Learning so much

We had a good night‘s sleep at the Leonardo Jerusalem Hotel. Our room is very artsy and it had a beautiful lobby as well. We needed to meet in the lobby to leave at 7:30 AM so breakfast was early once again.

Our first stop today was to the temple mount. Last time when we came to Israel we were not able to come to the site because of the unrest in the area of Hebron. But today we were able to come up onto the steps where the floor level was actually the steps where Jesus would’ve walked. Of course the dome of the rock is in the place of the Temple of Israel. So I will show you a few of the gates and some of the scenery from up on top of the Temple Mount

We did quite a bit of walking again today down the narrow streets. There were a lot of steps and ups and downs as we wound our way down to the city of David. From there we were able to travel through the ancient Hezekiah‘s tunnel. Some of us wanted to stay more dry so we went to the tunnel that was 1000 years older than the one that Hezekiah built. Our pastor and his wife needed the headlamps and went down into the wet tunnel. These tunnels emptied out and to Salome’s pool. Although Arab owned, we were able to see some Hebrew inscriptions on some of the rocks there.

There were so many interesting things to see as we walked through the narrow streets. We saw the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and also a Turkish temple. Of course there was the Jewish and Arab cemeteries. Two monuments that stood out in the Jewish cemetery was the one for Absolem, David’s son and the one for Zacharias. They are the two larger stone pictures in the cemetery. We also saw where one of the bridges had collapsed and we saw where the money changers would have been in Jesus‘s time. We watched a short film about what it would be like to be a pilgrim for the first time and have to come to the temple, be ceremonially clean, and purchase a little goat for sacrifice.

of course there were some random things that stood out to me as well. We walked into the Jewish quarter and had our lunch there. We found a burger joint. Wynn and I ate with Linda and Jackie. We saw a lady playing an accordion. And we had to meet after lunch at the big menorah in the middle of the square. Of course the cool Grammys had to get a thumbs up picture.

After lunch we did some more walking to see some of the steps that would’ve been there when Jesus walked on this earth. We saw the three gates. I think they were called the Beautiful Gate. Our guide was good about showing us the authentic pieces that were there when Jesus was there and then showed how things were built up when the Crusaders or the Turks took over the area later on in history.

Our last stop of the day was at a museum called The Friends of Zion. It was a walk-through several different rooms that talked about all of the people that have helped the Jewish nation over the years that were not Jewish. So many familiar names and faces. So many verses of scripture that talk about Israel coming back into the land and becoming a nation. So many things that were horrible in history as we think about the catastrophes that happened to the Jewish people all because of hate. It was quite a moving presentation. He talked about all the little lights shining out in darkness. People willing to put it on the line in order to do what was right and to protect those who were going to be slaughtered. Left us with the question of what would we do if this was a situation where we could be a help. Would we shine in the darkness?

And now we are once again back at our hotel. We’ve eaten supper and it was delicious. We went to a little olive wood shop to look for souvenirs. Wynn joined a group of people to walk down to the Wailing Wall at night. I thought I better get the blog done and soak my feet and get ready for our final day of touring tomorrow. I wish I could share just a small part of what I have learned over the past week. I do want to leave you with one spiritual insight. I looked up in the cleft of the rock on the temple wall and saw a bird with its wings spread and it reminded me that God has us safely under his wings. His protection is there and I have certainly felt it this week as I have been healthy and able to walk and observe. Once again we are encouraged to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Good night.