Two Ways to Come to Israel in January

There are a thousand ways to see Israel. And IBEX is essentially booked up for the forseeable future. So the following comments aren’t because we’re looking for more work. Something just stirs in my blood when I see something represented inaccurately, especially when it’s intended to promote their own interests and put others down at the same time.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (the largest seminary in the U.S.?) is bringing a group to Israel in Dec-Jan. Their itinerary boasts that this “is not your typical 10-12 day tour” and “you will see more biblical sites than any other trip.” I don’t know what is included in “any other trip,” but let’s just compare with the program of Talbot School of Theology which will be occurring at the same time. Talbot arrives one day later than SWBTS and departs Israel eight days after the SWBTS departure. So if you come with Talbot, you get seven extra days in Israel. On that basis alone, I would guess that SWBTS will not see “more biblical sites.”

I’m not going to take the time making comparisons all the way through, but a couple of things strike me:

On January 8, SWBTS is going to visit the Central Benjamin Plateau, the Shephelah, Bethlehem, the Holyland Hotel model, and Yad VeShem. By contrast, Talbot will spend a full day studying the Shephelah, a full day in the area of Benjamin, another full day to Bethlehem and neighboring sites, and the other sites will be visited on yet a fourth day. This is not because we’re moving slow, but because SWBTS is apparently skipping major biblical sites like Gezer, Beth Shemesh, Maresha, Lachish, Michmash, Jericho, and Herodium. That’s fine, just don’t advertise this as a trip in which “you will see more biblical sites than any other trip.”

There is more, but I’ll end with this note: “Time permitting we will also cool ourselves in Hezekiah’s Tunnel.” Apparently this means they may or may not see the tunnel, which is absolutely astonishing for a group of seminarians. There are dozens of other things to drop from the schedule before the tunnel. And based on the day’s schedule and the rest of the wording, it seems like if they do see the tunnel, that’s the extent of the City of David that they will see.

On one hand, an itinerary like this is disappointing, especially for seminary students. On the other, I’m glad they’re coming. That’s the most important thing. But the promoters would do well to be more honest in their recruiting.