Our virtual tour of Israel continues on the Mount of Olives. In previous weeks we have been talking about what we can see of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount from the viewpoint on the Mount of Olives. But the mountain itself has an incredible history.
King David flees Jerusalem through the Mount of Olives. (artist unknown)
King David fled from his son Absalom by way of the Mount of Olives some 3,000 years ago.
“Then a messenger arrived to inform David, “The loyalties of the men of Israel have shifted to Absalom.” So David told all of his staff who were with him in Jerusalem, “Let’s get up and get out of here! Otherwise, none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry or he’ll overtake us quickly, bring disaster on all of us, and execute the inhabitants of the city!” …The king told Zadok, “Take the Ark of God back to the city. If I’m shown favor in the LORD’s sight, then he’ll bring me back again and show me both it and the place where it rests. But if he should say something like ‘I’m not pleased with you,’ well then, here I am—let him do to me whatever seems right to him… David then left, going up the Mount of Olives, crying as he went, with his head covered and his feet bare. All of the people who were with him covered their own heads and climbed up the Mount of Olives, crying as they went along…” (2 Sam 15:13-30)
What a sad story that King David had to flee from his own son, for his own life and from his beloved Jerusalem in such a manner. The sorrow must have been intense, but his hope was to return one day.
As we stand on this mountain, another scripture comes to mind that brings hope for return to all the Jews who had to flee Jerusalem in the generations after David. The prophet, Ezekiel, gives hope to a banished nation:
“Therefore you are to say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says, ‘Although I’ve removed them far away to live among the nations, and although I’ve scattered them throughout the earth, yet I’ve continued to be their sanctuary, even for the short time that they will be living in the lands to which they’ve gone.’ “Therefore you are to say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says, “I’m going to gather you from among the nations, assembling you from the lands among which you have been dispersed. I’ll give you the land of Israel. When they return from there and cast away all of their loathsome things and detestable practices, then I’ll give them a united heart, placing a new spirit within them. I’ll remove their stubborn heart and give them a heart that’s sensitive to me. When they live by my statutes and keep my ordinances by observing them, then they’ll be my people and I will be their God.” (Eze 11:16-20)
The Mount of Olives, July 2009/ (wikipedia)
We have the privilege of standing on this mountain at such a time as this; to see the “Children of Israel” being gathered from the nations and brought back to the Land of their forefathers in fulfilment of this prophecy. These are exciting times indeed!
If we go back 1,000 years after the time of David, another significant event happened on the Mount of Olives. The New Testament book of Acts 1:7-11 records this account:
Artist rendering of Jesus giving the Great Commission to his followers. (artist unknown)
“He [Jesus] said to them: ’It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
After the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, this was his final farewell to his disciples and the people of Jerusalem. But before Jesus left he gave what is called The Great Commission. He told his disciples to be “his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This scripture is why today, 2,000 years later, the followers of Jesus still tell the story and still look to the hope of Jesus’ prophetic return.
There is another prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled concerning the Mount of Olives. This one is quite terrifying and unsettling, but should not be ignored. It speaks of the culmination of the end of days, as we know them. The three religions that hold Jerusalem dear (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), are waiting for these events to occur. All three are waiting for the Messianic age to arrive. All three have very different ideas of how things will unfold. The chilling words of Zechariah give us a glimpse of what to expect:
“A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquakes in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.
On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter. The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name. The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up high from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place. It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.” Zechariah 14:1-11
Sunrise over Jerusalem’s Old City, from Mount of Olives. (BeanOn Photography)
Jerusalem is a city of “Hope.” The national anthem of Israel is called “HaTikva”, the hope. The people of Jerusalem have seen difficult and sorrowful days. But as the Jews return to their homeland, the theme of ‘hope’ prevails. No matter what happens and no matter how difficult times get, Jerusalem will always need your prayers. In the coming days, months and years…Jerusalem must have strength, courage and hope to stand up in the face of her adversaries. And when all is said and done, that the people will turn their eyes to the one True God and stand.
As we take one last look over the New City of Jerusalem in the background & the Old City in the foreground, close your eyes and breathe deeply. Imagine that you are here with me. They say the air in Jerusalem makes you wise. Breathe it in…and be blessed. Next week we will begin our walk down the Mount of Olives and towards the Old City of Jerusalem.
