City of David

Today feels like it was a very long day! We pack so much in that I can hardly remember what we did this morning—not a bad thing! Sunset this evening ushered in Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath. We just arrived back from celebrating and praying with our Jewish friends down at the Kotel (Western Wall) https://www.bibleplaces.com/westernwall/. Last night we got to explore the tunnel that runs along the base of the Western Wall. We got to go all the way up past the base of the Antonia Fortress. It is not for the claustrophobic!

Today we got to see both cities of David: Bethlehem and David's Mount Ophel city of Jerusalem just south of the Temple Mount. Those brave enough took the dry tunnel down to the gihon spring to the pool of Siloam https://www.bibleplaces.com/poolofsiloam/.  

We also toured the Davidson Center and the excavations along the southern wall of the Temple Mount. The highlight was watching our guide, Miriam, sing a song of ascents, Psalm 126. Miriam also went on to explain how the people who entered the Temple Mount from the wrong direction were those in mourning. This way as they came through the crowd of people leaving, there was a prayer that would be said to them, "may he who comforts mourners, comfort you from Zion." Beautiful.

One of my favorite things about the city of David would have been the view of the surrounding mountains, which are all higher than Mount Ophel. My favorite song that describes this view is Psalm 125:2, "Look up toward the Temple Mount. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from this time forth and forever." One can only really understand this verse by seeing how the mountains truly surround what would have been David's Palace. From this vantage point, you can look at the view King David would have had from his Palace, and how he would have looked down and seen Bathsheba bathing on her roof.

Before heading to the Western Wall, we visited Bethlehem https://www.bibleplaces.com/bethlehem/, in Hebrew it means "House of Bread". Here, Jim led us in devotions from Luke 2. Jim challenged us to be more like the shepherds who went to Bethlehem to see the baby Messiah, and then went out to tell what they had seen. They couldn't wait to tell others. We also sang the song, O Little Town of Bethlehem before leaving Shepherd's Field.

Now we will be headed to dinner and we have an evening program. Meno Kalisher, Friends of Israel worker and pastor of the Jerusalem Assembly, will be meeting with our group.

Tomorrow will be anything but a Sabbath for our group; we will get to spend more time exploring Jerusalem. It is hard to believe that it's our second to last day before making our long trip home.

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem!

Our Team 
Blog author: Amy Westphal
Ministry Initiative Specialist
The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry

Photos: Melissa DiLiberto
Ministry Services Supervisor
The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry