THE TEMPLE AND THE
FACE ON THE WALL
By Marilyn Agee, posted 6-17-06, updated
7-10-06
THE SIZE OF THE ROCK
(17.7 M X 13.5 M) UNDER THE DOME OF THE ROCK WOULD NOT FIT IN THE
HOLY OF HOLIES (10 M X 10 M), SO THE TEMPLE WAS NOT BUILT OVER
THE ROCK.
"WILSON'S ARCH" AND THE AQUEDUCT IT BROUGHT IN HELP
LOCATE THE TEMPLE SOUTH OF THE DOME OF THE ROCK
THE FIRST ALTAR ON MT.
MORIAH AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
"God did prove Abraham, and said...'Take now thy son,
thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into
the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon
one of the mountains which I will tell thee of'..And they
came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built
the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his
son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham
stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And
the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said:
'Abraham, Abraham.' And he said: 'Here am I.' And
he said: 'Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any
thing unto him; for now I know that thou art a God-fearing man,
seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from
Me.' And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold
behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham
went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in
the stead of his son." (Genesis 22:1-13; JPS).
Mt. Moriah means the mount provided by Yahweh, and that is
exactly what it is, the mount upon which the Lord's altars
and Temples were built. We have the Lamb of God as our substitute
sacrifice. That's the story told by the altars and Temples on
Mt. Moriah.
THE FIRST STEP, BUYING
THE PROPERTY ON WHICH TO BUILD AN ALTAR AND LATER THE
TEMPLE
Before Solomon, the son of David, built the Temple, David bought
Ornan's threshing floor on Mt. Moriah in order to build an
altar and sacrifice upon it. The Lord left no room for David to
consider buying any other property. Property over the Gihon
spring was not given as an alternate.
I Chron. 21:15-28 (JPS) says, "God sent an angel unto
Jerusalem to destroy it; and as he was about to destroy, the LORD
beheld, and He repented Him of the evil, and said to the
destroying angel: 'It is enough; now stay thy hand.' And
the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing-floor of
Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the
angel of the LORD standing between the earth and the heaven,
having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem.
Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their
faces. And David said unto God: 'Is it not I that commanded
the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done
very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? let Thy
hand, I pray Thee, O LORD my God, be against me, and against my
father's house; but not against Thy people, that they should
be plagued.' Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say
to David, that David should go up, and rear an altar unto the
LORD in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite." That was
the place for symbolic sacrifices to be made then and thereafter.
THE LORD CONFIRMED THE
TRANSACTION WITH A MIRACLE
Continuing, I Chron. 21:19-28, says, "David went up at the
saying of Gad, which he spoke in the name of the LORD. And Ornan
turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons that were with
him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. And as David
came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the
threshing-floor, and bowed down to David with his face to the
ground. Then David said to Ornan: 'Give me the place of this
threshing-floor, that I may build thereon an altar unto the LORD;
for the full price shalt thou give it me; that the plague may be
stayed from the people.'...So David gave to Ornan for the
place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. And David built
there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt-offerings and
peace-offerings, and called upon the LORD; and He answered him
from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt-offering. And the
LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword back into the
sheath thereof. At that time, when David saw that the LORD had
answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then
he sacrificed there." Again, the message is clear. The
sacrifice of a substitute on Mt. Moriah saved the people.
SOLOMON BUILT THE FIRST
TEMPLE ON MT. MORIAH
That's basic, and there is no way around it. II Chron. 3:1
leaves no room for doubt. It says, "Solomon began to build
the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the
LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had
prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite."
PHOENICIAN MASON'S
MARKS SPEAK AUTHENTIC FIRST TEMPLE
Solomon's Phoenician masons were the first to build walls
around Mt. Moriah to make a larger platform for the temple. As
the walls grew higher, more fill dirt was brought down from the
higher ground on the north to build up the lower parts in the
south. To this day, the lower courses of stones in the eastern
wall of the Temple mount are those that Solomon had the
Phoenician builders use to enlarge the threshing floor on Mt.
Moriah before the Temple was built on the platform. Masons'
marks written in Phoenician letters, were found by Sir C. Warren
on the lower courses in the eastern wall of the Temple mount in
the late 19th century. That construction is authentic first
Temple. (See "The Temple Mount," by Robin Kent
[http://www.robinkent.com/temple/articles_templemount.html] and
"History of Phoenicia," by Rawlinson, Ars Quatuor
Coronatorumii, 125; iii, 68
[http://www.sacred-texts.com/mas/bui/bui07.htm]).
Finding Phoenician mason's marks on the lower Temple mount
(Haram) walls shows that Solomon built the first Temple on Mt.
Moriah, not over the Gihon Spring in the City of David. Ernest L.
Martin said that there was no other spring, other than the Gihon
Spring, within five miles of Jerusalem, but there were others in
the early days..
In the "Ordinance Survey of Jerusalem," ordered by
Captain Charles W. Wilson and Recorded by the Ordnance Survey
Office, Southampton, on 29th March, 1866, Sir Henry James said,
"Thus, for example, it has been found, by descending a well
to the south of the central entrance of the Haram, that there is
an accumulation of ruins and rubbish to the extension of 84 feet;
and that originally there was a spring there, with steps down to
it, cut in the solid rock
(http://www.templemount.org/wilson1.html).
In "The Temple of Solomon," by Lambert Dolphin
(http://www.templemount.org/solomon.html), he said, "We have
descriptions of the ritual bath (mikvah) used by the high priest.
The mikvah was supplied by flowing ("living") water
FROM THE SPRING CALLED EIN
EITAM WHICH IS IN THE HILLS OF BETHLEHEM NEAR THE
POOLS OF SOLOMON WHICH ARE STILL EXTANT. THE SPRING WAS 23 CUBITS
ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE TEMPLE COURT" (Steve Austin, The
Extraordinary Middle East Earthquake of 750 BC, Institute of
Creation Research, San Diego, 1989).
HEROD BUILT WHERE
SOLOMON BUILT, ON MT. MORIAH
Herod tore out the foundation laid in Ezra's day and laid a
new one. Not content with making the Temple and its square courts
appear more elegant, Herod doubled the size of the platform the
Temple was built on to accommodate more people on Passover,
Pentecost and Tabernacles. The square Fort Antonia was built on
the northern half of the Temple mount. The square Temple courts
surrounding the Temple were built on the southern half.
HEROD'S DISTINCTIVE
"PILLOW" STONES SPEAK AUTHENTIC SECOND
TEMPLE
Later, Herod made the eastern wall higher and longer. He added
new walls on the south, west and north that doubled the enclosed
platform area. When finished, the platform was longer, wider and
higher than before. Borders of stones Herod used were chiseled
away leaving the raised "pillow" within the rectangle,
so the stones he used are easy to identify today.
Concerning the temple mount walls, Henry James said, "It
would seem, therefore, to be impossible to resist the conclusion,
that the northern front of the Haram is identical in position
with that of the northern front of the enclosure of the Temple,
as it was built by Herod, for the description would apply to no
other position for it....We see, however, that all round the
enclosure, where it is possible to examine the wall, we have the
same grand old masonry; and as there can be no doubt but that
Robinson's arch is part of the bridge which Herod built
across the Tyropoean valley, and led to the royal cloister, which
he also built along the south side of the enclosure of the
Temple, it necessarily follows that the present Haram enclosure
is identical with the enclosure of the Temple of Herod".
Actually, the northern wall of the platform was where the
northern wall of Fort Antonia stood. The northern wall of the
Temple courts joined the southern wall of Fort Antonia and
occupied the southern half of the platform.
INGENIOUS WATER WORKS,
AN AQUEDUCT WITH A HUNDRED FOOT SIPHON
In the "Ordinance Survey of Jerusalem," Sir Henry James
described the working of the aqueducts bringing water from
springs in the Hebron Mountains to Jerusalem and the Temple.
Regarding the "ancient supply," he wrote, "But
when we come to examine the ancient systems for supplying the
city with abundance of pure water, we are struck with admiration
for we see the remains of works which, for boldness in design and
skill in execution, rival even the most approved system of modern
engineers, and which might, under a more enlightened government,
be again brought into use."
"From the three Pools of Solomon, as they are called,"
James said, "water was led by a conduit from the lower pool
along the contour of the ground into the city, the distance being
about 13 miles, and the fall 538 feet but the pools were supplied
not only from the "sealed fountain" immediately above
them, but from a conduit which has been traced for several miles
along the Wady Urtas, but not to the source from which the water
was obtained. (This has since been traced by Capt. Wilson in a
fine fountain in the Wady Aroob, and the Pacha of Jerusalem has
repaired the conduit from Solomon's Pools to Jerusalem, which
is now supplied from Ain Etan" (the "sealed
fountain" above the upper pool).
James also wrote, "Josephus tells us that "Pilate, the
procurator of Judea, undertook to bring a current of water to
Jerusalem, and did it with the sacred money, and derived the
origin of the stream from the distance of 200 furlongs"
(Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, Chap. III. par. 2); and it
is quite possible that this is the work referred to.
"In constructing this conduit," James said,
"tunnels were cut through a hill near Bethlehem, and through
another hill on its way to the valley of Hinnom, crossing which,
above the Lower Pool of Gihon, it was led round the southern end
of Mount Zion, and entered the city at the altitude of 2,420 feet
on the west side of the Tyropoean valley.
"The conduit was not traced beyond this; but by reference to
the levels within the city, it is evident that it might have been
carried as far up the Tyropoean valley as the spot on which the
Austrian Hospice now stands, the level on the front of which is
2,418 feet, but this is much above the original level of the
ground. It might also have been led to any of the cisterns within
the Haram enclosure, the height of the surface ground being only
2,418 feet at the northern gates. The Pool of Bethesda might also
have been filled from it, the height of the bottom of which is
2344 feet"....
THE 100' SIPHON NEAR
RACHAEL'S TOMB INSURED A CONTINUOUS FLOW OF SPRING WATER AT
THE TEMPLE
"But there is a second conduit," he said, "which
is still more remarkable, and which we have distinguished by the
name of the high-level conduit. This comes from the south, down
the Wady Byar, in which it is probable a reservoir was formerly
constructed; a tunnel through a hill led round the Upper Pool of
Solomon at an elevation of 2,616 feet, and preserving its
elevation by following the contour of the ground, till it crosses
the ridge of the hill to the west of Bethlehem; it is carried by
a syphon across a hollow which lies in its course, near
Rachael's tomb, the lowest part of the syphon being over 100
feet below its mouths.
"This syphon is made of blocks of stone with collar and
socket joints, and covered with rough rubble in cement to
strengthen and protect it...The internal diameter of the syphon
is 15 inches....
"This high level conduit then crosses the plain of Rephaim
towards Jerusalem, and most probably passed round the Upper Pool
of Gihon and entered the city through the citadel; the fall from
above the Pools of Solomon to the Jaffa gate being 88 feet.
"It will thus be seen that the water by these conduits was
brought from different sources; and that by the high level one
the upper city could be fully supplied with water, and that means
were provided for running the water of the upper into the lower
both at the Pools of Solomon and at the Pools of Gihon. This
arrangement seems to prove that the city was supplied at one and
the same time from two principal sources, as well as from the
sealed fountain above the Pools of Solomon....
"Access was obtained to the water conduits through a hole in
one of them in front of AI-Aksa (Mosque), and they were traced as
far as possible, but the rubbish has fallen in in many places,
and with the exception of two or three the branch ducts are too
small to admit of the passage of a man. From the number of
openings seen, there must be a perfect net-work of small
subterranean channels in this part of the area, but without
excavation they could not be traced. It is very difficult to
judge of the age of these conduits, but where cut in the rock
they have been probably made at the same period as the cisterns,
as the one which enters the large cistern east of the "Great
Sea' (a cistern north of AI-Aksa/Aqsa), and this was found to
be in connexion with another conduit leading down to the
"Well of the Leaf" and one running up in the direction
of the Fountain Al-Kas (the cup); the connecting branches were in
part cut out of the rock, in part made of masonry and roofed with
large stones. Besides these conduits which appear to have been in
connexion with the aqueduct from the Pools of Solomon, there are
number of others apparently of more modern construction for
collecting the surface drainage into the cisterns: No regular
system of water channels could be found in the northern part of
the area, except those of very modern date, but it is not
improbable that such may exist."
THE PERCOLATION OF WATER
THROUGH THE "MALAKI," WHICH ACTS AS A CAPITAL
COLLECTOR
"The cisterns in the Haram are all cut out of the
"malaki" (limestone) stratum, and may be divided into
three classes; the small retort-shaped ones, those roofed with
rock, and those roofed with masonry. The first generally have
long square shafts lined with large blocks of hewn stone, and
often not broad enough to admit the passage of a man's
shoulder; they are supplied by surface drainage, and the
percolation of water through the "malaki," which acts
as a capital collector....
"Cistern No. VI, south of the platform (i.e., of the Dome of
the Rock) and near the fountain Al-Kas, descended; 41 feet
deep...This cistern has a branch on its southern side 25 feet
long, and raised 4 feet 8 inches above the floor line...
"Cistern No. VII, east of the Great Sea (a cistern north of
Al-Aksa), descended; 62 feet deep...The construction of this
cistern is very curious, at one side there is a lofty chamber
having two entrances and raised 6 feet above the general level,
and in the south-eastern branch four steps lead up to a small
flat platform, as to the altar of a church; on descending, the
entrance of a rock-cut water conduit was seen, and this was
afterwards found to communicate with the general system in this
part of the area; there are two mouths, close together, with an
opening between them, now roofed with fragments of marble
columns; the roofing is of rock....
"Cistern No. VIII., north of AI-Aksa, commonly known as
"the Great Sea," descended; 43 feet 2 inches deep...the
entrance to this is by a flight of steps leading down from a hole
on the northern side of the workshops east of Al-Aksa; it is the
largest of the series of cisterns...
"A little beyond the north-west corner of the Haram area is
a very remarkable remain, first discovered when excavating for
the foundations of the convent of the Sisters of Zion ; it
consists of a broad vaulted passage abutting at either end on an
escarpment of rock, the entrance is from a narrow side street to
the north of the "Via Dolorosa," and through the
kitchen building of the convent, a descent of some distance down
a flight of modern stairs leads to a chamber in which is the
reputed spring, and from this a low doorway, made by those
who built the convent, opens to the passage. At the southern end
there is a narrow passage cut in the rock, and leading towards
the Haram...
"A great many holes have been broken through the crown of
the arch, and as the rubbish accumulated above rough shafts
carried up from them they are now all closed, and appear to have
been so for some time, but they show that at one time a good
supply of water existed at this place. The passage is so full of
rubbish and drainage that it cannot be properly explored, to do
which it will be necessary to pump out the water, etc. As far as
could be judged from what was seen, the passage was constructed
to protect troops whilst crossing a ditch in the rock, and
probably at the same time cover and conceal from an enemy the
course of an aqueduct running down to the Haram area from the
north."
It is evident that the Temple mount was well supplied with water.
The soldiers in Fort Antonia could have been supplied by the
northern aqueduct. From where the main aqueduct entered the
Temple mount at the causeway over the Tyropoean Valley, it went
southeast to where the Kas Fountain is today. That is important
for that is within the area where the Temple was built.
OUR BEST NON-BIBLICAL
AUTHORITY ON WHERE THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT
Josephus was there. He was of a priestly family of the first
rank. He would have been taken to the temple when 12 years old.
After looking into the Sadducees, Essenes and Pharisees from 17
to 19, he joined the Pharisees when 19. He was a priest who
described the temple furnishings, even telling what they
symbolized. He had been inside the temple. He knew what other
priests knew. He was even standing on a city wall trying to talk
to the Jews ABOUT TERMS OF PEACE IN 70 AD "for he was a
person known by them" (the Jews) (Wars. V. VI. 2).. He was
an eye-witness in 70 AD who probably saw the temple burn. He was
a careful historian after that. Who else can we trust to tell us
where the temple was located? We need to look carefully at what
he wrote.
THREE POSSIBLE LOCATIONS
FOR THE TEMPLE ON MT. MORIAH
1. On the north (Dr. Asher Kaufman)
2. Over the Dome of the Rock (Dr. Leen Ritmeyer, Dr. Dan
Bahat)
3. On the south (Tuvia Sagiv)
Tuvia Segiv thinks the Temple was on the south side between the
Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. I agree. The aqueduct
going directly to the Kas Fountain fits that location also.
ACCORDING TO JOSEPHUS,
ONLY A SOUTHERN SITE IS POSSIBLE
Fort Antonia had to be built over the outcropping rock that is
now under the Dome of the Rock. This one thing rules out
locations "On the north" and "Over the Dome of the
Rock.".
When I read Wars of the Jews, V. V. 8, I found out that there was
very little reason to think that Jesus actually stood on the rock
when Pilate sentenced him to be crucified. He stood on the
pavement, whether in Fort Antonia or elsewhere. John 19:13 (KJV)
says, "When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought
Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat (bema) in a place
that is called the pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha."
FORT ANTONIA IN THE
NORTH AND THE TEMPLE COURT IN THE SOUTH, BOTH SQUARE ENCLOSURES,
JOINED ON AN EAST-WEST LINE JUST SOUTH OF THE ROCK
Listen to Josephus as he reveals that the square Fort Antonia and
the square Temple court with cloisters on all four sides were
joined together, and that the rock was in Fort Antonia. "Now
as to the tower of Antonia," he said, "it was situated
at the corner of two cloisters of the court of the temple; of
that on the WEST, and that on the NORTH; it was erected upon a
ROCK of fifty cubits in height, and was on a great precipice; it
was the work of king Herod, wherein he demonstrated his natural
magnanimity. In the first place, THE ROCK ITSELF WAS COVERED OVER
WITH SMOOTH PIECES OF STONE, from its foundation, both for
ornament, and that any one who would either try to get up or to
go down it might not be able to hold his feet upon it.."
Continuing, Josephus said, "Next to this, and before you
come to the edifice of the tower itself, there was a wall three
cubits high; but within that wall all the space of the tower of
Antonia itself was built upon, to the height of forty cubits. The
inward parts had the largeness and form of a palace, it being
parted into all kinds of rooms and other conveniences, such as
courts, and places for bathing, and broad spaces for camps...And
as the entire structure resembled that of a tower, it contained
also four other distinct towers at its four corners; whereof the
others were but fifty cubits high; whereas that which lay upon
the southeast corner (i.e., where the southeast corner of the
tower of Antonia joined the northeast corner of the Temple court
where Solomon's Porch began) was seventy cubits high, that
from thence the whole temple might be viewed; but on the corner
where it JOINED to the two cloisters of the temple (i.e., at the
western wall ), it had passages DOWN to them both, through which
the guard (for there always lay in this tower a Roman legion)
went several ways among the cloisters, with their arms, on the
Jewish festivals, in order to watch the people, that they might
not there attempt to make any innovations; for the temple was a
fortress that guarded the city, as was the tower of Antonia a
guard to the temple; and in that tower were the guards of those
three."
In Wars of the Jews I. V. 4, Josephus mentioned, "Antonia,
which was a fortress that JOINED TO THE NORTH PART OF THE
TEMPLE." Fort Antonia's southern wall "JOINED"
the northern wall of the Temple enclosure.
Roughly speaking, Fort Antonia was built on the north half of the
Temple mount. The Temple court was built on the south half of the
platform. In Wars. XV. XI. 4, Josephus said, "ON THE NORTH
SIDE [of the temple] was built a CITADEL (Fort Antonia), whose
walls were SQUARE and strong, and of extraordinary firmness. This
citadel was built by the kings of the Asamonean race, who were
also high priests before Herod, and they called (the citadel) the
Tower, in which were reposited the vestments of the high
priest...(later) Cuspius Fadus, who was procurator of Judea,
enjoined the Jews to reposit those vestments in the TOWER OF
ANTONIA, for that they ought to have them in their power, as they
formerly had."
In an article, "Buildings of Herod"
(http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=242&letter=J#919),
I found out that Fort Antonia was built on a higher level than
the Temple. It said that Herod "enlarged the Baris
commanding the Temple on the north, and renamed it
'Antonia.' It was connected with the Temple by a flight
of stairs (Acts xxi. 35)."
THE CLUES POINT TO THE
TEMPLE SITE BEING OVER THE AL KAS FOUNTAIN ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE
OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT DUE EAST OF THE WAILING WALL
In "THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE AND THE NEW TESTAMENT," by
Richley Crapo
(http://www.abu.nb.ca/Courses/NTIntro/JerusalTempl4.htm)
Richley said, "A southern placement, with the Holy of Holies
just northeast of the AL KAS FOUNTAIN is the only one that allows
there to be an underground cistern under the Laver in which the
priests washed their hands and feet each morning and under each
of the parts of the Temple in which there was amikvah (with the
exception of the mikvah used by the High Priest on the Day of
Atonement, which was in a second-floor room and supplied with
flowing water from the aqueduct). thereby allowing water to be
directly accessible for each of the mikvah sites. No other
placement I know of associates water sources with the various
mikvahs and the Laver."
If Tuvia Sagiv and Richley Crapo are correct, and I think they
are, the Temple site lies due east of the wailing wall, over the
Al Kas fountain, under the clump of trees between the Dome of the
Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque
(http://www.templemount.org/theories.html).
On Sagiv's chart above, the position of the wailing wall
is his red line along the western wall of the temple mount. This
man has done a monumental, marvelous work, trying to leave no
stone unturned. I'm convinced that he is right about where
the temple was built by Herod. No other placement makes
sense.
The wall that juts out at a right angle from the left side of the
"wailing" wall marks Wilson's Arch, where the
arch-supported causeway carrying the aqueduct entered the temple
area. It may also mark the northern wall of the Temple proper. It
is south of the Dome of the Rock.
THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE
AND THE NEW TESTAMENT:
"The Temple," according to Richley Crapo, "was
not located on the high spot currently occupied by the Dome of
the Rock. The Dome was built on the most imposing location, the
situation of the former Strato's Tower, a pagan place of
worship. It incorporated the eight-sided design of Astoreth's
place of worship into its architecture, a feature of the Dome
that is unique in Islamic architecture. The actual location of
the Temple was to the south of the Dome of the Rock at the
approximate location of the Al Kas fountain which is north of the
current location of the El Aksa mosque at the south end of the
current Temple Mount. This places the Temple directly to the west
of the Western Wall (a.k.a. Wailing Wall)" ("Where was
the temple of Herod," By Richley Crapo:
http://www.bibleinterp.com/commentary/crapo_032901.htm).
Richley meant that the temple is directly to the east of the
wailing wall, which is on the west. I agree with this placement.
So does Tuvia Segiv.
THE BORDEAUX PILGRIM
MENTIONED THAT THE TEMPLE WAS "NEAR" A "PERFORATED
STONE", NOT ON THE STONE
There was an interesting article, "Church of the Apostles
found on Mt. Zion," by Bargil Pixner, in the Biblical
Archaeological Review of May/June 1990
(http://www.centuryone.org/apostles.html).
Bargil Pixner said, "In the opinion of some scholars, the
Bordeaux Pilgrim may have been a Jewish Christian, who was well
versed in the Hebrew Scriptures and who was drawn to places
connected with Jewish history. The synagogue that he saw on Mt.
Zion could only have been a Judeo-Christian one, because he
himself mentions that at this time Jews were allowed in Jerusalem
only once a year to lament the destruction of Temple NEAR a
"perforated stone" in its vicinity (most probably the
perforated rock [sahne] under the Dome of the Rock)."
If the Temple was near the stone, it wasn't on that stone.
This fits the location of the Temple in the south between the
Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque.
THE MAN'S FACE ON
THE WAILING WALL
The man's face is clear in the picture at the top of this
article, as in many others I have collected over the years. It
can also be seen in the picture below. Blocking out the
surrounding light background sharpens it. Notice that there is a
woman's face to the right of his. The lowest white section on
top of the dirt pile is right under their chins. I think they
represent the Bridegroom Yeshua/Jesus and the Bride of Christ.
Since the section of wall on the right fell down, I think the
remaining wailing wall lines up with the correct location
north-south for the Temple between the Dome of the Rock and the
Al Aqsa Mosque. I can now see that the Bride and Bridegroom are
centered on that section of wall. The Lord has shown his hand. He
is in complete control. He must have planned this long ago to
show us where the Temple belongs at the end of this age. This
placement agrees with the diagram Tuvia Sagiv made.
The melting of the world's glaciers so Noah's Ark
could be found on June 5, 2006, the anniversary of the beginning
of the Six-Day War, also reveals his hand.
In "The Western Wall"
(http://jeru.huji.ac.il/ec21.htm), it says, "This is the
Western Wall of the Temple, which is never destroyed for the
shekhinah [the Divine presence] is in the west" (Talmud
tractate Bamidbar Rabah 11:63).
The Holy of Holies was located on the west, for the Temple faced
east. In Ex. 25:22, the Lord said,, "And there I will meet
with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy
seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of
the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in
commandment unto the children of Israel." No wonder that
particular section of the western wall is precious to the Jews.
It is precious to me too.
Contact me for more information at:
mjagee@verizon.net
8641 Sugar Gum Rd, Riverside, CA 92508, USA;
(951) 653-4110
© 1996-2008, Marilyn J. Agee
Updated 3-31-07