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We are a Christian Fellowship meeting in North London with a strong interest in teaching the Bible and understanding our time in
the light of Bible prophecy
The Temple Mount - the heart of the conflict
Speaking of the Jewish attachment to the Temple Mount, British Chief Rabbi,
Jonathan Sacks, said that Jerusalem is 'the home of the Jewish heart and the
heart of the Jewish home. Israel may no more give away the Temple Mount than
a human being may donate his heart'. He said that Jerusalem had been given
in 'sacred trust' to the Jewish people 'on behalf of God and humanity' long
before Christianity and Islam. He added that there was 'no story in all of
history to compare' with the Jewish people's love for Jerusalem and, in
particular, the Temple Mount, 'where almost 4000 years ago Abraham and Isaac
walked to their great trial of faith.' (Jewish Chronicle 19/1/01)
By contrast the Islamic leader of Jerusalem, Mufti Sheikh Ekrima Sabri,
issued a fatwa (Muslim religious edict) on January 8 proclaiming that the
entire Temple Mount area, seven stories below and seven stories above,
belongs to the Muslim Waqf authority. The area, continued the Mufti, is the
property of Allah and cannot be transferred to anyone else. Speaking at a
press conference at his office on the Temple Mount, Sabri said the Western
Wall and the plaza in front of it are also Waqf property. The fatwa
compelled 'a billion Muslims around the world to act accordingly'.
(Ha'aretz, January 9, 2001)
When questioned about the Jewish claim to the Temple Mount, Sabri said,
'There is not the smallest indication of the existence of a Jewish temple on
this place in the past. In the whole city, there is not even a single stone
indicating Jewish history. The Jews do not even know exactly where their
temple stood. Therefore, we do not accept that they have any rights,
underneath the surface or above it.'
The reference to what is 'underneath the surface' is significant because in
the last 18 months the Muslims have been engaged in extensive digging,
causing irreversible damage to the most important archaeological site in the
world. Tons of earth have been removed and simply taken in trucks to be
dumped in a landfill site. Archaeologists are devastated that none of this
is being protected, studied or saved. Many see this as not just carelessness
or sloppy building practices, but a purposeful attempt to destroy all
evidence of the presence of both the First and Second Temples that stood on
the Mount. One of the tunnels that have been constructed leads from the
direction of the Dome of the Rock to the Al Aqsa Mosque, digging up the area
on which most experts believe the Jewish Temples were centred.
'Jerusalem the burdensome stone' (Zechariah 12.3)
It is an amazing fact that the conflict between Israel and the Islamic world
is not just over Jerusalem, but the Old City of Jerusalem, and not just the
Old City, but the Temple Mount area, and not just the Mount itself but the
ground under the Mount where the Jewish Temple once stood. And let us be in
no doubt that the Temple did stand there. Sheikh Sabri's denial of this fact
is not just an attack on Judaism; it is also an attack on Christianity. The
major events of the Gospels and the Book of Acts were played out in this
place. If there was no Jewish Temple, then the New Testament, which is one
of the main source books for information on life in first century Jerusalem,
is a lie. In fact Sheikh Sabri is denying Muslim scholarship as well, since
a booklet about the site published in 1930 by the supreme Muslim body in
Jerusalem during the British Mandate states categorically that the site's
identification with the First Temple is "beyond dispute." A man who claims
to be speaking for a billion Muslims is rewriting history with a lie so big
that it defies all reason.
Nevertheless the fact that this place is such a contentious issue lines up
with Bible prophecy and authenticates the fact that the Bible is not only
the accurate record of what has already happened, but also the only true
source of information about what is to come. God, who knows the end from the
beginning has given detailed insights into the past, present and future
history of this place.
Jeremiah prophesied that the first Temple built by Solomon would be
destroyed because the people of Judah had turned away from the Lord and
worshipped idols. He said they would be taken away into captivity in Babylon
from where they would return after 70 years and rebuild the Temple (Jeremiah
29.10-14). While they were in Babylon God raised up Daniel as His prophet
not only to the Jewish people but also to the Gentiles who were ruling them,
showing that ultimately He is in control of history.
In Daniel 9, after confessing the sins of the people, Daniel received a word
through the angel Gabriel concerning the rebuilding of the Temple in
Jerusalem (Daniel 9.20-27). In the days of the second Temple he was told
that 'Messiah shall be cut off (i.e. die a violent death) but not for
himself (i.e. not for his own sins, but as an atonement for others); and the
people (the Romans) of the prince to come (the coming Antichrist) shall
destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the Temple).'
This prophecy teaches that Messiah would come before the destruction of the
second Temple, which took place in 70CE. In fact Jesus came and died a
violent death for the sins of others, thus fulfilling the prophecy of
Messiah's suffering and rejection in Isaiah 53, exactly 40 years before this
event (a significant time period). Jesus also prophesied the coming
destruction of Jerusalem and gave the failure to recognise his Messianic
mission as the reason for it: 'If today you had known the things that make
for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will
come when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and
close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you to
the ground; and they will not leave one stone upon another, because you did
not know the time of your visitation.' (Luke 19.42-44).
Then in Luke 21.24, He said, 'Jerusalem will be trodden down (ruled) by the
Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.' By this He
indicated that there would be a long period of Gentile rule over Jerusalem,
which would come to an end at the set time appointed by God. This time is
connected to His second coming. Psalm 102 states, 'You will arise and have
mercy on Zion; for the time to favour her, yes the set time has come. For
your servants take pleasure in your stones, and show favour to her dust (NB
they don't dump them in a land fill site) … For the Lord shall build up
Zion; He shall appear in His glory.' See also Acts 1.6-8.
Prior to this glorious event there will be one final period of trouble
centring on Jerusalem which will see 'the abomination of desolation spoken
of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place' (Matthew 24.15).
Exactly what this abomination will be remains to be seen, but the Bible
indicates that at the end of this age a wicked ruler (the Beast or
Antichrist) will make a false peace treaty with Israel leading to the
'abomination of desolation'. His motive for making peace will be to capture
the Temple Mount for his purpose, which will result in an act of idolatry to
be imposed on the whole world (Revelation 13.11-18).
A possible scenario to bring this about is as follows. The present stand off
between Israel and the Palestinians leads to a limited war involving the
nations surrounding Israel (Psalm 83). In the process the Dome of the Rock
is destroyed and the world comes close to all out war involving weapons of
mass destruction. A leader emerges out of the EU, which becomes a superpower
controlling the Euro-Mediterranean area in the manner of the old Roman
Empire, and mediates a 7-year peace treaty. This leader is looked upon as a
saviour by many in Israel and the rest of the world but turns out to be the
greatest deceiver of all. He unleashes the final conflict, which leads to
the Messiah Jesus, returning in power and glory to save the world from
destruction and to bring judgment on the wicked and deliverance to his
people.
A prophecy of this event is to be found in Zechariah 12-14, which contains
the revelation of the identity of the Messiah to the Jewish people. 'And I
will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on me whom they have
pierced; they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son.' One who
has been pierced (died by crucifixion) will come at the time of Israel's
greatest crisis to rescue the people he loves and died for and to set up his
Messianic kingdom in which there will be peace and justice at last.
Something to look forward to and something to get ready for by accepting him
as Saviour right now!
