Pool of Bethesda and Via Dolorosa

On the Tuesday, Oct. 18, after we left the Temple Mount we continued our walk through the Old City. We went to the Muslim Quarter and saw what remained of the Pool of Bethesda. Here Sam 'preached' a half an hour sermon about the Pool of Mercy and the Lord Jesus who came to give mercy and healed and paid for our sins. Sam told us that he sees his job as a tour guide as an opportunity to witness the gospel of truth in Jerusalem. May the Lord bless his witnessing.
Above is the excavated Pool and below we are sitting in the area where the Lord Jesus was brought before Pilate, below the Fortress Antonio.
On this picture we started to walk down the well known Via Dolorosa, which was very much a 'circus'. It was very, very busy and merchants were trying to sell their wares and people trying to squeeze in here and there.
Another tour guide is trying to make himself heard with a loud speaker.

You wonder how many religions mingle in this area.
This part of our walk did not make us think much of the path that the Lord Jesus took on the way to the cross.  It almost seemed disrespectful.
The crucifixion must have happened in this area where now the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is.

This church is owned by five different denominations. Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian, Coptic and Syrian Churches. Each has their own area and time slot for Mass, etc. It has to be open to the public all the time. Imagine the confusion and noise going on. It certainly did not feel like worshiping to us.
It is a nice building but needs a lot of repair which, we were told, never seemed to happen as the various churches could not agree on what should be done and who should pay for it.
We had some time to buy a few souvenirs or just do some 'people watching'.
Enough to buy and make sure you don't pay too much. Good thing that we were good at getting the price down...!
We exited the Old City by the Jaffa Gate.
This is also in the area of the Jaffa Gate. Anyone hungry?
When we were back at the hotel we watched the news on TV about the prisoner exchange of the one Israeli soldier in exchange for 1200 Palestinians. During this trip we were confronted many times  with the sad and difficult political situation. So many people are suffering because of this conflict. My heart goes out to the innocent people who are suffering and whose lives are made so difficult.
One last delicious dinner in the hotel.
We have gotten to know our friends in our group very well. It was a strange feeling that after having experienced so much together these last two weeks, we may never see each other again. We had a strong bond from the start as fellow believers.
The last evening assembly for our evening devotions. Missing is Miriam who was admitted to the hospital with appendicitis. Roslynn decided to stay with her till she was well enough again to travel.
We prayed for the Christians in this land and prayed that interest in the gospel may grow among the Jews as well as the Arabs.
This has been an amazing trip for us. It was a faith affirming experience to be at the places where the gospel was fulfilled. It impressed on our hearts that Jesus fulfilled the promise of salvation, and that the gospel is for all nations and all cultures. We saw many groups from many countries who all believed in the Lord and Jesus Christ. We were so blessed with a tourguide, who not only knew the country and the history very well, but who also believed that Jesus is Lord and died to pay for sin. Only through faith in him will there be peace.
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow".

Our last day. Old City and the Wailing Wall

It was our last day in Israel.  Tuesday, Oct.18th. It kind of felt like a climax that on our last day we had a tour of the Old City and the Temple Mount. The bus dropped us off at the Dung Gate. As it was still a Jewish holiday, the area of the Wailing Wall (or Western Wall as the Israelis prefer) was super busy. Many devout Jews went to the Wall to pray for a blessing.

Here the men and women were separated as we go through security.

This is the sight we saw at the Wall. At 8 in the morning there were already many people. The men were on the left (as it was closest to the Holy of Holies) and the women had a much smaller space on the right.
Many carried a palm branch to commemorate the Feast of Booth. The haircut of this boy shows that he is the son of an Ultra-Orthodox Jew. Those Jews study the Torah, do not pay taxes and do not have to serve in the army.
Not all Jews have the same skin colour. Most of them were praying and chanting. It felt strange to make pictures here, but we were just one of the many tourist who were doing it. We were told to wear long pants and have the shoulders covered out of respect.
On the women's side. See all the little papers in the cracks. Actually, quite sad that they believe that that is how the Lord hears (reads?) their prayers.

We walked down to the archaeological site. Much quieter here! On the pictures it doesn't seem very interesting, but with Sam's explanation, it made quite a 'picture' for us, he made us see it as it was in Bible times.

The place we are standing here, is the original temple wall and above us you can see part of the Hulda Gate, which led to the court of the gentiles. It was the main entrance of the temple and the Lord Jesus and the disciples undoubtedly walked here. The wall on the left was part of a city wall and was build later. When walls were rebuild, the same stones were used but first cut smaller for easier building. The biggest stone used in Herod's temple was 14 meters long by 3.5 by 3 and weighed about 600 ton.
Walking on some of the very same stairs as in Bible times. (Many were reconstructed)

After this we rushed up the ramp at the women's side of the Western Wall to the Temple Mount. Our Muslim bus driver (his name was Muhammad) had a 'cousin' who worked here and who told us that if we hurried up we could get in as it was only open till 10 in the morning.

We were awed by the size of it. The total of this area, which is the same as the temple area used to be, is 35 acres or about 450 by 270 meters.

We always assumed that this was a mosque but it is actually only a shrine where the rock is that was supposedly the stone where Abraham sacrificed Isaac and where the prophet Muhammad stood when he was believed to have ascended into heaven.
Still another side of the large area. The actual mosque 'El Aqsa' is on the southern side.

On the northern side is a school for the Muslims. At that corner we exited the site.

All in all we did quite a bit of walking and sometimes we supported each other a little.
To be continued... (it was a long day :) )

Masada

After visiting the Garden Tomb we drove to the Masada. It is about an hour and half drive, along the western side of the Dead Sea. We came passed En Gedi (gedi means small deer, we saw a few) and it is the where David hid in the caves when he was fleeing from Saul. It inspired David to write Psalm 42, 'as the deer pants for the streams of water...', understandable words when you see this dry and thirsty land.View on the one side of the road and...
The view on the other side. The southern end of the Dead Sea, (which is drying up).

First sight of the mountain on which the Masada is built. Invisible from the front.

Lucky for us that there was a cable car bringing us up and down. It was pretty hot here in the desert.

We crossed the other 'bus' half way. The beautiful turqoise/blue Dead Sea in the background.

This is a model of the fortress of Herod the Great, or also called his 'winterhouse'.
He felt 'safe' at this place.
Some of the ruins that remain.

This enemy could be spotted from afar...
There were many cisterns that kept the water, also some lower down, with channels that gathered as much rain water as possible. Some food was grown on the top of the mountain as well.

Part of remaining luxurious bathhouse. There were several cisterns to keep all the water that had to be brought up. Herod would have needed quite a few slaves...

The mosaic floor...

Ironic that this cruel man who murdered many people, including family members and his wife and the children of Bethlehem, died only a few years after Christ's birth from an long and excruciatingly painful illness.

Here we are still walking on top of the mountain. The area is quite large. We mingled with Jews, who were using the holiday (Feast of Booth) to go on an outing.

Part of the synagogue that was used by the about 1000 Jews who fled to the abandoned Masada after the destruction of Jerusalem. They lived here for about 2 years.

On the one side of the mountain is this ramp, which still remains from that time. The Romans wanted to capture the fleeing Jews and they first tried to build this ramp themselves. However they were being killed by the Jews from above.  Later they forced captured Jews to build this ramp as 'a Jew may not kill other Jew' and so the ramp could be completed.
When the Romans finally reached the top, they found that all the Jews on the top had committed suicide; rather that then fall in the hands of the enemy.

Back down from the mountain. The squares in the distance are remains of the Roman camps when they surrounded the mountain.

For those rather walk down, this is part of the snake path you can take...

Sunset over the Dead Sea. This picture was taken while we were driving back to Jerusalem.