His promises are true and His Word is sure

After breakfast we traveled through East Jerusalem passing by the Damascus gate and the Lions gate to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Steve Herzig shared with us from Zechariah 14:4, “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,”. He said that “that day” is the time of Jacob’s trouble. This is a future day where two thirds of the Jewish people will die. More horrible than the Holocaust. In Acts 1:6 they asked Jesus, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” But Jesus told them in Acts 1:7-8, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Steve reminded us that we are not the date setters—that’s God’s job—we are to be the witnesses. If HE is God – Then HE is God! He is sovereign and trustworthy. His promises are true and His Word is sure. On the Mount of Olives the greatest victory in the history of mankind is to come. Jesus will touch on the Mount of Olives and walk down through the city gate as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. No matter our situation, no matter how low we feel, His victory is to come and we can be part of it now if we simply bow our knee to Him.

As we were sitting in the garden, Jim Showers pointed to Mount Moriah, where Abraham was to sacrifice Isaac, the place where God provided a substitute. This is also the place where Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice. But before He did that, He came to the garden to pray. He prayed to God the Father that if it was at all possible to let what was about to happen pass from Him, but that no matter what, not His will be done but His Father’s will be done. Jesus knew what He was about to face. Jim then gave us time to walk the garden and pray. It was incredible to pray in the garden where Jesus came to pray before He gave His life for us.

Tito showed us 30 pieces of silver, the amount the chief priests decided was enough to pay Judas to betray Jesus. We then took some time to tour the Church of the Agony that is on the property.

Tito walked us through the garden. He showed us trees that were 700 years old or more. We learned that the word “Gethsemane” means olive press. The location makes sense that it would be at the bottom of the Mount of Olives. It’s easy to see that this garden when not functioning as an olive press would make a quiet place to pray. Tito also taught us why the olive tree embodies Israel. The olive tree is resilient and cutting the branches or even burning them, they will come back. It is a beautiful picture of how the Lord continues to protect His ancient people.

We were able to go to the Mount of Olives and take a group photo overlooking the Temple Mount. We did a lot of walking today! As we were walking through the Lion’s Gate it was hard to take it all in; the large stone walls, the narrow ancient streets, the colorful shops, the people from many ethnicities and faith were before us. As we walked the narrow streets the people were buying and selling their goods and the smell of spices and foods were rich. It’s easy to see this area has not changed in many years!

We entered the beautiful Saint Anne’s church and sang together as a group. The acoustics are amazing! Every note seemed to reverberate for an eternity. Debbie Maize sang a special song while we were there. Observing the Pool of Bethesda the story in the gospel of John came to mind. There is an account of Jesus healing a sick man. This is the pool where the lame and sick sat because an angel would come down and stir the water. Whoever stepped inside the pool first would be healed. Jesus saw a lame man and asked if he wanted to be healed. The man explained that he was not able to move fast enough to reach the pool to be healed. Jesus told him to “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And the man rose immediately and took his bed and walked (John 5).

As we continued on, we walked the Via Dolorosa. Tito pointed out many amazing sites along the way. We stopped for lunch and headed to the where some believe is the place of Jesus’ tomb, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. We stopped in the Armenian quarter to shop for a short time then entered the Jewish quarter full of beautiful sand colored walls for our first view of the Western wall.

We headed to the Davidson Center next. We took a tour viewing ancient artifacts and walking through the ruins. Learn more here.

Before we left, we sat on the southern steps where Tito showed us an ancient shekel that would have been used in the temple. Sitting on those steps made it easy to picture Jesus with his disciples teaching them about Himself.

We arrived back at the hotel at 5 pm. After having dinner, we were on the move again! We headed to the Western wall tunnel for an evening tour under the wall. Learn more here.