Day Eight in Israel

3/27/08


This morning we went to the Temple Mount. What an amazing experience. It was very hard for me to see the Dome of the Rock and a mosque up there instead of the temple. At the same time, I was challenged by the fact that the Jewish people rejected Jesus Christ too. My heart was overwhelmed with burden for their salvation (both the Jews and the Muslims). A member of our group was told to stop touching his wife while we were there (I think he had his hands on her shoulders). Another young woman (not in our group) was asked to put on a sweater because her shirt was a little too short.


The architecture of the Dome was quite ornate and detailed. The architects for these buildings were Christians. All of the columns around the buildings were shipped in from old churches. Interesting, huh?

We saw places to wash (face, hands and feet). And there were groups of women and girls gathered to read from the Koran.


We left the Temple Mount and proceeded to the area of the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount. This was the main entrance to the Temple. These are the steps that Jesus walked upon when He visited the Temple. Do you know why the steps are staggered, one long, two short, one long, two short, etc.? It is to remind people that they are entering a holy place and it prevents them from running up the steps or rushing to “get it over with.”



There were many ritual baths around the Southern Steps, along with a market and money changer booths. The ritual baths gave them a chance to cleanse both symbolically and literally. The market provided the needed animals and supplies for the sacrifices. Remember, when people traveled to Jerusalem, they came from all over Israel. It was a long journey. The animals had to be without blemish in order to be acceptable sacrifices, so obviously they could not make the long trip. The money changers were there to “provide” the correct currency so the sojourners could make their purchases (most of them were crooked and took a large commission for their services).
Once they collected all of the necessary supplies and were ritually cleansed, the people would ascend the steps slowly and reverently through the gate on the left. Once they had completed their sacrifices and worship, they would exit through the right side. The only time it was reversed was if the person was in trouble, in mourning or unclean. This was not to ridicule the person, but rather a sign for the people to pity the person and intercede on his/her behalf.


To encourage themselves along during the journey to the Temple, the people would sing the Psalms of Ascents (Psalm 120-134, because they were going “up” the mountain to Jerusalem). If you take a close look at this section of the Psalms, you will notice that these are unique because they lead a person through the process of preparing his heart for worship. (Our tour guide sang one of these Psalms to us while we were in St. Anne’s Church. It was magnificent.) Also, they traveled in large groups with everyone in their family (parents, siblings, spouses, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins). So, for Mary and Joseph to not notice that Jesus was missing from the group (Luke 2:41-51) was not an example of bad parenting. Rather it was a reflection of the culture of family that is so important to Jews.


After lunch (pizza again!), we went to the beginning of the Via Dolorosa and traveled it. We began at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5). The ruins were quite beautiful, but my favorite spot was inside St. Anne’s Church. The acoustics in that place were amazing. It was such a worshipful atmosphere. We sang “I Love You Lord” while we sat in the pews. That song is so simple and so “old school” but it was perfect for that setting. We were magnificently assisted in lifting our voices to worship Him by the stones. It was a good preparation for our next site.


We went to the Antonia, the Roman fortress in Jerusalem. This is where Jesus was tortured according to the game Basileus.

In this game, the prisoner is made “king” for the time being, dressed in a robe, given a reed and gets a crown of thorns placed on his head (Matthew 27:27-31, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:1-5). The executioners make their way around the game board, with each move representing another act of torture for the prisoner. Once the game pieces make it to the sword, the time has come for the execution. Hannah led a devotion here, during which the call to prayer rang out again. Then we moved on to the next station. I can’t imagine how hard it would have been for Jesus to walk that narrow market street being strapped to a timber (the cross bar of the Cross), unable to protect Himself during the busiest time of the year (Passover). He had to have run into things and people. I’m sure that people took free shots at His exposed torso, especially since it was obvious that He was a prisoner headed to execution.


Once we arrived at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I was tired. Then as we walked in I was utterly disappointed in what I saw. I understand the importance of this place for some people. For me, I could not get past the ostentatious décor of the place. I heard someone say that Jesus might want us to melt all that gold and feed some hungry people with the money. I waited in line to crawl underneath an altar and stick my hand down a hole to touch a piece of rock. Granted, that rock is incredibly important to my faith. It is where my Savior paid the price for my sin. But I sure couldn’t see it! I only felt it, and only for a second before the line had to move on. Then we walked down the stairs to the place of Jesus’ tomb. We decided not to wait in the 2 hour line to peer through a little hole and see that IT IS EMPTY! We did, however, get to crawl around a typical first century tomb. I hope that I did not come across sarcastically through this description. I found myself incredibly frustrated by this part of the trip (I was warned of that possibility by others who had visited before). The point is that the tomb is empty because my Savior is risen from the dead! That’s all I need to know! Another piece of irony: as we were walking out of the Church, we saw Imams from India entering the site. Hmmm.


The Western Wall was in my top three of the places we visited. This is the location of the Wailing Wall. So, what is so special about the Western Wall? What’s wrong with the Southern Wall or the Eastern Wall? The answer lies in the orientation of the Temple on the Temple Mount. When the Temple was still standing, the Holy of Holies (where the Presence of the Lord rested on the Mercy Seat placed atop the Ark of the Covenant) was at the rear of the building. The High Priest entered from the East and moved West toward the Presence. So, the Western Wall is the closest that the people can come to the where the Ark rested. The Jewish people believe that the Presence of God has never left this place (a falsehood because It left when Jesus left the Temple for the last time). That is why this is such a holy place for them. The most orthodox Jews wash their hands before entering, being sure that their heads are covered, phylacteries tied on their foreheads and around their hands (Deuteronomy 6:8), prayer shawls over their shoulders. They approach the wall slowly and with reverence, praying the whole way. They rock their bodies back and forth in order to engage their whole being (all your heart, soul and strength - Deuteronomy 6:5). Once they have reached the wall, they usually cover their heads with their prayer shawls creating a prayer closet. When they have finished their prayers, they remove the shawl from their heads and slowly back away from the wall, not wanting to turn their backs on the Presence.




I felt like I needed to pray at the Wall, mostly to say that I had done it. Once I got there, I had tears in my eyes because I was so thankful that the Presence of Almighty God resides in me by way of His Holy Spirit living in me. (I’m crying as I type this.) I can spin around in circles and not turn my back on Him! His presence is mobile as long as I am mobile! As I placed my hand on the wall to pray, little balls of paper fell out of the cracks of the wall. I was amazed by the fact that I can boldly approach the throne of grace with confidence. Because my Jesus is interceding for me, I can present my requests to Him. How awesome is my God! How wonderful is my Jesus! How blessed am I!

Soccer: truly the international game!