Day 8 - Our Intercessor

A man praying at the Western Wall

Our day started with a 05:45 wake-up call.  We were all on the bus and ready to go by 07:30 AM just like our guide, Hela, wanted.  She's a sweet lady with a ton of knowledge but slightly pushy.  I think all guides have to be a little annoying at times to stay on schedule around here.

We headed first to the Western Wall in the Old City.  The term Western Wall is used for the section traditionally used by Jews for prayer and it has also been called the "Wailing Wall", referring to the practice of Jews weeping at the site over the destruction of the Temples.  It is a section of the retaining wall originally erected as part of the expansion of the Second Jewish Temple by Herod the Great.

The Old City, or Old City of Jerusalem, is a 0.35 sq. mile area within Jerusalem that hold most of the key religious sites.   The Old City is roughly divided (going counterclockwise from the northeastern corner) into the Muslim Quarter, Christian Quarter, Armenian Quarter and Jewish Quarter. The Old City's monumental defensive walls and city gates were built in the years 1535-1542 by the Turkish sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and they are quite impressive.

When entering the Old City you must pass through security similar to an airport except in this case they are staffed by armed IDF soldiers.  Security is good.  You can bet even if you can't see them they can see you.

Honestly the Western Wall didn't do much for me.  I know the Jews believe that this is their most holy site for prayer because it is the closest to the former Second Temple. (destroyed by the Romans).  I think that is sad.

I thank God that I don't need a wall for access to the throne of grace.  I don't have to trust in the high priest interceding for me on the annual Day of Atonement.  Jesus is my great high priest and He continually intercedes for me.

Praise God from who all blessings flow

Praise him all creatures here below

Praise him above ye heavenly hosts

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

We also went into the rabbinical tunnels that run underneath and mostly parallel to the Western Wall.

Unfinished blocks being cut out of the stone

Tunnel running next to the Western Wall.
The Western Stone is top, right.

 They were really neat and it was quite interesting to see how much has been buried underground through the years.  Fortunately there weren't too many people down there.  Our guide told us that not all tour groups get approval to go into the tunnels.  There is an approval process where she provides our names and passport numbers to the authorities before we are cleared to enter.  Again, some good behind the scenes security.

The ancient people were very good at working with and moving rock.  Hela showed us one block of stone in the Western Wall that was around 45 feet long, 9 feet high, and weighs approx. 570 tons.  It is known as the Western Stone.

View from the Mount of Olives

After the tunnel we headed back to the bus and headed up to the Mount of Olives.  The Mount of Olives is east of the Old City.  Between the Old City and the Mount of Olives is the Kidron Valley.  Until 1967 the Mount of Olives was part of Jordan and has very narrow streets.  Our bus driver, Amir, is amazing and did a great job getting us there.  He is a great communicator with the two bus horns.

It was really busy on the Mount of Olives.  We took a quick group photo and then headed to a little alcove to read scripture.  It was an amazing location with a view over the Temple Mount and the rest of Jerusalem.  As a photographer I would love to be there at sunrise.

Panoramic view from the Mount of Olives

Teardrop Church is behind the trees.  We gathered near the
blue shirts.

We slowly made our way down the hillside and stopped at the location traditionally thought to be where Jesus wept over Jerusalem.  Hela read the passage in Luke Ch. 19 and then Reggie asked Mark Harris to read the Gethsemane passage from Mark Ch. 14 and then prayed.  Kim and I were asked to sing something so we did the doxology as quoted earlier.  Afterward, Hela asked for Find Us Faithful again.  In case I haven't mentioned it I've already sung it twice for her.  I'll cut her a little slack though.  It's her favorite song and she even got permission to use some of the words in the chorus as a quote in a book she wrote.

We moved into the nearby Teardrop Church, Dominus Flevit (which translates from Latin as "The Lord Wept", fashioned in the shape of a teardrop to symbolize the tears of Christ.) and very soon we had it almost to ourselves.  As Gethsemane doesn't have any place to gather as a group and since we had just read the scripture, we elected to sing the Gethsemane Hymn here.  The church is also known for great acoustics.  Yes, it has great acoustics.  It was amazing.  The song just seemed to build.  I heard that several people came in and watched as well.  What an appropriate song.

To see the King of heaven fall

In anguish to His knees

The Light and Hope of all the world

Now overwhelmed with grief

What nameless horrors must He see

To cry out in the garden

Oh take this cup away from Me

Yet not My will but Yours

Yet not My will but Yours.

The view from the church

We continued on down the Mount of Olives (that sounds surreal) to the Garden of Gethsemane, home

2,000 yr old trees in the Garden of Gethsemane

of the oldest known trees (olive trees) in the world according to National Geographic (and our guide, maybe we need a fact checker for these guides).  I'm surprised there isn't a church built around it as well, but not yet.  There IS a church right next to it though, the Church of All Nations, also known as the Church or Basilica of the Agony.  It enshrines a section of bedrock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest.

Outside the Basilica of the Agony

Inside the Basilica of the Agony

From here we got on the bus and went to lunch.

After lunch we headed over to Bethlehem, just over 4 miles from Jerusalem.  However, it's in the West Bank under Palestinian control so Hela could not go with us because she is Jewish and they are forbidden.  Our bus driver took us through the security checkpoint and then we met our Palestinian guide on the other side.

Bethlehem is very commercialized and also full of tourists.  There was a cruise ship group there

The Church of the Angels

today, somewhere around 17 buses of people so we did a little shopping in an olive wood store first.  After 30 minutes or so there our guide told us that the queue was still very long at the birthplace of Jesus so we headed over to the shepherd's field.  There's nothing particularly sacred about the site per se, but it does have some Byzantine ruins, the Church of  the Angels, and a good view of the hills and distant Jerusalem.  Did the shepherds hear the Good News here?  Maybe, maybe not, but it's possible and anyway the location would've been very similar.

View near the Church of the Angels.  Jerusalem can be seen in the distance.

More scripture was read in the church and then we were supposed to sing Emmanual (Hallowed Manger Ground).  However,  I forgot to bring the backpack with words and I got a bunch of blank stares when I asked how many knew the song so instead we sang the first verse of O Come, O Come Emmanuel.  More great acoustics.  The minor key sounded great.  We had the small church to ourselves so it was another great moment of worship.  Unsure of video.  Haven't found any yet.

We finally headed to the Church of the Nativity and found that our timing was good.  The line into the small cave or grotto where many

Heading down into the grotto

people believe Jesus to have been born was short.  Our guide was very helpful in getting us time in the small grotto and also was able to get us a small space in the side of the cave to sing.  Fresh out of songs we sang Joy To The World and it was awesome.  We sang it loud and clear and rejoiced that He rules the world with truth and grace.

And it was really hot down there.  Too many people, not enough air.

Greek Orthodox part of the church

We walked back to the bus and rode back to the hotel where Hela met us and gave our marching orders for tomorrow morning, a mirror image of today's start.

I need a vacation.

Randy