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"I was glad when they said to me,
'Let us go into the House of Yahweh!'
Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is built as a city compacted together
[where earth and heaven meet],
to which the tribes go up, the tribes of Yahweh,
unto the testimnony of Israel,
to give thanks to the Name of Yahweh.
For there are set thrones of judgment
--thrones of the House of David.
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem! They who love thee will prosper."
Psalm 122:1-6
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An overview of the city in Yahshua's day
The Temple complex is the large white rectangle. South of there is the original city of David. Westward expansion came next, then northward to its zenith right before the Romans destroyed the Temple in A.D. 70. |
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The Temple Mount
Note that the eastern gate (at lower left) led directly into the sanctuary through a series of gates and courtyards. |
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The Eastern Gate
...walled up by a Muslim ruler who thought he could prevent the return of the Messiah. But it holds an amazing parallel with the Garden of Eden, whose eastern entrance was also closed off. The most straightforward path into Yahweh's presence (symbolized by the Temple) is closed because of sin. But there is another way in... |
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The Triple Gates
By Yahshua's day most pilgrims entered the Temple here. After a ritual washing outside, they had to go through a long tunnel, across a wide courtyard, and only then reached the real starting point! We can re-enter Yahweh's presence, but only by repentance, Yahshua's blood, and the Torah, which teaches us how to again be innocent as Adam was before he fell. And only then can we BEGIN to choose to be righteous!
(See "UPON YOUR GATES" on the Understanding the Torah page for the fuller story.) |
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The city of David with the Temple above
This view of a model at the Holy Land Hotel shows the southern wall. The set of gates at right were where the triple gates shown above are now. The bright white section around the corner shows where the Western (Wailing) Wall is.
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The Western Wall
Now an outdoor synagogue, the closest "house of prayer" to where the Holy of Holies once sat and will again sit. |
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"The Place Where I have Set My Name"
Here is one aspect of this promise to Moses of where the Temple would be established: the valleys around Jerusalem form
the Hebrew letter "Shiin",
which is often used as an abbreviation
for one of YHWH's names, "Shaddai", such as on a doorpost mezuzzah.
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