Five Chosen In A Line Unbroken – Part 4 continued

Five Chosen In A Line Unbroken –

Part 4 continued from…

 https://www.minimannamoments.com/five-chosen-in-a-line-unbroken-part-4/

In Bethlehem, Ruth looked after her aging mother-in-law Naomi, as if she were her own mother; and to keep them from going hungry, Ruth gleans grain in the field of Naomi’s relative, Boaz.

Boaz בעז

Meaning:

In Strength, By Strength

From the prefix ב – be, in,

and

the verb עזז – azaz,

to be strong, powerful or strong.

Boaz = fleetness.

Strong’s Hebrew: 1162.

בֹּ֫עַז

Boaz — quickness.

Here while gleaning in the fields of Bethlehem, Ruth meets Boaz.

He was a wealthy Bethlehemite,

a rich land-owner

and kinsman to Elimelech the husband of Naomi.

Ruth 2:3 says that

as it happened’

Ruth went to the field of Naomi’s rich relative, Boaz.

This phrase

as it happened

is often used in the Bible to suggest that God is setting the scene for something significant.

It also implied, with a touch of Jewish humour, that Naomi and the people of Bethlehem saw a good match for Ruth and edged her into meeting Boaz. (Matchmaking!)

Naomi knew that Ruth was beautiful and respected, Boaz was the ideal choice. He was available, childless, well respected and rich. and she knew that a rich husband for Ruth would solve all their problems.

He was also a relative of Naomi’s through her husband’s family, (see Leviticus 19:9-10). so he had a legal obligation to help Naomi and to redeem the estates of her deceased husband Mahlon. (Ruth 4:1)

Boaz was second in line to the position of go’el in Naomi’s, and therefore Ruth’s, family.

In English, the word go’el

is often translated as ‘nearest kin’,

but in ancient Judah it meant much more than that.

A go’el was a close male relative with the duty of looking after a family when the male head of the family was absent.

In earlier times, the go’el of the family was expected to marry the widow of an Israelite man if she wished it

Deuteronomy 25.

Ruth, who may not have understood the formalities of Israelite law,

called Boaz – go’el =

Kinsman Redeemer.

It seems to have been love at first sight for him, and he ordered his workers to treat Ruth well when she worked in his fields. picking up leftover grain

Ruth 2:1-23    

He went to great lengths to get extra grain for Ruth, to protect her from young men who might harass her, and to see that she was properly fed.

 

‘At mealtime Boaz said to her “Come here, and eat

at some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine”.

So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.’

Naomi saw immediately what had happened, and encouraged Ruth to keep on working in Boaz’s fields. who has heard about her kindness to Naomi.

Ruth 2:11,12

Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”

Following Naomi’s guidance, Ruth visits Boaz at night.

When Boaz finally lay down and is

fast asleep after winnowing barley on the threshing floor,

she approached

and lay down at his feet.

Someone always slept there at night until the grain was removed, to guard against thieves.

Ruth 3:1-18

‘When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and he was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet, and lay down.’

The threshing floor is the same that David bought from and it became the site of the Temple!

It is Mount Moriah the scene of many meetings and sacrifices.

The Threshing floor and

the significance of threshing:

The context of King David’s initiative to purchase that threshing floor was the need to stop the Angel of Death, who was exacting the punishment for sin.

2 Samuel 24:15-16

As believers this connection makes sense – it’s the place of God’s victory over sin and where the power of spiritual death was stopped.

King David purchases the threshing floor of

Araunah the Jebusite

and, according to one classic rabbinic opinion,

the entire city of Yerushalayim /Jerusalem.

That threshing floor,

the place where he intends to offer sacrifices,

is now called the

Har HaBayit –

Temple Mount in Yerushalayim/Jerusalem.

Araunah in Hebrew: אֲרַוְנָה ‎

’Ǎrawnāh was a Jebusite mentioned in 2 Samuel,

who owned the threshing floor on Mount Moriah

which David purchased and

used as the site for assembling an altar to God.

1 Chronicles, a later text, renders his name as

Ornan – in Hebrew: אָרְנָן ‎ ’Ārənān.

David built an altar on Ornan’sAraunah’s threshing-floor

2 Samuel 24:18-24 1 Chronicles 21:18-27,

which later became the site of the Temple.

2 Chronicles 3:1.

David probably chose this place for his altar because it was elevated, and the ground was already level and prepared by the rolling action from all the threshing activity.

It is very significant that the threshing floor of Araunah was on 

Mount Moriah–the Temple Mount–

where the temple was built because it was

where Messiah was also threshed/beaten for us:

2 Chronicles 3.1

Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David.

The angel of Adonai

was then by the threshing floor

of Araunah the Jebusite.”

2 Samuel 24:15-16

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver. Then David built there an altar to Adonai , and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

A threshing floor like that sold by Araunah, would have been a large, open, elevated area to facilitate threshing and winnowing.

A threshing floor was a large, open, hard surface, so threshing floors were often located on hilltops. After bundles of stalks were laid on the surface of the floor, oxen were repeatedly led over the piles until the dried plants were broken up. Then it was thrown up in the air to separate and remove the chaff as the wind blew upon it.

More details at:

https://www.minimannamoments.com/why-a-threshing-floor/

He awakes to find Ruth at his feet.

Why did Ruth do this? Her action would seem strange unless you knew that in ancient times ‘foot’ was a euphemism for the male reproduction, as ‘sandal’ was for the female.

Threshing floors at harvest time were often the scene of intimate misconduct but not in Ruths case. Lying beside Boaz, Ruth suggested that he, as the go-el of Naomi’s family, should ‘cover her with his blanket’, a euphemism for marriage, And this would no doubt have been his prayer shawl which even in present day is used as a canopy over a couple getting married.

It is also a reference to the healing in His wings of Isaiah of the future Messiah and the place of safety under those wings which is the name given to the corners of the Tallit/Prayer shawl

Click links below for more on the Tallit Prayer Shawl.
https://www.minimannamoments.com/life-on-the-fringe/
https://www.minimannamoments.com/knot-just-another-string-theory/

Ruth had the right to demand marriage of the go-el of her family. Following Jewish customs, Ruth lets Boaz know he is a kinsman-redeemer and that she is eligible to marry him –

Ruth 3:1-18.

 Yeshua/Jesus is our Go’el and He says the same to each of us today and we can put our name in here ……… I will redeem you!

So…

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you [g’al’tika]

I have called you by name; you are Mine!

Isaiah 43:1-3a

Boaz happily agreed, but pointed out to her that there was another man who had that right, a closer relative even than himself.

Boaz promises to act as kinsman-redeemer for her if the one closer male relative will surrender his right to the position.

Ruth stayed beside Boaz until morning, leaving before first light to return to Naomi.

Boaz had to give him the option first, before he could marry Ruth. He was careful to do everything correctly, so that there could be no question about the legality of the marriage.

Ruth 4:1-12    

To fulfill the laws of inheritance, another kinsman – who is more closely related to Ruth than Boaz – is given the option of buying the land, but he cannot afford it. So Boaz buys the land from Naomi and then marries Ruth in order to keep the ownership of the land within Elimelech’s family.

Boaz negotiates with the other man and obtains the right to redeem Ruth and Naomi.

Kindness and loyalty permeated Ruth’s character. Further, she was a woman of integrity, maintaining high morals in her dealings with Boaz.

As a relative, Boaz agrees to help Ruth and Naomi by buying a plot of land which belonged to Naomi’s husband Elimelech. 

Leviticus 25:25.

Naturally as people in small towns usually are, the people in Bethlehem were well aware of what was happening. When Boaz went next morning to the meeting place at the gate of the town, he was met almost immediately by the official go-el of Naomi’s family – and probably by a good many interested onlookers as well.

Some complicated negotiation went on regarding a small parcel of land that Naomi either owned outright or had put up for sale at some previous time, but this was just a formality.

Ruth 4:9-10
Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!”

‘So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son.

Then the women said to Naomi “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next of kin. May his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourishment for your old age. For your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him”.

Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse.’ Ruth 4:1-22

  Boaz marries Ruth;

together they care for Naomi.

Ruth and Boaz have a son Obed,

He becomes the father of Jesse,

the father of King David.

In due course, Bethlehem becomes the ‘City of David’.

Book of Ruth 4:16-17
Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. 

The women of Bethlehem exalted Ruth as the loving daughter-in-law who meant more to Naomi than seven sons, the ideal number.

Ruth 4:15

Although people from Moab were often hated by the Jews, God selected Ruth to be a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach.

The book of Ruth is a beautiful illustration of God’s impartiality and faithfulness to those who are true to Him.

She had little idea that her decision would affect the future of multiplied millions and 

that a sequence of God ordained events that had been unfolding 1000’s of years before, were dependent on her choice!

Gods’ promise of a Savior in Genesis, through the promise to Abraham, that all families would be blessed through him and his offspring – encompassed her, a foreigner, a widow, a Moabite, a gentile, heathen, goyim…

She would have had no idea at that point that her choices and subsequent actions would lead her into a country where she would meet a relative of Naomi named Boaz.

This man would become her

kinsman redeemer

according to Israelite law and would

restore the lost heritage.

Just as we saw in the story of Tamar.

The truth is that her great grandson would become the king of Israel; and David was called the man after Gods own heart and was the royal line that eventually brought forth the long awaited and long promised Messiah. (The phrase man after Gods own heart was due to his repentant attitude.)

Remember that Boaz is Rahabs son

and his great grandmother was Tamar!

As we have seen, Ruth was a Moabitess and her ancestors were called Moabites because Moab was the incestuous son of Lot and one of his daughters after the destruction of Sodom and Gororrah. See charts…

Ruth and Boaz become the parents of Obed, the grandparents of Jesse and the great-grandparents of David, the king of Israel, and finally the ancestors of Jesus/Yeshua the Nazarene.

Matthew 1:5

 Ruth is spelled Ρουθ, Rhouth in Greek.

Strictly speaking, therefore, Yeshua/Jesus

was not only a son-by-law of Joseph,

he was also a son-by-law of Mahlon and not of Boaz.

It is interesting that the word love never appears in the book of Ruth, even though it is story full of love. The love is recorded in the words and action, rather than being cited as an emotion or feeling. Love is action its doing and being. God is a God of love and of unconditional love, not the same kind as our feelings and emotions dictate to our flesh life.

Its this unconditional love that God extended to all the heathens, gentiles and Goyim when He sent His Son Jesus/Yeshua to show by action the ultimate act of love; by dying in our place, by sacrificing His life on our behalf… how many individuals do we know today that would lay down their own lives for another, for us; and would we do that for someone else?

 

Its always a good time to reassess what Jesus/Yeshua did for us to remember where we came from,

where our Moab was;

and where we are today….

grafted in by grace and mercy, forgiven, redeemed, sanctified, justified, by His precious Blood that continually cries Mercy from that kapporet in heaven mercy seat –

the throne of grace in Hebrews 9:23–26

 

Hebrew כפורת , Kaporet, meaning atonement seat.

What manner of love is this??…

it’s beyond our comprehension –

how marvelous – how wonderful

is our Saviors love for us.

the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3.

Lets return to our first love and ask Him to renew the joy of our salvation and strengthen our resolve like Ruth; to follow Jesus/Yeshua, the One we love above all else. To make Him the focus of our life and the director of our future.

Let our steps along the WAY to the house of Bread – Beth lechem – be guided by the One who was The Bread from Heaven and whose life began in that very town; fulfilling the words of the prophets so many millennia ago.

In an age when childbearing was seen as the highest honor for women, Ruth played a key role in the coming of the promised Messiah. Ruth, being one of Messiahs’ Gentile ancestors, showed that Yeshua/Jesus came to save all people whosoever will.

Ruth’s life seemed to be a series of timely happenstances/ coincidences, but her story is really about the perfect plan and providence of God. In His loving way, He orchestrated natural circumstances toward the birth of David, then from David to the birth of Yeshua/Jesus. In the natural course of events, it took centuries to put in place, and the result was God’s plan of salvation for the world.

Ruth and Naomi were rare female heroines at a time when women were often consigned to a secondary role and status. To survive as outsiders, they had to remain true to themselves and their God.

The main themes of Ruth’s story?

Friendship: Ruth was poor and a foreigner, but she listened to the advice of an older, wiser woman. In turn, Naomi was rewarded by Ruth’s unfaltering loyalty.

The message?

Courage and loyalty – triumph over misfortune.

Family The story of Ruth celebrates the family and the way it continues through many generations. Ruth, a childless widow at the beginning of the story, became the great-grandmother of Israel’s great king, David.

God’s plan: The story of Naomi’s family and the way it endured is a universal theme. Even Ruth, a foreigner from the despised Moabites, could move God’s plan towards fulfillment.

Faithfulness 

kindness

honor

and

redemption

are key themes of this book.

We see Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi,

Boaz’s faithfulness to Ruth,

and everyone’s faithfulness to God.

In return, God rewards them with great blessings.

These characters’ faithfulness led to

kindness toward each other.

Kindness is an outpouring of love.

Everyone in this book showed the type of selfless love toward others that God expects from His followers.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples,

if you have love for one another.

Romans 5:8

There is a great sense of honor that is also highlighted as Ruth was a hardworking, morally chaste woman. Boaz treated her with respect while fulfilling his lawful responsibility showing examples of obeying God’s laws.

She was also a hard worker in the fields, gleaning leftover grain for Naomi and herself.

Finally, Ruth’s deep love for Naomi was rewarded when Boaz married Ruth and gave her love and security.

Book of Ruth 2:11-12

Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband–how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” (NIV)

A sense of safekeeping is emphasized too.

Ruth took care of Naomi, Naomi took care of Ruth, then Boaz took care of both women, and God took care of all of them, blessing Ruth and Boaz with a child they named Obed, who became the grandfather of David.

From David’s line came Jesus /Yeshua of Nazareth, Savior of the world.

Finally, redemption is the underlying theme.

As Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, saves Ruth and Naomi from a hopeless situation, he illustrates how Yeshua/Jesus redeems our lives.

Some thought provoking facts:

Ruth worked in the field belonging to her relative Boaz and ultimately became his wife.

The reputed site of this field –

the Field of Ruth –

can still be seen at 

Beit Sahur 

Village of the shepherds

near Bethlehem!

Where the lambs were raised for the sacrifices!

For more on the shepherds field links below

 

https://www.minimannamoments.com/a-lambs-tale-and-a-mysterious-tower/ 

https://www.minimannamoments.com/because-he-came/

Bethlehem is also the site of the tomb of Rachel, the wife of Jacob, who had died here about six hundred years earlier, in c.1690 BC.

Rachel’s tomb can still be visited today, on the main road leading from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.

Almost a thousand years after the death of Rachel

Genesis 35:16-20,

the prophet Micah, writing between 747BC and 722BC, declared,

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are too small to be among the army groups from Judah, from you will come one who will rule Israel for me”

Micah 5:2.

This prophesy was fulfilled seven hundred years later when Yeshua/Jesus – a descendent of Isaac, Jacob and Judah, and of Ruth and Boaz – was born at Bethlehem in Judaea

Matthew 1:2 & 5 and Genesis 49:10.

The kinsman redeemer it’s a story again of salvation

Yeshua/Jesus is our kinsman redeemer.

Yeshua/Jesus said

Follow Me…

Ruth said

wherever you go I will follow you.

 

For Ruth, it led to her salvation…

we must be ready,

willing and

available

to follow Him

wherever He goes;

and Ruth was loving not her life unto death,

she said, where you die I will die.

She had to follow up her words with actions

and was faithful to do so.

Can we say the same?

Ruth’s words are so remarkable that they are still echoing today  through several thousand years and for good reason.

They indicate a love so faithful and strong that she would stay with Naomi always and that only death would separate them. She was prepared to leave everything behind abandoning her old life in every aspect.

Jesus/Yeshua said He called us friends and yet He requires that we leave all behind to follow Him.

And again I say unto you, my friends, for from henceforth I shall call you friends, it is expedient that I give unto you this commandment, that ye become even as my friends in days when I was with them, traveling to preach the gospel in my power; John 15:15.

When we are called, He also equips or qualifies us: it has a twofold meaning; one, that He has given us giftings to match our callings and second, He establishes and strengthens us.

Romans 8:30; Ex.4:10-11; Hebrews 13:21.

By bringing tests and trials into our lives that qualifies us to become what He has destined for us. Ruth once more encourages us that whatever our background,

wherever we have come from,

and whatever we have done

there will be a situation or a person

that points us to Yeshua/Jesus,

which in turn leads us to salvation.

It is our choice to accept the gift of all gifts;

but like Ruth

we too will have to leave the past behind,

take up new family,

new land,

and become the bride of the heavenly bridegroom –

our kinsman redeemer..

Ruth was one of five in a line unbroken

as she would not let Naomi go without her…

let’s hold onto Yeshua/Jesus

with even greater hope and love in our hearts .

Do not fear,

for I have redeemed you [g’al’tika]

I have called you by name;

you are Mine!

We would still be spiritually destitute, heathen, gentile, goyim, dead in our sins, poor in spirit and without hope…without Messiah….

BUT now…

Ephesians 2:12 -14, 18-19.

Ruths decision for the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob/Israel led her to being grafted into the family of God. The second of the gentiles incorporated into the line of the Tribe of Judah.

When we decide for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel, we too are grafted in and through Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah/Yeshua HaMashiach. We are saved by Him our Kinsman Redeemer; Who cared enough to make sure the gentiles are included in His plan of the ages.

Let’s not simply discard the monumental actions of Ruth

because her descendent was and is

our Savior, Lord and soon returning king.

Ruth was indeed one of five,

another brave woman sealed into

the line unbroken

another story connected to the

House of Bread

and of Him, who when we eat of,

we will never hunger again for

He is the Bread of Life!

 

Don’t leave this page until you are certain this is true for your life too….

Shalom, shalom, mishpachah!

You are loved and appreciated and prayed for daily.

Please don’t leave this page without the knowing in your heart you are totally His.

You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

Its all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.

NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..

SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name. Amen.

WHAT LIES BENEATH … Ancient Urusalima?

Ever wondered what exactly is under that golden Dome on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel?

MMM takes A DEEPER DIG Under The Dome of the Rock; (“Kippat ha-Sela” in Hebrew; (“Qubbat al-Sakhrah” in Arabic).It is front and center almost every time we look at a panoramic view of Jerusalem. Often dismissed as something, not of much importance to believers in Jesus Christ/Yeshua HaMashiach, yet there remains a measure of curiosity and there is great significance to the location we may have overlooked or forgotten…..

…And what is the mysterious “Well of Souls”?

The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine and the Temple Mount is referred to as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary).

Situated in the Old City of Jerusalem, it was built by the Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān.

The construction was initially completed in the late 7th-century, approx. 691 CE; (only 1300 years ago). According to the Islamic tradition, here Prophet Muhammad flew with the archangel Jabrail and met prophets Ibrahim, Musa and Isa (Abraham, Moses and Jesus respectively).

A rock rises towards the roof of the Dome. From this rock, according to legend, Muhammad ascended to Allah. Today, the Temple Mount is a home for the Al-Aqsa Mosque with the Dome of the Rock architectural complex. The mountain is open to tourists at certain times which are not related to the time of Muslim worship.

So why is it of any importance to us?

This mystery connects to events that have taken place over the last 5,000 years, thousands of years prior to the construction of the ‘Dome’.Then it was called Mount Moriah, on which was also located the mysterious city Urusalima, the forerunner of Jerusalem, (Salem).

For more on the picture above click links https://www.minimannamoments.com/more-than-one-palm/

https://www.minimannamoments.com/i-will-put-my-name-part-2/

Salim/Salem/Jerusalem is inscribed in the Tell el-Amarna Letters, an archaeological find dated to the 1400s BC.

The original name of Jerusalem was Babylonian, Uru-Salim, “the city of Salim,”or the city of Salem.

” Jebus” makes its appearance for the first time in the Old Testament (Judges 19: 10,11).In Hebrew, Yerushalayim

Mount Moriah is the name of the elongated north-south ridge of rock that rises from the junction point of the Hinnom (Hagai) and Kidron valleys between Mount Zion to the west and the Mount of Olives to the east.It rises through the City of Davidand reaches its highest elevation just northeast of the Damascus Gatein the Old City.

The Temple Mount today covers about 45 acres and is built around the outcropping of the bedrock under the Dome of the Rock.

It is about 118 feet lower than the highest point of Mount Moriah.

Hinnom valleyKidron Valley

Jewish tradition holds that it is the very same site where God gathered the dust to create Adam before placing him in the garden.and in Genesis 22. where the Binding of Isaac for sacrifice by Abraham took place believed by many biblical scholars to be the same mountain in the region of Moriah mentioned in the Book of Genesis.There is a grotto inside the Dome of the Rock where limestone forms into a cave.In 1 Chronicles 21 it is identified as The Jebusite “Zion” was situated on the southern slope of Mount Moriah, above the Gihon Spring.

After King David captured the city he made it his capital and named it for himself: the ‘City of David’. The northern area of the mountain’s summit lay desolate for long after Zion’s capture by David. It was in fact still the private property of Araunah, the city’s former Jebusite king.For various reasons David did not confiscate the site of the Jebusite threshing floor but preferred to buy it from Auranah for full value: “So David paid Ornan ) the Jebusite [Auranah] for the site 600 shekels’ worth of gold.And David built there an altar to the Lord and sacrificed burn offerings and offerings of well-being” 1 Chron. 21:25, and a slightly different version at 2 Sam. 24:18-25.

The very same threshing floor where Ruth and Boaz were.

This purchase is an important fact since it demonstrates that the Jews received this area through a legal transaction. They have never sold the rights to Mount Moriah.King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site; and David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings. – 1 Chronicles 21:24, 25 

The Old Testament describes how an army led by David, the second king of ancient Israel, breached the walls of Jebus around 1000 B.C. David then built a palace nearby and created his capital, Jerusalem. At the site of a threshing floor atop the mountain, where farmers had separated grains from chaff, David constructed a sacrificial altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt and peace offerings.It was here that King David brought the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments.

In the course of time the mountain had acquired an aura of sanctity and was the subject of many traditions. Indeed, its sacred status may date back to the early Canaanite period, when it perhaps was the cultic center of “El Elyon,” god of Melchizedek, king of Salem:‘And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High [=El Elyon].’ Hebrew 7:1-3(Salem ancient name of Jerusalem). Gen.14:18.He blessed him, saying, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, creator of heaven and earth” Gen 14:18.

The Bible calls Yeshua, Jesus, the Great High Priest.

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

 Hebrews 7:17

For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Isaiah 9:6

The tradition of “Jacob’s Dream” is also identified with Mount Moriah: “He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. He had a dream; a stairway was set on the ground and its top reached to the sky, and angels of God were going up and down on it. And the Lord was standing beside him… Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, … “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the abode of God and that is the gateway to heaven” Gen 28:10-18.

This is perhaps the most colorful representation of the essential nature of the site which some would later claim was the “navel of the world”.At the summit of Mount Moriah, traditionally, is the “Foundation Stone,” the symbolic fundament of the world’s creation, and reputedly the site of the Temple’s Holy of Holies, the supreme embodiment of the relationship between God and the people of Israel.According to the Second Book of Kings and the First Book of Chronicles, David’s son, Solomon, built the First Temple (later known as the Beit Hamikdash) on that site.Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. – 2 Chronicles 3:1Solomon dedicates the Temple.

Upon the completion of King Solomon’s Temple, famed for its sumptuous splendor, the Ark of the Covenant was placed within its confines.

The sanctity of the site is reflected in the graphic description provided by the Book of Kings: “the priests came out of the sanctuary for the cloud had filled the House of the Lord and the priests were not able to remain and perform the service because of the cloud, for the Presence of the Lord filled the House of the Lord…” 1 Kings 8:11.Solomon built his palace in the “miloh” (infill), area which separated the summit of the mountain and the Temple from the city below. This was also a concrete expression of the divine inspiration that was attributed to his kingship. Other palaces were also built nearby, such as the “House of the Forest of Lebanon” and the House of Pharaoh’s Daughter. 

Solomon used dirt to fill in this east-west lateral rift, hence the area’s name: “miloh” (infill), or Ophel , from a Hebrew word referring to the road that ascended to the Temple from the city which at that time was topographically lower and seen as a name on some maps.

King Solomon, according to the Bible, built the First Temple of the Jews on this mountaintop circa 1000 B.C., only to have it torn down 400 years later by troops commanded by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who sent many Jews into exile. In the first century B.C., the Babylonian Army destroyed the First Temple in 586 B.C. The ark of the covenant disappeared, possibly hidden from the conquerors. Following the conquest of Jerusalem by the Persians in 539 B.C., the Jews returned from exile and, according to the Book of Ezra, constructed a Second Temple on the site.

At the summit of Mount Moriah, the supreme embodiment of the relationship between God and the people of Israel was realized. Upon the completion of King Solomons Temple, the Ark of the Covenant was placed inside, it contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments, the Jar of Manna and Aarons Rod that budded.

In the first century B.C., King Herod undertook a massive reshaping of the Temple Mount. Herod expanded and refurbished a Second Temple built by Jews who had returned after their banishment. He filled up the slopes surrounding the mount’s summit and expanded it to its present size. He enclosed the holy site within a 100-foot-high retaining wall constructed of limestone blocks quarried from the Jerusalem Hills and constructed a far more expansive version of the Second Temple.

It is here that, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ lashed out against the money changers (and was later crucified a few hundred yards away). The Roman general Titus exacted revenge against Jewish rebels, sacking and burning the Temple in A.D. 70.

We are familiar with the much photographed Western Wall, it’s one that’s easily recognizable together with the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.The Western Wall is the holiest site for Jews. Thousands of people — Jews and non-Jews alike — come to this wall every day to pray.

But the commonly known religious site and tourist destination represents only the tip of the Western Wall complex. Its main treasures are found inside a tunnel excavated by Charles Warren from 1864 to 1870.

The tunnel follows the street level of the first century, which lies about 30 feet (9 meters) below the current level of the Western Wall plaza where the tourists and worshipers usually gather. It exposes magnificent stones measuring 45 by 9.8 by 11 feet (13.7 by 3 by 3.3 meters) and weighing 520 metric tons. The stones comprised the foundation of a retaining wall that King Herod ordered so he could create a level platform for the temple complex. 

A significant site is found 150 feet (46 meters) inside the tunnel. Above picture is the sealed-off gate, close to the place where the temple’s most Holy place, KOTEL – the Holy of Holies, is believed to have been located. The site of the Western Wall and its tunnel are managed by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation.

The upper part of the Temple Mount where both temples once stood is controlled by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf foundation, financed by the Kingdom of Jordan. Arabs refer to the place as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. The complex includes the golden Dome of the Rock, which stands on the supposed spot on Mount Moriah where Abraham prepared to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

The area controlled by the foundation also includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site for Muslims who believe it was here that the Prophet Muhammad ascended to the “Divine Presence” on the back of a winged horse—the Miraculous Night Journey, commemorated by one of Islam’s architectural triumphs, the Dome of the Rock shrine. A territorial prize occupied or conquered by a long succession of peoples—including Jebusites, Israelites, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, early Muslims, Crusaders, Mamluks, Ottomans and the British—the Temple Mount has seen more momentous historical events than perhaps any other 35 acres in the world.

The Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls are classified as a World Heritage Site.

 During the time of Solomon and of Nehemiah, the walls also encompassed the City of David, an area south of theTemple Mount.

So what exactly is under the golden dome?

The bedrock, or the actual stone, of the top of Mount Moriah. known as the Foundation Stone where all the aforementioned events took place.

(According to a medieval Islamic tradition, the Stone tried to follow Muhammad as he ascended, leaving his footprint here while pulling up and hollowing out the cave below. The impression of the hand of the Archangel Gabriel made as he restrained the Stone from rising, is nearby.) The Stone — known as Even haShetiya in Hebrew and es-Sakhrah in Arabic — is considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam.)It can be seen covered by the Muslim’s Dome of the Spirits.

This is about 285 feet north of where the Ark of the Covenant would have sat on similar bedrock in the Jewish Temple. Today the Muslim’s Dome of the Rock covers that location.

The Well of Souls, also known in Christianity and Judaism as the Holy of Holies, is a partly natural, partly man-made cave located inside the Foundation Stone under the Dome of the Rock.

Below The Sakhra (rock) in the Dome and shows the possible location of the ark lower left part of exposed rock surface.

This is a closer view of the actual bedrock, or the original rock, from the top of Mount Moriah. It is located under the Muslim’s Dome of the Spirits and is located just outside the Dome of the Rock. Abraham would have walked across parts of this rock when he came up here to sacrifice Isaac.

This would be close to where the Jebusite threshing floor would have actually been located when David purchased Mount Moriah.

Looking across the pavement that has been built over Mount Moriah to create a level surface. This is the site of the ancient Jewish Temple Mount. The golden Dome of the Rock stands where the Jewish Temple formerly stood.Notice the location of Mount Moriah on this map showing Jerusalem’ topography.

In a cave under the sacred rock, there supposedly is a mysterious Well of Souls from which the spirits of the dead can be heard.

Whether it is true or not, the Temple Mount is a place of veneration of believers of the three world religions and has a unique energy that can be really perceived.  The Well of Souls is a supernatural dimension that is guarded by the Archangel Azrael. It is said to hold power over life and death, and it acts as a receptacle for the souls of the departed. From a purely biblical standpoint, the Well of Souls is referenced as Sheol, the pit where un-regenerated souls are held until judgment.

The Foundation Stone in the floor of the 

Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem. 

Photo above showing:

1 The cage-like structure just beyond the hole covers the stairway entrance to the cave beneath the rock

The round hole at upper left penetrates to a small cave, known as the ‘Well of Souls’, below.

3 Rock (Al Sakhra) where Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to the heavens.

The Well of Souls (Arabic: بئر الأرواح ‎ Bir al-Arwah; sometimes translated Pit of Souls, Cave of Spirits, or Well of Spirits in Islam), also known in Christianity and Judaism as the Holy of Holies, is a partly natural, partly man-made cave located inside the Foundation Stone under the Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem.

The name Well of Souls derives from a medieval Islamic legend that at this place the spirits of the dead can be heard awaiting Judgment Day.  The name “Well of Souls” has also been applied more narrowly to a depression in the floor of this cave and to a hypothetical chamber that may exist beneath the floor. The famed 19th-century British explorer Sir Charles Warren could neither prove nor disprove the existence of a hollow chamber below the cave. They believed the sound reportedly heard by visitors was simply an echo in a small fissure beneath the floor.For Believers, the site is known as the Holy of Holies (alluding to the former inner sanctuary within the Temple in Jerusalem) .

Both Jewish and Muslim traditions relate to what may lie beneath the Foundation Stone, the earliest of them found in the Talmud in the former and understood to date to the 12th and 13th centuries in the latter.

The Talmud indicates that the Stone marks the center of the world and serves as a cover for the Abyss (Abzu) containing the raging waters of the Flood.Muslim tradition likewise places it at the center of the world and over a bottomless pit with the flowing waters of Paradise underneath. A palm tree is said to grow out of the River of Paradise here to support the Stone.Noah is said to have landed here after the Flood. The Mosaic floor covers the opening to the well of souls.

The souls of the dead are said to be audible here as they await the Last Judgment, although this is not a mainstream view in Sunni Islam.

The Foundation Stone and its cave entered fully into the European Christian tradition after the Crusaders recaptured Jerusalem in 1099 and converted the Dome of the Rock into a church, calling it the Templum Domini, (Latin for the Temple of the Lord).They made many radical physical changes to the site at this time, including cutting away much of the rock to make staircases with 16 marble steps and paving the Stone over with marble slabs.

They certainly enlarged the main entrance of the cave and probably are also responsible for creating the shaft ascending from the center of the chamber. The Crusaders called the cave the “Holy of Holies” and venerated it as the possible site of the announcement of John the Baptist’s birth, since Luke says it happened in the Temple.

  (Modern scholarship indicates that the Temple Holy of Holies was probably on top of the Foundation Stone, not inside it.)Here the original granary, (similar to picture above), where the corn was threshed or rather trodden out, upon the plain on either side, and winnowed from the Rock.The entrance to the cave is at the southeast angle of the Foundation Stone, beside the southeast pier of the Dome of the Rock (Sakhrah) shrine. On the way down, bedrock masses project in towards the stair; the one to the right is called “the tongue”. (because, according to legend, when Caliph Umar thought he had discovered the stone which was Jacob’s Pillar in his vision at Bethel, he exclaimed, “Es Salámo Alaykúm” (“Peace be unto thee”), and the stone answered Caliph Umar, “Alaykúm us Salám, wa Rahmat-Ullahi” (“Peace be to thee, and the mercy of God”).To the left (south) as one descends is a prayer niche where David prayed. 

To the right is a shallower, but ornately decorated, prayer niche dedicated to where Solomon traditionally prayed; and where Abraham and Elijah and Mohammed met on the occasion of his night flight upon El Borak.

This mihrab is certainly one of the oldest in the world, considered to date at least back to the late 9th century. (Some even suggest that it dates back to the 7th century and to the time of Abd al-Malik, builder of the Dome of the Rock — making it the oldest in the world — but this is disputed.

The cave chamber is roughly square, about 6 meters on a side, and ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 meters (about 4.9 to ~8.2 feet) high.

At the center of the ceiling is a shaft, 0.46 meter in diameter, which penetrates 1.7 meters up to the surface of the Stone above. It has been proposed that this is the 4,000-year-old remnant of a shaft tomb. Another theory is that it represents a Crusader “chimney” cut for ventilation to accommodate lighted shrine candles.Still others have tried to make a case that it was part of a drainage system for the Temple altar of Sacrifice; that the cave was the cistern for the blood, which ran off by the Bir el Arwáh, (Well of Souls) into the Valley of Hinnom.

There are no rope marks within the shaft, so it has been concluded that it was never used as a well, with the cave as cistern. The ceiling of the cave appears natural, while the floor has been long ago paved with marble and carpeted over.So now we know what is under that golden dome and next time we see a photograph it will serve as a reminder of its place in our history and that it reveals another of the reasons for its ownership and possession being such hotly disputed territory. 

Shalom..

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You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.

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Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.You are now Born Again by the Holy Spirit of the Living God and you are part of the ever growing family of believers. You will never be the same again!