Day 09 - Temple Mount, City of David, Pool of Siloam, Davidson Center, Southern Steps, Western Wall, Rabbinic Tunnels, Temple Virtual Reality Tour

We started our day by visiting the Temple Mount. Thanks to Yehuda, we were able to visit early in the morning with very few people around. The weather was perfect. No breeze and blue skies made for an ideal and peaceful viewing.

We spent most of the time viewing the Dome of the Rock, which sits on top of the peak of Mount Moriah, where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac in the Book of Genesis. It is also the location where the Jewish Temple stood during the time of Christ. 

Around 950 B.C., King Solomon built the first Temple. The temple was destroyed by the Babylonians several hundred years later when the Jewish people were sent into exile. When the Jewish people returned (roughly 538 B.C.) the temple was re-constructed, and then Herod the Great completed a massive renovation in which the Temple Mount was doubled and surrounded by retaining walls. The temple was again destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.

Muslims later conquered Jerusalem and constructed both the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock starting in the late Seventh Century. As the holiest site in the Jewish religion and the third holiest site for Muslims (outside of Mecca and Medina), it remains an occasional site of tension.

We had the privilege of walking through the City of David. We stopped by the House of Ahiel (a ruined residential home built in the typical Israelite style of the time and consisting of four rooms) and talked about it’s amazing structure. The house also contained pieces of clay marked with a seal, often used to close letters. Some of these seals bore the exact names from the book of Ezekiel. It is yet another instance in which archeological findings have confirmed information contained in the Bible, even before the time of Christ. 

Next, we went down into the tunnels carved out to reach the springs that were used to provide water to Jerusalem. The city’s fortifications were so unique, and the walls were built so that people could go down to the springs without having to expose themselves outside the city’s walls. The Canaanites also dug channels to irrigate crops on the side of the hill and they disguised the outlets to look like natural springs. Much of the tunnels were very narrow, but it was worth it to see how much work they put into securing the city and its water supply. 

Let me just say, it pays to have Yehuda as your guide. The man has some major connections, and he was able to get us through a locked door and into a current archeological site that was uncovering more of the original street from the time of Jesus. We even got to stand on some of the original stones from the excavation area. One day, all tourists will be able to walk the length of the street from Siloam to up near Robinson’s Arch.

From there we walked down to the Pool of Siloam, the same pool from John 9, in church Jesus heals the blind man. After leaving the temple, Jesus and his disciples see a man. The disciples were under the assumption that he was blind due to sin, a common misconception in that time. As a result of this alleged sin (and therefore being unclean) the man would not have been allowed to worship in the temple. Jesus put mud on the man’s eyes and told him to go wash his face in the Pool of Siloam. Now the Temple to the pool was no easy trek. Over 800 steps separated the man from the pool Jesus asked him to wash in. Yet he went. Jesus could have performed this miracle without the mud and water. He could have easily healed him without asking him to go to the pool. Yet, how wonderful that as he washed, his first sight was of the beauty of the Temple, and he was now clean and able to take all of the steps, without help, and visit the temple and worship freely. If we would humble ourselves to do it God's way and in God's time, even when it seems to be inconceivable or inconvenient to us, it will be more beautiful and freeing than we could imagine.

From the pool, we went up to the outer walls of the Temple. The pictures and models we’ve seen up to this point don’t do it’s enormity justice. Even viewing from a distance didn’t prepare me for the grandeur. You can see where some of the stones landed and left enormous craters in the ancient street, from the time the Romans destroyed the temple. 

We were able to walk around to the Southern Steps where people of the day, including Christ and his disciples, would have entered and exited to reach the Temple. Sitting in a place where Jesus would have walked, Terry shared with us the one story we have of Jesus’s life between his birth and the beginning of his teaching ministry. His family unintentionally left him in Jerusalem. Terry encouraged us all not to do just that; leave Jesus in Jerusalem. The trip has been full of so many fascinating sites, there’s no way to narrow down a favorite place or even day. What we do know is we are forever changed and cannot leave what we’ve learned here in this land. As we left, another church tour group began to sing "Goodness of God". Wow. What a powerful moment! I was pretty sure we could have started our own Asbury-esque revival right there on the Southern Steps! In the fast pace of our days, it was a peaceful moment to stop and reinforce the lesson we’d just heard and the impact of being in this place. What a good God we serve!

We split into groups and had scheduled times to visit an incredible 10 minute virtual reality tour of the Temple through time. Being on the Temple Mount truly came to life! Next we had free time to visit the Wailing Wall before heading into the Rabbinic Tunnels. These tunnels run north along the Western Wall and under the Muslim neighborhood built over the original street. Though the site of the Western/Wailing wall is not of particular religious significance to us, it was moving to witness the devout prayers of Jewish men and women, who are part of a tradition to whom this city and site have been of central importance for thousands of years. 

Upon leaving the Rabbinic tunnels, we found ourselves walking along the Via Dolorosa just after sunset. We got a glimpse of what awaits us tomorrow, and exited the city through the Lion’s Gate. It was a long day, and many of us barely spoke at dinner. We are ready for our beds, but hesitant to see our trip come closer to the end.

Until tomorrow…

Ashley Fuhr