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07:07 June 19th, 2009

Is there a place for God’s Holy Mountain in Jerusalem?

Posted by: Ari Rabinovitch
Tags: FaithWorld, , , , , , , , ,

God's Holy MountainAsher Frohlich’s painting of “God’s Holy Mountain” (at right) depicts a scene from an imagined future Jerusalem where Islam’s Dome of the Rock stands beside a rebuilt Jewish temple and worshipers of different faiths mingle in the courtyard.

Is this scene too good to come true?

The problem today, in the simplest of terms, stems from the fact that one spot in the heart of the old city of Jerusalem, is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. Jews know it as  the Temple Mount and Muslims call it al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary). For more about the religious history of the complex, click here.

Today, a gilded dome stands above a rock where Muslims believe Mohammad rose to heaven. It is the same spot where a sanctuary known as the ‘holy of holies’ of two ancient Jewish temples is believed to have been located. Many Jews still pray for the temple to be rebuilt, a step some believe would then herald the return of the Messiah and a time of world peace.

A project launched this week hopes to pave the way, through theological research and debate, to a new outlook that would allow all religions to share the complex. Part of this ”vision” is explained in depth in an entry on the Washington Post Web site.

ISRAEL/The group says the initiative is “based on five years of research into the requirements for the precise location of a rebuilt Temple”. Its web site quotes a passage from Jewish law, called Halacha, to argue that a new, nearby location could be chosen to build a third temple, not in the spot traditionally regarded as the correct site but has been occupied by the Dome of the Rock since the 7th century:

“Halachically, it is possible to extend the area of the Temple Mount as noted in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 1:5, Shevu’ot 2:2),” the passage said.  “A possible way of expanding the Temple Mount could be to build an earthen extension in a way that it becomes an integral part of the original mountain (Mount Moriah) and to sanctify that area per the methods described in Maimonides.”

Even if all three monotheistic religions re-examine their theological connections to the site, is it enough to lead to a remapping of the holy complex? Or, as even the project’s director Yoav Frankel acknowledges, would it take “a holy revelation given to an authentic prophet” to realize this vision?

10 comments so far

“A Peaceful Solution To
Building The Next Temple In Jerusalem”
Yisrayl Hawkins copyright 1989
yahweh.com/TemplePage/Temple.html

From the pages of the document….

“There is an absolutely amazing prophecy; a prophecy which Yechetzqyah was inspired by Yahweh to write. In it, he gives the measurements of the third Temple. These measurements have never been used before, in the manner in which Yechetzqyah gave them. The first Temple was built under Solomon; the second Temple was rebuilt under Zerubbabel; which was later refurbished by Herod. What makes this prophecy amazing is the fact that this prophecy reveals that Yechetzqyah saw the Temple Mount in our day, with a building which sits upon it at the present time. “

- Posted by The Prophetic Word Program

While everyone desires peace between all people, the interpreted vision suggested here is derived from the idea that the GOD of the Bible and Koran are the same. A careful study of both reveals that they are not the same and have many characteristics that are completely opposite. GOD’s final establishment of his eternal kingdom on a new earth will not be part of man’s plan nor be rooted in a compromise of his laws and values.

- Posted by Todd

AOA;

One thing all the world should now know that the concept of GOD in bible and Islam is the same.

- Posted by homequran

The prophecy writer Grant Jeffrey proposed this solution over a decade ago.He believes the actual location of the last temple was on another area of the temple-mount,not at the islamic site.
ken

- Posted by Kenneth Del Bianco

I don’t see the point at all. A new temple will be just that, a building, but what the Jewish people don’t realize is that even though the building may get built and prophecy tells us it will, that the Lord Himself will not be present. (Holy of Holies was where the Ark of the Covenant resided).
I guess we’ll see how this all comes together and when it does, those who tuely know the Lord had better get ready for a rough 7 year Tribulation.
God Bless y’all.

- Posted by Stephen R. Leach

Obadiah,Psalms 83, Galatians 4, all speak of a time after Israel’s restoration that Israel will destroy it’s enemies that live in and near it. The term used by God in Galatians 4 is “Kick out”.
Just as He did with the prophets of Bahl in the days of old, God will not share His worship with anyone.”Though shalt have no other god’s before Me” was a commandment that went beyond mear worship. God did not want to even see such worship anywhere near Him or His Holy Mountain. He even destroyed men like Aichen for even having temple artifacts, from another god, in his tent.
The reason why it is called the THIRD TEMPLE is, just as in the first two, it will be built on the exact same spot. God will not allow false gods to be worshiped anywhere in the vasinity of His Temple once it is built.

- Posted by Bill Hanson

Enforce herem!

- Posted by Tom

[In a Open Letter to the Israeli Prime Minister]:

So, Bibi, since you are not a Christian bound by
the New Covenant, but are instead the new Leader of Israel still bound by the Old Covenant and would/should have the courage of the ancient Israeli warriors,
there are plenty of us (Christians) who do admire your chutzpa of declaring, a day after you came back from your meeting with Obama, that “Jerusalem will forever remain the UNDIVIDED CAPITOL of Israel”.
Period.

Now, like Joshua & Co., who removed by force, all the dungy idols polluting the land of Israel when God sent them into The Promised Land and even after utterly destroying these pagan edifices, turned them
into PUBLIC PRIVIES! … what are you going to do about those edifices fouling the top of The Temple Mount?

Are YOU ready to remove them and then have conducted some form of purification and even a Hebrew version of an exorcism BEFORE building the 3rd Temple on the hallowed ground it is meant to be built upon?
Do you have THAT amount of moxie?

Look, it has to be done sooner or later.
Why not sooner? Just like Joshua would’ve done.
Remove the Dungy Idols.
Build God’s Temple upon the Mount that BELONGS TO ISRAEL.

Like ol’ Zola Levitt used to say:
“Israel has the oldest land deed in the world to the Temple Mount and it is found in the Holy Bible.”

Level the Pagan Idols and bulldoze them down the Southern Wall area right through the “Dung Gate” and into the Kidron Valley and then a little further south to the Valley of Hinnom - which would be PERFECT because in ancient times it was used for a GARBAGE DUMP!

C’mon Mr.Prime Minister.
Let’s get this show on the road!

Enforce herem!

- Posted by Tom

Islam is not idolatry!!! It is monotheism! According to Maimonides, Islam (like Christianity) is essential in spreading the message of the existence of the One (=entirely good, entirely just, etc.) monotheistic God. According to Halacha, a Jew may pray in a mosque and the Dome is a monotheistic shrine whose walls proclaim the unity of God on every entrance (http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Histor y/Islam/Inscriptions/DoTR.html). The Temple symbolizes the One God’s supreme moral rule over all humankind (http://www.godsholymountain.org/papers/ the_universal_temple.pdf) — if according to halacha the Dome and the Mosque can stay, there could hardly be a better way to proclaim this!

- Posted by Ohr

In Torah, prophets, Talmud, and Jewish history, the first and second temples were not just for the Jewish people, but for the entire world (see The Universal Temple). References in sacred Jewish texts to the role of non-Jews in the Temple are explicit, repeated, and striking. Please note this important paragraph in the Washington Post column, “<a href=A New Vision for God’s Holy Mountain”: While compromise is admirable in the pursuit of peace, a rebuilt temple according to this vision would be nothing of the kind. It would be the radical fulfillment of God’s original mandate to the Jewish people and of the original purpose of the Temple, to manifest the One God to the world. This would be more powerfully accomplished with Christian and Muslim shrines nearby along with the pilgrims that visit them. At the very same time, with a rebuilt Temple in peaceful proximity, Allah would be more powerfully manifested in the Dome and in the Al Aqsa Mosque, and likewise for God, the Prince of Peace, in surrounding churches. All would occur simultaneously because the world would then understand and embrace the prophecy of Zechariah 14:9, “On that day, God will be One and His Name One.”

- Posted by Ohr

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