The Isaiah Scroll

The final day of our trip was a free day. My friend and I went to a local shopping area, as well as to the Israel Museum to see the Isaiah scroll. 

It was so neat to see the oldest remaining whole Isaiah scroll—1000 years older than any others' previously found!

The museum also had a model of the Second Temple, which was pretty cool to see!

Via Dolorosa

The Via Dolorosa, or "Way of Suffering", is the traditional path believed to have been taken by Jesus to the cross in the Catholic faith.

Along the way are 14 stations where it's believed certain things happened as depicted in the Bible, like Simon of Cyrene picking up the cross, or where Jesus stopped and talked with Mary.

In addition to going to the Garden Tomb and seeing the possible location of Calvary nearby, we walked the Via Dolorosa to experience this as well. There were different churches along the way, and the road wound through a particularly crowded section of the city. We walked single file through a market in the narrow streets until we reached the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Included in this church were the locations where it is also believed Jesus was beaten, crucified, buried, and then rose again. It was dark, crowded, and difficult to see, and I personally didn't experience the same peace and confirmation as I felt in the Garden. In addition, there are some pretty valid arguments of this location being inside the city walls at the time. However, it was still beautiful to see this place of worship.

The View from the Mount of Olives

The view from the Mount of Olives is beautiful. From the top, you can see down into the Kidron Valley and back up into Jerusalem. We know that this is the road Jesus took when entering the city on a donkey on Palm Sunday. It's also a road lined with important landmarks, like old cemetery, where the first person buried was Absalom, David's son.

Walking down this road, I couldn't help thinking of Jesus and how He wept for Jerusalem as He entered that final time. And, I can't help but notice the sealed gate and the cemetery in front of it.

See, the Bible says that when Jesus returns to stand on this earth, He will first set foot on the Mount of Olives. He'll have to pass through both a cemetery (unclean for a Jew) and a sealed gate in order to get to the Temple Mount. 

Something tells me that won't be a problem.

The Jerusalem Cross

The Jerusalem cross is a beautiful symbol found throughout Israel.

Formed by one giant cross and then 4 smaller crosses in each "quadrant", it symbolized the good news of Jesus reaching all corners of the earth—north, south, east, and west.

This particular image is from a piece of pottery in the courtyard of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The Construction of the Temple

Going down into the tunnels below the Temple Mount was amazing - and a little bit claustrophobic.

I already shared my favorite part of that trip here. My second favorite part was learning about the construction itself. The deeper we went, we were able to see the difference between the stones. The ones further down were larger, more like bedrock, chiseled with much simpler tools.

(you can see above where the bedrock from the 1st Temple was joined with the stones from the second Temple)

The higher we travelled, including walking outside to the Western Wall, we were able to see how the stones were more square or rectangular in shape, constructed with more "modern" tools. The ones closest to the ground level (they continue even lower) are so large they weigh several tons.

The Wailing Wall

After entering Jerusalem, we went straight to the Temple Mount, where we spent time at the Wailing Wall. Originally part of the Second Temple (constructed by Herod), this is the closest remaining portion to the old Temple.

Herod's Temple was destroyed in AD 70, and ever since then, Jews from around the world have visited in efforts to be as close to the old Temple as possible.

There are two sections, one for women and one for men. You can approach the wall and and place a written prayer into the cracks. 

After placing my own prayer request in the cracks, I joined my group for a tour of the underground tunnels. 

BIG NEWS!!!

I have big, exciting news!

Next week I'll be going to ROME!!!!

I cannot wait; I've always wanted to go and explore this beautiful city personally. I'll also be able to visit the Vatican, and I am so excited!

For now, I'll continue with stories of Israel, but be looking for updates from Rome after.

The Secret of the Date Palm

As we headed south towards the Dead Sea, we saw many groves for date palms along the road—miles and miles of orderly lines of beautiful, stately palm trees growing... in the desert.

My tour guide explained to us two very interesting things: 1st - about the process of drip irrigation and 2nd, a really interesting phenomenon that was discovered upon the date palms growing in the region of the Dead Sea. It turns out that the salt in the ground actually make the fruit sweeter.

Needless to say, I've added a little bit of salt to my fruits and vegetables ever since. 

The View from Mount Scopus

Entering Jerusalem for the first time was one of the most incredible experiences. We rode up the mountain and suddenly our tour guide started playing an old hymn.

Suddenly, there it was—the beautiful limestone city of Jerusalem.

Bethlehem

After the shepherds' fields, we went to Bethlehem. They say the oldest families here date back 800 years!

In the middle of this major city is the Church of the Nativity, which is shared by the Catholic, Armenian, and Greek Orthodox churches. Underneath the actual church is the cave where it's believed Mary gave birth, marked with a star.

The church itself was the 1st Christian church built in the world, in 400 AD. It burned down, but was rebuilt. Recently, a portion of the original mosaic floor was discovered.

The Shepherds' Fields

One day, we woke up early and travelled to Bethlehem. Before reaching the city, we stopped outside to a beautiful spot looking out over the hills all around.

Behind us, was a cave that has been made into a church. This cave is likely the place where the shepherds protected their sheep in a pen at night. They would sleep at the mouth of the cave so as to be the first line of protection between wolves and other hunters.

Inside the church, I had the honor of leading "Silent Night" for everyone to sing, then we went outside and looked at the fields all around. These were not only the fields where the sheep were grazing in Luke 2, when the angels appeared to the shepherds, but it's been confirmed that these are the actual fields of Boaz (and Ruth).

Over the millennia, the topography has changed thanks to earthquakes, but we were looking at the fields where Ruth met Boaz and eventually raised their family—ancestors of Jesus.

The tour guide also explained something very interesting to us, highlighting the fact that these sheep weren't just any sheep that the shepherds were watching. These were the sheep reserved for sacrifice at the Temple. They needed to be spotless, without blemish. This means that the shepherds would never in a million years have left the sheep except for something of the upmost importance—something like the birth of the Lamb of God just over the next hill.

Barren Mount Gilboa

After Saul killed himself in a battle with the Philistines on Mount Gilboa in 1 Samuel 31, David cursed the mountain in 2 Samuel 1:21, saying:

"O mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, nor fields that yield offerings of grain.”

More than 3 millennia later, except for the patch where the Jewish National Fund planted some trees, the mountain is still bare. The picture above shows this. clearly

Capernaum

When we went to Capernaum, I was struck by how small it was. It made me imagine what it was like when Jesus and His disciples were there.

Unfortunately, the batteries in my headset died during that part of the tour, so I was unable to hear all of my tour guide's teaching. But I was close enough to hear that the current church is built over where it's believed Peter's mother-in-law lived. There's a glass floor in it so people can see through and imagine Jesus and the disciples there.

From the town, it's a short walk down to the shore, which is full of shells. You can stand there and listen to the water lapping on the shore and almost see a 2000-year-old boat out in the distance.