A Biblical Journey Through the Bible Lands: Israel (Part 10 of 10)

Mount of Olives 

Mount of Olives, Church of All Nations to the Left

East of Jerusalem’s Old City, across the Kidron Valley, is the 2.2 miles (3.5 km) mountain range called the Mount of Olives (or Olivet). With slopes once covered with olive groves, it stands between Jerusalem and the Judean Desert. The northern peak is Mount Scopus (a.k.a. Lookout Mountain), from which the armies of Alexander the Great and later the Romans ominously approached the soon-to-be-conquered city (Josephus, Ant. 11.8.5; Wars 2.19.4; 5.3.2, 5). The southern peak is Mount of Corruption, one of the idolatrous “high places” Solomon established that Josiah later destroyed (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13). Atop the main part of the ridge is now the predominately Arab neighborhood of At-Tur, where visitors can get one of the best panoramic views of Jerusalem. 

When Absalom instigated a rebellion against his father’s throne, David fled from Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley on his way to the Judean Desert, climbing to the top of the Mount of Olives to worship (2 Sam. 15:30-32). Leading up to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in the 6th century BC, Ezekiel’s vision showed the glory of the LORD departing from the temple to the city’s eastern gate, continuing eastward to the Mount of Olives before withdrawing completely from the rebellious city (Ezek. 10:18-19; 11:23).

The village of Bethphage was on the northeastern slope, where Jesus began the approximately half-mile (900 m) triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1-10; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-41). Also nearby on the southeastern slope was the village of Bethany, less than 2 miles (3.2 km) from Jerusalem and home of Simon the leper and Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary, where Jesus visited and stayed on multiple occasions (Matt. 21:17; 26:6; Mark 11:11-12; 14:3; Luke 10:38-41; John 11:1, 18; 12:1).

As a place of solitude and prayer (Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26), the Lord and his disciples frequented the Mount of Olives, spending the night as circumstances and weather conditions permitted (Luke 21:37; 22:39; John 8:1). From the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, Christ wept for the city (Luke 19:41) and delivered the Olivet Discourse in view of the temple’s impending destruction (Matt. 24:3; Mark 13:3).

Mount of Olives Cemetery

It was on the Mount of Olives that Jesus spent much of the night in prayer and was betrayed and arrested prior to his death the following day (Luke 22:39-54). About six weeks later, having returned to the Mount of Olives as far as Bethany (Luke 24:60), the resurrected Christ ascended to heaven in the presence of his eleven remaining apostles (Acts 1:9-12).¹

The western slope of the mountain has been used as a burial ground for over three millennia, the oldest and largest Jewish cemetery in the world (roughly 150,000 graves). Orthodox Jews, still anticipating the first advent of the Messiah, believe the resurrection of the dead will begin here (cf. Zech. 14:3-5). At the southern end is the Silwan Necropolis, including stone-carved tombs of societal elites and high-ranking officials dating as far back as the 9th century BC.

Gethsemane

Although the exact location is now uncertain, there was a garden on the Mount of Olives called Gethsemane. Presumably a grove of olive trees, the Aramaic gat shemanim means “oil press.” This is the area where Jesus prayed and was arrested the night before his crucifixion (Matt. 26:30-56; Mark 14:26-50; John 18:1-12, 26).

A plausible site is adjacent to the Church of All Nations (a.k.a. Basilica of the Agony), built in 1924 over the rock believed to be the spot where Jesus prayed in agony the night of his betrayal and arrest. The fenced-in garden is approximately 12,916 square feet (1,200 sq. m), with eight very old olive trees dating back to the mid-12th century, all having descended from a single parent tree. Although the Romans cut down all the trees in the area during the AD 70 siege of Jerusalem, new olive trees begin as shoots from existing roots and the surviving olive trees in the garden potentially date back to the time of Christ.

Just over a hundred yards (100 m) northward is the Grotto of Gethsemane (a.k.a. Grotto of Betrayal), a cave believed to be where Jesus and his disciples customarily slept at night, including the evening of the betrayal. It has been used as a chapel since the 4th century.

Via Dolorosa and Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The Via Dolorosa (Latin, “Sorrowful Way” or “Way of Suffering”) is an approximately 656 yards (600 m) winding course through the narrow streets of Old Jerusalem, the traditional route Jesus was forced to walk on the way to his crucifixion. It begins at the Antonia Fortress, originally built by Herod the Great at the northwest corner of the Temple Mount, the traditional site of Pontius Pilate’s praetorium where Jesus was condemned to death (John 19:9, 13). It ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, originally built in the 4th century on the traditional site of the Lord’s crucifixion and nearby tomb of his burial, just north of the Old City’s first wall and west of its second wall. The route passes through busy, crowded markets and streets, much like it would have been in Jesus’ day.

Fourteen marked stations along the way commemorate particular points mentioned in scripture or tradition. Station 1 is the place Jesus was condemned by Pontius Pilate. Station 2 is where Jesus began carrying the cross after his severe beating. Station 3 marks the spot where he fell the first time under the weight to the cross. Station 4 is where his mother watched him pass by. Station 5 is the place Simon of Cyrene was compelled to help bear the cross. Station 6 is the location Catholics claim St. Veronica wiped the Lord’s face with a cloth. Station 7 marks the spot where Jesus fell a second time. Station 8 is where he consoled the weeping women of Jerusalem. Station 9 is where Jesus fell a third time. Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, station 10 is where he was stripped of his clothes. Station 11 marks the place Jesus was nailed to the cross. Station 12 is the Rock of Golgotha² where he died. Station 13 is a marble slab where his body was taken down from the cross. Station 14 is the tomb where he was buried. 

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

A stairway just inside the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher leads up to Golgotha, nearly 15 feet (4.5 m) above the ground floor. Atop the limestone rock is a Greek Orthodox altar, and the rock can be viewed through a glass casing on either side and can be touched through a hole in the floor beneath the altar. The extravagant iconographic decorations throughout the indoor site, in my opinion, are a major distraction from the horrific and somber events of two millennia ago.

At the center of the basilica on the ground floor is the oldest traditional site of the tomb where Jesus was buried and resurrected, now enclosed by a Byzantine Edicule (or Aedicula) shrine, most recently restored in 2017 with ongoing renovations. The tomb chamber is lined with marble and covered with iconography.

Golgotha Altar

Edicule Shrine

Garden Tomb 

According to the biblical record, Jesus was crucified near the city beyond its wall and buried in a nearby garden in a newly hewn-out rock tomb that had never been used (Matt. 27:60; John 19:20, 41-42; Heb. 13:12). Less than 2 miles (3.1 km) from the oldest traditional site, just north of the Old City’s second wall, is the Garden Tomb, promoted as another possible location of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Discovered in the 19th century, the site has a rock-hewn tomb near an ancient water cistern and winepress, indicative of what used to be a garden. Also nearby is a rock ledge that allegedly resembled in the distant past the face of a human skull and has been called Skull Hill or Gordon’s Calvary (after Charles G. Gordon who made the discovery and identification).

The Garden Tomb Association maintaining the site advertise it as only a possible location of Christ’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, though some enthusiastic tour guides seem quite convinced of its authenticity. The tomb, however, has been dated at least seven centuries before Christ, hardly “a new tomb” according to the biblical account. Moreover, the crumbling rock ledge that may have resembled the face of a skull a century ago would have significantly eroded and altered in appearance over two millennia.

Nevertheless, in contrast to the overtly ornamented, crowded, and commercialized site within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the premises of the Garden Tomb are much more tranquil and better preserve the natural environment. While it is probably not the actual location, it does give a better feel for what the real place may have been like.

Reflections

Where David fled from his enemies, Jesus faced his enemies. Where Solomon reserved a place for false gods, Jesus worshiped the heavenly Father. Where religious conflict and division have proliferated for centuries, Jesus prayed that what he accomplished here would engender faith and unity (John 17:20-23). Fallible human reasoning has persistently stood in God’s way and cannot possibly get us to where we need to be without the gracious intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we humbly embrace the Way, the Truth, and the Life as we carefully follow in his steps, not in disputable geographical locations but along the demanding path to our eternal home. “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6). We don’t have to walk where he walked to walk as he walked.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Zechariah 14:4 reads, “And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives …” (NKJV). Based on this 6th century BC prophecy, it is commonly believed that Jesus will someday return to the Mount of Olives. However, applying this text to the second coming of Christ is to ignore its symbolic (apocalyptic) nature, its historical context, and its fulfillment not long after Christ’s first coming. See K. L. Moore, “The Day of the Lord,” Moore Perspective (01 Feb. 2014), <Link>.

     ² Only the Jewish writers Matthew, Mark, and John employ the Aramaic expression Golgotha (Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17), while the non-Jewish writer Luke uses the Greek term chraníon (“skull”) (Luke 23:33), although its Latin counterpart calvaria has produced the popular designation Calvary (Douay-Rheims, N/KJV). Traditionally the place of the Lord’s crucifixion has been conceived of as a hill, but biblically it is merely called a “place” (tópos) in a more generic sense that may suggest a broader area or region.

Related Posts: Jordan Part 1, Jordan Part 2, Palestinian West Bank, Israel Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9   

 

Additional Information: Jerusalem 101 

 

Image credits:

Mount of Olives <https://www.elal.com/magazine/en/portfolio-items/travel/jerusalem/mount-of-olives/>

Jewish Cemetery <https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293983-d558594-Reviews-The_Jewish_Cemetery-Jerusalem_Jerusalem_District.html>

Gethsemane <https://waynestiles.com/blog/the-garden-of-gethsemane-still-a-place-of-prayer-weeping>

Via Dolorosa <https://www.seetheholyland.net/via-dolorosa/>

Church of Holy Sepulchre <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre>

Golgatha Altar <https://www.catholicbridge.com/catholic/where-is-golgotha.php>

Edicule Shrine <https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/new-tests-at-church-of-holy-sepulchre-in-jerusalem-reveal-secrets-of-jesus-s-grave-gf8cgr929>

Garden Tomb <https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/garden-tomb-0014144>

A Biblical Journey Through the Bible Lands: Israel (Part 9 of 10)

The Kidron Valley

The 20-mile (32 km) Kidron Valley runs north-south between the Mount of Olives and the eastern edge of Jerusalem, down to the Dead Sea. Sections of the valley have been called the King’s Valley (Gen. 14:17; 2 Sam. 18:18), the Valley of Blessing (2 Chron. 20:26), and the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:2, 12).¹

King David crossed this valley when escaping the coup of his son Absalom (2 Sam. 15:23). In the same valley the reforms of Judah’s kings Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah involved destroying the vestiges of idolatry of their predecessors (1 Kings 15:13; 2 Chron. 29:16; 30:14; 2 Kings 23:4-6). The evil usurper Athaliah was executed here at the end of her six-year reign of terror in Judah (2 Kings 11:16; cf. Josephus, Ant. 9.7.3). In the 5th century BC, Nehemiah passed along the valley at night as he surveyed the city’s damaged walls (Neh. 2:15). The valley became a burial site (2 Kings 23:6; Jer. 31:38-40), and hundreds of ancient tombs remain to this day. 

Approximately 40 feet (12 m) deeper in the 1st century AD, Jesus was tempted by the devil to jump from the highest point of the temple into the valley below (Matt. 4:8). The Lord and his disciples crossed this valley on multiple occasions as they traveled back and forth from Jerusalem to Bethany, the Mount of Olives, and Gethsemane (cf. John 18:1). 

The Gihon Spring emerges in the Kidron Valley, where Solomon was anointed as king (1 Kings 1:33-45). It was the main water source for the city and flowed approximately 586 yards (535 m) southwards to the Pool of Siloam.

The Valley of Ben-Hinnom

To the west and southwest of Jerusalem is the Valley of Ben-[“son of”] Hinnom or simply Hinnom (Josh. 15:8; 18:16). After Solomon foolishly set aside a place of worship for Molech (1 Kings 11:7), within the next couple of centuries his descendants were offering their children to Molech as burnt sacrifices (2 Chron. 28:1-3; 33:1-6). The particular location in the valley was called Topheth (Jer. 7:31), and among the many reforms of Josiah in the 7th century BC was the defilement of this place (2 Kings 23:10). From that time onward the valley became a refuse dump for putrid waste, rotting animal carcasses, decaying corpses of executed criminals, and all manner of filth. It was a place where fires burned continually in the futile attempt to deplete the amassing mountains of garbage and to mask the horrid stench.

In Mark 9:42-48 three times Jesus graphically emphasizes the importance of ridding oneself of whatever leads to sin in order to avoid ending up in the place he describes as Gehenna. While this term is rendered in most English versions as “hell,” it is derived from the Aramaic Gēhannā and its Hebrew equivalent Ge Hinnom, meaning “Valley of Hinnom.” Similar to picturing heaven with the most beautiful and precious things known to man (e.g., Rev. 21:11-21), the Lord portrays the destination of the wicked with imagery familiar to his listening audience. The most disgusting place imaginable was the rubbish dump outside of Jerusalem, with its decomposing cadavers covered in maggots (“where their worm does not die”) and its perpetual smoldering (“and the fire is not quenched”).

The Tyropoeon Valley

Giv'ati Parking Lot Excavation

Jerusalem’s Central Valley (cf. Isa. 22:1; Jer. 21:13), known in the 1st century AD as the Tyropoeon (“cheesemakers”) Valley (Josephus, Wars 5.4.1), was the commercial hub during the Second Temple Period, situated between the more highly elevated upper city in the west from the lower city in the east (the old City of David). At one time it separated Mount Zion and Mount Moriah, merged with the Kidron Valley, and emptied into the Ben-Hinnom Valley. But it has been filled with earth and debris and is now covered by houses, buildings, and roads. 

On the eastern slope of the Tyropoeon Valley at the northwest corner of the City of David, an ancient complex of fortified walls and rooms was discovered underneath the Giv’ati Parking Lot in 2015, identified as the Seleucid Acra built by Antiochus IV Epiphanes during the Intertestamental Period in 168 BC, prior to the Maccabean revolt (cf. 1 Maccabees 1:35-38). Other archaeological excavations in the area include the Pool of Siloam and the South Stepped Street (featured in the previous post), and Hezekiah’s Tunnel.

Hezekiah’s Tunnel 

King Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, was the thirteenth king of Judah in the late 8th and early 7th centuries BC (2 Kings 18:1; 2 Chron. 29:1). To prevent the Assyrians from blocking or stealing water during a siege, Hezekiah had a tunnel dug just south of the Temple Mount, connecting the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley to the Pool of Siloam on the west side of the City of David (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chron. 32:30). The Siloam Inscription at the southern end of the tunnel recounts how the digging crews started at each end and in two years met in the middle. 

Today the 1,750 feet (533 m) S-shaped tunnel (a.k.a. the Siloam Tunnel), discovered in 1838, is located in the Arab community of Silwan in eastern Jerusalem. Visitors can wade through the dark tunnel, in some places less than three feet (1 m) wide and less than five feet (1.5 m) in height. 

Reflections

Although the city of Jerusalem has significantly changed through the centuries, archaeological discoveries have allowed us to revisit a number of places we read about in scripture, reaffirming the historicity of the biblical record and reminding us of God’s active involvement in the affairs of his human creation. “Those who trust in the Lord Are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever” (Psalm 125:1-2).²

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Judah’s fourth king Jehoshaphat, whose name means “Yahweh judges,” blessed the LORD with the people of Jerusalem and Judah in the Valley of Berachah (“Blessing”) after God delivered them from their adversaries (2 Chron. 20:26-27). Thus, “the Valley of Jehoshaphat” became a symbol of divine judgment against the enemies of God’s people.

     ² Scripture quotations are from the NKJV.

Related Posts: Jordan Part 1, Jordan Part 2, Palestinian West Bank, Israel Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 10

 

Image credits:

Kidron Valley <http://holyland-sites.blogspot.com/2013/04/kidron-valley.html>

Giv’ati Parking Lot Excavation <https://travel.sygic.com/en/poi/givati-parking-lot-dig-poi:5814684>

Hezekiah’s Tunnel <https://biblicalstudies.info/hezekiah/hezekiah.htm>

A Biblical Journey Through the Bible Lands: Israel (Part 8 of 10)

Western Wall and Mughrabi Ramp

The Temple Mount and Western Wall

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem was once known as Mount Moriah, where God provided a sacrificial ram for the altar Abraham had built, redeeming the life of his son Isaac. Abraham called the place Yahweh-yireh, meaning “the LORD sees [to it]” in the sense of providing (Gen. 22:1-14). It was also here that David erected an alter to the LORD at the threshing floor purchased from Ornan the Jebusite, where God answered David’s plea to withdraw the suffering of the people consequent to his sin (1 Chron. 21:18-28). At the same location David’s son Solomon built the first Jewish temple in the 10th century BC (2 Chron. 3:1), destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC, and rebuilt under the direction of Zerubbabel around 516 BC. 

Nearly five centuries after the Second Temple had been constructed, Herod the Great began renovations and expansions (cf. John 2:20), completed by his great-grandson Herod Agrippa II. The temple platform was enlarged, including a massive retaining wall on the western side of the Temple Mount, the remains of which are now called the Western Wall. Only the huge stone blocks at the lower level survived the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. 

The Western Wall is called the Buraq Wall by Muslims (after Mohammed’s winged horse), while the Jews consider the popular reference to the Wailing Wall derogatory. Much of the enormous structure is below street level and hidden in the Muslim Quarter, but its most visible section faces a large open plaza in the Jewish Quarter. Although additional stones were added long after the temple’s destruction in AD 70, orthodox Jews believe this is the closest they can get to where the temple’s Most Holy Place once stood and is therefore their holiest site for prayer. 

In the 7th century Muslims built the shrine of the Dome of the Rock where the Jewish temple was previously located, venerating the place Mohammed is believed to have ascended to heaven to receive from Allah the five-daily-prayers directive. Its large golden dome continues to be the most prominent feature of Jerusalem’s landscape. The surrounding courtyard, along with the Al-Aqse Mosque, are now accessible via eleven gates, only one of which is open to non-Muslims – the Mughrabi Gate via a covered wooden ramp from the Western Wall.

Pool of Bethesda 

Ruins of Bethesda Pool

At the east wall north of the Temple Mount is the Sheep Gate (Neh. 3:1-2), also known to local Christians as St. Stephen’s Gate (cf. Acts 6:8–7:60) and to Muslims as the Lion’s Gate. Near this entrance are the remains of the Pool of Bethesda, in what is now the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem. At one time it was surrounded by five covered colonnades and fed by an underground stream, causing the occasional stirring of the water. This is where Jesus healed a man who had suffered 38 years from a debilitating infirmity, encountering him again soon afterwards at the temple nearby (John 5:1-15).¹

Ritual Baths

Numerous ritual baths (mikva’ot) have been excavated throughout Jerusalem, including the area just south of the Temple Mount. Used by ancient Jews for ceremonial purification, especially before entering the temple compound, these would have been supplementary to the larger pools of Bethesda to the north and Siloam to the south. In the third decade of the first century AD, when about 3,000 souls responded to the gospel on the Day of Pentecost, plenty of water was available to immerse the penitent believers (Acts 2:37-41).

Temple Mount South Steps: Pentecost Sermon Preached (Acts 2)

Mikveh - Ritual Bath

The City of David

Below the Temple Mount, the City of David is now an Israeli national park in the southwest section of Jerusalem. After reigning in Hebron 7.5 years, David captured and lived in the Jebusite fortress of Zion, around which the city was built and where he reigned another 33 years (2 Sam. 5:4-5; 1 Chron. 11:4-9). In addition to his hometown of Bethlehem (Luke 2:4, 11), this was called the City of David (2 Sam. 5:6-10; 6:10, 12, 16; 1 Kings 3:1; 8:1; 9:24; 11:27), and the location of his tomb was still known when Peter and his fellow-apostles preached on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:29). This was also the burial place of Solomon and many generations of David’s other descendants (1 Kings 2:10 – 2 Kings 16:20). 

Excavated Edge of Siloam Pool

Pool of Siloam

Built by Hezekiah in the 8th century BC (2 Kgs 20:20), the Pool of Siloam is the lowest place in the city. After Jesus had been teaching in the temple, he encountered a man blind from birth, so “He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing” (John 9:6-7).²

The location of the pool was lost after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70 and the area was filled with silt and debris. But in 2004, in the southern part of the City of David, the edge of the pool (the northeastern and southeastern corners) was discovered and excavated, with plans for further excavations in the near future.³ The pool appears to be trapezoid in shape, with five steps on at least three sides and an estimated length of around 225 feet (69 m).

South Stepped Street

From the southern gates and Pool of Siloam is a flight of steps (a.k.a. the Siloam Street) up to the southwest corner of the Temple Mount (cf. Neh. 3:15; 12:17). The wide steps in Jesus’ day had been built early in the 1st century AD during Pontius Pilate’s tenure, used by pilgrims who had purified themselves on their ascent to the temple. While most of the stepped street is still underground and continues to be excavated, the archaeological site is now open for visitors to climb through the dark, damp tunnel from the Pool of Siloam to the Temple Mount.

Reflections

As Jesus and his disciples walked the streets of Jerusalem and ministered to individuals and crowds, the foundation was laid for the extraordinary work God has been doing ever since. The Jewish temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod are no longer needed, as Jesus the Christ is the once-for-all-time sacrifice and our great High Priest (Heb. 2:17–10:25), and wherever the Lord’s church meets is God’s holy temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17). Neither can the Muslim religion nor any other thwart God’s ultimate purpose. 

“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19-22).

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ See K. L. Moore, “An Angel Stirring the Water,” Moore Perspective (2 Oct. 2019), <Link>.

     ² Scripture quotations are from the NKJV.

     ³ The rest of the pool is underneath private property, and only recently has permission been granted to extend the excavation site.

Related Posts: Jordan Part 1, Jordan Part 2, Palestinian West Bank, Israel Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 9, Part 10

 

Image credits:

Western Wall and Mughrabi ramp <https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/02/06/465805423/new-western-wall-rules-break-down-barriers-for-jewish-women>

Pool of Bethesda <https://drivethruhistory.com/pool-of-bethesda/>

Temple Mount Southern Steps <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Wall#/media/File:Temple_Mount_southern_wall_200509.jpg>

Mikveh – Ritual Bath <https://www.generationword.com/jerusalem101/39-mikvah-ritual-baths.html>

Pool of Siloam <https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/the-siloam-pool-where-jesus-healed-the-blind-man/>

Stepped Street <https://www.generationword.com/jerusalem101/49-siloam-road.html>

A Biblical Journey Through the Bible Lands: Israel (Part 7 of 10)

Jerusalem

The city of Jerusalem is about 30 miles (48 km) east of the Mediterranean Sea and approximately 21 miles (34 km) west of the Jordan River, built on the Judean Hills of Israel’s Central Mountain Range. Inspiring the poetic description, “As the mountains surround Jerusalem …” (Psalm 125:2a), most notable are the peaks of Mount Zion and Mount Moriah (a.k.a. the Temple Mount), with the Mount of Olives just to the east. Land travel to the city from any direction would involve an uphill climb to nearly 2,500 feet (754 meters) above sea level.¹

Once called Salem (meaning “peaceful”), in Abraham’s day the area was ruled by the priestly king Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18-20; Heb. 7:1-2). Since then the city and surrounding region have been anything but peaceful, conquered and controlled by Canaanite-Jebusites, Israelites, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Islamic Arabs, European Crusaders, Ottoman Turks, the British, and Israeli Zionists. While orthodox Jews, Muslims, and Christians all regard the city as holy, its legal status continues to be fiercely contested.  

Biblical Significance

Mount Moriah is where Abraham was instructed to offer his son Isaac before the Lord provided a sacrificial ram (Gen. 22:1-14). The city built here was called Jebus when inhabited by the Jebusites (Josh. 18:28; 1 Chron. 11:4-7), defeated by the armies of Joshua, conquered by the tribe of Judah, and occupied by the tribe of Benjamin, though many Jebusites stubbornly refused to leave (Josh. 11:1-13; 12:7-10; 15:8, 63; 18:16; Judg. 1:8, 21).

David erected an alter on Mount Moriah at the threshing floor purchased from Ornan the Jebusite, where the first Jewish temple was later built by Solomon (1 Chron. 21:18-28; 2 Chron. 3:1). When David had reconquered the city, it was claimed as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel and called the City of David (2 Sam. 5:6-10; 6:10, 12, 16; etc.). One of the mountain peaks upon which the city and a Jebusite fortress were built was called Zion, a name applied to the entire city and sometimes to the entire nation.²

After the kingdom divided, Jerusalem remained the capital of the Southern Kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 12:1 – 2 Kings 23:37) until its destruction by the Babylonians in the early 6th century BC (2 Kings 24:8–25:27). The city and temple were rebuilt about seven decades later (Ezra-Nehemiah), renovated and enlarged by Herod the Great (cf. John 2:20), and razed yet again by the Romans in AD 70, just as Jesus had foretold (Matt. 24:1-34; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-38).

Old City Foreground, Mount of Olives Background

In the meantime Christ spent a considerable portion of his ministry in Jerusalem, where he was eventually tried, tortured, led through the streets, and then executed just outside the city wall (Luke 22:54–23:49; Heb. 13:12). Nearby was the tomb in which his corpse was buried and from which he emerged alive (John 19:41-42). 

A few weeks later the church he had promised to build (Matt 16:18) began in Jerusalem, with thousands of penitent baptized believers, and from here spread throughout the world (Acts 1:8–28:31; Col. 1:5-6), fulfilling prophecies like Isaiah 2:3, “… For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (NKJV).

Beyond the New Testament

During the destruction of Jerusalem in mid-70, the Jewish inhabitants either died of starvation within its walls, were killed by the Romans, or were captured as slaves (recounted in Josephus’ Wars of the Jews). Except for a Roman garrison, the area remained unpopulated until another Jewish revolt was crushed in 132-135. The city was then rebuilt as a Roman colony named Aelia Capitolina, and the layout of its walls remains in the present walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Jews were forbidden to enter the city except once a year for Tisha B’Av, a day of fasting and mourning.

When emperor Constantine I embraced Christianity in the 4th century, he restored the name Jerusalem, demolished pagan monuments, and erected Christian shrines and church buildings at a number of sacred sites. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century, while the Eastern Byzantine Empire maintained control of Jerusalem. 

The Islamic, Ottoman, and British Periods

Western Wall Foreground, Dome of the Rock Background

In the 7th century, combined forces of Persians and Jews conquered Jerusalem, killed multiplied thousands of Christians and destroyed churches and monuments. About 15 years later the Byzantines reconquered the city, only to lose it again to Arab Muslims, who believed their prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven from Jerusalem’s Temple Mount to receive the directive of five daily prayers. Where the Jewish temple once stood, an Islamic shrine called the Dome of the Rock was built and remains to this day. 

Over the next few centuries, control of the city alternated between various sects of Islamicists and Crusaders, while Jews, Christians, and Muslims were persecuted, expelled, and/or killed under different regimes. The Ottoman Turks took control from 1517 to 1917, then the British captured the city, and in 1922 the League of Nations entrusted them with administrative authority over the entire region. Between 1922 and 1948 the population grew, consisting of roughly two-thirds Jews and one-third ethnic Arabs (both Muslim and Christian), with persistent civil unrest.  

The Israeli Period

When war broke out in 1948 and the British withdrew, Israel declared independence and seized West Jerusalem, while the country of Jordan controlled East Jerusalem, along with the so-called West Bank. Both Jewish and Arab residents were displaced, and a number of historic and religious sites were destroyed on either side. In the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel captured East Jerusalem, including the West Bank. The Temple Mount remained under Islamic administration, while the Western Wall was considered a sacred site for the Jewish people. 

Jerusalem now has a population of around 800,000. The Old City is subdivided into the southwest Armenian Quarter, the northwest Christian Quarter, the southeast Jewish Quarter, and the more heavily populated northeast Muslim Quarter. Israeli control of the extended territory, plus the naming of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, has been an unending dispute between Israelis, Palestinian Arabs, and respective allies.

Reflections

While we should never forget all that has happened in Jerusalem over the centuries, from a biblical standpoint the physical city has long ago served its purpose as a special place for God’s name and God’s people. On more than one occasion Jesus wept over Jerusalem because of the sordid history of defiance and rebellion and consequent judgment (Matt. 23:37-39; Luke 13:34-35; 19:41-44).

When it was known as Salem (“peaceful”), Abraham still anticipated a greater city “whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10). All who manifest this kind of faith desire a better, heavenly, divinely-prepared city (v. 16). Rather than a single earthly location, anywhere in the world the Lord’s people assemble to worship in spirit and truth (John 4:20-24), God dwells among them as his holy temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17) and New Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22-24; Rev. 21:2-5).³ Like the faithful who have gone on before us, we long for “an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet. 1:4).

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ See Matt. 20:17-18; Mark 10:32-33; 15:41; Luke 2:42; 18:31; 19:28; John 2:13; 5:1; 7:8, 10; 11:55; Acts 11:2; 13:31; 15:2; 21:4, 12, 15; 24:11; 25:1, 9.

     ² E.g., 2 Sam. 5:7; 1 Kings 8:1; 2 Kings 19:31; Psa. 48:2; 51:18; 74:2; 78:68; 102:21; 128:5; 135:21; 137:1; 147:12; 149:2; Isa. 4:3-5; 10:12, 24, 32; 30:19; etc.

     ³ See K. L. Moore, “The New Jerusalem,” Moore Perspective (30 Jan. 2019), <Link>.

Related Posts: Name of Jerusalem, Israel Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Palestinian West Bank, Jordan Part 1, Jordan Part 2

 

Image credits:

Jerusalem from Mt. Olives <https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/05/13/npr-understanding-the-map-of-jerusalem--or-trying-to>

Old City Mt. Olives Background <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_City_of_Jerusalem#/media/File:2014-06_Israel_-_Jerusalem_090_(14936890061).jpg>

Western Wall/Dome of Rock <https://www.ucanews.com/news/archaeologists-race-against-time-in-jerusalem/100480>

Old Jerusalem Map <https://www.britannica.com/place/Jerusalem>

A Biblical Journey Through the Bible Lands: Israel (Part 6 of 10)

Mount of Beatitudes

Recorded in chapters 5–7 of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus preached his celebrated Sermon on the Mount from a hill or mountain near Capernaum.¹ The traditional site is Mount Eremos (a.k.a. the Mount of Beatitudes) on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee between Capernaum and Tabgha (see below). The area is spacious enough for a sizeable gathering of people, and the mountainous environment is conducive to voice projection. The surroundings would have provided ready illustrations of “birds of the air,” “lilies of the field,” and “grass of the field” (Matt. 6:26-30).

Mount of Beatitudes overlooking Sea of Galilee 

In his mission of “proclaiming the good news of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23), Jesus was speaking to a large gathering of Jews still living under the Mosaic covenant (5:17-19), including but not limited to his disciples (4:25; 5:1; 7:28). His message uses imagery and comparisons with which the immediate listening audience would have been familiar, addressing topics particularly relevant to them, while preparing for the advent of God’s spiritual kingdom (the church). In all likelihood, the instructions and admonitions recorded by Matthew were not limited to a single sermon on just one occasion but were regularly and repeatedly taught by Jesus (cp. Luke 6:20-49; 11:2-4, 9-13). 

Tabgha

Church of the Primacy of St Peter at Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee

On the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee, Tabgha is the traditional site of Jesus’ third post-resurrection appearance to at least seven of his disciples, where he prompted the catching of 153 fish and shared a breakfast of fish and bread with these men (John 21:1-14). It was on this occasion that the triple question-answer exchange about love and shepherding occurred between Jesus and Simon Peter, followed by a prediction of Peter’s death (vv. 15-19).² Today a Roman Catholic chapel, the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, commemorates the event. Another chapel, the Church of the Multiplication, sits on the site where a couple of 4th–5th-century Byzantine churches once stood, including a floor mosaic of a basket of bread and two fish. The chapel’s name is based on the presumption that Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000+ occurred here, but this is uncertain if not improbable (see below).³

Bethsaida and Chorazin

Near Capernaum, on the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, were the villages of Chorazin and Bethsaida. Due to centuries of changes in the landscape and various archaeological excavations, the exact location of each village continues to be debated.⁴ Most of the Lord’s mighty works were performed in these places, including restoring a blind man’s sight in two stages to illustrate the difference between partial understanding and clear knowledge (Mark 8:22-25). But judgment was pronounced on them because, for the most part, they refused to repent (Matt. 11:20-24; Luke 10:13-16). 

Et-Tell, proposed site of Bethsaida near Sea of Galilee

Not everyone, however, resisted the Lord’s teachings. Bethsaida (later named Julias) was the hometown of at least three of the Lord’s earliest disciples: Philip, Andrew, and Simon Peter (John 1:44). Being from this culturally-diverse region east of the Jordan River would explain why Philip and Andrew are the Lord’s only apostles with Greek names. At some point Simon Peter and his brother Andrew were living in a house on the other side of the Jordan in Capernaum (Mark 1:21, 29). Being fishermen by trade, they would have been subject to taxation whenever they crossed the river into the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas (cf. Luke 5:27). The house in Capernaum may have belonged to the family of Peter’s wife.

It was near Bethsaida where Jesus taught, healed, and then fed over 5,000 hungry people with five barley loaves and two small fish, his only miracle (besides the resurrection) recorded in all four Gospels (Matt. 14:13-21; Mark 6:31-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14). Unfortunately many of them “went back and walked with him no more” (John 6:66). 

Reflections

The Greeks likened “opportunity” to a bald-headed woman with a forelock. If you reach out as she approaches, you have something to hold on to. But if you wait until she passes by, nothing is left to grasp. Multitudes have had, and continue to have, opportunities to hear, learn from, get to know, and follow Jesus to an abundant life of redemption, freedom from sin, and reconciliation to God. Sadly, it is too late for so many who have squandered these opportunities. May we heed the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and be among the few who enter by the narrow gate that leads to life (Matt. 7:13-14).

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ The Greek term ὄρος can refer to a single mountain (Matt. 14:23; John 4:20), or hill (Matt. 5:14; Luke 4:29), or mountain peak (Matt. 21:1; 24:3), or mountain range (Mark 5:5, 11).

     ² See K. L. Moore, “The Tough Love of Jesus,” Moore Perspective (15 Feb. 2014), <Link>.

     ³ See K. L. Moore, “Beyond the Jordan,” Moore Perspective (9 June 2021), <Link>.

     ⁴ My wife and I visited one of these sites during our 2015 trip but not in 2023. We also saw the floor mosaic at Tabgha. See K. L. Moore, “My Recent Visit to the Bible Lands,” Moore Perspective (16 Jan. 2015), <Linkl>.

Related Posts: Israel Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, West Bank, Jordan Part 1, Jordan Part 2

 

Image credits:

Mount of Beatitudes, <https://waynestiles.com/blog/mount-of-beatitudes-beauty-that-illustrates-truth>

Tabgha Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, <https://israeladvantagetours.com/walk-in-the-footsteps-of-jesus-in-tabgha/>

Et-Tell, proposed site of Bethsaida, <https://www.seetheholyland.net/bethsaida/>