Tuesday, November 11^th

Day 9

The next day’s tour began at the “Temple Mount” in Old Jerusalem, where the holy Temple of God had stood, and where YESHUA HAMASHIACH will return to reign forever. The Temple Mount is considered to be a holy site in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. Non-Muslim visitors are able to tour the entire compound with the exception of the Dome of the Rock.

In order to reach the Mount, we first had to pass through Israeli security, in separate lines; one for the men and one for the women. See “Approaching Security” picture below. Once we were on the Temple Mount, Muslim security took over. Modest attire is required. Both men and women must have their shoulders and knees covered. No weapons are allowed. Jewish visitors are prohibited from bringing in any sacred objects, such as a prayer book or a tallit, i.e. a fringed garment worn as a prayer shawl. Any visitor may be asked to produce their passport.

While we were on the Mount, Rabbi Cahn provided much teaching. He told us that the security forces had twice removed him in the past for teaching there. However, throughout our tour we used the “whisper” system, where our earpiece/receivers were tuned to the channel from which his microphone/transmitter was broadcasting. As a result, we heard quite a bit of teaching from him while we walked about the Temple Mount. See “Teaching on the Mount” picture below. The most prominent feature on the Mount is the famous “Dome of the Rock” shrine, located at the center of the mosque compound (see picture below). The masque itself is located along the Eastern wall of Old Jerusalem.

After leaving the Mount, we toured other sites in Old Jerusalem. We saw the location of the Pools of Bethesda. John 5:1-9 tells of Jesus healing a crippled man there. See “Pools of Bethesda” picture below. We walked through the Lion’s Gate. See picture below. Then, we passed through the Jaffa Gate, to an ancient marketplace area. We entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (see picture below), and walked the ancient Cardo, i.e a north-south oriented important roadway in Jerusalem, built during the late Roman period. Finally, we entered the Jewish quarter in Old Jerusalem.

While there we saw prophecy being fulfilled right in front of us. We watched young Jewish children laughing and playing on a street in Old Jerusalem as we listened to a recording of Rabbi Cahn expounding on Zechariah 8:4-6 which states: “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets. Thus says the LORD of hosts: If it is marvelous in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, should it also be marvelous in my sight, declares the LORD of hosts?’ (ESV). We also walked through an ancient tunnel beneath the Temple Mount. We were surprised to learn that recent excavations have revealed ancient structures lying 30 feet below the surface of modern-day Jerusalem. See picture below of “The City Beneath”.

We were blessed to approach and then to pray at the Western Wall. See pictures below of Shelley and me at the Wall, and of women patrolling the female side of the Wall in plain clothes, and with automatic weapons. After that, we gathered at the ancient steps of the Temple for more teaching. Then, we moved to a location between the Mount of Olives and the Eastern Wall, near the Eastern Gate, through which many expect Jesus to enter the city at His Second Coming. We were told that in an effort to prevent the prophesied return of Jesus, the Muslims had sealed the Eastern Gate, and had buried many of their dead beneath that area of the wall. See picture of “Eastern Gate”.

However, God’s word assures us that in the end times, Jesus will be victorious over Satan and the assembled nations. See Revelation 20:7-10. Zechariah 14:4 tells us where Jesus will stand: “On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, leaving a great valley. Half the mountain will move northward and the other half southward” (ESV). The Mount of Olives is certainly an appropriate place for Jesus to return. For it is both the mountain where He preached the “Olivet Discourse” about the end-times to His disciples (see Matthew 24:3-25:46; Mark 13:3-37; and Luke 21:7-36), and it is the place from which He ascended into heaven in the presence of His disciples. See Acts 1:1-12.

We praised and worshiped God just below the location of the second masque on the temple mount. That time of worship was under the watchful eye of a Muslim security team member on top of the wall above us. He had his cell phone out. We could not be certain whether he was making a call or taking pictures of us.

After returning to the hotel, we participated in a special dinner celebration for our final overnight in Israel. See the “Celebration Dinner” picture below of our tour director Paul, and our three bus tour guides Guy, Maya, and Henry (from left to right). The evening concluded with everyone forming circles, and enjoying a final hora, the traditional Jewish wedding dance. I was too busy dancing to get a picture of that!

Copyright 2026 Rich O’Brien