The Man The Tribe The Land Yisrael Israel Prophetic In Every Way Part 2

Last post we looked at the origin of the name

Israel/Yisrael

and that it began with a man called

Yaakov/Jacob.

Yaaqob  יעקב,

Y A K B

Pronounced: Ya’ah’kov

(Remember the Hebrew letters b and v are interchangeable)

When we think or speak of

Israel/Yisrael

ישראל

pronounced: Iss-rah-el

we instinctively refer to Israel the country

and not how it came into being.

Continuing our theme the next part focuses on

Israel/Yisrael

ישראל – the tribe.

The tribe of Israel began with

Jacob/Israels’children,

who are known as

Israelites

Jacob had 12 sons

(Joseph had 2 sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were included by Jacob into the family tribes making 13 altogether. In various scripture references some of the names are omitted and others added e.g. Dan is not listed in Revelation, however the number seems to always add up to 12. )

They became the tribes of Israel.

Shivtei Yisrael

 שבטי ישראל‎ 

His children and subsequent generations continue even to today.

We looked at the tribes in a previous post

Link below

https://www.minimannamoments.com/21-12-21-12-12-12-12-12-12-conclusion/

His parents are Isaac and Rebekah;

Genesis 25,

and his grandparents are Abraham and Sarah.

The nation of Israel came from

4 matriarchs.

Leah and her servant Zilpah,

Leah’s sister Rachel and her servant Bilhah.

Their 12 sons would become the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel.

Israel’s 1st born son is Reuben.

Rueben – see a son

ראובן – Ra-Ah-Wa-Ban

Genesis 29:32.

His mother is Leah. Reuben forfeits his station of 1st-born son when he sleeps with Bilhah, the mother of his two half-brothers Dan and Naphtali. Gen. 35:22.

Israel’s 2nd son is Simeon, also with Leah

Simeon Affliction heard

שמעון – Sha-Ma-I-Wan

Gen 29:33 49:5-7

Simeon forfeits his position in the family/tribe when he and his brother Levi revenge the rape of their sister Dinah by Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite. Gen. 34:2;

by killing every male living in the city of Hamor. Genesis 34:25.

Israel’s 3rd son is Levi, also with Leah.

LEVI joined to me

לוי – La-Way

Gen. 29:34 49:5-7

He also gives up his position on the family, along with his brother Simeon.

 

Israel’s 4th son is Judah 

Judah praised most high

יהודה – Ya-Ha-Wa-Dah

Gen. 29:35 49:8

Due to the crimes of his three older brothers, Judah rises to inheritance position of ‘firstborn’.

The land of Judah is central to Israel, and the capital of Israel, Yerushalyim/Jerusalem, was situated in Judah. King David was from Judah, and Joseph, the father-by-law of Yeshua/Jesus was from Judah as well.

By the time of Yeshua/Jesus, the name Judah has been applied to the Roman province of Judea, and the Israelites who made it out of the Babylonian exile became collectively known as Jews, meaning those of Judea.

The 5th son of Israel is Dan.

Gen.30:6.

His mother is Bilhah, the servant of Rachel

Gen.30:4.

The 6th son of Israel is Naphtali, also with Bilhah.

Naphtali my wrestling

נפתלי – Na-Pa-Tha-Lay

Gen 30:8 49:21

Israel’s 7th son is Gad 

Gad troop

גד- Gad

Gen. 30:11 49:19

Gad’s mother is Zilpah, the servant of Leah.

Gen.30:9.

 

Israel’s 8th son is Asher

Asher happy

אשר – Ah-Shar

Gen. 30:13 49:20

Asher’s mother is Zilpah as well.

 

The Twelve Tribes of Israel

Hebrew:

שבטי ישראל ‎,

Shivtei Yisrael,

the breastplate had to be worn to atone for the sins of the children of Israel. These twelve stones also correlate to the foundation of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 

Deuteronomy 27:12–13 lists the twelve tribes:

Reuben (Hebrew רְאוּבֵן‎ ‎ Rəʼūḇēn)

Simeon ( שִׁמְעוֹן‎ ‎ Šīməʻōn)

Levi ( לֵוִי‎ ‎ Lēwī)

Judah ( יְהוּדָה‎ ‎ Yəhūdā)

Issachar ( יִשָּׂשכָר‎ ‎ Yīssāšḵār)

Zebulun ( זְבוּלֻן‎ ‎ 

Dan (דָּן‎‎ Dān)

Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי‎‎ Nap̄tālī)

Gad (גָּד‎‎ Gāḏ) Asher (אָשֵׁר‎‎ ’Āšēr)

Benjamin (בִּנְיָמִן‎‎ Bīnyāmīn)

Joseph (יוֹסֵף‎‎ Yōsēp̄),

later split into two “half-tribes”:

Ephraim (אֶפְרַיִם‎‎ ’Ep̄rayīm)

Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה‎‎ Mənašše)

Israel’s 9th son is Issachar,

Leah’s 5th son

Issachar he is hired

יששכר – Ya-Sha-Sha-Kar

Gen. 30:18 49:14

 

Israel’s 10th son is Zebulun,

Leah’s 6th son

Zebulon dwelling

זבולן- Za-Ba-Wa-Lan

Gen. 30:20 49:13

Israel’s 11th child was a girl.

Her name is Dinah and her mother is Leah

Gen.30:21.

Israel’s 11th son is Joseph. His mother is Rachel.

Gen.30:24.

In time, the tribe of Joseph breaches in two sub-tribes, named after Joseph’s two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Their mother’s name is Asenath.

Ephraim fruitful

אפרים – Ah-Pa-Ra-Yam

Gen. 41:52

Manasseh  made to forget

מנשה – Ma-Na-Shah

Gen.41:50-52.

 

Israel’s 12th son is Ben-oni or Benjamin. 

Benjamin son of the right

בנימין- Ba-Na-Ya-Ma-Yan

Gen 35:16-18 49:27.

The name Israel/Yisrael appears also frequently in the Brit Chadashah/New Testament, 78 times in 12 of the 27 books; Specifically in the 4 Gospels, Acts, the letters of Paul (where he said he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews), and Revelation.

In Greek, Israel is spelled Ισραηλ, and the ethnonym.

Israelite in Greek is spelled Ισραηλιτης and appears 9 times.

The Jewish people are referred to by many different names in the Bible.

They are called:

Israelites,

Jews,

Hebrews, 

children of Abraham,

Daughter Zion,

God’s chosen people, etc.

One of the most common names for the Jewish people in the Bible is Israelites.

A second common name for the Jewish people is Jews.

The word Jew comes from the term Judah, the leading tribe of Israel.

A Jew was, literally,

one from the land of Judah,

although the word later came to be applied to any Israelite, regardless of the tribe to which he belonged. The first occurrence of the word Jew in the Old Testament is in Esther 2:5 where Mordecai is called Mordecai the Jew.

Another common name for the Jewish people is Hebrews. The first mention of a Hebrew in the Bible is Genesis 14:13

where Abraham is called Abram the Hebrew.

The term Hebrew is the same word used for both the language and the people.

It is עברי. Ivri or Ibri

pronounced Erverh

and literally means:

from the other side

and also means:

to pass through to the other side

or one crossed over.

Related to Abraham crossing over from his fathers home of idol worship to follow the call of the One True and Living God. Then prophetically to the crossing over of the Reed Sea out of Egypt and again across the Jordan River into the Promised Land/Canaan/Yisrael; and to our future crossing over into the spiritual Promised Land of the Heavenlies.

IVRI

The script used in the Torah scrolls is the original

Ktav Ivrit which was revealed to

Avraham Avinu who was the first 

Ivri-Hebrew.

 

This script is the one with which God created the world.

The proper pronunciation in the native language of the ancient Israelites’ designation, commonly known, as Hebrew in English is IVRI 

pronounced Erh-Verh.

Many believe Hebrew in this context is related to Eber, an ancestor of Abraham mentioned in Genesis 11:14–16.

Independent of the term’s meaning, its original connection is with Abraham as founder of the Jewish people.

The apostle Paul addressed the Jews in Antioch using this term in Acts 13:26Romans 9:7.

Children of Abraham, points to the relationship between

Abraham and the Jewish people.

Yeshua/Jesus and Paul both called upon Jews not only to be

children of Abraham by birth,

but to imitate the faith of Abraham.

John 8:39–40Romans 4.

The term,

Daughter Zion,

is found in many prophetic books and is

a poetic reference to the nation of Israel.

Often, the passages containing

Daughter Zion or daughter of Zion

deal with the redemption and salvation of the remnant of Yisrael/Israel, especially in the context of the coming of the Messiah/Mashiach.

Zephaniah 3:14Lamentations 4:22;

Micah 4:8Zechariah 9:9Isaiah 52:2.

In the TaNaKh/Old Testament,

God’s chosen people

is another name for the Israelites

1 Kings 3:8Isaiah 47:665:9.

This term highlights the fact that the Israelites/Jews/Hebrews have had a special purpose and calling from the time of Abraham to the time of the Messiah, and according to scripture, they will again be central in God’s plan for the future, fulfilling all prophecy.

 

You are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. Deuteronomy 7:6.

God promised a blessing to all the people of the world through the descendants of Abraham. Genesis 12:1–3.

Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ,

of the tribe of

Judah,

was born in Bethlehem/Beit lechem,

and resided in Nazareth of Galilee.

The Man The Tribe The Land Yisrael Israel Prophetic In Every Way

continues in Part 3

 

Shalom shalom

‘Mishpachah’

‘Family/Tribe’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa,

friends, visitors and every reader…

Please don’t leave this page before making certain you are His

and are truly born from above.

Know of a certainty that Jesus/Yeshua is

your Redeemer, Savior, Lord

and soon returning King

and that you have a personal relationship

with our Heavenly Father and with Him.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry.

I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus.  Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

The Man – The Tribe -The Land – Yisrael/Israel – Prophetic In Every Way.

Appearing more than 2,500 times

in the Old Testament/TaNaKH

and about 80 times

in the New Testament/Brit Chadashah,

Israel/Yisrael/יִשְׂרָאֵל

is the most used name in the scriptures.

Israel/Yisrael/יִשְׂרָאֵל

It is also a perfect example of the use of a specific name and of its’ prophetic nature being fulfilled in the future connections we frequently see in biblical names.

The Man

It all began in the beginning!

Beresheet

The genesis/beresheet

of the name

Israel/Yisrael/יִשְׂרָאֵל

started with the patriarchs/fathers,

it was first introduced in the Bible/TaNaKH in

 

Gen. 32:29. “And he said, ‘Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince you have power with God and with men, and have prevailed.’”

 

beginning with

Abraham/Avraham/אַבְרָהָם.

The words: you have power

in this scripture

is rather a weak translation,

because the Hebrew word that is used in this verse is

sa-ri-ta.

It is a past-tense verb that comes from the root word

Sar.

Sar is a prince or leader,

but as it is used as a verb in this verse,

it‘s related to the main characteristic usually associated with leadership: battle/fighting.

In the verse above,

sa-ri-ta

relates to the biblical verb that means: to fight

or put a better way: to wrestle.

Here, it illustrates as:

taking the action of a prince,

leader or hero in a battle or fight.

When the word

Israel/Yisrael/יִשְׂרָאֵל

is spoken out loud

Phonetic Spelling: yis-raw-ale’

the connection between the 2 words

is clear as they sound similar.

Here we learn the origin of the word

Wrestle

and we now know the full meaning of the name

Israel/Yisrael/יִשְׂרָאֵל: wrestled with God.

Israel/Yisrael/יִשְׂרָאֵל

started with the patriarchs/fathers,

Genesis 12:50

Abraham אברהם 

While many suggest that Abram means:

exalted father

and

Abraham means:

father of a multitude,

Actually both names mean exactly the same thing

father lifted up

or

exalted father.

The beginning of both names is:

אב AB/AV

meaning: father.

The letters

ram in Abram is דם meaning:

lifted,

which in the Hebrew language is a parent root.

The raham in Abraham is רהם

also means:

lifted,

a secondary root out from the parent root MR.

Strong’s Hebrew: 85. אַבְרָהָם (Abraham) — “exalted father …

In Genesis 17:5, the Lord promises Abram that he would be the

father of many nations

which in Hebrew is:

אב המון גוים, ‘ab hamon goyim

God changes Abram’s name to Abraham.

The Lord also promises that

Abraham‘s half-sister and wife Sarai

would

become nations

or rather:

become international

היתה לגוים,

 heyata le’goyim

and changed her name to Sarah 17:16.

 

Similar to the name Abraham,

the phrase is not related to the name.

The name Abraham אברהם

has its root from the name

Abram אברם

by adding in the letter ה he h hay hey;

in front of the final ם mem.

The name Sarah שרה

follows from Sarai שרי

by putting the same letter ה  he/h/hey/hay

in place of the final י yod.

Abraham’s father was the one who named him

אברם Abram

and it was later changed by God to

 אברהם Abraham.

As every Hebrew name has a meaning, and is always related to the character of the individual, it’s important to know what their names mean as it gives us insight to the person and also what their future may hold: especially when our Heavenly Father is the one giving or changing the name. Recall the instructions given via angelic messengers for naming John the Immerser and Yeshua/Jesus.

Then his miracle son

Isaac/Yitzak/יִצְחָק

Strong’s Hebrew: 3327. יִצְחָק (Yitschaq) — “he laughs,” son .

H3327 – יִצְחָק Yitschâq, yits-khawk’; from ; laughter (i.e. mochery); Jitschak (or Isaac), son of Abraham:—Isaac.

and then

Jacob/Yaakov/יעקב,

one of יִצְחָק/Isaacs twin sons.

Again as every Hebrew name has a meaning, and is always related to the character of the person; we see that the name

Yaakov/Jacob comes from the verb

עקב ‘abaq, meaning:

to follow at the heel

or

supplant. עקב.

The noun עקב ‘aqeb 

means heel

In the case of

Ya’acov /Jacob/ יעקב,

he grabs the heel of his twin

His name was changed by God to

Yisrael/Israel/יִשְׂרָאֵל:

with a meaning:

turns the head of God.

Because there was a change in character,

there is also a change in the name.

As the story concerning each individual unfolds, provided that we focus on the Hebrew translation, we learn how the name is connected to the narrative.

English, Spanish, Greek and Latin, along with all other languages do not accurately or fully reveal how the Biblical name foreshadows the events in the lives of each personality, and secondly, the Hebrew name reflects and supports the accuracy of biblical events and prophecies.

Although reading the Bible in the English translation is understood by believers as reading truth, the immediate sense of confirmation, as reflected in the Hebrew name, is missing from the non-Hebrew reading experience.

This is just one reason why it is so important for every Bible follower to obtain some knowledge of Hebrew.

 

As recorded in the scripture

Jacob/Yaakov/יעקב,

had an encounter with the God of his forefathers the God who answers by fire in the form of a dream.

The ladder he saw extended from the earth to the heavens

with angelic messengers going up and down it.

He called the place the gate of heaven

And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! this is no other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven’”

Genesis 28:17

and he built an altar there.

At the river Jabbok Genesis 32:28, Jacob wrestled with a supernatural messenger/angel of the Lord,

(some scholars suggest it was the pre-incarnate Yeshua/Jesus);

and as a result of finally prevailing in the struggle he too had a name change, just as his grandfather Abraham had decades before.

Jacob became

Yisrael Israel

ישראל

from the Hebrew text in Genesis 32:28,

the form

ישראל Israel Yisrael

appears to be a compilation of two elements.

The final one is the noun 

אל  El,

the common abbreviation of Elohim,

meaning:

God

but consists of many nuances and facets.

Strong’s Hebrew: 3478. יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael) — “God strives …

Yisrael: “God strives,”

another name of Jacob and his descendants.

Original Word: יִשְׂרָאֵל.

Part of Speech: Proper Name Masculine. 

Transliteration: Yisrael.

Phonetic Spelling: yis-raw-ale’

Pronounced: Iss-rah-el

then

Jacob/Yaakov/יעקב,

 now

Yisrael/Israel/יִשְׂרָאֵל:

became a father himself…..

 the father of 12 sons and 1 daughter

The Man The Tribe The Land Yisrael Israel Prophetic In Every Way

Continues in Part 2

Shalom shalom

‘Mishpachah’

‘Family/Tribe’

משפחה

Mish-pa-KHa,

friends, visitors and every reader…

Please don’t leave this page before making certain you are His

and are truly born from above.

Know of a certainty that Jesus/Yeshua is

your Redeemer, Savior, Lord

and soon returning King

and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry.

I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus.  Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

What Is The Connection Between 2 Mountains, The Ark Of The Covenant and Messiah Being Thirsty?

This question takes us back to a location we visited in a previous post:

https://www.minimannamoments.com/well-well-now-eye-see/

When Jesus/Yeshua was tired and thirsty and asked for a drink from a specific well.

John 4:5-6 tells us this well was named after

Jacob

יַעֲקֹב

Ya‘aqōv 

(aka bir/beer Ya’qub),

and located in a city in Samaria called:

Shechem – שכם – shekem, or Sychar.

Suchar soo-khar’ of Hebrew origin (7941); Sychar

 In Israeli, the name Sychar means -. End

Strong’s Hebrew: 7927. שְׁכֶם (Shekem) — “ridge,” a district …

Strong’s Greek: 4965. Συχάρ (Suchar) — Sychar, a city in Samaria

Sychar. (ssi’ kahr) Place name intended to note drunkard or falsehood, though perhaps originally derived from Shechem.

So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6. and Jacob’s well was there. 

Sychar liar or drunkard (see Isaiah 28:1 Isaiah 28:7 ), has been from the time of the Crusaders usually identified with Sychem or Shechem ( John 4:5 ). It has now, however, as the result of recent explorations, been identified with ‘Askar, a small Samaritan town on the southern base of Ebal, about a mile to the north of Jacob’s well.

Jacob’s well at the foot of Mt. Ebal and it is Samaria. John 4:20

The name Shechem is identical to the noun שכם ( shekem ), meaning back or shoulder: Excerpted from: Abarim Publications’ Biblical Dictionary. שכם. The important noun שכם ( shekem) means shoulder, and a person’s shoulder was considered:

the seat of their burdens,

whether physical or metaphorical.

(This is probably the root of our idiom of: shouldering the burden or, the burden is on our shoulders?)

Shechem /ˈʃɛkəm/, also spelled Sichem, was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel!

According to Joshua 21:20-21 it was located in the tribal territory given to the tribe of Ephraim.

Traditionally associated with Nablus, it is now identified with the nearby site of Tell Balata in Balata al-Balad in the West Bank.

The Significance of Shechem.

As just mentioned, in Hebrew shechem means shoulder, an apt description of the town’s location in the narrow valley between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal, approximately 40 miles (65 km.) north of Jerusalem.

Today it is known as Nablus.

This location is significant because Shechem’s first steps on the pages of Scripture was when Abram enters the land of Canaan from Ur, across the Fertile Crescent; Shechem was the first city to which Abram came. Genesis 12:6–8, says that Abram reached the great tree of Moreh, at Shechem and offered sacrifice nearby. Genesis, Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges hallow Shechem over all other cities of the land of Israel.

The historical background is key to answering our initial question because Shekem /Shechem/ Sychar was the very same location that other notable events took place:

In Genesis 12, Abraham offered a sacrifice to God in this area. Later, Jacob built a well nearby that is mentioned a number of times in the Bible.

Shortly after the nation divided, 1 Kings 12:1 tells us that capital city of the northern nation was briefly set up at Shechem. 

And Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone to Shechem to make him king. – 1 Kings 12:1

Joshua 24:32: And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

Shechem was:

Dwelt in by Abraham and Jacob.

Abraham was promised the land.

 Jacob buys a plot of land and settles here with his family.

Jacob’s sons are tending the sheep here before Joseph finds them in Dothan.

Genesis 37:12 – And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

The covenant is confirmed during the Conquest.

The city is set aside as a levitical city and a city of refuge.

Joseph is buried here.

The ten tribes reject Rehoboam.

Genesis 12:6 – And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite [was] then in the land.
Genesis 33:18 – And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which [is] in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city.

Here also Jacob dug a well for his many herds. This well is still there today. 

While Jacob’s family lived in Shechem, Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, was raped by a man named Shechem, the son of the ruler, Hamor. Jacob’s two sons, Levi and Simeon, made a deceptive pact with the males of the city and slaughtered them all in revenge of Dinah.

Years later, Jacob sent his 17 year-old son, Joseph, from Hebron to check on his brothers as they kept the flocks in Shechem. (Gen 37:12-14).

After Joseph arrived, having undoubtedly traveled up the Ridge Route, he discovered his brothers had moved on to the lush area of Dothan; so he went to find them (Gen 37:15-17). His brothers, filled with hatred, sold Joseph to some Ishmaelite traders who, coming through the Dothan pass, were headed for Egypt along the Via Maris. God used this sad turn of events to eventually take the entire family of Israel to Egypt, protecting and multiplying them.

Joseph’s last memories of Israel, before his brothers sold him, was of Shechem and Dothan.

He believed that God would one day return the nation to Canaan, and so he gave the command for his bones to be carried back with them and buried there (Gen 50:25).

It was a city of refuge:
Joshua 20:7 – And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which [is] Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.

A Levitical city
Joshua 21:21 – For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs, And there on Mount Ebal, Joshua built an altar to God, and on a pillar of stones he wrote a copy of the law (Josh. 8:30-35).

Middle Bronze Gate

Part of the city’s fortifications throughout the second millennium, this gate is typical for the Middle Bronze period with three piers and two chambers.  Only the stone foundations remain.

This gate most likely was in use in the time of Jacob and certainly was the main gate of the city in the days of Abimelech (Judg 9).

Middle Bronze Wall

Vulnerable by location, Shechem was strongly fortified from its earliest history.  This wall was built of Cyclopean stones and continued in use through the Late Bronze Age without significant changes.

In the background, Mount Gerizim was the location of the Samaritan temple in the 4th–2nd centuries BC.

For a moment lets focus on Samaria which is where the Samaritans lived,

Shomronim/səˈmærɪtənz  – שַמֶרִים‎, in Hebrew.

It is a region north of Jerusalem. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish people of Galilee and Judea shunned the Samaritans, viewing them as a mixed race who practiced an impure, half-pagan religion. Samaritans, as a people distinct from the Jews, are first mentioned in the Bible during the time of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity ( Ezra 4:17; Nehemiah 2:10 ).

Shamerim: 

שַמֶרִים‎,

Guardians/Keepers/Watchers (of the Torah)

Ancestrally, Samaritans claim descent from the tribe of Ephraim and tribe of Manasseh (two sons of Joseph) as well as from the Levites who have links to ancient Samaria (now constituting the majority of the territory known as the West Bank) from the period of their entry into Canaan.

The Samaritans believe that Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of Israel from the time that Joshua conquered Canaan. The major issue between Jews and Samaritans has always been the location of the Chosen Place to worship God: The Temple Mount of Moriah in Jerusalem according to Judaism or Mount Gerizim according to Samaritanism.

According to Josephus and 2 Kings 17 Samaritans are descendants of the Israelites who mixed with people deported to their country by Assyria. This fits with the Assyrian pattern of conquest. The Samaritans also claim to be descendants of Israelites who remained in the Northern Kingdom, that is Israel, during the Babylonian Captivity. Their exact history is still disputed, but modern DNA testing in 2004 does support they are descended from Israelites with Assyrians and other nationalities as well.

They survived through the time of Jesus/Yeshua, and even, in limited numbers, to the present day. The Bible mentions plenty of stories about Samaritans, and the hatred between Jews and Samaritans features prominently in the Gospels. By the time Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, near Shechem, the racial hatred between Jews and Samaritans was paramount. . And the ensuing argument about the true place of worship—Gerizim or Jerusalem—was in full force (John 4:20).

Here it is pertinent to remind ourselves that in John 8:48 it is recorded that they call Yeshua/Jesus a Samaritan, and say He has a demon. He has been accused of having a demon before, but being called a Samaritan is a new charge…

Calling a Jew, Samaritan, was a racist insult ( 2 Kings 17).

However the more serious sin the Jews committed against Jesus/Yeshua was blasphemously telling the Holy God that He has a demon. (John 8:48).

Jesus/Yeshua has made clear He is the Son of God – that He is God. Jesus/Yeshua has so thoroughly answered their arguments the only tools left to them are name calling and violence.

The Jews of Yeshua/Jesus’ day were well crafted to attack Him with malicious hypocrisy to justify their envy of His popularity and to answer the undeniable proof of His miracles.

The Jews replied to Yeshua/Jesus, “Aren’t we right when we say that you’re a Samaritan and that you’re possessed by a demon?” New American Standard 1977

The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” KJV. 

It was an expression of insolence, contempt and scorn, a critical accusation, showing their disapproval of Him.

He denies the latter accusation, but does not deny the former that seems to be meant to accuse him of not having Jewish beliefs.

Although Yeshua/Jesus forbade the Twelve to go into any city of the Samaritans ( Matthew 10:5 ), the parable of the Good Samaritan shows that His love overleaped the boundaries of national hatred ( Luke 10:30 ; compare Luke 17:16 ; John 4:9 )

Jesus/Yeshua had a different attitude toward Samaritans than most Jews. He didn’t hold them in contempt; instead, he reached out to them.

Recall the account when Jesus/Yeshua healed ten lepers, of whom only ONE returned to praise God, and he was a SAMARITAN. 

When a Samaritan village refused to welcome Him, He didn’t allow His disciples to order its destruction. Messiah also told His apostles that they would receive power when the Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit would come upon them and that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. – John 4:5-6

In the Gospel of John, Jesus asks a Samaritan woman of Sychar for water from Jacob’s Well, and after spending two days telling her townsfolk/Samaritans all things as the woman expected the Messiah to do, and presumably repeating the Good News that He was the Messiah, many Samaritans became followers of Yeshua/Jesus.

He accepts without comment the woman’s assertion that she and her people are Israelites, descendants of Jacob. During this encounter she says that the mountain was the center of their worship. This is why the woman says our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say Jerusalem is where men should worship. 

John 4:20 – Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

She poses the question to Yeshua/Jesus when she realizes that He is the Messiah and He affirms the Jewish position, saying “You (that is, the Samaritans) worship what you do not know” Jesus/Yeshua then tells her a time is coming when people will worship in spirit and truth rather in some particular place and this is the manner people should worship God. He also said, “You worship you know not what; we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews.”

Highlighting the physical location (see various photos and maps included), the city lay between 2 mountains and Jacobs well was at the base of one of them.

The 2 mountains named Gerizim and Ebal and Sychar/Shechem lay between them in the valley below:

גְּרִזִים

Mt. Gerizim Hebrew Har Gerizim,

Heb. הַר גְּרִזִּים), 

Strong’s Hebrew: 1630. גְּרִזִים (Gerizim) 

Plural of an unused noun from garaz(compare Gizriy), cut up (i.e. Rocky); Gerizim, a mountain of Palestine 

Arabic Jabal Al-Ṭūr,

Mt. Gerizim, the modern Jebel et-Tur,

עֵיבָל

Mt. Ebal har `ebhal;

Hebrew: הר עיבל ‎ Har ‘Eival)

Strong’s Hebrew: 5858. עֵיבָל (Eybal) — Ebal

Perhaps from an unused root probably meaning to be bald; bare; Ebal, a mountain of Palestine — Ebal.

Arabic el-Iclamiyeh

modern Jebel Eslamiyeh

These 2 mountains, located about 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of Jerusalem, face each other with the modern city of Nablus on a very narrow piece of land between them.

Shechem is the ancient name with which we are familiar in the Bible. Nablus is approximately 550 meters (~1800 feet) above sea level and the mountains each rise over 300 meters (1000 feet) on either side. As the Israelites sat on these mountains to listen to Joshua, it would have been very easy for them to look across the valley at their fellow family members on the other side. 

This same area is the same location as the Biblical city of Shechem. Jewish tradition holds that the original meaning of the word is saddle, which gives an indication of what it looks like.

Between Gerazim and Ebal are streams of living water which flowed out of Jacobs well located at the foot of Mt Ebal.

Here we need to remember the underlying significance of this conversation because there is an act of intolerance here, which may not be immediately obvious.

It is not altogether in the question, “How can you a Jew ask me a Samaritan for a drink”, even though we are informed that Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

It is in the statement, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get living water?”

It helps to picture the scene because she must have been eyeing this strange man carefully.

First, she probably hadn’t expected or wanted to meet anybody when she came to the well; and certainly didn’t expect to find a Jewish man – nor did she expect him to speak to her.

Generally Jews would not enter Samaria and even if a Jew did, he would avoid as much contact with the people there as possible. Speaking to a lone woman would be suspect and might even be dangerous, yet this Jewish man not only has the audacity to speak to this woman, he asks her for a drink when he has no vessel to get the water or to drink from.

It may seem a simple request and a simple act of kindness to hand a thirsty person your vessel, but it would NOT have been for this woman. It would actually have been intolerable to consider it.

Why?

Because if a Jew touched her vessel, it would have been considered unclean and she would have to destroy it. (Probably if a Samaritan touched anything belonging to a Jew it would have suffered the same fate.)

This Jewish man had to know that, and certainly if the roles had been reversed would have viewed it the same way. She must have been surprised he would not only ask her for a drink, but also then offer one to her.

What was she thinking?

If He could give her a drink, why was He asking her for one? And where would He get it, did He know of another well nearby. Perhaps He thought He could draw it somehow from Jacob’s Well?

The well is about 130 feet deep: 

The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? John 4:11-12

His term

living water

would NOT have seemed unusual to her.

Why?

Wells had two water supply sources. (Collecting rainwater would have been done with a cistern.) Well water would come from an underground spring or an underground stream.

A stream fed Jacob’s Well.

Wells of this nature,

because the stream is moving,

were referred to as

living water.

Because of this, the woman did not see anything unusual in the use of this term, so she asks Him to give her this water not just because she won’t get physically thirsty again, but so she doesn’t have to trudge to the well and carry the water home again. She doesn’t understand He is talking about something beyond physical water until later in the conversation.

She asks for this living water and He tells her to go get her husband, imagine the shock she must have felt when He answered that she was living with a man who she wasn’t married to and had had 5 husbands. Little wonder she thought He was a prophet.

Her responses were perhaps rather defensive, yet she knows a Messiah is to come and He will explain all things.

We should take note of Jesus/Yeshua’s whole approach to this woman. He asked her for something yet when she declined, He did not get angry or upset with her, but in such a way to raise her curiosity He offered her something in its place.

Instead of addressing her question about His offer directly He asked her to do something, which caused her to face her own sin. However in this conversation He did not accuse or berate her about what she had done. He didn’t engage in attacking her religious belief or get into any argument, but gave her new information further raising her curiosity which led her to continue the conversation. Then after she admits to believing in a coming Messiah, she says this ONE will tell us all things.

Jesus/Yeshua says, I am He, and it probably hit her at that moment that He had indeed told her things He could not have known about her. Jesus/Yeshua had found this woman and having drawn her to Himself, finally revealed who He was and she believed.

Just after the disciples arrive at the Well, the woman quickly leaves. She had come to get water, but she forgets her water jar. Now she isn’t concerned with physical water because she has found  THE Living Water and can’t wait to tell others.

The disciples never ask what this was all about. They had gone to fetch food and now their only concern is eating. They urge Jesus/Yeshua to join them and eat.

He gives them another one of those strange answers:

I have meat to eat that you know not of.

What did He mean? In the following verse John 4:34 He qualifies His statement..

This is our meat also… to do the will of our Heavenly Father, so as we follow Yeshua/Jesus pattern, this is the meat and drink that means we will never again be hungry or thirsty – (spiritually). As food is pleasant, and delightful, and refreshing to our bodies, so doing the will of God was as delightful and refreshing to the soul of Messiah: He took as much pleasure in it, as someone hungry does in eating and drinking.

Was He also saying.. do you see? Are you looking for the harvest somewhere else in familiar fields which is not yet ready?

Or do you see the harvest is ready and ripe, right in front of you?

Do you see this woman, who you looked right past with contempt, she had been sown with seeds of hope and was ready for the reaping? Someone had sowed HOPE/TIKVEH, in these people, but it wasn’t you, however, here is the opportunity to reap what has been sowed and you should rejoice in it.

Open your eyes and see what is before you, not what is far away.

Now is the time to gather fruit to salvation. 

click link below for more on Tikveh/Hope:

https://www.minimannamoments.com/the-secret-of-the-ogehn-of-tiqvah/

The woman had believed and ran back to town to tell everyone. She urged them to come to Messiah and to see and experience what she had seen and experienced.

The people listened to her and they went out to the well to see Yeshua/Jesus. This is the first act of witnessing by a new believer recorded in the gospels.

The local people knew this woman and they knew her past. They sensed something had changed about her and as a result many came to believe in Yeshua/Jesus as the Messiah even asking Him to remain with them. Recall, these are Samaritans and Yeshua/Jesus and His Disciples are Jewish men so in a sense they are enemies. 

He stayed 2 days talking with them and they accepted Him as the Messiah they were looking for. Notice what they said:

Now we believe, not because of your saying for we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. 

The woman did not save these Samaritans, she simply brought them the message; she became the sower and Yeshua/Jesus reaped the harvest. Again He was setting His Disciples an example, to make haste and sow the word. Do not concern yourself with the reaping, Holy Spirit will take care of that. We are to remember what is in John 4 and said in Romans 10:11-15. because as His Disciples this example is for us also.

In reality, springs of spiritual truth lie deep within us, not on the high grounds of morality.

The kingdom of The Heavens is within you.

Truth lies not so much in our many doctrines but rather in the

Living Waters

of Messiah.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father (John 4:21-22).

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24-25).”  

Our walk towards Yeshua/Jesus, takes us to the well…the ONE springing up to eternal life. 

One must enter in to Messiah to reach the well ….but it is in the depths of the well itself where the actual Living Water is found… for Messiah is the deep which calls unto deep.

“Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me”  Psalm 42:7,

believers often use this phrase most often to refer to a deep, personal experience of the Lord ministering to them — from the depths of God’s heart to the depths of their own.

and Psalm 130:1 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. This phrase “deep calls unto deep”

consists of communication through prayer, from deep within the heart/mind of a man appealing to the deep recesses (a secluded or secret place) of the heart/mind of his God in a time of dire need and possibly suffering at the hands of enemies. 

We looked at this in the post 

and this is the very same location where John 4 took place and brings into perspective verses 7 and 10. The well of Jacob that gave life giving water to all the inhabitants of the land and it was why she referred to it in v 20 as being the place where our fathers worshipped on this mountain.

This is Mt Ebal – the place they understood where it was necessary to worship v.20 and then Yeshua/Jesus says

the time is coming verse 23 AND NOW IS when neither Mt. Ebal nor Jerusalem would be the location to worship the father.

He revealed Himself plainly to her and she knew Mashiach was to come then from her sharing her good news – many believed 4:39

Jesus/Yeshua used the parable of the good Samaritan and we may now have a little more insight and understanding of who the Samaritan was and what he believed.

Jesus/Yeshua was offering Himself as the living water and revealing His connection to the well. – This was why it was so significant to her and why she abandoned her container and ran to the town.  Shechem had a rich history with the Father, the scriptures say that many believed after her testimony because they were also looking for Messiah.

The location was so significant for the reason that it was where Joshua, a type of Mashiach, had brought the children of Israel to reaffirm their covenant in the promised land that Moses made with God for the Israelites on Sinai…….

Continued in part 2… meanwhile..

The story of The Samaritan woman should serve to remind us of one of the most important truths that even though the Lord can reach us in the most ordinary places – there is nothing ordinary about a life changing encounter with Jesus/Yeshua. We seldom see the kind of response shown by the Samaritan woman when finally she realized she had met the Messiah, the One who was to come.

Sadly many fail to be amazed by Him anymore and Messiah’s miraculous ways have become just every day events.. Is that because we’re still questioning whether this is the Messiah when we hear of miracle testimonies? Maybe it is because we’re not asking with the same convincing hope/tikvah that she had.

Perhaps in some way we have a doubting heart. Is it because we have not yet had that life changing experience ourselves?

This woman of Samaria was transformed because she met the man who told her everything she did.

Jesus/Yeshua was able to reach her in a way no one else could. Seeing in her, things no one else could see.

The message for us today as His disciples is that we need to eagerly get hold of our water jars and head for the well.

That well of living water springing up to eternal life, which can only be found in Messiah.

As we do,

we need to be expectant

that our containers will be too small to hold what will be waiting for us when we get there…

we must run to the well but not with the hope that we will drink… but that we will be filled and will never be thirsty again..

Mishpachah, if this bears witness with our hearts pray this prayer today:

Father I am running to the well today.. I have been waiting for you to come and I’m thirsty. Heavenly father remove all doubt and fear from my heart that I may know the one who knows me and all I have done. I praise you Father for from you alone flow those wellsprings of eternal life.. please fill me once and for all, that I maybe return from the well of Your presence with so much more than my jar could ever hold… in Jesus/Yeshuas Name..

Shalom, Shalom to all Mishpachah – family.

Please don’t leave this page until you have the assurance that you are filled with His Living Water and are sealed to the day of redemption by the Blood of Messiah Jesus/Yeshua.
Not sure ..you can be…
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute, SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.

 

 

 

WHAT LIES BENEATH … Ancient Urusalima?

Ever wondered what exactly is under that golden Dome on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel?

MMM takes A DEEPER DIG Under The Dome of the Rock; (“Kippat ha-Sela” in Hebrew; (“Qubbat al-Sakhrah” in Arabic).It is front and center almost every time we look at a panoramic view of Jerusalem. Often dismissed as something, not of much importance to believers in Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach, yet there remains a measure of curiosity and there is great significance to the location we may have overlooked or forgotten…..

…And what is the mysterious “Well of Souls”?

The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine and the Temple Mount is referred to as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary).

Situated in the Old City of Jerusalem, it was built by the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān.

The construction was initially completed in the late 7th-century, approx. 691 CE; (only 1300 years ago). According to the Islamic tradition, here Prophet Muhammad flew with the archangel Jabrail and met prophets Ibrahim, Musa and Isa (Abraham, Moses and Jesus respectively).

A rock rises towards the roof of the Dome. From this rock, according to legend, Muhammad ascended to Allah. Today, the Temple Mount is a home for the Al-Aqsa Mosque with the Dome of the Rock architectural complex. The mountain is open to tourists at certain times which are not related to the time of Muslim worship.

So why is it of any importance to us?

This mystery connects to events that have taken place over the last 5,000 years, thousands of years prior to the construction of the ‘Dome’.Then it was called Mount Moriah, on which was also located the mysterious city Urusalima, the forerunner of Jerusalem, (Salem).

For more on the picture above click links https://www.minimannamoments.com/more-than-one-palm/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/i-will-put-my-name-part-2/

Salim/Salem/Jerusalem is inscribed in the Tell el-Amarna Letters, an archaeological find dated to the 1400s BC.

The original name of Jerusalem was Babylonian, Uru-Salim, “the city of Salim,”or the city of Salem.

” Jebus” makes its appearance for the first time in the Old Testament (Judges 19: 10,11).In Hebrew, Yerushalayim

Mount Moriah is the name of the elongated north-south ridge of rock that rises from the junction point of the Hinnom (Hagai) and Kidron valleys between Mount Zion to the west and the Mount of Olives to the east.It rises through the City of Davidand reaches its highest elevation just northeast of the Damascus Gatein the Old City.

The Temple Mount today covers about 45 acres and is built around the outcropping of the bedrock under the Dome of the Rock.

It is about 118 feet lower than the highest point of Mount Moriah.

Hinnom valleyKidron Valley

Jewish tradition holds that it is the very same site where God gathered the dust to create Adam before placing him in the garden.and in Genesis 22. where the Binding of Isaac for sacrifice by Abraham took place believed by many biblical scholars to be the same mountain in the region of Moriah mentioned in the Book of Genesis.There is a grotto inside the Dome of the Rock where limestone forms into a cave.In 1 Chronicles 21 it is identified as The Jebusite “Zion” was situated on the southern slope of Mount Moriah, above the Gihon Spring.

After King David captured the city he made it his capital and named it for himself: the ‘City of David’. The northern area of the mountain’s summit lay desolate for long after Zion’s capture by David. It was in fact still the private property of Araunah, the city’s former Jebusite king.For various reasons David did not confiscate the site of the Jebusite threshing floor but preferred to buy it from Auranah for full value: “So David paid Ornan ) the Jebusite [Auranah] for the site 600 shekels’ worth of gold.And David built there an altar to the Lord and sacrificed burn offerings and offerings of well-being” 1 Chron. 21:25, and a slightly different version at 2 Sam. 24:18-25.

The very same threshing floor where Ruth and Boaz were.

This purchase is an important fact since it demonstrates that the Jews received this area through a legal transaction. They have never sold the rights to Mount Moriah.King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site; and David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings. – 1 Chronicles 21:24, 25 

The Old Testament describes how an army led by David, the second king of ancient Israel, breached the walls of Jebus around 1000 B.C. David then built a palace nearby and created his capital, Jerusalem. At the site of a threshing floor atop the mountain, where farmers had separated grains from chaff, David constructed a sacrificial altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt and peace offerings.It was here that King David brought the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments.

In the course of time the mountain had acquired an aura of sanctity and was the subject of many traditions. Indeed, its sacred status may date back to the early Canaanite period, when it perhaps was the cultic center of “El Elyon,” god of Melchizedek, king of Salem:‘And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High [=El Elyon].’ Hebrew 7:1-3(Salem ancient name of Jerusalem). Gen.14:18.He blessed him, saying, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, creator of heaven and earth” Gen 14:18.

The Bible calls Yeshua, Jesus, the Great High Priest.

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

 Hebrews 7:17

For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Isaiah 9:6

The tradition of “Jacob’s Dream” is also identified with Mount Moriah: “He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. And the Lord was standing beside him… Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, … “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God and that is the gateway to heaven” Gen 28:10-18.

This is perhaps the most colorful representation of the essential nature of the site which some would later claim was the “navel of the world”.At the summit of Mount Moriah, traditionally, is the “Foundation Stone,” the symbolic fundament of the world’s creation, and reputedly the site of the Temple’s Holy of Holies, the supreme embodiment of the relationship between God and the people of Israel.According to the Second Book of Kings and the First Book of Chronicles, David’s son, Solomon, built the First Temple (later known as the Beit Hamikdash) on that site.Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. – 2 Chronicles 3:1Solomon dedicates the Temple.

Upon the completion of King Solomon’s Temple, famed for its sumptuous splendor, the Ark of the Covenant was placed within its confines.

The sanctity of the site is reflected in the graphic description provided by the Book of Kings: “the priests came out of the sanctuary for the cloud had filled the House of the Lord and the priests were not able to remain and perform the service because of the cloud, for the Presence of the Lord filled the House of the Lord…” 1 Kings 8:11.Solomon built his palace in the “miloh” (infill), area which separated the summit of the mountain and the Temple from the city below. This was also a concrete expression of the divine inspiration that was attributed to his kingship. Other palaces were also built nearby, such as the “House of the Forest of Lebanon” and the House of Pharaoh’s Daughter. 

Solomon used dirt to fill in this east-west lateral rift, hence the area’s name: “miloh” (infill), or Ophel , from a Hebrew word referring to the road that ascended to the Temple from the city which at that time was topographically lower and seen as a name on some maps.

King Solomon, according to the Bible, built the First Temple of the Jews on this mountaintop circa 1000 B.C., only to have it torn down 400 years later by troops commanded by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who sent many Jews into exile. In the first century B.C., the Babylonian Army destroyed the First Temple in 586 B.C. The ark of the covenant disappeared, possibly hidden from the conquerors. Following the conquest of Jerusalem by the Persians in 539 B.C., the Jews returned from exile and, according to the Book of Ezra, constructed a Second Temple on the site.

At the summit of Mount Moriah, the supreme embodiment of the relationship between God and the people of Israel was realized. Upon the completion of King Solomons Temple, the Ark of the Covenant was placed inside, it contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments, the Jar of Manna and Aarons Rod that budded.

In the first century B.C., King Herod undertook a massive reshaping of the Temple Mount. Herod expanded and refurbished a Second Temple built by Jews who had returned after their banishment. He filled up the slopes surrounding the mount’s summit and expanded it to its present size. He enclosed the holy site within a 100-foot-high retaining wall constructed of limestone blocks quarried from the Jerusalem Hills and constructed a far more expansive version of the Second Temple.

It is here that, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ lashed out against the money changers (and was later crucified a few hundred yards away). The Roman general Titus exacted revenge against Jewish rebels, sacking and burning the Temple in A.D. 70.

We are familiar with the much photographed Western Wall, it’s one that’s easily recognizable together with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.The Western Wall is the holiest site for Jews. Thousands of people — Jews and non-Jews alike — come to this wall every day to pray.

But the commonly known religious site and tourist destination represents only the tip of the Western Wall complex. Its main treasures are found inside a tunnel excavated by Charles Warren from 1864 to 1870.

The tunnel follows the street level of the first century, which lies about 30 feet (9 meters) below the current level of the Western Wall plaza where the tourists and worshipers usually gather. It exposes magnificent stones measuring 45 by 9.8 by 11 feet (13.7 by 3 by 3.3 meters) and weighing 520 metric tons. The stones comprised the foundation of a retaining wall that King Herod ordered so he could create a level platform for the temple complex. 

A significant site is found 150 feet (46 meters) inside the tunnel. Above picture is the sealed-off gate, close to the place where the temple’s most Holy place, KOTEL – the Holy of Holies, is believed to have been located. The site of the Western Wall and its tunnel are managed by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.

The upper part of the Temple Mount where both temples once stood is controlled by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf foundation, financed by the Kingdom of Jordan. Arabs refer to the place as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. The complex includes the golden Dome of the Rock, which stands on the supposed spot on Mount Moriah where Abraham prepared to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

The area controlled by the foundation also includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site for Muslims who believe it was here that the Prophet Muhammad ascended to the “Divine Presence” on the back of a winged horse—the Miraculous Night Journey, commemorated by one of Islam’s architectural triumphs, the Dome of the Rock shrine. A territorial prize occupied or conquered by a long succession of peoples—including Jebusites, Israelites, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, early Muslims, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans and the British—the Temple Mount has seen more momentous historical events than perhaps any other 35 acres in the world.

The Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls are classified as a World Heritage Site.

 During the time of Solomon and of Nehemiah, the walls also encompassed the City of David, an area south of theTemple Mount.

So what exactly is under the golden dome?

The bedrock, or the actual stone, of the top of Mount Moriah. known as the Foundation Stone where all the aforementioned events took place.

(According to a medieval Islamic tradition, the Stone tried to follow Muhammad as he ascended, leaving his footprint here while pulling up and hollowing out the cave below. The impression of the hand of the Archangel Gabriel made as he restrained the Stone from rising, is nearby.) The Stone — known as Even haShetiya in Hebrew and es-Sakhrah in Arabic — is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam.)It can be seen covered by the Muslim’s Dome of the Spirits.

This is about 285 feet north of where the Ark of the Covenant would have sat on similar bedrock in the Jewish Temple. Today the Muslim’s Dome of the Rock covers that location.

The Well of Souls, also known in Christianity and Judaism as the Holy of Holies, is a partly natural, partly man-made cave located inside the Foundation Stone under the Dome of the Rock.

Below The Sakhra (rock) in the Dome and shows the possible location of the ark lower left part of exposed rock surface.

This is a closer view of the actual bedrock, or the original rock, from the top of Mount Moriah. It is located under the Muslim’s Dome of the Spirits and is located just outside the Dome of the Rock. Abraham would have walked across parts of this rock when he came up here to sacrifice Isaac.

This would be close to where the Jebusite threshing floor would have actually been located when David purchased Mount Moriah.

Looking across the pavement that has been built over Mount Moriah to create a level surface. This is the site of the ancient Jewish Temple Mount. The golden Dome of the Rock stands where the Jewish Temple formerly stood.Notice the location of Mount Moriah on this map showing Jerusalem’ topography.

In a cave under the sacred rock, there supposedly is a mysterious Well of Souls from which the spirits of the dead can be heard.

Whether it is true or not, the Temple Mount is a place of veneration of believers of the three world religions and has a unique energy that can be really perceived.  The Well of Souls is a supernatural dimension that is guarded by the Archangel Azrael. It is said to hold power over life and death, and it acts as a receptacle for the souls of the departed. From a purely biblical standpoint, the Well of Souls is referenced as Sheol, the pit where un-regenerated souls are held until judgment.

The Foundation Stone in the floor of the 

Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem. 

Photo above showing:

1 The cage-like structure just beyond the hole covers the stairway entrance to the cave beneath the rock

The round hole at upper left penetrates to a small cave, known as the ‘Well of Souls’, below.

3 Rock (Al Sakhra) where Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to the heavens.

The Well of Souls (Arabic: بئر الأرواح ‎ Bir al-Arwah; sometimes translated Pit of Souls, Cave of Spirits, or Well of Spirits in Islam), also known in Christianity and Judaism as the Holy of Holies, is a partly natural, partly man-made cave located inside the Foundation Stone under the Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem.

The name Well of Souls derives from a medieval Islamic legend that at this place the spirits of the dead can be heard awaiting Judgment Day.  The name “Well of Souls” has also been applied more narrowly to a depression in the floor of this cave and to a hypothetical chamber that may exist beneath the floor. The famed 19th-century British explorer Sir Charles Warren could neither prove nor disprove the existence of a hollow chamber below the cave. They believed the sound reportedly heard by visitors was simply an echo in a small fissure beneath the floor.For Believers, the site is known as the Holy of Holies (alluding to the former inner sanctuary within the Temple in Jerusalem) .

Both Jewish and Muslim traditions relate to what may lie beneath the Foundation Stone, the earliest of them found in the Talmud in the former and understood to date to the 12th and 13th centuries in the latter.

The Talmud indicates that the Stone marks the center of the world and serves as a cover for the Abyss (Abzu) containing the raging waters of the Flood.Muslim tradition likewise places it at the center of the world and over a bottomless pit with the flowing waters of Paradise underneath. A palm tree is said to grow out of the River of Paradise here to support the Stone.Noah is said to have landed here after the Flood. The Mosaic floor covers the opening to the well of souls.

The souls of the dead are said to be audible here as they await the Last Judgment, although this is not a mainstream view in Sunni Islam.

The Foundation Stone and its cave entered fully into the European Christian tradition after the Crusaders recaptured Jerusalem in 1099 and converted the Dome of the Rock into a church, calling it the Templum Domini, (Latin for the Temple of the Lord).They made many radical physical changes to the site at this time, including cutting away much of the rock to make staircases with 16 marble steps and paving the Stone over with marble slabs.

They certainly enlarged the main entrance of the cave and probably are also responsible for creating the shaft ascending from the center of the chamber. The Crusaders called the cave the “Holy of Holies” and venerated it as the possible site of the announcement of John the Baptist’s birth, since Luke says it happened in the Temple.

  (Modern scholarship indicates that the Temple Holy of Holies was probably on top of the Foundation Stone, not inside it.)Here the original granary, (similar to picture above), where the corn was threshed or rather trodden out, upon the plain on either side, and winnowed from the Rock.The entrance to the cave is at the southeast angle of the Foundation Stone, beside the southeast pier of the Dome of the Rock (Sakhrah) shrine. On the way down, bedrock masses project in towards the stair; the one to the right is called “the tongue”. (because, according to legend, when Caliph Umar thought he had discovered the stone which was Jacob’s Pillar in his vision at Bethel, he exclaimed, “Es Salámo Alaykúm” (“Peace be unto thee”), and the stone answered Caliph Umar, “Alaykúm us Salám, wa Rahmat-Ullahi” (“Peace be to thee, and the mercy of God”).To the left (south) as one descends is a prayer niche where David prayed. 

To the right is a shallower, but ornately decorated, prayer niche dedicated to where Solomon traditionally prayed; and where Abraham and Elijah and Mohammed met on the occasion of his night flight upon El Borak.

This mihrab is certainly one of the oldest in the world, considered to date at least back to the late 9th century. (Some even suggest that it dates back to the 7th century and to the time of Abd al-Malik, builder of the Dome of the Rock — making it the oldest in the world — but this is disputed.

The cave chamber is roughly square, about 6 meters on a side, and ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 meters (about 4.9 to ~8.2 feet) high.

At the center of the ceiling is a shaft, 0.46 meter in diameter, which penetrates 1.7 meters up to the surface of the Stone above. It has been proposed that this is the 4,000-year-old remnant of a shaft tomb. Another theory is that it represents a Crusader “chimney” cut for ventilation to accommodate lighted shrine candles.Still others have tried to make a case that it was part of a drainage system for the Temple altar of Sacrifice; that the cave was the cistern for the blood, which ran off by the Bir el Arwáh, (Well of Souls) into the Valley of Hinnom.

There are no rope marks within the shaft, so it has been concluded that it was never used as a well, with the cave as cistern. The ceiling of the cave appears natural, while the floor has been long ago paved with marble and carpeted over.So now we know what is under that golden dome and next time we see a photograph it will serve as a reminder of its place in our history and that it reveals another of the reasons for its ownership and possession being such hotly disputed territory. 

Shalom..

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You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

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Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.You are now Born Again by the Holy Spirit of the Living God and you are part of the ever growing family of believers. You will never be the same again!