Holy Land Tour 2018

[Music] welcome twice welcome to the holy land we want to welcome you here this october november of 2018 to the holy land you would have recently arrived from the airport we're here in the city of david this is a land full of of both history archaeology and of course the greatest event of all time we hope that when you uh arrive in this land that uh you'll be like a bee gathering all of the pollen that will stay with you the rest of your life as you get the honey beads out of this great experience after a long trip across the atlantic we came to netanya israel landing at the bengarian airport near tel aviv netanya is right on the mediterranean sea and we're at the island suite hotel after a long trip we then had a wonderful breakfast the next morning and of course then had to load up where we met with our driver alan and also the head of security for the british embassy who happened to be our guide his name is tarek mitwali and of course i met with all of you the to prepare you for the trip our first stop would be at caesarea maritimo or caesarea on the coastline named after uh augustus seaver it was built by herod the great even though there were persian and phoenician influences there previously we're here at the great theater in that held over 6 000 people as we walk around the gardens in front of the theater there just looking across at the mediterranean remember that paul maybe made his defense in that theater here you can see some of the great columns that were in that area that build up the temples and houses this is one of the largest sites in the holy land as far as what the city was in size however even with all of the beauties here and so forth less than six percent of the site has actually been excavated most of the sites that's been excavated are just some of the key areas right along the mediterranean as we walk from the theater we move on over into the administrative area where both the temples and palaces were along the large port that was built by herod in fact that poured out where you see the mediterranean was large enough to have been the uh to house ships in it that had gates on it and of course one of the great evidences here of the time of the savior was a stone of dedication that was placed a plaque to tivarium caesar by pontius pilatos one of the very few evidences of pontius pilatis or pontius pilate existed as we came out into this area here we moved on over to the aqueducts there were actually four aqueducts that fed the city the first one was built by herod himself before the time of christ and then the second one was by hadrian in the second century a.d that what you're looking at is actually a double aqueduct and they were built with the same stone so they look the same our next stop was in haifa itself where we were at the german templar cemetery there we visited the gravesites of some of the early missionaries that were in that that served in that land in the 19th century here's the one of adolphus hague who served very shortly there only a matter of a few weeks also john clark is another one of the missionaries that served both of which died in haifa john served over a year there the first convert of the church in 1886 was by jacob sporry was georg growl he later a month later baptized his wife that's buried underneath this beautiful olive tree here her name magdalena climbing the slopes of mount carmel we came to an observatory that looks over the bay of haifa mount carmel is known as the antelope snows and he looks over the beautiful city that's the third largest city in israel jerusalem and tel aviv being the other two across the bay is the ancient port city of ako here we took our photos above the baha'i gardens that are beautiful gardens on the most beautiful anywhere in the world that stretch down the whole length of the hill where the founder of the baha'i faith is buried and a shrine or memorial is made up to him traveling up the spine about carmel through drew's villages we came to the site of the chapel of elijah that is a carmelite chapel there known as mukraka and here we after visiting the site we met together in a grove of trees just outside the chapel to discuss one of the great events that happened in the scriptures here here elijah challenges the priests of baal to a contest and then as we read the account here we discovered that uh that elijah has after they had done all they could and no fire came down from heaven bal being the great storm god should have caused it maybe he'd be asleep or something elijah challenged them and there he placed of had water placed upon the altar and one of the great stories of scripture takes place later as an 80 year old man he runs down the hill of mount carmel into the valley below and meets ahab and tells him that the floods are coming after a three-year famine well this is one of the great stories we encountered there crossing the jezreel valley we come over to mount tabor one of the significant mounts in all of the holy land this particular mount as a mount set apart unlike the other mountains here it's really uh not a mountain chain like mount carmel or mount gilboa or any of the other sites up on the top of it after riding taxis up to the top we came to a beautiful chapel dedicated to elijah to moses and to the savior himself where peter james and john had the transfiguration take place on top of this mount as we looked out from the mount towards mount moore moray we could actually point out the villages of nain and endor where other significant scriptural events occurred president kimball called this the highest spot on earth when he visited here back in 1979 it's a beautiful site a place where our hearts were lifted as we came to that beautiful area we went on to the sea of galilee where we ended at the uh kibbutz ainggev for our night where we'd spend the next few days looking out across the sea of galilee as you can see in the distance there and our first stop was to come back to the jezreel valley where we came to the ancient canaanite fortress of megiddo over 26 levels of civilization make that hill stand out along the way one of the entrances into that valley that was used even in 1450 bc by the pharaoh tepe moses iii and he documents his exact way in which he conquered that particular fortress it stands up from the earliest times of a calcalithic period with over 17 temples that end with the israelite period when israel takes it over it's a solomonic city there we saw some of the city gates as we first walked in where the taxes were collected and as we walked over the site we saw many of the other significant ruins there the casemate walls the buildings the city and even the stable area the stables housed over 450 horses that said that ahab used 2 000 chariots against the forces of uh the assyrians and so forth it's also this city uh i referred to it as the valley of jezreel it's also known as the valley of estralon but more importantly it's also known as the valley of the hill of megiddo the word in hebrew is har and magedon are the valley of armageddon and down below us here we can see as we walk further on the site we see some of the sacred areas where some of those 17 temples were located and gives us a great view of the history of this country as we look over the many civilizations that resided here now we're looking down into the grain storage so vital if this was laid siege to and important not only was the food but also the water and so to supply the fortress with waters the water was outside the hill was to make a large tunnel 183 steps led down to this tunnel that was over 400 feet long and here we see walking out one of our participants all the different layers of civilization the water sources how long it must have taken to do all that and how diligent they had to be crossing the beautiful jezreel valley we came to the city of nazareth the boyhood town of jesus and here we saw reenactments actually the village is built exactly over some of the area of nazareth at the time of the savior here volunteers serve as actors you might say are performers in a village built exactly the same way here you can see some of us trying out how to be a carpenter we happen to be there at the time of the olive harvest which is significant as you remember what all the teas represent there we learned about olives and olive trees here the plucking of the olive trees and the separating of them we also came to a sheepfold and there joseph explains to us the reenactor uh there of the event of how they use those sheep and then we came to hannah who also uh showed us how weaving processes were done how they made the claws and clothing here again we come back to where the olives now are being crushed and prepared eventually to go into goths or you might say presses where then olive oil comes from it shimon got shimony and then we also visited with some of the volunteers saw the baby jesus if you will as a volunteer there and then came to his synagogue here in the synagogue we referred to the account in luke where the savior reads from isaiah what we call chapter 11 today we saw all the biblical lifestyles how they ate where they lived even how they were buried very similar to the tomb in which the savior himself would have been buried in in jerusalem and we stood before a wine vat remembering that the first miracle of the savior was water changed to wine and then we looked down upon some of their gardens you know all the food that they serve here in their restaurant as we ate their first century meal most of the vegetables and things are actually grown on the site exactly the way they were in the time of the savior after having our first century meal we went back to the shores of sia gali to the major port of magdala here a 1st century a.d synagogue the first actually ever uncovered that were 99 sure the savior actually stood in really at the ground level of the savior and there was found a bema with a stone on it the bema stone there represents the temple that was built in jerusalem and what's significant about it is it was constructed at the time the temple existed in jerusalem at the same time as the savior here we see some of the mikvahs and the waterworks that went underneath the city and provided even water within the homes itself running water and then we came to the and otten chapels that were located here for people to remember the women in the life of the savior and the events that happened each of the columns in there were dedicated to the different women and one was dedicated to those unnamed women even today who have testimonies of christ as we looked at these different ceramic tiles mosaics in each of the four chapels in there and then the lower chapel where we saw a woman touching the ham of the garment of the savior these all represent the different miracles that were recorded during the mortal ministry of the savior raising of the dead walking on the water and many other things north of magdala is the modern caboose of norfolk guinness are where it's located the egalalan museum that houses a first century boat discovered really when there was a drought like there is today in israel and the waters were lower in the sea of galilee they were two of the brothers discovered it that were members of the caboots and here's what it looked like in actuality as we sat along the shores of sia gali we reminisced over the many miracles that happened in the savior's life the calling of his disciples the walking on water and the many other things and then we prepared ourselves to actually make a journey across the sea of galilee and to our surprise a miracle somewhat happened for us i'd wanted so much for us to be able to cross this sea completely almost all the tour groups today only go out to the center and come back to the same port that they came from i wanted to go back to engev clear across the sea of galilee and as we discovered as we started to board we would be able to go clear across because an east wind would come and the east wind would make it impossible for the boats to stay on the west side of the lake and therefore we got on this uh boat and crossed it clear over to the other side here we read the account of elder howard w hunter as he gave his general conference address about the storm on the sea of galilee master thou carest not that we perish and when we sang that him as we were out there reminiscing some of the great events that happened on this very small lake yet so very significant finally we came to uh kabutsan guev's restaurant where we dined on st peter's fish as it's called a tilapia that actually raised its young in its mouth and as you can see here we opened the mouth of a fish as we began our day three on our journey we crossed the jordan river on the northern side of the sea of galilee and after passing betsada we came to the village of capernaum in the time the savior was actually a major city at the time it was a jewish city at the time and this is where the savior called my own city here we could see the houses and so forth that were from that time period and a fourth fifth century synagogue built over top of the synagogue that was there in the time of the savior imagine more recorded miracles occurred in this city in the mortal ministry of the savior than any other city on earth and we could feel somewhat those feelings as we were there and recounted some of the great miracles where he taught the bread of life sermon in the synagogue here we saw the stones of this beautiful synagogue and sat upon the benches along the side just as they did 2 000 years ago and and we saw again some of the industry of the city both there was the olives but also the wheat that was ground here some of the beautiful ornate stones done in this both and as you see here in this limestone but also we saw some of the buildings made out of the basaltic stone as we look at some of these beautiful stones we see one that has a roman wagon on it that was probably used for the torah shrine to carry the torah into the synagogue some people believed it was the ark of the covenant which of course it was not it's got that feeling that christ could have been here and that he taught his apostles and it yeah it's a great spirit yeah yes it's it's great place to think of this as the place where the savior lived and and did many miracles now here in capernaum was also the village where peter and matthew were selected and we come across peter's house this is a first century veneration of a house in capernaum very likely the very house of peter with later byzantine and crusader ruins built up on top of it the city of capernaum was destroyed in 749 with a huge earthquake that devastated most of the country about a mile up from capernaum is located a hill where a natural amphitheater is known as the amount of beatitudes here mussolini built a large church and dedication to it this is the same benito mussolini fame of world war ii and the beautiful gardens around it give a very peaceful setting where we reviewed the accounts of the beatitudes as as we found a place where we could gather together and reminisce over some of the meaning and instructions this for us was also a sabbath day and so it was a place where we could really contemplate the life and ministry of the savior at the base of the mount of beatitudes is located the primacy of the rock or mensah christie as it's called here peter swam from the sea of galilee over to the shores where john had recognized the resurrected lord was and as they sat down eating fish and loaves together then the savior asked him the question peter loveth thou me three times this was responded to tradition says that it's up on these stones here that the savior and peter walked and met just off the shores to see a galilee traveling to the northernmost part of the country we came to tilden where we stopped to have a picnic lunch these beautiful gardens where one of the headwaters of the jordan is there are three headwaters sanir dan and bonias which we'll visit in a few minutes here we can see the water actually flow from three sides around it flows out of the rocks and stones and made a beautiful rain forest area the water flowing fast enough to create mills that were used later than biblical history but here we can also see the actual temple of jeroboam when it was first set up when jeremiah took over the northern kingdom of israel with the ten tribes here is the great altar with its horns on it as well and we look across and it's right on the lebanese israeli border we also passed some archaeologists that were digging at the site and then moved along the actual stone streets as we walked up these stone streets to the gate here judgment was landered and i'm standing in the very spot where ancient judge the word dan means judge and so i stood in judgment there as they did anciently at that site where the throne of the king was next we came to the oldest mud gate in the world it dates back pre-abraham but to abraham's day he would have seen this gate that's there it used to be able to be walked through but they've sealed it up but those are the actual bricks that are laid up there and we come finally to caesarea philippi or banyas and there we saw some of the ancient ruins this too was the headwaters of the jordan river and flowing out of the great cave that we walked up to where waters underneath these temples that were constructed at the time city was named after herod phillip and tiberius caesar who at the time was ruler of the world but even herod the great built temples here dedicated to augustus as well and so we met here and and discussed the event where peter bore witness of the savior when the savior said who to win say that i the son of man am while others responded finally peter responded and said thou art the christ the son of the living god traveling from the lebanese border at the base of mount hermon where also the syrian border is located we came to ben tall here art decorations mark this military bunker site that's on a hill overlooking syria and we looked from these bunkers on in after some of us climbed through the bunkers on towards syria itself to the town of kanetra that's now a ghost town what you see in the distance there is actually syria and as the sun began to set we reminisced over the events of this day as we returned to engev here in the evening time some of the some of us spent time in the sea itself walking in the waters where jesus walked on the waters one of the significant things that we discovered about the land of israel is how agriculturally important it is here they grow much of their own food and not as much imports into the country it's the second most valuable part of their economy you can see here where they have the plastic hoop houses and so forth that help the crops ripen evenly and keep the moisture in the ground olives dates and other crops that are grown here even cotton has grown in this area of the world mango and of course they have up in the golan heights much of their v 40 percent of their beef is produced for the country up there the foods are produced for the local population as you see as we come to the valley of jezreel we recognize that while we're fighting the battles of hunger and much of the rest of the world here some of the greatest production is done in agriculture in the world and one day there will be a battle here where the soil will be fertilized with the blood of many nations on our last day by the sea of galilee we give our farewells as we head south along its southern area to the site of the jordan river as it exits out of the sea of galilee this is known as yard and eight and for many many years no one could access the jordan river farther south so this became a traditional baptismal site for the many christians who come here the kibbutz de ganialov operates this place which is a place where you can touch the waters of the jordan and be able to those who desire to have their baptismal services there and they sell date honey here at yard meat where it's in the land of milk and honey these honey is made from dates heading farther south to the ane herod valley along the jordan river valley we come to the site of bait shawn here saul and his sons jonathan were defeated by the philistines and their bodies hung upon the walls of that large hill that was seen in the background also here we went through the city of scithopoulos or bates shawn as it's called in the roman byzantine period and saw the baths uh the public baths and the public streets as we walked along those and saw their sewer systems as well as the streets were formed how beautiful the colonnaded streets were this reminds me somewhat of the city of ephesus in turkey in the background again you see where the ancient acropolis was that hill there where the bodies of saul and jonathan were and you see the beautiful ornate columns some of this had to be imported from such areas as uh egypt as well as turkey and even rome on some of the marble that was found in the city here and shows some of the great development of it of course this city like so many of the others in the holy land in 749 was destroyed by a great earthquake and laid under the ground for many centuries and when i was here in 1973 all of this was underground only a little bit of a large theater was here here we found the public bathroom as well that was open for those who wanted to conduct their business in two ways and then and so you can see we had fun in this particular area for just a few minutes now uh from here we walked on over to the theater uh where over 7 000 uh people could be seated we only see a portion of it there was actually much higher seats above the ones that we see there in the background here they could watch not only gladiatorial games on occasion but usually it was productions much as we enjoy our theatrical productions today and it had great acoustics that could uh people on the stage could be heard clear up to the top and so bates shawn one of those great areas on the way uh towards jericho and jerusalem as we get down south we come to bethbara or quasarel gilhood as it's called today the crossing of the jordan river where not only joshua but also elijah and elisha crossed and where john did his baptisms this is probably about 90 percent sure the very side of it in those days the river was flowing much harder and much larger today with all the irrigation pulled off it's more like a puddle and where you look at just across from these people is the borderline and so we're actually on the jordanian border half of that water is in israel the other side of the banks there is jordan up through the center of where the water is and so you're on the very border between israel and jordan after leaving beth bar we came to jericho where we stopped for a minute in a shop it's very strong glass watch how strong is it all the glasses where you are going to see are the same glass same strong and look also bowls plates there is many sides of them inside you can use it in a microwave an aventura and if you like to buy anything the price is marked in american dollars it's so important that we support these people particularly in the palestinian areas where they need the tourists to come afterwards we stopped for a lunch where we had a very traditional palestinian meal including upside down which is made of rice and chicken cooked and turned upside down here in the city of jericho we see where elisha came and healed the waters of jericho as mentioned in the old testament it's also the city where joshua fit the battle of jericho and israel made its conquest into the land where the walls came tumbling down we climbed upon the tail and there saw the over 26 levels of civilization considered the oldest continuously inhabited community in the world and by archaeologists and here you can see some of the mud bricks that are uh still there reminiscent of the old testament jericho new testament jericho was built farther away but this city still existed in the time of the savior and certainly existed when joshua fit the battle of jericho now looking at this you can see some of the buildings and structures here and down below we can see not only a pottery kilns here but we also see the oldest structure a water tower with over 22 stairs the inside of it infants buried under the base of it to bring it prosperity it's one of the oldest structures in the world as far as a community structure in any town in the world up above is the amount of temptations and the wilderness of temptations as we left the old testament jericho we looked out into the city as we moved towards our jericho resort hotel and there we had a very wonderful dinner after which we then had a lecture from tarek as he instructed us in the principles of islam arising early on our fifth day in the country watching the sun rise over the dead sea we came south to masada where we rode cable cars up to the very top of masada this ancient fortress is so significant in the history of modern israel as well as ancient as it became a symbol of masada shall never fall again as we got on top we had this magnificent view towards the dead sea that used to come clear up to where the white areas are there in the time of the romans when they laid siege to the city we too scaled up the city after riding the cable cars to join up on the top of the mount here we began our explanations of the different sites there standing in front of the stone quarry tarek discusses the different levels of the site and the way in which the different buildings were built here as you notice the stones in fact as you look at the stone quarry down below you have to realize that as you look at these buildings everything below a dark line a black line is as it was in situ here we can see where some of the offices and buildings were administrative centers up here there's that black line that demonstrates everything below it is as they found it as archaeologists coming in the governor's administrative building up here on top all this built by herod shows some of what the walls were really like they were plastered and then had beautiful frescoes on them and we'll see that in other places in the bathhouse and other locations up there getting our view or vantage point of the many storage areas here there was numerous storage buildings over 20 and number that were filled as we walked through one of them here we recall how they found many of the things still in jars and so forth up on the top looking down towards the mount here we can see where the ramp parts were only single ways coming up and down below us is the palaces three tiers that herod had built we have no evidence herrod ever visited here but these beautiful uh area of refuge there you can see where the circular building was located down there they actually found some of the pot shards with the names of the defenders on top fulfilling the story of josephus that they took the lives of their family and then took their own lives as one was selected to finish off the task two women and some children were reserved that were able to tell the story for the historian josephus in the first century to record we entered into the bath house and learned about and saw in detail how the bath houses worked in the roman period this is like a sauna where heat came from the fire in the distance there and rose up not only through the floor but up through the sides walking further outside and visiting other areas we realize when the significant parts of a fortress is water itself and herod built numerous cisterns up here both in the sides of the mountain and on top when the cisterns is 50 by 50 in size and dips about 30 feet in in depth coming from the hills he built aqueducts that actually came and flooded into these when the rainy season came in the hills uh next we visited the synagogue where some of the scrolls found known as judean desert scrolls part of the dead sea scrolls i was found here the temple scroll and some of the books of the bible here in the geniza that was located there and then we came over to the columbarium columbarian were used as dove coats both for raising the doubts for both meat and sacrifice but also they provided fertility for the gardens that would also be planted up here in this area long since as the soil disappeared on the top but there used to be gardens as well as we walked across the top of this and then met for a short time to review the account of what fortress means both in the scriptures with the story of the psalms and also the story of flavius josephus records that tell of flavius silva and his commanding armies as they circle them out and the suicide pact taken by uh eliezer up on top a commander of the jewish forces now we look over the dead sea as we made our journey south we came to the community of qumran the ancient site where the dead sea scrolls are said to have been found or at least written and then hidden in caves up above the qumran area first we visited a small museum with a multimedia presentation saw replicas of the scrolls and also saw how the community looked at least in the first century a.d it was built 150 bc and and seems to have been destroyed at the end of the destruction of the temple in 70 a.d and here we can view some of the caves there are over 12 caves that have found different scrolls in them some place 14 caves that were discovered first by bedouins and later by excavators here as we walked through the community we saw the waterworks and we saw even the areas where it was a pottery shop as well we saw the scriptorium and other areas that that we visited while we were there here the pottery works even gave its suggestion by some archaeologists that maybe it was a pottery factory area because they found a burial of families in the area this was the essene community here also we had lunch before we would head south to the dead sea we finally arrived at the shores of the dead sea to give everyone a chance to dip in the dead sea or rather float on its waters it's over 33 in mineral and salt content potassium bromide being some of the larger minerals that are in there when you come out it's slick but by no means do you put it in your eyes as some found out while they were in there but you as you can see you only float upon the waters of the dead sea it's very hard to go under it and you definitely don't dive in it uh we had a lot of fun time there as we uh dipped in those waters which are people come from all over the world for its value as mineral salts and things and place mud upon their bodies so that they can improve their skin texture we make our journey now westward as we go through the judean hills coming from the lowest point on the surface of the earth we came up through the judean hills to the wadi kelt where we took a few minutes to look over the wilderness the very wilderness had said that the savior spent 40 days and 40 nights and then satan came tempting him it's also where the monastery of saint george or cosiba is located from the 6th century a.d up until the present and along this same route is the story of the parable of the good samaritan and we spend our time also reminiscing and thinking of the 23rd psalms as we also sang that hymn from our hymn [Music] hymnbooks [Music] as we left as the sun was setting as we left the judean wilderness we felt the power of being in the wilderness of judea and we arrived at our hotel for a quick dinner before we had head out once again to go see in west jerusalem the menorah that was given by great britain in the 10th anniversary of the state of israel and became their national symbol and then we came to the model city at the israel museum here one inch equals 50 inches it's to 50 in scale and we reviewed the size and shape that's located next to the shrine of the book where the actual dead sea scrolls are housed that were found in the judean wilderness at qumran the top of that building looked like a jar that had been made to reminisce of the scrolls of isaiah here the shrine of the book refers to the book of isaiah and also we saw some of the other artifacts imagine these are over 2000 years old and as we went downstairs we also saw some of the early jewish history coming out as we drove past the knesset and all looking at the seat of government of israel our first day in jerusalem to visit the city on our sixth day on the on our journey here in the morning we entered early into dungate so that we could make our way up to the haram sharif or what is uh traditionally known as the temple mount where the temples of solomon and herod were located according to archaeological and historic studies there you see the great dome of the rock that was completed in 692 by the muslims here you can also see the tight security that's up on the mount no jewish practicing jewish person would enter on the mount although some are permitted up there if they have military guard the reason for that is fear of stepping on holy ground and losing their place in the after world here you see the al-aqsa mosque which is really the most important side to muslims the third most sacred site in all the world where muhammad ascended to heaven he was taken to the distant place al-aqsa from medina and then he was led up to the area where he ascended to heaven he was met by the wingstead el baruch there at the fountain in order to say prayers all properly all muslims wash their hands and their face and other and wash themselves before they say prayer to be holy before god entry into the mosque is not permitted today only for muslims following the harm sharif we entered down into the muslim quarter of the city and walked through the many shopping areas the open air markets of the city as we made our way to the western wellness city note that all the fresh fruits there's a pomegranate being cut and some of our group wanted to try the pomegranate juice which was very excellent by the way as i had some myself and we arrived at the western wall are also traditionally known as a wailing wall because of the sound of doves and the voices heard on the wall again just like the muslims before prayer one must wash themselves so there's the washing fountains there and then they take their prayer books the siddhurs with them to the wall so that their prayers can reach up to the heavens with sincerity you see both the ashkenazi jews and the sephardic jews here a group of sephardi jews are praying and here are the more ashkenazic western jewish grain the sephardic are from north africa and oriental countries and the ashkenazic are from western countries underneath wilson's arch we can also see even more of those saying their prayers and can see the rows of siddurs or prayer books so that they can say their prayers with sincerity to the highest heavens here the women's side of the wall is also shown now we enter up into the jewish quarter in the great plaza of the jewish quarter is a large menorah that is a seven state candelabrum that's after the pattern the one used in the temple here tariq will explain the city to us so this area here which is in blue it's the jewish quarter right all the area in like brown or page i can call it this is the muslim quarter which also includes the the mosque the pink one is it pink sort of here is the christian quarter and the last quarter is the armenian quarter we move on to the cardo that is in the jewish quarter of the city this cardo was built in byzantine times this portion but began in the days of hadrian in the second century ad and then we also went over to the broad wall that was eight meters high that was uh while quickly built in the days of hezekiah and isaiah continuing further through the christian quarter now we made our way over to the holy sepulchre church the most sacred site to traditional christianity and all the world where to jews the temple mount is the center of the universe here in this basilica we just saw the tomb of the resurrection halfway between the tomb of the resurrection golgotha is that stone that people were kneeling at where they bathe it with their kisses it's considered the center of the universe up through the medieval period and then we come outside of the holy sepulchre and the jewish quarter to make our way to jaffa gate leaving the tower of david we came out towards the south of the city of jerusalem sun six miles as the crow flies to the city of bate sahur here is where most of the olive wood is made in factories out here and we were given the opportunity of seeing how some of these larger statues are hand carved joseph the owner of the store here explains some of the carving and differences of the olive wood this one done by the same factory just seen this one a copy of that this is three times more expensive than this so don't be shocked when you find something high price and the other one is that even one one piece would hand me okay so this is very important just uh east of the city of bethlehem of the community of bethlehem is the village of bait sahur meaning village of the shepherds it's here where david herded his flocks where the story of ruth and boaz took place and here also where the shepherds receive the annunciation of the savior when it's announced to them what else happens at that announcement yeah hosts of them all the heavens came reverberating do you think this your first time or second time to the holy land i don't i think you were here then i think you were singing and praising the lord at that time too the birth of the son of god [Music] the silent stars above the caves of the shepherd's sheet coats is a chapel it's beautiful in structure and in design it has frescoes on the walls that show the different events that pertain to the shepherds and bethlehem and the ministry of the savior and then we left from there to the little town of bethlehem not so little today to the manger square and the church the nativity over the centuries to protect the church which is the only church standing from the early christian era as a little doorway that was called the eye of the needle entering therein we went down the length of the beautiful byzantine and later crusader church down into the cave of the nativity here as lorenzo snow said unhallowed embellishments over the site of the birthplace of the savior identified exactly from the days of helen of the mother of constantine in the 4th century and we see the manger area also designated next to the church nativity is located the church of saint george which is a catholic portion of the church and here we are able to go down into the very rooms which is said where hieronymus also translated the vulgate bible the catholic bible today his burial is said to be there as well as the two women who assisted him in that from there we go to the western wall heritage foundation where we went through the length of the western wall we had to do this in the evening by appointment and we're able to go the whole length of it as we look here at this area we can see where some of the large stones built by hair this is actually the ground level of where it was in the time of the savior now most of the muslim quarter and the is above us and these archways help support that upper city this particular last view was the doorway that may have been the entry onto the mount closest area to the holy of holies of the temple of herod and zerubbabel these stones are rather large in fact the largest cut stone in the world is located there weighing over 600 tons and then we came to the strathian pools part of the strethian pools are actually in the sister's design convent but we came as far as we could and then had to walk through the narrow pathways back to the entry to the western wall as we see it today early on day seven we arose to make a very special day covering the events the last week the savior's life our first location was to go to bethany the home of mary martha and lazarus and climb up the hill to one of the early tombs of the first century that had been designated really from about the first century as a sacred tomb site actually the stairs were not there that's a 19th century creation to get down underneath a mosque that over houses the area of the tomb and members of the group climbed all the way down into the lowest portion of the tomb that was there we came back to the church of mary martha and lazarus to go inside it's built over top of early byzantine church that was the largest church in the holy land at one time and here inside we see the beautiful mosaics on the walls the reminiscents the events that occurred around the raising of lazarus from the dead and the washing of the feet of the savior and the anointing that took place at this site during this last week of the savior's life as he came from bethany had come to the little village of bethphage and we'd enter into the place of the mounting of the colt upon which the savior rode into the city of jerusalem for his triumphal entry and we sang a primary hymn in this beautiful little chapel in bethphage [Music] [Music] is we came over the mount of olives to the peak of it to look out across the city of jerusalem identify some of the locations in the events of the life of the savior as we looked down at towards the tear dopp church and then the old city of jerusalem from here we then proceeded on further down the hill on the mount of olives this is more typically of what the garden was like in the time of the savior gethsemane was a place of the olive oil got shemen the olive oil press and then we came down to this church of all nations we're located in its gardens our trees that date back to the time of the savior here inside the church of all nations where we weren't permitted to speak we could look up and see all the many frescoes and mosaics that are created here on the walls of the church reminiscent of the events that occurred that night of the atonement in gethsemane as i said here are trees that date back at least to the time of the savior by many botanists stating from there we went up on the mount of olives further walked up higher into what would have been part of the garden of gethsemane to the orson hyde memorial gardens here we reviewed the events that happened in the time of the saviors there were such crowds down in gethsemane itself gave us a quiet place here dedicated to the memory of the apostle orson hyde who came in 1841 to dedicate the land to the return of judah's scattered remnants next we came up to mount zion located on the western side to zion's gate note the many bullet holes that occurred in 1948 during the war of independence just a short distance outside the gate is located the traditional tomb of king david here judah world judaism honors the burial site of david knowing very well that he was probably buried down in the city of david below the temple mount they still have a cenotaph or empty tomb memorial here and so considered a sacred site to jews a beautiful statue reminiscent of david is shown up above it is located the cynical or the upper room that really comes from crusader and islamic time periods was built at that time but below all of these structures even david's tomb is the church of the apostles which dates to the first century a.d here we discuss the seating at the table during that passover evening and then went from there on over down the slope of mount zion to st peters and gallicantu where we had a lunch at saint peter and galacantu the possible house of califos where the savior was judged that evening after being taken from gethsemane to hannes's house we went into the upper chapel first and saw the mosaics that depict the events of that evening galacantu means crowing the place of peter having been told he would deny the savior three times here we found underneath this structure a pit the pits were used as prisons anciently which marks this house as rather unique and possibly the house of california's here we also looked at the prison area where striping would have taken place and where a guard could look into the pit a place where he could relax even his foot upon the ground as he could look inside the pit here we also see where the prisoners would have been striped outside of this facility we see stairs that were if this indeed is god's house and the savior and his apostles would have been on these very steps and you could actually walk on the very steps of the savior and then up uh we went up the hill back over to lion's gate you see the lions up on the top of the gate also known as saint stephen's gate as some proposed he had been stoned there and we go inside that gate see some of the areas over to the pool of bethesda where saint anne's church is located here is where the man of palsy was healed on a sabbath day by the savior the church of saint ann's is a crusader church built here now and more of a modern church and it has all the aspects of the large ceilings it makes a beautiful sound for singing also down underneath is where the immaculate conception of mary is said to have taken place and then we went from there over to sisters of zion church where the antonio fortress is said to have been here in the stratham pools that served it and where pilate made his judgments and then from there the savior went out through the city through damascus gate where he then came to the garden tomb area here we had a very uh professional guide take us through and explain to us the area of golgotha or calvary as it is you can see today that much of the remnant had disappeared through recent storms but there is a picture of what it actually looked like for years until the last couple of years showing the skull shape or place of the skull inside the gardens themselves we then went down to the tomb area where it's believed possibly the tomb of the resurrection as pointed out the beauty of the tomb is as if there was no one in it the tomb was empty and we're reminded of the resurrection of the savior the events that occurred there with peter and john and mary magdalene as we look inside the tomb we see the burial area and we can note the byzantine church as this was also recognized in the third and fourth centuries as a holy place then we walked through the gardens and met in a chapel area where we could discuss the events that occurred and hear bruce r mcconkey relate those events in a very special talk and as pertaining to jesus christ i testify that he is the son of the living god who was crucified for the sins of the world he is our lord our god and our king this i know of myself independent of any other person i am one of his witnesses and in the coming day i shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears but i shall not know any better than that i know now that he is god's almighty son that he is our savior and redeemer and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way god grant that all of us may walk in the light as god our father is in the light so that according to the promises the blood of jesus christ his son will cleanse us from all sin in the name of the lord jesus christ amen on our eighth day which was an optional day for seeing things or doing shopping or packing we went to the city of david this is not the city of bethlehem but the city of jerusalem that became known as the city of david when he became king and here we went through the ruins of city of david saw a multimedia presentation and were able to see the city as it was even in the days of lehigh where laban may have lived in this very portion of the city as some suggest looking back at the mount of olives we see all the burial sites both those of the jews on the hill and christians in the base and muslims against the old city walls here we saw some of the construction techniques to build the city and possibly the temple itself with the same type of techniques walking down along the slopes of the hill where the walls had been we enter into warren's shaft and there we as we enter into that area we descend even further down through the ancient tunnel built by the canaanites first possibly the very tunnel that joab came up to capture the jebusite city and there we saw a visualization of what the city looked like in the days of solomon before the western hill was built in the days of hezekiah we entered into the tunnel where the right-hand tunnel went down through the water and the left hand was a dry tunnel built by the canaanites the other built by hezekiah as we came out through the tunnel ron and sally had a traditional family kiss here in this tunnel and then we exited out to where we would meet the other group that came out of hezekiah's tunnel wet from the below their hips down and they gathered together to discuss the events of all this last week and reminisce with their friendships that they'd grown very close to one another and so we come to this final area where we began this and where the city of david began itself here on the slopes of the city of david [Music] [Music] coming through how's the lunch today great how's lunch today everybody [Music] do [Music] mormon sabbath and jewish sabbath we got up early to go to the jerusalem center where the sabbath services are held i had a significant role in the both the construction as well as in the development of the jerusalem center over the years as we entered into the facility we saw the beautiful gardens that have grown over the years they're to be biblical gardens that have plants identified in it according to the biblical setting here i explained and gave a tour for those that were with the group about some of the background and history of the center the significant events that happened the dreams that we had and vision of what it should be here we have actual working models of both the wine presses and the olive press and crushers here that are actually used by the students during the harvest time of the year for these the screw press that's used to squeeze the olives after they've been crushed and then walking down further through the gardens we're able to see some of the beauties here one of the things we hoped to happen was it would be like an oasis in the middle of the desert second that by being in there you would know you're in jerusalem without us having to say a word we wanted waters to flow we wanted the feeling of education to be throughout the glory of god is intelligence so the building is built with not only the jerusalem stone but also with windows that are large and can overlook the city so that it brings in light and understanding we wanted everything to reflect the image of the savior when we first entered into the center before it was completed but we brought students into the center president hunter and president faust met with us in the fifth level classrooms here you can see the outside area of the atrium while we were in that meeting elder faust told the story of the woman who anointed the savior and judah said not this money have been given to the exchangers its expensive ointment is what he explained and the savior said don't you understand this is given unto my burial it was the finest she could give and then elder faust asks is there anything too fine for the savior in this land in this place where we overlook the city of jerusalem the greatest event of all time took place there is there anything too fine that we could give the savior now you see the dome theater located there and then we made our entry into the inside of the jerusalem center visitors may only visit the eighth level today and in there you can see the fountains upon the entry giving some of those feelings of an oasis in the desert the vaulted ceiling arcade with the teak wood that forms the inside doors and so forth and then we had our church services afterwards we went back to our hotel to pack and board that we would soon be leaving jerusalem saying our goodbyes to jerusalem as we went through the east western judean hills and there stopped at a place for lunch known as elvis we saw elvis's statue there and had our first hamburgers and french fries and other things for the whole trip on our last day from there we went down to the chapel at the little city of emmaus the story of the two disciples who went on the road to emmaus there at an old crusader byzantine chapel we also gathered together reminisced over the stories that took place there and shared our testimonies and feelings of the experiences we had as we met together in that old structure that was on the road from jerusalem to emmaus where these two disciples were joined unbeknownst to them by the savior and after he opened the scriptures unto them and explained it to them their eyes were opened and they saw who he was and he passed out of their midst and so in in the same manner here as we leave this land we hope we take with us the spirit of the savior as these disciples did when they left back from emmaus to jerusalem that same evening leaving the city of emmaus across the iowan valley we came to the city of tel aviv the second largest city in the state of israel and came to the port city of jaffa and where jonah set sail from we found it to be a very busy city with very small streets and heavy traffic we came up into the gardens up above the ruins of the city and into the plaza area there and then went down in the underground museum that's located in the uh central area of jaffa and uh saw the way it was anciently again one of the oldest ports in the in the uh mediterranean sea and also here we found that underwater archaeology had uncovered many of the vessels and things of very ancient times and uh including some of the uh greek as well as the ancient canaanite and phoenician vessels and roman vessels and others clear up through the times of napoleon where napoleon himself some of his things were also found in the museum there and discussed this is where he left on as he came out of the middle east in 1799. here we saw a multimedia presentation that brought alive the story of the city of jaffa and actually saw what the homes looked like as we viewed them there then moving on back up to the plaza we started our walk through the old city of jaffa seeing that it was an art city and a and a muslim city as well here the feral cats were found as we found throughout the country and then we also went up on the hill where we saw a statue dedicated there and the old egyptian pillar down there rebuilt and learned about the zodiac and crossing the bridge where your wishes could be granted if you stood in front of your zodiac symbol and then walk through looking over at the large city of tel aviv that was really begun in 1909 prior to that that was just a beach area we walked down underneath the city walkways close to the waters itself and came to simon the tanner's house reminiscent of the events that occurred here back in the days of peter the apostle when he received the vision that the gospel should go from the jews to the gentiles as well and made his way to caesarea our first stop on this trip after the sunset we went to our final farewell meal where we sat together as friends and associates having a very special last meal and realizing that this was the end of an arduous journey that had taken us through the footsteps of the savior and the land of the prophets and apostles we had our traditional food of the land uh taking the shirak bread and breaking it together as we partake of the salads and the food that was there for us as we concluded our meal together in our farewells then we went late at night nearly the next morning to the airport where we waited for our flight and had this long journey over 12 hours long as we came back to our homes in the united states [Music]

Channel: Clear Image Solutions (Ron Francis)

Views: 422,314

Keywords: Holy Land, Israel, LDS Tours, Dann Hone, Ron Francis, Clear Image Solutions, Columbus Travel, International Travel Studies Institute, walking steps of Jesus, Jerusalem, Jericho, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Dead Sea, Jaffa, Capernaum, Olive Wood Carving, Caesarea, travel study, Dakkak Tourist Agency, agriculture in Israel

Id: qL0Cebuzwu0

Length: 71min 7sec (4267 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 19 2018