by Pastor Patrick Cho
Today, our group enjoyed a free day in Jerusalem. Those who are taking the trip for course credits had a quiz this morning. It was optional for me to take the quiz as well, but I passed. Instead, John and I spent the morning exploring the markets in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem and buying souvenirs for family and friends. I’m a little worried about how much my bag weighs, but I’ll ditch some clothes and stuff if it is necessary.
We were able to grab lunch with Dr. Grisanti and pick his brain about church ministry. This was honestly one of the highlights of our trip for me. It has been tremendously encouraging to see his heart for the Lord in wanting to glorify Him in everyday things. It was nice to be able to steal him away from the group for a couple hours and glean from his wisdom.
From lunch, John and I went to visit the Temple Institute museum. This was a fascinating visit, because the Temple Institute is dedicated to rebuilding the Temple, beginning with its furnishings. Outside in a glass case, they have a golden lampstand that they built and covered with pure gold! The inside of the museum had displays with the table for the showbread, the altar of incense, and the silver trumpets amongst other things. It was helpful to see these things up close to get a sense of what the furnishings of the Temple might have looked like in Solomon’s time, but it was also sad to consider biblical eschatology and what these things would eventually be used for (2 Thess. 2:3-4).
After a quick dinner at the hotel, we headed back to the Temple mount for a tour of the Western Wall. This is a tour along the entire Western Wall, and not just the part that is exposed for prayer. An enthusiastic tour guide walked us along the wall pointing out various things along the way. She showed us what would have been the main bridge and entry way into the Temple mount from the west, she pointed out an aqueduct that would have brought water in for the services of the Temple, and showed us a rock quarry that was used to build some of the stones of the Temple. Along the way, we found some Jewish women praying because they believe one part of the wall is just opposite where the Holy of Holies would have stood.
It was an interesting tour and a chance to get a closer look at the Temple’s foundation stones. Some of the stones were monstrous, and we could not help but wonder how the engineers were able to do it without modern technology and equipment. Some of these stones would have been very difficult to move even by today’s standards! The other thing that impressed us was how closely the stones fit together. These massive stones barely had a crack between them demonstrating masterful expertise.
The free day was nice, but also very tiring. Instead of catching up on rest, we were pretty much on our feet the entire day. Even still, it was great having the freedom to walk around the city and take things in at our pace. For those who know how fast Pastor John walks, Dr. Grisanti walks even faster!