It was a rainy day today! And usually rainy days are bad days for seeing the area sights, but here, rainy days are a blessing. Israel is in the midst of a 17 year drought. So, the rain is a great thing, even if it messes up the photo opportunities.
We started the day at the top of the Mount of Olives Did you know that the majority of the Mount of Olives is a grave yard. The Talmud says that when the Messiah returns through the Eastern Gate, the believers will be resurrected and will walk across a bridge to Jesus from the Mount of Olive. Therefore, if you want to be first, you need to be buried on the Mount of Olives.
You can see from the picture that the Mount of Olives is right across from the Eastern Gate. This is the gate through which the prophesied Messiah will enter and establish His kingdom. If you notice in the picture, the Muslims have made that area a grave yard as well. This is because a grave yard is an unclean place, and no righteous person would enter the Temple Mount "unclean". Notice also that the eastern gate is cemented closed. I guess you could say that the Muslims are a little scarred of this coming Messiah.
At the bottom of the hill we stopped in a small grove of olive trees. Theses trees have been in this place for nearly 2000 years. In fact, 2000 years ago most of the Mount of olives was a garden. We know it as the Garden of Gethsemane. What a change, from a place of peace to a place of death. It is really sad to see, but we know that is not how it will remain.
The day was cut kind of short, but we also visited the Tomb of King David and the location of the Upper Room. Tomorrow, we visit the Temple Mount.
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