Middle East Log 2007-7

by Darris McNeely

Submitted October 4, 2007

Yesterday was  busy day for our tour group. We left Aqaba and traveled to the Dead Sea for a swim in the murky mineral rich waters at Earth's lowest point. Everyone floats in the Dead Sea as the water is 30 percent solid. People come to these waters for relaxation and spa treatments.

We stopped at a place called Tel-Hammam. This  is an archaeological spot thought to be the site of ancient Sodom. Dr. Steven Collins out of Trinity Southwest University is engaged in a seven year project to prove his thesis that this site is the place to which Lot journeyed as recorded in Genesis 13. I will have to come back to this in a future post to explain his rationale. It is very compelling.

Mt. Nebo was the final stop of day. This is the height from which Moses surveyed the promised land. God told Moses he would not enter the land but could gaze upon it before dying. It is a dramatic spot where you can gaze upon the Jordan Valley and the mountains of Israel.

Cory Erickson, our coordinator, gave a sermon on having the spirit of Caleb to face the future without fear but with full faith in God. Caleb, along with Joshua, were the only  ones sent to spy out the land who came back with a positive report of the land and the possibility of what can be accomplished with God's blessing.

Doubt and fear override the confidence that we need to face life's challenges and burdens. A good message on a dramatic overlook in Jordan.

Today was  the Last Great Day and we held a service in our hotel in Amman. I gave a sermon detailing the justice that God will bring to the great and small who are resurrected in the time of the judgment following the thousand year reign described in Revelation 20:5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
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Tomorrow our group leaves for Israel and I will continue postings from Jerusalem.