We began today at the Temple Mount Salvage operation. Several years ago the Muslims began illegally excavating an area on Temple Mount in order to enlarge a mosque. Bear in mind that, though Temple Mount technically belongs to the Jews, it is handed over to Muslim control in an effort to keep peace. Permission was not sought or granted from the Israeli Antiquities or any other government agency. In addition, the operation took place secretly and very quickly.

Bulldozers began moving massive amounts of material containing historical artifacts from the First and Second Temple periods (and other timeframes), and dumping this material into the Kidron Valley to the east of Temple Mount and destroying much of the historically significant artifacts.

Determined to salvage as much as possible, donations were made to begin salvage operations of that debris. Today, visitors are invited to work alongside archeologists sifting through debris in search of coins, mosaic pieces, pottery, bones of sacrificial animals, Roman glass and other things. Here is our group at work on this project…

We found lots of pottery pieces, mosaics and iron, but our big find was a coin! It’s a fairly rare find, so this was a big deal! Here’s our find:

The reality is that Muslims are doing everything possible to erase Jewish history and replace it with their own. Temple Mount is the most highly-disputed piece of real estate on the globe. But God’s Word clearly tells us the land belongs to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! Interestingly, evidence of Jewish presence on Temple Mount goes back a few thousand years before any evidence of Muslim presence is found. What was meant for evil, God is using for good in the Temple Mount Salvage project! What a pleasure to serve with the Israeli archeologists.