The Temple Mount

The days here seem to be spreading out and becoming their own, but there are still some times where I seem to push everything together in my mind and forget what day is what. Yesterday, Monday, we went to Bethlehem all day. It was nothing I was expecting at all... We had to cross the border into the Palestinian part of Israel (fact: Palestine is not really a land but a group of people who own parts of Israel therefore calling themselves Palestinians and NOT Israeli citizens while still living in the country of Israel). We could not bring our tour guide and bus driver because they were Jewish and Israeli's, and Israeli's are not allowed to go into Palestine. We walked across the border and hopped on another bus, friends of our tour guide. Bethlehem was a dump. It was so dirty and there was graffiti everywhere. We went into the church that is over the spot where Jesus was born and it is owned by the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Syrian churches so all three are competing for ownership within one building. It was a little upsetting to see such a holy place be defiled with these things. It kind of brought to mind how Jesus must have felt when people were selling things in the temple.
Today we went to the Dome of the Rock (which is the big gold dome on top of a beautiful building that most people think of when they think of Israel). This day was probably the first day that I felt so attached to the ground that I was walking on. As we walked in we were told we were not allowed to bring anything that resembled Christianity; I only brought my camera. I walked in and was told I must cover myself more (which I thought I was, I had on a short sleeve shirt and Capri's) so Dr. van der Laan gave me his sweater. We walked through and it was so amazing because this is the spot, the absolute spot where both the first and second temples were built. The steps I walked up and down were the steps Jesus took numerous times to go in and out of the temple. As I walked in and saw the Dome of the Rock, I was a little hurt at first because the place where so much glory was brought to God was now filled with the worship of a foreign god. As I stood and looked up at the gold plated dome I realized that God does not dwell in a building nor does he need a spot to call his own. There were so many things there that fulfilled what is said in the Bible that I was in awe of everything around me. We have been learning and trying to picture the old city of Jerusalem and it's been difficult because the city is so built up now- but today I was walking through the second temple period. It was amazing to walk where the outer courts would have been all the way into where they believe the holy of holies was. This was also the same place where Abram was told to offer his son Isaac. How amazing is it that on one mountain so many generations would pass through? After we left we went to an archaeological dig in which we were digging through remains that the Muslims had bull dozed off the temple mount. I have decided that I will never be an archaeologist. Ever. We found lots of remains of pottery and I did however find an old brass button. We are not sure which time period it dates back to, but its anywhere from the first or second temple period through the Byzantine time period. The archaeologists seems excited when I found it so it MUST be important! :)
Tomorrow is an early morning. We are leaving at 7am which means breakfast is at 6am which means I am waking up at 5:55am!
I am having a hard time understanding the legalism here. The tension surrounds the streets and even when people are happy they are not joyful. It's all in God's timing... hearts are hardened and will be until the coming of the Jesus.... but until then, it breaks my heart. Life shouldn't be lived in fear, but yet in freedom. I want Israel to know freedom.