After such a huge opening day in Jerusalem, what could possibly top it? Indeed, tracing Jesus’ footsteps to Calvary and the Tomb are huge, but Jerusalem is filled with other special treasures as well. And we aim to find them! Touring the Old City requires LOTS of walking and I think we squeezed every ounce of energy out of our guests today! Here is how we did it!
First stop: Western Wall, inside the Old City of Jerusalem. In my view, the most bittersweet place on earth is always a must see. Sweet because the Jewish people are some of the most zealous people on earth. Observant Jews long to see their Messiah and you can almost see the yearning when you’re at the Western Wall. Bitter because though they yearn so deeply, and are so very close to seeing the Messiah, as a whole, they still fail to see Him. We observed their passion today.
In recent years, with visitors at an all time low due to Covid then the war, places such as the City of David went to town unearthing new finds and renovating structures. The City of David remains one of my favorite spots to tour because there is so much being uncovered every day. Here are tidbits from the City of David:
A fun attraction at the City of David is Hezekiah’s water tunnel. We’ve got an adventurous group, so almost everyone traversed the ancient water source, with water to our knees! The Gihon Spring originated outside the walls of the City of David (ancient Jerusalem), so the source to transfer water to the inside was Hezekiah’s water tunnel. (An amazing engineering feat.)
Here are a few brief seconds of our water adventure…
Of course, we saw the City of David in full before walking the Pilgrim’s Road from the Pool of Siloam, where ancient pilgrims would have cleansed themselves before ascending the hill to Temple Mount. BTW – unless you have seen the Pool of Siloam in the last year or so, you would not recognize it. It is a huge pool now! Jesus Himself walked the Pigrim’s Road pathway many times from the Pool of Siloam, as that is where the common people cleansed in the ritual baths. What a glorious opportunity today to truly walk where Jesus walked, all the way up to the place of worship.
Pilgrim’s Road dumped us out back at the Davidson Center, near the southwestern corner of Temple Mount. Thus, we saw the latest reconstruction around that corner and at the Southern Steps.
For lunch, we headed into the Jewish quarter of the Old City. There we saw a group of what appeared to be 16 year old IDF soldiers! Of course, they are older than that, but they seem way too young to be carrying automatic weapons! (Can you imagine turning American teenagers loose with automatic weapons!?!)
Scenes in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City…
Because this is a second timers’ tour, we included many things not done on regular tours. One of those things was to see the Herodian mansions. King Herod was a tremendously wealthy man with tremendously wealthy friends! Seeing the sites, hearing the sound of children playing, and allowing my mind to carry me back to Jesus’ day made for a wonderful experience.
One place none of us have ever been is the newly opened Tower of David Museum, featuring the history of Jerusalem, including eras of Muslim rule and Jewish rule.
Israelis go to the polls on October 27, so election season is at a crescendo (as I’m sure it is in America). On the bus, on our way back to the hotel, we saw the advertisement below on the back of a city bus. I know President Trump has endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu. But let’s pray God guides and directs Israelis and Americans alike to vote for candidates who most closely align with Scripture! Also, please make a difference by voting.
This was our most insense physical day of the tour, as all of us who wear fitness trackers registered over 15,000 steps (a great percentage of those up and down stairs!) Hopefully tomorrow will be much easier as we will visit the Herzl Museum and Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Remembrance Museum). We’ll also travel to Hebron before returning to Jerusalem and making a photo stop at the US Embassy. Another interesting day, but I think we’re all ready for bed tonight. See you tomorrow!
