Hi friends! While traveling, I’m day dreaming of our trip to Israel in November. There are so many incredible places where Scriptural accounts occurred, and today I’ll share part of a post I published during a previous trip to Israel!

Just beyond the eastern wall of Jerusalem lies the Kidron Valley and the Mount of Olives.  Technically speaking, the Mount of Olives is a mountain range running north-south (Mount Scopus, Olivet, Mount of Scandal).  The Kidron Valley lies between the Old City walls (outlined in pinkish-red below) and the Mount of Olives.  Here’s a map to provide some perspective.

We’ll focus on Olivet, and will refer to it as the Mount of Olives, as that is how it is typically translated in our Bibles.  It is rich in history!  David went there weeping, to escape his son Absalom (2 Samuel 15:30-37); Ezekiel looked on as the glory of the Lord left Solomon’s temple to hover over the mount (Ezekiel 11:22-23); in a vision, Ezekiel witnessed the prophetic event of the glory of the Lord returning from the east (over the Mount of Olives) to a new temple (Ezekiel 43:1-5); and Zechariah prophesies that,  at His return, the Lord’s feet will one day stand on the Mount of Olives and the mountain will split in two (Zechariah 14:3-5)!  Here’s the view Jesus would have today if He stepped foot on the Mount of Olives.

The small city of Bethany lies on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives, about 2 miles from the edge of Jerusalem, and was home to Mary, Martha and Lazarus, Jesus’ closest friends in the area of Jerusalem.  Scripture tells us that Jesus often spent time in Bethany.  (Luke 10 and John 11, for example).

Jesus came as the Jewish Messiah, yet knew His own people would not recognize Him as their long-awaited Messiah.  Thus, Luke 19:41-44 describes Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, while looking over the city from the Mount of Olives.  Perhaps He looked upon the city from this area (minus Pastor Mark standing in the foreground teaching about it!):

The Bible comes alive when you stand in the places Jesus, the disciples, King David and others stood! To hear God’s Word being taught at the very places the accounts took place is powerful! You are invited to join us in Israel to experience that! Our tour company granted us a handful of additional seats on our previously-filled trip, so if you are interested in joining us as we visit the Mount of Olives and other incredible sites, check out the EXPERIENCE ISRAEL TOUR page.

We’ll revisit another site tomorrow, so stay tuned!