Jerusalem: Day 6

This morning we started the day off by visiting a church which represented the part in the Bible when Mary went to go and visit Elizabeth, while both women were pregnant. In Luke 1:39-56, it tells the story about how when Mary first learned that her cousin was pregnant in her old age, she went to visit her. There she had some type of revelation and somewhat of a confirmation as well, that everything was going to be OK. It was at that moment that Elizabeth spoke aloud about Mary caring the Savior of the world in her womb. Walking into the church dedicated to this story in Luke was a beautiful experience. The church was covered in large, colorful murals depicting the stories about John the Baptist (before his birth) and when Mary went to visit Elizabeth.
After that we went to the Israel Museum. We started our discussion on a huge model of the city of Jerusalem. I found his beneficial because now I have a better understanding of the changes the city has gone through the past two thousand years. It had a clear view of the walls that Herod had built, and the temple itself, and what it would have looked like in about 66 C.E. On e aspect that I found very interesting was the size of Jerusalem during David's reign...I never realized how small the city actually was, and what it has become today!
After a lesson at the model, we went into this huge, white dome to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. I've always wanted to see them, and had a clear picture of what hey looked like in real life, but I still can't fathom that I actually had the chance to see documents that were written thousands of years ago...God's words on paper, lasting through all the ages! His power is great, and the miracle of those four scrolls surviving keeps me in awe. An interesting fact that I learned was that most of the scrolls found were from the book of Isaiah, the only one's not to even be recovered are Esther and Nehemiah.
Today was a great day, and I'm happy I've had another chance to see things that I've oly read about in books.