Jerusalem Temple Mount illustration 6

So many Bible stories involve Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. It may not be possible to list them all. Suffice it to say, Jerusalem is the center of the Bible’s story. If tradition has the location correct, Abraham and Isaac were tested here. David made the city his capital, and Solomon built the first temple on the artificial platform known as the Temple Mount. When he was surrounded, Hezekiah held off the Assyrians with prayer and hard work. Josiah led a revival here. The Babylonians destroyed the city, including the temple, in 486. Ezra and Nehemiah returned a generation later and a small temple was constructed by Zerubbabel. Herod the Great doubled the size of the Temple Mount platform, which is what we see today. Herod’s temple didn’t last long, being destroyed in AD 70 by the Romans. But this is the Temple Mount Jesus knew. He came down the Mt. of Olives on Palm Sunday, was betrayed at the base of the hill at Gethsemane, and was crucified outside the city walls, just a short walk toward the west from the Temple Mount. The modern-day city of Jerusalem has a population of nearly 1 million. In 1948, just 100,000 lived in Jerusalem. When Jesus visited the city, estimates for the population range from 25,000 to 70,000.