Welcome to Bethlehem, one of the most sacred places on earth, and yet, a place filled with turmoil and often despair. How little has changed in 2000 years. Our tour through Bethlehem will include both pictures and videos, don't forget to hover your mouse over the pictures to reveal information about the sites. For most westerners, visiting Bethlehem is a half day trip. Here, on our virtual tour we will visit a few extra places that most people do not see. This virtual tour will include: The Church of the Nativity, St. Jerome's Cave, the Shepherd's Fields, and Rachel's tomb.
We will also take some time in Bethlehem to consider the modern day political tensions between Israel and the occupied territories, which, in Bethlehem, reveal themselves in a 20 foot high wall dividing it from Jerusalem. We will first begin with the Holy sites, and then look into modern day Bethlehem. As you scroll down this page, if you wish to follow the tour as I have designed it, please take the time to view the videos, and photo galleries as they appear below - this will give you the most comprehensive experience. If you do so, your virtual tour of Bethlehem will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. Because I wanted to offer a more comprehensive tour of Bethlehem, I have used pictures and videos from other sites, sources are credited appropriately.
The Church of the Nativity - The Heart of Bethlehem
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was built in A.D. 330 by the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine and was mostly destroyed during a Samaritan rebellion in A.D. 529, although parts of the original mosaic floor still remain. Soon after, the Byzantine Emperor Justinian rebuilt the church in a bigger, grander fashion— this is the church that remains today, which makes it the oldest complete church in the world today. In A.D. 614, the Persians, who destroyed many other churches during wars with Byzantium, spared the Church of the Nativity out of respect for a mosaic of the Magi shown wearing Persian attire - The Persians saw themselves in the church, and chose to save it from destruction. View the video and photo galley for an up close view of this magnificent church built over the traditional site of Jesus' birth. The video is courtesy of Voice of Faith Tours, who have sadly gone out of business due to the pandemic.
Church of the Nativity - Photo Gallery
St. Jerome's Cave (Church of St. Catherine)
To really get the most out of Bethlehem, like Jerusalem, you need a little information and a lot of imagination. This is because places like Bethlehem and Jerusalem have been destroyed and rebuilt over and over again. So when it comes to Bethlehem, to get your mind's eye into the world of the Bible you must think of a small town amongst the hills, with lots and lots of caves. Nothing is flat in Bethlehem! And this is a problem for many western visitors, they have trouble removing the cathedrals and seeing the landscape that Jesus walked upon. Which brings us to St. Jerome's cave. Jerome (AD 383) spent 30 years of his life living in a cave beside the Church of the Nativity, in which he translated the Bible into Latin. Jerome's version of the Bible, The Latin Vulgate, became the standard version in the Catholic church until the 19th century. Below is a photo gallery of the cave he lived in, and the 19th century church built over the cave - The Church of St. Catherine, which stands adjacent to the Church of the Nativity.
The Shepherd's Fields
Caves where shepherds “kept watch over their flock” still abound in the area east of Bethlehem. Here, the Gospel of Luke tells us, that an angel announced the birth of Jesus. The angel’s good news was not given to the noble or pious, but to workers with a low reputation. Jewish literature ranked “shepherd” as among the most despised occupations of the time — but Jesus was to identify Himself with this occupation when He called Himself “the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11).
The traditional place of the angel’s visit is the town of Beit Sahur. Originally known as the Village of the Shepherds, it is now an eastern suburb of Bethlehem. Christians have worshiped on this cite since the 2rd Century AD, and it is considered the more probably place where shepherds of Bethlehem took their sheep to graze.
Rachel's Tomb
So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. Gen 35:19-20
The traditional place of Rachel's tomb lies between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, just outside the cities' paramotors today. And while some dispute its location this place has been accepted since the 4th century. From the Byzantine period, the tomb was an open dome, but Sir Moses Montefiore enclosed the dome in 1841. In recent years, Rachel’s tomb was surrounded by a large reinforced building completed with guard towers.
The tomb is a popular place for prayers, particularly by barren women. Below are a few pictures of the tomb, click on them to enlarge.
Bethlehem's struggle for freedom.
It is impossible, in a short paragraph or two to explain the complex nature of Israeli Palestinian politics, but in order to bring this virtual tour into modern context, we need to offer some context for a tour of this ancient town.
For most western visitors to the Holy Land, Bethlehem is the place where they come face to face with the stark dilemma of modern politics in Israel. This is because the visitor to Bethlehem comes face to face with a 30 foot high concrete wall that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Erected in 2002 to curb domestic terrorism, this wall makes it all but impossible to travel freely between the two places - tourists are the exception, as both the Israelis and Palestinians welcome both tourists and their money. Arrangements have been made that allow pilgrims and tourists to travel freely between the cities, but it is far from a normal experience for most.
The Barrier wall feels like the Berlin Wall of the cold war, it cuts through neighborhoods, and hinders free movement and commerce for those living in Bethlehem. The problem is, from the Israeli point of view, the wall works. In 2002 after years of terrorist attacks in which 1000 Israelis were killed in Jerusalem the security fence “wall” was built. Today, annual deaths as a result of terrorism in Jerusalem has been reduced to almost zero. So the Israeli politicians promote the wall because it makes one group safe. However, most of the people behind the wall are law abiding people who have never engaged in terror, and so for them the wall is profoundly oppressive and destructive for their lives.
When I took members of my congregation to Bethlehem I prepared them for this experience, but it is still very unsettling for Canadians. All I can say in this short space is that we, westerners, are a poor judge of what is right and wrong when it comes to middle-eastern politics. The issues are so complex, and so divisive, they cannot be solved with modern, self-righteous platitudes about rights, and freedoms. These issues will only be solved with prayer and righteousness on all sides - something our world is sadly lacking in.
All that said, it is important for the modern pilgrim to confront the wall around Bethlehem, for it reminds us that this world is still under a curse, that there is still hatred and oppression, violence and anger, even in the place where the angels once declared, "Peace on Earth, good will to men." Below is a gallery of the barrier wall. As you view this Gallery take a few moments to pray for peace in the Holy Land, that all might find blessing no matter which side of the wall they might live on. For a little more information, once have viewed this gallery, click here to view a brief summary of the historical issues that have brought about such animosity in the modern state of Israel.
