Shalom and welcome back to 'Israel with Aline! ' We are in Jerusalem today and we are going to visit together the Valley of Hell, also known as Gehenna, this place that saw some of the most terrible passages in the Bible and we are going to understand what is the connection of this place with the Temple of Jerusalem and Judas Iscariot. So if you are ready, let's get started!
In the background we see the beautiful walls of the Old City of Jerusalem and we are now on the Southwest side, where is the valley known in Hebrew as Gei Ben Hinnom, in Greek as Gehenna, and in Portuguese as the Valley of the son of Hinnom or the Valley of Hell. Within it is the Tophet and also the Fields of Blood. And now I want to invite you to come down with me and literally walk through the Valley of Hell and get to know up close some of the most terrible passages in the history of Jerusalem, come on!
One of the most fascinating things about this valley is that it is empty; Jerusalem has been built, destroyed and rebuilt so many times and suddenly we come to such a big and empty place, there is no other place like this in Jerusalem. Moreover, this is the place that is geographically the lowest in Jerusalem and not only geographically, but also morally and spiritually this is a place of depth. But what was so terrible that happened here that this place is known as the Valley of Hell to this day?
Here sacrifices to a pagan god called Molech took place, and not just any sacrifice, but human sacrifices, more specifically sacrifices of children. The parents themselves brought their children here to be sacrificed to a statue of Moloch. I, now that I am a mother cannot imagine what happened here, a father and a mother bringing their own child, imagine the situation, here the children were brought and they were burned alive.
And their screams echoed all over, all over this valley. And to disguise this screaming and suffering, the priests of Moloch played drums here. So if we arrived here a little more than 3,000 years ago, what we would see here is a horror show, a valley with drums and children's screams.
But who was capable of doing such an atrocity? This was a pagan tradition, a tradition of the Canaanites which is so terrible that many archeologists believed that it was not literally human sacrifices, but we found in archeological excavations not here in Israel, but in Carthage a place with bones of children that were sacrificed along with bones of animals that were sacrificed to a God called Baal and also to Tanit. Baal we also know from several stories in the Bible, but unfortunately this pagan practice has also infiltrated part of the people of Israel.
Yes, people of the people of Israel here in the Kingdom of Judah came and participated in sacrifices to both Moloch and Baal, even Kings of Judah participated in these practices, like King Manasseh and King Ahaz, "Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals.
He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. " 2 Chronicles 28: 1-3 But there were also Kings who fought against these practices like King Josiah, and we know this also from the passages of Jeremiah who comes here to this place, here he brings a vase and breaks it, and tells what will be the punishment that the people will suffer for making sacrifices to foreign gods; "and say: 'Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen!
I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal, something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.
So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. " Jeremiah 19:3-6 And indeed, what is going to happen as a punishment for such terrible acts, is that Jerusalem is going to be destroyed. In the year 586 B.
C. , that is, almost 2600 years ago, Jerusalem is going to be destroyed by the Babylonians, by Nebuchadnezzar, and these same people are going to be sent into exile in Babylon. And now that we know that child sacrifices were a relatively common practice among the Canaanite peoples, we can look with new eyes at the story of Abraham going to sacrifice his son Isaac.
When God commands Abraham to take his beloved son Isaac and bring him to sacrifice on Mount Moriah, look at the context of the time, it is not an unusual thing. Right next to Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount, is the Valley of Gehenna, where sacrifices were made. So it's a relatively common practice for the time.
But when Abraham is ready to sacrifice his son, God commands that the sacrifice not be made. So he is both testing Abraham's faith, and sending a message to Abraham and to all the people here in the region that God does not want human sacrifices, and even less of children! Gehenna is also the place where for centuries the garbage of Jerusalem was burned, so the valley is associated with eternal fire for the garbage that was constantly burned here and also for the sacrifices burned here.
And also Jesus talks about this valley and he uses it as a synonym for hell and eternal fire; for example in the Sermon on the Mount as it is written in Mark 9:43, "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better to enter life maimed than, having both hands, to go to hell, where the fire is never quenched. " And now we see on the screen a list of all the passages where Jesus speaks of Gehenna, and it is interesting that in the Portuguese Bible it is often translated as hell.
What is the connection of Judas Iscariot with the Valley of Hell? We remember that Judas is going to receive thirty pieces of silver as payment for betraying Jesus. But he repents and wants to return this money.
But now this is blood money and it cannot be returned to the coffers. So they take this money and buy land, which land? The one we are walking on now, and it is going to be used for sepulchers, and foreigners' sepulchers.
And since it was bought with blood money, it is known to this day as the "Fields of Blood" and it is located in the southern part of Gehenna. And here at the site of Hakel dama, the Fields of Blood, was built this Monastery, which is a Greek Orthodox Monastery. Local tradition also speaks that Judas knows of the purchase of this land with the thirty pieces of silver, and comes here to end his own life.
And here in the archeological excavations of the Fields of Blood, more than 80 tombs have been found, one of them is believed to be the tomb of Annas, who was High Priest of the Temple of Jerusalem and that he was Caiaphas' father-in-law. We also know Annas from some passages in the New Testament, among them after Jesus is arrested and taken to Annas, Annas then hands Jesus over to Caiaphas, and finally Caiaphas to Pontius Pilate, who passes judgment and condemns Jesus to death by crucifixion. We see fact after terrible fact happening in this place, and what catches my attention the most is that all this was happening in Jerusalem, we can say that it is perhaps the greatest contrast in the world!
The Valley of Hell, with the Fields of Blood, with the sacrifices of children so close to the temple in Jerusalem, to Mount Moriah, the Abode of God. And I find it interesting that everything happens in such a small space; from the best to the worst that humanity has to offer. The beauty of this place contrasts with the terrible stories that happened here, where the Canaanites sacrificed to Moloch, Baal and other gods; where also a part of the people of Israel betrayed God and joined these pagan cults, where land was bought with blood money, with the money of Jesus' betrayal, where Annas, the most corrupt high priest in the history of the Temple was buried, and where Judas probably ended his own life.
But at the same time, here in Jerusalem where the Temple and the house of God were. And it is important for us to see this contrast, and to remember that we are responsible for our own actions and to remember God's justice. And I think there is a small comfort in seeing this valley so peaceful today and so silent.
Sacrifices are no longer made here in Jerusalem, human sacrifices much less! So let's enjoy the beauty of the valley, but also remember the stories that happened here. I hope you enjoyed today's video, don't forget to subscribe to our channel because we have videos every Wednesday and Sunday, regards from Jerusalem and see you next time!
