This Moment Matters: Pictures from Jericho, Qumran and Bethelehem

Sorry for no post yesterday folks. We were experiencing computer problems with the hotel's network, but we are back up and running. So here are some pictures from our excursion to Jericho and Qumran.

Here is the Judean wilderness. This is where Jesus was tempted for 40 days.

This is present day Jericho. It is a desert oasis that sits right at the base of the Judean wilderness.

Here is part of the city walls of the ancient Jericho that Joshua conquered using nothing but some trumpets and a lot of hot air. I'm amazed more churches don't collapse on Sunday's.

Right next to the Dead Sea you will find Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found by a shepherd boy in 1947. He was throwing a rock at one of his sheep to get it moving with the flock. The first two missed and then he wound up and let the third one fly. Good thing he had bad aim because the stone went right through the cave entrance and smashed a pot. The rest is history. Sometimes stubborn sheep can be a good thing.

Qumran sits at the base of these barren mountains.

Here is Cave #4, where the complete scroll of Isaiah was found.

This is a view of the Dead Sea from Qumran. In the background you can see Mt. Nebo, where Moses died and was buried before the Israelites crossed over the Jordan and blew down the walls of Jericho.

And then it was on to Bethlehem. Bethlehem has a fairly large population of Christians, but it is also an occupied city. We had to go through two checkpoints just to get in. This turned out to be one of the more eventful parts of the trip with the bus having to go through some very narrow streets. Glad I wasn't driving because we would probably still be there. The only real attraction in Bethlehem is the Church of the Nativity. Here is the spot that is said to be the exact place Jesus was born. I'm not sure how they know this stuff, but I'll take their word for it.