Day One

It is hard to believe that it has been three days since I arrived here in Israel. Amidst all of the security threats from the US perspective, the land of Israel is extremely safe. The Israeli police and military are a strong presence.

Modern Jerusalem is a multicultural land with peoples of many different nationalities and faith. The city comes alive in the evening as the heat of the day disappears. There are many things to do and see here.

I arrived at 6:30 PM on June 15th at the Jaffa Gate of the Old City. After unpacking and grabbing a slice of pizza at one of the old shops in the old city. Nathan Smith took me on a short tour of what he had already discovered in the Old City before we went and sat outside the city gate and enjoyed the cool breeze coming from the West.

June 16th as our first day of our three week course on the History and Geography of Israel. Our section of the course started with a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem. Our first stop was on the foundation of a tower from the Hasmonian Period (between OT and NT). Behind us was the existing wall of the old city dating back to Ottoman Turkish Period. It was there I began to realize how much history was literally stacked upon itself. Jerusalem has experienced several destructions in her history and in AD 70 the Romans literally destroyed major portions of Jerusalem in order to suppress the rebellion of the Jews.

Our next stop was the Jaffa Gate, the only gate entering into the western side of the old city. It is here that I was impressed with the design and positioning of the gate for defensive purposes. The huge size of the gate doors could be shut in order to hold off invaders. Above the gate on the city wall the defenders had easy access to throw, drop or pour hot oil on the invaders as they attempted to break down the gate. Everything about the city wall was about defending and protecting the city of Jerusalem.

From the Jaffa Gate we proceeded to the Greek Orthodox Church where James the Great, half brother of Jesus served and from whence he became the first Bishop of Jerusalem. James is buried at this church near the location of Herod the Great's palace just inside the Jaffa Gate and along the western wall of the Old City.

We retraced our steps and took a walk along the ramparts of the city wall. We again started at the Jaffa Gate and went north up the wall. From this vantage point you could easily see the Hinnon Valley to the west of the city wall running north and south. The valley walls today are lined with houses and the valley floor has been turned into a amphitheater for public events. In the NT time period the valley was not inhabited and history speculates that this is where trash was burned and the area always smelled. It has been named Gehenna (Hell). You would never get that idea today. In fact, when I arrived yesterday, I wouldn't have known that this was the Hinnon Valley because of the development that I observed.

Our walk along the city wall brought us around the Christian quarter of the city and then along the north side past the New Gate. We then stopped at the Damascus gate which is inside the Muslim Quarter of the city. From this vantage point we could see the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque on the Temple Mount. I could only image what the site looked like in Solomon's time and then in Jesus' day. The Temple would have been easily seen as people came to Jerusalem from the north, east or South. What a site for Jews coming to Jerusalem for Passover or one of the festivals.

I was deeply moved by the thought that Israel had been given so much and yet today the Muslims occupy the Temple Mount and refer to it as the third most Holy Place in the Islam. God has granted us as believer and followers of Jesus much. What are we doing to guarantee that our faith impacts the next generation. Will Christians in the decades to come still follow hard after Jesus or will be continue to surrender our blessing in order to live for ourselves. Will Christianity become like OT Israel? What are you doing today to guarantee your impact for Christ in the next generation?