Our Last Day in Israel

I am amazed how fast this trip has gone, every day feel very long and yet the time has flown by. The first place we went today was the Western Wall, or the Wailing Wall. This is the most holy place for Jews because it is the closest place to where the Holy of Holies used to be before it was destroyed in 70 AD. The reason they cannot get any closer is because the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine, is sitting on top of the old temple. People write prayers onto little pieces of paper and put them in the cracks of the wall; twice a year, Rabbis take all the notes and bundle them together and bury them in the cemetery because you cannot destroy anything with the name of God on it. The stones on the Western Wall date back to the time of Herod the Great (2,000 years ago). It was very interesting to watch the Jewish men and women pray at the wall, we even got a chance to pray at the wall and/or put notes into the cracks.

From there we walked to Tyropoeon Street which was once a busy street that ran along David’s city on the way up to the Temple. There were shops, markets and money changers along the street that sold all kinds of things, including animals for the sacrifice. Jesus would have walked down this same street while preparing to go up to the Temple to sacrifice during the religious festivals. Tyropoeon Street leads to the Southern Steps which is where the Jews would walk up and through the Huldah Gates to the Temple. We know for a fact that Jesus walked through the Huldah Gates to enter into the Temple. In Acts 2, when the disciples are all in Jerusalem for Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to rest on each of them and it is very likely they were on or near the Southern Steps and Huldah Gates. Peter got up and preached the gospel and 3,000 people believed and that was the beginning of the Church. Right outside of the temple, God filled each believer with His Spirit and they became the new Temple. All those new believers would then go back to their country of origin and be God’s Temple wherever they went. Jesus changed everything and we are now God’s dwelling place…what an incredible thing!

After that, we walked to David’s City, which is south of the Temple Mount, and got a nice view of the lower city. Then we headed down to Warren’s Shaft and Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Hezekiah’s Tunnel is about 400 meters long and was used to bring water into the city; there are very low and narrow parts in the tunnel and the whole time you are walking through shin to thigh deep water. It was a really neat experience to be walking through such an ancient tunnel that has been preserved through earthquakes and everything else.

We came out of the tunnel and found ourselves to be a short distance from the Pool of Siloam. This pool was at the southern most part of David’s City and was only recently discovered. In John 9, Jesus is near the temple and heals a man who was born blind; He puts mud on his eyes and tells him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam, which was a long hike from the temple. The man obeys Jesus and walks all the way down to the pool and his sight is restored. It has been an amazing experience to be able to go where Jesus went and see some of the things that He saw. All of us in our group have talked about how when we read the Bible it will be in color instead of in black and white; the Bible has come alive now that we have a better understanding of the land and culture in which it was written.

Finally, we went to Yad Vashem, which is the Jewish Holocaust museum. I have to say this was an extremely sobering experience. We have all learned about the Holocaust in school and have seen pictures and heard stories, but it feels different when you see many Jewish people walking though the museum. I cannot imagine what it would feel like for them to see the atrocities that were done to their people. Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, 25% of them were children. Today there are around 14 million Jews and it is estimated that had the Holocaust not happened, there would be around 35 million Jews…multiple generations were wiped out in a matter of a few years. We must not forget the story of God’s chosen people, Israel.

Thank you for your prayers! We will see you soon…we leave early in the morning tomorrow.

God Bless!