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Israel Study Tour - Joshua Wilderness Institute
April 10-22, 2015
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First Day in the City of Peace
Today has been no different than any other day in Israel—so much to do! We have seen so many things in such a short amount of time. To start the day off, we headed to Hezekiah’s Tunnel to venture from one end to the other. It is an underground aqueduct about 500 yards long, with water varying from ankle- to hip-deep. It was dug to provide water to the City of David during times of siege. It was narrow and dark and scary at times for some of us. We came out of the tunnel at the place where the blind man that Jesus healed came to wash away the mud from his eyes, called the Pool of Siloam.
Hezekiah's Tunnel
A 1750-foot (530m) tunnel carved during the reign of Hezekiah to bring water from one side of the city to the other, Hezekiah’s Tunnel together with the 6th c. tunnel of Euphalios in Greece are considered the greatest works of water engineering technology in the pre-Classical period. Had it followed a straight line, the length would have been 1070 ft (335m) or 40% shorter.
After that we went to the Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem. Visiting the Holocaust museum in Israel was a pretty spectacular experience. Our tour guide, Ronen, had so much passion when talking about the museum and what it means for Israel. The museum was filled with different exhibits and story lines that were key to the Holocaust. From the rise of Hitler to the liberation of internment camps, this museum had it all. There was a room to honor all the children lost in the Holocaust. There was a recording playing that was just saying all of the names of the children that lost their lives. In Israel it is very important to remember the past and to be remembered. That is why all of the names were being said. “Yad Vashem” even means “a name and a memory.” I found myself very interested in how Ronen talked so much about hope in the future of Israel. It’s so cool to see hope even though the Jewish people went through so much trial and hardship.
The next place we visited was Bethlehem (house of bread). In Bethlehem we visited the spot that is believed to be where Jesus was born. There is a church built on top of the cave birthplace, the Church of the Nativity. The church has three congregations that hold services there—Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic. George, our Arab Christian tour guide, made a good point that there is no power in the rocks used to build the church or in the cave itself. The power belongs to Jesus.
--Elias, Luke and Mason
Bethlehem
Biblical scholars believe Bethlehem, located in the "hill country" of Judah, may be the same as the Biblical Ephrath which means "fertile", as there is a reference to it in the Book of Micah as Bethlehem Ephratah.[17] The Bible also calls it Beth-Lehem Judah,and the New Testament describes it as the "City of David". It is first mentioned in the Bible as the place where the matriarch Rachel died and was buried "by the wayside" (Gen. 48:7). Rachel's Tomb, the traditional grave site, stands at the entrance to Bethlehem. According to the Book of Ruth, the valley to the east is where Ruth of Moab gleaned the fields and returned to town with Naomi. It was the home of Jesse, father of King David of Israel, and the site of David's anointment by the prophet Samuel. It was from the well of Bethlehem that three of his warriors brought him water when he was hiding in the cave of Adullam.
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