David's Tomb / Upper Room

Here lies what is traditionally believed to be David's Tomb. though no one can say for sure. Here, our group experienced the first seperat-ings of the male from female. the Males were allowed to enter the area to be closer to the coffin behind the veil, whereas the Females could only pray from outside the grill bars. It's interesting how there would still be people praying to David here. not surprising, but interesting.. :)



Then we went up to the UPPER ROOM, where we had a fabulous time of worship. even Moshe said he was very touched by our singing, and he's a Non-believer! hahaha.. very cute lah he, coz on the bus, he was telling us how he really loved the song we sang. the last 2 songs.


he started singing "worthy is the lamb"'s chorus.. and we were all yeah yeah..

the next morning, he told us once again how he was very touched by our singing, our sincerity and spirit. and he sang the other song.

"let us be the Lord God Almighty"

WAHAHAHA!!!!

for the longest time, he sang that line over and over again.

and for those who don't know, it's actually supposed to be

"blessed be the Lord God Almighty"!!!

what a difference his change of lyrics did the song..

so i came to 2 conclusions. firstly, i think he was honestly more ministered by worthy is the Lamb, but he dare not bring it up again, because he must have realised that the Lamb = JESUS, and he, not being a believer, would NEVER EVER confess such a thing! hahaha... but yet again, i could be wrong. because my 2nd conclusion is that Moshe doesn't really think about the lyrics he sings. coz it was forever till he realised what blasphemeous words he was singing. which was totally hilarious. seriously.


anyway, back to this place. this was also where the last supper was held. Mark 14:2

interestingly, Moshe told us that no man would ever carry a pitcher of water during the time of Jesus. usually it's the women who carry the water. so it's truly a "miracle". some people believe them to be essenes, or those who copied the dead sea scrolls, who believed in living life very similar to today's monks. very much like John the Baptist.


And also where the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, Pentacost! Acts 2.

hallelujah for this precious gift!! =D

Caiaphas House / Mount Zion / Church of St Peter in Gallicantu (Crowing of the Cock)

Yep, as the title says, this place is:

- Mount Zion
- Caiaphas the High Priest's house
- Church of St Peter in Gallicantu (Crowing of the Cock), where peter denied Jesus 3 times.


Caiaphas's house was where Jesus was stored overnight in a dungeon/cave until he was brought to Pilot for judgement. (i think).



Forgot what the words mean..



where Jesus was lowered



where Jesus was bound



there, Psalm 88 was read to us (thank you auntie Lindy :)).. the prophetic psalm of the cry of Jesus.. (thank you David)



The pictures here tell many things. Like this one has Jesus on the left and Peter on the right. Jesus says before the cock crows, you will deny me 3 times. Peter, on the other side, says no Lord, never will i deny you.



Close up of Jesus



Me with the door


another sculpture shows this scene too



"non, novi illum"
"No, I don't know Him"


and we need to remember not to blame Peter, because seriously, if it were me, i don't know what i'd do! of course i pray i wouldn't, but really, you never know. the last thing we want is to be proud (like Peter) and think we will nEVER. only Jesus can remain so faithful!





we went inside the caves too, to see what's it like inside the dungeon..



poster explaining layout underground



we went down where Jesus was "stored" the night before his crucifixion. Mom and Moshe looking down from above



the hole that they believe Jesus was lowered down from



apparently, there is a darker mark that cannot be washed off at all. many say it looks like the silhouette of Jesus kneeling and praying, ie, interceeding for us all. from the picture above, Jesus would be facing left, on his knees, with his hands together in front of him praying. can't quite see from here, but.. from those postcard photos (which i'm sure they photoshoped), it's quite "obvious"

Dead Sea Scrolls Museum

We were brought to the museum where the dead sea scrolls were kept and displayed for us tourists. very interesting stuff, though i must say i didn't understand quite a lot of them. (and that's why i'm bent on going back in like maybe 5 years time to experience Israel once again. and i'm sure then, it'll be a totally different experience considering i would hopefully be more "wise" and "knowledgable" by then..)



they had this cool model of Jerusalem, the city. Moshe told us so many things about where this and that was.. so much!


what was really cool was when Moshe showed us the "Fingerprint" of God. SHIN, the hebrew letter, is said to be "God's name". or the letter of God, something like that. like SHaddai. the "SH" - that's the SHIN.

so from the city of Jerusalem, there are actually 3 valleys. or there WERE 3 valleys. 2 of them are still present today, as you can see from the bottom most corner (of the picture on top), each taking one side of the city. it's like a trench/valley thingy. 90 degrees.

there's a HIDDEN one, which was covered by the Romans or some group of people, to deny that the God of Israel lives. they filled that valley with soil, and today, it's a shopping street. terrible people. but who can ever stop God from being made known?!



from the "south", (which is from where this picture was taken), you can see that the corner or meeting point of the SHIN is at the corner of the south-east. and it so happens that those are the two entrances for people to enter the temple. the southern steps and the eastern gate. and it's like God is saying, I'm guarding the doors of Israel. HOW COOL!!

all in all, i think it's just so amazing how God had planned the city this way. using nature's wonders of valleys to stamp His signature and claim this city as His very own. Awesome God!!




At this same place, we find the Dead Sea Scrolls Museum. in fact, this is what the place is famous for (Though i was personally more intrigued by the 3D model of Jerusalem)

Weren't allowed to take pictures, so sorry, no photos for this one!

Moshe told us a bit about how the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. in 1947, a sheep ran into a little creek. Shepherd boy came to the rescue, and threw some stones to measure the depth of the creek. he heard, instead, the breaking of pottery. he went down, and found jars that contained leather skins with weird writings. Tried to sell them in Jerusalem, but nobody really cared. Only this shoemaker who found it interesting bought it, and brough it to an Israeli professor expert on such writings.

So these leather-parchments were brought all the way to America, where in 1954, the business man who finally bought it placed an advert int he newspapers asking for a quarter million for the scrolls! Of course, Israel bought the scrolls, and there you have, the Dead Sea Scrolls!

Prior to this find, the last find of manuscripts was in the 10th Centuary, AD.

This round, all books were found, except for Esther, and they believe it's because the word "God" was not in the book of Esther, therefore they didn't think it to be worth duplicating and storing. Everything else, however, was almost exactly word for word!

exceptions are, out of all the books of psalms copied, there was one copy that had 151 psalms instead of 150. haha.. don't ask me why!

Chinese Lunch

We next went for lunch. Chinese Lunch. which made some people very happy, but i personally not being a fan of chinese cuisine, was.. okaaayyy.. i'd rather have local israeli food anytime. but no complaints! just happy to have a rest and some food :)

fellowshiped with auntie lina and uncle warren at this place. nice to hear their stories of how God has been ministering to them. wondefully blessed couple! :)

Shepherd Girls: $1!!

some interesting facts. Bethlehem is actually controlled FULLY by the palestinians. NO jews at all. just like jericho and gaza. (i hope i'm factually correct. sometimes moshe stands quite far, or i can't quite catch what he's saying.. so pardon me if i make any factual errors)

anyway, here, we stopped to check out some shepherds tending their flock. it's amazing how amidst all these wars and technological advancements, there are still many shepherds living lives AS shepherds, tending their flock and running a business. and it's so near the city!!

you'd think only Singaporeans have their "one dollar, one dollar" aunties and uncles.. here in israel, they've got "one dollar" girls! ie, take a picture of me and my sheep for only 1 dollar. well, guess that's partly how they make their living!


example of old auntie bringing sheep to meet us



their "fields"



didn't want to pay $1, and didn't exactly want to hold the sheep, so took them in the background haha.. cheapskate us i know



even little girls know how to do the $1 business!

Barrier Walls

These are the famous walls that people watch on TV about the war in Gaza. these walls were built to prevent bombs from being thrown in, and the second one in the making is a screening area for vehicles that might be carrying bombs.

security is so highly valued that even buses of children MUST have at least one security guard. i guess after an incident like the bombing of the school bus, i don't quite blame them..



the first wall



the wall in the making

My Dear Sister

what my sister does best on the bus..


EAT!! (magnum ice cream i believe she's holding..)

Mountain of Evil Council

Couldn't quite catch what Moshe was saying. but it was something about how there is mountain is called "the mountain of Evil Council", or Absolom. apparently, the united nations is just next door. WHAT a coincidence. HAHA. sometimes, you just can't help but appreciate Moshe's wit.

More Shopping!!

We then went, in true Singaporean fashion, for more shopping!! i think we spent close to an hour at this shop ALONE. we were apparently given 30% discount, but i'm sure the price was also marked 30%, (or more), higher.

this is where dad (in)famously bought our $1000 minorah. but i guess it's a good buy. coz seriously, where can one find that in Singapore? who knows, this might probably be the one and only minorah of such size in a singaporean house! hahaha.. looks grand though, i like! :)


also bought a tshirt here.

look at the other cool things that they sell



a cute chess set



me with my cool gladius. i look so cool.

Valley of Hell

This is where it is said that King Herod (who later became SUPER mad) threw the young children to be sacrificed and killed. how sad..


='(

Mount of Olives and the Descent to Gethsemane

Saturday, and half the trip (5 days) have passed. it's crazily quick.

first proper day in jerusalem.. and our first location is Mount of Olives. That's where:

- Jesus rode in on palm sunday
- Jesus sweat blood in garden of gethsemane



near the start of the descent (Palm Sunday strech)



piggie and me.



it's just me, and the wall, and the city behind. and just me.



along the climb down, there were vast stretches of GRAVES. as in coffins graves. heaps of people being buried. why? because they believe when Jesus comes again to judge the dead, he will start from the east (where Mt of Olives is), so they buy all the grave spots there, because they want to be the closest when it happens. (zach 4:14)

There's a double gate that is sealed now by the muslims because they want to dash all Jews' hope of a Messiah (how mean).



us looking at the stretch of coffins



close up of the coffin



see the little hole for the candle? Apparently it's super similar to the Qing Ming tradition the chinese have. apparently coz i'm not that certain really. i've never been to a qing ming thingy.

in the past, they used to pile stones over the area where the dead body is buried. (last time no proper concrete coffin mah) why again? practical reason of preventing smell, and also to serve as a sort of monument. reminds me of how the chinese will carve names and all that on their grave stones.. quite a bit of similarities there huh..

fyi, one spot here can cost anywhere from 40-100 THOUSAND US bucks. die rich.



After their bodies ferment and when there is no space left in the graves, they will collect the bones and store them into boxes according to families. how ineteresting! one box per family.



camera went through the grails




From left..



to right..



to further right..



Apparently, in the past, there was only 1 city outside the city. all else was found IN the city. that's how important the city was. In Jesus' time, the city used to be much bigger than it is now. 40% bigger! today it's 221 acres, so it was probably 400 acres last time!

Where the Golden Dome lies, you will be amused that it's non-christian/jewish. it's actually muslim!! they built it there because it's their "third holiest place". (i know, compared to Judiasm's and Christianity's FIRST holy place) but oh well, nothing's ever fair is it.

but where the Golden dome is used to be King Solomon's temple that he built, and King Herod's re-built temple (twice bigger than King Sol's, coz he wanted to impress the Jews and win their favour)



me with the golden dome.



That place is also known as Mount Moriah. That was where Abraham brought Issac to sacrifice him. almost. But God is always good! :) and Abraham knew that! (Read Hebrews 11)

So you ask, why MOUNT Moriah when it looks so FLAT?? because it USED to be a mountain, but silly king Herod decided to flaten the ground as it would then be more practical a worship place. prior to the flattening, people had to worship at the SLOPES of the mountain, which made it very inconvenient for everyone. whereas if it's flat, everyone's on the same level, and it's easier to see what's in the middle. this also enlarged the city. more platform.

The city has 36 thousand people, mostly muslim (28,000) and only 4000 jews!! interesting huh..

Here, Moshe told us a lot about where everything was. like "on the left is XXX and on the right is XXX", so a bit hard to explain here. but all was very interesting.



this picture looks in from the east (we're taking the picture on Mt of Olives).


to the left of the globe is Caiphaias' house, the high priest of that time. also, there's the upper room there, and where tradition says that David's tomb is.

to the rightish side is golgotha, the garden tomb. where most believe Jesus died, and was buried. Pontius Pilot also lived somewhere there..

and in the middle, that's me! =D



Right at the bottom of the Mount of Olives lies the Garden of Gethsemane. Where Jesus wept, sweat blood. Gethsemane means "Oil Press", where they used to have the olive presses. Signifying how Jesus was pressed, crushed for our iniquities. He produced blood (like oil) for us. thank you Lord..

This was the place where His disciples were asked to pray and watch, but they fell asleep. Moshe believes it's because they had just come from the upper room Passover Feast, and therefore have not only stuffed themselves, but also drank easily 4 cups of wine. how not to fall asleep right?



here we are at the gate



entering Garden of Gethsemane



further into the garden



dad (pretending to) pray



from a nice top view



me and piggie



dad and his two girls



a little write up



The Church of Agony was built to commemorate the rock where Jesus actually wept and broke down. don't ask me how they knew which rock it was. guess it's more symbolic than anything else lah..


the door of the church



at the back of the church



from the middle aisle



the rock that the priests and people were praying over