Approaching Jerusalem...

This past Thursday we went on a field trip around the city of Jerusalem, but not in it. The idea was to see all of the different ways there to get to the city from other parts of Israel. We called it the Jerusalem approaches field trip because we studied all the approaches to Jerusalem. I have posted some pictures of our trip in a flash slide show instead of individually. The slide show runs through the pictures pretty fast so you might have to pause and flip through them manually if you want to view them for longer. And hit the little words bubble button on the slide show and the captions for the photos will toggle on and off.

After every one of our field trip, we are required to write a 1 page summary of what we did on the trip. Here is the paper that I wrote for this field trip. Sorry if it's a little bit long (sometimes you have to go 11pt font, single spaced, .9inch margins and it's STILL a page a and a half!). Hope it's not TOO boring!

One last thing... I reformatted blog by making it a little bit wider. Let me know if it works or if does weird things when you try to view it.



Beginning our Jerusalem approaches field study by stopping at the site of Bethphage. This is the most probable site where Jesus was taken up into the glory cloud after his death, crucifixion, and resurrection. It was here that the disciples asked Him about when He would restore the kingdom to Israel. His response was that they didn’t need to know about the times of the kingdom, but they would be clothed with power – the Holy Spirit – and would be his witnesses all the way to the uttermost parts of the earth! After his ascension, two angels appeared to the disciples and told them that Jesus would return (Luke 24, Acts 1). Also associated with Bethphage is Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He began in Bethany and headed toward Jerusalem. As soon as he crested the Mount of Olives and caught sight of Jerusalem He began to weep for the city. He wept because the city rejected its long awaited Messiah and would soon be destroyed (Luke 19).

From Bethphage we could look over the modern wall separating the west bank from the rest of Israel and see the town of Bethany. Bethany was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. It was the town in which Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead after remaining in Transjordan “too long” and allowing Lazarus to die. We then find out from Jesus that this was allowed to happen so that God would be glorified (John 11).

After Bethphage we continued to the Mount of Olives and caught site of the Old City from the east. We saw the Kidron valley between us and Jerusalem and we also saw the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. We learned that the reason Judas sought Jesus in the garden was because the religious leaders needed to capture Jesus while he was alone and away from the crowds. If they had arrested Jesus in sight of the crowds, it would have incited a riot. Instead they proceeded with the trials at night so that nobody would know anything about it until it was too late.

From the Mount of Olives we continued on to the Hinnom Valley on the west side of Jerusalem. We stood on a bridge over the valley and were almost literally standing with one foot in Benjamin and one in Judah! On the ‘shoulder of the Hinnom’ we saw the remains of a tomb in which the oldest extant copy of any portion of Scripture was found – a silver amulet from the 6th century BC with a portion of the priestly benediction from Numbers 6 inscribed on it.

From the ‘Shoulder of Hinnom’ we continued on to Bethlehem. In Bethlehem, we read the story of the census going out from Caesar Augustus that all the world needed to be taxed. We learned that the ‘inn’ that Joseph and Mary were rejected from was not an inn in the sense that we think of it, but more likely a guestroom for visitors from out of town. We also went to a field just outside of Bethlehem and read the story of the Shepherds to whom the birth of the newborn king was announced. After hearing the chorus of angels singing praises to God Most High, the shepherds went to Bethlehem to visit the newborn king. The angels only left the shepherd a couple of clues on how to find the newborn king, so they probably had to ask around town for awhile before finding the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Luke 2).

From Bethlehem we continued on to the desert fortress of Herod the great called Herodian. This was a fortress built by Herod the Great to keep and eye on the Judean desert and the ascent of Ziz. It is also the final resting place of this man who was considered to be the “king of the Jews.” My favorite part of the day was the irony of singing praises to the real King of the Jews – Jesus the Messiah – in the cisterns under the palace of the earthly “king of the Jews” – Herod the Great.

From Herodian we traveled to a field outside the village of Tekoa – hometown of the prophet Amos. Here we learned about Amos’ message to the people of Israel – turn to the Lord and live. We also learned that Amos’ use of references to nature is very consistent with him having been a shepherd and having lived outdoors for much of his life. We also learned about the attack the Ammonites, Edomites, and Moabites mounted against King Jehoshaphat. When King Jehoshaphat learned of the impending threat against the land, he inquired of the Lord and was told that this battle was God’s battle. Following in the instructions of the Lord, Jehoshaphat went to the ascent of Ziz (the ancient road from En Gedi to Tekoa) the next day with the singers at the front of the Army! He was fully trusting that God would fight this battle. When they reached the other armies, they saw the victory of the Lord because God had caused Israel’s enemies to turn against each other and destroy each other. All the Israelites had to do was collect the plunder, a task that took them 3 days to complete (2 Chronicles 20)!

The final stop on our trip was the valley of Rephaim. It was this valley that the Philistines used on one occasion to mount an attack on Jerusalem. David found out about the plans of the Philistines and inquired of the Lord about what he should do. The Lord told David to go around and cut them off from behind. When David obeyed the Lord and cut off their way of escape, the Philistines went up through the central Benjamin plateau and retreated down the Beth Horon Ridge route (2 Samuel 5)!