Jerusalem

Happy Wednesday! Today was our first day touring Jerusalem! Woohoo! We arrived in the beautiful city last night after a day journeying here. Jerusalem is much different than the sites we have seen the past several days. It is quite a busy city and there is much to see!

Our first stop this morning was the Temple Mount! We put on our “modesty kits” and went through security before entering the site. Because it is considered a Muslim holy site, we were also not allowed to bring our bibles with us. They want tourists to be taught about the Islamic history of the site. Muslims claim this (the Dome of the Rock) to be where Mohammad ascended to heaven.

What I really enjoyed learning about at this site was the biblical history of Mount Moriah, the mountain on which the Dome of the Rock now sits. In Genesis 22, God instructed Abraham to come to this mountain to sacrifice Isaac. There became many names of this place, one of which is “the Lord will provide.” The Mountain of the Lord, this was the place of the Abrahamic covenant. Years later, David brought the Ark of the Covenant to this place of the covenant. In 940 BC, Solomon built the first temple in this spot. The first temple is later destroyed and then replaced with a second temple by Zerubbabel. The ruins of this second temple were left until followers of Mohammad came and built the Dome of the Rock.

After learning about the history of the Temple Mount, we then walked to the Western Wall. Because Jews cannot pray at the Temple Mount, they come here to pray. We spent about 20 minutes watching what takes place at the Western Wall. The men and women have separate areas where they read/recite Scripture and pray, and also visit with each other. We walked into the women’s section and observed what was talking place. Peeking over the wall that separates the men and women, we got to see a boy who was having his bar mitzvah. It was so interesting, I couldn’t help but look around watching and wanting to know more of what was happening. But at the same time, it was devastating. It broke my heart to watch these people, who think they have it; they think they have found the true solution and yet they are so lost. It was so hard to see.

Our next stop was Hezekiah’s tunnel! We got to experience this tunnel up close and personal! With our water shoes on, we started the (10ish minute) trek through the tunnel. As a person who has a fear of confined spaces, this was quite an adventure for me. The Lord was faithful to use even this experience, which for me was challenging, to remind me of truth. I was overwhelmed by His promise to always be with me. And I found peace in repeating these words to myself - “thank You Jesus that this will not last forever.” This might seem like a silly situation to have to remind myself of this but oh how it is true of all situations in our life! The only thing that will last forever is dwelling in eternity with Him. WOW! That blows me away.

Okay, back to the tunnel! When this tunnel was built, it then fed into the Pool of Siloam. When we made our way out of the tunnel, we sat by where the pool would have been and talked about a story from the Bible of a healing that took place there. In John 9, Jesus heals a man who had been born blind. (This is when you should pause reading this and open your bible to read this story for yourself because it is truly incredible!) The once-blind, now-seeing man has no explanation for his healing except that once he was blind and now he can see, and Jesus had been the one to heal him! With this story comes a reminder - you don’t have to have all the answers, as long as you share with others what Jesus has done for you!

The rest of our day was spent eating a yummy lunch (and magnum ice cream bars!) outside, driving through a Jewish Orthodox neighborhood, a bit of souvenir shopping, and stopping at a spot overlooking Bethlehem.

Praise the Lord for another incredible day in Israel. He has been so gracious and kind to us during our time here! I am so thankful for the opportunity to see this country. One more day!! Lord, would You be glorified in this day? We praise You for all that You have done and will continue to do.

-Hannah Edwards