Field Study 3

Hey all,
So we have had our third field study, and this time we got to take a bus to a number of places. It was kind of nice not having to walk everywhere this time. We started off by heading over toward the Patriarchal highway (on the water shed ridge- think west of Jerusalem) and went to a really nice look-out area. From here we could see most of Jerusalem and even over to the Mount of Olives. It was hazy for the first part of the day, which did affect visibility. From here we could see most of Jerusalem and even over to the Mount of Olives. It was hazy for the first part of the day, which did affect visibility.

Then we went to the Herodium down toward Bethlehem. This is the sight of one of Herod’s palaces, and we believe his burial place. We were able to go up into it and look out over the amazing view of the surrounding area. You can see Moab, Bethlehem, and the Tekoa valley (which leads east to the Dead Sea). Here our professor talked about the story of Ruth. Naomi and her family were from Bethlehem, and as we all probably know, they moved over to Moab because of the draught. What was really interesting is that from Bethlehem you can basically see Moab. So it wasn’t just a rumor that they heard about Moab not being in a draught, they could actually see the greener pastures. It just makes the story more interesting because God does not want His people to leave the land He promised them, even if they can see abundance in another area. He wants His people to trust Him in both good and bad times. I thought that was interesting.
We then went into the palace area and got to see Herod’s many baths. He had a cold, warm, and hot bath – what extravagance! Especially, for this area and that time having three baths of different temperatures was pretty amazing. He was also the first to build a dome ceiling, incidentally over the warm bath area. His palace was relatively big, though not to today’s standard of big (however, that is to be expected). It was funny that he also put plaster on the walls so he could put a design on the wall that would make it look like he used precisely cut stones. It was too expensive for him to use the nice looking stones in all his palaces, so he just pretended that he did. It’s all about the image.

So from here we went to an ancient threshing floor, and then on to Bethlehem. In Bethlehem we visited the church that houses the (supposed) site of Jesus’ birth. Of course, one cannot say for certain that Jesus was born in that exact spot, but it is still nice to visit a church the memorializes the event. It was a rather large church with really nice decorations inside. We had to go to the front part of the church and then down into the area with the small cave. It was actually pretty hot in there, probably because of all the people. A lot of them were getting down and touching the little spot that was open in the floor to the stone.

After lunch we went to the Mount of Olives at a nice look-out area where we could see over to the Temple Mount area. I got to pet a camel, which was really cool. There were two just resting on the sidewalk area of the look-out. One almost kissed Claire, which was really funny. On the Mount of Olives is another church that claims to be the site of the Garden of Gethsemane. It actually did have a really nice garden with olive trees. We were able to spend about 20 minutes walking around the garden or going into the church. I went in and sat and read Scripture. It just amazes me that Jesus had such an easy out. He could have decided that dieing on the cross and taking all of our sin would be too hard, He could have just left the sleeping disciples and walked up over the hill and into the wilderness. But He did not. What amazing submission, perfect submission. May I be so willing to give of myself entirely. It was humbling just to reflect on that willing sacrifice.

Our last couple stops were to visit a few tombs across from the Temple Mount. A number of agile students were able to actually climb into them. One was said to be for Absalom, though the building type isn’t right for it to be his. Apparently, though, since it is associated with Absalom people used to throw rocks at it because of his rebellion against David. There was also another tomb that people got to climb around. Claire almost got in over the gate, but decided against it due to a nail or two that was poking into her back. We weren’t able to make it to our last stop, because we ran out of time. This was definitely an interesting and fun trip.


I pray you all are doing well. And it was so nice to finally talk with Sam and Mom this morning. This was the first time I had talked with anyone from home. They were good to go to Dunkin Donuts (for wifi, and of course donuts) at midnight and stay until about 1:30am talking to me. After we talked I started to realize how much I miss my family. I love it here, but I also miss home and familiar things. Though, I always thank the Lord for such an opportunity. God has been so good to me, I just have to praise Him for all He is doing.

Love and God Bless,
Jennilee