There is a real lack of basic historical knowledge among Christians about the Western (wailing) wall in Jerusalem. Many believe it’s always been a place Christians go to worship and that it’s somehow “holy” to Christians today.
Bottom line: It wasn’t a place Christians considered holy nor did they go to the Temple wall until very recently.
In 1967: A historic Muslim neighborhood known as the Moroccan Quarter (also called the Mughrabi or Maghariba Quarter) in Jerusalem’s Old City was forcibly cleared and demolished by Israeli authorities in June 1967, shortly after the Six-Day War, to create the open plaza now used by visitors and worshippers at the Western Wall.
In the Old Testament Period:
– When did the glory of the Lord leave the Temple?
Ezekiel 10:18-19: The glory rose from the cherubim (angelic figures above the Ark) and moved to the temple’s threshold.
Ezekiel 11:22-23: It fully departed to the Mount of Olives east of the city.
– Did the glory of the Lord return to the Temple?
Unlike the dramatic fillings of the Tabernacle and First Temple, the Hebrew Bible contains no explicit description of the Shekinah glory returning to the Second Temple. The dedication in Ezra 6:16-18 mentions joy and sacrifices but omits any cloud, fire, or overwhelming presence. The Ark of the Covenant—central to the glory’s resting place—was also absent, further underscoring the difference.
When Jesus entered the Temple, He found moneychangers there. Christ purified the Temple by His presence and by driving out the money changers. It had long been a place that was impure.
Sadly, the Temple was defined just a few days later when Judas threw the blood money on the ground.
When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ‘I have sinned,’ he said, ‘for I have betrayed innocent blood.’ ‘What is that to us?’ they replied. ‘That’s your responsibility.’ So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.”
In reality it had already been defiled. The only Glory the Temple had was when Christ, the King of Glory, entered the Temple.
IMO, Christians should not go there to worship. Jesus said why:
Jhn 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Additionally, Christ Himself is the Temple.
John 2:19-21
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
But he spake of the temple of his body.
Go if you wish for historical perspective but remember why the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. It was because they rejected Christ.
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