Jericho

We got back from Turkey this last Sunday very early in the morning so we had the whole day to recover from our exhausting week and long red-eye flight that night.  The next day we were right back at it with a field trip to Jericho.  Luckily it was only a half-day field trip.  Out first stop was at Herod’s Winter Palace.  One cool fact about this place is that this is where the Three Wise men would have stopped and asked for the King of the Jews.  Herod probably wasn’t too happy about that statement because he was supposed to be the King of the Jews.  

Our next stop was at Jericho!  It had been a while since I had read the account of Joshua and the marching around the city seven times so that was cool to be able to read that before being in the place that it occurred.  Our next stop was at the traditional site of the Mount of Temptation.  This was my favorite part of the day.  I just love it when we are able to be in areas where gospel principles and stories unfold before our eyes.  We hiked up the Judean wilderness and had a small devotional at the top of these mountains.  Another story we discussed was the Good Samaritan story that would have occurred on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.  Seeing the terrain really made this story come to life.  Now, when I say wilderness I really mean rolling hills/mountains.  That is one thing that I pictured differently in my mind anytime I would read the scriptures.  But just so you know, they are actually more like mountains.  Because this site was our last stop and we were ahead of schedule, we were able to have some time to just sit and contemplate the temptation of Christ as well as the Good Samaritan story.  It was such a neat experience to be able to sit there and ponder about Christ and His teachings.  That is something that I will never forget.

Herod's Winter Palace

Jericho

St. George Monastery

You can see the Dead Sea in the middle right of the photo

Jerusalem to Jericho