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scriptures had said rhar che Messiah
would be prorecred if he accidenrally
fell .
Bur no wonder Sacan rook him ro
thar particular spor! Ir was che high–
esr in all Jerusalem. Josephus de–
scribes chis pinnacle as being so hig h
thar when one viewed the K idron
Va!ley (immediarely below) from ir,
ir made one dizzy ro look down. Ac–
cording ro rhe descriprion, ir was al–
mosr as high as a 35-srory building.
Today, only a fracrion of rhc drop
remains. Washed-in debris from rhe
Upper Ciry, which covers whar was
ground leve! in Jesus' day, has buried
many feet of che magnificenr Hero–
dian srones of the lower parr of che
wall of rhe Temple Mount. Only a
few of che original courses of srone
remain above rhe surface. Also, afrer
che desrrucrion of A.D.
70,
che rop
courses of srone along che wall were
removed and used in buildings larer
consrrucred in the arca. The upper
porrion of rhe presenr wall of ' rhe
Temple Mount was bui lr in Turkish
rimes and is lower than che original.
.Josephus records rhat che royal bar–
rlemenr rose higher rhan rhe wall i
t·
self. Add rhis addirional heighr ro rhe
original wall, plus rhe exrra deprh of
rhe vaJJey, and one would have had a
fall of severa! hundred feer if one had
fallen from rhe pinnacle of rhe
Temple. Even as one srands arop rhc
wall roday, che srory of che tempra–
cion sccms very real.
"Behold
These Stones"
Jcsus, before bis dearh in A.D.
31,
pr~dicted
che desrrucrion of rhe
Temple as He srood across from rhe
Kidron Valley on rhe Mount of
Olives while looking ar rhc Temple
and rhe spot where many srudcnts, in·
cluding those from Ambassador Col–
lege, dig each summer. The disciples,
jusr before Jesus' prediction, had
called His attention ro che granel and
majesric srones which made up rhe
Temple, irs adjacent buildings, and
che walls surrounding ir (Mark
13:1).
Carved from narive whire lime–
srone, sorne of these original founda-
24
" THERE SHALL NOT BE LEFT HERE ONE STONE UPON ANOTHER ..
."
(Mott.
24 :2 ). In A.D. 70, Jesus' prophecy in reference lo the Temple wos fulfrlled. Only
portions of the lower woll around the Temple Mount (B) remoin. Upper stones (A)
were added centurias loter. Some of the stones which originally stood otop the
immense wall were loter re-used
(C)
in a building of the 8th century A.D.
rion wall blocks measure as large as
30 feer by 5 feet on a side and weigh
up roan esrimared one hundred rons.
Even more impressive rhan rhe ac–
tual srones rhemselves is the srruc·
rural archirecrure of che walls. Each
srone was so precisely posirioned rhar
no morcar was needed. The fitting
was so accurare rhar nor even a rhin
knife bJade could be wedged between
adjacenr srones.
Yer Jesus, knowing whar was soon
ro happcn, said of rhe buildings on
rhe Temple Mount: "Do you see
these grear buildings? There will nor
be Jefe here one srone upon anorher"
(Mark
13:2,
RSV). Today, as a srark
wirness ro rhe realiry of His prc–
dicrion, norhing of rhar once mag–
nificenr Temple and irs adjoining
buildings remains. The cirv of Jesus'
rime is gone. The ciry now, picrur–
esguc and delighrful as ir may be ro
locals and rourisrs alike, is parheric 1n
comparison ro what it was in Jesus'
da
y.
Through rhc science of archac–
ology. rhe period of Herod and che
New Tesrament is becoming more
real every day. With each shovelful of
material, we are seeing jusr how rrue
rhe Bible really is. Here rhe pasr rruh
becomes alive as you ·'behold rhesc
srones." O
PLAIN TRUTH December 1972