Day 9 - Jerusalem!

This morning we started the day early and were fortunate enough to be able to visit the Temple Mount.  After passing through security Mickey and Joe gave a great overview of the history of the temple, how it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, rebuilt by Zerubbabel, and largely renovated by Herod the Great.  Finally being destroyed by the Romans.  Today two Muslim mosque stand on the mount.  We viewed thew East Gate and the area where Pontius Pilate interrogated Christ and where Paul was arrested.

 

We then moved to St. Annes Church marking where the Catholic church believes the Virgin Mary was born.  The acoustics in the church are awesome and many visitors took turns singing praise. Next door is the Pools of Bethesda.  Here Jesus asked the paralytic if he wanted to be healed and told him to get up, take up your bed and walk.

  

Walking out of the Lions gate and through the Kidron valley we gathered at the Garden of Gethsemane.  Taking time to pray and think of Christs betrayal, his anguish and arrest we stepped next door to view the Church of all Nations also known as the Church of Agony.

  

We viewed the ruins of the City of David and ended the day walking through Hezekiah's Tunnel and the Pool of Siloam.

   

Day 8 - US Embassy, Valley of Elah, Ayalon Institute Museum, the Herodium and the Israeli Museum.

Today we kicked off the morning by stopping by the US Embassy in Jerusalem.  Back on the bus we traveled to the Valley of Elah.  Here we walked up the dry creek bed and viewed the area where David defeated Goliath.  We each searched for our own five smooth stones and discussed the courage of David not only to face Goliath but also be courageous enough to ask Saul if he could be the one to go to battle.

  

We visited the Ayalon Institute Museum which produced bullets for the Israeli army from 1945 to 1948.  This secret underground factory was planned and perfected for fifteen years prior to going into operations and was instrumental in Israels independence.  This is an amazing story and I would suggest you research it.

  

Next stop was the Herodium, King Herods palace/fortress.  Rising 758 meters above sea level King Herod had slave build this man made mountain.  Upon it he built a massive palace with giant water storage withing the mountain.  We all discussed how a king with so much power was terrified and threatened of a small baby that was born just miles away.

  

   

Our final stop was the Israeli museum where we viewed a large model of the city and the 2nd temple.  Joe and Mickey discussed different areas of the city and described what we would be seeing in the next two days.  We then toured the Dead Sea Scrolls museum, viewing the different parchments that were found including the entire book of Isaiah measuring over 24 feet long.  Unfortunately we were not able to photograph inside.  The final museum was that of antiquities.  We saw many items including the Pontius Pilate stone by spoke about when we went to Caesarea. We also viewed Herods sarcophagus excavated from the Herodium along with Philistine and Canaanite antiquities.

  

  

Day 7 - Ein Gedi, Qumran, Chapel of the Shepherd's Field, Church of the Nativity and Jerusalem!

Today we checked out of our hotel and made our one of our final desert visits to Ein Gedi.  This is one of our favorite places as you get to hike through a large valley with rocks the size of trucks and small houses.  Ein Gedi is where Saul was pursuing David and to stand back and picture this is so amazing.  On the second leg of the hike, a large spring right in the middle of the desert comes from the ground and makes Davids waterfall. 

     

  

Just up the road a few miles we stopped at the site of Qumran. This site if where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered. In 1947 a Bedouin shepherd boy tending his flock tossed a rock into a cave and broke a clay pot.  In that pot and many others found in 11 caves were scrolls from ancient times.  Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible dated to the 10th century AD. The Dead Sea Scrolls include over 225 copies of biblical books that date up to 1,200 years earlier.

   


This afternoon we arrived in Jerusalem! We will stay here for four days until the conclusion of our trip.  We gathered at the Chapel of the Shepherd's Field in a small room cut into a cave.  Joe read of the birth of Jesus Christ and we celebrated by singing Silent Night.  Looking around the cave we could see prayers scribed on paper and ticked away in cracks of the cave.

  










To further celebrate Christs birth we visited the Church of the Nativity.  It was very busy here and the energy level picked up from our leisure time at the Sea of Galilee. Many tour groups, visitors and even a wedding were being held at here when we visited.  Mickey our tour guide was able to find time to go over the history and allow time for us to take photos. 

    

After checking into the Dan Panorama and having dinner a few of us walked into the old city for a view of the Western Wall at night.  I was able to take a few pictures of the old city walls but due to Shabbat I could not take pictures there.  Shabbat is a day of rest for the Jewish people and taking photos on this day is considered work.