Across the holy land: Thousands visit and pray at Temple Mount in Jerusalem

It’s viewed as the holiest place in Judaism, with thousands flocking to the site daily for pilgrimage and prayer.

The Western Wall, also referred to as the Wailing Wall, is one of the last remaining walls of the Temple Mount, which is an elevated area in the old city of Jerusalem.

A drive through the streets of Jerusalem is like a journey back into history as told through biblical stories.

Our tour takes us close to southern part of Mount of Olives, which is adjacent to the territory of the Kingdom of Judah. It is also about a 2-hour drive from Jesus’ second home of Capernaum.

The Mount of Olives is close to the city of David. The rocks here are the remains of King David's palace.

Its location was key as the palace was positioned on an elevated area that overlooked the surrounding mountains of Jerusalem.

Any enemies who attempted to invade the palace would be spotted before they could get close enough for a surprise attack.

The city of David brings Biblical Jerusalem to life at the very place where kings and prophets of the Bible walked.

It is at this site where internationally acclaimed archaeological discoveries have been made including the pool of Siloam where Jesus healed a blind man, the Gihon spring, Pilgrim road and Hezekiah's tunnel which he used to fortify the city against an invading army.

As the prophet Isaiah said, “out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” This is the spiritual bedrock.

A few meters from King David’s palace is the Wailing Wall or Western Wall. This is regarded as the holiest part of Jerusalem, where Abraham bound Isaac and almost sacrificed him to the Lord.

The Western Wall is the remnant of the temple.

“The Western Wall is closest to the place where the holy of the holiest used to be, the stone of foundation where the sacrificing of Isaac almost took place,” said a historian.

Thousands are flocking the Western Wall, it is only few days before the year 2022 comes to a close and so is the growing need for believers across the world to make their Christmas and New Years wishes.

Long queues continue to be witnessed in the area as visitors from across the world await their turn to pray at the Western Wall even if it means an all night stay.

From the young to the elderly, no one wants to be left behind. Security officers are not exempt, this is also their time to seek divine intervention on their most pressing needs.

Before walking towards the Wailing Wall, one is required to write their prayer request on a piece of paper.

So that is what I did; I took a piece of paper, wrote my petition to God and waited patiently for my turn to approach the Western Wall.

As you pray, it is hard to hear what the next person is praying for, because of the sound of thousands of prayers made by visitors here every minute of the day.

According to records here, at least 6 million people visit the Western Wall every year.

“Just before Covid, we had 4 million people here, tourists from outside of Israel, but we have Israelites too. So how many people visit the Western Wall a year? It can get to 6 million easily,” added the historian.

From the Western Wall, a 30-minute walk uphill takes you to Golgotha where Jesus was crucified.

Underneath it is a special holding area where the body of Jesus was placed as it was being prepared for burial.

This is also another holy prayer site. I placed my phone on this revered location and prayed for all my contacts.

We are a few meters to the tomb. It is believed that this is where the body of Jesus was buried before the resurrection three days later. The place is well maintained and preserved.

Thousands gather here at night to visit the graveyard, when it is time, a special prayer is offered every night here, before the site is closed until the following day.

When everyone leaves the graveside, silence kicks in and Israeli security forces take over to protect the site.

The number of foreign tourists to Israel decreased over the last two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic but it is estimated that by 2025 an average of 5.6 million people will visit this holy land every year.

This is nearly three times the 2 million tourists that visited Kenya prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.