July 2006
Recent Activities in Israel
We just arrived home from spending five weeks in Israel, and we have made many connections and brought home many new things that we are eager to share with you! Here are just a few:
• Israel trip brings 60 to study the life and land of Jesus
• Jerusalem Perspective holds outstanding conference
• En-Gedi's materials now available in Israel stores
• New from Israel!: Hard-to-find books on the Messiah
• Chinese Listening to the Language of the Bible now available
Israel Trip Brings Sixty People to Study The Life and Land of Jesus
On May 20th En-Gedi's staff joined a group of En-Gedi's friends from all around the US and England for a 13-day study trip with Emmaus Educational Services called The Life and Land of Jesus. Over sixty people participated, so the groups went on two buses and split into concurrent teaching sessions with Dr. Steven Notley and Dr. Marc Turnage, both experts on the first-century Jewish cultural context of Jesus. (Dr. Notley recently co-authored a highly-acclaimed historical atlas of the Bible called "The Sacred Bridge" - see En-Gedi's Online Bookstore for more.)
One of the highlights of the trip was standing on the Temple Mount on the very courts where first-century pilgrims stood thousands of years ago. We had a special treat this time because we were able to go down to the inside area of the East Gate, which almost never is open to the public. (The East Gate is the grand double gate that faces the Mount of Olives. It is the entrance that is understood to be where Jesus will enter in glory as king and stand to judge when he returns again.) Please enjoy some pictures from the trip.
Another highlight was standing in the newly unearthed Pool of Siloam which was discovered less than two years ago. This pool (where Jesus told the blind man to wash the mud from his eyes in John 9) has lain untouched 2000 years since Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, is now easily available for archaeologists to study. (Picture below.)
Jerusalem Perspective Holds Outstanding Conference
En-Gedi's staff heard more about the Pool of Siloam three weeks later at the Jerusalem Perspective Conference. It featured top archaeologists on the New Testament and Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as leading speakers in Hebraic studies like Dwight Pryor, David Bivin and Brad Young. (Jerusalem Perspective - www.jerusalemperspective .com - is an online journal that focuses on the life and teaching of Jesus in their original cultural settings.)
The chief archaeologist of the Pool of Siloam, Ronni Reich, described how the pool was accidentally found when some machinery was digging to repair a road and sewer pipe at the southern end of the City of David. Coins were found in it that were minted shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, showing that it was in use until Jerusalem fell at that time. It has been preserved untouched for 2000 years under a garden owned by a church. Reich pointed out that the garden is unusually lush and green and explained that the plastered walls of the pool underneath have held in the rain water, keeping the ground moist throughout the centuries.
Other presentations at the meeting focused on themes like, "The New Testament in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls," "Jesus Among the Rabbis," as well as "Was Jesus Buried in the Garden Tomb?" The talks were excellent, and En-Gedi has the obtained the rights to the audio and video of the Jerusalem Perspective Conference. We are presently working to master DVD and CD sets of the talks of this important conference. Watch for more news in a couple months.
Resources to and from Israel
Israel is of central interest to our ministry, so En-Gedi's directors spent three weeks in the land working to strengthen our connections there and researching new things to share with our readers. We also know that many travelers there are looking for resources on the Bible in its culture and context, so we placed En-Gedi's materials in several stores in the land. On your next trip to Israel, you should find our books in the following places:
Jesus' Boat Store, Nof Ginnosar, Sea of Galilee
Yardenit (Baptismal site), Jordan River
The Galilee Experience, Tiberias
Dugit Messianic Center, Tel Aviv
Israel Bible Society, Jerusalem
The Torch Bookstore, Jerusalem
The Garden Tomb Bookstore, Jerusalem
Bridges For Peace Headqarters, Jerusalem
Shorashim Giftshop, Jewish Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem
Emmanuel Messianic Bookshop, Jaffa Gate, Old City, Jerusalem
We hope that on your next trip to the land, you'll be able to find our resources there. Some professional tour guides have inquired about selling our books on their tours too. If you know of a store or guide in Israel that should carry our books, please let us know and we will contact them. In order to simplify shipping materials we have established an En-Gedi Representative in Jerusalem, Mr. Brian Kvasnica, who is has an inventory of our products and will facilitate sales in Israel.
New Books from Israel for En-Gedi's Readers
On En-Gedi’s recent trip to Israel, we also discovered some very good books which are not widely available outside the land. The author, Risto Santala, is a Christian scholar from Finland who lived in Israel and studied rabbinic literature in Hebrew for many years. His books were originally written in Hebrew and were very popular among Christians living in Israel. After much success there, they were finally translated into several other languages including English, but still are printed only in Israel. We brought three titles back to share with you:
The Messiah in the Old Testament in the Light of Rabbinical Writings
Risto Santala, 1992 (Jerusalem, IL: Keren Ahvah Meshihit) ISBN: 965-447-002-0, 240 pages, paperback.What were the expectations that the ancient rabbis had of the coming Messiah from reading their Scriptures, our Old Testament? Modern Judaism has tended to downplay the subject because of its unfriendly relationship with Christianity. But reading the most ancient sources and understanding the differences between Jewish and Christian interpretation methods can shed light on how the rabbis saw the Scriptures pointing to the Messiah.
Price: $18.00 (Intro special $16.00) at the En-Gedi bookstore
The Messiah in the New Testament in the Light of Rabbinical Writings
Risto Santala, 1992 (Jerusalem, IL: Keren Ahvah Meshihit) ISBN: 965-447-010-1, 264 pages, paperback.This next volume examines the life of Jesus and the words of the Gospels as to how they would have been understood in an ancient rabbinic context, focusing especially on Jesus’ identity as the Messiah. It also discusses Jesus words and ministry in light of other Jewish teachings of the time.
Price: $18.00 (Intro special $16.00) at the En-Gedi bookstore
Paul, the Man and the Teacher in the Light of Jewish Sources
Risto Santala, 1995 (Jerusalem, IL: Keren Ahvah Meshihit) ISBN: 965-447-015-2, 192 pages, paperback.Here Santala examines the life and ministry of Paul in light of his background within rabbinic tradition. He discusses how Paul’s mentor Gamaliel and other sages impacted his teaching style and the emphases of his ministry. He also talks about how Paul’s attitude toward the law suggests that he incorporated rabbinic ideas about how the Messiah would give new meaning and interpretation of the Torah, and how the Torah would be applied differently in the post-Messianic age.
Price: $14.00 (Intro special $12.00) at the En-Gedi bookstore
Listening to the Language of the Bible in Chinese!
We are excited that En-Gedi's first book, Listening to the Language of the Bible: Hearing It Through Jesus' Ears has now been translated into traditional Chinese and is available from En-Gedi. We have been working together with Christina and Ned Graham of East Gates Ministries to produce the translation, which was printed in Hong Kong. The book will be available in our bookstore and will ship out as soon as supplies from Hong Kong arrive.
Please Remember En-Gedi During the Summer
Is your schedule filled with summer fun and family activities? We are asking you to step back for a moment to consider making two commitments for our ministry. First, will you pray for us on a regular basis? Secondly, are you able to provide for our financial needs with a gift of support? Gifts can be made online via the En-Gedi Resource Center bookstore using the “Donate Online" button. If you prefer to mail a gift, our address is En-Gedi Resource Center, P.O. Box 1707, Holland, MI 49422.
A very special thank you to all of you who responded to our recent mailing and phone call from staff member Laur Schaberg. Your gifts along with support for the Meijer Community Rewards program are helping to bridge the gap in summer funding needs. (Meijer is a grocery chain in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois that donates to charities with each purchase of their supporters. See this link or email us for more information.) Our ministry is exploring creative ways to fund the work that we do, and your help is greatly appreciated.
We pray for continued growth and deepening faith for all of you, our friends.
Blessings from En-Gedi -
Bruce Okkema, Lois Tverberg & Laur Schaberg
Directors of En-Gedi
©2006 En-Gedi Resource Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization solely dependent on your tax-deductible contributions. We very much appreciate your support. www.egrc.net
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