Israel (Part 2)

We finally made it to Jerusalem!

Our hotel was at the North side of the city and had great views overlooking the entire area. Jerusalem is a huge sprawling city now, but originally it started in the valley on the southern side because that's where the water was located (pool of Siloam)
Interesting fact about Jerusalem is that any building that is built within the city has be built out of Jerusalem limestone for continuity of how everything looks.

        June 6th
We began the day at the top of the Mount of Olives. We had an amazing view of the city and Avi pointed out a lot of the major buildings and areas that we would be seeing over the next few days. This mountain is where Jesus ascended back to heaven after his resurrection, and where the Palm Sunday path began. Below the overlook area, there is a huge Jewish cemetery that actually dates back to Biblical times.

the rocks on top are called "stones of remembrance" that family put on top when they go visit the grave

After leaving this area, we walked down the mountain a little ways and saw a monastery called Dominus Flevit Chapel which means "our Lord weeps" and is the traditional site that Jesus looked over Jerusalem and wept (Matthew 23:37-39).

the white pillar on the right is shaped like a Jewish tear jar which is something kept in families throughout generations where they saved the tears they wept while mourning for family that has died

 Our next stop a little further down was the Garden of Gethsemane. The garden is divided into 2 gardens with a street down the middle; it covers quite a large area, and was huge in Jesus' time. There are a few Olive Trees that are over 2000 years old and had been dormant, but have come back to life and are growing new branches. We were able to sit together and read Matthew 26:36-46 and Kie talked about what we can learn from Jesus during difficult times in our lives. His big 3 take-away points were to surround yourself with friends for support, ultimately surrender to God (his will, not ours), and then finally to "rise and go" to accept God's plan and walk down the path he is asking you to walk.

On the other side of the garden, we visited a church called the Church of All Nations. This was built in 1924 and has really pretty windows that look like stained glass, but are actually polished alabaster. 

At the bottom of the mountain, we entered the city walls through the Lion's Gate. This gate is also known as Stephen's Gate because it was here that he was martyred. 

Our next stop just inside the gate was the Pool of Bethesda. These ruins were uncovered fairly recently (95-100 years ago). It was a very deep pool and very large, had a western side and eastern side. The common belief of the people was that an Angel might come down and "stir" the waters and if you were the first one in the pool after this occurred, you would be healed, so sick and crippled people would lay here to try to be the first in the pool. There was also a temple near this pool, and the sick and crippled would beg for money. This is where the miracle of healing a crippled man found in John 5 occurred.

Across the courtyard from the pool is a church called the Church of St Anne which is a catholic church that had some great acoustics and we all went in and sang " How Great Thou Art" with Avi directing!

We then headed a little ways down the street (we are walking down the Via Dolorosa) to the Church of Condemnation. 2000 years ago this was the front area of the Antonia Fortress and thought to be where the crown of thorns was placed on Jesus' head.

walking the via dolorosa

ceiling was painted with a crown of thorns

Just a couple of doors down, we entered the Antonia Fortress. We had to go underground because the original pavement is now covered, but the actual stone street is still intact and has been preserved. This fortress is where Jesus was flogged and Avi told us a little about how this was done back in Jesus' time. The grooves in the stone were for the chariots to maintain traction, so we know for sure which way Jesus walked out when he carried the cross across this same pavement. We read John 19:12-16 and had a time of prayer.

We did not continue down the path that Jesus took all the way to Calvary, but went through a market area to the Wailing Wall and met our bus to head to Mount Zion. This was on Saturday which is the Sabbath, so we were unable to take pictures. We did go back again another day to spend more time and take pictures!

On the way to Mount Zion, we stopped at an observation point where we could see Bethlehem and the field where the angels appeared to the shepherds in Luke 2:8. This field was also owned by Boaz and where Ruth gleaned after coming back with Naomi.

Next stop was Mount Zion and we started at the Zion Gate Plaza. This is where you would enter to go the to the Jewish and Armenian quarters of the city. The gate has quite a few bullet holes from machine guns during the Jordanian occupation of the old city from 1948-1967.

We then went to the traditional site of the Upper Room where the first supper occurred with Jesus and his disciples. The exact room is not known, but it was in a place and room similar to where we went.

the arches date back to the crusader period

The last stop of the day was at the House of Caiaphas (also on Mt Zion). Historically, he was a high priest and his family was one of 4 families known for their corruption. Jesus was held in this house in the pit before being taken to Pilate. We read from Psalm 88 that is a reflection of what Jesus may have experienced in this pit.

Behind the house, there is a stone staircase that is the original staircase that Jesus walked when he came to the house after being arrested.

        June 7th

We started the day at the Temple Mount. This is the Mount Moriah where Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed. In 985 BC Solomon built the Temple here, but it was destroyed and the building now is a mosque and the entire area is controlled by Muslims. The mosque (called the Dome of the Rock) was built in 687-691 BC and the dome is not real gold, but painted a gold color. The mosque is not in the same spot as the temple used to be; its approx 40 yards from the temple's original location. There is another smaller mosque called Al-Aqsa and in the Crusader times was used as a christian church.
While we were there, they had several Muslim guards patrolling the area and also witnessed several school groups being led in propaganda yells about Allah.

Al-Aqsa

eastern gates, they are currently sealed shut by the Muslims as it is prophesied the Messiah will return through these gates

After leaving the Temple Mount, we headed back to the Wailing Wall. This wall is what is left from the wall surrounding the Temple dating back to 70 AD. People go here daily to pray and there are tons of prayers written on paper that are placed in the rock. The men and women are separated and the men are required to cover their heads which is a sign of humility.

Our next stop was at the City of David. This area of the city was the original area of Jerusalem back when it was first established. Jerusalem was at the top of a hill above the Kidron valley with the pool of Siloam at the base. This area is now a national park and we watched a neat video that went through the history of what Jerusalem used to look like when it was first established compared to now. There is a really long underground tunnel that runs the entire length of the City of David and ends at the Pool of Siloam which held the water supply and was also an escape route for the people. We actually walked about 15 minutes of this tunnel, and could have walked the entire way, but it would have taken over an hour! The tunnel is very low and extremely narrow, I can't imagine having to run through it with only a torch!

the kidron valley to the left is now all built up, but was empty in biblical times

After walking through the top half of the tunnel, we came up onto some pavement that is from Biblical times! We saw some old Roman baths (called a Miqvah) where people would walk down the right side unclean, immerse themselves, then come back up the other side clean. We were near the southern steps and where the Temple was built, and there were many of these baths all lined up since it was required that people did this bathing ritual prior to entering the Temple. We read Acts 2 about the Day of Pentecost where over 3000 people were saved and baptized. Baptism means immersion and back then, they would immerse themselves and did not baptize like we do where someone else is involved. They used baths just like we saw here for the baptisms. John the Baptist was the first person to baptize someone else and eventually the early church adopted this and now we do the same.

this is where the tunnel ended, this wall to the right is actually part of the western wall

Since it was just around the corner, we walked over to the Southern Steps. The design of the steps was that they alternated one narrow step, then one wide step so that you could not run up the steps, but had to walk in a humble manner. This was the common area whenever people came to the Temple, and where Jesus confronted the money changers in Matthew 21:12-13.

the three arches were the entrance to the temple

After this, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for about an hour, and then that evening, we were able to go to Bethlehem where our pastor was able to preach at the baptist church!
Coming up next is all about Bethlehem and the last 2 days of our trip!