After 14 to 15 hours in the air and about 25 hours after leaving Winnipeg we arrive in Tel Aviv, only to arrive in Jerusalem, at the Ramat Rachel Hotel, more than 2 hours after that because of an accident and construction on the highway.

A midnight coffee shop/bar visit brought another one of those Divine appointments in the meeting of 3 gentlemen from the Netherlands and a kibbutz member working on his tour guiding exam prep. That brought an opportunity for Don to meet the father of one of the men for a "theological" the next day, and an offer from Avishai, the tour guide student, to be our guide to the archaeological dig the next day.

As it turned out, our guide has a schedule change that kept him from taking us, so it became self guided. Details seem somewhat un-established except that it is a large fortified Royal Palace, with subsequent Byzantine church and monastery. 

Another joy of the site was a fresh perspective on the city of Jerusalem and the Old City, particularly the Hurva Synagogue. This synagogue is such a wonderful symbol of Jerusalem being restored to the people to whom it belongs. Although it is still in competition with the golden Dome of the Rock, it is there as proof that what the enemy tore down, when they occupied the city in 1948, will be rebuilt. The Sovereign LORD is rebuilding the land with the cooperation of the people He is returning to their ancestral home.

The archaeological  site is also the site of several major battles in the '48 war involving both the Jordanian and Egyptian armies that, after some back and forth gains and losses, the Israeli army was able to hold till the armistice that put that war on hold for a while. It was certainly not a peace agreement as history has shown. Israel is still being threatened by these same Arab nations, plus the newly arisen "Palestinians" who have added their desires to eliminate Israel to that of the Arab nations. The Psalm 83 alignment of nations against Israel seems to be taking shape steadily.

The DEBKAfile piece below indicates that far from accomplishing anything positive, Mr. Obama's appeasement of Iran regarding nuclear capability, has given the Ayatollah no cause to consider being a positive member of the world community. Israel is as threatened by Iran's nuclear progress as ever, even more so because the US is no longer a partner in deterrence, but rather an enabler to the Iranian regime, which, of course, is not controlled by the politicians but by the Ayatollah. Mr. Netanyahu is right about the Iranian threat!

 DEBKAfile Special Report May 11, 2014, 7:56 PM (IDT)

Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw a large spanner in nuclear diplomacy Sunday, May 11, when he told the Revolutionary Guards to start mass-producing missiles. He dismissed western expectations on limits to missile production as “stupid and idiotic.” Khamenei was responding to the US demand, raised mainly under pressure from Israel, to deal with Iran’s nuclear weapons projects and its missiles program in the coming round of talks on May 15. debkafile: The Iranian leader is also under threat of a putsch by the Guards if he approves any further nuclear concessions.

Courses at the Institute have begun with a day of Rabbis; one of who taught us regarding the current religious and political situation; some interesting suggestions including the breakdown of any real peace talks.

I will pick up on more of the content in the next piece.