SHOWING MERCY
by Bob Wickizer
Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:9-14, Psalm 25:1-9, Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37
Showing Mercy
Bob Wickizer
Deuteronomy 30:9-14; Psalm 25:1-9; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37
Showing Mercy
Today I want to take you on a trip to the western wall of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Archaeologists have excavated down to the street level from the time of Jesus which is today 50 vertical feet below the main plaza where people assemble outside the wall. The material filling those 50 feet is rubble from the various conquests and destruction of the temple and the surrounding buildings.
This is the temple that took Herod the Great, 39 years to build during his reign. Herod died in 4 BC, and since Jesus was born during Herod's reign, Jesus could not have been born any later than 4 BC. So much for our calendar.
The stones Herod put in place are quarried limestone with a distinctive chiseling of the edges. They measure about 3' x 3' x 5' and weigh several tons. Today you find the Herodian stones at the base of the wall from the time of Jesus going up 50' to the plaza and about 12-15' higher. Above Herod's massive stones are Crusader period stones from the 1300s when the Crusaders tried to rebuild the temple. Above those stones you will see a different set of stones from the Ottoman Turkish period from the 1700s to the 1900s. The western wall of the temple is as close as orthodox Jews dare approach because today, we still do not know exactly where the temple was located. We do know that the Al Aqsa Mosque is located somewhere near where the Jewish temple was likely located another 40-50 feet above the plaza area outside the walls.
Any day of the week, you can go there and observe Orthodox Jewish men wail in prayer while inserting their petitions to God written on paper and rolled up, into crevices in the wall. The petitions may be for God to save a loved one from cancer or another calamity. They may be petitions for God to preserve the Jewish people from destruction. They may be petitions for God's mercy because the person praying and inser ...
Bob Wickizer
Deuteronomy 30:9-14; Psalm 25:1-9; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37
Showing Mercy
Today I want to take you on a trip to the western wall of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Archaeologists have excavated down to the street level from the time of Jesus which is today 50 vertical feet below the main plaza where people assemble outside the wall. The material filling those 50 feet is rubble from the various conquests and destruction of the temple and the surrounding buildings.
This is the temple that took Herod the Great, 39 years to build during his reign. Herod died in 4 BC, and since Jesus was born during Herod's reign, Jesus could not have been born any later than 4 BC. So much for our calendar.
The stones Herod put in place are quarried limestone with a distinctive chiseling of the edges. They measure about 3' x 3' x 5' and weigh several tons. Today you find the Herodian stones at the base of the wall from the time of Jesus going up 50' to the plaza and about 12-15' higher. Above Herod's massive stones are Crusader period stones from the 1300s when the Crusaders tried to rebuild the temple. Above those stones you will see a different set of stones from the Ottoman Turkish period from the 1700s to the 1900s. The western wall of the temple is as close as orthodox Jews dare approach because today, we still do not know exactly where the temple was located. We do know that the Al Aqsa Mosque is located somewhere near where the Jewish temple was likely located another 40-50 feet above the plaza area outside the walls.
Any day of the week, you can go there and observe Orthodox Jewish men wail in prayer while inserting their petitions to God written on paper and rolled up, into crevices in the wall. The petitions may be for God to save a loved one from cancer or another calamity. They may be petitions for God to preserve the Jewish people from destruction. They may be petitions for God's mercy because the person praying and inser ...
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