Israel - Part 2
I previously forgot to mention that we had gone hiking up Mt. Sodom. This is a huge mountain of salt that is basically the only hunk of salt in a range of limestone mountains. Our guide thinks this is about the area that the city of Sodom would have been located, so he thinks it is under this mountain somewhere. Who knows?? But it was really neat to climb up that big chalky mountain & stand on top & look all around at the other desert mountains & the Dead Sea. While we were driving through the desert areas, we saw many flocks of sheep & goats with their shepherds. It still looked today just like I would imagine David looking so many years ago. We also saw some wildlife - including several fox & a jackle.
Back to Jerusalem - -
Our first full day in Jerusalem started with a visit to what may have been the tomb of David. It is unsure if it was or not. Then we went up to Temple Mount. This is the location where the original Temple was that Jesus would have gone to. There was also a basilica building up there where the moneychangers & merchants were located. Now, of course, both buildings are gone & have been replaced to mosques. One of the mosques is called the Dome of the Rock & it has a huge gold covered dome & sits on the site of the original Temple. The Muslims believe this is the spot that Mohammed ascended to heaven from so it is a sacred spot to them. The Muslims control the whole Temple Mount area & are very strict in allowing visitation only a short time up there & not into the mosques at all. Security was very tight on entering this area.
We walked down into the city by the Western Wall - also known as the Wailing Wall. It was an interesting area - full of a lot of things going on. There were people standing at the wall praying & some people write out prayers & leave them in cracks in the wall. Here, the men & women are separated. There were also a lot of Bar Mitzvah’s going on & the women would stand on chairs & look over the barrier at the celebration of their friend or family member & would throw candy at the young man. This was on a Monday, so there were many Bar Mitzvahs going on. The Families would enter with singing & beating drums, & playing music. It is a very big deal!!
Next stop was at the Davidson Center where we saw a computer simulation of what the Temple area would have been like for a person visiting the city during Jesus’ time. We were able to see the steps where Jesus would have entered the temple area (that entrance is now closed) & saw where shops were attached to the city wall & Robinson’s arch. We visited the city of David where it is believed David’s palace would have been although it has not been excavated. There were remains of several homes here as well as a visit through a tunnel which was the ancient water system for the city. There are 2 different routes you can take. One requires you to walk through knee deep water for 45 minutes in the dark (or with flashlights) & the other is a dry route. Since it was really cold & windy this day, only 1 person opted for the wet route!!
Our last stop was at the tombs that line the Kidron Valley just outside of the city walls. This is the valley that runs between Jerusalem & the mount of Olives & there are several caves in the sides of the hills that served as tombs. It is believed Jesus may have stayed in these at times as that is where the poorer people visiting the city would often stay. There were also a couple of other nicer tombs that we visited, but they were locked up!! Since it was so cold, we opted to call it a day & head back to the hotel for a nice dinner.
After dinner, our tour guide, Yoni, had commented how much he enjoyed our singing, so we all met in the hall of our floor (we had most of the 6th floor) & sang & prayed for a couple of hours. It was so nice to have him join in the singing & praying with us!
Next day, Tuesday, we got up early as it was going to be a busy day! First we went into the old city & walked around to the area of the pools of Bethesda where the crippled man would lie all day waiting for someone to help him into the healing waters. Jesus healed him without even using the waters! There had been church buildings built on this site, but they had since been destroyed & never completely restored, so it was easier to see the actual site. Next, we followed the Via Dolorosa which is the path traditionally believed to be taken by Jesus on his way through the city to the cross. We walked the narrow streets of the city & there are plaques commemorating events that traditionally happened at each of the sites along the way. Of course, so much of this is just speculation, but some of it does have some basis in history. It ends at the church of the Holy Sepulcher in which is supposed to be the sites where Jesus’ clothes were taken off of him, where he was nailed to the cross, where the cross stood, & where Jesus was removed from the cross & buried - all in one building. There is also a large flat stone that is supposed to be where Jesus was laid to prepare him for burial. It is hard to know how much of this is actually where it happened, but archeologists do believe it was right in this area. It’ just so hard to see it as those sites since they had to build a building over it. We also visited an area outside of town called the Garden Tomb that some believe may have been Jesus’ tomb & there is an area in the garden that the side of the mountain resembles a skull - thus the idea that could be Golgotha (place of the skull). Who knows?? I’m just glad my faith doesn’t require me to know these things. I don’t need to see where it happened to believe it or to worship the one who did it!! We ended the garden visit with a short devotional. Many groups that go there arrange to have a communion service while there. We had some from another group comment to us that they were taking communion while we were singing & what an inspiration it was for them. I’m really proud of this group of students we have with us. They are a great group that have made a positive impression everywhere they’ve gone!! It sure makes being the faculty for them a more pleasant experience!!
We had wanted to do some shopping while in the city market, but there just wasn’t time, so our guide let us spend about 30 minutes at a souvenir shop before heading to the Israel Museum. This is the location of the scrolls that were found at Qumran as well as a huge scale-model of the city of Jerusalem in Bible days. It really helped put perspective on what the city must have looked like. We had very limited time here, so those were the only two things we got to see. It just seems that there is never enough time to see it all!! We get up early & go late & hardly stop at all,, but there is just so much to see here.
We returned to the hotel at 8:30 for a late dinner. After dinner, most of us met in a downstairs room & invited our guide & bus driver, Ya ‘er to join us for a time of worship. Yoni had learned some of our songs, so he made some requests & even joined in a little. After singing for about an hour, we had them get in the middle of the room & surrounded them both & prayed for them. They were quite touched that we would do such a thing & with tears in his eyes, Ya ‘er told us that he had never in his life felt like this before. We just hope we were able to help them see Jesus a little in us. It was a very emotional time of goodbyes as we would be leaving out quite early the next morning.
Since we would be getting up at 2:15 to make it to the airport at 4:00 for our 7:00 flight, some of the students opted to stay up all night. Vann & I decided to try to get a little sleep, but it wasn’t easy with all the laughing & giggling going on down the hall! 2:15 came early & we made it to the airport, although it did take almost 3 hours to go through the security checks required. We landed safely in Athens at 10:30 & went straight back “home” to the Artemis to crash for a while. Traveling is fun, but it always feels good to get back!
This trip to Israel was grueling, but a lot of fun. I felt like I learned a lot about Judaism & got a much greater feel for what life was like in New Testament times. It was great to walk where Jesus walked & see some of the same things he would have seen 2,000 years ago!!
Some things I loved about Israel--
-Our guide & bus driver
-Friendly people
-Finding Root Beer & Reeces cups (not to be found in Greece!)
-Walking where Jesus walked
-The Bedowin camp
-Our informal devotional times
-Almost everyone speaks English!!
