O inhabitant of Zion...

If there is one thing I cannot do the same while here in Israel, it is read the bible. Before arriving in Israel, I had to use my imagination or look up maps and images on the internet, but now, I can simply look out my living room or bedroom window. And when that doesn't suffice (and it usually doesn't), I go for a walk. Unless you have experienced this, I cannot adequately describe what it is like to see with my own eyes the very things I have been reading about for years. In some instances not only see, but touch. Wow! Now when I read the bible, and it refers to certain locations, I can actually say "I've been there"; "I've seen that"; it's so much more personal and alive. Yesterday I went in search of the garden tomb, another place besides the Church of the Holy Sepluchre that is traditionally believed to be the possible place Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. Feeling the need for exercise, I walked to the Old City. It was another beautiful day yesterday, almost 80 degrees and hardly a cloud in the sky. I left around 11AM, and it was so quiet; hardly any traffic, which meant a lot less honking, and I only recall one instance of squealing tires. I passed a lot of children playing at a park, and they were all smiles, waving and saying hello. I almost joined them; it's been a while since I've been on a merry-go-round. Once I got to a small area that is home to an Arab market, it too seemed almost deserted and I didn't have to dodge any cars. It was a nice change compared to the usual hustle and bustle, though I admit at times I like that too. I rounded the corner and there was a street leading uphill (imagine that), also lined with goodies on either side. I stood there for a minute, trying to figure out if this street without a name was the one I needed. Once I spotted a European man with a camera hanging around his neck (that screams tourist as much as looking up in NYC) heading up the nameless street, I figured the odds were in my favor. I followed him and sure enough, I eventually saw a sign that read "Garden tomb" with an arrow pointing right. Yay for the guy with the camera around his neck! After walking up a stone walled walkway/street, I found the entrance. It is a very pretty place.

There are many places to sit, and it is a very peaceful place to do so. Though there were about 40-50 people there at the same time I was, it was quiet. They have little signs on the various paths to guide you, and the first one you see to the right reads "Skull Hill", which leads you to a rocky wall that could be the very place Christ was crucified--Golgotha, which of course means "place of a skull". I stood there for a bit looking at the wall, not seeing anything that resembled a skull. At least until I got home and looked at my pictures.

I drew the box for your convenience :)  After walking down a path and smelling flowers along the way (spring is in the air!), I made my way to the tomb.

 

The section on the left is where a body would have lain. Perhaps His. Of course no one can be sure if this is the place where the crucifixion, burial and resurrection took place; the group in England who maintains the garden even states this; they stress what's more important is that the event did happen: Jesus was crucified, buried, and was raised from the dead--He is alive. Some convincing evidence this could be the place: the hill/wall with the skull face; it is located next to main roads for Damascus and Jericho, and since crucifixions were a very public event, this would have been an ideal location; there is a large old cistern not far from the tomb and the hill, giving possible evidence of a working garden at the time of Jesus (in the book of John it says "at the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb"); within this area, all very close in proximity to one another, is an ancient winepress, which suggests the garden was originally a significant vineyard--could all this, the tomb, the garden and the winepress possibly have belonged to the rich man Joseph of Arimathea?

Again, we cannot be sure. However, I lean more towards this being the place than any other simply because there's not a church sitting right on top of it. But that's a whole other blog. I spent the rest of the day walking (4 hours total...needless to say I did NOT walk back to my apt.). I walked to the Jewish Quarter, found the Temple Institute, but they're in the process of moving, so they weren't open. I did find the Temple Menorah on my way to the Western Wall:

 

The days are coming when the Third Temple will be built. Will this menorah be used for that temple? I found this online: "Rabbi Ariel explained, "It, or other Menorahs, will be consecrated when the Temple is rebuilt." The beautiful Menorah, a seven branched candellabra, is six and a half feet in height and was constructed with more than 92 pounds of pure gold." I know in Exodus 25:39 the LORD said it should be made of one talent of pure gold, but I'm not sure what the exact weight of a talent is today; I've always thought around 75 pounds, but some say up to 94 pounds. Regardless, this menorah is an exact replica according to research. The Temple Institue reopens in a few weeks, and I can't wait to go back. After this I made my way to security at the Wall, but I was turned around and told to go back to another checkpoint; once I got to the other one, I realized it, unlike the first one I went to, had a bag scanner. Security has been beefed up over the last few days due to rioting in several places in the West Bank, including someone throwing a little homemade bomb at a police car just outside the Old City walls; being an expert on distinguishing between gunshots and fireworks since living here, I knew what I heard was much bigger than a gunshot or a firework. I read about the bomb the next morning. Actually, the day after I was on the Temple Mount, a riot erupted there, too. Does any of this scare me? No. It makes me a little more cautious and to be more conscious of my surroundings, but I'm not afraid. Living in fear is not living at all. Besides, I know that He who lives in me is greater than he who is in the world. This morning I stumbled across Isaiah 12:5-6 (I thought I had turned to Psalm 12; I love it when He does that), which says "Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!" After I read this I smiled; if I wasn't able to take this literally before, I can now--I am literally an inhabitant of Zion, at least for the next few months. Even more so, whether I am here in East Jerusalem or back in the States, He is not limited by geography; He is still mighty in my midst.

 

Until next time,

 

Stacey