Holy Land- Day 5 {Jerusalem/Bethlehem}

It was a big day.

The first time to explore in depth JERUSALEM!

Oh my goodness, so much...goodness that happened here.
You could spend months walking, reading, observing and learning in this

holy city.

We had 3 days, no pressure!

We started it off with a bang.

At the Dome of the Rock.

Early, early morning style.

Because you get the place to yourself and don't have to wait in 

a super long line.  

There are also no guarantees you can even get inside!

Hours are limited and you are at the mercy of whoever is guarding the gates.

We were told this is the most highest security point.

No shorts for women and arms must be covered.

When we arrived I guess the rules changed that day by the guard, 

and men needed to be covered.

Luckily they had a bin of thick sack cloth skirts we could throw over what

needed to be covered.
My shawl tied around my waist wasn't good enough coverage so I got

to wear a skirt as well:)

The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-aqsa mosque compound

on the Temple Mount. 
Jews are not allowed to enter.

Non Muslims were also not allowed to enter until 1967.

Now they are, but are forbidden to wear religious clothing, read scripture or pray

on the grounds. 

John made it VERY clear to leave our scriptures on the bus.

He was even hesitant to use his phone scriptures and kept his

"preaching" words over the microphone to a minimum. 

 

The early morning glare not helping me much with my pictures!

Outside of these "windows" and directly down were the southern

steps leading up to the temple. 

Wow, just wow!

I didn't want to risk dropping my phone so I didn't get a picture of the steps. 

Only Muslims are allowed to go inside.

I asked John how do they know if people are truly Muslim to enter?

They don't have a recommend desk like we do in our temple.

John said that was a very good question.
He didn't know.
 However, he didn't think I would pass

as being Muslim, ha!. 

Who knows how they can tell.

Inside the building at the center of the dome is a big rock. 
It is believed to be the location which Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his Son.

Today, Muslims believe the rock commemorates the night journey of Muhammad. 

Before we were told men and women cannot touch on the temple mount.
Oops!

Lol!

Why, I do not know.

There is lots of gender separation in Israel. 

 A visual of what used to be there before the Dome of the Rock.

This was Solomons Temple and the site of the Second Jewish Temple. 

Now its a big blue tiled building with a gold, round top. 

Walking by Lions Gate to our next stop.

Saint Anne's Church 

Tradition says this is where Mary's mother grew up.

This Priest was a happy fella and was cheerful to talk to.

We thought of Mary's mother and her teachings to her daughter, and 

pondered Deuteronomy 6. 

We gathered at the front of the alter and sang "Be Still My Soul".

I am not one to sing in public, ha. 

But this was special and had many visitors stopped in their tracks to sit and listen for a bit.

Makes you wonder if the spirit was able to touch a few souls with our singing. 

Be still, my soul the Lord is on thy side. Leave to thy God to order and provide. Thru thorny

ways leads to a joyful end. 

The church was in a beautiful courtyard with the Pool of Bethesda right next to it. 
John 5:2-9  where Jesus healed the paralytic man.

With that miracle story, many people sought out the healing pool of Bethesda. 
There was a peaceful feeling at this location.

The words of our song we had just sung popped into my mind.
I am sure the people in that time felt peace and stillness here, too. 

These pictures blow my mind!!

Ancient pools...

... and how it looks today. 
Such distinction where the pools were!

Red poppies growing out of the walls. 

I am a sucker for turquoise doors!

I loved exploring this courtyard. 

Another view of Lions Gate.
There are 7 open gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. 

This one leads into the Muslim quarter. 

Gethsemane Grotto is a cave where they believe the disciples slept while

Jesus prayed and where they think Mary was buried. 

Churches and Mass going on everywhere you go!
Makes you wonder how anyone could focus with constant

people walking in and out every second of your service!

Walking down to King David's Tomb.

Gender was split to separate sides at the tomb. 

I peeked over to the mens side and once again, they got double the space!

And America is so hopped up on gender equality, lol

His tomb behind the glass case.

Notes people shove in there. 

The Traditional Room of the Last Supper, is above King David's tomb. 

I so wish they had a long wood table in there to make it feel more realistic.

 Maybe they didn't even sit at a table back then. 

I guess we will never know!

John pointed out that in John 13:4-34 the new and last commandment is to love one another. 

John focused his account of the last supper on the washing of the feet, not on the sacrament. 

How important is it that we love one another. 

Gallincantu. 

You can see the church on the right side just above the gate post. 

This is the site we remember Peter denying Christ. 

How willing is the spirit and how weak is the flesh. 

You can barely see it, but the spire on top of the tall tower is a golden rooster!

This ancient staircase leads down towards the Kidron Valley. 

This may have been a passage from the upper city to the lower city during the First Temple period.

Many Christians believe that Jesus followed this path down to Gethsemane the night of his arrest.

Casey snagged this treat from a street vendor before getting on the bus.

It's like Israel's version of a Payday!

On our way to the dark side, Palestine!

Lot's of political unrest between Israel and Palestine.

We had to drive through a border check.
We also had to bring our passports this day.

John said sometimes they board the bus and check the first rows passports ,

then let us on our way.

Guess who was sitting in the front row that day, US!
Gah!!

Luckily we didn't get stopped.

It is also known as the West Bank.

You could see license plates on cars starting to change as we were getting closer.
They do not recommend coming to Palestine alone.

I felt safe.
  Machmoud, John, and being in a big group made a huge difference. 

Once we parked and started walking you could see the poverty and it was DIRTY!

We thought Nazareth was dirty, nope.

This took the cake.

And laughed at the knock off coffee shops along the way. 

We were in Bethlehem. 

(Yes, I can now say I have been to Bethlehem!)

Bethlehem Church of the Nativity.

NOT at ALL what you would think the birthplace of Jesus

would look like!

Too bad this church couldn't have built it to look like a stable or something:) 

To enter you must go through the door of humility. 

We bow down to enter because we have been
 asked to be the humble followers of Christ. 

So many people where inside!

It was bustling and go figure, the wait to see the grotto with the silver star

as the landmark of the official spot of the birthplace of Jesus was forever long.

Here is a picture from google since we didn't see it in person.

Loved that these chandeliers had red Christmas ornaments
hanging from the bottoms of them. 

All of this before lunch!

John gave us 2 options.

Machmoud would take a group to a sit down restaurant, or go with him

and he would show us what (safe) streets to wander to find food on our own.

We followed John!

I snagged a fresh falafel. 
Cant say I have ever had one before!

We were only finding shawarma places, shocking.

So we joined the sit down group.

Which, we were served shawarma, lol!

I do think Casey got lamb kabobs, tho. 

Machmoud keeping us nice and safe in Palestine!

Milk Grotto 

Tradition is said that when Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt as they were

leaving Jerusalem a drop of her milk fell and turned the cave white. 

Shepherds Fields 

Not an exact location, but an opportunity to remember what happened near

here in Luke 2 and Matthew. 

Here, an angel announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. 

We opened up our hymns app and sang every Christmas song until there were no more.

It started with just our group singing until we were joined by many!

This man with the glasses had a phenomenal voice!!

I could have sat there and  listened to him sing for hours. 

Up on a shepherds hill overlooking the Valley of Boaz.

As the place Ruth collected grain for her and Naomi. 

 

Inside a cave that shepherds slept in. 

Shopping time!

This is the place for all things olive wood!

John gave us 30 minutes.

The other bus had been there for 2 hours, and still going.

Grateful for the 30 minute timeline.

How much olive wood could one need?

I guess people will drop thousands of dollars on place settings and massive

nativity sets to ship home. 

I got a couple little things to take home to the Whitmers as a thank you 

for all of their babysitting.

I got a cute set of heart shaped bowls and a Christmas ornament. 

We traveled back to Jerusalem and to the

City of David.

The view of the city was breathtaking! 

This is the birthplace of Jerusalem. 

King David left his city in Hebron with a goal to turn Jerusalem into a

religious and spiritual capital for the entire Jewish people.

I think he accomplished that!

Kind of like an ancient Zion. 

I didn't realize that the City of David is an archaeological national park!

Remains of a defensive network dating back to the Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age

structures were discovered. Also dating back to the Canaanites. 

Possible location of David's Palace. 

Hezekaih's Tunnel 

This tunnel was used  to get water into the city
 without access for their enemies to poison them.

It took 20 minutes to walk through a VERY narrow passage way with water

hitting you up to your thighs at some points.

Thankfully I am not claustrophobic.

Bless those that are!

We came out of the tunnels to be greeted by the excavation of the Pool of Siloam.

In John 9, Jesus restored the sight of a blind man by spreading clay on his eyes. 

He was ordered to wash the clay off in the pool of Siloam and came back seeing. 

 

Whew!!

What a glorious day!