Dream Trip to Israel Part 2

Rarely am I speechless (and I'm not now either…but close). The plane ride was uneventful. I was able to coax my body into a few hours of sleep. We arrived on time in Tel Aviv. Nothing worthy of the blogosphere presented itself until I presented my passport to the young, very focused lady at the immigration booth. Seven people had checked my passport before this young woman took it from my hands and she was the only one to take the time to look carefully at each well-stamped page. I listened closely as she mumbled,

"Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia…"

She then looked with intent into my eyes,

"What business did you have in the Islamic Republic of Iran?"

I hadn't set foot on Iranian soil in six years. I had forgotten that Israel and Iran weren't the best of friends (how could that have possibly slipped my mind). Back in 2000 I was invited to join a team of business men, ministers, researchers, and a Navy Seal. Our purpose was to investigate a theory that Noah's Ark might have actually landed on ore near Mt Sabalon, the highest mountain in Northern Iran. (The trip is actually chronicled in a book called "In Search of Noah's Ark" by Bob Cornuke. Back then, before 911, we still needed special permission to enter Iran as US citizens and we were given specific instructions that no person on our team who had an Israeli entry stamp in their passport would be permitted to enter Iran – period! Several of the members of our team were forced to "misplace" their Israeli-stamped passports and have a new passport issued in order to join the team.

I had never entered the country of Israel by that point so I was good to go. But it didn't dawn on me that Israel might return the favor and not allow entry into Israel if someone had an Iranian Visa in their passport.

So, this young Israeli security officer is looking at me and asking what I was doing in Iran in 2000 and I found myself in a bit of a dilemma. If you've heard me speak or read my blogs you know that I love telling stories and no one had asked me about my great and dangerous adventure in Iran searching for Noah's Ark in years! So, everything in me wanted to respond, "Well officer, have you heard of Noah's Ark?"

About that time Julie, my wife, had just received her entry permit from another agent and walked over to catch the last few moments of my conversation with this young woman. Just as I was about to tell this young lady about my adventures in Iran, I caught Julie's eye and she said quickly,

"How's it going?"

"Fine honey! This young lady was just asking about my time in Iran."

I opted for the quick and easy answer remembering that everything (smart or stupid) that I chose to do or say affected my wife.

"I'm a pastor. I was there doing ministry."

The agent looked at Julie, "Are you with him?" and grabbed Julie's passport from her hand. She picked up the phone and in less than a minute an older, more focused female kindly offered to escort me to another area. Julie shouted to the new agent,

"Can I come with him?"

She motioned for Julie to follow us. When we arrived outside a small office she took both passports with her and asked us to remain where we were as she disappeared behind a door. A short time later she asked again if Julie was with me (I assume because Julie's passport was less than three weeks old and had no marks of any kind from any country, friendly or otherwise to Israel. She let us go, we picked up our luggage, walked out with our one hundred and seventy strong tourist group and boarded the buses.

Here's where I am unable to wrap my mind around what I saw in the ninety minute bus ride to the hotel in Tiberia on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. In less than two hours we saw Tel Megiddo where Revelation places the battle at the End of Days or Armageddon (Read Revelation 16). Shortly thereafter our tour guide Dan motioned out the left windows of the bus showing us the Mount of Transfiguration (Read Matthew 17) and in what seemed only a few short moments later the bus was stopped at a scenic overlook where we were able to take pictures of the Sea of Galilee…in LESS THAN TWO HOURS. I can only imagine what tomorrow will be like.

Until then…
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
www.toddphillips.net