Genuine

 

Zechariah chapter 14, vs 1 – 9                         select verses in sequence

14:1 הנה יום-בא ליהוה וחלק שללך בקרבך

14:2 ואספתי את-כל-הגוים אל-ירושלם למלחמה ונלכדה העיר ונשסו הבתים והנשים תשגלנה ויצא חצי העיר בגולה ויתר העם לא יכרת מן-העיר

14:3 ויצא יהוה ונלחם בגוים ההם כיום הלחמו ביום קרב

14:4 ועמדו רגליו ביום-ההוא על-הר הזתים אשר על-פני ירושלם מקדם ונבקע הר הזיתים מחציו מזרחה וימה גיא גדולה מאד ומש חצי ההר צפונה וחציו-נגבה

14:5 ונסתם גיא-הרי כי-יגיע גי-הרים אל-אצל ונסתם כאשר נסתם מפני הרעש בימי עזיה מלך-יהודה ובא יהוה אלהי כל-קדשים עמך

14:6 והיה ביום ההוא לא-יהיה אור יקרות יקפאון

14:7 והיה יום-אחד הוא יודע ליהוה לא-יום ולא-לילה והיה לעת-ערב יהיה-אור

14:8 והיה ביום ההוא יצאו מים-חיים מירושלם חצים אל-הים הקדמוני וחצים אל-הים האחרון בקיץ ובחרף יהיה

14:9 והיה יהוה למלך על-כל-הארץ ביום ההוא יהיה יהוה אחד ושמו אחד

… the day of the LORD ( YHVH ) is coming … the LORD ( YHVH ) will go forth and fight against those nations who gather against Jerusalem to battle … on that day … the LORD ( YHVH )’s feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the East … the Mount of Olives will be split in two from East to West by a very wide valley … half of the mount will move North and the other half will move South … you will  flee by the valley … and … the LORD ( YHVH ) will come with all His holy ones on that day … there will be continuous day … living waters will flow out of Jerusalem … half to the Eastern sea and half to the Western sea … the living waters will continue in summer as in winter … and … the LORD ( YHVH ) is One .. He is King over all of the earth … His Name is One …

 

… a key passage in our understanding of the second coming of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ … our … LORD … Savior … Teacher … Friend … the One who has redeemed all humankind by His … life … death on the cross … and … resurrection from the dead … we thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ Who has purchased for us both our redemption and salvation … that is … life with God forever …

 

… sometimes in one’s memory and sometimes in everyone’s memory … that is … in the way things are remembered … something can be left out … sometimes this is accidentally … sometimes it is on-purpose … in either case … what is forgotten can impact the understanding of other related … items … places … and/or … events … a good example of this type of situation is addressed in this bible study … it is about something that was forgotten about the Hebrew ( Jewish ) temple … what has been forgotten was well known at the time of Jesus Christ … at the time of Esra … at the time of Daniel … at the time of Solomon … at the time of David … and … now no one is sure … though perhaps many folks are certain … the temple of the LORD was centered on what is now termed the Temple Mount in Jerusalem of Israel right at the location of the Dome of the Rock  or was it …

 

… the ancient structure of the Hebrew ( Jewish ) temple of the LORD was most certainly located on the Temple Mount that was built by Herod however while the Temple Mount represents an area of about 35 to 36 acres … the actual sanctuary and Holy or Holies represented an area of about 0.07 to 0.15 acre … the city walls of Jerusalem that were built by Solomon lie directly North and adjacent to the walls of the City of David in the shape of a large right footprint with its large toe pointing toward Adam on the East side of the Jordan river where the Jabbok river flows into the Jordan river some thirty miles up stream … when Solomon built the first temple it was at the South Eastern heal of that foot print adjacent to the North wall of the City of David and at the point where the East wall of Jerusalem meets the wall of the City of David … this is where the Temple Mount is today … this original site was the most prominent high point for both the City of David which is lower on the hill named Moriah and the gentle raising slope of the City of Jerusalem on Mount Moriah … looking East from that vantage point is the Mount of Olives directly across the Kidron Valley … our intent in this bible study is not to enter a long standing argument regarding the placement of the temple on the Temple Mount for there are many reasons on all sides for the placement of the original temple built by Solomon and its two subsequent versions … that is … the rebuilt temple following the Babylonian captivity … and … the upgraded temple and Temple Mount platform constructed by Herod … the Holy Bible tells us all three were built on the same foundation so essentially in the same place on what is now the Temple Mount … our purpose in this bible study is to consider a physical structure that was an integral component of all three temple stages but is often not considered in the dialogs related to the temple of the LORD’s placement on the Temple Mount … the consideration of this one integral component more importantly leads to a consideration of the primary use for the Water of Cleansing and as a secondary benefit this consideration also pinpoints the exact location where the temple of the LORD stood …

 

… the unconsidered physical structure that was an integral component of the temple complex was termed the Red Heifer Bridge … this was a viaduct that stretched from the East Gate of the temple to the Mount of Olives … the Red Heifer Bridge was a high causeway across the Kidron valley … on that causeway a red heifer would be sacrificed and then burned to ashes to enable the creation of the Water of Cleansing … the original need for the causeway did not originate in the writings of Moses but rather as developed human dogmatic interpretation of that scripture … this interpretation required that action to be performed at a distance of 2,000 cubits … on the horizontal plain of … and … in direct sight of … the Holy of Holies of the temple … not a requirement from God but an interpreted need … dogma … the 2,000 cubits was a dogmatic requirement related to the distance which a person could travel on a Sabbath day … these requirements placed the slaughter and incineration of the red heifer at about two thirds the distance between the East Gate of the temple and the approach to the Red Heifer Bridge on the Mount of Olives … essentially … high above the Kidron Valley … interesting …

 

Ezekiel chapter 10, vs 18 - 19

10:18 ויצא כבוד יהוה מעל מפתן הבית ויעמד על-הכרובים

10:19 וישאו הכרובים את-כנפיהם וירומו מן-הארץ לעיני בצאתם והאופנים לעמתם ויעמד פתח שער בית-יהוה הקדמוני וכבוד אלהי-ישראל עליהם מלמעלה

… the glory of the LORD ( YHVH ) rose from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the Cherubim … the Cherubim lifted their wings and rose from the earth … they rose with their wheels beside them … the glory of the God of Israel was above them … and … they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the temple … the house of the LORD ( YHVH ) …

 

Ezekiel chapter 11, vs 22 - 23

11:22 וישאו הכרובים את-כנפיהם והאופנים לעמתם וכבוד אלהי-ישראל עליהם מלמעלה

11:23 ויעל כבוד יהוה מעל תוך העיר ויעמד על-ההר אשר מקדם לעיר

… with their wheels beside them … the Cherubim lifted their wings … and then … with the glory of the LORD ( YHVH ) above them they ascended from the middle of the city Jerusalem … and … they stopped on the mountain that is east of the city …

 

… the current understanding by most folks places the temple at the time of Jesus in the center of the Temple Mount complex with the East gate of the temple lined up with the Eastern Gate of the Jerusalem city wall … though … perhaps a more genuine view of the temple placement in the Temple Moun complex is more toward the South East end of the Temple Mount complex adjacent to the North wall of the City of David … with the East gate of the temple lined up with the Red Heifer Bridge … so … the Red Heifer Bridge would have been near or at the junction of the East walls of the City of David and the City of Jerusalem … essentially at the South East corner of the walls of Jerusalem and the North East corner of the walls of the City of David … … the Red Heifer Bridge was part of the Temple Mount complex … attached to the city wall and extending East to the Mount of Olives … it did not have general public access …

 

… on the date that we call Palm Sunday of 32 AD … our Lord Jesus Christ entered the city of Jerusalem on a donkey … He entered through the East Gate of the city wall …  the  following Thursday Jesus was captured and taken across the Red Heifer Bridge … to the High Priest …

 

… our bible study moves forward with a consideration regarding how history is remembered … the Hebrew ( Jewish ) folks who returned from captivity in Babylon built the second temple at Jerusalem … not all but most folks who are Hebrew ( Jewish ) believe in the resurrection of the dead for life with God forever … a very nice consideration … made real … for us … as Christians … by Jesus Christ God our Lord and Savior … our references in Zechariah and Ezekiel … speak … to us … and also in every time period of history … also … to the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people … that … the Messiah will stand on the Mount of Olives which is East of Jerusalem … consequently … for many centuries the Hebrew ( Jewish ) people of Israel chose to be buried on the Mount of Olives opposite the East Gate of the Temple because that is where the Messiah will stand … interesting … it’s a pretty big cemetery … the Red Heifer Bridge was a real part of the second temple at Jerusalem from the initial building of the second temple through 70 AD when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans … some fragments of history tell us that the Red Heifer Bridge was originally a wooden causeway between the temple and the Mount of Olives however when King Herod the Great rebuilt the second temple the Red Heifer Bridge became a stone causeway … the foundation where the Red Heifer Bridge was attached to the city wall is still there … it is of some significance to folks who feel that the Dome of the Rock was not built on the foundation of the Hebrew ( Jewish ) temple but rather some distance North on the Temple Mount platform towards the middle of the Temple Mount platform centered pretty much in line with the Eastern Gate of the Jerusalem City Wall … the Hebrew ( Jewish ) temple was located on the South East quadrant of the Temple Mount platform with the East Gate of the temple opening at the colonnade of Solomon onto the Red Heifer Bridge which provided a raised path to the Mount of Olives over the Kidron valley … the Hebrew ( Jewish ) cemetery on the Mount of Olives is in direct line with the Red Heifer Bridge causeway and also the East Gate of the Temple … interestingly … about two thirds to the Mount of Olives side of the Red Heifer Bridge from the temple is the required 2,000 cubits from the location of the Holy of Holies at the temple if that South East corner of the Temple Mount platform was the actual site of the temple … additionally … the Jewish Temple Leadership tended to make additional rules beyond those defined by the Word of God … the Water of Cleansing was made when the red heifer was burned to ashes however one additional rule they made said the water to make the Water of Cleansing must get to the site of the red heifer ashes sinlessly … to achieve that goal … children before the age of reason … were used to carry the water from the Kidron Valley brook below through tunnels under the Hebrew ( Jewish ) cemetery on the Mount of Olives so the children would not sin by accidently stepping on a grave … the tunnels which were dug to permit the movement of this water are still there today under the cemetery …  interesting but not the focus of our bible study …

 

… Jerusalem would often swell with a million or more pilgrims for the festivals of the LORD ( YHVH ) … historical accounts tell us that people would be arriving a week or more in advance of a scheduled festival for personal spiritual preparations … no doubt the folks with status and a higher end of equity would stay in various accommodations within the city of Jerusalem however the far majority would camp in the Kidron Valley on the East side of Jerusalem … their access into Jerusalem and to the temple was a controlled path much like any national park or museum in any country today … this is the great crowd of people who greeted Jesus Christ as He rode a donkey into Jerusalem on what we term Palm Sunday in the year … 32 AD …

 

John chapter 12, vs 12 - 19                                 select verses in sequence

12  וַיְהִי מִמָּחֳרָת כִּשְׁמֹעַ רַבִּים מִן־הָעָם מִן־עוֹלֵי הָרֶגֶל כִּי יֵשׁוּעַ בָּא יְרוּשָׁלָיְמָה

13  וַיִּקְחוּ כַפּוֹת תְּמָרִים בְּיָדָם וַיֵּצְאוּ לִקְרָאתוֹ וַיָּרִיעוּ הוֹשַׁע־נָא בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָֹה מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל

14  וַיִּמְצָא יֵשׁוּעַ עַיִר וַיִּרְכַּב עָלָיו כַּכָּתוּב

15  אַל־תִּירְאִי בַּת־צִיּוֹן הִנֵּה מַלְכֵּךְ יָבוֹא לָךְ רֹכֵב עַל־עַיִר בֶּן־אֲתֹנוֹת

16  וְכָל־זֹאת לֹא־הֵבִינוּ תַלְמִידָיו בַּתְּחִילָּה אַךְ כַּאֲשֶׁר לֻקַּח יֵשׁוּעַ אַחַר כָּבוֹד זָכְרוּ אָז כִּי־כֹה כָּתוּב עָלָיו וְכֹה גַם־עֲשׂוּ לוֹ

17  וְהָעָם אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ אִתּוֹ הֵעִידוּ בְפִיהֶם כִּי קָרָא אֶת־אֶלְעָזָר מִן־קִבְרוֹ וַיְחַיֵּהוּ מִן־הַמֵּתִים

18  וְעַל־כֵּן יָצְאוּ הָעָם לִקְרָאתוֹ אַחֲרֵי שָׁמְעָם כִּי עָשָׂה אֶת־הָאוֹת הַזֶּה

19  וְהַפְּרוּשִׁים אָמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל־אָחִיו הַרְאִיתֶם כִּי יְדֵיכֶם לֹא תַעֲשֶׂינָה תּוּשִׁיָּה וְאַחֲרָיו כָּל־אָדָם יִמְשֹׁךְ

… the next day … the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus Christ was coming to Jerusalem … they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him … singing joyfully … Hosanna … blessed is the One Who comes in the Name of the Lord … the King of Israel … Jesus rode into Jerusalem sitting on a young donkey fulfilling the prophecy … look your King comes sitting on a donkey’s colt … the Pharisees said to one another … we can do nothing … the world has gone after Him …

 

… so … Jesus rode through a million folks on that day … thinking about it … when it came time … on Thursday night … the Pharisees and temple guards who came to arrest Jesus Christ with an armed mob and Judas did not walk through the Kidron Valley with those million people whom Jesus Christ had been teaching in the temple courts for four days … rather … to get to where Jesus was at the Garden termed Gethsemane and after the arrest to get back with Him to the High Priest at the temple … they would have used secure extension of the temple platform … the Red Heifer Bridge … this was the best path to both Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives and then back to the house of the High Priest at the temple site … the High Priest actually had two houses … one by the temple on the temple platform … and … the other was in a wealthy district built into the North East corner of the city wall … the Red Heifer Bridge was the quickest and safest path regardless of which of his houses the High Priest was at …

 

… consider the timing of the events which followed the arrest of Jesus Christ … Jesus was on the cross by 9 AM that next morning … the folks in the Kidron Valley would not have known about any of the previous night’s events or that morning’s actions which resulted in His crucifixion … the many faithful pilgrems for the Passover festival … that is  … the Hebrew ( Jewish ) folks who greeted Jesus Christ on Palm Sunday … 32 AD … and … who for four days listened to the teachings of Jesus Christ in the temple courts … they were not aware of any of these event or the much smaller group of priests and temple people who stood before Pontius Pilot and called for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ … an interesting consideration … we give thanks and praise to Jesus Christ God our Lord and Savior …

… we have some pictures and graphic considerations to support this dialog at …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biZLTAvNRtg