Tuesday April 29, 2008 - Tower of David Museum

Okay, I've got some catching up to do. . . . my last entry was last Saturday, Shabbat, which by the way I must say that I've been doing quite a bit of studying about the Sabbath and I believe I've come to the decision that I've been taught to believe that Sunday is the Sabbath day, but it's not and never has been, the Jews have it right, it's always been from Friday dusk to Saturday dusk, and according to God's fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy" has always been for the seventh day of the week, not the first day, which is Sunday. I won't ramble about it but check out this website and tell me what you think http://www.sabbathtruth.com/sabbath_purpose.asp I'm convinced!



So on Sunday I went to Christ Church and had lunch with some English folks, who are staying at the Guest House at the church, two of them work for Teen Challenge and another couple work for a ministry called the Ebenezer Emergency Fund out of the UK which assists the elderly return to their homeland here in Israel. http://www.ebenezer-ef.org/UK/eef.htm A very friendly group, so I ended up going with them to another church that night, which I had been hearing about called the King of Kings Church http://www.kkcj.org/about/ It was really good, very American style, great worship band, and a sermon about tithing (ha!), really, that was the sermon, but it was still good. I enjoyed it!
Monday was spent relaxing and studying about Israel, Judaism, Islam and reading the Word, just an awesome day with the Lord, whom I feel guiding me so much on this trip. He's showing me many things!





So on Tuesday I walked to the Old City and decided to spend the afternoon at the Tower of David Museum which is right at the Jaffa Gate. As you walk through the archaeological ruins, it's layed out really well documenting the historical periods of Jerusalem's past, including these remains that I'm standing on of the 2nd Temple Period quarry, behind me is the Phasael Tower, or observation point, with the flags on it.










I met Phyllis at the museum, a very nice lady from San Francisco, who essentially came here to Israel as what she calls "a last hurrah!" She said that two years ago she was very sick with a neurological problem and she didn't think she was going to make it, and still doesn't know if she will, but she decided to come to Israel. She educated me on some really great places outside of Jerusalem to visit, she's been to a lot of them, and so we sat and had some coffee and apple pie. She was very sweet!













This is another picture of inside the Citadel's courtyard, looking onto the observation tower. Keep in mind that none of these ruins are from the period of Kind David, they are partial remnants from the 2nd Temple that was destroyed by the Romans, the arch and the tower are remnants from that period. The 1st Temple was completely destroyed by Nebuchannezer, nothing was left of it.





And as you walk around the citadel, the museum has really great exhibits with artwork, remnants and information walls explaining the different eras of the Old City, and all of the tribes that occupied the areas throughout the years. It's amazing how many times Jerusalem has been seized and taken over. This picture is called "To the Pilgrim" highlighting the era when the Crusaders invaded Jerusalem and took over.


FYI, go to this website and check out some information on the Old City, it's pretty fascinating. . .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_City_%28Jerusalem%29