The City of David

On Tuesday, May 20 each of the 6 groups on the tour went on a separate itinerary around and about the Old City. Because most of the sites could not effectively hold the 300 of us, 50 at a time was doable.

Our “orange bus” started our day on the Temple Mount. Before entering, we had to proceed through a very stringent check point. We were not permitted to take in our Bibles or to have any blatant Christian symbols visible. Once we all made it through, we gathered for a historical lecture from Amos (our favorite guide!) about the Temple structure which initially stood on Mount Moriah. Now, the site is occupied by the Dome of the Rock, which is a Muslim Holy Site. This building is visible from almost everywhere in Jerusalem because of its gold plated dome. This structure was built in AD 691. An interesting note is that when the crusaders first came to Jerusalem in 1099, they mistook the Dome of the Rock for Solomon’s Temple and used the pattern for other churches all over Europe.

The temple mount area was filled with vendors who strenuously attempted to sell their wares. At some points, our guide was interrupted by their sales pitches.

Some interesting points about the original temple was that there was a cistern which held water to wash the blood away from the sacrifice area and that would keep the flies away. Amos noted that the priests were actually trained butchers, and that is what they did all day.

Also in the temple area is an underground mosque which seats 5,000 people.

It was sort of peculiar being on the temple grounds with only Muslim structures present. It felt sad for me and probably for others to see the place that we have studied and that we know was the house of the living God in comparison to the area as it stands today.

When the afternoon got really hot, we enjoyed going inside the cooler Archaelogical Museum which is built over the remains of a wealthy Jewish household (such as a priest). The structure and design of the home(s) were very clear and many artifacts were also presented. There was original tile work still vibrant and beautiful. In the museum, was a wooden beam which was charred, and fell to the ground when Jerusalem was burned in AD 70.

On our way to our afternoon teaching, we viewed the Jewish faithful at the Western (or Wailing Wall) saying their prayers. There was one person who chose to chant and have their prayers over a loud speaker for everyone to hear. When I asked our guide why he was doing that, our guide said, “I want to know that too”. The Western Wall was not actually a part of the temple but it is the location remaining which was closest to the Holy of Holies.

In the afternoon the larger group of 300 gathered on the southern steps of the temple area. These southern steps were designed to be uneven so that people making their way to the temple would be forced to slow down and approach the temple with reverence. Here, Kay Arthur taught from Matthew 24:1-30, where Jesus wept because the Jewish people did not know the day of their visitation. From the place where we were sitting, we could clearly see the Palm Sunday road where Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey according to prophecy.

This day included a “street lunch” where we enjoyed a “walking sandwich” of falafel along with a cold drink.

In general the streets of Jerusalem are very uneven and can make walking difficult especially when you’re trying to keep your head up and take in all the sites!

Driving into Jerusalem

[Monday Afternoon] Our bus rode up the hill leading to the Holy City and our bus host, Tommee, played a CD with a joyful and triumphant song about Jerusalem. The bus entered a tunnel as the music increased in enthusiasm and when we broke out of the tunnel, there on our left was the beautiful Jerusalem! We unloaded off the buses at Mount Scopus overlooking the city from the east. Kay did an overview of the city locations we would be visiting – the Temple Mount; the Eastern Gate; David’s Citadel; Caiphus’s house (where Jesus stood under accusations of the High Priest, Pharisees, and Sadducees); and a traditional location for the Garden Tomb. It was thrilling to look at and consider Jesus viewing it in all its glory 2000 years ago!

Kay then started a teaching on the significance of Jerusalem, starting with the division of the descendents of Abraham into the various nations in Genesis 10 and 11. The city was first settled by the Jebusites and earlier called Jebus (Joshua 15:63). When David becomes king, he conquers the city and the name changes to the City of David. He buys a location called a “threshing floor” for the purposes of building the temple of God there (2 Sam. 24:11-25). The significance of this location cannot be understated as it is Mount Moriah, the very spot where Abraham went to sacrifice his son Isaac, a picture of where God was going to sacrifice His only begotten Son for the forgiveness of sins for all who believe. Kay discussed the history of the temples built there and the Dome of the Rock – the Muslim mosque built here over 1300 years ago. (An interesting note in our guide book says that when the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in 1099, they were unaware of the history – and apparently the Bible – as they thought this was the original Solomon’s temple and built many churches in Europe in its image! What a sad statement.)

Then Kay went into the prophecies of the city, how the temple was going to be rebuilt and how Christ was going to return and reign here. This is God’s holy and chosen city and all the eyes of the world will continue to be focused here as God unfolds His prophetic plan.

It's Not All Desert...

Israel has beautiful flowers all over!

We've seen them in the midst of lovely gardens, along side the

winding roads, and even at the

top of the barren Masada!

They are gorgeous, but we all remember what Jesus said.

"...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

Matthew 6: 28-29

Monday - Genesis Land??

Posted by Scott Jarus

That’s what it said on our itinerary. It sounded like an amusement park to me, the Israel equivalent to Disneyland, or something like that. I suppose I expected to walk through the Garden of Eden – where the animals weren’t afraid of men yet and we could have walked right up and petted Tigers or fed elephants out of our hands. Or maybe we would ride on a Behemoth or Leviathan dinosaur, or get in a raft and ride through the deluge of Noah’s day. But this wasn’t the case at all.

After traveling through twists and turns on the edge of countless bleak, sand covered mountains for miles to see, our buses unloaded in the middle of the wilderness. A man in a tunic led us down a winding path down to a Bedouin tent that was filled with short tables and cushions to sit on. This was lunch! We all sat down and our host came out pretending to be Abraham, welcoming us to his humble abode. He thanked God for this opportunity to show us hospitality and to share what the Lord has blessed him with. He spoke of serving us like kings and queens and told us to eat as much as we could as he would hate to see anyone leave his home still hungry. He said he would know if we were filled, not by the size of our stomachs, but if our eyes had a certain shining gloss. Each of us would need to pass the “eye” test before he would let us leave. If a serving bowl was be emptied, more would be brought out. There was a delightful selection of dishes on the tables – humus, marinated vegetables, chopped cumber/tomato, a cabbage salad, thin tortilla-style wraps and sliced homemade loaves.

After we finished these, they brought out roasted meatballs set in a bowl of rice cooked with saffron – making it a beautiful yellow. Along with this was chicken basted in a delicious date honey. He said it was always proper for a host to offer kings and queens at least two choices and a variety of flavors to please their pallet. After lunch, he explained that it would be normal to serve kings and queens fresh fruits as a sweet finish to a meal, but that is difficult to come by in the wilderness. If he purchased fruit in the city it would most likely be bruised from traveling the bumpy road home – and he would never serve bruised fruit to such wonderful guests as us. So, instead he offered us dried apricots, prunes, and dates – along

with tea and coffee. Everything was tremendous! Then to top it all off, on our way back to the buses some of us enjoyed watching a new born donkey take his first breaths and steps in this world.

Monday's Journey Up to Jerusalem - Stop at Beth Shean

Posted by Kitty Scott

Beth Shean lies where the Valley of Jezreel and the Jordan River Valley meet. You may be saying “so what?” It was an important crossroad city for both commerce and military control. Saul and his sons Johathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua died on the nearby hill of Mt. Gilboa during a fight with the Philistines. The Philistines cut off Saul’s head and hung the bodies of Saul and his boys on the walls of Beth-Shean. Later, David removed their bodies for burial.

During the Roman and Byszntine times, the city was known as Scythopolis. Again, you may say “so what?” Although Scythopolis was not mentioned by name in the New Testament, it was one of the cities of the Decapolis. Jesus visited the cities of the Decapolis, therefore visiting Scythopolis.

The ruins at Scythopolis were fabulous. John Scott said that it reminded him a lot of Pompeii. Pompeii was destroyed and covered with the ash from a volcanic eruption, similarly Scythopolis was destroyed after an earthquake that set off a mud slide that buried the city. The site was excavated during a downturn in the Israeli economy. They asked welfare recipients to volunteer to work on the excavation. The result was finding a beautiful Roman that the mud had preserved complete with mosaics on the floors. We walked the original streets and saw their ritual baths, markets, ampitheater and more.

Just above the Roman city on the hill was the Jewish city of Beth Shean. Beth Shean was a tel that rose above at least 20+ layers of ruins. Some of the interesting finds included an Egyptian Stella, some Egyptian made clay bricks in which you could still see the straw!

The people of the land of Israel from the beginning until the Greek period built their cities on hills for visibility, safety, and advantage in battle. Greeks and Romans built their temples on the hills and would establish cities at the base of the mount. Hence, this site had two separate and exciting ruins to explore.

To add to the excitement, we found pieces of Roman glass in the dirt which made us feel like “real archeologists.” One of the jewelers we visited in the Jewish quarter said “that only God could bring the Jews back to the land and have them make money by selling jewelry made out of Roman glass. [the Romans being the ones that ripped them from the land] In fact he said, he makes a very good living using the ancient glass.” [he makes necklaces, ear rings, and other artistic pieces with the glass that he finds ]

Capernaum, Mt. of Beatitudes and More!

Our hotel is in Tiberias, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. If you continue along the coastline to the northern-most point, you come upon the town of Capernaum. This was the town that Jesus “settled” in and one in which many of His miracles were performed. There were also at least two apostles which resided in Capernaum, most notably Peter and Andrew.

As we got to the site in the morning, we sat in the shade under a tree and enjoyed some teaching from Kay. Following the lesson, we were able to explore the site which included the ruins of the Capernaum synagogue. This synagogue has a peculiar feature as does the synagogue in Chorazin and that is that you must turn your back on Jerusalem in order to enter the synagogue. Typically, the synagogues were designed such that you entered the structure facing Jerusalem. Looking closely at the foundation of the synagogue, it was apparent that there were two different types of stone used in the construction. The bottom layer was black and came from lava rock. However, the most significant fact was that this layer was the layer that was actually in place as Jesus taught in this synagogue! (Mark 1:29). If you check this passage, you will note that as Jesus concluded his teaching in the synagogue, he immediately went to Peter’s house. Well, a few steps out of the synagogue is the remains of Peter’s house. It was a very small, circular structure.

Surrounding the walls of Peter’s house was another wall which at one time was a church. (See photo to the left).

After Capernaum, we continued our final day in Tiberias with a visit to the Mt. of Beatitudes. This is an amazing site on a hillside where we were taught by David Arthur. He delivered a powerful message from Matthew 4-6 which included discussions of radical blessings, radical righteousness, radical repentance and radical restraint. As we listened, we had a spectacular view of the Sea of Galilee.

The site also includes a church which is maintained by a group of “little” (they are small!) nuns who have been friends of Kay’s for years. The nuns are also constructing a hostel on the grounds to serve overnight guests. We were served lunch of spaghetti and potatoes by the nuns and then we were on our way.

Our next stop was an amazing place in Ginosar which houses a boat. This is not just any boat, but a boat from the time of Jesus! This vessel was discovered during a severe drought in the Sea of Galilee when the waters receded and revealed a portion of the structure. The boat was buried in and protected by the seabed’s sediments. We were able to view the actual boat after watching a short film about the excavation.
We boarded a boat and “sailed” back to our hotel from Ginosar. It was quite remarkable to be on the same lake that we know Jesus was on, with and without a boat!

The grand finale was a very special dinner at a Tiberias restaurant called Decks. Again, we boarded a boat for the short journey to the restaurant. The owner, it turns out, is a long time Jewish friend of Kay’s who loves the Lord! She had prepared a great feast for our “small group of 300”. We enjoyed a wide selection of local specialties, music, dancing and a number of tributes including fireworks from the boats alongside the outside deck of the restaurant. After the dinner, everyone was exhausted and we all seemed to crawl back to our rooms for some much needed rest.

No blogs today??

Well, accept for this one. We are all beat from a busy day and long dinner. And we pack up tonight and travel tomorrow to Jerusalem!! So, blogging in the morning may be difficult as well as posting tomorrow night -- but we will see. We did post some pictures from yesterday on the earlier two posts. Hope you enjoy them!

From Scott & Debbie -- Scott & Betty, Once again, thanks for taking our kids and giving us this opportunity. It has been such a joy and a great relief ot have them in your hands. We were praying for you guys at 10:00 am CST, asking God to make things go smooth for you handling four children and getting them to church.

And thanks to all for your comments back. We love you guys. God bless you all!