Jerusalem Overlook Field Trip!!

My wonderful friends and family!! I am so sorry I haven't posted in a week...we've had a field trip and city escapades, and it's always tough to catch up with schoolwork and emailing and posting when all that stuff happens. PHEW!! But here goes. I really loved this field trip--it was local, and it only took half a day. We just traveled to different sites where we could see the whole land, and talked about the geography and history of the place. So here goes, I'll give a little overview of where we went.

Augusta Victoria Tower

 This was up on the Mount of Olives and we looked in all directions while our teacher proceeded to confuse me with a SUPER intense description of everything, so I stopped listening. BUT there was a lot of beautiful and incredible things within the church that was connected to the tower, so I'll talk about those. This is the center portion of the ceiling. I feel so sad that the picture is blurry--totally didn't notice till later--but as you can see, it's pretty much stunning. It's a basilica style church. The pink and white striped stone is a Mamluk thing. The twelve apostles are surrounding the Lord in this image, and then the four sides of the cross are the main angels (Michael, Gabriel, and then two that are in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha). The detail was incredible.

The image in the ceiling of the asp, right about the alter. It's like a painting with a background of gold mosaics. Gorgeous? Yes. The inscription is in German (the church was commissioned by Wilhelm II for his wife, Augusta Victoria) and it is quoting Acts 1:11. "...Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." He will come again!! And while He's away, we are to follow his commission to stop standing and gazing into heaven and to go about His work!! We've got stuff to do to prepare for his coming :)

 This painting really touched my heart, although I don't know what it's called or who painted it. Maybe Millie or Mom, the art historians of the family, can name it!! It's Mary taking down the body of Christ from the cross. I can't imagine the pain of Mary as she saw her precious son crucified for the sins of the world. I miss my mommy.

 This was a mosaic. It's crazy amazing. Look at that. I think to save time and space on this post, I will refrain from commenting. But please, feel free to think about the meaning of the artwork. :)

Here's a little panoramic picture of the inside of the cathedral. The top is an image of Wilhelm and his lovely wife. I forgot to mention that this church is also a hospital, and that it serves many Palestinians today! Look at this place, it is so beautiful!!! It also had a humongous bell tower, as I mentioned above. But I forgot to mention that we climbed 213 very steep steps (yes, I counted) to get to the top. 

Seven Arches Hotel Overlook

Okay, I don't know where this hotel place was, but it has a great overlook of the city. All of those gray box things are actually graves. The Jews (and Palestinians? I don't know) bury their dead in stone coffins in huge cemeteries. These graveyards are ancient. There are some pretty big ones at the base of the wall surrounding Jerusalem, if you can see it in the image. The people put rocks on top of the graves instead of flowers! Oscar Schindler was buried somewhere in one of these...I'm determined to find his grave and put a rock on it. Also, we had a little devotional here! We talked about how when Christ was resurrected and people were resurrected along with him, they could have been out of these very graveyards. Pretty cool/creepy thought, aye?

 This picture is for Ben. We ride in Mercedes-Benz buses!!! I got really excited when I realized this and that I could tell Ben. So here you go!! Also, a small disclaimer: they are feeding us extremely well here, but I'm not as fat as I appear in this (and following) picture(s). The sweater is warm, but very unflattering. Oh well :)

Tayelet

Okay...obviously this photo is photoshopped slightly, but it's because I got Photoshop free from BYU and I wanted to lighten the photo cause it was dark. I'm still learning how to use it.

BUT this place is amazing. When Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac, he was to go to Mount Moriah and build an alter for the sacrifice there. Well, as he took his three day journey from his home, this is the first glimpse he would have gotten of the place he was to sacrifice his son (story in Genesis 22). The City of David is in the distance, along with Jerusalem right by it. The Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock are built on the site that is supposed to be the sacrificial site of Isaac. 

So we can imagine, as we look at these hills and see the distant place, how heavy the heart of Abraham must have been as he knew that the time to lose his son was getting closer and closer. As if that last image wasn't emotional enough, think of the trust that Abraham must have had in the Lord to complete this task. He had waited decades and decades for a son of his own, for a son that would be the fulfillment of the promises that the Lord made to him concerning his seed. He is blessed with a son by Hagar, and finally one by Sarah. Ishmael and Hagar are sent away, and Abraham is left with Isaac. And then the command comes to sacrifice his beloved son. How was the Lord to fulfill the promises of land, seed, and righteousness if he was to have Abraham's only son? We know the end of the story, that the angel stayed the upraised hand of Abraham and a ram was found in the bushes to offer as a substitute sacrifice. We learn several things from this story: first, that the Lord will always fulfill his end of covenants, but it is US that needs to prove ourselves to him. Abraham had to prove that he was completely obedient to the Lord before he was granted the blessings he was promised. Second, as we are to suffer eternally and dwell outside the presence of our Heavenly Father because of our sins, the Lord has a substitute sacrifice for us. Like the ram in the bush, the Lord provided the Savior for a sacrifice, so that we don't have to pay ourselves. The sacrifice has already been paid for all of us.

Nabi Samwil/Prophet Samuel

 Lizzy, Montana, McCall, and Alyssa in front of the monument to the birthplace of the prophet Samuel! There is a lot of history to this place: Crusaders call this mount "The Mount of Joy" because it was from this hill that they got their first sight of the Holy Land after traveling for months. The crusaders built a church here, but it was turned into a mosque! On the main floor, there is an empty sarcophagus for Samuel built by the . On the bottom floor, there is an empty sarcophagus built by the Jews for Samuel. So it's a tri-religion site.

 Here's my nerdy moment. I saw this little courtyard and freaked out because it reminded me of Zelda. You know when you're traveling up to the Forest Temple and you have to go through that maze thing with the pig guards and the pools of water and the fairy fountain? Yep. This looked exactly like that part of the game, stone walls and all. I FREAKED out. Best place of the field trip ;)

 Another view of it. SO EPIC. I did whistle the Minuet of Forest and pretended to swing my sword. I deeply regret leaving my ocarina at home. :)

This is looking toward the city of Gibeon. This valley is where Joshua led his people in battle against the Amorites, and the Lord sent giant hailstones to kill the Amorites and made the sun and moon stand still! The Lord will answer our prayers if we ask him! he will be at the front of our battles, he will fight alongside us so we can prevail against the opposing forces! He is the mightiest of warriors, and he will protect his children with all his eternal might.

A close up of the city. There's another significant thing that happened here: the arc of the covenant was housed here, which means that this place was the equivalent of the temple back in the day. Solomon, when he was first made king, came to this place to make a sacrifice and cry unto the Lord to guide his rule. Here's the story as presented in 1 Kings 3.

 3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the ^astatutes of David his father: only he ^bsacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

 4 And the king went to ^aGibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great ^bhigh place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

 5 ¶In ^aGibeon the Lord ^bappeared to Solomon in a ^cdream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

 6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

 7 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a ^alittle child: I know nothow to go out or come in.

 8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a ^agreat people, that cannot be ^bnumbered nor counted for multitude.

 9 Give therefore thy servant an ^aunderstanding ^bheart to judge thy people, that I may ^cdiscern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

 12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have ^agiventhee a ^bwise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

I love that Solomon traveled such a far distance to go to that sacred and holy place, the place of the temple. The way that Solomon approaches the Lord in complete humbleness, with absolute faith in the Lord that He can make Solomon's weakness become strength. We know that the Lord can make our weaknesses perfect. We only need to go to him in prayer, humility, supplication, and willingness. We should follow the example of Solomon and go to the temple with our questions.

I loved this place and all that I learned here about the protection of the Lord and how to approach him in prayer. 

Bethlehem Overlook

This was my favorite site of the entire field trip. These could be the hills in which the heavenly hosts appeared to the shepherds to announce the good tidings of Christ's birth. The shepherds would have traveled just over the hills to Bethlehem (which you can see on the ridge) to worship the Christ child. We don't have to travel very far to worship him, either.

This is also the hill in which Rachel travailed in labor with Benjamin, where she died, and where she was buried (Genesis 35:16-20). This story really touched me for some reason. Rachel was the most beloved wife of Jacob, and he loved her with all his heart. She died giving him children, and his mourning never ceased. He loved Joseph and Benjamin because they were her children. He honored her in life and in death, for she was a very special woman. These were also the fields of Boaz where Ruth gleaned to provide support for her and Naomi. I have always loved her words of promise to her mother-in-law:
 16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from^afollowing after thee: for whither thou goest, I will ^bgo; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy ^cpeople shall be my people, and thy God my ^dGod:

 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

Ruth kept her covenants very, very faithfully.

We were given free time to ponder and look at the hillside (the same hillside that Ruth gleaned, that Rachel died on, on which the angels appeared to the shepherds), and I really fell in love with the peace and beauty of that place. I was thinking about a lot of different things, but the spirit really warmed my heart when I thought about Rachel and Ruth and Mary. The women of the scriptures really are incredible. The incredible sacrifices that these women went through to bring children into this world and to obey the commands of the Lord to multiply really astounded me. Rachel literally gave her life for her children. Mary was the mother of the Savior--how righteous she must have been. And what a job to raise the Christ! What a beautiful earthly calling Mary had. And Ruth--leaving the land of her religion and her upbringing to go to Bethlehem with Naomi. A huge unknown spread before her, but she knew that the covenant of family was the most important thing to observe. And it was through her line that Jesse, David, and then the Savior himself came. The sanctity of motherhood and of women really made an impact on me as I sat and looked over the fields to the city. The Lord was very generous to allow that little bit of understanding to enter my heart.