ON THE evening of June 14 a BOAC airliner took off from New York's International airport with a group of seventeen enthusiastic Seventh-day Adventists, mostly ministers, on board for the 1959 Seminary Bible Lands Tour directed by Dr. S. H. Horn.
In London we were conducted on a thorough sight-seeing tour of historic spots and of our own schools and institutions in that vicinity. We soon discovered that the main reason for visiting London was to see the British Museum. Never having been fond of museums, I had looked forward to this as an ordeal, but was pleasantly surprised when we were shown many ancient objects of real value for understanding the Bible and its narratives. It was a thrilling experience to see the priceless Bible manuscript, the Codex Sinaiticus, which was rescued from a monastery wastebasket; to look at the Rosetta Stone, which had become the key to the past; to see the Amarna Tablets, which explain why Israel was able to occupy Canaan without Egyptian interference; and to view the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, picturing Jehu of Israel kneeling before the Assyrian king, paying him tribute.
In Paris we were shown that famous city with its treasures. A side trip to Versailles helped us better to understand the reasons for the French Revolution. At the Louvre we saw a glazed-brick lion from Nebuchadnezzar's palace, the Moabite Stone, figures of Baal and Ashtoreth, and animal decorations from "Shushan the palace."
We flew in a French jet from Paris to Rome where the Forum, the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus, the old Roman temples, the Mamer-tine prison, the catacombs, brought to memory Paul's experiences in Rome and also those of the early Christians. St. Peter's in all its splendor reminded us of some of the historic reasons for the Protestant Reformation. The pageantry and pomp seen in Rome's main churches are in striking contrast to the life of the Man of Galilee, and the prophecies of the book of Revelation take on a new meaning when we visit these historical sites in Rome. A side trip to unearthed Pompeii, a typical Italian town of Paul's day, was most rewarding.
At Athens we saw the Acropolis, crowned by the Parthenon, and stood on the Areopagus (Mars' Hill), where Paul presented the God of heaven to the superstitious people of that illustrious city. In Corinth we viewed an inscribed door lintel of the old Jewish synagogue, probably the place where Paul "reasoned every sabbath with Jews and Greeks."
Coming to Cairo we immediately realized that we were indeed in a land of strange contrasts, where the modern and the ancient walk side by side. We watched with interest as camels lumbered by, smiled at the frequent braying of the donkeys, and then noticed the medieval mosques and the gleaming, modernistic buildings in this bustling city, the largest in the great continent of Africa.
Our visit to the Cairo Museum was most gratifying. It was there that we began to realize the wealth and world power of ancient Egypt. King "Tut's" treasures brought forth exclamations of surprise. It seemed as though everything the pharaoh owned was made of gold. Because of the respect in which Dr. Horn is held by certain Egyptian authorities we were afforded the rare privilege of seeing the royal mummies, which are now shown to few people. As we looked into those lifeless faces we thought of the choice that Moses was called upon to make, and how he chose the better lot.
A visit to ancient Thebes, even in the July heat, was a high point in our wanderings. There we viewed the temples of Luxor and Karnak and crossed the Nile by sailboat to see other ruins of ancient Thebes, capital of Egypt for some time. We gained new admiration for the accomplishments of those ancients as we saw the amazing halls and temples they built for their heathen gods. In the tombs of the pharoahs in the Valley of the Kings we saw extensive wall inscriptions and paintings, still showing the original colors, telling the dead king how to make the trip from this world to the next. The temple built by Queen Hatshepsut, who was quite likely the princess who adopted Moses, seemed to give new life to the Bible story.
The high spot of the trip for many of us was probably the tour to Mount Sinai—an experience that none will ever forget. As we crossed the rocky, dusty, Sinai desert by car we recalled the hardships of the ancient people of God as they plodded on foot to the Promised Land. Marah, Elim, Rephidim—all became more than words in the Bible. Just before sundown we stood on the plain at the base of Mount Sinai and looked up at it as the people of Israel must have done more than 3,000 years ago.
The next morning, Sabbath, we climbed to the top of what must have been the real Mount of Lawgiving (although tradition points to another peak of the same mountain). We were probably the first large group of Seventh-day Adventists to hold Sabbath services on that mountaintop. We all felt near to God as we contemplated the scene where God came down to talk to Moses and to speak His perfect law amid fire and thunder. Dr. Horn's sermon counseled us to stay close to our old landmarks and not try to please the world by changing them.
As we later flew over the land of Goshen on our way to the modern capital of Lebanon, I thought of the Israelites' long journey on foot in contrast to our brief two-hour trip to Beirut.
In Lebanon we visited Byblos (Biblical Ge-bal), also Tyre and Sidon, where we watched the fishermen spreading their nets to dry, thus fulfilling the prophecies concerning Tyre. A mountain trip around tortuous curves brought us to the cedars of Lebanon, a few remnants of the forests that made this country famous in the days of Solomon. In Beirut, as elsewhere, we visited our churches and institutions and were inspired by meeting our faithful workers and members.
On the way to Damascus, in Syria, the magnificent ruins of Baalbek reminded us of the worship of the god Baal, so familiar to every reader of the Bible. As we walked through the modern and ancient streets of Damascus, among which was the street called Straight, the story of the conversion of Saul became very real to us. From Damascus our group crossed the desert to Palmyra (Biblical Tadmor) and visited its impressive ruins.
At Amman, the capital of Jordan, we stayed overnight before leaving for Petra (Biblical Sela), the city of "the rock." After a full day of car travel via Mount Nebo and across the canyon of the Arnon River and the land of Moab, we took the last lap of the journey on horseback through a roadless, rocky gorge, and reached Petra after dark. The next morning we were awed by the grandeur of the mountains and the beautiful multicolored rock formations that looked as if they had been painted by a master artist. Most of the group made the tortuous ascent of the precipitous mountain of Sela, capital of the ancient Edomites, and found on the summit empty cisterns, a few remains of broken walls and broken pottery, corroborating the prophesied destruction of the proud capital of the Edomite kingdom.
In the cliffs surrounding the valley the beautiful rock-carved buildings attested to the culture of the Arabic successors of the Edomites, the Nabataeans, whose king, Aretas IV, is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:32. We hiked to the Great High Place, where a whole mountaintop was carved away to make an outdoor sanctuary for offering animals and some human sacrifices. As our guide stretched out on the sacrificial slab to demonstrate how the victims were slain, I was so thankful that Christ had been willing to come and show us a better way to serve God.
After returning to Amman we drove northward across the Jabbok River, on whose bank Jacob wrestled with the angel, and on to Jerash (the Gerasa of Bible times), one of the best-preserved Roman cities of Palestine from Christ's time. Many columns are still standing, also the ruins of two theaters, stone pavements, and temples. At the Jordan River in an impressive service T. S. Geraty baptized his younger son, and Chafic Srour, the leader of our work in Jordan, baptized a young Jordanian lad. This place is said to be the very site where John preached and where Jesus was baptized. A few miles from this spot we climbed the mound that was ancient Jericho. Dr. Horn explained the different strata in relation to the Bible story. While some of the more ambitious of our group proved that it took only a short time to walk around old Jericho, others of us watched Arab women fill their jars at Elisha's spring.
Jerusalem, Jordan, includes all of the w-alled city. It is a common sight to see an Arab dressed in flowing cloak and headdress, riding his donkey to market alongside others in Western attire and new cars. The places we saw in Jerusalem are too numerous to describe: the Dome of the Rock on the site of the Temple where Abraham offered Isaac; the open area, formerly the Temple courts, where Christ walked and talked with His disciples; the remains of the fortress of Antonia, which overlooked the Temple area, and in which was possibly the judgment hall of Pilate; the Pool of Bethesda; the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; the Garden Tomb and Gordon's Calvary; and the Mount of Olives and Gethsemane. A communion service at the Garden Tomb deepened the meaning of this divinely appointed service.
We also visited Gibeon, Samaria, Jacob's Well, Bethlehem, and other places. At Qumran, near the Dead Sea, we saw some of the caves where the famous Dead Sea scrolls were found, and heard the story of their discovery. On our return to Jerusalem we were privileged to see the scrollery in the Archaeological Museum, where the work of deciphering and editing the Dead Sea scrolls is progressing.
Since visas were unobtainable for Iraq at the time, we substituted a visit to Israel. There was evidence on both sides—armed soldiers, tanks, gun emplacements, and barbed wire—that the hatred that exists between Jew and Arab is not dead. As we crossed the border of this divided city, half-ruined houses in no-man's land were grim reminders of fierce fighting.
Jerusalem, Israel, embraces the western portion of the city outside the walls, and includes the most modern business section. The beautiful new buildings and apartment houses demonstrated that these people are doing all in their power to establish a new, powerful Jewish nation. Although the younger generation has made great progress in modernizing this ancient land, the inhabitants of the "orthodox quarter" of Jerusalem, in their narrow streets and old-fashioned houses, cling as tenaciously to their own old ways as do their Arab neighbors across the wall.
We also visited modern Sodom, at the south end of the Dead Sea, and entered a large cave in a solid mountain of rock salt. Dr. Horn pointed out the approximate area, now under the Dead Sea, where many scholars believe ancient Sodom once stood, and outlined to us the history of this region.
Our trip to Megiddo and the Sea of Galilee -was an unforgettable experience. We climbed over the ruins of that great city of Megiddo, rebuilt by Solomon and repeatedly destroyed in the varying fortunes of war through the ages.
The Sea of Galilee—a jewel set in a circle of hills—brought to life the scenes of the ministry of Christ. The site where, according to tradition, Christ fed the five thousand was pointed out to us, and also the place where some think He must have given the Beatitudes. Then at the ruins of Capernaum we saw the synagogue that quite probably stands on the very foundations of the one in which Jesus preached. We also stopped in Nazareth, the childhood home of Jesus, before returning to Haifa, where Mount Carmel meets the Mediterranean. Finally we visited Hazro, Caesarea, Tel-Aviv, and Joppa, and then took our separate routes homeward from the airport at old Lydda, where Peter healed Aeneas.
When we gathered for the last time as a group, we gave expression to our convictions of having had a most rewarding experience. We felt certain that our ministry would gain tremendously from the experiences we had enjoyed, and we hoped that such tours would become a regular part of the Seminary program, and that many more of our fellow ministers and Bible teachers would have the opportunity of taking such an enriching journey through the Bible lands.
