· Morning:
§ If you take this option then
you would join the rest of the group at the Israel Museum and would not go to
Yad Vashem.
(There were none who took this option.)
o
Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial).
This is of course a very heavy-hearted “tourist” site. We allowed 2 hours which is never enough to
see it all but is more than enough to get the point.
o
Israel Museum. We all did the
two stops below. One of our couples
chose to stay here for the rest of the afternoon and go through parts of the vast
collection of special items from across Israel.
§ Model of 1st
Century Jerusalem. I have seen this
several times and must say that it is still a high point for me. And it was for the rest of our little group
as well. The father who, many years ago,
made this in honor of his son who died in the war of independence, did
something quite amazing. He was Jewish
and the Jews should appreciate this.
Being Jerusalem in the 2nd Temple time it is of great value
for Christians as well.
§ Shrine of the Book. Having stopped at Qumron for the basic
presentation on the finding of the Dead Sea scrolls, this was like the
culmination. We were able to see two
video presentations on the story behind these scrolls. It is one of the most profound events for
hundreds of years (I don’t want to diminish the work of Wycliff and Huss and
others) in terms of the faithfulness of God in making His word/words available
to mankind.
· Afternoon: Six of us had
lunch at Mahane Yehuda, the “Shook”, the open market. We ate at the “Fish and Zips” place. Generous portions of lightly breaded fish
with chips (fries) or salad. Then we
returned to the Old City through Jaffa Gate and hustled our way down to the Wall
area.
o
City of David
o
Journey into the Past (Virtual Reality of the 2nd Temple)
o
Tunnels tour: 5:20/6:00 PM appointment
Here is another interesting part of our time around the Wall. The tour takes you along the longest section
of the western retaining wall for the Temple Mount. The tour is quite interesting in explaining
how it was all built as well as the significance of the area to Jews.
Being still stuffed (should I admit that?) from the late lunch we skipped dinner. Instead, when we returned to the neighborhood of our hotels we hit the supermarket for fruit and the ice cream store for 2 scoops of your favorite. 😊 Sitting in the area of Ben Yehuda Street (a walking-only street with places to eat, shops, etc.) is a great opportunity for people-watching. Very busy place this time of year.
The Ezekiel 39 passage is important in terms of God’s faithfulness. Jerusalem and Israel are not today the holy city and nation they will be someday. There is still the “time of Jacob’s trouble” to come. It’s hard to imagine there will be a time to come that is as difficult as was the holocaust. But without question, God will fulfill His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Without question because He ALWAYS fulfills His word. And then all the world will know that the LORD is God. All the world will know that God was not finished with Israel; He was only purifying them.
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