Our third day in Jerusalem has our tour bus again turning us toward the old city. Yeshua is quoted by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, "Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.". As I stood below the southern wall of the old city, I saw evidence of the fulfillment of this prophetic statement of Messiah.
In 70 AD, Roman soldiers sacked and destroyed Jerusalem and its temple. Stones weighing multiples of tons were literally thrown to the ground one by one, beginning from at least a hundred feet above. The massive weight of each stone shattered the stone walkways and sometimes broke the falling stone as well. Today, the wall has been restored--the lower 30 feet or so with original stones. Much of the walkways still show the effects of fallen stones.
Standing at the base of the wall, I was able to observe the presumed location of the residence of James atop the southeastern corner of the wall. Just a few years before the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans, James was assassinated by one of his own (a member of the House of David) and thrown over the wall to the walkway upon which I stood. This new leader placed Jerusalem in a state of rebellion against Rome, ultimately causing its destruction in 70 AD. Those that understood the prophecy of Daniel concerning the "abomination of desolation" got out in the years preceding that fateful siege.
A short walk from this part of the wall took us to a place called the "Southern Steps". This is a series of steps in size and height much like a set of bleachers in a small sports arena. Situated near the "Dung Gate", these steps afford a panoramic view of the south and eastern part of the main city, including Gethsemane, Olivet, the Kidron valley below, and an adjacent mountain covered with stone tombs. The steps provide a very adequate venue for public meetings.
It is on these steps Yeshua is presumed to have delivered His discourse of Matthew 23. All the sites He spoke of in His thrashing of the Pharisees were clearly visible from these steps. It is also the presumed location where Peter delivered his sermon of Acts 2 which was followed by the adding of three thousand souls that very day. To accommodate the baptism of this many people, there were multiples of large purification baths (Mikvahs) all along this part of the wall.
I was moved in my spirit as I sat upon these steps and listened to our tour leaders teach. As I imagined Yeshua, Peter, and the others boldly teaching the truth of the Father, I can now go before Him on a daily basis and imagine those steps in my heart. With the view of Jerusalem in the background, I can see His Word come alive right before the eyes of my spirit.
As powerful as was the move of His Spirit in this part of His city, it pales in comparison to that which I felt as I stood atop the Mount of Olives. It is written in Acts 1: 9, "Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight." I was standing upon this site knowing full well of prophecy that says He will return "in like manner" to this very same spot.
With the old city spread out before and below me, the view to my left was the same row after row of white, stone tombs I saw from the Southern Steps. They were stacked atop each other and ranged from the mountain top toward the Kidron valley below. Many of the patriarchs are buried among these tombs. I was told even Adam is among the number in this massive graveyard. As I stood there, I was reminded in my spirit of His testimony that "the dead in Messiah will rise" in that day.
Looking across the Kidron valley toward the city, I viewed the "Eastern Gate". As I had been told before my journey, this gate has been completely closed off and sealed with stone. I had also been told of a graveyard placed before the gate. In my mind's eye, I saw it as small and relative in size to the gate itself. In fact, this graveyard covers the entire length of the eastern wall and extends toward the Kidron valley below.
It is written in Luke 19: 37, "And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives..." On the day of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, He approached the Eastern Gate from the Mount of Olives. That day, He came riding into the city on a colt, with sounds of the praises of His disciples heard all around. As our return to the land of promise from our Egypt will mirror the exodus of Moses, so Messiah's return to Jerusalem will mirror His first entry nearly 2000 years ago.
When some of the Pharisees chided Him on that first entry to "rebuke your disciples", Yeshua laughingly said, "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out". One day very soon Messiah will once again ride into Jerusalem, this time on a white horse. The praises of His disciples, both risen of the dead and among the living, will echo His praises from the mountain tops and throughout the city.
This is the part I ascribed as "laughable" in my last post. Jews were not responsible for the closed gate, or the graveyard. This was done according to muslim desire to keep Israel's Messiah from returning through this gate as prophesied. On that great day, the dead in the tombs before the gate will either rise up to praise Him or descend into hell, opening the path to the gate for Messiah's triumphal second return.
With the path cleared, only the stones that board up the gate will remain. Of these, the prophecy of Yeshua on His first triumphal entry to Jerusalem will come to pass. I don't know how He will do it or cause it to be done. Yet, I can see in my mind's eye each stone coming alive, bowing to their Creator, and moving aside so He can enter through the gate to His temple. I rejoice to know that I will be there to witness that great site. I pray you will be there with me as well.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1: 27, "But YHVH has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and YHVH has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty". How foolish! These muslims flaunt their demonic god before the Elohim of Israel. They don't care that YHWH has chosen the far fewer of Israel to bring shame upon the many of those that hate Him and His people.
Steeply descending on foot down from Olivet, our tour entered the Garden of Gethsemane. Of all the places we toured, this was the most crowded. There appeared at the time to have been more than a dozen large tours all bunched together in this one place. Therefore, it wasn't that easy for the Spirit to impress me. It also didn't help to walk several hundred yards down the mountain at a 5-10 degree back angle. My legs were so sore when I entered the garden I could hardly stand. Even so, it was not hard to easily take in the peaceful, serene scene of a large grove of two thousand year old olive trees and imagine being there with Yeshua.
It was here, I had a very up-close view of the Eastern Gate. With the Kidron valley still well below us, I wondered how one could easily get from garden to city. When I posed that question to our tour guide, I was told a large stone bridge had been built across Kidron during the time of Yeshua but had been destroyed and never restored. I'm not sure how Messiah will cross the Kidron. Maybe by the same manner in which the gate stones will stand aside they will come together and form a bridge. Today, the bridge is gone but the site of my tour bus outside the garden gate is a blessed site indeed for my sore legs, and our driver has the A/C going.
It was in this garden Yeshua prayed, "Let this cup pass from Me, nevertheless not My will but Yours be done". On the eve of the completion of His work of our redemption, He sought to know if there might be another way. In a parallel sense, we have the same thing before us. We stand near the end of all things and some of us are showing the very human tendency to look for and easier way to complete a task. By not yielding to His human tendency, Yeshua gave us strength to endure the hard, but pure, road that lies ahead of us.
There are those among us that seek another way through troubled times before us (rapture). In fact, there is no other way through these times other than through the "Tribulation", to bear our own cross (testimony) and walk through these tribulations to enter His glory. I not only pray for the Peace of Jerusalem (Yeshua), but pray my brothers and sisters in the faith make ready. The time of Jacob's trouble is knocking at the door. Let us look to Him as "the Author and Finisher of our faith". If we remain strong in Him, He will "hide (us) under His wings".
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