olives is that from our vantage point we had a good view of "Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth." By the way, if you read through the book of Acts, you will realized that the disciples approach their ministry in this exact order commanded by Jesus. They started in Jerusalem, and then went to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. There is an ancient rabbinic source that teaches that the Aegean Sea is the "ends of the earth." And where do most of the disciples end up? In Turkey, near the Aegean Sea (or ends of the earth).

The focal point of our journey to the Mount of Olives was the Garden of Gethsemane, or the Garden of the Oil Press. We walked around the traditional Garden of Gethsemane and explored several of the churches and monuments on the Mount of Olives that commemorate Jesus' night in the Garden. It was here that Jesus was captured by the authorities, and brought into the city for crucifixion. There was a pretty cool church in the shape of a teardrop to commemorate Jesus crying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Another cool thing we saw on the Mt. of Olives was a tomb from the inter-testemental period that had a “monument of righteousness” in front of it. These monuments were created in order to remember the good deeds done by the person who was buried in the nearby tomb. Jesus makes reference to these monuments of righteousness in Matthew 23.

Next up was a trip to Bethlehem. I was eagerly anticipating this stop for a variety of reasons. I am fascinated with the world of Herod the Great, and our first stop outside Bethlehem was the Herodium (check out the awesome section on the herodium at Bibleplaces.com, just hit this link: http://www.bibleplaces.com/herodium.htm
The Herodium is Herod’s opulent mountaintop palace that overlooks Bethlehem. Now what’s fascinating about this palace is that before Herod, there was not a mountain in this location. Somehow, Herod built his own mountain! We still don’t know how he did it. All we know is that there is probably a really big hole somewhere. So anyway, Herod built a mountain and then built an unbelievable palace on top of that mountain. This is a fascinating topic for a couple of reasons.

First, Bethlehem is located in the shadow of the Herodium. Think about Mary and Joseph for a second. They are going to Bethlehem and Mary is pregnant with someone who will be proclaimed the true King of the Universe. When Herod later finds this out, he has all of the young babies in the area murdered. So Mary and Joseph would’ve walked by this massive, intimidating fortress on their way to Bethlehem. Jesus was born in a cave in Bethlehem, with this gigantic fortress in plain view. Mary and Joseph were so brave for taking this journey. How inspiring!

Many scholars believe that Jesus makes reference to the Herodium when he is teaching his disciples. Notice Matthew 17:20. Jesus is teaching his disciples and he says, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you will be able to move mountains.” Many scholars believe that Jesus was in view of the Herodium when he taught his disciples this. What’s he saying? If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you will do greater things than Herod. Herod moved mountains to build the Herodium, but you will do even greater things. This is a very significant statement considering how powerful Herod was. Many scholars believe Herod to be the wealthiest man of all time. One scholar even maintains that if Herod were alive today he could pay the whole Wal-Mart payroll out of his back pocket! So Jesus is teaching us that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, we can do greater things than Herod!

Our last stop for the day was Bethlehem and the church of the Nativity. At this particular location we focused on the story of the birth of Jesus. It was interesting to note that the word Bethlehem in Hebrew literally translates as “House of Bread.” In John 6, Jesus refers to himself as the “bread of life.” Is it possible that the bread of life (Jesus) was born in the house of bread (Bethlehem)? Amazing!

Serving Him,

Rob Kol
e-mail: robkol2@gmail.com
pictures: http://photos.yahoo.com/robkol2

News Update on JUC Website

Greetings Torah fans!

First things first, sorry for the long delay in posting. As the semester settles down a bit, I'm going to be updating the blog on more of a weekly basis as opposed to a daily basis. I promise at least one post per week, and it will usually be more than that.

The Director of JUC posted a brief news update along with some of his pics on the JUC website. The link is:

http://www.juc.edu/news/currentnews.asp

Just click on the big picture of the students in Hezekiah's tunnel for additional photographs of our first few field trips.

I've got an action-packed weekend ahead of me. Tomorrow is an 11+ hour field trip entitled "Jerusalem Approaches." We are going to be exploring Bethlehem, and also walking down the Jericho road into Jerusalem. The Jericho road is the road Jesus took into Jerusalem just days before his execution. It is also the road Jesus mentions in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It should be interesting and exciting to take a walk down this road. On tap for Sunday is a 4 hour field trip where we will be studying the Archaeology of ancient Jerusalem with one of the most famous Archaeologists in the world, Dr. Gabriel Barkay. There was a pretty cool article about Dr. Barkay in last months episode of Biblical Archaeology Review. Also, in this months issue there is a great article on the Pool of Siloam. As you may remember from an earlier post, we were able to visit the Pool of Siloam last week.

Alright, that is is for now. Stay tuned this weekend for a couple of updates on everything I learn during the 2 action-packed field trips! Until then, stay dusty my friends!

Serving Him,

Rob Kol
e-mail: robkol2@gmail.com

11 Hour Jerusalem Field Study Update

Wow!

What an amazing day. Today we spent 11 hours in the field studying Jerusalem in the time of David, and then switching half way through the day to study Jerusalem in the 2nd Temple Period (the time of Jesus). Today was so draining on so many levels. Physically, emotionally, spiritually...wow. At the same time, I've never been more excited to be a follower of Jesus. I learned so much today, and I feel closer to God than ever before.

I'll try to give you some of the highlights. We started out exploring Jerusalem in the time of David. This city is actually located in a valley and outside the city walls of present day Jerusalem. It was very small, and a very weak spot for a city from a defensive perspective. David needed his city in this low area in order to have access to a major water supply. As we get later on in the Bible, the city expands and moves to higher, much safer ground. The low elevation of Davids Jerusalem gives Psalm 121 a whole new meaning. David says, "I lift my eyes up to the hills -- where does my help come from?" Its interesting that his city was surrounded by hills and invaders would usually come down one of the hills to attack. This gives a whole new meaning to David looking up to the hills and seeing trouble.

One other interesting thing we discovered about this Jerusalem is that on the eve of Jerusalem's destruction by Nebuchadnezzer, there were an incredible amount of statues and idols to fertility gods found in the homes of the Israelites (by Archaeologists). This lends credibility to Jeremiah's statement that Israel would be destroyed because of an internal, spiritual weakness, and not an external, military weakness.

From there we moved on to one of the more interesting events of the day. We walked/crawled/stumbled through Hezekiah's tunnel. Hezekiah's tunnel was an elaborate water and irrigation system that ran throughout his Jerusalem. The tunnel is 4 feet high in many places, with waist high water, and it is about as wide as my body. Lets just say it was one of the most interesting half hours of my life. But I'm a big fan of learning by experience, so it was well worth it. David once sent one of his military Generals through a nearby water tunnel to sneak into the city, so it was fun to pretend and imagine what that would've been like.

When we emerged from the end of Hezekiah's tunnel we found that we were at the Pool of Siloam. In John 9:1-12, Jesus heals a blind man at this very pool. The Pool of Siloam was discovered by accident 18 months ago. A city crew was coming out to work on the streets and one of their construction workers discovered the Pool! Amazing!

After lunch we proceeded to study Jerusalem in the time of the 2nd temple period. We sat on the very stairs that many used to walk up to the temple. Jewish sources record that one famous rabbi frequently taught on these steps. And who might that Rabbi be? Gamaliel, the famous teacher of Saul of Tarsus, or Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament. So in a sense, we were sitting in Paul's seminary classroom. We also read Matthew 23, a passage that many scholars place on these steps. In Matthew 23, Jesus mentions a lot of imagery that would have been visible from these very steps. Men carrying heavy loads up to the temple (verse 4), the gates/entrance to the temple/kingdom of heaven (verse 13), and the gold lining the entrance to the temple (verse 16). Also, the Sanhedrin (ruling body made up of Pharisees and Sadducees) sat right out by these steps, next to the Hulda gate. It makes sense that Jesus would pull from the images that were available to his listeners at that moment. He frequently uses readily available imagery in the New Testament. What a teacher!

We ended our busy day at the Pools of Bethesda. This pool is mentioned in John 5. The pools themselves were amazing, they were over 100 feet deep. So it must have been a huge leep of faith for the lame man to get into that pool. If he doesn't get healed, he'll sink 100 feet down to his untimely death. So this guy just gave it all up and risked everything in trusting Jesus. He was placed in the 100 ft. pool and knew he would die if Jesus didn't heal him. Jesus (as usual) comes through on his word, and heals the lame man. What an incredible story about trusting Jesus! What a way to end an incredible day. I will try to post some pictures of this as soon as I get a chance. As always, feel free to drop me an e-mail, I'd love to hear from you.

Serving Him,

Rob Kol
robkol2@gmail.com
http://dustoftherabbiyeshua.blogspot.com
http://photos.yahoo.com/robkol2

The Garden Tomb, Sabbath, and More!

Shabbat Shalom!

Greetings on this wonderful Sabbath. Well, I've finally posted the first round of pictures on the wild, wild, web. Please feel free to check out the pics at:

http://photos.yahoo.com/robkol2

Just click on the individual picture for a description of what it is.

In other news, I have discovered the best invention ever. Last night I was able to download Skype (www.skype.com) and talk to my friends Rich and Melissa for free! Thats right, 100% free. As long as you have Skype on your computer I can call you anytime. So please, everyone who wants to talk to me, go by a headset and install Skype on your computer today. It was so good to be able to talk to my friends and cell phones are pretty expensive over here..so it looks like I'll be trying to do all my talking through Skype as I can't afford to pay for a cell phone.

A few nights ago I was listening to a sermon from a Pastor that I respect a lot. He maintains that the Garden Tomb is a more accurate location for the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. So I decided to go check it out for myself (I placed the pictures on my yahoo site). The place was beautiful, and it looked much more like the tomb I would picture Jesus being laid in. There is a considerable amount of evidence for this site.

--It used to be a quarry (the Bible mentions that Jesus was crucified in an old quarry)

-- There is a rock cliff that looks just like a skull (the place of the skull or Golgotha that is mentioned in the NT)

-- It was located along a major street (Romans always crucified people along main roads to maximize humiliation.)

-- It was cut out of solid rock and not a natural cave (Matt 27:60)

-- It was sealed by a large rolling stone, as indicated by the large channel outside the front wall (Matt 27:60)

-- Inside there would've been space for several mourners to stand inside the large weeping chamber (Luke 24:1-3, 10)

-- There is a large cistern and winepress which indicate the place belonged to a very wealth man (i.e. Joseph of Arimathea)

-- The burial place is on the right side of the tomb (Mark 16:5)

-- The burial place is visible from the outside (John 20:5)

The one main problem with this site is that it dates back to centuries before the time of Jesus, and the Bible mentions that the tomb of Jesus was a new, unused tomb. So that would place the location more in favor of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I guess the controversy will rage on for the time being. There are a few problems with each site, but it seems like more people still favor the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the original location.

So last night we celebrated our first Shabbat dinner together. Everyone got dressed up and had a beautiful dinner with candles and we recited many blessings to God. At night we had a worship service outside around the fire. I then went into the new city with my friends Angela, Owen, Cindy and Will. We went to one of our favorite restaurants and hung out for a while. Its been great getting to know everyone over here, as it can get really lonely at times. I hope everyone is doing well, feel free to drop me an e-mail at robkol2@gmail.com

Shema,

Rob Kol

How the Essenes Helped Us Find the Upper Room

A few people have asked me a question something like this: "How do we know exactly where the upper room (or room of the last supper) is located?" "How can we be sure?"

Well the simple answer is we can't. But what we can be sure of is the exact area in the city where the upper room is located. If you go to Jerusalem today and get a tour guide he or she will take you to a beautiful stone room (complete with stain glass windows and quotes from the Koran on the walls) and tell you this is the room of the last supper. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The room they show you is a crusader fortress that dates back to approximately 800 years after Jesus ascended into heaven. The one point I want to make is that this room is very, very close to the original location where the last supper was held. How do I know this? Well in order to know we must look to the nomadic sect known as "The Essenes" for answers.

The Essenes were a group of people who had broken off from the high priesthood b/c they felt it was filled with corruption. They decided to form a new priesthood, and wait for the coming of the Messiah. There are a number of similarities between the Essenes and John the Baptizer. Both the Essenes and John lived out in the desert, and both often quoted from the verse in Isaiah that begins, "A voice of one calling in the desert..." Some scholars even believe that John the Baptizer was an Essene. Anyway, a significant number of Essenes lived out in a desert community known as Qumran. This is where the most famous Archaeological discovery of this century occurred (in my humble opinion). The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered at Qumran. They contained large portions of the Old Testament and several other writings. This was the oldest copy of the Old Testament ever discovered, and it has since supported the accuracy of the Biblical text.

What does this have to do with the Last Supper? Everything. We know from the Dead Sea Scrools that the Essenes had a very strict interpretation of Torah. So strict in fact that they considered their priestly duties to extend almost everywhere. Women were not allowed to perform any priestly duties, and as such, you would often find men in the Essene camp doing tasks that women normally did. A cultural norm in Jesus day was that women always carried the water around town. But what do we find in Mark 14 and Luke 22? A man carrying water around town! So it is 99.9% certain that this man was an Essene and lived near a certain location we'll discuss in the next paragraph. This is the man the disciples are instructed to look for in order to obtain access to the upper room. But how do we know where this man was located?

We know the Essenes had a camp in Jerusalem, and we discovered the location of the camp in 1991. In 1991 the Essene gate was discovered just outside of the old city walls of Jerusalem. What was the Essene gate used for? You'll be sorry you asked (if you did). Once again the Essenes were very strict in their interpretation of Torah. So strict in fact, that they believed the Torah commanded them that they could not take a #2 in the city (gross, I know). Anyway, all this to say they built a gate so they could exit their part of Jerusalem and go down into the Valley of the Sons of Hinnoam to relieve themselves. The Essene gate was discovered in 1991 just above the Valley of the Sons of Hinnoam. With the discovery of the Essene gate, we now know where the man with the water jug would've been. So while the actual room is no longer in existence, the memorial is definitely within a few 100 feet as it is currently located near the remains of the Essene gate.

Hope you enjoyed that! Sorry if it was too long. I hope everyone is doing well. Feel free to send me an e-mail @ robkol2@gmail.com, I'd love to hear from you!

Rob Kol