Day 16 – Saturday, November 22: Eastern/Golden Gate, St. Anne’s Church/Pools of Bethesda, Israel Museum, Garden Tomb, Rampart Walk, Free time in Old City
Today was Shabbat and our last full day of the trip (and our third day in Jerusalem). It was a wonderful day once again, with perfect weather (sun and warm temps in the 70s). We have been blessed with great weather throughout the trip! We read from Psalm 48 as we left the hotel at 8:00 a.m.
Eastern Gate & St. Anne’s / Pool of Bethesda
We drove once around around the northern part of the Old City. Before we entered the Old City, we walked to the Eastern Gate (also called Golden Gate). This gate has been closed since 810 AD. Ezekiel 44 mentions a gate on this eastern side.
From here we walked through the St. Stephen’s Gate (also called the Lion’s and Jericho Gate) and went to the St. Anne’s Church. This is a Crusader Church that is known for it’s 7-8 second echo. We enjoyed singing a number of songs together, sounding like a heavenly choir again! How incredible our worship was! On the same grounds is the Pool of Bethesda. We read John 5 while overlooking the actual steps of this double-pool.
Israel Museum
Just a short distance away (still in Western Jerusalem) is the Israel Museum. First, we saw 1:50 scale model of 2nd Temple Jerusalem. This is what Jerusalem looked like prior to 70 AD. Next, we walked briefly through the Shrine of the Book (where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls are displayed). We saw a few examples of scrolls. Lastly, we walked to the archaeological wing of the museum to see some of the “highlight artifacts” related to the Bible. We saw such artifacts such as the Dan Inscription, the silver amulet inscribed with the earliest name of “Yahweh,” The Pilate Inscription, Herod’s coffin, and the famous 1900 year-old “pie plate.” “HA
“Today was our last full day of the trip. We spent the entire day in Jerusalem, starting and ending in the Old City. It was an amazing trip in every way! We learn so much and had life-changing experiences! Praise be to God!”
Rampart Walk
We returned to the Old City once again. We were dropped off at the Jaffa Gate. Here, we accessed the entrance to the Rampart Walls for our walk around part of the Old City on top of the walls. These walls date to the Turkish/Ottoman Period, being built by Suleiman the Great (1520-1566) between 1537-1544 AD. The view from high on these walls was quite interesting! We walked from the area of the Jaffa Gate past the Zion’s Gate on the south side of the Old City. We exited the ramparts within the Jewish Quarter before walking to the Christian Quarter.
Christian Quarter / Old City
Before we walked back through Jaffa Gate to get our bus back to the hotel, we enjoyed some free time in the Christian Quarter. It was quite empty with tourists.
We arrived back at the hotel for some rest time before dinner at 6:30. Because of Lufthansa canceling one of the regularly-scheduled morning flight, 10 in the group left the hotel at 9 p.m. for an earlier flight. Others in the group will head to the airport at 2:15 a.m. for their 6 a.m. flight.
Day 17 – Sunday, November 23: Flight Back Home
