Pictures from Israel
Click to enlarge
+Israel © MEA 20171227 (N243) Historical Sites in Israel -Temple Institute
Historical Sites in Israel -Temple Institute
The Temple Institute (Machon HaMikdash), founded in 1987, is a non-profit educational and religious organization located in Jerusalem’s Jewish quarter within the walls of Old City. It is making preparations for the building and furnishing of the ‘Third Temple’, complete with priests and sacrifices. Historically, the Jewish people, on returning to the ‘Promised Land’ in their own right, have always rebuilt Jerusalem first, followed by the rebuilding of the Temple.
Such was the case when Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.E. and they began to rebuild it after their 70-year exile. Also, when the Jewish resistance won back their land and rededicated the Temple after the Greek ruler Antiochus IV devastated Jerusalem and defiled the Temple in 167 B.C. The last Temple, built by Herod was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. Interestingly, Jerusalem has been captured at least 40 times and besieged about 23 times by invading forces who wanted to control the city, not destroy it. And, even today the struggle for control of Jerusalem continues.
The Temple Institute’s short-term goal is to rekindle the flame in the hearts of people by raising public awareness of the Holy Temple, which was central and sacred to their religious life. The Institute has begun to restore and construct the sacred vessels for service in the Holy Temple, made according to the exact specifications of the Bible, and constructed from original source materials, e.g. gold, copper, silver and wood. These are authentic, accurate vessels, not merely replicas or models, including the three most important items: the seven-branched Menorah or candelabra, made from pure gold, the golden Incense Altar, and the golden Table of the Showbread.
Visitors can see these restored sacred vessels and original paintings at The Temple Institute’s Visitors’ Centre in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
“Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. (Haggai 1:8)
Copyright exists in all the material on this website and is owned by Messianic Education Australia Ltd. unless otherwise explicitly stated. This copyright extends to the images, logos, layout and presentation styles as well as the text material.
Pictures from Israel
Click to enlarge
Israel-©-MEA-20171220-(N146)-Historical-Sites-in-Israel–Tower-of-David
Historical Sites in Israel –Tower of David
The Tower of David, also known as the Jerusalem Citadel is home to the Museum of the History of Jerusalem. The tower is an ancient citadel located near the Jaffa Gate entrance at the western edge of the Old City of Jerusalem. This citadel dates back to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. It was built on the site of an earlier ancient fortification of the Hasmonean, Herodian-era, Byzantine and Early Muslim periods, after being destroyed repeatedly during the last decades of Crusader presence in the Holy Land by Ayyubid and Mamluk rulers. King Hezekiah was the first to specifically fortify this area.
It contains important archaeological finds dating back over 2,000 years including a quarry, dated to the First Temple period, and is a popular venue for benefit events, craft shows, concerts, and especially its highly attended ‘Light and Sound Show Spectacular’. The walls of the Citadel, about 150 metres wide, are used as the backdrop screen—very impressive. Amidst the archaeological remains in the Citadel’s courtyard and to the sound of original music, the story of Jerusalem unfolds through giant breathtaking, virtual reality images, which is the first of its kind in the world.
The name Tower of David is due to Byzantine Christians who believed the site to be the palace of King David. They borrowed the name “Tower of David” from the Song of Songs, attributed to Solomon, King David’s son, who wrote: “Thy neck is like the Tower of David built with turrets, whereon there hang a thousand shields, all the armour of the mighty men.” (Song of Songs, 4:4).
When the empire adopted Christianity as its favoured religion in the 4th century, a community of monks established itself in the citadel. It was during the Byzantine period that the remaining Herodian tower, and by extension the Citadel , acquired its alternative name – the Tower of David – after the Byzantines, mistakenly identifying the hill as Mount Zion, presumed it to be David’s palace, cited in 2 Samuel 5:11, 11:1-27, 16:22.
“David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for forty years”. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.” … “So, David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Milo and inward”. (2 Sam 5:4-5,9)
Copyright exists in all the material on this website and is owned by Messianic Education Australia Ltd. unless otherwise explicitly stated. This copyright extends to the images, logos, layout and presentation styles as well as the text material.
