We started off the morning by going to the Mount of Olives. Bound's dad dropped us off in the car and we agreed to meet after a few hours. As we were walking up to the viewpoint, Bound said that I was different than most of the other people who come to visit. I asked, "How's that?" "Well, for example, you don't react the same way, because some things aren't new for you. Like, I'm sure you've seen a camel before." I thought, "that's an odd example, since we haven't even talked about camels." I look up and saw a camel. Haha, oh! That's what caused her to think about a camel.
I have seen camels before, and have ridden them twice. That doesn't mean that I don't get a little giddy when I see one, though. They are one of my favorite animals and make me laugh at their weirdness. This guy was the only one I saw on this particular trip.
We got to the lookout point and stared out across the Kidron Valley to the city. Just think about it: Jesus would climb this same hill and look at those same city walls! Sure, the gold Dome of the Rock wasn't there, but those walls were! The Temple was, and it was supposedly a site to see. I suppose I always think about the land seeming like a village in Jesus' time, and that He didn't have skylines of a city to look at, the way we do now. But He did!
Do you see those steps leading up to the wall (sort of in the center, below the dome of the mosque)? Those were the steps that led up to the Temple, and were the steps of ascent that the Jewish would climb, citing Psalms 120-134 while climbing up. Jesus walked up those steps. I know that I wandered all over the city and walked many places that He surely would have walked, but there's something special about those steps to me. How many people who loved God and His Word and hid His Word in their hearts quoted it as they walked up those steps? Did Jesus, while climbing them, quote Psalm 121, "I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made the heaven and earth"? Did He look over to His right at the Mount of Olives while climbing those steps, and is that how it became such a special place to Him?
On the left side of the wall in this photo, you can see two arches. That is the Beautiful Gate, and many believe that when the Messiah comes, He will come through that Gate.
Many want to be buried in this cemetery on the Mount of Olives. I suppose they believe they would be the first to be resurrected on the Day.
I saw this symbol on the side of a car, and Bound explained that it's the symbol of the Office of Tourism for Dixie. It comes from Numbers 13:23, "And they...cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them..." I found it a little interesting that they chose the moment in their history when the majority of the people doubted God and for it, were punished with 40 years in the desert before being able to enter the Land. Not the crumbling of the walls of Jericho, not David slaying the giant, not the Ark of the Covenant or the Temple, but the moment of disbelief. Bound pointed out that the symbol shows two people, and we know that two did believe in that moment. I never thought about that maybe the two who carried the fruit were Joshua and Caleb. For how could you carry that weight and not believe in God's goodness and promise and power to deliver?
Bound pointed out this church roof before we began to walk down towards it. She pointed out how the corners of it look like jars that represent the verse Psalm 56:8, that says God collects our tears in His bottle. The dome is shaped to look like a teardrop, because tradition says it is (or is near) the spot where the Lord wept over the city of J-town. It is called Dominus Flevit, which is Latin for "The Lord Wept."
I'd already been noticing the prominence of the idea of tears in J-town. At the Garden Tomb gift shop, they sell a print with the Psalm 56:8. At a Jewish artist's shop, a man sells a necklace with tear drops dangling from it, with a card that has that verse written and a note that says, "No tear shed is in vain. G-d counts every one." At the Western Wall, sometimes called the Wailing Wall, people often cry during their prayers.
The mosaic floor in the church depicts grapes of promise...and tears of reality. Even Jesus wept in this city. He who IS the promise, who is the Manna from heaven, the Milk and Honey, shed tears. Surely He gets it when we do too.
On the alter in the church is this gorgeous mosaic of a hen, taken from the verse in Luke 13:34, "O J-town, J-town...How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings...!"
This beautiful window above the alter gave me one of my favorite photos from the entire trip.
Maybe you have heard that the only way to go to J-town is UP, because it's built on a hill/mount? That's certainly true. I have joked since my trip that there is only ONE direction in J-town, and it's always UP. It never seemed like we would go down, except...when we were walking down from the Mount of Olives. It was insanely steep, and so I'm glad that Bound's dad dropped us off so that we only had to go down it!
We went to the Garden of Gethsemane, and the church that is built at that spot. It was really special, and will get it's own blog post to come later. Here's a photo that Bound took of me walking out of the Church of All Nations (the church at Gethsemane).
View of the Beautiful Gate from the Garden of Gethsemane.
The J-town Cross, on a door at the Garden of Gethsemane.
Walking across the Kidron Valley back over to the Old City.
I thought this was so cool. Street signs that say Jericho Road, street signs in three languages (all with different scripts!), gates and mosques and old stones and one absolutely gorgeous day.
Those of you who have followed this blog for awhile and know me well know that I love the story of Joshua, the battle of Jericho, Rahab, and the significance of Gilgal (near Jericho). If I ever get the chance to return to Dixie, it's one of the places I'd like to go...and maybe I'll take this very road!
Headed back into the Old City through the Lions Gate...
We headed to the Pools of Bethesda, the site where Jesus healed the man who had been crippled for 38 blooming years (John 5:1-18, "blooming" added by Bound). There are several layers of history here...
Can you see how tall the buildings were? And obviously, even with our gorgeous weather (I took my coat off several times), the snow that remained from the storm...
I didn't take a picture of it, but there is another church there, called St. Anne's, that has really good acoustics. Bound and I sang a few Christmas carols together there. (She's bolder than I am and just started belting out Silent Night, and I eventually worked up the courage to sing with her.)
A bit more of wandering around the Old City as we worked our way to our meeting spot with Bound's parents...
We were headed over to a Palestinian village, where we knew we'd be fed a large meal. But still, I was famished from all the walking, and knew that I needed to eat something to tide me over until then. We stopped at a frozen yogurt place, which seemed perfect. The menu offered a yogurt with pumpkin seeds, carrots, date honey, cucumber, and other more vegetably things that I thought sounded interesting. I ordered it and the man asked what I wanted in it. When I asked for the pumpkin seeds, he said, "I don't have pumpkin seeds. You can have fruit..." and pointed to the options at the topping bar. No vegetables, only fruit. I laughed in my head as to why they listed something on the menu that they didn't carry at all.
I was given the choice of cow, sheep, or goat yogurt. I chose cow. And it was more like really thick milk than yogurt. I did still get date honey...
After a pleasant drive, we arrived at the house of the family we were going to visit. Look at their gorgeous view!!!
Our delicious lunch, part 1 of 27...
Part 2 of 27... I didn't take any other food photos, but there was so.much.food. SO.MUCH.FOOD. And all so delicious!!!
The husband built a fire for us outside and we sat around it for the rest of our visit, which was so lovely. I do love a good fire!!!
Arab families normally serve mint tea. I've been drinking it since my days in the UAE, 7 years ago! In fact, I don't recall them ever serving any other kind of tea...ever. But on this night, they brought out our tea, and it was sage tea. They said they serve mint tea in the summer, and sage tea in the winter. It was so interesting! I can't wait to tell my friends in France about it to see if they've ever done that.
While we having our tea, we heard some bells and cheering and well, a ruckus. It kept getting louder, and closer. All of a sudden, Santa Claus came! This group was going around handing out candy! Haha. That was twice that something happened in Palestine that I just didn't expect at all and thought, "Well, I never..." (The other was the blaring of Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is you while I was in Bethlehem.)
This is a terrible photo, but I took it at night through a window of a moving car. Those empty military vehicles are left over from 1948, when Dixie fought to take J-town. A reminder of the modern country's history and struggle that still continues. Oh...we had an interesting thing happen on the way home, but it's not the sort of thing that I can blog about. If you're interested in hearing the story, call me on Skype and I'll tell you about it...
Lastly, we came home late in the evening and ate the best hummus I've ever had in my life. And I've had a lot of hummus in my life. This was the best ever.
5 comments:
Yeah, that was a scary moment, convincing myself to start singing. But it was worth it! ;O)
So, do they drink sage tea over there?
I don't know, I haven't asked yet. I've been a hermit since returning to France. As soon as I see some friends, I'll ask and let you know! :)
wow. incredible and fascinating. I'm kinda glad I'm reading these late, so I get the updated versions. :-) I love the symbolism throughout the city! the clashes between modern and ancient are pretty weird...I think I imagine that everyone over there still lives in the first century. why do they cry at the Western Wall? does it stand for something specific?
I want the story on Skype!
notpoems, You can ask Bound your question directly, she'll probably give a better answer than me. My thoughts? I think they cry because (1) they want the Temple and it's glory--their way of meeting/pleasing God--to return, (2) there is something special about that place that invokes tears (I cried), (3) if you believe that it's the closest place you can get for God to hear your prayers and you're giving Him the deepest part of your heart in that place, it's pretty easy to cry...
That's just what I think.
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