Today, we wake up in Jerusalem and it’s a Saturday, as you know Saturday is Shabbat or day of rest for the Jewish and they are prohibited to ‘work’. So on Saturday morning, we had food that was kept warm (actually it wasn’t that warm) through special methods that do not violate any Shabbat laws. As we travelled to the first site for the day, I can’t help but notice that there weren’t much people on the streets and the roads were relatively clear of vehicles too. I guess they take their customs quite seriously.
Our first stop of the day is at the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu. The name Gallicantu means “cock crowing” and this is one of the traditional spots for the house of Caiphas the high priest where Jesus was put on trial illegally, and the place where Peter denied knowing Jesus thrice.
As you can see, the wind vane also has a cock on it to mark the spot, recalling Christ’s prophesy that Peter would deny him three times “before the cock crows”.
The statue of Peter amidst the people outside in the court and he denied knowing Jesus three times.
We then descended into the dungeon where Jesus spent the night (he was lowered into the place). It’s a horrid place to be in, with guards watching you from above and a lack of illumination. This is the place where there’s also an imprint of a figure (Jesus) with hands lifted in prayer/worship.
Outside the church
Kev 🙂
Next we went to Ein Gedi for a hike! Ein Gedi is an oasis located near the Dead Sea. It’s known for its beautiful springs, caves and abundant wildlife. This was also David’s refuge when he fled from King Saul and it was in one of the caves here where David cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Some of the psalms are believed to have been inspired in this place. This is probably one of my favourite parts on the trip, hiking in such beautiful, cooling weather was just too awesome. It’s as if Daddy God has everything planned for us to be here on that day because if we were to come here a day earlier, we wouldn’t be able to go in as the place wouldn’t be safe due to slippery terrains. 🙂
We had a short sharing session here too.
From my notes:
David has so much honour and respect for King Saul because Saul is God’s anointed. It is God who gives authority and power.David knows what to do and he does not listen to people because he listens to what God says and understands God’s heart. He can still call Saul the Lord’s anointed (1 Samuel 26:9) and father (1 Samuel 24:11).
When goodness was shown to Saul, his heart melted and he blessed David and made him agree not to destroy him. Saul had a change of heart when he felt the goodness of David.
We began hiking, and it’s pretty fun! 🙂
Look at the Dead Sea in the distance!
Look, a fan-tailed raven! We also saw a mother ibex with its newborn along the trail!
And everyone, this is David’s waterfall. According to Avi, apparently the water we are looking at now is from 20 years ago!
Of course I had to give it a try, I drank some of it and it was so clean and fresh! A lot of people did that too 🙂
On our way down, and look how scenic this place is! I’ve really been working my Hunter boots alot on this trip, it’s really comfortable and practical.
A picture of us together!
I was wondering why did everyone slow down and I realised that there was a hyrax sunbathing on the rocks that had gotten everyone’s attention. Sorry guys, no pictures because the zoom on my iPhone ain’t cutting it and my camera lens has gone wonky on the trip but I believe Google will be able to show you that creature.
We then went to Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in one of the caves by a Bedouin shepherd. The shepherd wanted to make sandals out of the leather and took it to the market to a cobbler who realised that it was something important and he bought it over. Thank God for that! We also checked out the place where the Sons of Light lived after leaving Jerusalem in protest of how the temple was run (they called the priests and all sons of darkness). The community was mostly males and there were little children or women. It is also believed that John the Baptist lived in this community for a period of time.
This is a ritual bath where the men would enter the water on the left side and emerged from where Avi is standing.
Then we ended the day at the Dead Sea, one of the places that I was excited to visit! I’ve always seen pictures of people floating in the sea, reading a book or so and now I get to experience this extraordinary phenomenon! Before we were there, we were informed to keep our jewellery away to prevent them from tarnishing from coming into contact with the sea water as it’s so rich in minerals, it’s really no joke. The mineral content is so high that there’s no living thing in the sea.
A view from the top of the place.
The Dead Sea waters and mud is known to have health and cosmetic benefits, so we started on our ‘spa treatment’ by smearing on the mud! 😀 Here’s a picture of my tour mates having fun together. I didn’t take any pictures because it’s not safe to leave your belongings unattended on the lounge chairs and take a dip in the sea (and I didn’t want to spoil my camera either) but thank God a tour mate had experienced this before so he was going around snapping pictures of us having fun!
Here’s a picture of Kevin and I floating in the Dead Sea!
A word of advice, don’t soak or let the mud remain on your skin for too long. I didn’t know if it’s too long or what, but my skin looked a little sunburnt after my time at the Dead Sea (and we were there in the late afternoon/evening kinda timing).
That’s it for Day 5!
K IS FOR KELLY 