Greetings from Israel

Well, here I am, waiting in a hotel lobby beside the Sea of Galilee (actually a Lake...just a bit of the vast amount of new info I am gaining) waiting for the Ohio St/Michigan game to start...and holding my breath that the game that I just ordered is actually going to show up....and hoping that I can actually stay awake (doesn't even start until 10:30 PM here). While I am waiting, I figured I would get on the ole Pea Ridge Forum and see what was going on...and let you guys know what was happening over here. We were supposed to leave Atlanta at 11:30 PM EST on Thursday night but were delayed about an hour as some sort of communication issue for the flight attendents had to be fixed. We then got about 1/3 the way across the Atlantic and had a man have some serious heart complications...needed a defibrulator, etc...and we had to turn around and drop him off in Newfoundland. We finally made it to Tel Aviv about 17 hours after the original boarding and then had a 2 hour ride to the hotel up here in the Northern part of the country. We had our first day of site seeing today which included the Mount of the Beattitudes, Capernaum, a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, and finally a baptism in the Jordan (I actually opted for the Naman/leprosy/dunking 7 times thing...even though I don't have leprosy...just thought it'd be cool...and it was). We also drove past some cool things....excavation site of Magdala (where Mary was from....or worked or something), where Jesus fed the 4,000, and also where Jesus cast the demons into the herd of pigs. I always wondered why there were pigs around when the Jews found them unclean....but after being here it begins to make sense. As it turns out, the east side of the Sea of Galilee is where the Gentiles lived...so they would be raising pigs. Also , when Jesus fed the 4,000, there were 7 baskets left over. Ever wondered why? Why not 12 like there were when he fed the 5,000 (which occurred on the West side of the Sea)? The 12 baskets seemingly indicated that the 12 tribes of Israel were going to be fed with what Jesus had to give. As it turns out, there were 7 Gentile people groups that lived on that side of the Sea where Jesus did that mulitiplication miracle. Now it makes sense that He was indicating that His provision was sufficient for the Gentiles as well. One other tidbit and then it'll be time for the game. Ever wondered why 153 fish were caught in John 20:11? Why not 154 or 152? Why even mention the number at all? As it turns out (obviously God knew all along) 153 is the number that the Jews assign to God. Jesus was once again confirming who He was. Thanks for reading. Hopefully I'll be able to post again later in the week. Won't be as long as anything Toom can write...but I'll do my best. AC