Walking the Holy Land

Yesterday was amazing! After breakfast we had two hours of great class. Brother Ostler does such a great job of teaching the Old Testament. Already I feel like I have a better understanding of things. We reviewed the patriarchs and the dispensations. This is a picture of all seven of the patriarchs who led each dispensation from Adam (L to R, Brandon, Ryan, Ben, Ted, Aaron, Mike and Bruce) to Joseph Smith. We have great men in our class. They are all friendly and make a great effort to take care of us girls. We are grateful. After lunch we headed to the buses and our larger tour of the geographical area. The hope today was to really get an understanding of the outlaying area and our positioning on it.
We started at the Augusta Victoria Tower on Mt. of Olives. There are three towers on the Mt. of Olives: Hebrew University, Augusta Victoria, and Church of the Ascension Tower. Within the Augusta Victoria Church we find beautiful mosaics and an amazing pipe organ. Deb and I sang a duet in the live acoustic. It was pretty cool! We want to go back and sing more!
(this is really weird, I have my pictures up right in iPhoto but I can't figure out how to get them to rotate in this blog! So, you're going to have to deal with it until I can figure it out. If any of you know how please inform!)
From AV we could see into Jordan and the Dead Sea. We could also see down to Bethlehem and up to Jericho. Next we went to the Seven Arches Hotel Outlook. This simply allowed us a closer look of the city. We were right next to this huge Jewish cemetery that wraps around the Mt. of Olives. They believe the foretold Messiah will bring the resurrection, plus they are facing the temple mount. Pretty cool place to be buried if you ask me! I don't have time to tell you all the different parts of the city I can now identify from sight. I hope these places will solidify in my mind and never fade! These first two stops were to the East of Jerusalem. We now headed South. Our next stop was probably one of my favorites. From the Haas Promenade you can see Kings Dale (Gen. 14:17) and where Abraham paid tithes to Melchezidek. Here we rehearsed the story of Abraham and Isaac. What an amazing experience to talk about Abraham taking his only son and going to the land of Moriah, the very land we were overlooking! When it says he saw the place "afar off," it was very likely he was standing on the very hill we were (the geography of the place makes it the first place he would have seen Mt. Moriah)! They we read how he climbed the mountain and prepared the alter right there on the temple mount where three different religions reverence the outcropping of rock where they believe Abraham was that sad and yet rewarding day. The angel stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac and then proceeded to promise him all the blessings of Abraham. "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jirah" meaning In the Mount the Lord Shall be seen (Gen. 22: 14). How powerful to know that from this viewpoint we also see the traditional site of the crucification of Christ only a little to the left. First the type of Christ in Isaac and then on that very mount, our Savior was also raised to be seen by all, only a precious few recognizing Him as their Redeemer. Even in this public place, surrounded by tourists my heart expanded as my testimony grew in my Savior. I love this place!
If I don't sum things up this blog is going to take all day! Next we went to the Deir Mar Elyas or the Elias Monastery. From here you can see into Bethlehem and the inheritance of Judah. We are planning to going there later. We were standing on a hill just above shepherd's fields where the shepherd's watched their flocks. It was also riddled with trenches and barracks left over from the 1957 war. This was a high point looking over into the city where the Israeli could plot their strategies, etc.
The last place we went was also one of my favorites. It was north of Jerusalem this time and is the traditional burial place of the prophet Samuel. From here you can see south into Jerusalem, east into Jordan (including the hill Saul built his castle after Samuel anointed him) and north into the land of Ephraim and west to the sea. Facing north, right below the tower we were standing on, no more than a mile away, was the city of Gibeon where Joshua came to the rescue of the people there and caused the sun and moon to stand still. I've attached a picture of the sun sinking over the western horizon. I'm coming to understand so much more of the Bible and the stories I've heard all my life. It helps to have the visual behind the stories now.
At the end of the day I was left pondering the promises found in the Bible, especially those promises given to Abraham and his seed. In Genesis the Lord shows Abraham the land of his inheritance and then tells him to go and walk the land the Lord had given him. Yesterday I went on that walk. I've see the land given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons. We finished the day overlooking the land of my inheritance as a daughter of Ephraim. I finished this trip with a strengthened testimony of the promises of God. Indeed, I have walked the promised land given to the children of Isreal. I know God has promises for me too. Being here is helping me have greater faith in the promises made to me. I know that God will keep His promises with me, for He has kept His promises with the Fathers. I feel that, and I've seen it too. Until next time!