24 HOURS-Week 2: Pictures

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , | Posted On Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 4:40 PM

I've been on Spring Break and didn't get a chance to post some pictures I wanted to make available that went along with my Week 2 message. You can view a map outlining Jerusalem in the time of Jesus in my first Week 1 post in this series. By the way, you can listen to the messages of this series online at this web address: www.gateway-community.org/live.html


Above is a modern-day view of the site where the holiest of all Jewish sites, the Temple, was located. The whole elevated area, enclosed now by walls, is called the Temple Mount. The gold dome you see there is not a Jewish structure but a Muslim structure called The Dome of the Rock. The second Temple (finished in 516 BC) was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD (The first Temple, built by Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC). In 637 AD Jerusalem was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate army. A few decades later the Dome of the Rock was built, in the late Seventh Century, and is considered the third holiest site in Islam because it is believed to be the site where Muhammad ascended to heaven. To the right of the Dome of the Rock, barely visible in this picture, is also the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In the center of the picture, below a stand of trees just to the lower right of the Dome of the Rock is what is today called the Western or Wailing Wall (see below). It is believed this is the only site remaining in which some of the ancient wall surrounding the second Temple is still evident. It has become a very holy site and a place of pilgrimage for Jews. When we understand the religious significance to both Jews and Muslims, as well as Christians, we begin to understand why there is so much tension and war in and around Israel and Jerusalem.



Below is a modern-day picture of the Kidron Valley which runs between the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives. The top wall visible in this picture is not from the original Temple but was built by Crusaders. However, behind this wall, and somewhat to the right, is the original site of the Temple and the present-day site of the Dome of the Rock (see above). Jesus and his followers would have crossed this valley to reach the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, where he went to pray on his last night before his crucifixion. In this picture below are olive trees across the floor of the Kidron Valley.


Below is a series of steps that are from the time of Jesus and were very likely used by him and his disciples as they descended into the Kidron Valley heading toward the Garden of Gethsemane.


Finally, below is a modern-day picture of the Temple Mount, as seen from the Mount of Olives. Visible in the center of the picture, behind the wall, is the Dome of the Rock (see above).