Day 1, June 1, Deuteronomy 1:1-8 (a description of the land)

(We are posting from Israel for the next couple of weeks.  Each day we will list the previous day's ininerary and something from the devotional for each day.)

Itinerary: Unless you were wise enough to go a few days early you are enjoying a series of flights today.  May God bless your travels.  As you travel you might want to take some time to read some other descriptions of the land and to get acquainted using the maps we have provided for you.  If you downloaded the “Bible Atlas” from the Holy Books website there are some great maps available there.  Here are some passages: Deut. 1:7; 11:10-12 (you will see this on your tour); Joshua 11:16-20 (the land conquered by Joshua). Also: Gen. 13:14-15; 15:18-21.

Our flights from Billings, MT to TLV took us through Denver and Toronto.  We travelled with Ray & Jackie Pryor form Lewistown and at Toronto were joined by Kerry & Shirley Koestler from Minneapolis.  Our total group is 6 people from Lewistown and 6 from Arizona.  One of them, Art Lincoln, was the way we were introduced to the others.  Koestlers snowbird in Congress.

By the time the day changed from June 1 to 2 we were in the air over the Atlantic.  Our flights were uneventful in terms of problems and enjoyable, especially in terms of flying with friends.  It was our first experience with Air Canada.

We were encouraged to read Biblical descriptions of the land to which we were headed, the Holy Land, the Land of the Book.  Deut. 1:7 speaks of Israel according to the primary geographical sections.  Using the accompanying map note:

·       “the mountains of the Amorites”: Area IV on the east of the Jordan.

·       “the plains”: Area III, the plains of the Jordan.

·       “the mountains”: Area II, the mountains of Ephraim and of Judea.

·       “the lowlands”: the Shephelah, the small area west of the Mtns. of Judea.

·       “the South”: the Negev (in Hebrew “South” is the same word, Negev, identifying that direction by the most prominent feature).

·       “the seacoast”: the coastal plains, Area I.

·       “the land of the Canaanites”: referencing the land as the land of the seven nations that would be removed.

·       “Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates”: the northernmost area of Israel.

One thing we can note is that the land several thousand years ago is the same, essentially, as it is today.  And we also note that God gave this to the people of Abraham and to their descendents after them.  It was good to medicate on this on the plane, reminding us why we were taking the time and energy to do this.  Israel, even today, is a special place to visit.