Israel Blog #1: Jerusalem

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. . . Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. - 1 Kings 8:1,6

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once." - Matthew 21:1-3

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” - Acts 1:8

When we drove into Jerusalem, I couldn't help but thinking about all of the history that went along with the city.  It is a central location in the Biblical narrative.  Many battles had been fought there. It is a vital cog for Christians, Jews, and Muslims.  When I traveled through London in 2006, I thought it was awesome that I was looking at buildings from the 1500s.  In Jerusalem, there are buildings that absolutely blow that away in terms of history and antiquity.

Panoramic of Jerusalem.  The Old City is in the center.  The first neighborhood outside the Old City wall was built in 1860.  At one time Jerusalem was the city on a hill.  Now it is the city on many hills.

It was really cool to be in the place I'd read about my entire life, and to think that David, Solomon, and Jesus all walked in the places I was.  We walked the Via Delorosa, and while it is most likely not the exact path that Jesus walked, it impressed upon me the fact that the walk to Golgotha was continuously uphill as he suffered both physical pain, and the pain of knowing that He would take my sins (and the sins of many others) upon Himself.

Old City Wall, built in the early 16th Century

Amidst the beauty of this moment, it was a little disappointing that most of the Via Delorosa was lined with shops and sales people trying to sell goods.  It was a good economic strategy for the sales people to set up shop in a place where they knew many visitors would walk by, and I understand that they needed to make money to survive, but I just thought it was sobering that religious faith was being used for economic gain.  That was one thing that I saw throughout the week that made me sad.  In a country with robust Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religious culture, in many places the location of shops and what the shops sold made it seem that the purpose of religion in Israel was to make money.  While my impressions may not be accurate, I could understand why people in that environment would view Christianity this way, and dismiss it as another commercial exploitation.  So, awesome to walk where Jesus walked, but sad to see faith sold for a few shekels.


I enjoyed visiting the Western wall, and seeing the imposing figure of the Dome of the Rock was impressive as well.  Our guide Gil corrected the idea that the Western Wall was an actual wall of Second Temple.  It isn't.  The Western Wall is the closest that Jews can get to the location of the temple, and therefore, in their mindset, the closest that they can get to the Living God, who was housed in the temple.  That is why they go there to pray, because it is the best they can do.

Dome of the Rock and Western Wall on the Sabbath

Notice the similarities between the Dome of the Rock and the dome on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Perhaps I should not have been so ignorant on my history, but I didn't realize that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre existed.  It was built in the 300s AD by Constantine to commemorate the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.  The claim is that it is the actual site of Christ's death and burial, but regardless of whether that is true or not, it is a commemoration of that fact.  When the Dome of the Rock was built in the late 600s AD, the Muslims built it with a dome that is very similar to the dome on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, except that they built it out of gold.  This was a way to show that Islam was superior to Christianity.  The impressiveness factor worked, in my mind, because I know about the DOTR and relate it to current Jerusalem, but not much about the COTHS.


It was interesting to see this theme of Islamic superiority over other religions throughout my visit to the Old City.  Muslims don't destroy religious buildings when they take over territory, but they stick minarets right next to those buildings.  There is a minaret on the doorsteps of the church of the Holy Seplechre in the Christian Quarter of the Old City...

...and also one sitting outside the recently rebuilt Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter.

Hurva Synagogue

Both of those structures have a high level of significance to their respective religious groups.

I just found this to be fascinating.  I had never been in a culture that had a thriving Muslim presence.  Though I disagree with Islam, and believe they need the gospel of Jesus Christ, it was neat to hear the call to prayer rise up throughout the city.

I'll end on the note that I thought it was cool to see a bunch of Christian pilgrims along the way at the Via Delorosa.  It was really encouraging for me to see believers from all over the world gathering together to remember Christ's sacrifice for our benefit.