Today we head south from Jerusalem toward Bethlehem
which is about ½ hour drive south of the city in the Judean countryside. Our first visit will be Herodium (one of my favorite places). See the following website:
This is one of the many fortresses that King Herod
built to protect his kingdom from marauding tribes and to provide a place of
safety for him and his family, should there be a rebellion from the Jewish
people. The building of this unusual
fortress began in 24 B.C. and was completed in 15 B.C. It’s cone shape provide a difficult climb for
anyone wishing to conqueror it.
The picture to the right is an artist’s rendering of
what Herodium would have looked like during the time of Christ. As you stand on top of Herodium you will have
an unobstructed 360 degree view: east toward the land of Moab in the
Transjordan, from where Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem; south toward Tekoa
where the prophet Amos was a shepherd; west toward Bethlehem; and north toward
Jerusalem.
Below this fortress is the subtle transition from
the desert to the cultivated area where shepherds lead their flocks, just as
they did at the time of the birth of Jesus.
Later, King Herod was buried here and his grave was
recently found in 2007.
After this, we will end the day
in Bethlehem which has so much Biblical history associated with it. In Genesis 35:16-20 we
read about the death and burial of Rachel.
The book of Ruth is associated with this
city. Here in 1 Samuel 16 David
was anointed King. The prophet Micah
said in chapter 5 that this is the place from
which the Messiah would come. In Luke 2
we read of the birth of Jesus and the Shepherd’s field. In Matthew 2 we read of
the visit of the Magi and Herod’s massacre, which may have been directed from
Herodium.
In 330 A.D. Emperor Constantine ordered what is now
known as the Church of the Nativity to be built over the cave that was thought
to be the birth site of Jesus. That
church, destroyed in the sixth century, was soon rebuilt by the emperor
Justinian and now sits over mosaics from the original church of Constantine’s
time.
See the following website:
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