Israel Day 7

Day Seven! Finally. It is taking me forever to finish posting these. 

This day is a little bit blurry in my mind because it was fast-paced and super windy/chilly all day. None of us were very well prepared for the weather that day. Also, everywhere we went was super crowded (except the Israeli Museum) and it was hard not to stay distracted by all the people and crowds. 

First stop was the Israeli Museum. We got there right before it opened and had to wait outside a few minutes, so our sweet group of teenagers just lead worship songs. It was a wonderful way to begin our day. 

The Israeli Museum has a model of the old city and this was fascinating. Walking around this model helped really put some of the pieces of the city together, as well as have a better understanding of direction and where things are located. 

We toured the inside of the Israeli Museum, where the Dead Sea Scrolls and Aleppo Codex are kept. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the building, but these findings are incredibly fascinating to see with your own eyes. Evan and I did not feel as though we had enough time exploring the Israeli Museum!!! 

From the Israeli Museum we went to the Mount of Olives. A beautiful view of the city! At the Mount of Olives is a Jewish/Muslim cemetery. 

We walked from the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane. The trees in the Garden of Gethsemane are said to be at least 900 years old--babies of the original trees from the garden. The Church of All Nations is located where part of the original garden was. It was hard to not be overwhelmed with gratitude and love for Jesus as I walked around the garden. 

From there, we began walking the Via Dolorosa. (This is the part that gets really fuzzy!) 

Below is the Pool of Bethesda. 

Walking the Via Dolorosa

Arab Market as we walked the Via Dolorosa

Church of the Holy Seplechur

Inside the Holy Seplechur, what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus.( There are actually two traditional sites, one outside the city walls.)

We ended all of our touring at the second possible location of the Garden Tomb. This was such a sweet, precious time. It was a little chaotic as the garden was very busy, but our tour guide was actually a Chinese Christian and we shared him with a group of Chinese tourists. It brought tears to my eyes as I listened to our tour guide speak of his Savior, then the translator for the other group say his words in Mandarin. I couldn't help but be overcome with the thought of what a small glimpse of Heaven we experienced that day. 

Can you see the skull? 

I don't feel like I have adequate words to describe the way this trip impacted my life,  nor do any of these blog posts reflect all of what I learned and saw.  We've been home for over a month and I think about the trip daily. I read scripture with fresh eyes and have a better grasp on the culture and geography that the Bible speaks about. 

Jesus is real, the Bible is true, and I pray that my life will be about sharing that with others so God can be glorified! 

Israel Day 6

We've been home since Sunday, and I'm just now able to hold my eyes open long enough to finish writing about our trip. Jet-lag is no joke! I've been in bed every night by 8:00 and asleep not long after. 

Friday we began touring in Jerusalem. We started the morning at the Southern Steps and Robinson's Arch.  I learned that the temple was built on Mt. Moriah (where Abraham went to sacrifice Issac (Genesis 22). My first impression of the temple was that I thought it was massive--much bigger than the diagrams and pictures I've grown up seeing. I learned, though, that it wasn't always that way. King Herod, who was known for major building projects, expanded the temple and added the wall around it. While at the temple, we visited the wailing wall and walked through the Rabbinical Tunnel, where we walked on 1st century streets in some places.

1st century streets! Maybe Jesus walked on these...

After our time at the temple mount, we walked to the City of David and Hezekiah's water tunnel (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chronicles 32:30), Gihon Spring (1 Kings 1:32-37) and ended at the Pool of Siloam (John 9, and I guess I don't have a picture?!)  It was really dark inside the water tunnel and hard to get pictures, so there aren't many from this area. Also, I had this a-ha moment when I saw the Pool of Siloam. In my mind, "pools" in scripture were more like ponds, not like swimming pools with concrete in the bottom. I had no idea! 

After seeing the Pool of Siloam, we drove through a Hasidic Jewish Quarter. (Evan took some awesome pictures here, but I don't have those!) Hasidic Jews are European Jews (think, very traditional dress, men and boys with shaved heads and side curls) and is a slum area of Jerusalem. We then went into the Jewish market for lunch, which was CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY. It was noon on Friday, so Shabat was starting within hours. There were people EVERYWHERE!!! We split up 2 

adults/4 kids and were left in the market for about 45 minutes to grab lunch. It was a little stressful, to say the least!

After lunch, we drove to the Palestinian border, with a little political lesson for the students. 

Below is a picture of the wall that separates Jerusalem from Bethlehem.