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Israel Study Tour with Faith Chapel Billings
April 17-29, 2017
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A little glimpse of all that we experienced
Hello all! Shalom!
Well folks, another glorious day for the books here in Israel. We started the day off with our world class tour guide, Ronen, introducing our "new" bus driver, Maier. He has driven our bus every day so far but it's a fun joke to start the day.
Our first stop today was to Hezekiah's tunnel in the City of David located in Jerusalem. If you are unfamiliar with the story of the tunnel, check it out in 2 Kings 20 (also mentioned in 2 Chronicles 32:30) and do a quick Google search. Some of our group decided to take the dry route while many decided to brave the water-filled passageway. The tunnel was about 550 meters and contained water up to about mid-calf in most places. Flashlights were essential as it was pitch black and everyone had to crouch down throughout a lot of the walk because the tunnel was so narrow at times. Upon exiting we reached the Pool of Siloam (the same from John 9) and Ronen talked about the history of both places, and Jesus' miracle of healing the blind man with mud (again, John 9).
Hezekiah's Tunnel
A 1750-foot (530m) tunnel carved during the reign of Hezekiah to bring water from one side of the city to the other, Hezekiah’s Tunnel together with the 6th c. tunnel of Euphalios in Greece are considered the greatest works of water engineering technology in the pre-Classical period. Had it followed a straight line, the length would have been 1070 ft (335m) or 40% shorter.
Next we ventured to the Southern steps of the Temple in Jerusalem. Ronen, always a wealth of information, described what the process of entering the Temple would have been like for the Jewish people. He read the story about the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and converting 3000 to Christianity. His educated guess was that they would have used the same cleansing baths (mikvahs) that the Jews used for purification before entering the temple to baptize all of those converts.
Southern Steps
An enormous flight of steps leads to the Southern Wall from the south. They were excavated after 1967 by archaeologist Benjamin Mazar and are the northernmost extension of the Jerusalem pilgrim road leading from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount via the Double Gate and the Triple Gate, collectively called the Huldah Gates. These are the steps that Jesus of Nazareth[2][3] and other Jews of his era walked up to approach the Temple, especially on the great pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. [2] The stairs that lead to the double gate are intact and "well-preserved."[4] The steps that lead to the triple gate were mostly destroyed.[4] / The risers are low, a mere 7 to 10 inches high, and each step is 12 to 35 inches deep, forcing the ascending pilgrims to walk with a stately, deliberate tread.[2] The pilgrims entered the temple precincts through the double and triple gates still visible in the Southern Wall.[5][2] Together, the double and triple gates are known as the Hulda Gates, after the prophetess Huldah.[2]
That's one of the best things about this trip: We have a guide who knows the Scriptures very, very well, who knows the historical and cultural context of the sites extremely well, and who knows the language of the peoples from that time. Combine all of that, and you get a refreshing new way of looking at Scripture!
Next, we had lunch. It was family-style. Each "family", made up of 8 or 9 people, got 8 loaves of bread and six plates. On the six plates were: hummus, Israeli Nutella, cucumbers, goat cheese, olive oil, and date honey mixed with sour cream. Everyone used their bread to dip in the aforementioned deliciousness.
After lunch we visited the Museum of Israel where we learned about the Old City layout and also about the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Believe it or not, none of that was the highlight of the day. Our last stop was the Holocaust Museum. Ronen talked about how there is still a large portion of the world that has not been educated about the Holocaust. In fact, he guided a group a few months ago from Taiwan (or somewhere in Asia) who didn't even know who Adolf Hitler was! There are even people who downplay the statistics or refuse to believe the Holocaust happened. Well, our group saw plenty of evidence today. The Museum was really indescribable. We were only allowed an hour and a half but we could have easily spent 3-5 hours learning about all of the history behind the horrible historical event. Pictures, suitcases, documents, videos of events taking place, statistics, historical records, documentary clips from survivors, shoes of the dead prisoners, pieces from gas chamber buildings, the list could go on and on. It was absolutely incredible; so insightful. Wow. If you have never been to a Holocaust Museum, I highly recommend it! Hopefully everyone reading will be able to make it to the one in Israel someday.
That was our day! It really is difficult to put into words all that we experience on a given day but hopefully this offers a little glimpse of all that we experienced. Thanks for reading, and Shalom to all!
-Mikey Wall
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