Day 10 – Monday, September 19: City of David, Southern Excavations, Western Wall, Jewish Quarter, Free Time
Today was another full day in Jerusalem. It included a mix of both Old and New Testament connections. It also included a lot of fun (Hezekiah’s Tunnel, Pool of Siloam, free time). The sun was once again predictably bright, with temps in the 80s. We read from Psalm 48 as we left the hotel at 7:30 a.m.
City of David
We drove down through the Hinnom Valley to the City of David excavations just south of the Old City. We saw the excavations where Dr. John dug for over four weeks in 1982. We saw remnants of city walls and houses in “Area G.” We then walked through Warren’s Shaft all the way down to the Gihon Spring. Here, some walked through the “wet” Hezekiah’s Tunnel (1,710 feet long) while others took the “dry” Canaanite tunnel. Both groups converged at the Pool of Siloam where we read John 9 in dramatic fashion. 🙂
“We did a lot of walking today and saw a lot of archaeology that connected to so much from both the Old and New Testaments. Jerusalem is abundant with ruins from various periods. We also literally walked in the footsteps of Jesus today, on the stone Herodian pavement and the southern steps leading into the Temple! Indescribable!”
Southern Wall Excavations/Western Wall
From here some in the group climbed up through the Drainage Channel (underneath a pavement probably completed by Pilate in 30 AD) to the SW corner of the Temple Mount (Robinson’s Arch) while others bussed to this spot. Here we saw Herodian pavement and massive stones. Jesus walked on this pavement! On the southern end of the Temple, we sat on the very steps used by Jesus and others as well (Luke 2, John 2, Luke 18, Mark 13, etc…). The Acts 2 Day of Pentecost most likely took place in the area of the Temple too. We considered that we now are the temple empowered by God’s Spirit (2 Corinthians 3). Leaving this area we walked to the Western Wall. This is the most holy place for Jews today. The wall served as a retaining wall that supported Herod’s expanded Temple platform on top.
Free Time
We walked to the Jewish Quarter for lunch on our own. We then enjoyed meeting and listening to Moshe, an Orthodox Jew who owns (with his brother Dov) a biblical shop called Shorashim. We then had a few hours on our own to explore the Old City. Some went up on the Temple Mount while others enjoyed the “spice guy” in the Muslim Quarter. At 4:45 p.m. we walked out of Zion’s Gate where David picked us up and drove us back to the hotel for dinner and a free evening.
Day 11 – Tuesday, September 20: Yad Vashem, Israel Museum, Garden Tomb, Farewell Dinner, Flight Home (for those not doing the Turkey extension)
