“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55: 6-7

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One of My Regrets in Israel

This happened in 2016. Katie and I were in Israel for a month, and Katie’s sister, Natalie, and Natalie’s daughter, Danielle, came to visit us in Jerusalem for a week.

Danielle was 21 at the time. She was a rising senior in college. When she was a little girl, Danielle spent a couple of weeks each summer with Katie and me at our home on Lake Hartwell in South Carolina. She is our niece, but she knows us well, and we know her.

Below is a picture of Natalie, Danielle, and Katie (left to right). I took it while they were with us. We were at the top of the Mount of Olives looking down on the Temple Mount. Katie is pointing toward the Garden of Gethsemane. It sits at the base of the Mount of Olives to the north. Al-Aqsa Mosque is under Katie’s index finger. The mosque sits across the Kidron Valley at the southern end of the Temple Mount.

One morning, we took Natalie and Danielle to the Temple Mount. That year, it opened for non-Muslims at 7:00 AM and closed for non-Muslims at 11:00 AM.

As far as I know, there are no restrictions on Muslims who visit the Temple Mount. They can go there when they want, and they can do just about anything they want while they are there. For example, sometimes they drop heavy stones on Jews praying at the Kotel. It sits at the base of the western wall of the Temple Mount.

The Waqf exercises day-to-day control of the Temple Mount under Jordanian authority. Israel maintains security control of the area, and there is always an IDF presence close by. The IDF intervenes when riots break out on the Temple Mount.

The Waqf is made up of Muslim religious zealots who delight in annoying Christians who visit the Temple Mount. They relish badgering Jewish visitors.

Officially, only Muslims are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. The Muslims I’ve seen praying there are chanting Arabic words that they have memorized. They demonstrate their piousness by prostrating themselves on prayer rugs.

I have visited the Temple Mount many times, and each time I’ve been there, I’ve prayed. I don’t say a word, and I don’t do anything to attract attention. My prayers are mind-to-mind conversations with Yahweh.

“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6: 5-8)

Jews and Christians caught praying on the Temple Mount are subject to arrest. If ordinary Muslims on the Temple Mount notice that Jews and Christians are praying, they may be physically attacked by Muslim vigilantes before they are arrested. Simply moving your lips in silent prayer can lead to your arrest and/or an attack.

Below is a video that I took on the Temple Mount in 2014. While Katie and I were there, 3 Jewish men arrived. From the moment they set foot on the Temple Mount platform, they were hounded by Muslim men. Every time the Jews moved from one location to another, Muslim men interrupted their prayers to loudly chant “Allahu Akbar” in unison. The Jewish men did nothing wrong, and they threatened no one. They were targeted for abuse for one reason: They were Jewish.

Rules and regulations on the Temple Mount change constantly, and the changes have no rhyme or reason. I’ve been visiting Israel for more than 2 decades. I’ve seen just about everything on the Temple Mount except a full-blown riot.

One year, you can go inside the Dome of the Rock. The next year you can’t. One year, they try to entice you to go inside al-Aqsa Mosque. The next year, they won’t let you near the front door. It’s ridiculous, and there is always the possibility of random violence. You never know what to expect.

That morning, I wanted to be first in line, so we could get on and off the Temple Mount as quickly as possible. The earlier you visit the Temple Mount, the less traffic there is and the less the likelihood of violence. At this stage of my life, I don’t enjoy visiting the Temple Mount. Each year that passes, I like it less, but there is a list of things that most tourists in Jerusalem want to see and do. Visiting the Temple Mount is on it.

Yahweh’s Temple was Not on the Temple Mount

Yahweh’s Temple was not on the Temple Mount. King Herod built the 37-acre platform to house a Roman fort: Antonia Fortress. Where the Temple Mount is concerned, facts don’t seem to matter, though. Tradition does, and most Jewish people believe Yahweh’s Temple stood where the Dome of the Rock sits today.

See “Yahweh’s Temple was not on the Temple Mount” for details. If the Temple Mount interests you, you will enjoy reading it. There are lots of pictures and videos.

Mamilla Mall

That day in 2016, we needed to arrive at the Temple Mount entrance at about 6:30 AM. We were staying in the City Center in modern Jerusalem. It’s a short walk from there to the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. To get to the Temple Mount, we had to walk through Mamilla Mall. (See the video below.) It was about 6:15 AM when we walked through the mall.

Near Café Rimon in the mall, I noticed a woman walking toward us. The path through the mall bends to the right at Café Rimon, and you can see all the way to the Jaffa Gate entrance. In the video above at 14:05, Café Rimon appears on the right, and the bend in the path is in the center of the video. Katie, Natalie, Danielle, and I were at about 14:41 in the video when the woman appeared. She had entered the mall from the Jaffa Gate side. She must have been coming from the Old City. Our paths crossed at about 15:35 in the video near Roladin. It’s on the right. Roladin is primarily a pastry shop, but it has great coffee, sandwiches, and desserts. Katie and I stop there often for coffee when we are in Jerusalem. Café Rimon is our favorite restaurant in the mall.

At 6:15 AM, seeing someone walking through Mamilla Mall is very unusual. I didn’t expect to see anyone except delivery people until we got to the Old City.

We walked past the woman with no problem, but she circled around behind us and followed us closely for several yards. Suddenly, she started chanting obscenities. There was a cadence to her chant. It was almost like she was singing, and she didn’t stop. She kept repeating the same obscene words again and again.

Katie and Natalie were in front. They were talking. Danielle and I were behind them. We were talking, too. The woman was behind Danielle and me chanting. If someone had seen us that morning walking through Mamilla Mall, he would have thought that we were together as a group. She was that close to us.

After we had walked 10 or more yards together, I stopped, looked the woman in the eye, and told her, “Shut up, and get out of here.”

When I looked into the woman’s eyes, I saw fear, but she was not afraid of me. The evil spirit in her was afraid of Yahweh’s Spirit in me. I’m not sure she saw me at all. She didn’t say another word. She just walked away.

When the four of us started walking again, I told Danielle that Jerusalem is a special place and that spirits, good and evil, are everywhere. You have to be on the alert for them. I also told Danielle that I was not speaking to the woman. I was speaking to the evil spirit in her.

An Opportunity Wasted

This is my regret: I think I could have cast out the demon in her. If I had stopped for a few minutes, I could have done it. I was in a hurry to get to the Temple Mount, so I didn’t. It was an opportunity wasted. I thought about that while we made our way through the Old City on our way to the Temple Mount, but I didn’t tell anyone about it.

Yahweh always does unusual things, miraculous things, for me in Jerusalem. I have many examples of Yahweh doing those kinds of things over more than 2 decades. For me, it’s not an uncommon experience. Natalie and Danielle got to see one of them. Katie has witnessed many of them. Our Israeli daughter, Noam, has been a part of one of them.

See “The Pope and Me: A True Story” for a great example in the City of David.

I’ll Be Ready Next Time

I wasn’t prepared to cast out a demon that morning. It never entered my mind that I could do it or that I would have the opportunity to do it. I won’t miss another opportunity like that one. If it happens again, I’ll be ready.

In the days ahead, I’m confident I will have many opportunities to do things in Jerusalem that seem almost impossible to me now. Over the past 45 years, Yahweh has lead me to that conclusion. Doubting Him makes no sense. My experience walking with Yahweh gives me that confidence.

I have a lot of work to do in Jerusalem. I can’t wait to get started. Actually, I’ve started already, but I have a lot more work to do.

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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”

John 10: 14-18