Day 6 – Jerusalem, David’s City, Bethlehem

We went to the remnants of the supporting wall and David’s palace in the original city of David. It is much smaller than I imagined. Only 3,000 to 5,000 people lived inside the city walls at the height of the city’s glory.

After King David came his son, King Solomon. Solomon was the one who built the Temple of the Lord. After Solomon, the kingdom was split into two – the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The Northern Kingdom was eventually captured and the inhabitants taken captive by the Assyrians under King Sennacherib. An angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 in the Assyrian camp and his remaining men did not immediately attack Judah. (1 Kings 19)


King Hezekiah of the Southern Kingdom of Judah worked at building a thick city wall to protect Jerusalem from an invasion by the Assyrians. Hezekiah then had an underground tunnel built to divert water so that if there was an attack, the Jews and their water would remain safe inside the walls. Two crews set out from opposite ends digging through the limestone bedrock to meet in the middle. Amazingly, without the use of GPS or lasers, the two teams met within one foot of each other! We walked into the tunnel, but did not wade through the water. It takes 25-35 minutes to get from one side of the tunnel to the other. Next year.


Years later, King Herod diverted the water to flow into the Pool of Siloam. Archeologists recently uncovered the original stone steps leading to the Northeast corner of the Pool. Jesus healed a blind man at the Pool of Siloam. (John 9)



We visited the little town of Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Bethlehem means “house of bread” in Hebrew. There is an ancient church over the site where Jesus was born in the stable. There are three entrances into the front of the church – the upper entrance created in the 6th century, the middle entrance created in the 12th century by the Crusaders, and the lowest entry created by local Christians in the 15th century. You have to bow to enter the 4-foot doorway. The Christians created this small opening so that Muslim soldiers could not enter on horseback.

The Church of the Nativity was first built by Helena, the mother of Constantine in the 4th century, after Constantine was converted to Christianity and made Christianity the official religion of his empire. Oral tradition says that this was the exact location of the inn, the stable, and also later Joseph and Mary’s home. St. Jerome also definitely translated the Bible into Latin – the Vulgate – in this place, where tradition had told him was the home of the Holy Family.


Then we went out to the Shepherd’s Field. There is a Church of the Angels where inside there are images representing the events of Christmas night. Nearby is a big cave with a simple altar and pews inside. This is the cave the shepherds might have used for shelter and sleep for the sheep. Inside the Cave of the Shepherds we had a devotion and sang “Angels We Have Heard on High.”


The Bethlehem fields would be where many of the lambs for sacrifice were raised for the Jerusalem temple. Previously, these Bethlehem shepherds raised their lambs for sacrifice. That evening they were going to see the newborn Lamb of Sacrifice who would also be the Good Shepherd who would lead His lambs to the green pastures and quiet waters of paradise.