Never thought I would be on the Temple Mount!

This paper is from the day we spent on the temple mount. We did more that day but it is where we started. We also went to the Church of the Holy Scephuler, which is the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. One thing that really hit me when we were in this church was that we don't need places like this to Worship God. I know that we all know that, and i also am very thankful to see this place, but i was reminded that we worship Jesus himself because of what he did on the cross not Jesus and the place of the cross. Before the church was built it was just a small little hill and normal looking place, nothing grand and mighty. That is how our Lord died. I think that points to what Jesus wants us to understand; that we are to look at what happened there and worship Jesus because of it not the place that it happened. Someone in our group called it religious idolatry. I think that explains what I am trying to say. Worship Jesus not the places Jesus went. With being said I have loved going to the places in which Jesus did great things like miracles and of course the place of the crucifixion. It has been really good to have an at least a visual of what it would have looked like. I highly recommend seeing the places and i love it but i am grateful that we get to worship Jesus and God in spirit and in truth and not through certain places. I am even grateful that we don't need the temple anymore but rather we are the temple in that God resided inside God's Children. I hope that made sense. Just some thoughts i had and something Christina and i talked about. 

Here is the paper! Enjoy!

Temple Mount

            We started the day a bit behind due to the bus being late to pick us up. This affected us in minor ways but we were still able to get everything in due to Benj’s long legs and knowledge of the city. We quickly went from the bus to the temple mount. Benj pointed out the Al Aksa Mosque. This is not the mosque with the gold dome, but the one with the silver dome near the south end of the temple mount.  This is the most important mosque in the Muslim religion. It can hold up to 50,000 people, and it was built in 705A.D. Unfortunately we did not get to go very close to the building but we definitely could see it. The other mosque on the temple mount is the Dome of the Rock. It gets this name because within its wall is what the Muslim’s believe to be the spot that creation began. There is bedrock of Mount Moriah that they believe was the exact spot that creation started. This is also the spot they believe that Muhammad ascended into heaven. The Dome of the Rock was built in 691 A.D. and has virtually remained the same since then, other than a minor upgrade of the dome to gold plated sides that cost a few million. The temple mount hasn’t always been under control by the Muslims. We know that the temple that Solomon built as well as the second temple sat on the temple mount. With that knowledge it can be understood as to the conflict that is based around it. In 1Kings 6 we see that Solomon built the temple on Mount Moriah. Even though the crusader thought that the Dome of the rock was Solomon’s temple but we know that it wasn’t because of many reason; one being that the temple mount was one level in those days and now the Dome of the Rock sits higher up than the rest of the temple mount. The place in which the Sanhedrin met was also on the temple mount and is in the same place that the Al Aksa mosque sits today.   

            It is believed that Solomon’s Porticoes stood just east of the temple between the temple and the eastern wall. Solomon’s porticoes are mentioned a few times in the New Testament. Most notably in John 10: 22-30 where Jesus claims that he “and the father are one.” Peter also heals the lame man at the same place in Act 3. The Eastern gate also has some significance. Ezekiel 44:1-3 talks about Jesus being the next one to come through it. It says that it will be shut up and shall not be opened until Jesus comes through it. The Eastern gate that stands today is not the same gate as it was in biblical times but it does remain shut. The biblical gate is most likely underneath but due to the political sensitivity of the area, it hasn’t been dug up. The temple mount is massive and many comparisons have been made to describe it size, but it I more or less the size of 24 football fields. The Antonia fortress was located north of the temple mount wall but there was an entrance that connected the two. This certainly could have been the place that Paul addresses the crowd after being taken away from the people and then given time to speak due to his Roman citizenship.

            Another interesting discovery made on the temple mount is set of stairs on the west side of the platform that leads to the Dome of the Rock. The very first stair is obviously not from the same time as the other stairs, and the stones next to the first step are not like the rest, but rather much larger. Also the stairs do not line up with the rest of the wall, but are slightly bent. This has lead people to think that this last step and stone that follows the step are a part of the first temple mount wall. It was said by an extra-biblical source that the original temple mount measured 500 cubits and that measurement fits the place of these steps. So this is most likely part of the western wall of the first temple mount. The original temple most likely sat in the same spot as the Dome of the Rock just lower.

            Next we went to the south side of the temple mount on the outside. We saw the extended portions of the temple mount under the rule of Herod the Great. He greatly increased the size of the temple mount in order to improve the traffic situation that came with the holidays when people from all over Israel would come and sacrifice animals at the temple. We also saw remains of Robinson’s arch. This was the arch on the south western corner that was an entrance onto the temple mount. Next to the arch we saw large stones that were from Herod the great and at one time a part of the wall but when the city was destroyed in 70A.D. they were pushed to the ground into a pile. Then we went around to the south end of the temple mount and saw the steps and the arch’s that were entrances onto the temple mount as well. There were two ways to get in. All around were Mikvas, which are ritual cleaning baths. They were strategically placed there so that people entering the temple could be cleansed before entering.

            Then we went to two different places that excavations had been done on the Western Hill where they had dug up houses from the priests and royalty from the time of the first temple. This showed the types of houses that the rich people of the area lived in and what their life was like. They were much more well off that I expected them to be. There were a lot of pots found in the houses and they were on display. Even though they were only partial walls and rooms, it really gave a mental picture to what the houses of the priests were like. We also saw an interesting movie about the life of the priestly family during the time when the temple was destroyed. It was interesting to see how the Jews thought that Jerusalem couldn’t be destroyed because they thought God said he wouldn’t let it.

            After this we went over to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This church was built in 325 A.D. to memorialize the place that Jesus was crucified and buried. This seems to be a good candidate for the actual place that it happened. There isn’t a lot of Archeological evidence to this but the main reason that it seems to be the actual place of these events is that this tradition has been around for quite some time. They probably had a better idea of the place this happened in 325 A.D. than we have now. There are also some tombs within its walls that date back to the 1^st century A.D.We got to climb into one of them and see what it looked like. Another one is the one that they claim Jesus was in, but the tombs hold the proper dating, which is significant. They claim to know the mount and rock on which the cross stood. This very well could be the spot because it is above the other places and the bible says that it was on a mount up above. If these two are the correct places of Jesus cruxifition and burial, then my idea of how far the tomb is from the cross was not correct because these two spots were within 50 yards of each other. We walked around the church a little while longer and then went back to the Moshav.  

Part of the temple mount. That is the Dome of the Spirits and a few people think that it might be the spot of the Temple. Probably not though.

Another shot of the western wall as we went up to the temple mount.

Al Aksa Mosque. The largest mosque in the Middle east. It is more important than the Dome of the Rock and where the building that the Sanhedrin met was in N.T. times.

Dome of the Rock. A shot from the temple mount looking up to the raised platform

Just past these arches is where Solomon's Porticoes would have been. The place that Jesus said he and the Father are one.

A shot of the Eastern gate with the mount of Olives behind it. Jesus will come through that gate, and that will be the next time it is opened. 

This is the bottom step that they think is part of the original western wall of the temple mount before Herod the Great expanded it. You can see the difference in stone( the older looking ones obviosly the ones from the wall), and if you look in the top part of the picture you can see that they are not parallel with the modern wall. Very cool stuff

I played with this one. It is from the platform that the mosque sits on. 

Christina and I!

This is the southwestern wall of the temple mount. This part was built by Herod the Great between 37 B.C. and 4B.C. If you look at the left side of the wall you can see what is left of an arch. The bump on the wall. That was Robinson's Arch and it is a way that the people got onto the temple mount. 

This is part of the wall they found that has the inscription that talks about the the trumpet player. This is the part of the wall in which he stood when he played the trumpet over Jerusalem. 

Those are some of the stones that where pushed off the wall when the Roman's destroyed destroyed the temple in 70A.D. There were many more. You can see their size. They were so heavy that they didn't cement them together or anything because the sheer size and weight was enough. 

These are the steps that went up to the entrances into the temple located on the south side of the temple. Jesus probably walked on these at some point. 

This is the south end of the temple mount. The bottom stones are from Herod's time. the others are newer. You can tell that they are Herodian stones because they have a frame around them. It makes them look a little nicer and he was all about building nice things. 

Another shot of the south side. On the left you can see remains from on of the entrances onto the temple mount. 

Its hard to see but this is where the Kidron Valley( left) meets the Hinom Vally( left). Also right down in the valley in En Rogel. This is where Solomon's brother tried to claim Kingship when it was rightly Solomon's. Solomon was claiming kingship just after, about 500 yards up the valley. 

Ever seen this picture before? This explains the tension in Jerusalem pretty well. The Western wall and the Dome of the Rock on the temple mount. 

It is hard to see but the part that is covered by glass is the place in which they think that the cross stood. As you can see, it has changed a bit since then. 

This ladder hasn't moved since 1852. It is up above the entrance into the church of the Holy Sephulcher. I thought it was ineresting. The Turks said to leave everything as is in Jerusalem in an attempt to settle conflict and it has moved since then. 

Thanks for reading and looking. Thanks again for the prayers. Hope all is well in America!

Comment if you want! 

Ben and Christina