As promised before, here is a brief history lesson on the Temple of the Mount. The mount was originally the site where Abraham came to sacrifice his son Isaac - it was then called Mount Moriah. It summit is where the very first temple of God was built by Solomon over 3,000 years ago and described in the bible . The temple was destroyed by Neuchadnezzar in 586 BC. It was rebuilt some 70 years later by King Herod. (the second temple). This temple was destroyed in 68 AD by the Romans. The biggest chunk still intact today is now known as the Western Wall or "Wailing Wall". The Bible tells (in Ezekiel 40) that the third temple will be rebuilt whe
n Jesus returns. For Jews this is the first coming, for Christians, the second. The Jews go to the Western Wall to pray for the rebuilding of the Temple and they are "wailing" because as of right now, the Wall is in the hands of the Muslims with their Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque currently occupying the mount. There have been problems for years because many Jews believe that the treasures from the old Temple were buried underneath it to protect them when the Romans came. These treasures now lie deep under the temple mount and several excavations have been run to clear the old ruins underground...I guess the Muslims don't like it so much when people go digging under their mosques so you can see how this has led to riots and problems. Nevertheless, there is a large section of the Western Wall that has been excavated and is visible in underground tunnels and caves. Ben and I were lucky enough to be able to tour this part and what we saw is indescribable. Whole streets and walls of buildings found underground and of course it all match
es up to descriptions of what the Temple Mount was like in Jesus' time. In the picture, from where I am standing taking the picture, to where Ben is standing in the background, is one huge solid rock at the base of the original temple wall. It is all part of the Western Wall but this part is just not see about ground like the Wailing Wall is. In the other picture with the road and all the feet, is the original road that was on the surface during the time when Jesus was in Jerusalem. It was the main road along the temple and also likely the road along which Jesus was lead to His Judgement.
n Jesus returns. For Jews this is the first coming, for Christians, the second. The Jews go to the Western Wall to pray for the rebuilding of the Temple and they are "wailing" because as of right now, the Wall is in the hands of the Muslims with their Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque currently occupying the mount. There have been problems for years because many Jews believe that the treasures from the old Temple were buried underneath it to protect them when the Romans came. These treasures now lie deep under the temple mount and several excavations have been run to clear the old ruins underground...I guess the Muslims don't like it so much when people go digging under their mosques so you can see how this has led to riots and problems. Nevertheless, there is a large section of the Western Wall that has been excavated and is visible in underground tunnels and caves. Ben and I were lucky enough to be able to tour this part and what we saw is indescribable. Whole streets and walls of buildings found underground and of course it all match
es up to descriptions of what the Temple Mount was like in Jesus' time. In the picture, from where I am standing taking the picture, to where Ben is standing in the background, is one huge solid rock at the base of the original temple wall. It is all part of the Western Wall but this part is just not see about ground like the Wailing Wall is. In the other picture with the road and all the feet, is the original road that was on the surface during the time when Jesus was in Jerusalem. It was the main road along the temple and also likely the road along which Jesus was lead to His Judgement. 
Then we paid a visit to the Pools of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the cripple man.
Afterwards we went on to visit Yad Vashem which is the Jerusalem Holocaust museum. I have visited the Holocaust museum in both Dallas and Washington DC but the one in Yad Vashem is by far the most sobering and educational of them all. We were able to see the Hall of Names which is a dome structure set up like a library. There are hundreds of books and inside of them are the names and testimonies on those who were killed and those who survived the Holocaust.
Afterwards we went on to the Israeli Museum which is where The Book of the Shrine is. This is where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed. It was pretty fascinating to see them and the other artifacts that were found at Qumran.
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