Skip to main content

Day 8 in Israel: City of David, Pool of Siloam, and

Today was one of the hottest in Israel since we've been here but it was also our shortest,turning out to still be a good day. We visited the City of David, Hezekiah's Tunnel/Pool of Siloam, the Davidson Center and Bet-Guvrin-Maresha to participate in an archeological dig.

Some of the remains of King David's palace
We started the day off going to the City of David which is an Israeli national park and excavation site where Jerusalem sat during the time of King David. We were able to see the newly excavated structure which many believe to be King David's palace. Then we entered Hezekiah's tunnel, which was constructed by King Hezekiah to provide water for the city of Jerusalem prior to war against the Assyrians. This was a walk in complete darkness (except for our flashlights), in almost knee deep water through a tunnel that was not very high or very wide. Yet despite all that, it was a really fun experience for those who braved the waters of the tunnel. 

Walking through Hezeiah's tunnel

The Pool of Siloam
When we exited the tunnel we came out to the Pool of Siloam, where the man was healed of his blindness by Jesus in John 9. This was my devotion to lead and it was a spiritually high moment for me to speak about this story in the very place where Jesus healed someone. After, we went to the Davidson center which is a place near the Temple Mount that has excavations revealing the Jewish road that Jesus walked on, the benches the temple money collectors sat on (and later had their tables turned over) and the southern steps that Jesus and others would have used to enter the Temple as well as where Peter preached on Pentecost when 3,000 were saved. 

 
Southern steps from 1st century

Our group digging for artifacts
Then we had lunch which consisted of pizza from Dominos which tastes about like the Dominos in the USA. Then we made the 45 minute drive out to Maresha to participate in an ongoing archeological dig. This is in the area where Solomon's son Rehoboam established city-forts to protect Jerusalem, Bethlehem etc. from invasions. Here our team was able to go down into caves left by the inhabitants and dig and sift through the dirt to see what we found. Some of the objects found were pieces of pottery, building stones, bones, oil lamps and many other things. We were all really tired and weren't too crazy about going to this before but after, we all were really glad we did because we had a really great time.

Sifting through what we had dug out

Hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day in Israel. We will begin the day by visiting Herod's tomb, then the Israel History Museum, before going to the Garden tomb (similar to that which Jesus would have been buried in) to celebrate communion together before driving to Tel-Aviv for our flight back to the US. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FBC Monroe Students Head North, eh! (Day 1)

Today our team of 8 high school students and 3 adult chaperones from First Baptist, Monroe departed for a week of serving alongside residents of Chateauguay, Quebec Canada. We have been looking forward to this experience for quite awhile. For all of the students, it is their first experience with an international missonal encounter, heck for three quarters of our team, it was their first time flying.             Our trip began with multiple headaches at the Charlotte airport, as there was difficulty with obtaining boarding passes through the airline, and misdirection from security about which “check-in” line we were authorized to enter. Then when we got to Philadelphia for our connecting flight, it ended up being delayed by 2.5 hours. All of the irritations aside, it provided time for our team to gel in light of the unique experiences, and give us a good “first day’ story.             We made it to Burlington, VT where we picked up our rental vehicles for the week and began the 90-
3 comments
Read more

Boy Scouts of America & the SBC: My Adolescent Pillars

The annual Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) finished up last night in Houston, TX and one of the major news stories coming out of the convention is the resolution passed regarding the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) [read full resolution and press release by Baptist Press here ]. Essentially, the resolution expresses the disappointment by the denomination in both the leadership and decision made by the national Scouting board in regards to allowing all boys to participate in the organization despite their sexual orientation. What it does not do is tell churches to dissolve their relationships with BSA troops/packs (because then they would cease to be Baptist, you know the whole local church autonomy thing is KIND of a big part of the Baptist denomination), but instead encourages them to funnel support into the Royal Ambassadors (the SBC equivalent of an organization to the BSA). For those of you who may not know, I am an Eagle Scout, and a proud one at that. My family and I were a part
3 comments
Read more

Mount of Beatitudes & Golan Heights: Day 1 in Israel

Today begin our official visiting of sites and locations around Israel. We started the day with a delicious breakfast before boarding our bus at 8 AM to head to our first stop, the Mount of Beatitudes. This is the site traditionally believed to be the location where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). The site currently has a Catholic church on it surrounded by beautiful gardens and places of reflection, that are run by a group of nuns. When we arrived, the group gathered and was led in a time of devotion by Nathan Morton, a CUDS student and pastor of Burgaw Baptist Church in Burgaw, NC. It was a wonderful reminder of what it means to be the salt and light of the earth, as Nathan read this memorable passage on the very site it is traditionally believed to have been delivered by Jesus.  Nathan sharing from Matt 5 on Mount of Beatitudes Church at Beatitudes Me with the Mount of Beatitudes and the Sea of Galilee in the backgrou
2 comments
Read more