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Israel, Islam, Jerusalem and Bible
Prophecy Part II
Abraham’s other descendents
The
modern connection of Islam and Israel stretches
back through time to our modern day. The
confrontation was foreshadowed 4000-years ago in
Genesis chapter 21. In this scene, Sarah,
Abraham’s wife, finally has the child promised
by God, Isaac, his name means, laughter. After
the baby is weaned, which is normally about
9-month to 2-years after birth, there is a
celebration. During this celebration, Sarah
sees Hagar the mother Ishmael scoffing at her
and Isaac. Sarah then demands Abraham cast
Hagar and Ishmael out, to protect the
inheritance of Isaac. Abraham agreed after God
promised to look after Hagar and Ishmael, who
are then sent away.
5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his
son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, "God has made me laugh, and
all who hear will laugh with me."
7 She also said, "Who would have said to Abraham
that Sarah would nurse children? For I have
borne him a son in his old age."
8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham
made a great feast on the same day that Isaac
was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian,
whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing.
10 Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this
bondwoman and her son; for the son of this
bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely
with Isaac."
11 And the matter was very displeasing in
Abraham's sight because of his son.
12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be
displeasing in your sight because of the lad or
because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has
said to you, listen to her voice; for in
Isaac your seed shall be called.
13 "Yet I will also make a nation of the son
of the bondwoman, because he is your seed."
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and
took bread and a skin of water; and putting it
on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to
Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and
wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. Genesis
21:5-14
From that point on, the descendents of
Ishmael, who now include many of the people in
the Middle East and predominately Muslim, have
tried to reclaim the right given to Isaac. The
link between Ishmael and the other descendents
of Abraham are these.
·
The Edomites are descendents of Esau, brother of
Jacob, son of Isaac.
·
The Ammonites and Moabites are descendents of
Lot and his two daughters, nephew to Abraham.
They settled in what is now known as Jordan.
·
The Midianites, Sheba and Dedan are descendents
of Abraham through Keturah, his wife after
Sarah’s death (Gen. 25:1-4). These settled in
the Sinai and Southern Arabia in the area of
Yemen, the kingdom of Sheba (Queen of Sheba).
God clearly promised to make Ishmael
and his descendents a great nation, but God also
reserved the covenant
with
Isaac and later Jacob (Gen. 32:24-32). The
descendents of Ishmael later intermarried with
other descendents of Abraham, bonding the
nations (Gen. 28;9, 37:27), of Abraham outside
of Isaac and Jacob. So today, many people
throughout the Arab and Muslim world claim
descent from Abraham through Ishmael.
Why is this claim important? What does
it have to do with the end-times? First, we
know from the prophets, both in the Old and New
Testaments, in the last days Israel and
Jerusalem would be the focus of nations.
(Zechariah 12:1-3). Many of Abraham’s
descendents, outside of Jacob, will try to claim
the Biblical birthright of Isaac and Jacob.
However, God confirmed his agreement in several
ways with Isaac and Jacob. One proof is
Abraham’s tomb, in Hebron. There, Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, with their wives Sarah, Rebecca
and Leah rest. Ishmael and Esau are not at
Abraham’s grave, only the line of Biblical
covenant is there. Ishmael attended the funeral
of Abraham, he came to Hebron when Abraham died,
but not buried there, only Isaac was. Now many
of these descendents are at odds with Jacob’s
descendents.
So in many ways, the current conflict
between Israel and the Muslim nations, is a
continuation of a conflict, which began
4000-years ago, two families competing for the
blessing of Abraham. Isaac was the “son of
promise” and the “son of faith”,
while Hagar’s son Ishmael was the “son of
unbelief” and the “son of human effort”.
This is an important point, before Ishmael and
Hagar, God promised a child to Abraham through
Sarah. Sarah was old, therefore Sarah thought
she needed to help God’s promise along, she
therefore gave her husband, her bondwoman Hagar
to fulfill God’s promise. She did not believe
God could accomplish his promise, demonstrating
a lack of faith. Secondly, she felt she
needed to accomplish God’s promise for Him, so
she tried to fulfill the promise through Hagar,human effort.
This conflict between these two
descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael
ultimately will be demonstrated in a building
central to Judaism and important to Islam. This
building, known the world over as the Dome of
the Rock, or in Jewish circles, the
Temple Mount will become the center focus in
the end-times.
The Dome of the Rock and the Temple Mount
For the non-religious, the importance
of a gold domed building in downtown Jerusalem,
as the center of world
conflict,
seems like a stretch. This is usually the view
of those, who lack historical perspective or
reject the realm of the super-natural. First,
we need to understand, the Dome of the Rock is a
building, constructed more then 1300-years ago,
about A.D. 687 on the location of the Temple
Mount. In A.D. 637, the armies of Islam
defeated Byzantium for control over Palestine,
under the leadership of the third Caliphate
Omar.
The Byzantines used the Temple Mount as
a garbage dump, and according to Muslim
tradition, Omar cleared the area and offered
prayers on the Temple Mount, he had a Mosque
built, which became known as the Noble
Sanctuary, about 50-years later the gold
domed, Dome of the Rock would be
constructed under the 9th Caliphate.
To the Muslims, this building is known as the,
al-Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary.
This building is the third most holy site to
Islam, following Mecca and Medina. Here Muslims
believe, Mohammad traveled in a night journey
and ascended to the top of Mt. Moriah, to
commune with the former prophets and God, who
established Islam under Mohammad.
The problem is, though the building is
the third most holy building to Islam, it is themost holy location to the Jews. This is
the location of Solomon’s Temple and the rebuilt
Temple (First and Second Temples). The link
between the Jewish nation and Mt. Moriah,
predates Islam by thousands of years. This
history can summarized in the Table below.
|
Year |
Event/Biblical Record |
|
@ 2050 B.C. |
Abraham called to Moriah, God promises
to give the land Abraham and his seed.
Through Abraham, all the nations would
be blessed. Genesis 12:1-7 |
|
|
Abraham takes Isaac to the top of Moriah
in a test of faith, to offer him as a
sacrifice. God intervenes providing a
ram in the place of Isaac. Genesis 22,
Hebrew 11:8-9 |
|
1000 B.C. |
David plans First Temple, he is not
permitted to build it. (2 Samuel 7:1-17)
David purchases Threshing Floor of
Araunah, site of First Temple and erects
altar of sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. (2
Samuel 24:1-25 1 Chronicles 21:1-22:5) |
|
960 B.C. |
Solomon constructs Temple to the Lord,
which God accepts and sanctifies. God
warns the building would come to ruin
and the people expelled from the land if
they turn away. 2 Chronicles 7:19-20, I
Kings 8 |
|
605 B.C. |
Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem,
taking hostages and Temple treasures to
Babylon.
Daniel 1:2 |
|
September 592 B.C. |
Ezekiel taken to the Temple and shown
the secret idol worship and apostasy,
God warns He is about to destroy the
Temple. Ezekiel 8-9 |
|
Summer
587 B.C |
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon destroys
the city of Jerusalem and the Temple 2
Kings 25 |
|
April 573 B.C. |
Ezekiel proclaims the Temple of the
Glory of the Lord on Mt. Moriah. Ezekiel
40-43 |
|
539 B.C. |
Cyrus the Great defeats Babylon, allows
the Jews to return to land of Israel and
begin rebuild the Temple, Second Temple
period begins. Ezra 1-3 |
|
516 B.C. |
Second
Temple
is completed Zechariah 4;9, Haggai 2:9,
Malachi 3:1, |
|
331 |
Alexander the Great spares Jerusalem and
the Temple the he sees the High Priest,
confirming his dream. Josephus,
Zechariah 9:8 |
|
December 15, 167 B.C. |
Antiochus Epiphanies desecrates Temple
proclaiming himself god, and sacrificing
a pig at the Holy of Holies. Daniel
8:9, Daniel 11:21-35 |
|
162 B.C. |
Godly Jews under Matthias begin revolt
culminating in repossession of
Jerusalem. (1 Maccabees) Hanukah.
Daniel 11:32 |
|
63 B.C. |
Romans conquer Jerusalem, General Pompey
enters the Temple, Holy of Holies. Roman
period begins. |
|
40 B.C. |
Herod the Edomite, made King of Judah by
the Romans, expands Temple area. Herod
later kills the children of Bethlehem |
|
A.D.12-16 |
Jesus found in the Temple as a child,
after being separated from Mary and
Joseph |
|
A.D. 33 |
Jesus proclaims the coming destruction
of the Temple in A.D. 70. |
|
A.D. 70 |
Armies of Rome led by Titus, destroy the
city of Jerusalem and the Temple as
foretold by Jesus and Daniel, after the
death of Messiah. Over 1-million Jews
are killed by Romans. Daniel 9:26,
Matthew 23:38-39, 24:1-2 |
|
A.D. 135 |
Hadrian installs Temple to Jupiter on
the Temple Mount, causing Jews to
revolt, in the Bar Kochba rebellion.
Rabbi Akiva proclaims Bar Kochba the
Messiah, Hadrian crushes rebellion,
580,000 Jews die. Jerusalem leveled and
rebuilt a Roman city named Aelia
Capitolina, Jew are forbidden to
enter. |
|
A.D. 312 |
Rome becomes Christian under
Constantine, Temple Mount used as a
garbage dump. |
|
A.D. 362 |
Julian the Apostate, allows Jews to
rebuild the Temple, foundation explodes
causing construction to stop. Julian
later dies in battle, causing
construction to stop. |
|
A.D. 637 |
Islam conquers Jerusalem and Temple
Mount from the Byzantine Kingdom, under
the 3rd Caliphate, Omar.
Noble Sanctuary built on Temple Mount. |
|
A.D. 687-690 |
Dome of the Rock built to proclaim the
faith of Islam, and Mohammad’s ascension
into Heaven on his “Night vision”. |
|
1099-1187 |
Crusaders Conquer Jerusalem and Temple
from the Muslim establish Crusader era.
Ending with the re-conquest of Islam
over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. |
|
1917 |
British capture Jerusalem from Muslim
Turks, during World War I |
|
May 1948 |
Jerusalem proclaimed capital of Jewish
State after Jews defeat Arab armies. |
|
1967 |
Jews take control of the Temple Mount
after 6-day war. The first time in over
2100-years, a Jewish nation has control
of the Temple Mount. |
|
Spring 1982 |
Union of Third Temple Groups, "To the
Mountain of the Lord," "The Faithful of
the Temple Mount," and the "Jerusalem
Temple Foundation." Planning for the
Third Temple. |
Though Islam is not mentioned
specifically in the Bible, Islam involvement
with the Temple Mount, and the link of Islamic
peoples with Israel, demonstrates Islam plays a
major role in the End-times. For one, we know
from the book of Daniel, the Dome of the Rock
is removed before the Third Temple is
completed. Secondly, the Third Temple is the
focus of a peace agreement, which is broken
after 3.5 years.
The role of the Temple Mount and the
rebuilding of the Third Temple is central to the
end-time events in the Bible. Both the Old and
New Testaments refer to seminal event known as
the Abomination of Desolation, as a key
milestone in the end of the times. The
Abomination of Desolation requires a Temple on
the Temple Mount. In that case, the Dome of the
Rock, at some point prior to the Temple, is
removed. Muslims have signaled such an event
will lead to a World War of Islam against
Israel.
What exactly is the Temple Mount? The Temple
Mount is a platform, built around Mt. Moriah,
allowing the Temple to be over Mt. Moriah, a
small elevated hill. During the time of Herod,
this Temple Mount platform was expanded, to its
current status..
What is the Abomination of Desolation?
The term refers to a future event on the Temple
Mount, at the Third Temple. Jesus specifically
refers to this event in
Matthew
24:15 and Mark 13:14, quoting from Daniel (Also
see Luke 21:43). Jesus also links this event to
the tribulation and the end of days. Jesus
said,
14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in all the world as a witness to all
the nations, and then the end will come.
15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination
of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, standing in the holy place”
(whoever reads, let him understand),
16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the
mountains.
21 “For then there will be great tribulation,
such as has not been since the beginning of the
world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 “And unless those days were shortened, no
flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s
sake those days will be shortened.
27 “For as the lightning comes from the east and
flashes to the west, so also will the coming
of the Son of Man be.
28 “For wherever the carcass is, there the
eagles will be gathered together.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of
those days the sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light; the stars will
fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
will be shaken.
30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will
appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of
the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son
of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power
and great glory.
Matthew 24:14-16, 21-22,27-30
In verse 14, Jesus refers to the end, and then
starts verse 15, with, “therefore” meaning “the
end” is linked with what
follows
regarding the “Abomination of desolation”. To
amplify this point that the Abomination of
Desolation refers to the end, Jesus goes on to
define this time period, with specific
qualifiers. These qualifiers are,
·
Great tribulation, unequaled in the history of
the world
·
No flesh would be saved unless the time was cut
short
·
The coming of the Son of Man
·
Immediately after the tribulation
·
The earth will mourn the appearance of the Son
of Man
When Jesus refers to the Abomination of
Desolation, he is referring to a future event,
written about in the book of Daniel. Therefore,
what does Daniel mean, when he refers to the
Abomination of Desolation? For one it
involves the Temple, because he refers to the
Holy Place, which is clearly a reference to the
Temple, since there is only one “Holy Place”.
Also, the Hebrew words in Daniel indicate refer
to this event 3-times.
31 "And forces shall be mustered by him, and
they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then
they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and
place there the abomination of desolation.
Daniel 11:31
11 "And from the time that the daily sacrifice
is taken away, and the abomination of
desolation is set up, there shall be one
thousand two hundred and ninety days. Daniel
12:11
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many
for one week; But in the middle of the week He
shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one
who makes desolate, Even until the
consummation, which is determined, Is poured out
on the desolate." Daniel 9:27
Daniel actually refers to the act of
abomination four times, three times directly and
one time in inference in chapter 8. He
describes the Abomination against the Temple of
God, where a specific act of sacrilege which
takes place, causing the Temple to become
desolate. In all four times, Daniel connects
the act to the Temple. The Hebrew words used
are
#wqqX
Shiqquwts,
meaning detestable thing, or idol (Abomination).
The other word is
~mX
Shamem,
meaning to lay waste, to be astonished, to
devastate. The meaning here is clear, and is
borne out by history and prophecy. Daniel was
referring to a future event, when the Temple was
be “Desolated” by an Abomination or Idol set up
on the Holy of Holies.
Daniel prophesied about the act of Antiochus
Epiphanies,
who would do precisely that by setting up an
image of Zeus in the Temple, and offering a pig
as a sacrifice. This setting up an
“Abomination”, an idol, caused the Temple to be
“Desolated”. This is precisely what the First
book of Maccabees calls it, the Abomination of
Desolation.
{1:54} Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu,
in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up
the abomination of desolation upon the
altar, and builded idol altars throughout the
cities of Juda on every side; I Maccabees 1:54
Daniel referred to this event in Daniel
chapter 8, which would be fulfilled in the near
term 400-years after it was spoken, since Daniel
wrote chapter 8 about 551 B.C., and it was
fulfilled in about 167 B.C. In this action,
Antiochus stopped the Temple sacrifice, and set
up an image in the Temple.
11 He even exalted himself as high as the Prince
of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices
were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary
was cast down.
12 Because of transgression, an army was given
over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices;
and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all
this and prospered.
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another
holy one said to that certain one who was
speaking, "How long will the vision be,
concerning the daily sacrifices and the
transgression of desolation, the giving of both
the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under
foot?" Daniel 8:11-13
This short-term fulfillment pointed the way
toward an end-time fulfillment, when another
Abomination of Desolation would
occur.
This is what Jesus is referring to, since Jesus
is talking about a future event, not the one,
which occurred 200-years earlier.
19 And he said, "Look, I am making known to you
what shall happen in the latter time of the
indignation; for at the appointed time the end
shall be.
23 "And in the latter time of their kingdom,
When the transgressors have reached their
fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce
features, Who understands sinister schemes.
24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own
power; He shall destroy fearfully, And shall
prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty,
and also the holy people Daniel 8:19-24
The angel Gabriel describes this event occurring
in the Daniel chapter 8, as being in the latter
time, and involving a period, when a future
leader (the Antichrist) would persecute the
Jewish people. Jesus also refers to this
end-time persecution of the Jewish people in
Matthew 24:16. All this will lead to the Second
Coming (Matthew 24:19-20). This event is also
referred to in Revelation 13:14, 14:9, when an
image is set up in the Temple. Paul also refers
to this event, which requires a Third Temple, to
be built on the Temple Mount.
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that
Day will not come unless the falling away comes
first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son
of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that
is called God or that is worshiped, so that
he sits as God in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
The Antichrist, in the end, will sit in the
Temple, built on the Dome of the Rock site, and
proclaim himself god, demanding the whole world
worship him. This event happens in the middle
of the 7-year tribulation period (See the 70
Weeks of Daniel).
The point here is this, in order for the
Abomination of Desolation to occur, there needs
to be a Jewish Temple, which requires the Dome
of the Rock’s removal. Therefore, there is
coming a conflict with Islam and Israel, which
will be greater then any conflict yet to occur.
The Bible refers to this coming conflict, in
Ezekiel 38 and 39, as the battle of Gog and
Magog.
The Third Temple and Islam
Islamic nations are aware of the threat to the
Dome of the Rock, by building a Jewish Temple.
In 1967, when Israel
captured
the Dome of the Rock, then Rabbi Shlomo Goren
asked the commanding officer, General Uzi
Narkiss, to allow him to destroy the Dome of the
Rock and begin construction of a Third Temple.
Only since the death of Uzi Narkis has this
conversation come to light, this event was
reported in the Jewish Newspaper Haaretz, and
was recorded here by Middleeast.org.
The landmark mosque is atop the
Temple Mount - last remnant of the ancient
Jewish temples and a flash point for conflicts
between Jews and Muslims. Arabs have long been
suspicious that Jews want to destroy the mosque,
a move that would inflame the Muslim world.
Rabbi Shlomo Goren's remarks were quoted in an
interview that retired Maj. Gen. Uzi Narkiss
gave to the Haaretz newspaper in May. Narkiss
stipulated that nothing be published until
everyone involved in the discussion had died,
Haaretz said. Narkiss, who led Israel's capture
of Jerusalem's Old City, died Dec. 17. Goren
died in 1994. According to Haaretz,
Goren made his remarks a few hours after
theTemple Mount - known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif,
or "Noble Sanctuary," fell into Israel's hands
on June 7, 1967.
"The paratroopers wandered around the plaza as
if in a dream," Narkisswas quoted as saying.
"Rabbi Shlomo Goren was among them. I was alone
for a moment, lost in thought, when Rabbi Goren
approached me. 'Uzi,' Rabbi Goren said to me.
'Now is the time to put 100 kilograms of
explosives into the Mosque of Omar so that we
may rid ourselves of it once and for all.' "I
said to him, 'Rabbi, enough.'
"He said, 'Uzi, you will go down in history if
you do this.'
"I answered, 'My name will already be written in
the history books of Jerusalem.'
"But Goren persisted. 'You don't grasp what
tremendous significance this would have. This is
an opportunity that can be taken advantage of
now, at this moment. Tomorrow it will be too
late.' "I said 'Rabbi, if you
don't stop, I'll take you to jail.'
"Thus the discussion, which only lasted a few
minutes, came to an end. Rabbi Goren turned and
walked away in silence."
Over the years, Jewish movement to build a Third
Temple has intensified, currently there exists
parties in the Israeli government, who would
begin construction of the Third Temple by first
removing the Dome of the Rock. Within in the
Likud party, Moshe Feiglin who heads a faction
known as the Jewish Leadership, Manhigut
Yehudit, has openly called for the
rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. There are
others also, including
National Union-National Religious Party MK, Uri
Ariel's who in October 2006, called for building
a synagogue on the Temple Mount, an act which
would inflame the Muslim
world.
Jewish and Muslim groups understand what a Third
Temple means it means a confrontation between
Islam and Israel. One that could eventually
pull in many nations, even those not involved in
the struggle.
This is precisely what the Bible says will
happen, Jerusalem and Israel in the end of days,
will become the center of world focus.
Zechariah wrote 2500-years ago,
3 "And it shall happen in that day that I will
make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all
peoples; all who would heave it away will surely
be cut in pieces, though all nations of the
earth are gathered against Zechariah
12:3
The New Testament book of Revelation, tells us
the end-time battle will take place in Israel,
in the hills of Meggido, better known as
Armageddon.
14 For they are spirits of demons, performing
signs, which go out to the kings of the earth
and of the whole world, to gather them to the
battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15
"Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he
who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he
walk naked and they see his shame." 16 And they
gathered them together to the place called in
Hebrew, Armageddon. Revelation 16:14-16
So in the very end, Israel is the point of
focus, this however is preceded by the events on
the Temple Mount site, and conflict with Islam,
setting the stage for the end-times in the book
of Revelation.
