The Lord is God the Lord Alone

It’s not every day that you begin your day on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. But today, that is exactly how our day began. Our guide walked us through the history of Mount Moriah and the first and second temples that were eventually built on the same place where God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Visiting the Temple Mount is always a bittersweet experience as it is filled with so much rich Biblical history and, yet, is so filled with so much tension. Nevertheless, we were grateful to have the opportunity.

We also had the opportunity to visit the Western Wall Plaza and the Western Wall itself. It was a unique experience for us to observe the religious customs and ceremonies practiced by the people there. We had a great Q&A session with our guide afterwards and he helped us understand.

From the Plaza, we made our way down into the City of David where we learned about David’s Palace and then had a chance to walk through Hezekiah’s tunnel. Living water has been such an important lesson to us our entire trip, it was eye-opening for us to see what great lengths people will go to make sure water is in the city. At the end of the tunnel, we sat around the Pool of Siloam as Dr. Morrison did a wonderful job reminding us about the story of the blind man who washed there.

After a fantastic lunch of Jerusalem bagels, we made our way to Yad Vashem – the Holocaust Museum. It was, of course, an incredibly difficult experience, but also one that we hope not to forget.

We finished our day by visiting the Garden Tomb – one of the possible locations of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. It was such a joy to be able to finish a day filled with so much tension and sadness by remembering the hope we have because the tomb is empty. It was a great way to prepare ourselves for the coming Easter season.

Tomorrow is our last day here. While we are a little sad that our trip is coming to a close, we are overjoyed at the thought of being home so we can share our stories with you all. Please continue to pray for us. We are all healthy and still having a great time.

Shalom!

By Matt Lantz