Jerusalem Approach; Valley of Rephaim, Bethlehem, Herodian Fortress, and Hebron

2/18
evening: Fiddler on the Roof required for Jewish thought
Menu: chocolate milk and popcorn :)

Briana Cowan

2/21/13

The Land and the Bible

Jerusalem Approaches

          We stopped at a place overlooking the Valley of Rephaim, which means Valley of Spirits or Ghosts. This valley is the southwest approach to Jerusalem. This is probably the way that David traveled from Bethlehem to the Elah Valley where he fought Goliath. In the Valley of Rephaim, the Philistines attacked Jerusalem twice from the southwest but failed as David sought God. David could’ve relied on his own pride and just went ahead and fought the Philistines the second time but instead he sought God and His will and the Lord told him to go behind the Philistines to cut off their way of escape so that they would be forced to go north through the Central Benjamin Plateau and then west. The problem was, there is no western access to Jerusalem between the Rephaim Valley and the Beth Horon/Kiriat Jaarim ridges. Again, the Lord helped the Israelites defeat the Philistines. Jerusalem is not an easy place to attack from the SW; the best way is North. David showed his dependency on the Lord realizing his place of leadership was only because God placed him there. Every step of the way he sought God’s guidance.

            

Then we headed towards Bethlehem, the place for the setting of the book of Ruth. One thing that is so surprising is the people had to build a wall in order to stop suicide bombings, Palestinians from coming over and blowing things up. This wall has helped! It is all graffitied and sadly by some "believers" who are so blinded as to how this wall has helped.

Bethlehem was the home of David and the place of his anointing by Samuel. It was outside the city where David stayed as a shepherd. Bethlehem was the place that Micah prophesied the ruler of Israel would come and it indeed was where the Messiah was born. We went into the Church of Nativity that was built by Justinian over the church built by Helena, Constantine’s mother in 325 AD. Jesus was born in a stable because no one would take this pregnant woman, especially one who got pregnant out of wedlock, into his or her home. Mary and Joseph had probably been in Bethlehem a couple of weeks. As Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes it was also symbolic of the burial cloths that would be wrapped around Him after his death on the cross.

the place where people believe that Jesus was born

bethlehem

 Then we went to a wheat field outside of Bethlehem, which could’ve been around where the Shepherds saw the angels proclaim the good news. It was a lot easier to picture bethlehem outside the city rather than the new, tourist city.

            Then we went and saw Herod the Great’s Herodian fortress and burial site.  This was to secure the route to En-Gedi from Jerusalem, a place where Herod built this huge fortress underground as well on this big hill. This might have been the place where the Magi asked Herod where the one born king of the Jews was to be found. Herod built a couple of aqueducts to transport water from Bethlehem to the fortress and we were able to see Solomon’s Pools which supplied Jerusalem and Herodian with water by aqueduct. There are remains of the pool and the fortress today.

that hill is where the fortress was and is under ground

the pool is right behind the shepherd

view from on top of the hill 

            Then we went and stood in a field by Tekoa, the hometown of Amos. This En Gedi/Tekoa route and the Ascent of Ziz is where the Lord gave victory to the Israelites against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah. Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah at the time, and he sought the Lord as these nations came to attack and the Lord instructed him to have the choir go in front of the army singing to God and in this manner the Israelites won as their enemies destroyed one another.

            Then we went to Hebron, a place that was called Kiriath-arba, a city on the road of the Patriarchs where Abraham bought land from the Hittites as burial ground for his wife Sarah. This was the only land that Abraham actually owned. Later Abraham was also buried there as well as Jacob and Leah and many of the patriarchs. Herod built this building to be offered as a sanctuary that would stamp his name on the location. 

Abraham

at one point us girls were forced to wear these cape things. It was kinda fun :)

At the very end we stopped at a lookout over Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, Bethany, and Bethphage and talked about the final approach, when Christ is to return for the final time on the Mount of Olives (Zachariah 14:2-4).