Modern Israel and Calvary

Jim, our director gave a devotional on our way to Israel’s Kenesset (where their government is run) this morning. He shared from 1 Chronicles 29:10-15. David is before the assembly and prays. He calls them strangers and sojourners. Jim compares how we are sojourners in Israel on the tour. Tito and Ronnie are our guides and we rely on them. Similarly, we are pilgrims in this world.

We went through the Israeli Kenesset. There we saw the Supreme Court, IRS, and the Prime Minister’s office and bank. There are 120 members of the Kenesset, all are there by election by the people of Israel.

Our next stop is the museum, Shrine of the Book. The first thing we saw is a large scale model of Jerusalem at the time of Herod’s temple. It was an extremely impressive model and gave everyone a better idea of where everything was in the city. We then visited inside the museum. Tito gave us an explanation of the monument built there. I was amazed by the information he gave about the scribes who wrote the Dead Sea scrolls. It became clear to me that many pastor’s may have an understanding of Scripture but without seeing Israel and really seeing and knowing the Jewish culture, they miss many significant things that Jesus said or that are written in the Old Testament.

Sadly we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the Shrine of the Book museum, so you’ll need to just come and see the Dead Sea scrolls for yourself!

Next we went to the Haas Promenade and our guide explained the four quarters of the Old City in Jerusalem - Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Armenian. We also saw a part of the destroyed wall from the reign of King Hezekiah. (From around 700 BC!)

We visited the Temple Institute next. The first room of the exhibit showed the history of the Temple from Abraham’s attempt to sacrifice Isaac to the current Dome of the Rock. The second room showed specific aspects of the temple and priests.The third room showed aspects of inside the holy temple. The last room was a movie showing the Temple Institute and the proposed third temple. I appreciated this because they gave a suggested modern view of what the third temple might look like. We often imagine temples according to how they would look in the Bible.

After a time of shopping we made our way to lunch. We also made a quick stop to look at the Western Wall again. This is the point when yours truly lost the group I was with! Shout out to the yellow group for noticing I was missing and getting me safely back with the group. There were only a couple of minutes of panic!

When I was reunited with my group they were seated at an outdoor area eating lunch. The choices were like yesterday, pizza, chicken shawarma, or falafel. Most enjoyed pizza. I’m pretty sure you can guess what I ate. (Yesterday’s shawarma was better but it was still SHAWARMA and that was good enough!)

We were all given time to shop at the bazaar in the Christian quarter after lunch. The shops have beautiful jewelry, ceramics, and carved olive wood. After shopping we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Some believe this is where Jesus was crucified and buried. It’s a very large church. If I’m being honest (and I am), I didn’t like it very much. The one thing that stuck out to me on both of my visits here is a painting on the wall of Jesus as he was being crucified. The painting depicts a Jewish man nailing Jesus to the cross. It’s such a misrepresentation of the Biblical account of the crucifixion and an example of anti-Semitism.

After a walk through the Arab quarter we arrive at the garden tomb. This is a very beautiful area. Many flowers are planted in the area. Jim says this may be his favorite place in Jerusalem. I can totally agree with him!

Our guide’s name is Blaine and he read from John 19:16-18. He pointed out the side of a cliff that resembles a skull. Then shows a diagram of a tomb like the one on the site. We are able to briefly go in the tomb and look around.

Afterwards, both groups gathered together for communion. Mike led us as we sang the song, “In Christ Alone” and then Clarence read from Matthew 26. Jim shared about Passover, which starts April 10. It’s the oldest celebrated holiday in the world. Passover teaches that repentance can only come through God’s way. He pointed out the matzah that we used for communion has lines and holes in it. He said it reminded him of Isaiah 53:5 that says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” The holes similarly are like the nails that pierced him. Pastors Scott and Ryan led us in communion together. After communion we were able to walk around the garden and shop.

We then enjoyed a special Shabbat dinner as a group in the hotel. The buffet was wonderful as usual and there were a lot of great choices. We met together to hear one of The Friends of Israel’s workers, Pastor Meno Kalisher from the church Jerusalem Assembly. He shared about his ministry. He was a very dynamic speaker.