Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem
It was so awesome that the Tour Group had already gone home, and hubby and I were still in Jerusalem, on our own with a week to go! (I still thank my late M-I-L Ruth, who paid for it!) As you may have gathered from reading this Thread, I LOVE Biblical Archaeology, and so we headed out to the dusty, musty digs to enjoy the parts of Jerusalem that most tourists would rather avoid.
First, we went to the newly uncovered steps by the South Wall. Will the sun blazing upon our heads, we explored the area where the Archaeologists uncovered enclosures for Ritual Baths, Booths for Money Changers complete with scattered currency (from tipped-over tables perhaps?) and other First-Century artifacts dating back to the destruction of the Second Temple. They had to dig deep to find these, because Jerusalem has been destroyed and rebuilt many times since 70AD.
Next, we went to "The Burnt House" which was from the Hasmonean Period. This was older so it was deeper under the street. It was there that I breathed the rank, moldy smell of Jerusalem 45 feet down.
Next we went even deeper and further back in time to see Hezekiah's wall which he erected to repel the Assyrians. The smell here was even stronger, but it made sense as we went deeper into the ground and into History.
The City of David "dig" was in its infancy when we visited, but now is a full-blown exhibit. That dig affirms the very Scriptures we are reading today.
Now, when I was walking around on the Mount of Olives, a boy gave me a rose, which I promptly pressed into my pocket-sized KJV and forgot about. When I came home through JFK, I was asked if I was bring back any fruit, plants, food, or flowers. I totally forgot about the rose in the KJV, and when I got home, switched to my much easier to read NIV Study Bible.
A few months later, I open the KJV to read a Psalm in that translation, and YIKES! I smelled the unmistakable odor of "Jerusalem-Down-Under"! Nothing in the world smelled like that. And, what was weirder was that it was sweetened by the smell of roses. SO WEIRD! I opened to Psalms, and there it was, the Rose, blacked with a strange mold and bringing me back to the dig! I was SO upset! Were all the roses in America about to be devastated by an exotic Middle Eastern mold and everybody blaming ME???? Would I be arrested for committing an environmental crime? Would I go down into history like Typhoid Mary, or the jerks who imported Killer Bees, Gypsy Moths, or Kudzu??? I was REALLY upset with myself.
Bleach. Bleach will fix it! Yeah, Bleach! Good! I poured a cup of bleach, stuck the rose in it, and did what I could to cleanse the KJV from the stain. I was like Lady Macbeth or that guy in "The Tell-Tale Heart". Soon the "aroma" was gone, the rose eradicated, and 35 years have elapsed with no agricultural plague being attributed to ME.
I relate this crazy-but-true story to emphasize the great connection being found between History, Archaeology, Science, and the Bible. Every time they did something up, it just affirms the veracity of what we are reading today. I have actually touched it. And Smelled it.
Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)
God Bless America!
Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.
This Symbol Represents Christians in The Middle East, who desperately need our Prayers.
Hallelujah and Amen
ML/LTOS