Jerusalem

Day 10

I woke up today not feeling the best, so my recounting of things is a bit fuzzy. I have to say, I definitely miss having the energy I typically do. There was a lot I missed out on.

But...we are in Jerusalem! Crazy. It is a weird mix of new and ancient structures. I can't imagine living somewhere that has structures from 3,000 years ago right around the corner and the possibility of ancient artifacts under where I would walk every day.

As we drove around the city, we stopped at an overlook that gave us a great view of the city. Uri explained to us that the place where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac was on the Temple Mount, obviously long before anything was built there. That is one of the reasons the site was sought out by the Jews. On the slab of rock that Abraham was to make the sacrifice (and ended up sacrificing the ram) was the spot where the temple was eventually built. Really cool.

Mount of Olives on the left, Temple Mount and Jerusalem on the right

The location of Jerusalem is strange. It was built on a hill that is lower than the surrounding hills, thereby making it not a great spot defensively. There isn't much water. The land isn't very irrigable because it is built on the border of a desert. There is no main trade route nearby. These four things were typically sought after when building a city for obvious reasons, yet none were present in Jerusalem. And yet it flourished.

We stopped at the Mount of Olives, in which was the Garden of Gethsemane. I really enjoyed seeing the layout of the city and where everything was in relation to other spots. We were able to look up at the wall (the majority of what is standing was built by the Ottomans in the 1500's) and get a really good feel for things. The Kidron Valley was right below us, with the wall on the other side of the valley.

The wall. You can see the Mercy Gate, which was closed off by the Turks. The Messiah is supposed to return through that gate, and they believed that would stop His return. Not their brightest plan. This was also the gate Jesus would have ridden through on Palm Sunday.

Olive tree on the Mount of Olives

Next, we went to the archeological site of David's palace, which is a fairly recent and very exciting find! It helped clarify the layout of the Davidic kingdom. Plus, it was just amazing...to stand in David's palace?! Wow. Other kings had obviously been there also, and the prophet Jeremiah had entered foretelling Israel's destruction. Archeologists found the names of three out of four advisors to King Zedekiah (who advised against listening to Jeremiah) on site at the palace. We were also able to see layers of the palace wall from David's time to when Nehamiah rebuilt the wall.

Layers of the palace wall

We moved next to an exploration under the city. Gihon Spring was an underground spring that was also protected by an extension of the wall, and this was the location of the anointing of King Solomon. He was anointed underground. Didn't know that one. From the spring, there were two tunnels we were able to choose to walk out through. The first was Hezekiah's tunnel, which was built to provide a route for extra water to the city in preparation of the siege by the Assyrians (2 Kings 20:20, 2 Chronicles 32:2-4). The second was a tunnel built by the Canaanites prior to the Israelites taking over the area. Hezekiah's tunnel was unlit and had water running though it, but while it sounded like a cool experience, I opted for the Canaanite tunnel that was lit and had an early exit because I wasn't feeling great. It was fun, though! We exited, wandered around some more ruins, then boarded our bus and headed to Bethlehem.

Bethlehem was a different experience. The city is one of the areas controlled by the Palestinians and is completely walled in. As soon as we entered, there was an immediately different feel, sort of dark. The population in the town has gone from about 80% Christian to only about 15%. It is not a comfortable or safe place for Christians to live, and they are being pushed out by the Muslim population. 

We stopped at the believed site of where Jesus was born, over which a church had been built. It wasn't that great, honestly. After, we went to the area where the shepherds likely were at and saw the type if cave they would have slept in and kept their sheep (also with a church on the site). 

Val best verbalized to my feelings about the Christian sites in Israel being by churches: you lose something big when you can't see the landscape where an event took place. I know the churches on site hold value for a lot of people, but I would much rather go to a place that wasn't the exact site of an event and get a feel for what it was like 2,000 years ago than go somewhere and try to imagine what it looked like under the building now on top. This is why I have enjoyed the archeological sites we have visited the most (plus, as I have stated, I like old things!).

A word about Uri: I have to reiterate again that we struck the jackpot with him as a guide. The man is brilliant and adds a level that you can't get from an American pastor. He is native to the area and can tell you things only someone from the Jewish culture would know. He not only knows Biblical history, however, but flaura and fauna, old world history, current politics, and everything in between. Plus, he was a paratrooper. Can you get any cooler? Oh yes, you can...by wearing an Indiana Jones style hat.

Uri, sans hat.