Old Testament Walk Through Jerusalem

This post is a description of what we did last Wednesday when our group walked through the walled city of Jerusalem looking at various sites pertaining to the Old Testament. The text is a slightly adapted version of a paper I wrote for class after this trip. Enjoy!

Our Old Testament emphasis walk through Jerusalem began in the Jewish quarter of the old city with a stop at the broad wall. The broad wall is a part of the city wall that was built by Hezekiah as he was fortifying the western hill of Jerusalem in preparation for an attack by the Assyrian army in 700-701 BC. Hezekiah made many preparations for the siege of Assyria in 701 BC, but what eventually saved the city of Jerusalem was not his preparations and strong walls, but his trust in the Lord for deliverance. He humbled himself and asked the Lord for deliverance from the Assyrians and the Lord delivered him by killing 185,000 of the Assyrian army in one night! (Isaiah 36-37)

The Broad Wall

Continuing through the Jewish quarter, we stopped at place where we saw a model depicting the old city of Jerusalem in stages all throughout the first temple period (The first temple period is the time beginning when Solomon built the temple in 967BC and continuing on to 586 BC when the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians). We saw the original city of David on the eastern hill of Jerusalem, Solomon’s expansion to the north by adding the temple mount area, and Hezekiah’s expansion and fortification of the western hill. Also in the museum, we saw several clay seals that would have been used to authenticate letters from around the time of Hezekiah and Isaiah. In fact, one of the seals was from someone mentioned in the Bible!

The Model of Jerusalem in the time of Hezekiah

Continuing through the Jewish quarter, we saw the remnants of the Cardo – a large street from the Byzantine period that would have been one of the main arteries (ha!) of business and trade in the city. We also saw a reconstruction of the oldest known map of Jerusalem that dates from the Byzantine period. The map was found in the form of a tile mosaic on the floor of a building.

The Cardo

The Oldest Map of Jerusalem - A Mosaic

After that, we exited the old city through the Zion gate, which bears the marks of years filled with war, strife, unrest, and tension (namely – lots of bullet holes). We were reminded of the promise in Isaiah 60:18 that assures us of the future peace that will rest in Jerusalem.

The Zion Gate

As we continued our walk we saw the traditional sight of the upper room where Jesus would have had his last Passover with His disciples. This could not have been the real room, however, because it was built in the crusader period of Jerusalem – over 1000 years after the time of Christ! In the upper room I learned that Jesus and His 12 disciples were almost certainly not the only people present at the Passover meal known as the last supper. The families of the disciples and maybe other friends and relatives would have been there as well. I also learned a new way of seeing the ‘last supper,’ which might better be called the ‘last Passover.’ When Jesus said “Do this in remembrance of me,” he was not speaking of anytime we take bread and wine. He was specifically speaking of the Passover celebration, which was a commemoration of how God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt – the single greatest expression of God’s redemption in the history of the nation of Israel. Jesus’ point was that they should now remember Him as the center of how God has delivered His people. He was proclaiming his deliverance of the people of Israel as greater than the Exodus of the Old Testament! They were now to remember Jesus when they ate the meal commemorating God’s deliverance of the children of Israel.

Some of our group sitting as the disciples would have sat at the last Passover

The Traditional Site of the Upper Room

Continuing on from the upper room, we continued on to a graveyard on the southern end of the western hill. Interestingly enough, Oskar Schindler is buried in this graveyard. From the southern edge of the western hill, we looked down into the Hinnom valley to the south of the Old City. We learned that the Israelites were at their most wicked during the time of Jeremiah. They were worshipping false gods and even sacrificing their children to these false gods. Jeremiah then prophesied to these wicked people that God would bring punishment upon them because of their wickedness and that the city would be destroyed and the dead would be cast into the Bin Hinnom valley. At that time it would cease to have the name Bin Hinnom, but would be called the valley of slaughter. This prophecy came true in 586 BC when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried her surviving inhabitants off into captivity. This is where I first realized how confused and scared the Jews would have been at this time. The city that God had always so wondrously and miraculously protected was now lying in ruins with the bodies of the dead strewn in the streets and the temple of the Lord lying in ashes, burned to the ground. What a perplexing and terrifying time this must have been for the Jews.

We continued our walk to the Jerusalem archeological park where we saw remnants of Herodian architecture at the temple mount. We saw Robinson’s arch, which would have supported a massive staircase ascending onto the temple mount from the streets below. It was here that we also saw the massive stones weighing anywhere from 50-400 tons that were used in the building of the temple mount. Here we were reminded of when Jesus quotes Psalm 118 saying that He is the stone that was rejected and has become the chief cornerstone.

The Jerusalem Archeological Park

Me Standing in front of Robinson's Arch - Remains From the Herodian Period Temple Mount. This is the time when Jesus would have been here!

Towards the end of our day was a trip through Hezekiah’s tunnel, which, as the name suggests, was built by Hezekiah to channel water from the Gihon spring to a pool inside the city. This tunnel was part of the fortification of the city in preparation for the Assyrian siege in 701 BC. The terminus of the tunnel is the pool of Siloam where Jesus later told a blind man to wash and receive back his sight.

My Friend Eli in Hezekiah's Tunnel. It was really hard to get picture of me in the tunnel, so I really don't have any. Sorry

The Pool of Siloam

Concluding our day was a visit to some tombs carved into the rock face of the city of David that might possibly be the dynasterial burial place of king David’s line. From the city of David, we could see the location of the Spring of Rogel (which is now just a well). This spring is the border of the tribal allotments of Benjamin and Judah. It is also the place where David’s son Adonijah declared himself to be king when his father’s health was failing. When David heard that Adonijah had declared himself king, he told Nathan the prophet and Zadok the priest to go to the Gihon spring and anoint Solomon as the successor to the throne. As soon as Adonijah realized that David had declared Solomon king, he went and begged Solomon for and it was granted him provided he lived righteously.

The red circle indicates a minaret built over the top of the spring (now a well) of Rogel

Here's just a little bit of what we've done over the past few weeks. It's been really busy and I haven't had much time to post. There will definitely be more to come.

My Dorm Room

Here are some pictures of my Dorm in Israel.
This is the front of the building.

This is looking down the side of the buildingMy room from one way
My room from another angle.
It's comfortable. I feel blessed to be in such a big room for only 2 guys! Sorry this is so short... I hope it was sweet!

More to come soon...

Here are some pictures of a walk we took in the Old City of Jerusalem today. It was an incredible experience but EXTREMELY tiring. I think the rest of the semester is going to be the same. Bill Shlegel is an awesome professor. He has lived here in Israel for more than 24 years and knows the land and the Bible incredibly well. Some of the thins we saw today on our walk were the Jaffa gate, the Citadel of David (which has nothing to do with David. It was built by Herod the Great!), the only protestant church in the old (walled) city, the church of the holy sepulcher, Via dolorosa, Damascus gate, and the pools of Bethesda. We also walked around the ramparts of the city wall from the Damascus gate (in the middle of the north side of the city) to St. Steven's gate (the middle of the eastern side of the city). I wrote a much more detailed report than this in a summary paper for class. I will try to post that or at least some of it in the near future.

This is a view of the entire old city from the top of the Citadel.

The courtyard and tower of the Citadel of David

My roommate Jeremy being mighty on the top of the citadel

The Israeli flag flying next to the citadel flag

Inside the church of the holy sepulcher. There's actually a man kneeling underneath the table in the middle. Supposedly, this is where the cross of Christ stood on Calvary.

Bill teaching us by candlight in the church of the holy sepulcher

Me standing on the ramparts of the wall looking over the Mount of Olives

Ceiling inside Saint Anne's Church

Looking up from the basement of Saint Anne's Church at the pools of Bethesda

The pools of Bethesda... or what's left of them.

Bill teaching us in the middle of the street along Via Dolorosa

Oh, Just In Case You Were Wondering...

Some pictures of and from Yad HaShemonah

Here are some pictures of us on Moshav Yad HaShmonah (where we're staying) and some of the views from the Moshav. Sorry about no people pictures yet... they're coming.

This is the biblical site of Kiriath-Jearim, where the Ark rested in the house of Obed Edom and brought blessing from the Lord before David took the Ark to Jerusalem. It is otherwise known as the hill next door. We walked there today and had a short study at the top of hill where the ark would have been. There is now a Catholic church there (just like every important spot in Israel :D )




This is off in another direction... toward the Mediterranean.



Another View....




The moshav is also home to some beatiful biblical gardens. There are many examples of what life in Bible times would have been like. There are several rows of grape vines growing on steppes down the slope, many olive trees, exaples of an olive press, a ritual bath, and a watchtower.



This is a mockup of a watchtower that would be used for keeping watch over a vineyard.



This is what an olive press would have been like.... hook a donkey up to the stick and let him walk in circles for a while, crushing your olives to get the oil out of them.




This was my personal favorite of the day. This is at the biblical gardens as well.

Well, I'm really tired because my body feels like I should have been asleep for the last 8 hours, but had to go to class and walk several miles instead. God is teaching me already that this trip is going to be all about relying on Him. He will give me the strength to get through.

Getting Acclimated

Israel is different... yes it is.

We arrived safely, and very jetlagged, on what was Sunday afternoon in Israel. Turns out our flight arrived in Tel Aviv an hour and a half early! Apparently we had a 150mph tail wind crossing the Atlantic. We were picked up at the airport by Bill Shlegel, Abner Chow, and Becky (Last name:???). They are the majority of the faculty here at IBEX. Bill will be my Land and Bible, and Modern Hebrew professor. Aber will teach the history of ancient Israel class I'm taking. They are all a blast and we're having tons of fun already.

My roommate's name is Jeremy and goes to Moody Bible in Chicago. I found out the hard way last night that he sometimes sleepwalks! We went to bed last night at about 10:20pm and and at around 10:55pm I woke up and he was sitting on the edge of my bed rubbing my head! I asked him what he was doing and he woke and was really embarrassed. It was really hilarious and we laughed about it this morning.

The food here is really different. There are lots of different kinds of breads and many different types of cheeses as well. There's a salad bar at the place at the moshav where we eat that has a lot of different types of mediteranian salads and dishes.

We had Orientation this morning and took a quick walk around the Moshav. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them loaded on to my computer.

The First Post

I guess I have to start somewhere... 

Two weeks from this moment I will be flying over the Atlantic ocean toward the country of Israel - the land in which the story of God's provision for our salvation was played out. I am extremely excited to have this opportunity to walk where Jesus walked and study in the land where the events of the Bible took place. This being the first time I have ever lived away from home, the emotions inside me, although excited, are not unmixed with a fear of the unknown. However, through these fears, I know that the same God that brought the children of Egypt through the Red Sea, that gave a shepherd boy the strength to slay a giant, and that raised Jesus from the dead is the same God that is protecting me and covering me with His mighty hand. 

      If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
          Even there Your hand shall lead me,And Your right hand shall hold me.

- Psalm 139:9-10