Today we docked at Ashdod, Israel to go by bus to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the largest city and the capital. The second largest city is Tel Aviv and Haifa is the third largest. In 1200BC the Philistines migrated from the Aegean because they couldn't obtain access into Egypt. They are considered the "mysterious sea people ". They called this land Palestine. Ashdod is the ancient city of the Philistine Confederation. They were always a powerful foe of King Saul and David. In fact, they never defeated the Philistines.
Israel is the bridge between Europe, Asia and Africa. Jerusalem is holy to the Jews, Christians and Muslims. The central focus for all 3 religions is Mount Moriah, the highest point. This is where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son to God. King David built an altar here. King Solomon built his Temple around the altar. When it came under Roman rule, King Herod made it his temple. The Romans annexed Judea and Jerusalem into the Roman Empire because they realized its importance. When the Roman Empire fell, the Ottomans took over the temple. This was where Mohammed ascended to heaven from Mount Moriah. They built a dome over the spot and it is called Dome of the Rock and is holy to the Muslims. There is only the west wall (main support wall) left from the original temple of Solomon and this is now in Jewish control. It is called the Wailing Wall where the Jews pray to God and leave pieces of paper on which their requests are written. Israel gained it's independence from Palestine in 1948 and for 63 years now the country is divided into an east bank and a west bank. In 1967 they had the 6 Days War when they regained the Wailing Wall from Palestine.
The walled city of Old Jerusalem was built on 7 hills and has 7 gates into its city. The Lions Gate is the gate Jesus passed through on Palm Sunday. This is the 1st station of the cross. The Mercy Gate (Golden) is never opened. Jerusalem is surrounded by 2 valleys; the Garden of Gethsemane is in one of them. The Desert of Judea goes to the Dead Sea which is 400 meters below sea level and has no outlet. The Negev Desert covers 30% of Israel. Lake Galilee is fresh water and the Jordan River flows out of Lake Galilee and into the Dead Sea. Everything from the Jordan River east is the East Bank and under Palestinian rule. The West Bank is under dispute, but now is under Israel's control. Israel has no natural resources. Oil is all around it, but not in their country. They receive 30 days of rain in the winter. It rains each day for 30 - 45 minutes.
The population of Israel is 8 million. All females from 18 - 20 years of age must serve in the military. All males from 18 - 21 years of age must serve in the military, then they must go into the reserves until they are 30. Israel's main industry is diamonds which they buy rough from Africa, cut, polish and set for sale. There are 3 languages spoken here: Arabic, Hebrew and English. Their currency is the shekel which goes back 2000 years. The city of Jerusalem is a city of layers. Whenever you dig somewhere, you always find something from the past. Today's sidewalks and streets are 20 - 30 feet higher than they were 2000 years ago. Jerusalem is a town that is more than 3000 years old. So the hill of Golgotha is below the street level and is actually inside a church; now called the church of the Holy Sepulcher. It has a large gray dome. This is also a country of contrasts between 3 different religions. All 3 religions call Jerusalem Holy, which leads to many conflicts. After seeing how close all these Holy places are to each other, we can understand why there is always conflict in this region. Judaism is 5078 years old; Christianity is 2000 years old, the Muslim religion is only since the 7th century AD. For the Jews this is where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son, Issac, where David built the altar to God and where King Solomon built his Temple which contained the 10 Commandments and the Arc of the Covenant. For the Muslims, this is Holy because Mohammed ascended up into heaven on a horse from on top of this same hill. They built the Dome of the Rock here covered in gold 500 years ago. They made sure their minaret is higher then either the Jewish or Christians churches. For the Christians this is where Jesus was raised, preached and was crucified. So it is their Holy place also. All 3 of these Holy places are all inside the walls of Jerusalem and in the same spot. Friday at 6PM is the start of the Jewish Holy Day, Shabatz, on Saturday. They are not allowed to work, cook, smoke, drive, etc. and must pray 3 times a day. The strict Orthodox Jews make up 20% of the population. The Muslims Holy Day is Friday and that is today. When we rode by a Muslim Temple there were military guards surrounding it. You can hear the Muslims being called to worship with a chant from a loud speaker on top of their minarets. They follow the Koran and must pray 5 times daily.
Via Dolorosa, the Sorrowful Way, is the winding road of Jesus' walk carrying the cross. It is also called the 14 stations of the cross. At the end of the walk is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Inside this church is the hill of Calvary, also called Golgotha. During the Roman Empire Hadrian destroyed it, rebuilt it as the Temple of Venus. Where Jesus' body was prepared for burial after His crucifixion is called The Stone of the Anointing. Hadrian placed the Temple of Adonis here. Jesus was placed in a tomb carved out of the hillside and a stone was rolled in front to cover it up. hat was typical of their burials 2000 years ago. There are no cemeteries inside the city because of diseases. The Garden of Gethsemane is in a valley and it is filled with olive trees. They have it cordoned off so you don't walk on it, but can see it perfectly. It looks exactly the way the picture in my Bible shows it with the trees and the big rocks. Olive trees can live 3000 to 4000 years; therefore some of the really old olive trees we saw were here when Jesus prayed the Lord's Prayer on Maundy Thursday and sweated tears of blood here. It is SO moving being here!!! Jesus' cross was made of olive wood and they sell many small crosses as momentoes of the cross and they are made out of olive wood also. It takes 7 years for the olive wood to dry enough to carve. There is that magic number 7 again.
Constantine's mother, Helen, was a Christian and found all of the places where Jesus was, identified them and built a church in the 4th century AD. The Church of All Nations, the Basilica of Agony is Roman Catholic. Every nation helped to built it. The altar has the stone from Gethsemane on which Jesus prayed. There are 3 mosaics inside: 1- Jesus with the apostles, 2- Jesus in Gethsemane, 3- Judas kissing Jesus. Jesus had holes in his hands and his feet, and a Roman soldier pierced his chest with a sword to be sure He was dead. Jerusalem has a special cross made of 5 crosses to represent the 5 wounds, the 5 nails and the 5 countries. On the back is written the word Jerusalem. This can only be bought in Jerusalem. This symbol was also the symbol of the 5 countries of the Crusades as they were trying Ta save all the Holy places from the Muslims.
There are 14 stations of the cross. The first is at the Lions Gate where Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The 5th station is the rock where Simon leaned against when. The 6th station is where Jesus fell 3 times carrying the cross. it is now inside the Church of Holy Veronica. He was crucified outside of the city and a crucifixtion typically lasts 6- 7 hours. There are 4 stations inside the Holy Sepulcher church which has been rebuilt several times. Jesus lost 1 drop of blood from the cross when He died. When that drop of blood touched the earth an earthquake occurred. It split the earth all the way down through the hill of Golgotha. They couldn't find a grave in which to bury Jesus, so a nobleman named Joseph gave his to Jesus. Station 14 is the tomb. A mausoleum was built in 1810 by the Russian church on top of the tomb. Then the disciples had to hurry before they closed the gates back into the city because it was Friday and the Jewish Sabbath started at 6PM. The statue of the Lion of Judea on his hind legs holding an olive branch is the symbol of Jesus.
We then drove to Bethlehem to see the Church of the Nativity built in the 4th century AD by Constantine on top of the stable where Jesus was born. it was rebuilt in the 6th century. When the Ottoman Turks took over they made the doorway much shorter to prevent horses from entering.There is a painting on the outside wall of the 3 Wise Men coming from Persia. Since they were from Persia, the Turks didn't destroy it. The mosaic floor was laid during Constantine's reign. Later on Pope Justinian raised the floor up and added 44 columns in the 12th century The frescoes are done during the Crusades and Byzantine eras.
Christianity has 13 denominations. The original manger is in Rome in ST Mary's Basilica. The stall marks the spot where the stable was. The stables there 2000 years ago were caves. The stable is divided into 2 parts: one small where the manger was and one larger. All of the different denominations of the Christian church wanted the single oil lamp and the church over the stable. But they ended up sharing all of it. So there are several denominations represented in this church. When the radio broadcasts the Xmas Eve service, it comes from this church. Priest Jerome from Rome translated the Old Testament of the Bible from Hebrew to Latin. Then he translated the New Testament from Greek to Latin, called the Latin Vulgare. He stayed in this cave for 34 years to do these translations. He was buried there, then moved by Constantine to Rome. In the 4th century when the Hebrew was translated to Greek to make the split from Judaism, they also wrote the Greek language from left to right.
Haifa, Israel is the third largest city and it's port was built in 1976. They pipe water from the Sea of Galilee to water their crops. There are not many trees here because when the Ottomans were in control for 401 years, they cut down all the trees. Now they supply veggies for all of Europe in the winter.
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