Jordan- Mount Nebo

Wilderness where the Israelites walked around for 40 years

We started our tour from Jordan and the first place we visited was Mount Nebo. This was the place where Moses stood and saw the promised land which is in Deuteronomy 34:1-3,"Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There, the Lord showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar." Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

                Memorial of Moses

Till today Moses body has yet to be discovered as it says in Deuteronomy 34:5-6, "And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is." There has been so many attempts to find his body till today but no one has yet to find his body. There is a memorial built on Mount Nebo to honor Moses. 

This proves that our God honors his word as in Proverbs 30:5, it says that “Every word of God is flawless” and in Psalm 33:4, “For the word of the Lord is right and true and he is faithful in all he does.” Sometimes we as humans think that we can outsmart God but we fail to realize that he is our creator and it is not the other way round.

A learning lesson for me that I learnt standing there where Moses stood overseeing the promise land, was that we need to learn from Moses about how his anger and disobedience cost him his journey into the promised land. Sometimes, we refuse to obey what God wants us to do and we end up disobeying him. Some of us may argue that Moses deserved to enter the promised land after all that he has done, but we fail to see the fact that it is not about the favors or services that we do for God, but rather our obedience and submission with humility to the tasks that he has put out for us. 

   Where Moses Stood overseeing the Promised Land

Nazareth- Nazareth Biblical Village

Type of cross that Jesus had to bear

Traditional Wine Making process

Shepherd mending his sheep

Wine Press used Thousands of
years ago

We entered into Israel from Jordan the day after visiting Petra, in Jordan. The first place we went to, was the Nazareth Biblical Village. It was a land that was purchased by Christians and it was to replicate how the village would have looked like during Jesus time. It was to help us to understand the type of life that Jesus lived in the village for 30 years before he begun his ministry.

There was a wine press that was discovered at Nazareth that had been used thousands of years ago. As stated in Luke 2:52, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. I felt really amazed at how simple Jesus chose to live his life and despite being the son of God, he even obeyed his earthly parents as stated in Luke 2:51, where he was obedient to them. 

Carpenter is not an easy job as they would have to toil and work hard for long hours everyday but yet Jesus was able to be in good terms with both God and man, which shows that he really did well in his job and also walked closely with God. Jesus is the perfect role model for all of us about how we need to take pride in the work that God has placed us in and at the same time, walk closely with God in terms of our personal relationship with him.

In the synagogue where Jesus could have stood
while reading the scrolls to the people

I also visited the synagogue in Nazareth, whereby Jesus came back to his hometown to read the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. As recorded in Luke 4:18-19, he said that “The spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the bling, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” After closing the scroll, he said in Luke 4:21, that “today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” But yet the people completely missed out the fact that he said that he was the Messiah and they even drove him out of their village.

Galilee- Cana in Galilee

 Cana in Galilee

Ancient Artifacts

Entrance of Cana  

 This was the place that Jesus performed his first miracle when he turned water into wine during a wedding, after the wine had ran out. As stated in John 2:11, that was his first miracle that revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him. The interesting thing in this incident is that Jesus did his first miracle at a wedding. A wedding is a place whereby a men and women gets married and takes their vows to be together as long as they live. This was the perfect place in my opinion for Jesus to perform his first miracle as the word wedding has often been associated with the second coming of our Lord Jesus. 


It is an interesting place to visit today, as many married couples travel all the way to there, to renew their marriage vows in the place that Jesus performed his first miracle 2000 years ago. 

Renewal of Marriage Vows

In our journey, all the married couples renewed their marriage vows with Dean Phillip as the conductor of the ceremony. Some of the couples were moved to tears with it and it was a really significant moment in their life. I was also touched when I saw how much love they still had for one another, despite being married for so many years. 

I loved the theory that Dean Phillip shared whereby the key to a successful marriage is that both the man and woman, should look to grow deeper in their walk with God like a triangle whereby God is at the top of the triangle. As they grow deeper with God, their marriage will also be better and during testing times, they should look to Christ for solution and spend time with God. It was also very educational for me and I can see the love for God in all of their lives.

Sea of Galilee

Picture of Tung Ling Alumni with our
Dean Ju and Dean Phillip

Boat ride in the Sea of Galilee

We took a boat ride in the Sea of Galilee which is also called Lake Tiberias. It is a place that is very rich in the biblical history and although it is a lake, it is called a sea due to its tradition. Therefore the water is not salty and it is the country's largest and most important source of drinking water, as it is Israel's largest water reservoir.

Sea of Galilee

It is the place that is commonly remembered for 2 major incidents in the bible. The first is that it was the place where Jesus calmed the raging storms in Mark 4:39 and later rebuked his disciples for having little or no faith. The second is in Matthew 14,26-31, whereby the disciples saw Jesus walking on water and was terrified and Peter walked on water towards Jesus. The moment Peter looked down on the water, he was afraid and begin to sink and cried out to Jesus to save him and immediately Jesus extended his hand and caught him and rebuked him for having little faith.

Boat ride with the Israel and
Singapore Flag hoisted above 

While we were on the boat ride during the worship session, I had a vision whereby I found myself all alone, standing in the middle of the Sea of Galilee and I started to panic and cried out to God and asked,“Where are you Lord?” I was afraid and lonely and then I heard a gentle voice telling me that, “Why do you fear? Just because you can't see me does not mean that I am not with you. I am always with you even when you can't see me.” 

I started to tear and I realized after the vision, that I had always felt that God was not there during my problems in the past as despite calling out to him, nothing seemed to change in my life. However that vision taught me that God is always with us despite the fact that we can't see him 
during our darkest phases in life and he is in control.

Slope near Tabgha- Mount of Beatitudes

Hollowed Slope

This was the place where Jesus spoke in Luke 6 and it has a hollowed slope which serves as a natural amphitheater that amplifies any speaker’s voice. That was the reason why in Luke 6:17-18, he stood at a level place below the hill and his voice was able to be heard by the large number of people who were gathered there, from all over Judea, Jerusalem and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon. 

View from the Mount of Beatitudes (1)

This was where Jesus delivered his speech to his disciples in Luke 6:20-26, about how they would be treated after he was gone and in Luke 6:27-45, he also taught many lessons to the people about loving your enemies, and to not judge others and how a tree is known by its fruit.

View from the Mount of Beatitudes (2)

He then delivered his final speech in Luke 6:46-49 which was about the wise and foolish builders, whereby he questioned the people and said that “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I say?” Jesus said that anyone who listens to his word and does what it says, is like a wise man building a house upon the rock, that does not shake when a flood comes and hits it.

Jesus then compared it to someone who hears his word and does not put them into practice, by saying that he is like a foolish man, building his house upon the ground, without a foundation that collapses when a torrent strikes it.

I think that in today's age, many of us go to church and many bible studies, but yet we fail to obey God when he wants us to change certain things in our life. We are like the foolish builders as we listen to his word, but yet we do not do what he wants us to do or change in our life.

Caesarea- Caesarea Maritima

The yellowish-white blocks are the remains of the
once great Palace of King Herod

View of the Hippodrome

View of the Theatre (1)

This place will be remembered perhaps as one of the greatest harbor city that King Herod built.The city was named Caesarea to honor his friend Caesar Augustus. This place was said to be his crowning achievement despite all the other amazing places that he had built. He built palaces, temples, a theater which is larger than the Coliseum in Rome,  a marketplace, a hippodrome which was a famous stadium that housed chariot races and other competitions and water and sewage systems in the city. This place was simply breathtaking and until today people actually talk about this place when they talk about King Herod. 

 Sculpture of Horses and Chariots that

once took part in races thousands of years ago 

Inside the Hippodrome

After the destruction of Jerusalem, Caesarea became the most important city in the country. However, it was raided by the Persians and later taken over by the Muslims before the crusaders came to rebuilt it. However, it was destroyed again after the crusaders retreat. This place was also destroyed mostly from earthquakes, storm waves and wars that took place over there after the reign of King Herod. The place had started to rebuild again in the year 1873 and the work continues today.

Signboard about Pontius Pilate during the trail 

of Jesus

In terms of the bible, this is also a place that was very rich in terms of certain events which occurred in the bible, This place was believed to be where Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus lived. 

Most importantly, it was at the household of Cornelius in Acts 10, at Caesarea where Peter preached the good news about Gentiles also being accepted into the kingdom of God along with the Jews. Previously Salvation was only understood to be for the Jews but the vision that Peter had before at Joppa, taught him that salvation will be for every one who believes in God regardless of Jews or Gentiles.The Holy Spirit also fell among the Gentiles for the first time and they started to speak in tongues and Peter baptized the Gentiles after they were filled with the spirit, in the name of the Lord. 

This place is also where Paul traveled often and in Acts 25-26, gave his case about his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ before Felix and King Agrippa after being imprisoned for 2 years. 

View of the once great Port thousands of years ago

Today, we Gentiles, need to remember that it was at this place whereby the Lord declared through Peter that whoever believed in him regardless of any nation will be saved and the Lord shows no partiality to anyone. It was also the first baptism of the Gentiles and today as the gospel has spread to most parts of the world, this place was the very beginning of the 
good news of Jesus Christ, to the Gentiles which is to us.

Capernaum

Entrance of Capernaum

Our next stop was Capernaum. After Jesus Christ was rejected by his own hometown in Nazareth, he went to Capernaum and started to preach and did many miracles including casting out of demons. In Luke 4:36, the people were amazed at what authority and power his words possessed and that the evil spirits obeyed him and fled from his command. 

This was also the first place that news about Jesus started to spread like wildfire, after he casted a demon out of a man in Luke 4:33-35. His teachings and miracles in the town caused such a stir and impact among the people that crowds of people were coming to see him. Jesus Christ spend most of his 3 years of ministry in this town whereby he taught and healed many people.

Remains of Capernaum (1)

Today, there are only remains over there after it was partially destroyed in the Persian conquest and the churches and synagogues were totally destroyed during the Arab period after that. The area was purchased in 1894 and rebuilt over several seasons after that. It is a tourist attraction today, whereby many people come from all over the world, to see the once famous town that Jesus ministered in.

Remains of Capernaum (2)

A learning lesson for me in this, is in Mark 1:35, whereby after Jesus had a busy first day in Capernaum ministering and healing many people, he woke up early the next morning to go to a isolated place to pray before he continued his ministry. Jesus could have chosen to get a few more hours of sleep after such a long and tiring previous day, but yet he chose to seek God first early in the morning. Jesus spent time with God in the morning to prepare himself for the day ahead. 

              Remains of a Jewish synagogue   

Sometimes, God may be preparing us for the day ahead or may have a word to say to us. Sometimes, we will need to renew our strength from God and other times it could be just spending intimate time to wait upon him to speak to us. The reason why it is important for us, to be in quiet places, is so that we can learn to communicate with him or meditate on his word without any distractions. 

Tabgha- Feeding of 5000 people

Church where the feeding of 5000 people took place 

5 Loaves and 2 Fishes (1)

 5 Loaves and 2 Fishes (2)

We visited the place that the feeding of 5000 people took place at Tabgha. This is the place that Jesus fed 5000 people in Mark 6:38-44, using five loaves and two fishes. I am sure that many of us would have read this many times. It is one of our favorite stories that we heard growing up as children. However, as I read it again and again, I begun to question and ask, why did Jesus tell his disciples in Mark 6:37, to give the people something to eat when he knew that there was no more food or very little left. The disciples replied and said that it would take more than half a year wages to buy bread for all of them to eat. Jesus replied and told them to go and see how much bread is left and the disciples came back with only five loaves and two fishes. Jesus looked up in heaven and gave thanks and broke it and fed them all.

 But couldn't Jesus who turned water into wine, provided bread without the five loafs and two fishes. The answer is of course he could, but then we wonder, why did he ask the disciples to make the effort to find whatever remaining food there is?

Place where Jesus could have
 given thanks before breaking the bread

I personally feel that Jesus wanted to teach 

his disciples about trusting in God. Faith in God is something that we need to have and trust is something that we do as a result of our faith. Imagine we were the disciples, we would have looked at the five loaves and two fishes and said that it is humanly impossible to feed five thousand people with it. But Jesus taught them the perfect lesson that with God, all things are possible.  

The same can be said about us. Sometimes, when we look at the demands of our school, work or other things in our life and we might think that it is impossible for us to fulfill it. But we just need to learn to bring our five loaves and two fishes to God which is what we are left with or able to do and leave the rest to God. He will multiply and give us the strength to fulfill our tasks. All we need to do it is to call out to him to help us.

 Isaiah 58:9, says that when you call out to God, he will answer and 2 Corinthians 12:9 says that his grace is sufficient for us and his power is made perfect in our weakness. Therefore let us learn to place our trust in him in everything that we do.

Tabgha- Church of St Peter Primary

Church of St Peter Primary

Photo of us outside the church

Statue showing Jesus asking Peter to
feed his sheep

We went to the Church of St Peter Primary which is located in Tabgha, Israel. The original church was destroyed in 1263 and the present chapel was rebuilt in 1933. This was the place in John 21:15-19, where Jesus appeared to his disciples for the third time after his resurrection and reinstated Peter as chief among his apostles, after he had denied him 3 times before the roaster crowed. Jesus told Peter to feed his lambs and to take care of his sheep and even told him about the kind of death that he would receive because of his testimony of Christ. 

It is a very significant place as after this encounter with Jesus Christ, Peter led the disciples to bear witness for Christ as recorded mostly in the book of Acts. He was martyred just like all the other disciples except John, for his testimony of Christ which was recorded throughout history.

Inside the Church

A learning lesson for me, is that we are all just like Peter, who said that he loved God and yet denied him due to fear of his life. We all say that we love God but yet we constantly sin against him. Romans 3:23 says that, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We all need to constantly come to God for forgiveness and to repent. Even Peter, who had been with Jesus for his entire ministry and watched his miracles and heard his teachings but yet still sinned against Jesus by denying and lying that he did not know Jesus. 

Despite his wrongdoing, Jesus still forgave him and restored him back to his original role as leader of the disciples. Sometimes in life, as Christians, we may fall away or backslide, from our calling or our walk with God. But when we repent and come back to God, he will forgive and restore us just like how he restored Peter.

Mount Carmel

Overview of Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel is located in Northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. This place used today is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and the city of Hiafa, which is the third largest city is located on the northern slope.This place holds a very powerful memory of God, as this was where God made himself known among the people through his prophet Elijah.

Statue of Elijah 

As written in 1 Kings 18, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to see which God was the real one. Baal or the God of Abraham, Issac and Israel? The challenge was for both, Elijah and the prophets of Baal to get 2 bulls and to cut it into pieces and put it on the wool but not to set fire on it. Whoever prayed to their God and the God who answers by sending fire down will be the winner and will be recognized as the real God. 

There were 450 prophets of Baal on that day and only one who was Elijah for God. The prophets of Baal prayed for the entire day, cutting themselves and dancing around but no fire was send down from the heavens. However after Elijah prayed, the real God which is the God of Abraham, Issac and Israel send fire down from heaven to burn the sacrifice and to prove who the real God was to the people. After that all the people fell 
prostrate and cried and acknowledged God.

Gathered for a time of devotion

We sat down for a time of devotion and sharing which was done by Brother Noel Tam. It was a very beautiful place and it was really cold. Mount Carmel is a very significant place as after God rescued the Israelites and showed them many signs and wonders like separating the Red Sea and sending Manna from heaven and many more, many Israelists along the way fell away and worshipped Pagan gods.

In fact, the people over there during that time, were so blinded that there was only one prophet remaining for God. This sign of sending fire from heaven, was a way for God to perhaps in my opinion, to declare and send a reminder to the people about who the real and one true God is.

Joppa

View of the Port (1)

View of the Port (2)

This place is now known as Jaffa and it was the main port of the coast before the ports of Haifa and Ashdod was constructed. It was the main port of entry during the Turkish Period and pilgrims and visitors used to enter Israel from here. Today, it is one of the oldest functioning harbour in the world andhas a population of about 60,000 people and majority of them over staying there are Jews followed by some Muslims and Christians.

Biblically, this was where in Acts 9, Peter raised Tabitha from the dead. She was always doing good and helping the poor but she fell sick and died. This miracle was made known all over Joppa and many people believed in the Lord. This place was also where in Acts 10, God showed Peter a vision about all kinds of four-footed animals as well as reptiles and birds and he was ordered to get up and kill it to eat.God spoke to him and said that, “ Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Interestingly, what it taught me is that God does not always have to give us a very nice vision to explain to us certain things. In the vision of Paul, a light from heaven flashed around him and he heard a voice from God who spoke to Paul to open his blinded eyes. Paul went on to preach the gospel of Christ in many places. In the case of Peter, he had a very different kind of vision to teach him about the Gentiles who would be also saved if they believed in Jesus. In our daily lives today, God can choose to show us a different or unpleasant vision to direct us, to where he wants us to go or what he wants us to do. Let us continue to pray and seek God if we are still at the crossroads and pray for an encounter or vision from God for his purpose or direction in our lives.

Jerusalem- Magdala

Pool where great number of disabled people
used to lie beside 

Birthplace of Virgin Mary

We visited Magdala which was near Sheep Gate. This is the place where it is claimed that Mary, the mother of Jesus was born and lived but it is commonly remembered in the bible in John 5, whereby a great number of disabled people used to lie which were the blind,lame and paralyzed. The reason why they lied there, was because it was near the pool whereby it was believed that the moving of the water caused by an angel would heal whoever who stepped in it first. Therefore all the disabled people lied there to be cured of their diseases. 

In John 5:5-9, this was the place that Jesus healed the man who had been invalid for 38 years. Jesus told the man to rise and take up your bed and walk and immediately he was made well and took up his bed and walked.

Signboard showing the healing
that took place

The learning lesson for me was the fact that the man, needed to have faith in Jesus in order for him to make an attempt to rise. Imagine we were in his shoes, and had been paralyzed for many years, and someone told us to rise and walk, how many of us would have actually laughed at that person or told him not to joke? 

The reason could be because we had already made numerous attempt to rise up but failed each time. I mean this guy was not paralyzed for a few years but it was for 38 years. I hope that we could let that thought, sink in our minds and for the man to actually make an attempt to rise without questioning Jesus, really showed his faith in Jesus that he would be healed. 

Jesus told us in Matthew 17:20, that “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to the mountain move and it will move and nothing will be impossible to you." 

Jerusalem- Mount Of Olives

Picture of us where Jesus could have stood overseeing Jerusalem

View of Jerusalem from Mount of Olives

This is a very significant place in the history of the bible as it is a place that overlooks Jerusalem. There were many incidents in the bible which happened on this Mount. This is the place in 2 Samuel 15:30, where King David wept while continuing up the Mount of Olives when his son, Absalom wrestled control of Jerusalem forcing him and his men to flee. This place is perhaps remembered by most as 
the place in Luke 19:28-31, whereby Jesus was going to make his entry back into Jerusalem as a king and only to be crucified in three days.

Possibly where Jesus walked down the Mount of Olives

In Luke 18:41-44, Jesus saw Jerusalem before walking down the Mount of Zion and wept as he prophesied that destruction will come upon the Jews because they did not recognize Jesus and rejected him. This is also the place that was prophesied in Zechariah 14:4, that Christ will return from, as he left earth from the Mount of Olives and so it is prophesied that he will return from here.

Tomb of the Prophets (1)

Interestingly, when we stood at the hill,
we could see an overview of Jerusalem. It was where Jesus would have stood as he overlooked Jerusalem and we walked down in the same path that he walked down the Mount of Olives. Today, there is a cemetery in this place called,'The Tomb of the Prophets', where over a million of prophets have been buried since thousands of years ago. It is where the prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi were also buried.

Tomb of The Prophets (2)

We had a worship session over there and a short preaching from Hanley. Imagine we were in Jesus shoes and standing on that hill, knowing that he was going to be rejected and crucified by the very people that he created, and yet he was willing to go through that, because of the love that he had for us. I thought about it and I felt a sense of sadness and joy at the same time. Sadness, as Jesus had to go through so much for us and joy that now we can have a personal relationship with God because of his sacrifice and our sins would be forgiven if we confess it to God. We also have the Holy Spirit in us to guide and teach us everyday. All because of Jesus who went through the worse form of death in my opinion, just so that we can live. I love the song, ‘You are my King’ and the first line says that, “I’m forgiven because you were forsaken, I’m accepted, you were condemned.” I really love this song so much as it really shows what amazing love God has for us.