Day 8, The Temple Mount, Lazarus, Mt of Olives, and NO PHOTO

Day 8. 

Okay, this blog may be a bit off. I'm writing it 2 days later and my original draft is gone. Not sure what happened. So if my memory is fuzzy, well, you'll know, cause I'll say. 

So the morning begins with a bus ride through the city of Jerusalem. I sit near the back. Why? Because it's the fun area of the bus. Of course it's all fun, but really fun back there! We arrive at the Temple Mount to prepare to head to the top.

This is the side we entered, on the left wall (by the Western Wall). Now some brief history so you understand what you'll look at (I've been around Deeb our guide a lot so I talk like him). The first temple was built by Solomon WAY back. It was built on Mt Moriah, the place where Abraham bound Isaac for sacrifice until God was sure he was faithful. It stood till 597 BC when the Babylonians defeated Israel and destroyed the temple. This is when the Ark of the Covenant was lost until the 1930s when Indiana Jones rescued it from the Nazis, har de har har. Anyway, it was later rebuilt by Herod the Great. That maniac? Why? Because he was trying to make nice to the Hebrews who hated him so. Of course he taxed the wazoo out of them to fund it, but there you go. Now the Mount is like a giant platform, way above the city, rebuilt over the ruins of Solomon's temple. There the temple itself was built on top of it. Here what it looked like in the 1st century, thanks to a beautiful giant model at the museum.

Well the Jews rebelled against their Roman rulers (as Herod served as a puppet leader) in 66 AD, lost horribly, and in revenge the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 AD. The giant landing area, the Mount, is what remains. That's where we went.

1st you wait in line, a long LONG line to climb to the top.

Boring! It's all about security here. Israel is very sensitive about the religious sites, not wanting anyone to get riled up over it. So no religious icons or stuff up there. Keep your WWJD shirts at home kids. Now one more history note; remember the Muslims took Jerusalem later on. They hold Jerusalem as their 3rd holiest site, as this is where Muhammad ascended into heaven according to their tradition (and they also follow the Old Testament if you're confused, so the Abraham connection is meaningful to them too). So when they were present here except for the Crusader invasion they built a large mosque and the Dome of the Rock (where Muhammad ascended). As we climb the ramp to the top we see this;

This thing has even survived an earthquake, built in 637 AD. Behind us were Muslim women sitting together reading and studying the Koran. I love their devotion.

Now if you want to enter the Dome for worship you have to take a ritual bath, which is here;

Only Muslim worshipers can enter the Dome now, thanks to Ariel Sharon's ill-timed visit 10 years ago. But here it is up close;

It's absolutely beautiful. So we can't go in anymore. NO PHOTO. I did catch some worshipers going in and snapped a very discrete picture.

And then we saw some idiots behind us roll out a giant We Love Jesus banner (for a photo I think). Security whisked them away FAST. Number one rule while in the Holy Land; Don't be an idiot.

After this Rev James Howell took off, so we naturally chase him because he's basically a walking Wikipedia of the Holy Land. On the northwest side of the Mount are stairs headed down to a lower section of the Mount. At the bottom step is a curious step, slightly out of line and different material.

Evidence suggests based on this and dating, this is likely belonging to SOLOMON'S TEMPLE! Guys, NOTHING has been found of the 1st temple, zero! This is beyond awesome, almost 3000 years old of the temple to Yahweh! So stepping on it was truly an humbling experience (and those are my feet).

After that we left the Mount via the Lion's Gate, also the traditional spot where St Stephen was stoned to death. See the lions?

We left the Temple Mount afterward and rode up to Bethany. This is the hometown of the beloved Mary & Martha and Lazarus. It's here we find Lazarus' Tomb, way up the hill to the city. Climbing hills again. Mountain top experiences are common here by design. The tomb is next to a Franciscan church built on the ruins of a Byzantine one, which had direct access to the tomb.

Well a mosque cut it off, so a side entrance has been made.

Burial in those days went like this; the body would be prepared with spices and dressings and laid in the tomb for 2 years. After that the bones would be collected in a small box called an ossuary. So here's the tomb;

And here I come out, like Lazarus would have, though he may have been confused and not smiling; 

After visiting the church we rode up to the Mount of Olives. This is where you find Gethsemenie, where Jesus prayed as he steeled himself for the Passion to come. It's still here, filled with olive trees, some over a thousand years old (but they have no rings so we can't date them).

Beside it is the church of Dominus Flevit; translated Jesus Wept. It's new and beautiful inside.

At the altar is the Stone of Agony, the traditional stone where Jesus prayed.

After a time of reflection and prayer we left the church to walk up the hill (up and down the city goes, all the time) to the corner of the Temple Mount. There is was time for lunch. I had a giant sesame bread with Zatar (which I affectionately call the "green stuff"). Cheapest lunch, and with a Coke it's bloody good.

Oh by the way, it was freaking cold and rainy all day with a strong wind. That sucked. So we then took to a small museum nearby to show us how Jews back in the day would prepare themselves to worship at the 2nd Temple (Herod's building). After that we went to the front steps of the Temple Mount!

Here a Jew would come to the temple first by cleaning;

And then enter through the Golden Gate which was bricked over by the Muslims way back when.

In Jesus's time he would come and teach on these steps when he came to Jerusalem, just like we are sitting while James and Deeb teach us. See the city behind them? The temple looked out over everything. 

  

We spent some time there and then returned to the Western Wall (a return for a few of us like me). Now this is where the Jews were allowed to come and pray after the destruction of the 2nd Temple. It's holy and sacred and so sad. The prayers here are beautifully lifted. Now to come men and women are separated, and men must cover their heads (my hat worked fine). No pictures here guys, sorry. 

After that, free time in the Old City! Lots of crap from China at always 50% off. And it's still cold and wet. So my small group find a Turkish coffee shop and run into Rev James Howell and his crew who had the same idea! A hot drink on a day like this is grace indeed.

After that we walked and shopped for 3 hours. It's a great workout! Here's a couple of images;

One street vs another, and later in the day I must add. We then return to the hotel, exhausted, but I have one more thing to enjoy after supper, the Israeli museum! So 13 of us board a bus and I have a lovely ticket that reminds me of a church raffle.

This is my ticket to the museum? Really? Uy. So we drive off with a total of 57 (other groups come) and we're stuck in traffic. Uy! It's police checkpoints, definitely more police and miltary out lately, nerves over the peace talks with John Kerry. So we get there to see the Dead Sea Scrolls!!! And then the museum lady says, no photography. NO PHOTO. UY!!!! 

We were allowed to photograph the giant model of 1st century Jerusalem, which I took many for context. 

So I saw the Dead Sea Scrolls; so amazing. I saw a large piece of Isaiah, written in the 1st century BC. Before these were found in the 1940s, the next oldest Hebrew text was from the 10th century AD. That's a 1000 years folks! I get why they hold them with such reverence, as do I. I should add the no photo staff lady told us about the no photo crap just before we went into the Dead Sea Scroll display, so I got this.

Take what you can get people....the Dead Sea Scrolls are at the end of this hall.

We return to the hotel, and something hits me, perhaps hits most of us. This is our last night in the Holy Land (we board the plane tomorrow). So most of us stay up and go out on the town to celebrate till late. I made new friends this night, and I had the chance to reacquainte with old ones. It's rare for pastors to spend any time together like this, in the Holy Land or anywhere, so that was a wonderful gift. 

(This made the blog late, and then my phone deleted my work, FYI). One more day tomorrow, and writing this now (with that day already done) I can't wait to share it with you! Till then take care and God Bless!