My Wailing Wall

Dear friends,

when I went to Jerusalem, one of my favorite places there in the Old Town was the Western Wall.
It’s probably not surprising… many, many people love it so much.
This perhaps most famous wall in the entire world is also called “Wall of Tears” or “Wailing Wall”.
And I loved that people from all faiths and countries were coming there.

It is one of the places in the world that I have ever visited where I personally would say the Presence of GOD is the most intense and literally tangible, I am not sure why – I mean yes, it is the closest one can ever get nowadays to the exact place where the Second Temple once stood, but perhaps GOD is truly living there where the Holy of Holies once was and since HE is the same yesterday, today and forever, perhaps HE never changed his main address here on earth?

The legends about this place are countless and all of them confirm why this actually IS one of the holiest places on the entire planet.

The Western Wall is the only wall which the Romans did not destroy when they razed the Second Temple built by King Solomon in 70 C.E.
It is one of the outer walls, not a wall of the temple itself and it was just a retaining wall surrounding the Temple Mount.
It held no special significance until the 16th century when Sultan Suleyman I ended nearly 300 years of Mamluk rule and established the Ottoman Empire. He restored Jerusalem’s city walls in 1536 and encouraged Jews who had been expelled from Spain and Portugal to settle in the city. The very same ruler then dedicated the area after an earthquake in a decree for all times as an area for prayer to the Jews and this decree was honored for more than 400 years. Many Jews from all over the world made the pilgrimage to Palestine, to their “Kotel”  and because their prayers there, when they thanked GOD, were so heartfelt that gentiles began calling the site the “Wailing Wall.”

Over the centuries, The Western Wall was defiled by Arabs during the period of time when Jerusalem was under Muslim rule and they used it as a garbage dump to humiliate the Jews who visited it and during many years, the Jews were denied access to their holy Wall and it only began to be a custom to go there regularly for prayers from the late 19th century on and when they gained access again after the 1967 war, they revived a traditional Jewish custom by inserting written petitions into its cracks.
It is said that the saying “The walls have ears” was originally said about the Western Wall, because the Jews believe(d) that GOD heard or still hears their prayers there.

Even though the Western Wall was not originally a wall of the Temple, it is the closest any non Muslims can get to the Holy of Holies today as the Temple Mount, the Mount where not only The Second Temple once stood, but also the Mount where Abraham once offered Isaac, is nowadays occupied by the temple of the muslims and their “holy rock” which they keep there.

There is another aspect which makes this Wall so special.

And you might have noticed, I am not a historian, so please forgive me if I got one or the other historical detail wrong, I am not a scientist at all, but a very devoted FAITHOLOGIST and I could FEEL the presence of ALMIGHTY GOD THE CREATOR so strongly and clearly and only that made me do a little research about this place.

So here is some more:
The Western Wall is located directly above the so called GOLDEN GATE or the former EASTERN GATE of Jerusalem.
JESUS entered into this gate when HE came to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday riding on the ass in order to fulfill the prophesies… but the prophecies also say that the Messiah will enter through this gate when HE will come back and rule the world.

Ezekiel 44: 1-3
Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.
² Then said the Lord unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.
³ It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.

We all know that the Jews don’t believe that JESUS was the Messiah and we do, that this is what separates us from them, that we believe in the same Old Testament and that JESUS himself was a Jew, that only after HE is come in the flesh that Christianity was birthed and that HE taught in the Jewish temples while HE was alive – that this was in fact the very reason why they decided to murder HIM, because they didn’t believe that HE is the Messiah and thus considered HIM a blasphemer… the rest is history.

Since the prophesy that the Messiah will come through this gate and enter into Jerusalem is in the Old Testament, the Jews believe it, too. And as far as I know, there have been many battles over this gate and today, it is still walled up, even the Muslims believe that the Messiah (whoever that is for them) will come through this gate.
Isn’t it amazing how strong OUR GOD truly IS?
That HE can even make the gentiles believe that HE WILL COME again and that HE will enter through this very gate?
That HE can convince everybody so much that the gate cannot be uncovered, because everyone (except us!) is scared of what will happen when they allow it?

We all know – regardless if we are aware of all the details which I must admit I am absolutely not, should probably study the history and the prophesies for the Holy City much more! – that Jerusalem is one of the most fought over territory in the entire world.

Is this not because it is true that OUR LORD’s rulership over the entire world will start there when HE will come again?

Why else would the whole world be so scared and why else would there be so much war there?

I have my very own beliefs about what is going on in Israel, but that is too much for today, that needs to be the content of another article…

Regardless of what the different religions believe, everybody seems to be agreeing that this place is one of the most holy ones in the world, even the muslims who have their temple there and don’t even let us in (with us I mean everyone who is not a muslim).

Like I said, it did feel very holy and sacred to me, too.
Let me continue telling you what happened when I visited the Western Wall.
I took a lot of time there.
I watched what others were doing, sat there and then, when I felt it was time, I started to pray, touching the wall – I didn’t write my prayer requests on little notes as many people there do, the cracks in the wall between the stones are full of these little pieces of paper and I loved this, the place was so full of prayer that I couldn’t help feeling the presence of GOD very intensely… and when I was praying, I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes and poured my heart out to HIM… I hadn’t been a Christian for very long, only for a few months, when I felt THE LORD wanted me to go to Jerusalem and it was a time when HE was so close to me, a sacred time I will never forget in my entire life!
When I was leaning against this wall, telling HIM all that I had on my heart, it was as if I was allowed through the wall into something that I can hardly describe, for me, it was the Holy of Holies, the Thrown of GOD, HIS abode, where HE resides… I have no words to tell you what it was like and I didn’t really see much… maybe the colors, they were the colors of the most beautiful sunset… and I felt safe… and held… as if HE was hugging me all the time… it was a very beautiful and unforgettable experience.

There was a lot more during these days when I visited the origins of MY BELOVED, but I took a few pictures of the Western Wall, even put my hand on there and recorded this moment so that I would never forget it:

 

 

Recently, I have been struggling….

And I decided that I needed to do my best to get closer to GOD, to hear HIM more…

The time in Jerusalem came to mind, the sacred days with MY BELOVED when HE showed me where HE had been so long ago and where HE had preached, healed and where he had also died… and I also remembered this time at The Wailing Wall when I was oh so close to HIM.

And even though I already have an altar in my place where I put some of the memories from my time in Israel up, I decided to create a “wall of lamentation and prayer, a wailing wall” a copy of the Western Wall in my home – in fact, I not only created one wall like that, but my home is now a fortress, covered in scripture and from what I can sense now, I cannot recommend this enough.

It literally feels as if I am inside of HIS arms, surrounded by HIS words, by HIS protection and love, shielded from the enemy in here now. And it feels good to remember HIS words whereever I look – sometimes, when we are sad and desperate, it is because we have forgotten about HIM – this is now impossible for me in my home!

I had prayed over my place and anointed it, I even had my previous pastor with his entire family come here and pray for protection and to bless my place, but nothing felt like what I did today, when I covered all my walls with scripture!

If you are under attack by the enemy or if you want to get closer to GOD, TRY IT!

I am sure it will help you, too!

I believe this is a good way to create more intimacy with OUR GOD and however you want to do it, as long as you do something – you don’t have to put up scripture everywhere, but many people do and I firmly believe it works and I also believe HE loves it when we honor HIM and reference HIM in our homes and that HE will come closer when we do…
And I don’t believe that it is a coincidence that this promise is so close to the promise that the devil will flee!

James 4: 7 – 8
⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
⁸ Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

How do you honor HIM in yours, my friend?
Do you have an altar?
Scripture anywhere?
Perhaps even a “Wall of Prayer”?
I would love to hear your stories!

I hope and pray that this would bless, inspire and heal you and that THE LORD will bless you richly in all areas of your life, that HE will keep you and shine HIS face upon you and bring you peace.