Day 9

Today we embraced the beginning of the end as we embark on our last day in Israel. We took a short drive and entered through the dung gate to enter the Temple Mount. Here we learned about Passover and that it was the site that Mary and Joseph left Jesus. From there we traveled to the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) where some of us prayed. We also learned more about the constructive history where Herod the Great built the Temple Mount which was the biggest building in the world at that time. From there we walked through the Rabbinic tunnels underneath a Muslim quarter to see the length of the western wall where they are currently digging. These tunnels were created 30 ft above the streets that Jesus would have walked on. At the exit of the tunnel we entered the Via Dolorosa (translated: the way of pain) which was the location of Jesus’ trial. From here he was given his cross to carry to his crucifixion. We then walked the path that Jesus took (stations of the cross) through the streets of Jerusalem. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in a park in the middle of the stations of the cross. We trekked through the crowds of old Jerusalem and reached the Holy Sepulcher. This church was built on the place where Jesus was crucified. We then walked through the bazaar of Jerusalem and hit the ramparts of the southern wall.

We started the ramparts on Mt Zion which are the same ramparts that are mentioned in Psalms 48 and Psalms 122. Young children are lead through these so that they are reminded to talk to the next generation and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We all savored ice cream together under the shade of a large tree before the next destination of the southern steps of the ancient temple.

Here we sat as Michael taught about this possibly being the location where Peter preached and 3,000 people were baptized. Here we see the future of His message and we worshipped together for the sake of the world on these steps. After a full day of walking we boarded the bus and headed to the Israeli museum.
There we saw a model of ancient Jerusalem made completely out of limestone. The model constantly changes as new discoveries are uncovered. Currently everything that is modeled here is buried underneath the Jerusalem we know today. Inside we saw the Dead Sea scrolls which we learned about earlier on the trip. We ended the day by shopping in the streets of old Jerusalem and having a Middle Eastern feast as a final farewell. Then we all returned back to the hotel and with sore hearts we said goodbye to The Holy Land.