Gethsemane

 In church today, we had a man speak who is/was an emergency room doctor.  He told us of some of the abounding grief that he has witnessed over the years.  One example was an extended family reunion to honor the patriarch of a family on his birthday. After an idyllic afternoon, everyone gathered in the driveway to say goodbye to grandpa.  A 2 year old holding a ball raised her hand to wave goodbye, lost the ball and dived under the car at the exact moment grandpa put the car in gear.  Dr Chapman said that the grief of the family was so palpable and unbearable that he had to leave the room. He could not bear their grief

 Another doctor tried to give us some perspective on what kind of pain Christ endured.  They say that when some experiences amputation that they will bleed from a few pores at the site.  Once a woman was involved in an airplane crash.  The forward thrust of her seat on impact broke her back a little below the waist.  She bled from pores at the site

For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might no suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink--Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men
D&C 19:16-19

The Temple Mount

 From Bethesda and Lions Gate, the scriptures tell us that Jesus went up to the temple mount and again cleansed the temple area of the money changers and the irreverent din of animals and business

The perimeter of the temple mount was surrounded by beautiful covered archways built by Herod... like these

and the people gathered to hear Jesus speak and to be taught and healed.  Here the priests and rulers gathered to challenge his authority and his doctrine.  Here they plotted his death

Choosing the Sacrificial Lamb

 When Jesus entered Jerusalem to the waving of palm branches with palm branches carpeting the path before him, cloaks being spread beneath him, he would have passed the pool of Bethesda, the sheep pool.  Here were gathered flocks of sheep to be washed and presented to the temple priests for the upcoming Passover feast

According to tradition, one of them would have been chosen, on that very day, Palm Sunday, as THE sacrificial lamb... That most perfect, beautiful and unblemished lamb... the lamb of their passover from slavery to freedom, to be the first to be slain, precisely at 3:00 p.m., on Friday, at the altar of the temple and whose blood would be sprinkled by the high priest upon the mercy seat in the holy of holies... the only time of the year that any mortal would enter that sacred room.  That lamb would be the only lamb to be burned entirely.  All the others would have only selected portions burned while the rest was returned to the families for their passover feast

Palm Sunday

 Sunday, we took the opportunity to join part of the Palm Sunday procession from Bethpage to the Lion's gate.  The paper said there was a white donkey at the front of the procession, but we talked with some of our branch members who made it to the front and they saw no donkey.  There were many vendors selling palm branches

 One of the friars approached me and when he found out that were were from Utah, he said that Orson Hyde had stayed at this very church when he visited Jerusalem to dedicate Israel for the return of the Jews.  This is the Palm Sunday church.  Inside the church is the the rock that Jesus mounted the donkey from.  It was obvious that those of the Middle ages thought Jesus must have mounted a large stallion and not a lowly donkey

 I thought this little nun was so cute.  People gathering in the courtyard of the church by nations and groups.  Our favorite part was listening to the various groups.  It was a very lively group, obviously very happy and trying, each in their own way to show the Lord who happy they would be to see Him again

One of Jeremy's fun mirror images

There were thousands of people and more were added as we trekked about 3 1/2 miles down the hill

Passover/Easter is COMING!!!

 Jeremy and I happened on several boys having their Bar Mitzveh.  It reminds me of the importance of our young 12 year old boys receiving the Aaronic Priesthood.  It was quite a celebration.  Here you see the candidate walking under the canopy

 They were followed by the blowing of the shofar, drums and even small trumpets and the singing of Jewish hymns.  It was very exciting!  They serenaded them from the Jewish quarter down the Western wall

 I am not sure, but I think they are dressed in similar costumes that I have seen in a couple of windows of the temple institute, that the Jews think they wore to the temple in the second temple period

 Here they are lifting up their precious young man, dressed in a prayer shawl, his head covered in deference before God  and before the holy words of the Lord, in the hope that he will treasure them for all of his life

First time I have seen the Torah open

The Russian Orthodox Church

 One of the most recognizable landmarks in Jerusalem is this Russian Orthodox Church, which stands just above the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mt. of Olives.  It took us weeks, but we were finally successful in getting in to see the Church of Mary Magdalene (Russian Orthodox). It is only open to the public 4 hours a week.  They have built a second church almost like this one out by Hadassa Hospital.  This view is looking up from the Kidron Valley

 We marveled that they were able to keep the domes so shiney.  The Dome of the Rock has the same composition on it's dome, but looks comparatively dull.  We have noticed that Muslims generally do not seem to take care of their things on the same order as other peoples.  It seems to denote a lack of reverence for their sacred things

 The interior had a very Scandinavian flavor with lots of tole painting

 The paintings are always one of my favorite parts of the cathedrals.  Here we see a beardless Christ standing in judgement before Pilate.  There were some others of the part Mary Magdalene played in the Saviors life, but unfortunately they turned out too dark to see

And here is an example of some of the intricate wood work inside the chapel.  By the way we were intrigued to see that in this cathedral the chapel was on the second floor

The Valley of Jehosephat - the Valley of Decision

 Here we are standing in the Kidron Valley, also variously called The Valley of Jehosephat, The Valley of Decision.  This is the Muslim side.  In the upper left of the photo, you can see the blocked up Golden Gates.  You should know that the gates are not in the same location as they were anciently.  Right under the wall you can see part of a huge Muslim burial ground...They hope to keep the Messiah from entering the temple mount, just behind the wall.  The Muslims believe that a cable will be strung up between the temple mount and the Mt. of Olives and people will be compelled to walk it.  If they make it, they are righteous, if they fall off, it is because they are wicked

 This is the Jewish side of the Valley Kidron.  On the lower left is Absolom's tomb.  They are in the process of putting in sidewalks, benches and will soon landscape the bare dirt.  It will be beautiful

 Literally hundreds of thousands are buried in the Kidron Valley.  There are some very famous tombs including, here Absoloms pillar, errected by King David after Absoloms death... a most tragic story.  Also buried here are Zechariah, Jehoshaphat, and the Apostle James

This is Zechariah's tomb.  Behind this is one of the largest, most tightly packed cemeteries in the world as Jews are buried on top of each other and packed in so tightly that there is barely room to walk.  It is an amazing sight.  

Spring's Gorgeous Pallate - some of the beautiful spring flowers we saw

The Elah Valley - a place of many battles

 We are standing on top of the north hill bordering the Elah Valley.  On the side opposite of us is where the Philistine fortifications are.  The most famous battle to occur in this valley was the battle between David and Goliath!  We had such fun imagining how it might have been.  Each morning for 40 days, Goliath and the Philistine army would assemble at the bottom of the hill where we stand, and challenge Israel to send someone to fight with Goliath.  Below where we are standing there is a small brook, no doubt where David picked up his 5 small stones

 Here we see the remnant of one of the 2 gates that lead into the garrison area.  In the background we can see Bethlehem on the far hills, about 15 miles away.  Can't you just see David traipsing over hill and dale with provisions for his brothers, only to discover that no one is fighting because they are afraid of Golliath?  I can just see David's indignation.  How could they challenge the God of Israel!  They were just challenging an army in his mind

Here we are standing between the double walls that enclose probably 15 acres of land on the hill top.  The walls are 3,000 years old!!  We were amazed at what a good state of preservation they are in.  Apparently they are not visited as often as many of the more popular sites

This is one of the garrison areas where Saul's men  would have slept, stored food, weapons, armor, etc.  This hilltop fortification is maybe 2 miles from Bethshemesh

Another gate.  The town of Bethshemesh had the same name as this fortification.  Bethshemesh means 2 gates. This fortification is only about 12 miles from the Old City, which at the time of the battle between David and Goliath did not yet exist

Gamaliel - The Apostle Paul's teacher

 On this same trip we went to this little convent commemorating Paul's teacher Gamaliel.  This is also the place where Stephen was buried after he was stoned outside of the walls of Jerusalem.  Also by tradition Nichodemus was buried here and probably Gamaliel himself.  The Catholics believe that they both converted to Christianity after Christ's death and resurrection

 A couple of nice murals of Stephen's judgement in front of the high priest in Jerusalem.  This one inside of one of the 3 churches on the site of where Gamaliel lived

 Sorry the sun was shining on this side but here is depicted the stoning of Stephen

  And here is the view looking towards Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean Sea.  Israel has gotten at least 125% of normal rainfall this winter and it is gorgeous and green, as you can see 

 Welcome to Tel Bethshemesh.  You might not even remember this town, but it played a fairly important part in the ancient history of Israel.  About the time that the prophet Samuel became the prophet of Israel, the sons of Eli, Phineas and Hophni, took the ark of the covenant hoping it  would give them the advantage in a battle against the Philistines, instead the Israelites were routed and the ark of the covenant was taken by the Philistines.  After 7 very bad months of plagues and death the Philistines decided to return the ark. They crafted a new cart, attached 2 milk cows, who had never been trained to wear a yoke and placed gifts of gold with the ark and sent it on its way.  The oxen headed directly for Bethshemesh, which was a Levite city.  The Israelites gratefully received the ark, performed sacrifices and then the Lord slew 50,070 Israelites for disobediently looking into the ark of the covenant.  It was moved then to Kirath-Jearim

The place is also near the hometown of Sampson.  If you enlarge the photo you will see a white barn in the distance that is near the birthplace of Sampson or the ancient town of Zorah, as mentioned in Judges 13

 And also from the top of Tel Bethshemesh, looking west towards ancient Philistia town of Gaza, beyond the ponds is where Delilah was living when she seduced Sampson, cut his hair and delivered him into the hands of the Philistines

And we finish this session with a flock of sheep returned from a morning of grazing to the tent of their shepherd

 This is a painting of what the building of Rachels' tomb looks like with the surrounding terrain, which can no longer be seen because of the walls.

 Jewish interpretations of some Old Testament scriptures that may apply to them, although the top scripture we think applies to the slaughter of the innocents at the time of Christ

 There has been some recent studying and some think that this may have been the location of where the temple flocks were kept anciently. It may have been near Rachel's tomb.  The place was anciently called Migdal Edar, where Jacob camped with his family after burying Rachel.  It is  about 2 miles from Bethlehem and about 3-4 miles south of Jerusalem

 The Jews seem to have taken up the Catholic practice of praying to various saints.  We have visited at least 3 "empty" tombs ; to Samuel, to king David and to Rachel, where the Jews come to seek solace and to pray.  It seems out of the ordinary

These may be the fields of the temple flocks.  They are more lush, somewhat flatter ground and not so many places for temple lambs to mar themselves as compared with the fields that are right in Bethlehem, that are actually very steep, and very rocky hillsides with little vegetation