BY PAT MERCER HUTCHENS—
For many years it was on my mind and heart to paint Jerusalem as it might have been when The Temple (Ha Mikdash, The Holy Place) was on the Holy Temple Mount in Jerusalem in the Land of Israel.
(Since photography was not invented until nearly 2,000 years later and any representations are recent, I found no paintings of the area with The Temple, but used as a guide for the actual Temple the model on display today in Jerusalem. This scaled Model was built by the late Hans Kroch, with the help of the late Prof. Avi Yonah of Hebrew University. The work was done throughout 1964-1967 and more recently renovated and brought up to date under the supervision of Prof. Zafrir.)
For Jews, the Golden City is the center of the world from the time of David and Solomon, who built the First Temple – until 70 A.D. when Rome destroyed and burned Jerusalem, the Temple, massacred its inhabitants – then drove any Jews who remained out into the Diaspora. The Western Wall is all that remains of ancient Jerusalem; it is the heart of Israel today. The Third Temple waits to be built.
For Christians, Jerusalem has have been the center of our Judeo-Christian faith as well as the very place which Yeshua (Jesus) and his disciples from then until now consider Holy. It is in the heart of all believers since.
The viewer in this art work is standing on the east side of Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives, looking Westward toward the Temple and the Eastern Golden Gate – sealed up today but which The Messiah will open and enter when He returns. The early morning sun is rising from the East, just touching down on the golden brilliance of The Temple. A shepherd overlooks the Kidron Valley. Hidden behind the olive trees on the left is the Hinnom Valley where pagans sacrificed their children in the fires of Molech. To the upper left in the distance (about five miles in reality) is Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. Somewhere nearby outside the city walls is the place where Yeshua, God’s Anointed One, was cruelly crucified by the Roman soldiers, as well as the tomb from which God raised him from the dead. Hallelujah!
Zechariah 14 prophesies, “Behold the day of Yahweh is coming…and in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem from the east.…Yahweh my God will come and all His saints with Him,”… and “He shall be King over all the earth.” Maranatha!
The Jerusalem Connection is offering the archival prints (giclee) of this original painting, personally signed by the artist to you, for a suggested donation of $200. If the giclee is a gift to someone else, the artist can also sign it to the giftee. One hundred percent of your donation goes to help support the work of The Jerusalem Connection. Measure of the giclee is approximately 20 inches x 10 inches. Copyright by Pat Mercer Hutchens 2012-3.
