In the Land of Milk and Honey: Nov 7, 2007

Israel trip 2007

Irene, Olga and I (Anja) went to Israel on a 10 day trip in October/November 2007.

This blog was made a year later.

Between the three of us we made more than 2000 pictures.

We also have 6 hours of video.

Most of the pictures on this blog have been taken by us.

However, Joelle, Theresa, Robyn, Josh & Devon contributed a few as well (these have been noted).

Please, feel free to leave some comments.

We hope you will enjoy this blog as much as we enjoyed our trip.

Farewell

The bus took us to the airport late at night.

Our flight was supposed to be at 5 minutes to 1 am

However, we had a 5 hour delay and ended up spending lots of time at the airport.

Trudy and Joelle express their sorrow over us leaving.

They, and a few others, stayed a little longer.

Pool of Bethesda

The pool of Bethesda site is difficult to grasp.

There are so many different layers on top of each other.
There is evidence that there was already water here in the time of Isaiah.

Water ran from this site, in an open channel, to the Temple.

The Lord Jesus came here and healed a man who had been ill for 38 years.

The Romans built a cistern here

We took a peak into the old cistern

This man declared himself our guide.

When we were leaving he asked to be paid.

We walked to the Sheep Gate (now known as the Lion Gate or St. Stephen's Gate). The sheep destined for the Temple sacrifices would have come from this direction. Death comes from the North.

Via Dolorosa

In search of the Pool of Bethesda we met this young man. He is a Christian of Armenian descent, but living, and operating a shop with his family, in the Muslim quarter, on the Via Dolorosa.

They buy Icons and other expensive religious artwork from Russian immigrants. These immigrants can only take a small amount of cash with them, so they bring valuables, and sell them for money when they arrive in Israel. There are more than a million people in Israel with Russian ancestry

The wall of the shop used to be part of the Antonia Fortress in Roman times.

Roman first century glass for sale

The Young man took us to the first stop on the Via Dolorosa: the Franciscan monastery.

A "game board" has been found in the pavement here to play the "King game." In this game, one person was chosen to be the King. He got a scepter and a crown and a robe. They would then gamble for his money, his wife and his clothes. In the end, the "King" died. Soldiers used to play it with each other, and later with condemned prisoners.

From the monastery we could see the top of the Temple mount, with the Dome of the Rock, through a barred window. This is taken from the North side of the Temple Mount.

Walking from the monastery, we went down the Via Dolorosa again...

...to the second station of the cross: the flagellation.

The Antonia Fortress was big, so many of the buildings in this area are on top of it.

Temple stairs

The Temple stairs are not all the same size.

This is so that you can not run up to God.

We sat on the ancient stairs where the Yeshua used to go up.
We are looking at the hills.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?" (Psalm 121:1)

Ben read Psalm 121 and 122. These were the psalms that were sung as the pilgrims came up to Jerusalem.

It was very powerful to hear in this place.

We took a picture in front of the Hulda Gates that are cemented in.

Ritual Baths in front of the stairs.

Faith Lesson:

This is the most likely place for Pentecost. The bible says that the disciples "stayed continually at the temple, praising God" (Luke 24:53). They were in "the House" when Pentecost happened. The Temple is also called "the House." Where would you find enough water to immerse 3000 people?

It is interesting to note that on the day the law came down in the desert, with Moses, 3000 people lost their lives. At Pentecost, 3000 people were saved.

Archeological park

Our "Rabbi" Ben was teaching by walking us through Jerusalem

The end goal was the temple steps, and all our stops were leading up to them.

Next: Jerusalem Archaeological Park.

We started at the museum

A time line of historical periods from Canaanite to the modern state of Israel.

A map of Jerusalem with the gates and quarters

One of the reasons why there has been so much fighting in Israel:

It is on the crossroads, between Europe, Asia, and Africa

Outside, we went to see huge stones from the time of Herod the Great

This is the ancient attachment of Robinson's Arch

Robinson's Arch in the Jerusalem model

There is so much broken pottery left from the Roman period that they currently use it as filler in new pavement. The Roman occupation was very oppressive.

Up to the Temple

Waiting for the coming of the Messiah, a group of orthodox Jews is preparing by making Temple furniture.

They believe that, when everything is ready, the Messiah will come.

They made a golden menorah.
It is displayed in a glass case in the Cardo

Devon got to hold a part of the golden Menorah. He said it was very heavy.
This part holds the oil.

A breast plate for the high priest.
They made their own thread with biblical directions.

One of the most difficult things to make is the incense.
It consisted of 11 different spices, and no one knows the amounts.

Here you see the wash basin, on the left, and a Harp, in the middle.

Apparently King David's harp would sit in the windowsill at night and the wind would make music. This inspired his writing of Psalms.

The table for the bread looked very different. It had shelves and was not very wide.