Rabbis Hear A Radical Proposal

Golden Dome on the Temple Mount

From the Citizen newspaper, Johannesburg South Africa, 1
August 2000.

"Israel's top rabbis will for the first time give a
formal hearing to a potentially explosive proposal to build a synagogue on the
Temple Mount here, next to Islamic holy sites, a council official said
yesterday.

An attempt to build a synagogue on the Temple Mount, known to
Muslims as Haram as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, would likely spark violence
between Israelis and Palestinians.

However, the plan has little chance of being approved because
of religious constraints in Judaism, rabbinical officials said.

The Temple Mount, a raised, walled platform, sits on the
fault line of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The issue of control over
Jerusalem and its holy sites scuttled a Mideast peace summit last month between
Prime Minister Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat." End Quote.

For many years Christian believers and Jewish radicals
have attempted to assist God in setting up a Jewish place of worship on the
Temple Mount.

There is a warning, however, in the book of Revelation 11:1-2
that people should read and understand.

"And there was given me a reed like unto a rod, and the
angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them
that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and
measure it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they
tread under foot forty and two months."

Prophecy makes it clear that in the last days, just prior to
the coming of the Lord many things would happen in the area of Jerusalem. This
particular Scripture points out that the Temple Mount is an area on which a
certain section has been left to the Gentiles, probably the Arab Muslims who
have their Dome on the Rock placed in a very strategic site.

In the Scripture the Lord makes it clear that after the 42
months (three and a half years) period of Tribulation during which time the
world will go through terrible times, then the Lord will return again Himself
and build his temple just behind the Muslim Mosque.

We quote now Zechariah 6:12-13.

"And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of
hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH, and he shall grow
up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Even he shall
build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and
rule upon his throne, and he shall be a priest upon his throne..."

This Scripture makes it abundantly clear that individuals,
even those full of zeal in these last days should not attempt to settle that
problem on the Temple Mount, but leave it all to the Lord, who Himself will come
back and rebuild His temple after the three and a half years of Tribulation.

Our job in the mean time is to preach the gospel to every
creature, to show mercy and love toward the Jewish race as God is going to deal
again with them in kindness as He breathes upon them shortly and they will stand
up to be a great spiritual nation accepting that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed
their Messiah as promised by the Old Testament prophets.

Our job is to make them jealous and when they see that we
have something they need, be sure of this, they will go for it in a very big
way. However, the building of synagogues on that sacred site or even visiting
that area as Ariel Sharon did recently is certainly not God's answer to peace
and harmony in the area.

Proverbs 16:9 -– "A man's heart deviseth his way, but
the Lord directeth his steps."

The very best thing believers in God, living in the Middle
East, can possibly do is to commit the whole situation to God, for this is a
spiritual problem and needs a spiritual and divine answer.