ISRAEL TRIP - JOURNAL
November 24 - December
5, 2007
Page 5 of 5 - Days 10
- 12
Day 10
Monday 12/3 Jerusalem: Past the Western Wall and Up to the Temple
Mount, St Anne's Church and the Pool of Bethesda, walk down the Via
Dolorosa, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, lunch in the Old City, House of Caiaphas on Mt.
Zion / Church of Peter in Gallicantu
PAST THE WESTERN WALL AND UP TO THE TEMPLE MOUNT
Although the rock is under the golden dome museum where Mohammed had
his
revelation, there is also another possible location for the temple, and
that is this small area where there is bedrock, north of the golden
dome. There are no cisterns underneathe of it so it would hold the
weight of the building. Not far from the temple mount is the
other side of the Eastern Gate, the Gate Beautiful. This gate is built
directly over the 1st century gate. It was sealed in the time of
the Crusaders.
THE POOL OF BETHESDA / TEMPLE OF SERAPIS / ST. ANNE'S
The Pool of Bethesda was the most surprising area of the whole trip.
While the blue sign says "Pool of Bethesda", the yellow sign in the
middle picture says "Temple of Serapis". Our guide said that there was
no spring here, but the run off from the hillside. It was not a place
of a ritual bath of a Jew. It was not clean. Our guide said that
to get to this spot one had to walk through a dark tunnel and the
priests to the cultic god would be hiding in the shadows of the tunnel
saying, "you're feeling better now", "you're walking towards the
light". This was a place of confrontation by Jesus - he
confronted this Jewish man by finding him in this place and asking him
if he wanted to be healed, he confronted the worship of another god and
he confronted the priests that this man could not find healing at the
temple. It suddenly made it perfectly clear to me why Jesus only healed
one man at the pool of Bethesda. It seems to me that Jesus the Shepherd
went there seeking out the one lost sick sheep.
St. Anne's Church was built around the time of the Crusaders. We prayed
a corporate repentence outside the building and then went inside and
worshipped. The sound of worship in this ancient cathedral was beyond
words. It was like choirs we could not see joined the 34 of us as we
worshipped.
THROUGH THE ARAB MARKET AREA
It was not a particularly safe area and we just went through the area
to get to where we were going, but the alley way filled with shops went
on for blocks and blocks, up and down cobble stoned steps and walk
ways, partially covered over by extensions of canopies.
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE / STATE OF STATUS QUO
Tom said that about 400 years ago the Christians couldn't get along and
Muslims got tired of all the bickering and arguing so they took the key
to this church and still have it to this day! They also declared a
state of "Status Quo" which meant that everything had to stay exactly
as it was. On the day that it was declared a workman was working on the
outside of the building and had a ladder under the window. So, for the
last 400 years, they have had to keep a ladder under that window.
They've had to replace the ladder many times.
To go up to the area of the altar, there was a very steep, very worn
set of steps. There church was filled with people so we didn't go into
the sepulchre area which is the photo on the far right.
LUNCH IN THE OLD CITY AT THE FOUNTAIN
We had lunch on a roof top above the fountain in the Old City. We had a
bit of a shopping break and Joanie and Carol had a chance to try the
local coffee.
From Mt. Zion we could look over on the City of David.
HOUSE OF CAIAPHAS ON MT ZION/ CHURCH OF PETER IN GALLICANTU
We went to the Church of Peter in Gallicantu on Mt. Zion where Ruth
Heflin had meetings for over a decade. This was where the glory
meetings started years ago. Barbara said how the priests loved Ruth.
Tom said that the doors to the church were designed, built and hung but
a Jew, an Arab and a Christian. The church is the location of the House
of Caiapas and underneathe is the dungeon area where Jesus was beat and
detained. The dungeon had been a cistern and prisoners were tossed down
the hole. Outside of the church is the stairway and area where Peter
denied the Lord before the cock crowed 3 times. The cock still crows in
this area.
Day 11
Tuesday 12/4 Shiloh and The Garden Tomb
Barbara let us sleep in a bit on our last day and we
didn't have to be on the bus until 10:00, but we had to be packed to
leave to the airport in the evening. We had our final huge Israeli
breakfast!
The Drive to Shiloh was through the Judean country side and first we
had a mountain view of where we were going. Shiloh is the location
where the glory of the Lord was parked for 300 years until Eli and his
sons lost the ark to the Philistines. Samuel was raised in this
location. We worshipped together here and soaked for a long time. Oh,
if we could hear those rocks! Because of the surrounding hills, the
sound in the area was awesome. You could walk a distance away and still
here someone talking. Barbara, Todd and I were brain storming about
getting musicians together on the site for a "Sounds of Shiloh" worship
event! Oh Glory!
This press was interesting because it was used for both
grape and olive pressing and it was just outside the tent of meeting.
Then we
headed back to Jerusalem and passed through the small section of wall.
We went to the Garden Tomb as our last stop and had communion together
and had our last supper together at the Prima Kings Hotel.
Khalid (although I'm not sure how to spell his name), our
incredible bus driver dropped us off at the airport. He was such a
blessing!
Day 12 Wednesday 12/5
Home again!
As the sun was coming up on the 12th day here in the
States, we returned back home!
I hope that you have enjoyed these photos of our trip to Israel and
that you receive an impartation from them! I encourage you to take your
own pilgrimage to Israel and go with someone that you know and love!
Blessings,
Dee
info@revivalconnections.org
