Journey Day 5: Herodium, Tent of Nations and Israeli Museum

Are you ready to celebrate Christmas with us!?!?!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day here in the Jerusalem area.   Temps were in the low 80's with a beautiful cool breeze all day.   A very drastic change from the 110 degree hike yesterday to say the least.    A few of us in the group, myself included, were experiencing some heat sickness late last night and weren't feeling 100% today, so a beautiful day and change of pace was awesome.

Here was the run-down for today....

Our first stop was at what they call the Herodium.   This was another palace and stronghold that Herod the Great built just outside of Jerusalem.   It helps to know the background that Herod would have wanted to upstage any 'messiah' that was to come,  and so this stronghold was massive and magnificent.    But....the absolutely amazing part of this stop was reading the Christmas story.

You will see in the pictures below a couple of panorama pictures that show the hillside and skies around this place.  These hills would be where the angels showed up with their war cry to the birth of Jesus, and many believe the Herodium itself was where the 3 Magi would have stopped on their way to visit Jesus.   It is hard to put into words, and the picture won't do it justice to imagine the sky in this area filled with the multitude of heavenly hosts.

Our second stop was at 'Tent of Nations'.   This is a ministry in Palestine that was started by a Palestinian Christian family who has been persecuted and taken advantage of by the Israeli defensive forces and government, and yet this response has been 'choosing the other way' that Jesus offers.  No hate, no leaving, no whining - just loving and finding a way to make the best of the worst and channel anger and hurt into a positive outcome - what a great reminder for all of us in our lives!  We had a quick tour of the farm/hill area and had some time for lunch and fellowship.

Our final stop of the day was to the Israeli Museum.   Below you will see several pictures of the 3D model that has been created of Jerusalem.   It was so powerful and meaningful to see what the city would have looked like in the time of Jesus.   Daniel was able to point out such helpful information on the walls, on where the high and mighty would have lived, where many of Jesus events would have occurred.   We then had a chance to view a museum for the Dead Sea Scrolls and historical Israel artifacts, etc.   Very cool.  Gave us a great understanding of what we are experiencing.  I don't have a ton of pictures of the scrolls or artifacts.

So - join us in seeing and envisioning just how powerful of a moment Christ's birth was!

HERODIUM:

These are the type of shenanigans that gone on during a tour.  Bob Cleveringa and A.J. have a 'plank contest' - and Bob won.

Here is the hill that the Herdoium was on top of.  About the top 50 feet is what Herod 'added' to the hill to outdo nature.   Then 25-30 foot walls would have gone up from there.   See below...

Again - massive, magnificent and impressive.  My words of Herod - I was he didn't have to be such a jerk, because really did build some pretty cool things.

The hills leading to Bethlehem.  They would have been filled with shepherds the night of Jesus birth.  THIS is where they would have showed up....how cool.

And this is the skies over Bethlehem.  Imagine them with them, filled with the heavenly hosts!  Daniel put it in such a powerful way.  These aren't our 'wimpy angels' we like to envision - these are angels prepared for war.  Armed with swords, giving the war cry of 'Glory to God in the Highest!'  They knew they have come to welcome the start of God's final war over sin and death - amen!

And then we walked through tunnels inside the mound...

and we went lower....

and lower...

A huge cistern that was built to sustain water and life itself inside the palace.

And this was found just a few years ago - it is were Herod was buried.   It would have been an amazing tomb.

And this was his swimming pool - way down at the bottom of the hill.

TENT OF NATIONS:

Fig tree leaf.  Don't think Adam and Eve would have had to much covered when they used these - yikes!

A view of the hillside where they are now planting much of their trees and crops.

Grape trees

People Building Bridges - I like that life motto.

Daud (David) sharing with us about his families struggles and their committment to bring Jesus love in the midst of it.  (www.tentofnations.org) 

Mason introducing himself to Alaina - a very nice 16 year old girl from Italy.   Don't worry Chris and Rachel - he knew a long distance would never work. 

On the way to the museum, we had a chance to stop by on Olive Wood carving store in Bethlehem.  Olive Wood carving is one of the biggest industries in this area.

And this is the reality of how the Palestinians move around.  They show their pass.  Have to open their trunk and prove they aren't hiding anyone or anything.

And the wall that was literally built to 'keep people in'.

Another picture of the wall.

The guards as we passed through.

ISRAELI MUSEUM:

This is what the temple would have looked like in Jesus time.

A view of the entire city.   Looking to the North.

A view looking down from the Mount of Olives and Garden of Gethsemane.  We are looking west.

Pontius Pilates palace.  Where Jesus would have been tried and begun his journey to the cross.

Copy of the Dead Sea scroll of the book of Isaiah.

The scroll of Isaiah.

A picture of the boys....left to right (Brady, Bryce, Keith, Cory, Mason)

Tomorrow is David and Goliath as well as paying a visit to the Holocaust Museum.   It was be a powerful day filled with reliving the Bible stories with fresh eyes.   Can't wait!

As I mentioned, a few of us were battling some heat sickness today, so just keep praying us through.  Our hot desert days our behind us, and exploring the New Testament lie ahead of us.   Prayers for strength, focus, energy, soft hearts, and a continued joy to experience our faith in a powerful way!