The Mount of Olives
The first time my eyes fell on the Mount of Olives I immediately noticed that half of the mountain, or so it seemed, was covered in graves. I asked someone why and they said, “that is where some Jews bury their dead so they can be there when Moshiac comes.” The Mount of Olives is a very important place to any religion that believes in the Bible. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I believe that it is where the Messiah has already been and where he will one day return. Christian churches dot the Mount of Olives to commemorate certain New Testament events believed to have occurred there. For example, the Church of All Nations stands at the base of the Mount of Olives next to a garden of olive trees, which are believed to be part of the original Garden of Gethsemane where Christ went to pray and suffer the Atonement. Pater Noster is a church built on the traditional site of the Ascension. Dominus Flevit is built on the traditional site where Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. Each church, each shrine, each mosque, and each grave carry some sort of spiritual and historical significance to those who put it there and who continue to visit. To me, that makes this place sacred. Certainly it is a place rich in history, and a center point of much prophecy of things to come.
I spent a lot of time on the Mount of Olives while I lived in Jerusalem. In fact, Mount Scopus, where I lived, really is just an extension northward of the Mount of Olives from what I was told. One time I decided to attempt to trace the steps of the Savior and walk from Bethany (where Jesus stayed on the southeastern side of the Mount of Olives during his last week in mortality) to Jerusalem. That was quite the adventure. On Shabbat I would often make excursions to the Garden of Gethsemane or the Orson Hyde Park to contemplate the life of the Savior and to pray. It’s no wonder to me that this was a popular place for the Savior to roam, to teach, and to pray – from the Mount of Olives there is a great view of Jerusalem and the most beautiful Middle Eastern sunsets. It was one of the places in the Holy Land where I personally felt drawn to so I could feel close to the Savior and find myself spiritually. One day, as recorded by the prophets, the Mount of Olives will have a significant role to play at the end of Armageddon. It will be on the Mount of Olives that the Messiah will again appear to save the righteous in their most desperate hour. The prophets say that when he sets foot on the Mount it will divide in two, leaving an escape passage for the besieged. As they run through they will look and see their savior and ask, “What are these wounds in thine hands?” Then Christ will answer, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (see Zechariah 13:6). Elder Charles Penrose said of this event, “Attended by a host from heaven, he will overthrow and destroy the combined armies of the Gentiles, and appear to the worshipping Jews as the mighty Deliverer and Conqueror so long expected by their race; and while love, gratitude, awe, and admiration swell their bosoms, the Deliverer will show them the tokens of his crucifixion and disclose himself as Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had reviled and whom their fathers put to death. Then will unbelief depart from their souls, and ‘the blindness in part which has happened unto Israel’ be removed.” (“The Second Advent,” Millennial Star, 10 Sept. 1859, pp. 582–83.) This will be the introduction to the second coming that we read about in the scriptures when the earth will be changed, the wicked destroyed, and there will follow a millennium of peace on the earth. For scriptural details on the Battle of Armegeddon click here: https://www.lds.org/manual/old-testament-student-manual-kings-malachi/enrichment-i?lang=eng |