Jerusalem, the City of Jesus the Messiah

Here are some photos from our walk through the Old City on our first day. In the Jewish Quarter, I met Moshe, an Orthodox Jew. He shared about his people: "Every Jew you meet is 3,000 years old." I've been coming to realize how true that is. They hold onto their history and believe they are linked to those who lived before them. When the ghetto work camps in Nazi Europe were excavated after WWII buried archives that contained the written history of the ghettos were found. They were historical records of every family of the ghetto written by the Jewish leadership and also contained piles of journals written by the oldest members of society down to 8 year old children. Also, many Jewish people I speak to here deeply identify with the history of their people, and know when each civilization has tried to annihilate them. Moshe reminded me of this when he said "We feel like abused children." He also said he believes that God is restoring relationships between Christians and Jewish people in Israel. He doesn't know why but believes God's hand is in it. He also said to me and my companions that God himself has invited each of the us to Israel and it's no accident that we are here. That was encouraging to see that God was beginning to bring revelation to Moshe. Please pray for him to come to faith in Jesus (Yeshua).

We started the second day in Jerusalem praying on the Mount of Olives, located just east of the Old City walls. This was one of Jesus favorite spots to pray and where he ascended into heaven. Many Christians believe that Jesus will return here and lead the final battle at the end of days in the valley below called the Valley of Decision. Orthodox Jews believe from the scriptures that the Messiah will come to Jerusalem from the east and lead a great battle to win Jerusalem and all of Israel. We saw olive trees here that date back to the days of Jesus. Afterwards we went to the Roman jail from the 1st century, that was confirmed by historical record and archaeological evidence. It was a cave on the edge of the city with dungeons in it. Next to the dungeons was a dark pit where the Romans held prisoners prior to crucifixion. See Psalm 88.