RE-LIVING THE MOMENTS...

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
peter_asirvatham@yahoo.co.in

"No, the walls and gates around Jerusalem are not the same ones which Nehemiah re-built. They were built by Sultan Suleiman" replied Mr. Sayed, our tour guide in Israel, to my question on the gates of Jerusalem. I was a little disappointed to hear that. Nehemiah is one of my Bible heroes.

It was the morning of Day Six of our pilgrimage and our second day in Jerusalem. We were heading to the old city and Sayed was giving a preamble to the first place of visit of the day's itinerary - The Temple Mount, and that we'd enter it through the Dung Gate. According to the Bible, the Dung Gate is one of the gates that Nehemiah repaired (Nehemiah 3: 14 and 12: 31).

The Dung gate is near the Temple Mount and is one of the many gates of the old city of Jerusalem. Disembarking from the bus, to the left of the road leading to the Dung gate I saw some excavation activities going on. 'Who knows what the dig might reveal?' I thought to myself 'Perhaps some archaeological evidence that might prove Biblical claims! Interesting' I thought and shot a photo of the site quietly. Then, before entering the Dung Gate, I shot a photo of it as well, in memory of my hero - Nehemiah. In fact I have shot quite a few photos of the gates and walls of Jerusalem.

A short distance from the centuries old Dung Gate, we came upon modern gates - gates made of steel, chrome and metal detectors and manned by Israeli police. The entrance to Judaism's most holy site - The Wailing Wall, Islam's third holy site - the al-aqsa Mosque and The Dome of The Rock is under very tight security.

So many names from the Bible and history crossed my mind that morning in Jerusalem. There was Abraham, bringing his only son Isaac - to this very mountain - willingly, to sacrifice him to The LORD. Little would have Father Abraham thought at that time that thousands of years later his descendants would fight over control of this mount.

There was King David, under whose kingship did Jerusalem come fully into the Judahites hands. Later he moved his capital from Hebron to Jerusalem. It was King David who bought the threshing floor from Araunah, the Jebusite and built an altar here. Later his son King Solomon built The First Temple here. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed it and exiled the Israelites.

With the return of Ezra and Nehemiah, the second Temple of The LORD and walls around Jerusalem were rebuilt and restored. About 400 years later our Lord Jesus Christ's last days before his crucifixion was around this mountain.

The previous day (30.04.2008) as we made our descent from The Mount of Olives on The Palm Sunday Road, our pilgrim group re-enacted, in part, our Lord's Triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

There is something very significant with our Lord Jesus Christ riding the Donkey in the Triumphal entry: a king or a general who rides into a capital city on a Donkey signifies Peace, as against the same who rides into the capital on a horseback as the conqueror.

If you do not know why Jerusalem is the third holiest city, after Mecca and Medina for the Muslims, here is the reason. There is a belief that the Prophet Mohammed galloped to Jerusalem on a flying horse called "el-buraq" in a giant leap from Mecca to "the farthest mosque" (Jerusalem is never mentioned by name any where in the Qur' an) and from there he was taken up to the Heaven by the angel Gabriel. In rememberance of The Prophet's Night Journey the first Caliph after The Prophet of Islam, built a Mosque here - the al-aqsa Mosque.

The city of Jerusalem has changed hands so many times among kings, emperors, caliphs and crusaders in its long and bloody history.

In the last century, it changed hands two times, first during the First World war, from the Ottomans to the British in 1917. Next, when the British Mandate of Palestine ended, on 14th May 1948 Ben Gurion declared Israel's independence. Soon after war broke out among the Arabs and Jewish people. In that war the Jewish people captured more territory than they would have got had the Arabs and Muslims peacefully accepted the original Partition Plan. In the fight, west Jerusalem came into Jewish hands.

It's time now for me to take you to another gate of Jerusalem. While we entered the old city through the Dung gate in the morning, we re-entered the holy city in the evening for the Via Dolorosa through the Lion's Gate, also called St. Stephen's Gate, for Stephen was taken out of the city through this gate to be stoned.

When we were outside The Church of Flagellation, from where the Via Dolorosa starts, I saw a small company of Israeli soldiers marchng (it was not a disciplined flag march) on the narrow street. I've always been an admirer of Israeli soldiers and I wanted to march along with them, but better sense prevailed, instead I shot a few photos of these youngsters.

Seeing the soldiers there also reminded me of the Six Day war of 1967 (before we entered the Lion's Gate I saw soldiers of the New Airborne Brigade). It was through the Lion's Gate that Israeli paratroopers entered fighting for Jerusalem in June that year. When that fight ended, in east Jerusalem Judaism's most holiest site - The Western Wall - the surving wall of the Temple destroyed in 70 AD, fell into Jewish hands after two thousand years! The Israelies considered the capture of east Jerusalem as reunification of Jerusalem, that is; what they could not accomplish in the 1948 war, they'd done it in 1967. In 2007, Israel celebrated 40 years of the reunification.

When the Via Dolorosa ended, we exited the Holy city through the New gate. A golden sun was setting as we headed to our hotel in Modern Jerusalem. Incidentally, our hotel was called Jerusalem Gate Hotel.

Now, the Golden Gate is a gate of Jerusalem that faces the east and can be seen from the Mount of Olives. It is very likely that our Lord Jesus Christ would have entered the Holy City triumphantly through this gate in its original form. During the time of Sultan Suleiman there was a Jewish belief that when the Messiah would come to Jerusalem, he'd enter it through this gate (Jews do not accept Jesus as the Messiah-The Christ). Fearing the entry of The Jewish Messiah, Sultan Suleiman blocked the Golden Gate with stone bricks. Incredible!

Here's an interesting tidbit that I read some days ago on the Internet. During the First World war, when Jerusalem fell into British hands under the command of General Edmund Allenby, the general, an accomplished horseman and a fine cavalry officer, walked into the Holy City on foot rather than on a horseback, in respect for the holy place.

Our two days in Jerusalem is so memorable to me. God willing, I'd like to visit the Holy City again. On that day, I'd like to touch the soil of the Holy City with my bare feet and recite the verse, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving."

Thank you Lord!

An archaeological excavation near The Dung Gate.

The Dung Gate.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Dome of The Rock.

Enterance to The Wailing Wall.

The Wailing Wall.

Jordanian army barracks abandoned during
The Six Day War 1967, The West Bank.

Soldiers of the New Airborne Brigade, near the Lion's Gate.

The Lion's Gate or St. Stephen's Gate.

Israeli generals enter east Jerusalem through the Lion's Gate immediately after the fall of the city in June 1967. From right to left. Gen. Yitzak rabin, chief of IDF, Gen (retired). Moshe Dayan, Defense Minister, Gen. Uzi Narkis, commander of Jerusalem forces.