Good morning, Jerusalem! It is always good to wake up in the Holy City! However, I must begin with last night. As noted, we entered Jerusalem just after the beginning of Shabbat (sundown on Fridays). That means at least two things: 1.) it’s going to take forever getting to our 7th floor rooms, and 2.) there is likely a Jewish celebration of some sort going on somewhere!

First, let’s address why it takes so long to get to higher floors at kosher hotels during Shabbat. Jewish law prohibits work on the Sabbath (Shabbat) and apparently punching buttons in the elevator constitutes work. Therefore, Israeli hotels (particularly in Jerusalem) switch their elevators to automatically stop on every floor so that no work will be done! Unfortunately, for those of us on the 7th floor it’s too many floors to schlepp luggage! But, some of us eventually discovered a service elevator and took it! Understanding and patience with orthodox Judaism is a must if you want to keep your sanity (and your Chrisitan witness)!

Secondly, there was indeed a celebration going on in the dining hall! We arrived to laughter, singing and kids playing all over the place! “What could this be!?!” How about a Jewish wedding celebration! (Not the wedding itself, but part of the 7-day celebration that takes place following orthodox Jewish weddings.) Thus, we crashed the party, at their invitation, and joined in the singing of two jubilant Jewish songs: Hava Nagila (which we danced to on the boat on the Sea of Galilee) and Shalom Aleichem (a Jewish greeting, put to music). It’s all part of engaging the culture, and that’s of high value on our tours!

So, after a joyous evening, we retired for the night and woke up to more rain this morning (Saturday). Not to be deterred, we put on our rain gear and off we went! First stop: the Mount of Olives.

There is nowhere on earth like the Mount of Olives! Sitting directly across the Kidron Valley from Temple Mount, there are dozens of Scriptural references to the Mount of Olives. Here are some notables: David went there to mourn Absalom’s treason, Jesus met with His disciples there, from there Jesus wept over unbelieving Jerusalem, Jesus came riding a donkey from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, Judas betrayed Jesus at Gethsemane (part of the Mount of Olives), and Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives and will one day step foot there again when He returns!

And there we were…standing on the very mount where so many significant events occurred and will occur in the future. There is truly nothing like being on sights described in Scripture! (It was also great to share a devotional at one of my most favorite spots in Israel!)

From our perch atop the Mount of Olives we got a fantastic view of Temple Mount and the City of David. Then, we began our journey back down the hill to Dominus Flevit, the place commemorating Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem. As we walked down the hill, rain began to fall and we scrambled into rain gear. Don’t have any? No problem! There are plenty of street vendors who just happened to have umbrellas and rain ponchos to sell!

After a time at Dominus Flevit, we made our way over to the Garden of Gethsemane. Keep in mind that we are in Israel at a time of virtually no tours, leaving us to maneuver around only very small crowds at places that are usually jam packed! That was the case at the Garden of Gethsemane. In fact, we stopped in a normally crowded walkway to hear Yoyakim share about this special place.

Here is Yoyakim’s brief teaching at the Garden of Gethsemane:

Today was Shabbat and though many of us would view Sunday as the traditional “church day,” Messianic congregations in Israel often meet on Saturday. Why? Because Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat) is Friday evening to Saturday evening and Sunday is a workday! So, we joined our Messianic brothers and sisters at a placed called House of Salvation. We worked our way into the last 3 rows of seats in a sizable room, and they ended up bringing in more seats behind us. They packed the place and it was so good to see.

Worship was in Hebrew, though both Hebrew and English words, along with Hebrew transliteration, appeared on the screen. One of the most precious things to do is to worship in Hebrew, so this was a slice of heaven for many of us. After worship, the pastor taught in Hebrew, which was translated into English. Live translation is difficult and those guys did it wonderfully! It wasn’t kosher to take pictures during service, so shots were limited. However, I did sneak a picture of a young boy in front of us, sitting on the floor, drawing a picture. So sweet!

God gave me a special blessing at lunch when I was able to connect with my good friend Aly and her husband, Theo. Aly has guided other tours I’ve led and I have been fortunate to spend time in Theo and Aly’s home. Very good friends in Israel!

Hey gang, I’m out of time. I’ll finish the wrap up of today soon, so check back in with us…and thanks for following!