Jerusalem

Since we have been here in the beautiful land of Israel, I have had the great priviledge of going into Jerusalem on two different occasions. The first time we went we emphasized the Old Testament and the second time we went we studied the New Testament. In the Old Testament walk we got to see Hezekiah's wall that he built before Sennacherib came to attack Jerusalem. This was the time that the Lord miraculously rescued Jerusalem by sending an angel that killed 185,000 of Sennacherib's army. We then went and saw the city of David and the ruins of what is believed to be David's palace. The final stop of the day was to go through Hezekiah's tunnel. It was amazing to see the amount of stone that had to be moved in order for this project to be completed and it was all done with picks! Crazy! In our New Testament walk we went up onto the temple mount and then went and saw a street from the first century which Jesus would have walked on. We then went to the southern steps that led up to the temple where the Israelites would sing the psalms of ascent as they went up to the temple. This is also probably where Peter preached his sermon on the day of Pentecost. While we were there we read one of the Psalms of ascent, it was a very moving experience. We also went and saw ruins of a 1st century herodian house. We then went to the church of the Holy Sepulchre which is the site of the crucifixtion, burial and resurrection. It was absolutely incredible and indescribable how it felt to be standing in the spot where my savior spilt His blood for my sins. We ended the day by going to the garden tomb which is an alternate site for the crucifixion and tomb, but is definitely not the right spot. However, the tomb does not have a church built around it and therefore it was easier to get a picture of what golgotha would have looked like in the 1st century A.D.