Our Trip to Israel October 2012 Day Seven

Transcription

1 :20am on the bus Our Trip to Israel October 2012 Day Seven A mural we passed at a children s playground Yep, they still have money changers! We got up and ate breakfast at our hotel. After breakfast, we walked from our hotel a couple blocks to stand near the former line between Israel and Jordan which originally ran through the middle of Jerusalem. We walked pat the UN compost and Doron recommended a few places we could go see on our own in the evening (The American Colony and another place near there). We got on our bus and drove to the Mount of Olives. At the Mt. of Olives, we got off at a look out point where we could see the whole city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is in the valley of shadows. There are many things which cast their shadow on Jerusalem. In the morning, it is the graveyard thus the Kiddron valley is called the valley of the shadow of death. The gold dome is built on top of Mt. The Old City Wall Moriah. To the right of the gold dome is a quad arch where the entrance to the holy of holies was. The middle Eastern struggle today is about the rights of the different peoples to enter Mecca. The Platform that the domes are sitting on is the same temple mount that was there in Herod s day. Herod built a temple to the exact specifications used for Solomon s temple, but then he built a bigger building around it. Herod s temple was the largest public building in the whole Roman Empire. Ezra and Nehemiah built only an altar and a podium for the priest to teach the Bible on Monday and Thursday days when they had the market. The priest would climb up into the podium built by Ezra and Nehemiah and teach the people from this vantage point.

2 The Temple Mount, built on Mt. Moriah where Abraham was provided with a substitute sacrifice for Isaac Where the Holy of Holies used to be Where King David s palace was The old city the city of David was built to the left of the temple. I am looking at the place where David had his palace. They built Jerusalem in the valley because of the water found in the valley. Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt the wall on top of the remains of the wall built during Isaiah s time. They didn t call it the second temple, they called it the renewal of the covenant. Jerusalem is divided into four quarters: the Armenian Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, and the Arab Quarter. At one time, they each only housed the groups that they were named for, but now the only one that is still what it says it is is the Armenian Quarter. The Armenians are direct descendants of the Byzantine people. The people who live in this Quarter do not own their own houses, the Byzantine Church owns the whole quarter. The disciples were distressed because the empty tomb took away the only physical connection they had with their religion. They didn t understand. They didn t consider the temple theirs because of the corruption that had happened in the temple. The ascension was essential for them so that they knew that they had a better connection a spiritual connection.

3 2 1 1 The Valley of Blood also called the Valley of Hell because this is where the blood from the sacrifices would run off 2 The Potter s Field, also called the Field of Blood, this is the land that was purchased with Judas 30 pieces of silver and where Judas was buried. Luke 19:20ff The man who owned the colt that Jesus rode on Palm Sunday was likely Essene and had probably witnessed Jesus baptism. Jesus rode the colt into the city of Jerusalem and mourned the corruption and blindness of her people. Then he cleansed the temple. We stopped across the Kiddron valley from the temple. We were standing where they sacrificed two animals on The Altar of the Total Sacrifice (a red heifer for cleansing and a goat for all people) (the Latin word for sacrifice is holocaust). This is where Jesus cried over Jerusalem because he was the total sacrifice. The church here has teardrops on top. This is the same elevation as the Altar at the temple. We continued down the steep hill and stopped at the Russian nunnery where they believe John the Baptist s head is buried. The Russian church here is dedicated to Mary Magdelene. We walked down a very steep hill from the Mt. of Olives to a cemetery inside a church. People with buried with their bones in a stone box because stones do not carry impurity. We walked down in front of the church. Across the Kiddron Valley from the temple Modern Jerusalem, today most of the buildings in Jerusalem are made out of concrete.

4 Jewish people are buried with no broken bones in a stone box. Stones are considered by the Jewish people to be without blemish since they were here before sin entered into the world. A tradition began after World War II that if someone visited a grave, they would leave a stone on it. In this way, people could see that they still have friends/ relatives that were left alive. This guy and his donkey really wanted their picture taken. We walked a long ways down a very steep hill. This was the path Jesus took on Palm Sunday (without the walls on either side). The path that we are walking is all on the Palm Sunday walk that Jesus did with His disciples on the colt. The people cut down palm branches and shouted Hosanna and God Save Us! Now there is a high wall on both sides but when Jesus was here, it was all open. We turned to the right where we saw the Garden of Gethsemane. We went from here to a private garden. We had planned to go to the Franciscan Monastery but they didn t let us in so we went to a different private garden owned by the Mormons. This garden was similar and yet very different from the authentic Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was has a similar landscaping to it. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. (Matthew 23:37-39 ESV)

5 It is very peaceful here. You feel like you should talk in a whisper if at all. The olive trees here are younger than the trees in the actual garden, but probably more similar to the trees in the garden at the time of Jesus. There was a fire here, so the olive trees in this garden are about seventy years old growing out of the base of the old trees which is about 3000 years old. The base of each tree is much larger than the trunk. The first time olives were mentioned in the Bible was in the story of Noah. The olive branch came to symbolize peace between God and man. That s what Jesus coming was all about. That s why his coming to a garden filled with olive trees was so symbolic. Jesus IS the peace between God and man. He knew that in order to restore the relationship he would have to suffer, but he was willing to do it. Sitting there in the last supper Passover meal with Jesus, the disciples expected to hear about the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, but instead what they heard was about Jesus impending sacrifice. They didn t understand it then, but they were hearing about the actual story to which the Exodus was just a prologue. Luke 22:39, And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. Jesus left the last supper and went to a garden near and very similar to the one that I am sitting in right now. Judas came up the valley to my left with the temple guards in order to betray Jesus and set into motion the events that would lead to the salvation of all mankind. Jesus came to this garden often to pray. His disciples were not surprised that He came here because it was his habit to do so. Jesus came here that night to pray that the cup might be removed from Him. He also knew that it could not be so and thus He prayed for strength to endure what was before Him. This garden has many large rocks which are good for sitting on. As you sit, you can hear the bustle of the city beyond the gate, but you can also hear other things. I hear the soft chirps of the birds in the trees. I hear the caw of a crow somewhere behind me. I even heard a rooster crow twice. As I look behind me I see many trees and bushes spread out going as far up the hill as I can see. There are several natural rock formations here some

6 of which are quite large. The tree I am sitting under is a pine tree. It has many pinecones on it and a few on the ground. The ground is covered in pine needles around me and also many smaller rocks. There are several bushes and fern type plants that are growing here. This is definitely a living and green garden, but not as lush as a garden at home. As I sit on my rock and look around, I can feel the presence of God in this place. When it was time to go, we left with a feeling of reverence like the feeling you have when you are leaving church on Good Friday. We stepped out the garden gates back into the street. The streets here are crazy and the drivers are insane. There are pilgrims crowding the street from one side to the other think a very busy street fair but there is some traffic too. When a car wants to come through he just comes through. They honk as they go and the people scatter to either side to let the cars by. It was especially odd to see a monk driving up honking and braking to avoid hitting the pedestrians in his path. I suppose that for the monk, this is an everyday occurrence, but for the pedestrian it made you wonder what it would be like to be run over by a monk We went down the hill and into the public garden called the Garden of Gethsemane. Here the tree trunks are easily four to five feet in diameter. These trees are very old about 3000 years. Their trunks are weathered and twisted and they had many bumps and holes in their trunks. Walking through (around really, as there was a fence around the actual garden) the garden was very crowded. There were vendors there trying to sell things and lots and lots of pilgrims. Doron told us that after about 800 years, the olive tree becomes hallow inside.

7 After we walked around two sides of the garden, we came to a church called the Church of the Agony. The windows of the church are made of alabaster for the lighting effect. Inside the church was very dark. There were mosaics on the floor and paintings all over the walls and ceilings. The windows had purple crosses in them with white surrounding it. There are several crosses along each side with several scenes painted on the walls. The altar area was very large. It was policed by monks at the front. Underneath and in front of the altar was a huge rock thought to have been the one Jesus prayed at on the night in which He was betrayed. We left the church and garden to get back on the bus. As we drove up the hill toward the temple, you could look back and get more perspective on the graveyard we had walked through. What had looked like a cave or a couple of caves of bones was in fact a whole hillside full of grave boxes. The hillside full of grave boxes. (below) This is what they looked like zoomed in. There must be thousands of them.

8 We got off the bus near the city wall at Old Jerusalem across the valley from Gethsemane. One of the first things we saw was some people celebrating a Bat Mitzvah. They were jumping and dancing with a loud trumpet and a white tent they were holding up with a stick on each corner. We sat apart from the main area by the gate of Zion where we shared Jerusalem bagels and hyssop. After our brief respite, we walked down the streets of Jerusalem and the cathedral bells began ringing. The buildings which rose up on either side of us were made of stone similar to the stones on the road we were walking on. We headed down toward David s tomb and the site of the Last Supper. We passed a bronze statue of King David wearing his crown and playing his harp. All around us were people. These people were from many different countries and religions. I think that most of them were either Jews or Christians. Jerusalem Bagels We are standing next to the traditional site for the tomb of David. This mountain is called Mt. Zion (landmark). We walked through a crusade era wall and archways to stand in line to see the traditional site of David s tomb. Everything in this area seems to be made of old stones. To get in to see the tomb, we had to separate men and women (because this site is owned by the Jews). The men had to have a head covering so Dan borrowed a paper yamaka. We waited in a long, slow line to see the piece of crushed purple velvet with Hebrew writing on it and a crown symbolizing David. (It

9 was much ado about nothing much as they don t really even know if this is David s tomb.) The group of Indian (as in from India) tourists that were in line at the same time as us were very rude. They were trying to all jam through without letting others have personal space. (Dan said that in India, people probably don t have as much personal space as we do here.) I had to throw an elbow at an Indian man to get out of the tomb area. He was trying to hard to get through past me that he was pushing me into the wall. I don t know if it was cultural differences or what, but I didn t want to be crushed either way. We left David s tomb area and went to the Upper Room where they think the Last Supper took place. The building was made of stone with two stained glass windows and cathedral ceilings. There was a bronze olive tree statue and a pillar with pelicans on it. The builders believed that pelicans fed their young their own flesh, so they put pelicans on as a symbol for Jesus since crosses were not allowed. We went up some steps and into an upstairs room. Our guide said that this is definitely the area where the Last Supper happened, but that this particular structure was rebuilt by the Crusaders. The disciples came to the Upper Room to prepare not by cooking but by cleaning. They expected Jesus to talk about the Passover and the Exodus. The room itself was empty but you could see a place that could have been either an altar area or a fireplace. We encircled the whole room and listened while the guide talked, then Pastor Reiner read the account of the Last Supper from the gospels. Then we sang the Doxology together. The high stone ceiling made our voices echo beautifully. I had tears in my eyes as I remembered the words that Pastor Reiner had just read. They sand a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. It doesn t matter that this isn t the exact spot where Jesus and His disciples had their Last Supper, you can still get the idea of it. You know that even so, this is what it was like, this is near where it was 200 years ago,

10 Jesus and His disciples walked where we are walking, stood where we are standing and saw pretty much what we are seeing. The Upper Room (below) the view from the window Several times while we were driving, we saw several of these signs. Our guide thought it was very funny to say that he thought we should stand behind the signs and take a group photo. 2:20pm Jordan River We took the bus to the Jordan River right outside of Jericho. The river was dirty but with clean dirt since it is running water. Mark 1:1ff It was in the Jordan River at a similar location to where we are right now that Jesus was baptized. (A desert location by the wilderness.) God claimed Jesus in His baptism just as God also claims us through our baptism. After Jesus was baptized, He went out into the wilderness (where we had Church on Sunday evening) for forty days at which time He was tempted by Satan. These Israeli soldiers were guarding the border between Israel and Jordan

11 We went down by the water. We got to go all the way down to the water s edge and touch it. Some people from other groups were going into the water for baptisms. Dan took his shoes and socks off and waded down a couple of steps into the river. Going back up from the water, there was a large group standing at the top where we started from. As we were walking past them, they began to sing some Spirituals. We were able to stand and listen to them for several minutes before loading back up onto the bus. The Mountain of Temptation is right outside of Jericho. (below) There is a monastery located on the Mount of Temptation, but you have to climb the mountain to find it.

12 The goats were in the fields having a snack. 3:14pm Jericho Driving up to Jericho, you can see lots of greenery around the city. Jericho represents temptation. It is a Palestinian city so it is very restricted. Our guide and driver are specially licensed to travel into this area. The Israeli government doesn t want Israel s citizens to go into the Palestinian areas and become The peddlers who live in Jericho said that this particular sycamore tree is over 2000 years old. hostages, so they do not allow free travel between the Palestinian and non-palestinian areas of the country. The landscape is green, but as we drive closer, you can see that it is dirty like Jordan. They have been and are continuing to excavate here as this is the oldest known city to be continuously inhabited through the present time. They find a layer of ashes in all the excavations that they do here due to the battle with Joshua and the Israelites. We went a little farther into Jericho and saw an ancient sycamore fig tree. Luke 19 We read the story of Zacchaeus under the sycamore tree. Jesus called Zacchaeus out of the sycamore tree then He went to eat with the chief tax collector chief of sinners! because Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed His blood for me! 4:20pm on the bus The Dung gate is called that because it is the lowest gate of the city and were all the dung would have left the city. We are heading back to Jerusalem where we are going to walk along a tunnel that goes about a mile and a half coming out by the western wall. We will get to see part of the temple wall left from Herod s temple.

13 On our way back from Jericho, it started to rain. As we drove through the desert, it was raining very hard. Our guide said that it only rains 5-6 times a year in this area and that if we come back next week, all the brown desert hills we are driving past will be green. As we entered back into the city of Jerusalem, our guide pointed out the wall that is a barrier between Israel and Palestine. He said that all of the 240 miles of border is a fence except for 18 miles which is made up of this wall. He told us that the fend and the wall were built as an anti-terrorist device to prevent Palestinian terrorist attacks in the cafes in Israel. At its peak they had 197 Israeli fatalities from such attacks, the year after the wall and fences were finished they had only four fatalities. He says that the Palestinians don t have such fences around their towns because they have nothing to fear from the Israelites. 9pm meeting in the hotel Herod is mentioned throughout the New Testament, but it is not always the same Herod. Herod the Great was the King when Jesus was born Herod Philip build Caeserea Phillipi Herod Antipas killed John the Baptist, tried Jesus before His crucifixion Herod Archaelaus Mary and Joseph settle in Nazereth to avoid him Herod Agrippa killed James, jailed Peter Herod Agrippa II Paul defends himself before him Wadi dry riverbed These holes are in the wall throughout. They are just big enough for an archer to fit their bow and arrow through with minimal exposure to incoming arrows. Dan is touching the wall of the Old City next to the Zion Gate.

14 10:30pm Jerusalem I purposefully did not take my notebook with me when we got off the bus. We spent the most amazing couple of hours. This whole day has just been completely overwhelming. To trace the footsteps of Jesus whether they are the exact footsteps or they are pretty close and traditional I am in the city where Jesus was. I have been to the Mount of Olives, the Upper Room, Jericho and many other places where Jesus was. Wow, just wow. What an awe-filled and humbling experience! To walk in the footsteps of my Lord 2000 years later I can t begin to express how I feel. Tonight we saw the temple. We left the bus at Zion s gate and avoided some pretty crazy traffic. We walked in to the Armenian Quarter. At the point of entry into Old Jerusalem, we met cars that were trying to do a 90 degree turn with not a lot of space I m certain that I would not have been able to make that turn and pretty sure that there are a lot of scratched up cars due to that gate. We had to avoid two cars as we went in a gate that really did not seem equipped for modern traffic (I m sure camels and horses wouldn t have had any trouble.) We went to the right as we went in and made our way past the Armenian Quarter. The houses there are built to shield the people from the outside world with the backs of the houses facing the street. There were cars that went through this gate! The Armenian Quarter The remnants of a Roman marketplace Corinthian columns

15 We had to go under the modern city to get to the street level of the Roman Era. A Byzantine map There was so much that Doron told us as we walked that I just cannot remember. He led us into the Jewish Quarter and we walked down several streets until we came to a set of stairs. Upon descending those stairs, we came out into a Roman marketplace. There were places carved out where they had shops and more beautiful pillars. At the end of this area, there was a mural painted on the wall of what the marketplace would have looked like during the Roman era. We went through a doorway and into a shopping area. It was a long hallway with shops on either side. The shops were bustling, bright, and colorful. There were many people here and it was clearly directed toward tourists. A Roman street view Shopkeeper Dan? Now Then Caesar Dan?

16 The modern shopping this is still under the city. Along the way, there would be a place here or there where there had been an excavation and there would be a large open space where you could see down to the Herodian Era or even down to bedrock. We continued on until we left the shopping area and came around and around to the West Wall. By now it was getting very dark because sunset happens early and quickly here. We went through a security check and were able to walk down to the area where the West Wall is located. The West Wall is the only wall of the temple that was built by people who were too poor to donate money for the temple so they helped by building the wall itself the other three walls were built by soldiers and slaves. The guidebook says that the West Wall was built as a retaining wall and was not actually part of the temple. People visit the West Wall because it is the closest thing that they have to the temple. Our first glimpse of the West Wall

17 We walked the entire length of the wall underground. Our starting point We were able to go on a tour of the tunnel underneath that runs the entire length of the West Wall. It is about 1 ½ miles in length and is still being excavated. We saw so many things that I can t begin to remember them all. We went down so far that instead of being next to the bottom of the wall (street level of the Herodian Era) we were actually in bedrock. Most of the tunnel was fairly roomy for a tunnel but there were some places that were very, very tight. Herod s signature beveled construction We saw much of Herod s construction identifiable by it s beveled edges including several cisterns and even an aqueduct. Street level during Herod s time

18 The old entrances into the Temple Mount from the West Wall were sealed up during the Moslem time period. A cistern The tunnel exit

19 Coming out of the tunnel, we had to walk the length of the real marketplace where the locals go to shop. That was quite an experience! The culture here is so different from the US! It was very crowded in the marketplace so we weren t able to completely stay together as a group. Dan and I just stuck together and followed the guy in front of us who thankfully had our group s signature orange tie tied to the back of his hat. We came out through the Damascus gate and met our bus.