Out and About

Today started out as a little bit of a rerun. We had an 11 hour field study and as a group we went to the City of David (which I had already gone to on Tuesday of last week, and then the Old City (looking at New Testament Sites). But I did learn a couple of new things as we had a knowledgeable taking us this time. We saw a couple places where they have excavated portions of the wall that was in place when King David took the city from the Jebusites (2 Samuel 5:6-10) to include portions of the spring house that was built to protect the Gihon spring. We also got to see areas that they have uncovered during the repair and expansions of the wall that were done during the reign of Hezekiah.

In the afternoon we strolled through areas of the Old City that are relevant to the New Testament. We went to the Pool of Siloam (again for me), up to the base of the Temple Mount where they have been excavating portions of the old main street that was present during the times of Jesus (Second Temple Era). They have exposed the old Roman pavement stones where they have been crushed when the Temple was razed in 70 ad by the falling stairway stones.

There are also a lot of remains from Byzantine times of houses and shops along the Carda (roman term for main thoroughfare of a town). We then walked underneath the outer wall through a residential complex and out onto the Temple Mount Stairs.

This used to be the main entrance to the temple for the majority of people. All of the doors have been filled in, but the main mitzvah complex (public ritual washing baths)

outside the temple has been uncovered and you can still see where the gates to enter the temple compound where. There is a lot of fallen stones and structures that have been uncovered that are assumed to be when the Temple was destroyed by the Romans.

We then headed of to the pool of Bethesda,

This as many of you know is where Jesus healed the man disable for over thirty years that complained that he had no one to take him down into the water. The pool is very deep and there is really no stairs or area around the pool for lounging that has been uncovered, but they have a lot of area left to excavate. I am sure many of you are tired of reading me say how amazing the days have been, but I just don’t know how else to explain them. I mean most of our excursions are out to areas that I have read biblical stories about. These are place where Jesus walked and spent time; places where the presence of God came down and touched the earth. Sitting on the edge of the Bethesda pool and staring down into its depths and knowing that Jesus stood on these same stones and performed a miracle right there.

They even have a church that is supposedly placed over the house where Mary, Jesus’ mother, was born; it is the Church of St. Anne (which is the mother of Mary).

This was an incredible structure that was built by the crusaders, and had fantastic acoustics. We were led through a couple hymns and just listened to the echoes fill the whole church for several seconds after we had stopped. The construction was beautiful and interesting as the entire structure is perfectly symmetrical, but not (as Dr. Wright explained it) the building itself is symmetrical, but the interior structure the top detail of the columns around the base structure and many of the details are changed from side to side; the windows are even made different sizes throughout the structure.

It was explained that the crusaders built their churches in this manner intentionally to show that everything is different and has flaws and that no one should be afraid to come before God with all of their faults and imperfections. I thought that was an outstanding way to help people see their way into the truth. Come to god no matter how fallen or how far from God you feel, because no one is perfect and He will welcome you.