Was Jesus Crucified in Gehenna?

So my last post on the Mount of Olives Crucifixion model was Bethany and the Mount of Olives, a follow up to my first post on the subject.

I've since learned that there is technically more then one Mount of Olives or East of Jerusalem model.  The person who runs the website Golgotha.eu supports a hill way up north, just outside what we now know as the Lion Gate.  This person is obsessed with arguing that Baptism is necessary for Salvation, which I strongly disagree with, and it's annoying he can't leave that out of even an article that's just supposed to be about figuring out where the Crucifixion happened.  But my Soterology will be subtly alluded to in this post so I guess I can't judge, but it has much more of a direct relevance.

Bob Cornuke however seems to be proposing a location much further south, east of the Old City, what we today incorrectly call the City of David, where he believes The Temple was.  The implications of what I shall propose here favor a more southern location, though maybe not exactly where Cornuke has proposed, I haven't looked into his specifics enough yet.

First off, in my view what we today call the City of David was the Jebus that David captured (but the Biblical City of David is Bethlehem) and was all of Jerusalem until the Babylonian captivity.  So I do think that's where Solomon's Temple was, but probably not Zerubabel or Herod's Temple.  I lean towards the second Temple being where Justinian built the Nea Ekklesia of the Theotokos.

The Valley of Hinnom in the Hebrew Bible, which is commonly rendered Gehenna in Greek Texts and misleadingly translated Hell in some English and Latin Bibles.  Is traditionally identified with the valley located south and west of the Old City.  But Jeremiah 19:2-6 says the Valley of Hinnom is by the entry of the East Gate.  Which would then place it at the foot of the Mount of Olives, perhaps synonymous with the Kidron valley.

Joshua 15:8 and 18:16 seem to be the source of thinking it would be west and south of Jebus/Jerusalem, but there are a number of ways the intended geography of those verses could be misunderstood.

Hinnom's unique reputation began with Ahaz building the Tophet there as a part of a cult of worship to Moloch/Milcom that included child sacrifice in II Chronicles 28, II Chronicles 33 tells us Manasseh also used this same Tophet.  Isaiah mentions the Tophet in chapter 30 verse 33, Jeremiah mentions it in chapters 7, 19 and 32.

Ahaz was not the first King of the House of David to build an Idol of Moloch/Milcom, Solomon built Idols for that deity and Chemosh on the Mount of Olives that is east of Jerusalem in 1 Kings 11.  Some scholars think Chemosh and Moloch were different names for the same deity, Moloch is just a variant form of the Hebrew word for King.  So perhaps when Ahaz set up his Tophet he was merely expanding on the site Solomon set up.  Solomon's Idol was on the Mount overlooking the Valley where the Tophet was the site of the Sacrifices.

II Kings 23:10-14 tells us that Josiah tore down the Tophet and the Idols Solomon set up.  These events could be the origin of Hinnom being associated with a site of Yahuah's Judgment.  But it was not Solomon and Ahaz immortal Souls that were destroyed in the Valley of Hinnom, it was their Sins.  Paul tells us in II Corinthians 5 that Jesus was Made Sin for us.

The Mount of Olives Crucifixion model involves a lot of talking about how what was done "Without the Camp" in the Torah equates to the Mount of Olives when The Camp is Jerusalem.  It's where the Red Heifer was Sacrificed in Numbers 19, and where the bodies of Sacrificed Animals were to be burned.  It was where Executions happened according to Leviticus 24:14, Numbers 15:35-36 and 31:13-19.  But in Joshua 6:23 it is where Rahab the Harlot and her family were brought to safety.

But without the camp is also where lepers and other unclean people are to stay until they are made clean in places like Numbers 5.  And Jesus will make all things clean.  The purpose of the Ashes of the Red Heifer are are purification.  And Perhaps that's also relevant to understanding being outside New Jerusalem in Revelation 21-22.

Also in Rabbinic Traditon Dudael, the location the Azazel Goat was taken to, was said to be East of Jerusalem and was also associated with Gehenna.

This place where in Sin Israelites sacrificed their Children to false idols, could be the same place where God gave His Only Begotten Son for the Whole World.

And my researching into proposed locations for The Temple has revealed that at leas tin Byzantine times everyone identified the Kidron Valley with Gehenna.

Here is a short film I don't 100% Agree with (I don't identify the Outer Darkness with Hades for example) but is interesting thematically.  It's creators do assume the traditional site of Gehenna, and don't share my Futurist/PreMillennial view of Revelation, so it's relevance here is kind of a coincidence.

God's Unconditional Covenant with Israel

Pre-Trib Dispensationalist and Zionist Christians love to emphasize the Unconditionality of God's Covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

And I agree with that even though I don't entirely agree with them on issues like the timing of the Rapture or how Israel relates to The Church.  Nor do I agree that America needs to blindly support Modern Israel no matter what, depending on foreign allies was something God told Israel not to do throughout the Old Testament.

The thing is, because most of them support a doctrine of Eternal Endless Torment, they don't apply this Undontionality to every individual Jew, just to Israel as a nation. But Malachi 3:6 says "For I am Yahuah, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."  That verse isn't about Israel as a unit, it's about plural sons of Jacob.  Earlier Malachi 3 talked about how the Fire of God is a purifying fire used to refine the sons of Levi and purge them like Gold and Silver.

Romans 11 says "All Israel shall be Saved".  In the common Preterist/Post-Trib view, that in Romans 9-11 only the already Saved truly count as Israel, that is nonsensical.  However Dispensationalsits are not taking that declaration truly literally either.  They believe by "All Israel" it means all Israelites still alive when this prophecy is fulfilled.  They don't believe it will save Dathan and Kore and the followers of their Rebellion, or Judas, Ciaphas and Ananias.  In fact most Dispsenationists as much as they may politically support Israel still think on an individual basis only Jews who believe in Jesus are saved on this side of the Cross, so therefore they believe the 6 Million Jews who perished in the Holocaust will not take part in Israel's final restoration.

Now I do believe there is a future terrestrial mass conversion event that will play a role in the fulfillment of Romans 11 and other Prophecies.  But that event proceeds the beginning of the Millennium, which is both proceeded by and followed by phases of The Resurrection.  And Ezekiel 37 clearly associates the future restoration of Israel with the Resurrection of The Dead.

I disagree with certain aspects of Two House Theology, but I do think they have a point on some things.  And if Genesis 48 is foretelling that Ephraim shall become the fullness of the gentiles, and all Israel shall be Saved, then logically all the Gentiles shall be saved as well.  In fact Romans 11 seems to say All Israel won't be Saved till the Fullness of the Gentiles are brought into Israel first.

God's unconditional Covenant with Abraham was I think to begin with a picture of His unconditional Love for all of us.  From the beginning God's promise to Abraham was that through him All the Nations and Families of the Earth would be Blessed.

Universal Salvation in The Book of Revelation

The most common proof texts for Universal Salvation I cite are not from Revelation, I focus on Sayings of Jesus and Teachings from The Epistles.  But Revelation is the final chapter of The Bible, so it must help reinforce that message if it is true.  And I believe it does.

If you search for the phrase "Kings of The Earth" in Revelation, you'll find that from Chapter 6 Verse 15 to Chapter 19 Verse 19, they are consistently the bad guys, committing whoredom with the whore of Babylon and marching into battle alongside The Beast and False Prophet.  But suddenly in Revelation 21:24, after the last time the Lake of Fire is mentioned, we read.

And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

Now one could easily object that these are different kings, but Believers being fulfilled in our promise to Reign with Christ.  But I believe our Kingship exists within New Jerusalem (the "it" of this verse) while these are nations without it.  And in chapter 1 Jesus calls Himself the Prince of the Kings of The Earth, so this was foreshadowed.

It's also the implication of my Bride of Christ doctrine.  I feel I have shown that the Whore of Babylon is the same Woman as the Bride of Christ.

I've already talked about how to translate the Greek Phrase that becomes in the KJV "Forever and Ever", it should be "Age of Ages".  But I've also rhetorically argued for Universal Salvation being consistent with the KJV readings of these passages.

I also have a post on The Second Resurrection.

The last verse of Revelation 21, verse 27, also challenges our assumptions of what the New Heaven and New Earth is like.

And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

It implies things that theoretically could defile New Jerusalem do still exist.  Revelation 22:15 again clarified that sinners do still exist outside New Jerusalem, the Lake of Fire can't be located there, chapter 14 clarified it comes from the Throne of God.

But I also like to emphasize that the Gates of New Jerusalem are always open according to 21:25, and that the leaves of the Tree of Life are for the Healing of the Nations.  So those too Unclean to enter the City when this condition starts may still become clean, that may also be the purpose of The River.

Revelation 21 also says that God will make ALL THINGS New.

So in conclusion, a plain simple reading of Revelation on it's own does infer a message of Universal Salvation.