The City of David

Today we visited the City of David, which is in the South part of Jerusalem. It is named City of David because it is where the original City of Jerusalem was when David ruled from his palace there. After David's time his son Solomon built the Temple just north of the City, and then the city expanded to encompass the Temple.

So, in the current set up the City of David sits within the Jewish quarter of the city, whereas up until now most of the sites we have seen have been in the muslim quarter.

Whilst we were there we had the opportunity to go along Hezekiah's tunnel, which runs under the city. It was contructed during Hezekiah's reign (2 Kings 20:20) in 702 BC to bring water into the city secretly to a resevoir inside the walls. This was done to protect the water supply against seige when the Assyrian army approached.

The tunnel is 533 metres long, which doesn't sound like much but took over 30 minutes to walk along. The whole thing is narrow - there's no way to get past the person in front or behind you. It is all ankle deep in water, and sometimes dips so that we were knee deep.  Also, there is no lighting - everyone had to bring their own torches. Not for the claustrophobic! But it was exciting to walk and wonder what it must have been like for the teams who cut the tunnel into the mountain rock all those centuries ago.

The tunnel emerges at the pool of Siloam - which was the reservoir inside the city walls. Its much smaller than it was, but was worth seeing and remembering the story of the blind man who Jesus healed by rubbing mud in his eyes and then telling him to wash the mud off in the pool of Siloam.

After this we went to the steps leading up to the temple entrance. Most of the steps have been re-built, but a few of the steps at the bottom were original first century steps - the same ones that Jesus would have used to enter the Temple. Now the steps lead up to a wall. The gate is blocked up.

Praise God that Jesus is the gate, and we can come to God through Jesus.

My lowest point

We had a coach tour day today, starting with a 1 1/2 hour drive South to Masada, just South of the dead sea. Masada is a fortress built by Herod the Great on top of a 400m high outcrop of rock. After his death it wasn't used, until after the Roman's destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, then some Jewish Rebel's used it as their base of operations. Eventually, in 74 AD the rock was surrounded by 10,000 Roman soldiers. The Jews chose to take their own lives rather than submit to slavery.

Next we drove up to En Gedi, which is an

oasis and nature reserve in the desert mountains of the Dead Sea. We hiked for about 20 minutes into the mountains in order to find a waterfall. It was worth it to see the end result. You can only imagine what it would be like for someone seeking to survive in the desert to discover a place like En Gedi, particularly when they are on the run.

En Gedi is in the Bible as the place where David was able to sneek up on King Saul, who he was on the run from at the time. David cut off a corner from Saul's robe to prove that he could have killed the King but chose not to. He was then filled with guilt over the whole business (1 Sam 24)

After this we moved onto Qumran, the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of ancient Biblical texts found in a cave at Qumran in 1947. The reason they were there was because a Jewish sect of scribes lived at Qumran. They maticulously made copies of the scriptures, which were held in the highest esteem. So, when the Romans were approaching and ready to attack, they hid their scrolls in a cave. Nearly 2000 years later a shepherd found the scrolls, and all in one go Biblical scholars had texts dating back to 1000 years before anything else they had previously had to work with.

After lunch at Qumran we moved onto a spot on the Dead Sea where bathing is allowed. Bathing in the Dead Sea holds two big disinctions: Firstly, when you get in the water you are at the lowest point on earth (1360 feet below sea level); secondly, the water is so salty that you can lie back and float. At least, that's what is meant to happen. When I got in I had the distinction of slipping and going full-immersion, which is not only very humiliating, but also stings the eyes, nose and throat as the salt water gets into everywhere. I immediately had to get out and shower myself down, then sat on the shore for the next 30 minutes waiting for my sore eyes and painful sinuses to recover. As I sat there I reflected on the fact that I had probably found the story which would become, out of all my Israel stories, WCFs favourite. My only regret was that no one took a photo of my lowest moment!

What a view!

Today started off with a short coach ride, then it was all on foot afterwards. The coach took us up the Mount of Olives where we were able to take in a superb view of Jerusalem, which the panoramic shot above hopefully coveys a little of. The viewpoint was full of tourists like myself marvelling at the view and taking selfies, but its worth remembering that when Jesus stood on this Mount and looked on the city, He wept for it.

From here we walked down the hill and found our way to the Garden of Gethsemane. The garden is the tradition site of the place where Jesus was arrested. These days you can walk around it, but the garden is carefully fenced off from the public.

From here we made our way to the pool of Bethesda which most famously was the place where Jesus healed a paralysed man who couldn't access the pool when the waters stirred. He had no one to help him get there, and all the other people looking for healing got in there first. The pool is a Roman bath with waters that have healing properties. But the water would be stagnant most of the time, except when the waters were stirred, then the 'good' water with its healing properties would rise to the surface (it was 13 metres deep). 

Next was the Antonia Fortress, where Pilate had Jesus flogged. We went down into the cellar area where the soldiers would have been when they taunted Jesus.

On the floor was a kind of game board carved out of the rock. Maybe the soldiers could have cast lots using a carving like this?

After this we followed the Via Delorosa - that is the route that Jesus is believed to have followed as He carried His cross. This led us to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is the other site that claims to be the place where Jesus was crucified and buried. It is much more popular than the Garden Tomb that we visited yesterday, has been there much longer (the garden tomb site began being excavated in the 19th century, whereas the church was established in 325BC) and much more religious.

The entrance of the church contains a slab of stone which is said to be the place where Jesus's body was prepared for burial. While we were there many people knelt and kissed the stone.

The church also contains an altar which is said to be Calvary, where Jesus was crucified, and then down beneath the church you can visit the tomb. Praise God that we worship a saviour who is not limited to buildings and who can be worshipped anywhere. 

After this we went to get some lunch. We had falafals which were very yummy! Then we had the afternoon free!

Guess where I am!

I never manage to sleep on airplanes, and I thought that my flight to Israel would be no exception. Bt I did finally manage to drift off... just as we came in to land! So, as we finally exited Tel Aviv airport and got onto the coach for an hour long drive to the hotel in Jerusalem, I was feeling quite weary. But we were rewarded with seeing the sunrise over the mountains, which I guess made up for it.

And so I'm here at last! After spending the morning asleep in the hotel, we set off after lunch for our first taste of Jerusalem.

We went to the garden tomb, which is said to be the place where Jesus was buried and where the resurrection occured. As our guide pointed out, most things that we see are 'said to be' the place where one thing or another happened, but no one can be completely sure. The claim that this tomb is the one comes partly from its proximity to the skull, or Golgotha, which you can see pictured above (you can sort of see the two eyes of the skull in the rock)

The most striking thing that I noticed about the tomb was that the opening was just the size of a normal door. And its only that size because it was enlarged in the 4th century so the tomb could be used as a place of worship. Originally the opening would have been a smaller hole that you needed to stoop down to enter. If, like me, you imagined the empty tomb as having this big cave-like entrance that you could walk in upright, then this tomb puts that mis-conception straight. Of course, you're all thinking, "but we never had that misconception because we've read John 20:5 and actually noticed that it says 'He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in'"

After that we went to the Western Wall, otherwise known as the wailing wall - the last surviving part of the temple built by Herod the Great and destroyed by the Romans in AD70. Its fascinating to see this historical wall that has stood for over 2000 years still being used as a focus for religious worship. And a reminder of the blessing that we can pray to God anywhere, and do not need a temple because Jesus has opened the way for us.

My journey has begun!

I've set off, and am currently sitting in Milton Keynes Coachway, waiting for the coach to take me to Heathrow. The flight itself is quite late in that it's due to take off at 9.50 pm, and arrive at Tel Aviv airport at 4.45 am (which is 2.45 British time).

So, although I won't be restricted to the hotel on my first day in Jerusalem, I'm probably going to be taking it easy anyway.

A few days to go!

Only a few days left before I fly out to Israel and I think I've got everything I need. Over the next few days I'll start to panic as I no doubt realise I haven't actually got everything I need, and start madly scrambling to get sorted in time!

One good bit of news is that the covid rules in Israel have changed so that I don't need to do a PCR test after all, and won't need to stay in the hotel room for 24 hours after arriving. The itinerary hasn't been updated yet, but its good to know there's an extra day of possible sight seeing.

Meanwhile I've been enjoying the opportunity to read 'Making Faith Magnetic' by Dan Strange. It's a really good read that looks at some of the things that our culture aspires to, such as meaningful connection with something greater than ourselves or having a destiny to fulfil, and then the book shows how the gospel fulfils those desires.  These points of contact could be an effective way to open up conversations with people and share the gospel in a way that is engaging and attractive. It's a helpful book that I would recommend. 

A Visit to Israel

 As part of my Sabbatical I will be visiting Israel with Oak Hall Christian Holidays. This tour of the Holy Land will give me the chance to see many of the places where events in the Bible took place, giving me insight into the time and place of Jesus and many of the other people we get to know in the Bible.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to update this blog while I'm there, and will endeavour to do so each day with, not just an account of what I've been doing but photos as well! So, what this space for updates starting around June 8th.