The City of David, Pool of Siloam, Southern Ascent of the Temple, Yad Vashem – Israel Day 6!

As we prepared to head out of the hotel to the City of David, Fr Jim, the Greek Orthodox priest with us, spotted a fellow Cubs fan, a local tour guide named Mordechai.  Here they are in the lobby, proving yet again that the Cubs capture hearts everywhere!

 

The City of David is not the current Old City of Jerusalem, but rather smaller area just below it, built by David just before 1000 BC. Hundreds of years of life are here, including extensive water management tunnels leading from the Gihon Spring. The area is just west of the Mount of Olives, site of a massive Jewish cemetery. Jews chose to be buried here because the whole Mount of Olives faces the Golden Door of the Old City, through which Messiah is expected to return. Those in the tombs here hope to be the first resurrected by the Messiah.

 

 The picture shows the above-ground coffins, and on the right the beginning of a mostly Arab village just to the south.

 

 

 

 

Here’s a fuller view of this village: Parts of it are now being excavated under people’s homes! In Israel all home owners lease the land on which they sit, in 49 year increments, which can be automatically renewed. But the land belongs to the State of Israel, and it can excavate under your house – or relocate you with substantial compensation: $2 million dollars - for archeological purposes.

 

We began our exploration on a platform just south of the Old City. You can see us here with a Jerusalem Post reporter who followed us.

 

 

We also had a Christian Science newspaper reporter, a television crew, and of course, Karl Clauson from WYLL radio.

 

On of the most compelling parts of this journey was that our Bibles were used as the key reference source to what we were seeing. After decades of dismissal of its narrative as historical fiction, it is now regarded as the best source of understanding what happened in Israel and where to find it. We had our Bibles out in site after site, and it proved a reliable guide to what we were seeing!

 

 

 

One example (among MANY), was the quote in Jeremiah 37:3,

 

Zedekiah son of Josiah succeeded Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim as the king of Judah. He was appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. 2 But neither King Zedekiah nor his attendants nor the people who were left in the land listened to what the Lord said through Jeremiah. 3 Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to ask Jeremiah, “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.” 4 Jeremiah had not yet been imprisoned, so he could come and go among the people as he pleased.

 

Many wondered if any of these events and people ever happened or existed, and then in the City of David dig, there it was, the seal of Jehucal, one of Zedekiah’s ministers.  Other, similar confirmations of the accuracy of the biblical account are found regularly.

 

Layers of invasions and new construction over many centuries have buried the original City of David quite far down, but extensive excavation is turning up significant finds every year. Here is one of those excavations far under ground.

 

 

 

There are also extensive tunnels under the city, most used for water conservation and management, some for entrance and escape. These go back thousands of years, and the engineering is stunning. Hezekiah’s tunnel (see Isaiah 22:9), famed as a model of engineering and tactical brilliance, was inaccessible to us because it was flooded by all of the recent rains and snow.

 

Notable in Scripture is the Pool of Siloam (also called Shiloah). This is mentioned in Isaiah 8:6, and in John 9:7, where Jesus heals a man blind from birth.

 

 

If you look at the photo, you’ll see a big black pipe. Ignore that. To the right of the pipe are a group of people walking down a stone staircase, and in front of them, just right of the pipe, is a channel of water. To the right of the channel is a stone platform about 10 feet wide, and to the right of that, a stone step down into a pool (below all the bushes and hard to see). This pool was originally quite large, perhaps 40 by 100 feet, though only 40 by 6 feet of it have been excavated thus far. This is the pool of Siloam.

The surprise is if you turn and walk up the staircase, it leads all the way up to the southern end of the Temple Mount, and the main street of Jesus time.

 

UNDER the stairway is a complete channel, as wide as the stairs (at least 6 feet), for carrying water runoff from the Temple area. Think about how clever this is: the same route is a stairway on top, with a water channel under the stairs! During the Jewish rebellion of 66-70 AD, the few remaining survivors of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans apparently hid out under this stairs, in this water channel, but were eventually found, burned out, and killed.

If you look at the photo above of the main street at the Temple, you’ll see an odd outcropping of stones from the Western side of the Temple walls. This was the beginning of a great arch that led away from the Temple interior to the West. This next photo shows the left side of this same area.

 

 

The Temple wall is to the right, and on the left is a series of openings in a long wall along the main street. These were booths for vendors at the Temple Mount, and one or more of them were money-changers, and probably right where Jesus drove them out (Matthew 21)!

 

Next is a picture of a small section of the southern wall of the Temple. The Al Aqsa mosque is at the top, and the old entryway into the Temple is now blocked up, and a more recent wall is coming out from it, on the left.



The stairs leading up to the mount are of changing depths to prevent unseemly running to or from the Temple. This wall is quite massive and very long. The next photo shows the view from the top of the steps, off to the east along the wall.

 

 

 

Lastly, the southern side of the Temple Mount, at the base of the steps, contains many ritual baths, or mikvahs, so worshippers could cleanse themselves before entering the holy temple.

 

I’m pretty sure it is hard to imagine all of this, and how each part is connected to the other to make one enormous whole. As interesting as it might be to hear about it, or to see photos, nothing compares to being there and experiencing it all first hand. It is wonderful, and moving. The Bible really comes to life before your eyes!

 

Our last visit of the day was to Yad Vashem, the memorial museum dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust, the war against the Jews by Hitler and his cronies. It is very moving and very extensive, and it amazes me that some people today (like the president of Iran) claim that no such Holocaust ever happened. Errrrgh.

Photos are not permitted in Yad Vashem, so I’ve included none here. When you are there you don’t really want to take photos anyway. It is very moving and leaves one with a heavy heart.

 

You have to come to Jerusalem and see all this for yourself.

 

-Pastor George

The Bonus Photos of Garden Tomb, Qumran and Masada – Israel Day 5!

After I read my Day 5 blog I realized there were more photos I wanted to share from the Garden Tomb, Qumran and Masada. These will help give a clearer picture of how remarkable these sites are – and why you need to come and stand here and experience them in person. It really is very moving.

These haven’t come to you every day as I hoped. We had internet problems at one of the hotels, and we had exceptionally long days, usually on the road by 7:30 or 8, and back at 9 or 10. When you and I and a bunch of us go, I won’t pack the days quite so full. There is a lot to absorb here, and mind and heart get full.

I’ll get all of the rest of the trip described and out to you over the next 2-3 days. So, back to the extra photos:

 

First, the Garden Tomb.  Here’s the door to it, looking straight on. It’s in a garden with a winepress just feet from the skull, and near several other similar tombs carved into the rock.

 

 

This diagram shows the layout inside. Its probably 12 feet square, and the upper left section 4 is thought to be where Jesus body was placed.

 

Inside that section looks like this:

 

 

Back on the outside, you can see a man standing in a channel just outside the opening to the tomb.

 

 

 

This was the channel that held the huge circular stone used to seal the entrance. The other tombs found nearby – just a few feet away – also had similar channels and circular stones to seal them.

 

Next Qumran: I mentioned all the caves in which jars with scrolls were found, and these were up in the hills surrounding the common buildings (library, baths, dining area, etc) of the community, and likely the residents lived in these caves.

But most valuable of all of them is the library.  I mentioned it but realized later I really want you to see it. It was at the end of a long outcropping of rock, and if you look carefully, you’ll see a path from right to left that leads to it. The entrance is a hole near the top, with a staircase cut into the limestone, and then a huge room down below. It held some 5000 scrolls.

Finally, Masada. If you recall this was the site of an opulent palace of Herod the Great, his Dead Sea retreat, where he entertained important people and friends. If you’ll recall it is a very high plateau, very inaccessible, with agriculture, water channels and storage, and very defendable.

 

At the base of the site is a McDonalds!  I’m pretty sure that doesn’t date to Herod’s era, though the tables for eating look rustic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also wanted to show you the decoration of one of the rooms. This room had painted fresco walls, only small sections of which remain, but you can be certain that the décor was bright and colorful – and the colors have lasted 2000 years! The floor is a beautiful tiled mosaic.

 

 

 

 

Here is a model of Herod’s multi-level palace.  It looks like it occupies much of the site, but in fact it sits on just a small section of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, Herod was long dead when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem (66-70 AD) and then went after the rebels at Masada. It was there that 960 men, women and children perished in a vast mutual suicide. These pottery shards were used to select who would do the killing .

 

Is used to be that the schools in Israel taught that this was an act of great bravery, preferring death to enslavement. This now is not so popular a view. Even our guide, who was a major in the Israel Defense Forces, believed the “hero” view until he had children.

 

Today, it is looked upon as an important event in Israel’s history, a tragedy and source of sorrow and wonder.

 

More to come soon…

 

-Pastor George

The Garden Tomb, Samaritan Inn, Qumran and Masada – Israel Day 5!

 

Here's a video from early in the trip (see the snow behind me?), and a couple more that include my mug. This is to prove that I'm actually there and not relaxing by the side of a pool in Tel Aviv. (No, it's not photoshopped!)

I'll take your picture here when we all come.

 

 

In my last blog I talked about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, that Helena, mother of Constantine, had built in the Old City of Jerusalem. This was believed to be the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again.

In the late 19^th century a British general named Charles Gordon was looking from the top of an Old City wall to the surrounding scenery, and noticed a tall outcropping of rock that looked like a skull. This reminded him of Golgotha, “the place of the skull” in Scripture. Investigation turned up a garden and ancient wine press nearby, and a series of graves carved out of the walls of the local limestone. They had tall round stones that covered the openings, and channels cut in the rock where the stones could roll. Today many believe that this is the place of Jesus’ burial.

 

After visiting this garden and tomb (you can go right inside of it and there is a diagram of its layout), we all gathered in the garden and shared communion. We were led by on of the leaders among us, David Sigel, who is a pastor and also a Sephardic Jew.

 

Next we travelled to Qumran, the former home of the Essenes, and the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. But along the way we stopped at the location of the inn mentioned by Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

 

Remember that this is a PARABLE, a story, so how could there be an actual inn? It turns out that on this main road to Jerusalem from Samaria, in the long ascent, there is only one level spot, and archeology there shows that it was once the scene of an inn for travelers.

 

This was and is home for Samaritans as described in Scripture. They were a group of people who also studied the Torah, worshipped as the Jews did, but were not one of the “twelve tribes” of Israel. Their priests conducted worship on Mt Gerizim, rather than Mt Moriah in Jerusalem, where the Temple was located. John 4 describes Jesus and his encounter with the “woman at the well.” She was a Samaritan.

 

Today some 700 Samaritans still survive and preserve their ancient forms of worship. Genealogists say that DNA studies show that there has been virtually no intermarriage with other peoples groups since the time of Christ.

 

Following our visit to the place of the Samaritan inn, we went down to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth. It is about 1200 feet below sea level, and the Jordan river flows from the Sea of Galilee, rapidly down into this large lake, but there is nowhere beyond this sea where the water can flow, so all of the minerals from the Jordan – and other runoff from the hills – collects here with nowhere else to go.

 

 

Along the shore of this brackish and undrinkable lake is the site of the ancient sect of Essenes. This was a large, prosperous religious group of Jewish monks, who raised their own crops and cattle, managed huge manmade cisterns for water runoff from the surrounding hills, adhered to a strict moral code, studied the Torah rigorously, had baptism, and a ceremony of sharing bread and wine, and kept a huge library of biblical scriptures and commentaries.

 

They had ritual baths or “mikvahs” which were used daily by everyone – summer temperatures reach 120 degrees! - and had all the technology of that day for a rich and successful life apart. They regarded other Jews, especially those in Jerusalem, as being sinful and unfaithful, and followed a “teacher of righteousness.” They imagined a final battle someday between the “sons of darkness” and the “sons of light.” They were the latter.

 

Becoming a member of the community required a two year trial period, after which you were voted either in or out. Many historians believe John the Baptist may have briefly been a part of this group.

 

The community was destroyed by the Romans after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, but not before the Essenes hid their library of scrolls in clay jars in caves above the site of their community. These were discovered between 1947 and 1958, beginning with the first clay scroll jar found by a local Bedouin boy. The largest of these caves, and closest to the site, had a staircase carved out of stone for accessing it. The most ancient copy of the Book of Isaiah, was discovered here. A replica of this is on display of the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.

 

Nearby is Masada, an enormous flat-topped cliff that was once home to one of Herod the Great’s many luxury palaces. It is 1200 feet high, and in Herod’s time had to be accessed by a “snake trail” that twisted back and forth up the side of the cliff. Today there is a cable car to the top, with the longest stretch of unsupported cable in the world.

 

 

Near the top of the peak Herod had an enormous and expertly built home, guest house and entertainment facility where the famous and powerful came to visit. It had a commanding view of the countryside and the Dead Sea. In addition it had a complete Roman-style bath. This consisted of a changing room, a small plaza, and three rooms beginning with a small, cold immersion pool, a warm room, and a steam room.

 

 

This last room is a marvel of ancient engineering. It consists of a double floor, the upper one about three feet above the lower. Water is heated by a stove outside the building, and the steam injected in between the two floors. This heats the upper floor, but hollow tiles around the edge allow the steam to fill the upper room, while channels on the walls collect the condensation and return it to the boiler outside. This was built before the birth of Christ.

 

There is also a synagogue on the top of the peak, and in fact it was in use while I was there! There is also a swimming pool, with a room attached and lockers built out of the local stone. The whole facility covers many acres, and was finished out in plaster, tiled floors, guard rooms, countless large storerooms, and enormous cisterns fed by channels cut into the peak and surrounding hills to catch and store rainwater.

 

The top of the peak, some 36 acres, is so large that it can be self-sustaining, with agriculture and animal husbandry. It was here that the last of the Jewish rebels hid out after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The 10^th Roman legion went after the rebels who retreated to Masada. The peak was so impenetrable that the Romans had to put it under siege. They surrounded it with eight camps of soldiers, and built a wall on the ground all the way around, with a constant patrol to prevent any attempts at escape. The rebels ignored this, and repelled repeated attempts by the Romans to ascend the peak.

 

The rebels had self-sustaining food supply and plenty of water. The Romans cut off the water supply channels that Herod had built into the surrounding hills, but the cisterns at the top of the peak still held enough water for 10 years!

 

Finally the Romans brought in captured Jews as slave labor and began building an enormous siege ramp up the side. This is basically a straight road right to the top. The defenders would not so much as throw rocks at their fellow Jews, and in 73 A.D. the Romans reached the top and breached the wall. Inside they found 960 rebels, all who had died by mutual suicide, having chosen who would kill whom by lots with their names written on pottery shards. Two women and five children were still alive, hiding in one of the cisterns.

 

The Jewish historian Josephus was travelling with the Romans (that’s a WHOLE story by itself!), and he recorded the full history of the battle, including an interrogation of the survivors.

 

Today Masada is the most visited site in Israel.

 

We finished the day with a short trip down to the beach at the Dead Sea, and a few of us went in and floated. The salt makes it so buoyant that anyone simply bobs at the top of the water. I went so far as to stick my fingertips in, but I didn’t swim!

 

Well, that’s it for now. The adventure continues!

 

 

-Pastor George

The Holy Sepulcher and Shabbat – Israel Day 4!

One of the realities of an extraordinary journey like this is the rate at which your mind and heart can absorb all that you see, hear and experience. It is all quite overwhelming!

And this is just day 4. My publishing it to all of you was delayed simply by my need to rest. Maybe God knew something when He gave Commandment number four.

Now it is Sunday morning as I share the events of Friday, day 4. We followed the path of the Via Dolorosa – the Way of Suffering – the path that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, on the way to his execution. This is the route that is remembered by the “Stations of the Cross.” Many churches have plaques or drawings that commemorate the 14 traditional places that Jesus stopped or had encounters on this journey to his crucifixion.

In the Old City, each stop is either a mark along a wall, a small room with an altar or a sign, or a church. Five of the stations are inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

There are tours in which Christian are led along this route, though many Christians walk it on their own. It is possible to follow the signs through the streets of Jerusalem, though it is occasionally a bit tricky. I even saw one man following the route, carrying a large cross on his shoulder. Actually I saw him twice: the first time with TWO crosses on his shoulder, the second time with just one.

Here is a list of the 14 stations:

1.       Jesus is condemned to death.

2.       Jesus is given and carries the cross.

3.       Jesus falls the first time.

4.       Jesus meets his mother.

5.       Simon is made to bear the cross.

6.       Veronica wipes the face of Jesus.

7.       Jesus falls a second time.

8.       Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem.

9.       Jesus falls the third time.

10.     Jesus is stripped of his garments.

11.     Jesus is nailed to the cross.

12.     Jesus dies on the cross.

13.     Jesus is taken down from the cross.

14.     Jesus is taken to the Sepulchre (a place of burial).

 

I should note that not all of these have a biblical source, nor is the actual spot certain, and even parts of the walk are now 30 feet above where they were originally, from centuries of destruction and rebuilding. But it is a route taken by many to remind them in a physical and demonstrable way, what Jesus suffered.

The route ends in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This was one of several churches built by Helena, the mother of Constantine, in the fourth century. It is believed by many (see my blog from tomorrow for a different site) to be the site of his crucifixion (Golgotha), burial and resurrection. To say this church is enormous would be understatement. You just cannot imagine its size or scope in every dimension.

 

It is currently under the authority of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches, and for nearly a century it has been mandated that nothing is to be moved or changed without the agreement of all, plus, of course, local authorities. Even a ladder which was leaning against an outside window when the agreement was reached is still in place!

This picture shows the main entrance doors to this church. It faces a large plaza. Look up at the high window on the right: there’s the ladder, since 1929. It is not permitted to be moved!

 

Inside the church is filled with silver, gold and marble everywhere, and black robed monks move about endlessly, at times conducting worship services. 

 

 

 

This is a picture I took of an elaborate ceremony around a marble slab on the ground which is believed to be the piece of rock on which Jesus’ body was laid immediately after being removed from the cross. Fifty yards from here is a tall limestone rock with what looks like red iron ore present. This is said to be the blood of Jesus.

Some one hundred feet in another direction is a small grotto with burial caves carved out of the limestone.

 

This is where they believe Jesus was buried. It is dark inside and photography is exceedingly difficult, though allowed. Many Christians from around the world come here, and acts of devotion, such as kissing the slab that the monks stood around (picture above), and crawling on one’s knees, are common.

 

 

 

I realize as I write these words, and reflect on the pictures I took, that it is quite impossible to communicate the power, enormity, extent and sense of history of a place like this. I went and read the Wikipedia entry on the church. It is scholarly, historical and a good summary. And it pales next to being here.

You just need to come for yourself! It is stunning.

We wrapped up the day with a walk through the streets of the Old City at night. 

 

 

 

 

 It is Friday, Shabbat. Nearly everything is closed, but there is great excitement at the Western Wall, where thousands of Jews (and Christians) walk to celebrate the Sabbath.

 

 

On this night there is a constant flow of worshippers into and out of the area, every kind of traditional dress imaginable, and velvet covered tables with hundreds of prayer books all over the plaza near the wall.

Because it is Shabbat, no work is allowed, and so things like taking pictures on the plaza or near the wall are prohibited. There is one high balcony behind the plaza where no one will say anything, and that’s where I shot this photograph. Had I done so down on the plaza, I would have been asked immediately to put my camera away and observe the rest God that had commanded for this day.

 

To us as modern Americans this seems almost harsh: we are free to do what we want, when we want, without religious people scolding us and restricting our freedom.

 

But perhaps God had a better idea when He told us to really rest each week, and set aside a day to simply enjoy prayer, family, friends, hospitality, and to worship Him with thanksgiving.

-Pastor George

Jerusalem and Christ Church – Israel Day 3!

The day began as last night ended – snow and more snow!

 

 

 

 

The view from my hotel room shows the early morning. Snowfall records were broken and the city stopped. They do not have snowplows here, so nearly everyone stayed home. Even our bus could not take us to the Old City, so we walked! It snowed steadily and footing was dangerous across lots of hills, stairs and footpaths.

Finally we reached a point across the Valley of Hinnom where we could see the walls of the Old City. This was originally all there was of Jerusalem – in fact in a much smaller area than today, and virtually no one lived outside of the walls until the late 1800s. Today modern Jerusalem is a large city, and the Old City just a small part of it.

 

 

The Valley of Hinnom is also called Gehenna. It was a constantly burning garbage dump in the time of Jesus, and is the word used for Hell in Matthew 18:9, “And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”

 

Here’s how it is described in Jeremiah 7, “30 The people of Judah have sinned before my very eyes,” says the Lord. “They have set up their abominable idols right in the Temple that bears my name, defiling it. 31 They have built pagan shrines at Topheth, the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing! 32 So beware, for the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when that garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury the bodies in Topheth until there is no more room for them.”

 

This area had been used in more recent times as a reservoir for the Old City, but after a modern water supply was built the valley was drained and part of it is now an outdoor theater that will hold about 8,000 people. Recent archaeology has turned up large numbers of bones, apparently those of children and adults that were sacrificed to the idol Molech. Awful. Truly this was hell.

We crossed over the valley and began the trek up the path to the Zion Gate of the Old City.  In Hebrew it is pronounced “Tsion.” This was a heavily defended entrance to the City, just slightly wider than a car, in an “L” shape. You go in and have to immediately turn right; this was to prevent enemies who breached the outer door was rushing in with horses and chariots. There is above the outer opening, and above the area immediately inside, ports near the top for spilling boiling oil on any attackers.

 

 

If you look closely (double click any picture to see it enlarged) you can see a breach in the back wall and numerous bullet holes surrounding the gate. These are from the 6 Day War in 1967.

 

 

 

 

 

The Old City is home to countless small shops selling food, jewelry, spices, Christian souvenirs, Judaica and much more. Usually these are all open and bustling, but today was a “snow day,” and almost nothing was open. We did find one small bakery doing land office business. Everyone was cold and wet and the bakery was warm and dry!

 

 

From there we looked at the ruins of an old Roman road, called a “cardo.” This one was the “Cardo Maximus” or main road, running north-south, through every major Roman city. It was twice as wide as the average suburban street today, and lined on both sides by a covered sidewalk which was home to many small shops.

 

 

 

 

This picture is an artist’s rendering of what it may have looked like, though the center part was probably much wider. It was basically a Roman style mall!

 

If you look in the bottom right of this picture you’ll see something out of place. Find it?

 

It is a boy wearing a baseball cap, talking to a young girl: he is stepping from our time back into hers, and she is handing him a pomegranate.

 

From there we went to see the remains of Hezekiah’s wall. This was built by Hezekiah around 700 BC to protect against an attack by the Assyrians. The wall was built from stones of local homes, and was 20 feet thick and perhaps 30 feet high. It proved to be unneeded, because prayer defeated the invincible Assyrians. You can read about it in Isaiah 36-37. It really is quite extraordinary.

 

From there we walked down to the Western Wall. This is not the wall of the Temple in Jerusalem built by Solomon (destroyed by the Babylonians around 586 BC), nor rebuilt by Herod (destroyed, as prophesied by Jesus in Mark 13:1-4, in 70 AD by the Romans), but rather the wall of the foundation platform for Solomon’s Temple. Today it is a place of fervent prayer for both Jews and Christians.

 

To reach the wall you must go down many twists and turns of stairs, through security, and finally arrive at a wide plaza. It was snowing and raining incessantly as we went, and we all looked like drowned rats! Here’s a photo of me, soaked and cold, but really happy to be right there!

 

 

 

 

I prayed at the wall for those I loved and care for. It is a remarkable and powerful experience. God is truly there.

 

 

 

 

Finally we made our way up to the Christian Quarter for lunch at Christ Church, and an introduction to the work of CMJ (Christian Ministry among the Jewish people) by David Pileggi, Linda Cohen and Aaron Eime.

 

 

This church and this movement have been a key part of the development of modern Israel and the return of the diaspora (the Jews scattered around the world). Long before Israel became a state in 1948, there were many poor Jews living in the area, which was dominated my Muslim rulers.

 

English Anglican evangelicals, including Charles Simeon (one of my personal heroes), in their careful reading of Scripture, realized that the Church had drifted from its Jewish roots and become cut off, and largely Gentile in its worldview and even theology. (As an aside, I deal with much of this in my book, What We Believe and Why.)

 

They realized that Jesus was Jewish, the disciples were Jewish (except possibly Luke), and their presentation of the Gospel and of Jesus as Messiah, was all Jewish: it all started from and returned to the God of Israel. And so they felt a holy obligation to the Jewish people, so many of whom had been persecuted and even killed by Christians over many centuries. They also believed that Jesus was and is the Jewish Messiah. How better to demonstrate this than to serve the Jewish people?

 

So they established a ministry in and around Jerusalem, including workshops to produce goods for Christian pilgrims, a hospital, and they built the first modern building in Jerusalem: Christ Church. It took 14 years to negotiate with the Muslim rulers and to build a church (they were prohibited), and it was completed in 1849. This picture is of the altar inside the church.

 

 

Note that its carvings, like those of the windows and other elements of the church, are distinctly and intentionally Hebrew. It was the beginning of the Messianic Jewish movement which has now multiplied and spread worldwide: Jews do not surrender their Jewish identity when they accept Jesus as Messiah. They value and continue in who they are. Please do go to the link and read more. This is an amazing place, and I have recently joined the Board of Directors of CMJ-USA, which supports this ministry. It is an honor.

 

More to come. This is SO exhilarating. I’m still really looking forward to bringing you here!

 

-Pastor George