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Pilgrimage to Israel
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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore

    The Garden Tomb

    15 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    John 19 records Christ's Burial and Resurrection. Verses 40 & 41 say " So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid."
    I love how Matthew in chapter 28 records Christ's Resurrection. Verses 5 & 6 say "The angel said to the women, Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying." The tomb is empty,! Hallelujah, My Savior lives!
    Many think the Garden Tomb could be the authentic site of Christ's burial and resurrection. Whether it is the actual site or not, it has become a garden where people come to reflect, not only on the death of our Savior but on His resurrection and God's gift of eternal life for those who believe.    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore

    The Lions' Gate

    15 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    While traveling to The Lions' Gate we passed outdoor food vendors and ARF (Arab Fried Chicken). The Lions' Gate or St Stephen’s Gate is an Old City of Jerusalem Wall entrance. In Jesus' time, the gate was called the Sheep Gate, because this was where sheep were brought to the Temple for sacrifice. The Lions' Gate is an entrance into the Muslim Quarter.Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore

    Pool of Bethesda

    15 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    The Pool of Bethesda is just inside of the Lions Gate. Large excavations exposed the pool. The Pool of Bethesda (which means house of mercy) is mentioned only in John 5:2 where the afflicted came for healing when the waters were troubled. Here Jesus healed the man who had been unable to walk for 38 years. John 5:2-9 says "Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked."Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    The church stands in a courtyard with trees, shrubs and flowers.Syrian Monks

    Church of Saint Anne

    15 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    The Church of St Anne is located next to the Pool of Bethesda. It was built by the Crusaders just before 1140 AD and is the best-preserved Crusader church in Jerusalem. It marks the traditional site of the home of Jesus’ maternal grandparents, Anne and Joachim, and the birthplace of the Virgin Mary. The Church of St Anne is renowned for its remarkable acoustics and reverberating echoes. The voices of even a small choral group can sound like a large congregation in a vast cathedral. We sang the Christian chorus Alleluia and it sounded like a choir of angels!Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore

    The Way of Suffering

    15 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    The Way of Suffering, (or the Via Dolorosa ), is the traditional route that Jesus walked from trial to crucifixion. The number of Stations and the events represented has varied from 7 to 18 or more. Of the present 14 Stations, 9 are based on Gospel accounts and 5 on tradition only. The path begins just inside Lions’ Gate in the Muslim Quarter and ends at the Holy Church of the Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter. Each station is marked by a black disc with Roman numerals.Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    Ecce Homo Arch over the Via Dolorosa, with the convent at right.

    First and Second Stations

    15 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    The first station marks Jesus' encounter with Pontius Pilate, the trial and his scourging. The Antonia Fortress was a vast Roman military garrison built by Herod the Great north of the Temple. Within the fortress is believed to have been the seat of Pontius Pilate and the hall of judgment. The Antonia Fortress may have been where Jesus stood trial before Pontius Pilate in John 18:28. "Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment". The Bible confirms that the Apostle Paul was at the Antonio Fortress. After Paul was seized by Jews from Asia while visiting the Temple, it was from the Antonia Fortress that soldiers ran to rescue him and prevent a riot. And it was on the steps leading to the fortress that Paul addressed the crowd and avoided being flogged by announcing that he was a Roman citizen in Acts 21.
    Where the former fortress stood is now the Ecce Homo Convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Zion and houses the Convent of the Sister of Notre Dame de Sion. Underneath the convent, is an extensive area of Roman stone paving where Pilate may have had his judgment seat. In John 19:13 the pavement (Lithostrotos in Greek, Gabbatha in Aramaic) was identified as the location where Jesus was condemned by Pilate. Markings in the paving stones, indicating a dice game known as the King’s Game, suggests this may have been where Jesus was mocked by the soldiers (John 19:2-3).
    Adjacent to the convent is the Ecce Homo Arch. The arch continues through the wall of the convent chapel to the right. It is named after the famous phrase “Behold the Man” in Latin which Pilate said when he presented the scourged Jesus, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd. (John 19:5). The arch was built after Jesus stood before Pilate but draws one’s attention to the cruelty Jesus endured.
    Across the street is the second station where Jesus received the cross (John 19:17, 19).    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    The Immovable LadderStone monument that is claimed to cover Christ's tomb

    Church of the Holy Sepulcher

    15 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    The last five Stations of the Via Dolorosa are situated inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The church contains, according to traditions dating back to at least the fourth century, the two holiest sites in Christianity: the site where Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, at a place known as Calvary or Golgotha, and Jesus's empty tomb, where he is said to have been buried and resurrected. This church has become a shrine, almost to the point of idol worship. Inside, there is a bewildering conglomeration of 30-plus chapels and worship spaces. These are encrusted with the devotional ornamentation of several Christian rites. The main denominations sharing property over parts of the church are the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Armenian Apostolic, and to a lesser degree the Coptic Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, and Ethiopian Orthodox.
    The history of the churches fighting among themselves for ownership includes fistfights and disputes over who owns the strip of the plaza below the first step up to the entrance of the church. The Immovable Ladder, the small ladder below the top-right window at the church entrance, has remained in the same position since 1854 after a disagreement on who could move it. Of all the Christian holy places, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is probably the most difficult for me to come to terms with. The true meaning of Christ's sacrifice has been turned into a ritualistic and materialistic shrine. The definition of materialistic is one who is focused on objects, ownership and wealth and that summarizes how it felt to me.    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    In lieu of flowers, small rocks are placed on the graves to mark when someone has visited the graveOver 150,000 above ground Jewish graves are located on the slope of the Mount of OlivesOssuariesView of the Temple Mount as seen across the Kidron Valley from Mount of Olives

    Mount of Olives

    15 maggio 2019, Israele ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet is a mountain ridge across the Kidron Valley from the Old City of Jerusalem. It was on this mount where He wept over Jerusalem. “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it.” (Luke 19:41). During Christ Jesus' final post-resurrection appearance, the disciples witnessed His ascension to heaven from the Mount of Olives. Immediately following Jesus’ ascension, two angels told the disciples on the Mount of Olives that “this same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). According to the prophet Zechariah, Jesus will return not only in the same way but to the same place. In a prophecy related to the end times, Zechariah declares, “On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south” (Zechariah 14:4).
    For 3,000 years, the Mount of Olives has served as the burial site for the Jewish people. During the 1950s and 1960s, Muslim residents uprooted tombstones, plowed the land and used the gravestone markers for construction. To this very day, the Jewish cemetery is regularly robbed, vandalized and desecrated by Muslims. Mourners are frequently assaulted during funeral processions.
    Ossuaries, or bone boxes, were extremely popular among the Jewish population during the Second Temple period and Jesus' time. Families would typically bury people in a linen shroud, and once the flesh had rotted away, the bones would be collected and placed in a limestone box.    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore

    The Golden Gate

    15 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    The Golden Gate, also known as the Gate of Mercy and Beautiful Gate, is in the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount. The gate we see today was built on top of what many believe is the original Eastern Gate. After a rainy night in April 1969, an American archaeologist student James Fleming came to study the Golden Gate. He was walking near the gate when the ground beneath him opened up and he fell into a large hole. He stated he found himself standing amidst the bones of 30 to 40 human skeletons thrown together in a mass burial. Before leaving he looked around and saw the top of an old arch, which he believed was connected to an old gate that existed in that location before the Golden Gate was built. After this discovery, the Muslims covered the chamber, cemented over the top, and surrounded the mass grave with a protective iron fence to prevent further excavation.
    In Ezekiel 43:4, Ezekiel prophecies about Jesus' 2nd coming and return to the temple mount: "The glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east.". The Golden gate was walled up by its Muslim conquerors (the Ottoman Turks) in 1530 AD. Many believe this was done to prevent the entrance of the Jewish Messiah through that gate when He returns. The Muslims also put a Muslim cemetery in front of the gate, believing that no Jewish holy man would defile himself by walking through a Muslim cemetery. The Golden Gate is presently considered by the Muslims to be their exclusive property. It is sealed up and blocked off. However one day, the Messiah's feet will stand on the Mount of Olives and from there He will enter the Temple Mount. He will enter the Mount through the Eastern Gate, and nothing will stop His victorious entrance, not even a walled-up gate. However, there is much speculation as to whether the Eastern Gate is the present-day blocked Golden Gate, the gate underneath the present gate discovered by Flemming, or the gate not yet built. Only God knows and I am glad that God has all this figured out.    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    US Emblem

    The Church of All Nations

    15 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    The Church of All Nations, also known as the Church or Basilica of the Agony, is a Roman Catholic church located at the base of the Mount of Olives. It enshrines a section of bedrock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest (Mark 14:32-42). The church was built between 1919 and 1924 using funds donated from many different countries. The coat-of-arms of twelve of the countries from which donations originated are incorporated into the ceiling, each in a separate, small dome, and also into the interior mosaics.Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    Road to Gethsemane
    1000+ year old olive treeOlive Tree Blooms

    Garden of Gethsemane

    15 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    The Garden of Gethsemane, which means oil press in Hebrew, is located alongside the Church of All Nations. This garden is where Jesus went with his disciples to pray the night before he was crucified. Jesus prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." in Luke 22:42. The road to Gethsemane is the same path Jesus may have taken on Palm Sunday. The olive trees throughout Israel produce real olives, unlike Russian Olive Trees in the US.Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    A spiral staircase leads down to entrance to the water system.Warren's Shaft

    Water System

    16 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    We visited the subterranean water system of Hezekiah's Tunnel, the Canaanite Tunnel, and Warren’s Shaft. To get to the water system, we took a spiral metal staircase down under the City of David. The Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley was the major water source of Jerusalem for over 1,000 years and the tunnels were used to divert the water into the Old City. King Hezekiah’s workmen dug the tunnel named after him in the 7th century BC to bring water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam inside the city. This was in preparation for an impending siege by the Assyrians. It is a dark and winding tunnel, with water thigh-high in places. Adjacent to Hezekiah's Tunnel is the Canaanite tunnel that provided a well-lit and dry path. I chose the latter!
    Warren's Shaft is a vertical shaft next to the Gihon Spring discovered in 1867 by British engineer and archaeologist, Sir Charles Warren.    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    View from City of David looking up to the Temple Mount wallsView from Beit Hatzofeh Lookout in the City of David looking south down the Kidron ValleyView from Beit Hatzofeh Lookout in the City of David

    City of David

    16 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    The City of David is located just outside the Old City Walls and southeast of the Dung Gate. It is the original Jerusalem, inhabited by the Jebusites and conquered by King David. The City of David was built over 3,000 years ago when King David left the city of Hevron for a small hilltop city known as Jerusalem. He established it as the unified capital of the tribes of Israel. The City of David is like a historically layered cake. Over the course of one hundred and fifty years of excavation, tens of thousands of archaeological finds have been found in the area of ​​the hill, thousands of years old, among them a seal from the end of the First Temple period. Limited excavations have been done and there is so much more to discover. But in Jerusalem, the contest over the city’s past is part of the war over its future and the excavations are inevitably mired in controversy.Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore

    Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

    16 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Israelis are obligated to join the IDF at the age of 18 after they complete high school. Men serve 3 years and women serve two. Service can be postponed if they continue their education in a profession accepted by the IDF such as medicine, electronics, computers, electricity, etc but they must serve extra years if they do this. The Druze, (a sect of Arab Muslims) also serve in the Israeli army and are loyal but Israeli Muslims and Christian Arabs are not obligated to serve.
    The purpose of the IDF is to preserve the State of Israel, to protect its independence, and to foil attempts by its enemies to disrupt the normal life within it.    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    Taking notes as fast as I can!

    Silwan

    16 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Silwan is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood located just outside of the southeast wall of the Old City. East Jerusalem including Silwan was annexed by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War. It is currently one of the hottest spots in the on-going war of words and violence between Palestinians and Israelis. Israelis believe more of the City of David lies below a neighborhood in Silwan which is home to some 5,000 Palestinians and 1000 Jewish settlers. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their future Palestinian state while Israeli’s contend all of Jerusalem is its capital and has belonged to them for thousands of years.
    Excavations are part of Israel’s campaign to strengthen their claim of East Jerusalem. Israeli tunnel excavations under Silwan in 2007 lead to the discovery of an ancient 2,000-year-old road. The road begins at the Shiloah Pool steps and travels to the Western Wall at Robinson’s Arch. The road has been named the “Pilgrimage Road,” and is likely the path Jesus and millions of Jewish pilgrims used to go up to the Temple. Excavations have also revealed evidence of David’s Palace and the City of David. Some Palestinians discredit all discoveries as lies. Just as some deny there was ever a Holocaust, Palestinians are trying to de-legitimize the Jews’ claim to all of Jerusalem and the land of Israel. Israeli’s say any future negotiation as to whether East Jerusalem could be the capital of a future Palestinian state would need to be based on the“archaeological truth” of the City of David.
    Jewish and Muslim homes can be easily distinguished. Jewish homes tend to be fortress-like buildings protected by high walls, fences, security cameras and in some cases by guards. The guards will chauffeur the families in armored vehicles. Some fly Israeli flags and display the star of David. Muslim homes use black water tanks on top of their homes.    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    In 2004 excavation found the steps leading down to the Siloam Pool

    The Pool of Shiloah (Siloam)

    16 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    The Pool of Siloam was a rock-cut pool on the southern slope of the City of David. Remains from the pool that King Hezekiah built in the First Temple period have yet to be found. However, in the summer of 2004 remains of a very large pool (covering three-quarters of an acre) from the Second Temple period was revealed. Nearby, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a stepped street, the path taken by pilgrims ascending from the pool to the Temple Mount.
    The Canaanite pool-the biblical Upper Pool
    The Canaanite city had a water system by which the Gihon Spring emptied into a large open basin at its source, before being conveyed along the eastern city walls by an aqueduct that opened at several spots towards the valley below, where the water irrigated agricultural fields. This basin is sometimes known as the Upper Pool (2 Kings 18:17, Isaiah 7:3)
    Hezekiah's Lower Pool
    The (Lower) Pool of Siloam was built during the reign of Hezekiah (715–687/6 BC), to leave besieging armies without access to the spring's waters. The pool was fed by the newly constructed Siloam tunnel. The old Canaanite tunnel had been very vulnerable to attackers, so, under threat from the Assyrian king Sennacherib, Hezekiah sealed up the old outlet of the Gihon Spring and the Upper Pool, and built the new underground Siloam tunnel in place of the older tunnel (2 Chronicles 32:2-4). During this period the Pool of Siloam was therefore sometimes known as the Lower Pool (Isaiah 22:9).    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    Picture depicting Muhammad's Night Journey from Mecca to the Temple Mount and then into heaven.

    The Museum of the History of Jerusalem

    16 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    The Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem is located in the medieval citadel known as the Tower of David, just inside the Old City of Jerusalem walls near the Jaffa Gate. The Museum presents Jerusalem’s story. It details the major events in its history beginning with the first evidence of a city in Jerusalem in the 20th century BC until the city became the capital of the State of Israel.Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    Jewish men wearing PhylacteriesApparently some still need instructions.

    The Jewish Quarter

    16 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    The Jewish Quarter is one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem.
    Some Jews still wear Phylacteries (little leather pouches containing short sections of the Law, bound on the forehead and on the left arm above the elbow because of this verse in Exodus 13:9 "And it shall serve a sign to you on your hand, and on your forehead, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore

    Jewish Words, Currency and Newspaper

    16 maggio 2019, Israele ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    Shalom (Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם ) is a Hebrew word meaning peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility and can be used as both hello and goodbye. In Arabic, it is pronounced Salom.
    Good Morning in Hebrew בוקר טוב is pronounced Bow-Care-Tov
    Thank you in Hebrew תודה is pronounced Toe-Dah
    Hebrew is written and read from right to left.
    One US Dollar is approximately equal to 3 Shekels.    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore
    Modern mural depicting Roman Cardo 2000 years ago. Notice the little boy with a baseball capRemains of the CardoSign at the Broad Wall remainsOn the corner of the building is the original height of the Broad Wall

    Roman Cardo and Broad Wall

    16 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    The Cardo was the main street in Ancient Roman cities, running from north to south and lined with a row of columns on each side. The Cardo of Jerusalem begins at the Damascus Gate in the north and crosses the city southwards until the area of the Zion Gate. Murals decorate modern walls giving a picture of what the Cardo may have looked like in the past.
    Nearby the Cardo in the Jewish quarter is the remains of the Broad Wall. The wall was built during Hezekiah’s expansion of the city. Jews from the northern tribes of Israel, who had been overrun by the Assyrians in 721 BC, migrated down to Judah and the city of Jerusalem for protection at this time. They settled outside the city walls to the west. To protect them and their residences Hezekiah fortified the western part of this newly expanded city around 721 BC with a wall. The uncovered remains of this wall are 23 feet wide and 213 feet long. The original wall is estimated to have been about 23 feet high. The remains of this wall were excavated in the 1970s.    Leggi altro

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  • Cathy PlumbPilgrimage to IsraelViaggiatore

    The Temple Institute - Third Temple prep

    16 maggio 2019, Palestina ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    The Temple Institute is in the Jewish Quarter. The institute's ultimate goal is to see Israel rebuild the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. They are still waiting for their Old Testament Messiah to come to earth and they reject that Jesus was the Messiah. No pictures were allowed to be taken inside the institute. As part of its ongoing effort to prepare for the future Temple, they have been preparing ritual objects suitable for Temple use. They say each object has been made as written in the Law of the Old Testament. Priests and the High Priest garments are made. Altar clay bricks have been made and built to the minimum size requirements. The altar can be dismantled and quickly moved to the temple where white plaster will be applied. A copper washbasin, copper utensils for meal and grain offerings and silver trumpets have already been made. They say they know where the ark of the covenant is hidden. They say Solomon created secret chambers to hide the ark from invaders. Fearing its capture by the invading Babylonians, King Josiah had it removed from the Holy of Holies, and hidden in a chamber deep beneath the Temple Mount. They will retrieve it when the third Temple is built. They didn't say anything about the third Temple being the dwelling place of God but called it a gathering place for all peoples.
    The Menorah is completed and displayed in the public square. It is made of real gold over a skeleton that is not gold. It weighs almost a ton and is n a bulletproof clear enclosure. God gave instructions for the first lampstand (or Menorah in Hebrew) in Exodus 25:31-33 “Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work; its cups, its bulbs, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. Six branches shall go out from its sides; three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side. Three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch, a bulb, and a flower, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bulb, and a flower—so for six branches going out from the lampstand.”
    The lampstand provided light for the priests to do their work since there were no windows in the wilderness tabernacle through which natural light could enter. The almond blossom-shaped cups were filled with olive oil, and wicks were inserted into the oil and lit to provide light. All day and all night, whether anyone was present or not, these seven lamps constantly lit up the glory of the Holy Place as a reminder that God's presence is always with His people.    Leggi altro

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