Day #6 in Israel!

 

So this last day in Israel was so special.

 

 

This is inside the "City of David".... Parts of these stairs leading up to the temple are the same ones that Jesus would have walked so many years ago!

 

Our group of nineteen looked a bit different on our last day here.... It was our only rainy day and if I must be honest the rain was miserable! It was a cold windy rain that wanted to turn the umbrellas inside out. It was the kind that just dumped hard at times and we had soaking wet feet within the first hour of our day...  But it was one we will remember for a long time I'm certain...:)

We gathered for shelter any chance we could... And also as close to the site we were learning about as we could...

The Kidron valley is right here... You can read about some of it here... 2 Corinthians 20:26 and also here... 2 Samuel 15:23.

The umbrellas could not be hidden on this day so we just embraced them and shivered like crazy...:)

Inside the temple walls... This believed to be an ancient Toilet...

We heard so much from the scripture about the water tunnels and how the city was concurred by King David and his men through the water tunnels. We saw how the water holes and tunnels they chiseled out of rock in order to survive inside the walls of the city!

This is the dry tunnel some of us opted to take while the other half of the group went through Hezekiah's tunnel. (which is much wetter and darker) The guys loved Hezekiah's tunnel a lot!

Read the story here...2 Chronicles 32

The olive trees here are so Amazing!


Kidron valley from down below...

These pebbled stairs and roads were so unique to walk upon!!

Temple...

You can often tell where the old city stone walls are and where the original ones still stand.

It is so sad that it was under rulers that cared nothing about preserving the place where our Lord walked. Much is in ruins and as much as the scholars try to piece it all together you can't help but wonder what many of these sites must have looked like when they were functioning. So much beauty is still here even among the ruins!

Old pottery found in the rubble in the City of David...

To think Jesus our savior walked many of these same stone walkways that we walked was almost more then we could grasp at times! When you are there on that ground you feel his presence and you can't help but imagine him there and I could almost see it all in real life at times! (It was weird because some moments you'd just see it how it was and that quick it looked like the real ruins that it was... Does that make sense...:))

Us and our umbrellas all day long... It was so cold!!

We spent time around these old city walls but not like we would have had it been a nicer day. It spited us because this was the best for last type of thing and the rain just kind of had us all rushing past stuff... It made us thankful that we didn't have more days with weather like this.

Jesus and his disciples and many more walked right here!! This was the entrance to the temple...

Shelter while we find it...:)

The Wailing Wall where the many orthodox Jews come to pray and cry out for the Messiah to come... They don't recognize that he already came right in their own community!! So Sad.

Love this girl...:)

 

Girls at the Western Wall (wailing wall) It was girls on one side men on the other...

 

These are pictures of us walking through the old city. The market places were unbelievable!

It was a Thursday and Thursdays here are always busier days because its the day that they read the scrolls and also they are busy shopping and preparing for the sabbath which starts at six o'clock on Friday and goes until six o'clock on Saturday. The people are always begging for you to but from them...:)

 Probably not much has changed here since the days of old.

We have great photos of this city on a nicer day on Dave's phone which I hope to share once we get home...

Our lunch spot for the day and Shwrama was on the menu today... We all wanted all the hot drinks. The coffee here is not good. Period.

Here we are entering a very special place... The place called Bethesda. (which means house of mercy) The name of our church is Bethesda so this was really a meaningful place for our group... We talked a lot about the lame and the blind here.

Jesus healed the man that lived here thirty eight years trying to get in the pool of Bethesda but every time the angles came to stir the water others went in before him and yet he kept trying to reach it!

His faith and the touch of Jesus was all he needed to be completely healed! This was a really big deal for him because now he could enter into the city gates!

Read the story here … John chapter 5. (We walked right through that sheep gate)

This was the spot of the pool...

Our last and best stop of the day...

We said good bye to our wonderful guide Ohri at this last site...

The place of the skull... Do you see it here??

Right here below the "Place of the Skull" is now a bus station. Ohri explained that this is most likely where Jesus was crucified. It was most likely eye level (they spit in his face... Matthew 26:67) and not up on a hill like we picture. It was a place where lots of people passed. A busy intersection was how he described it. It was also the place believed to be where Stephen was brought to be stoned to death.

When here on the ground and seeing the layout of the land it all makes perfect sense this way!

Read here... Mark 15:20. Matthew 27:31. John 19:17... and use your own imagination.... The line we heard from Ohri often was this "no one knows"... Also we found out that Sabboba in Hebrew means "Okay?" and he said that often after giving instructions or moving from place to place within the site just to make sure we all understood...:)

Going to see the empty tomb had not a dry eye among us!

Here it is... EMPTY. Just like we knew it would be...

Signs throughout the gardens...

We all took part in communion in the end and the sharing time and songs will forever have a special place in my heart!

To Sum it all up as we now sit at the airport... Overload. Much to process. Reading the scripture has a whole new meaning and as I looked up these scriptures I'm sharing here I just couldn't stop reading... Putting the real locations with the happenings in the Word of God have taken a whole new meaning and I just want to tuck it away and keep it fresh always. Everyday.

Being here made me want to do more. Be more and complaining because of the cold rain didn't even have a meaning because what Jesus endured for us here on these streets made our wet very cold feet seem like something pizzly! Like how can we even begin to complain!?

I cannot say this was the best day for my feet but we were so BLESSED to be on these stones here in Jerusalem!!

Jesus took our place you guys! Do we even grasp that for real!!??

The days ahead will have more Israel pictures and stories... Having the Leadership team from Bethesda here was so great!! They soaked it up and we enjoyed doing this trip alongside of them!

Leroy and Naomi
Verlin and Rose
Ron and Rhonda
Gary and Kendra

THANK YOU for ALL that you do for us and the church at Bethesda!! You guys are AWESOME!!