And You Together Are That Temple

Day 6 has come to a close here in the Holy Land, and God is clearly not as tired as we are because He is moving here in this place. The day started with an overlook of David’s City, what Jerusalem would have looked like in the time of David. Here we talked about how the location and characteristics of the city played into some of the Psalms (121 and 122 to be specific). The city is located in a valley, which puts it at a disadvantage when it comes to war because it was very difficult to defend, making them rely fully on God for protection. From there we went to Hezekiah’s tunnel. This tunnel was built by King Hezekiah to protect the water source from the Assyrians who were trying to take over. He rerouted the water through this 1750 ft. long tunnel so that Jerusalem would have water when they came under siege (2 Chronicles 32). We got to walk through that tunnel today and it was amazing. Dark and wet and scary at times, but amazing nonetheless. From there we saw the excavation of the Pool of Siloam from John 9, another powerful place considering Jesus himself was there at one point.

Then we moved to an area of the Old City called Herodian Street. Here we could see some of the wall of the Temple Mount, including where the highest point on it would be, which is where Jesus was tempted by Satan. We talked about the construction of the wall and how precise each massive stone was cut to fit so that not even a credit card could slide between them. This was then tied to the idea that we are the temple of God. When Jesus breathed his last and the curtain tore in two, we were allowed in and God came out, so that we could be living temples. What does that temple look like now? Does it draw people in, much like the magnificent temple drew people to it, or does it push people away and isolate itself?

With this in mind, we walked to the southern Huldah gates where people generally would enter and exit the Temple Mount. There we discussed the Jewish holidays and Pentecost. The day of Pentecost was during ‘Shavuot’ or the Feast of Weeks. This meant that the disciples were likely on the Temple Mount when they received the Holy Spirit. The story parallels with Exodus 19:16-19 and Ezekiel 1:4 as it has to do with what was seen, heard, and felt, which was a really cool connection to make. If the disciples were on the Temple Mount when this happened, then the 3,000 people that were baptized were likely baptized in the ritual baths surrounding the area, which we saw.

Then we went and visited the Western Wall. We actually got to go and pray at the wall if we wanted to, which was an experience I will never forget. We left there to take a walk on the ramparts, which was a walkway on top of the city wall. We walked all the way around to Jaffa Gate, where we went shopping in a marketplace/bazaar. We met some friends of Ben and Stacie, and one warned us of the tactics used to take advantage of tourists (if you ever visit a bazaar in Jerusalem, just know that they all give student discounts and the price after is many times still a rip-off). We got some shopping done and went back to the hotel for our last night in Jerusalem.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but today was extremely powerful in my opinion. Together we are the Lord’s temple, and many times we forget what that means. He went from dwelling in the Holy of Holies, where only the High Priest could meet with him once a year, to dwelling in each of us. We need to recognize His power within us and be the kind of temple that draws people in so that they too may know the love of our good, good Father.

-Annette Williams