Back in Jerusalem to tape a series of Day of Discovery Bible Lands programs, we arrived just in time for Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), one of the most solemn holy days of the Jewish calendar.
During the 25 hours of fasting, prayers, and confession, the streets of Jerusalem were eerily quiet. Even secular people are inclined to attend synagogue for prayers on this Sabbath of Sabbaths.
In ancient times, when the Temple of Israel stood on the raised plaza area now occupied by the Muslim Dome of the Rock, the high priest would, on this day, go into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of prescribed sacrifice on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant—for the sins of the whole nation.
Yesterday, at the Western Wall base of the Temple Mount retaining wall, observant Jewish men and women (in separate sections) met for prayers, confession, and song.
On an overlook of the Western Wall plaza I found myself thinking once again how the death of Jesus, his burial, resurrection, and sending of his Spirit had occurred on the first four feasts prescribed by Moses in Leviticus 23.
It’s hard for me to believe that the last 3 Fall Feasts (including Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles), do not await their own Messianic fulfillment at a moment unknown to us, but eternally marked on the calendar of God.
PS Single-click on pictures should enlarge them. Open area at bottom of picture at left is a recent archeological dig exposing pavement of a Roman road.
Am going to add a couple more pictures.These first two resonate with my feeling of being in a twilight zone here in a land, set apart, to tell the story of God– for all people.
Surely, human decency and honest concern for both Israel and the Palestinians would lead us to wish for them the kind of security that we want for our own family and neighbors. But I have a hunch that Israel’s “chosen people” status may make real peace hard to find for as many as define their religion by a rejection of Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection for all of us.
Oh, and on a lesser note. I’ve shown pictures before of the cats of Jerusalem that are all over the place– on rat patrol– but I’ve never before seen stray dogs in the streets– until Yom Kippur. While this one looks like an abused pup, I saw a couple of others that looked and acted like small wolf mixes. Probably weren’t but they seemed to be taking the empty streets as a chance to come out in the open. When I tried to get a picture, the others slunk off. (Our guide just told me tonight about a wild dog of the Judaean wilderness that looks like a small German Shepherd. Am going to try and find some pics tomorrow to see if that’s what I saw :-)… Won’t top his story though. He lives on the western slope of Mt Carmel in the north and sees wild bore and jackals in his back yard.
OK, one more. These three, sitting on steps next to the Western Wall caught my attention. One may be confessing his sins in the spirit of the day, or sleeping. The other two may be there just to remind us that only God knows what is in our hearts…
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