Thursday is the last day in Israel.  We started the morning at the Garden Tomb, the most probably place of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.  (The church of the Holy Sepulcher is the traditional site until about 100 years ago).  We had a very moving service there this morning and had communion.

Below is the hill of the skull (Golgotha).  If you look closely you can see the two large indentations that represent the eye sockets of the skull.  At Jesus time, the lower jaw was there as well, but it has since been covered up.  This is the hill that is thought to be the most likely place for the crucifixion, since it meets the biblical location from the gospels, and it is adjacent to the main gate to the city.

 Entry to the garden tomb in the shadow of Golgotha.

I can testify to the fact that the tomb is indeed empty!

Next we went to the traditional spot of Caiaphas' house where Jesus was taken for trial, flogged and draged up the stairs to Pontius Pilates'.  This is also the place of Peter's denial of Jesus.

 This is a statue showing the place of Peter's denial.

 

Below is the Potters Field where Judas hanged himself.  It is just down the hill from Caiaphas' house.

Finally today we made our last exit of the tour bus.  They dropped us off in downtown modern Jerusalem to see the city by foot.  We stopped by a little pizza shop on the street for lunch.  They really know how to make Pizza!.  We browsed the local market places as we walked for about 2 hours back to the hotel.

Now we have to pack for the return trip.  We will be picked up by shuttle for the airport at 1:30am for our 5:30am flight to Frankfurt, Germany, then our connection to Washington.  So this is it from Israel.  See you all on the other side.

Wednesday was a very long day.  We left the hotel at 7:30am and did not get back to the room until 9:30pm.  We spent the morning at the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.  We were not permitted to take pictures in the Museum, but needless to say, it was very moving.  There was a separate children's section for the children that were lost in Germany during the Nazi regime.  Then the main museum was a very detailed account of what happened their.  Word and pictures cannot do it justice.  It is something you have to see.

The pictures below are rows of trees planted along the walkways around the museum.  They each have plaques  stating that this tree is planted in honer of a person or family that was non-Jewish that helped Jews during the Holocaust escape; many at their own peril.

After lunch we went to Bethlehem to visit the church of the Nativity.  The interesting part of this is the short trip into the area.  It is heavily guarded by Palestinian troops.  Our Jewish guide could not go with us because he is still active reserve with the Israel army, and is not permitted by Palestine beyond the check points.  The church itself is 1500 years old and rather unkept.  It sits in the middle of a very commercial area of Bethlehem.

Finally tonight we had a concert by Steve Green at the convention center inside Bethlehem.  It was very good and really capped off the week.
Tomorrow, we only have half a day of touring where I think we are going to the Garden Tomb.  Then we get back to the hotel after lunch to start the trek home.  So I don't know if we will be posting tomorrow or not.

Tuesday morning we went to the traditional site of Jesus' baptism at the Jordan River.  To get there you make the steep descent from Jerusalem, 1700ft above sea level, to the Jordan River valley at 1300ft below sea level.  The temperature went from 59 to 75 at 8:00am.  This is also the site where the Israelites crossed the river to enter their land and where Elijah was taken up into heaven.  We had a group worship service there.  There are armed guards at the entrance, and a Jordanian soldier came down to a lookout on the other side of the river to check things out.  The river is the border between Israel and Jordan, and is heavily guarded.

Next we went on to Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  We learned a lot about the Jewish sects that existed at Jesus time and how the Essenes lived.  They are most likely the ones who hid the scrolls in the clay pots that were found starting in 1947.  The picture below is cave 4 of 10 where scrolls were found.

We then drove on to Masada where we spend the bulk of the afternoon.  This was really awesome.  We went up to the top by cable car to the summit.  Much of the old city that was build by Herod the Great is still in tact.  We learned a lot from our Israeli tour guide about the struggle of the Jews there against the Romans.  The pictures below do not at all do justice to the site itself.  We are over 2000ft above the shores of the Dead Sea below.

After Masada, we made a short stop at Engedi, the traditional place where David hid out in the wilderness while running from Saul.  This is an Oasis in the Judian Desert and the only green in the area.

Finally, we ended the day with a dip in the Dead Sea.  Yes; it really is that salty.  And anyone can float in it.  You walk in up to your waist, then just lay backward, and your are floating.

Monday was a very long day of walking.  The bus dropped us off at 7:45am on top of the Mount of Olives, and we walked in and around the old city of Jerusalem all day.  But it was well worth it.  Below is a picture of Old Jerusalem from atop the Mount of Olives.  In the lower foreground you can see the top of the original wall of the city.  This is the view Jesus would have of the city when he would come into town from east, as he typically would when staying at the home of Mary and Martha.  Below us on the slops of the hill was a large ancient cemetery with the feet of the crypts facing the temple in anticipation of the return of the Messiah.  These are people who wanted a front row seat at the resurrection of the saints.

 Below is the garden of Gethsemane.  The is the place where Jesus prayed on the night he was arrested.  Next to it is a church build over the rock that Jesus prayed over that night.  There was a mass going on inside the church so we did not get a good look, but the rock is under the alter in the front of the church.

 This is the remains of the pool of Bethesda.  This is the place where Jesus healed the man who had been lame since birth.  St. Ann's church is next to this place.  St. Ann is the traditional mother of Mary, therefore the grandmother of Jesus.

 This is inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  The picture below is the traditional site of the crucifixion.  People were standing in line for hours (not us) to touch the stone beneath the alter as it supposedly had Jesus blood spilled on it.

 Below is the ancient City of David.  This is inside old Jerusalem and the original city build by King David after taking over as King of Israel.  The ruins in the foreground are of the original palace of David.

 

This is the walk up the Via Dolorosa.  It was totally lined with shops and very crowded.  This is one of 4 possible routes that Jesus walked from the place of the trial to the site of the Crucifixion.  

 We walked through Hezekiah's tunnel.  This was the tunnel that connected the highest point of the city to the springs outside the city to provide water.  Hezekiah built this 1600 foot long tunnel as the Assyrian's were bearing down on the city to secretly secure the water supply to prevent them from cutting of the water.  This was a common means of capturing a city at that time.

 

This is the pool of Siloam.  This is where the tunnel above comes out, at the lowest end of the city.  It is the place where Jesus healed the man born blind.

Sunday was a very good day in the city of Jerusalem.  We left the hotel at 7:00am for the old city, and had a worship service as a group on the south steps of the temple.  These are the original steps as there were in Jesus time.  This is where Simeon first saw Jesus at 8 days old when Mary and Joseph brought him to the temple for consecration.  Then 30+ years later it is the same spot where Jesus taught at the temple courts, and later was taken down these steps after his arrest to the palace of Pontius Pilot.  The worship time was really inspiring as the 800 member group sang great songs of the faith that echoed down the Kidron Valley to the modern city of Jerusalem.  We actually drew quite a crowd of spectators.
Later we toured the south western wall area and the original streets around the temple and the rest of the old city that Jesus would have frequented.  This tour ended up at the central western wall where we spent some personal time in prayer at the wall.  This weekend is Purim, so many orthodox Jews were also at the wall.  It was a moving and meaningful time.
We ate lunch at small cafe shops inside the old city at the market place adjacent to the main street of old Jerusalem.
After lunch we toured the area of David's tomb just up the hill from the temple, which is an active synagog today.  After a small Bible reading and worship time outside, we went up to the upper room above David's tomb.  This is the location of the last supper, and later where the apostles were when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost.  We had a devotional time in the room and sang together.  The acoustics were great!
They day of touring ended by 4:00 today, which is a good thing.  It was all a lot to take in.

The internet connection here at the hotel is giving me a lot of trouble, so I am not trying to post pictures with this entry.  So I will try to post some pictures a little later tonight.

This is us on the southern steps of the south wall of the temple mount after the morning worship service

 The western wall, or wailing wall, of the temple just below the Dome of the Rock, where the Holy of Holy is located. (That now has a Mosque on it)

If you read the sign to the left, this is the Dung Gate to the city.  Very smelly in Jesus day.

In the Upper Room

David's Tomb

 

 

The streets of Old Jerusalem

 And of course we were going to do some shopping.  These are Olive Wood Carvings.

Saturday, we started the day at Bet-Shean, just south of Galilee.  This is the most excavated city in the area due to its strategic location along the Jordan river.  It was the gate-keeper city to the east.  This is the city where the Philistines hung the bodies of King Saul and his sons after defeating them in battle to warn the world not to mess with them.  The ancient city was on the hill in the distance, and the ruins of the lower city with the columns was a Roman city during Jesus time.  This was the main city of the Decapolis (10 cities) that Jesus taught at on his way from the Galilee region to Jerusalem.

The city of Bet-Shean

 

 

Next we went on to Jericho, the oldest city in the world.  We saw excavated ruins of the walls and the tower of the city.  The picture below is of the spring of Elijah that he purified so the people would not have to move.  It still has the purist water in the region today.

 

Then we made the 3000 foot climb up the mountains to Jerusalem.  It was really cool riding into the city.  You drive through a tunnel in the mountain, and when you come out the other side you have a full panoramic view of the ancient and modern city.  Below is an exact model of the ancient city as it would have been in Jesus day.  This is at the Jerusalem museum.  Tomorrow we will start a tour of much more of the city. 

 

 

We also toured the Dead Sea Scroll museum that houses the scrolls found in the 1940's that contain the earliest manuscripts of the scriptures.  All of the books of the Bible were found here except Ester, and many copies of several of the books.  Many of these manuscripts were from as early as 25 years after the time that the events took place.  So the authors of the manuscripts would have been eye witnesses of the events.  And they say exactly the same thing our modern Bible says today.  So to those who say 'how can such an old book that has been translated into so many languages still be reliable today?'... you should come look.

Today (Friday) we started the day at Tel Dan at the farthest northern border of Israel.  This is the place where Jeraboam set up the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel after dividing Israel from the southern tribes after Solomon's death.  The city gates and Jeraboam's palace were both found here, as well as the alter he set up for worship so the people would not want to go back to Jerusalem to worship.  This is also adjacent to Mt Horeb, where Abraham received the promise from God to make a great nation from his offspring.  In more recent history, we stood near Jeraboam's alter and looked north into Lebanon and east into Syria.  We learned a lot from our guide about the 6 day war and the details of their long conflict with Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.

Then we went down to Caesarea Philippi where Jesus ask his disciples who men thought he was, and Peter gave the great confession.  This is also the probable place of the mount of Transfiguration. 

After lunch we went up to the Golan Heights and learned a lot about their struggle with Syria.  We went to the overlook on the mountain where the Jesus did the miracle of casting demons out of Legion into the pigs took place. 

Finally we took a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee.  The entire group was on 8 boats, which we tied together in the middle of the Sea and had a worship service for about an hour.  It was really cool. 

 

(Double click on the pictures below to enlarge them)

This is the gate to the city built by Abraham after arriving in Canaan.  This is at Tel Dan near the site of Jeraboam's palace.

 

This is the cave at Caesarea Philippi where water used to flow from, making the head waters of the Jordan river.  The cave roof collapsed a number of years ago and now the water flows from springs through the rocks.  There were remains of many pagan temples here.

 

The Sea of Galilee from the Golan Heights on the west side of the Sea

 

Cruising on the Sea of Galilee

 

I added a few more random pictures since we have a good internet connection in Jerusalem.  We will post a Saturday blog later tonight.