Jerusalem

I can’t believe we are already on day 8 of the trip. We have made our way to Jerusalem, which is such an amazing and unique city. As we drove along, we saw Orthodox Jews headed to work. Little children walking along the streets on their own (there has been no child abducted in Jerusalem for the past 34 years.) Lots of stone buildings built on many, many green hills.

We started the morning with a quick devotional at our hotel. Terry read from Psalm 121, which is part of a group of Psalms called the Psalms of Ascent. As Jews made their pilgrimage to and from Jerusalem, they would recite these songs, which describe the way God is with us in all of our endeavors.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”
- Psalm 121:1-2

Once again, Terry encouraged us to make God more than just a priority, but the center of our lives.

Later, we visited the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. While we toured what Yehuda described as “just the little finger of the whole museum,” what we saw was YUGEEEE. Well, actually it was kind of small? We walked around a giant model of Jerusalem that was built in the 1960’s with all the cute, teenie-tiny buildings and structures all over the place. The model was created before archeologists really started excavating the city. Yet through reliance on historical writings, the model seems to match what they have found. We also visited the Shrine of the Book, which is where pieces of the Dead Sea Scrolls were displayed.

Later that day we visited Herodium, the giant fortress and palace of Herod the Great, located right outside of Jerusalem. Herod’s the guy we just can’t shake. We saw his giant fortress at Masada. We saw his giant port at Caesarea. But when we saw the Herodium, we really saw the extent of his power, his paranoia and his ego. To build Herodium, Herod basically built a mountain on an already giant hill. He had tunnels, he had cisterns, he had a bird’s eye view of basically ALL of Israel (it was absolutely beautiful). Sitting in Herodium, Terry tied together his theme for the week. Herod’s paranoia and ego made him the most powerful man in the Jewish world at the time of the Roman Empire. Yet despite all of his power, all of his money, all of his control - he was afraid of a little baby born on the outskirts of Bethlehem.

In the shadow of the most powerful man in the Jewish world, God entered the earth in the weakest form. While Herod had military and political power - he was still just a man now lost in the deep, dark depths of the history books. I mean - I know I’ve talked a lot about Herod because we are walking through the history of Israel - but who else really takes the time to think about him? He is but a blimp on the humanity radar. In contrast, Jesus quietly came into the world preaching truth and sacrificial love. He did not come with an army. He did not come with a giant military fortress. Yet Jesus came and completely turned the world upside down. His influence and impact continues to change the world every day.

Finally, we visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Used as a place of worship for the Catholics, the Armenians and the Orthodox Christians for the past [A LONG TIME] years (Sorry ya’ll this is another moment where I’m not sure about the date so I’m just gonna say a long time) the church was beautiful and full of rich history.

Okay, now we off to shop for souvenirs at a Palestinian Christian shop. Got to go!