A Goody From Woody

You have heard, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Let me explain. Matthew 24:2 says, “And He said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.’”

Now look at this picture. What do you see? It is the Western Wall, or at least what remains of the old second Temple in Jerusalem. Jews had prophetically predicted the destruction of Jerusalem—which took place in 70 A.D.

Today this wall is treated like an outside or outdoor synagogue. I’ve been there at the Western Wall on two trips to the Holy Land and watched the devout Jewish men or boys bowing in prayer repeatedly. Everyday hundreds of religious Jewish men go there to pray and meditate and mourn.

Why do they mourn? They continue to grieve over the loss of the Temple—the place where they worshiped and sang and prayed. They lament the destruction of what was the site of countless blessings from God.

The Western Wall is sometimes called the “Wailing Wall” or “Place of Weeping.”

You will recall the Muslims who controlled Israel for many years tell us (tradition) that their prophet Muhammad tethered his famed horse there at the wall. His horse was named Buraq. So Arabs call the Western Wall, “Al-Buraq.”

Even though women and kids may not go down to the Western Wall to pray, they all (men, women and children) can assemble at the perimeter and weep over what has been lost.

This wall from 70 A.D. to the 1967 six-day war was controlled by other people. But on that day when the Jewish people regained control over old Jerusalem, they regained control over the wall. On that day, according to Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, “There was one moment in the Six-Day War which symbolized the great victory: that was the moment in which the first paratroopers - under Gur's command - reached the stones of the Western Wall, feeling the emotion of the place; there never was, and never will be, another moment like it. Nobody staged that moment. Nobody planned it in advance. Nobody prepared it and nobody was prepared for it; it was as if Providence had directed the whole thing: the paratroopers weeping - loudly and in pain - over their comrades who had fallen along the way, the words of the Kaddish prayer heard by Western Wall's stones after 19 years of silence, tears of mourning, shouts of joy, and the singing of "Hatikvah" (which means hope).


What does all this mean for you and me? It means our God who is Sovereign over all things and people allowed Jerusalem to fall, including the Temple. Even the 21st century Jewish people wait and pray for Messiah.

But Messiah Jesus has already come and it is He who said the destruction of Jerusalem would happen. And it did. What has God promised for you and me for this moment in history? Acts 1:11 tells us, “They also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.’” The New Testament ends with these words from Revelation 22:20, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly’ Amen Come, Lord Jesus.”

Be on your guard! All He promised will take place!

God Bless,
Woody