During a recent visit to Morocco on March 30, 2019, Pope Francis and King Mohammed VI made an appeal that Jerusalem is important to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and that they be allowed freedom to pray to God, the Creator of all.  The text below is from Liberia Editrice Vaticana:

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On the occasion of the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to the Kingdom of Morocco, His Holiness and His Majesty King Mohammed VI, recognizing the unique and sacred character of Jerusalem / Al-Quds Acharif, and deeply concerned for its spiritual significance and its special vocation as a city of peace, join in making the following appeal:

“We consider it important to preserve the Holy City of Jerusalem / Al-Quds Acharif as the common patrimony of humanity and especially the followers of the three monotheistic religions, as a place of encounter and as a symbol of peaceful coexistence, where mutual respect and dialogue can be cultivated.

To this end, the specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the particular cultural identity of Jerusalem / Al-Quds Acharif must be protected and promoted.

It is our hope, therefore, that in the Holy City, full freedom of access to the followers of the three monotheistic religions and their right to worship will be guaranteed, so that in Jerusalem / Al-Quds Acharif they may raise their prayers to God, the Creator of all, for a future of peace and fraternity on the earth”.

Rabat, 30 March 2019

His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Amir al-Mu’minin

His Holiness Pope Francis

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What is certain is that Pope Francis, Mohammad VI, and the city of Jerusalem are historically verifiable persons and location.  What is absent from the agreement are three important points: 1) What is missing is a Jewish voice; 2) what is also missing is a discussion on the Temple Mount; and 3) what is missing also is the topic on Jesus as the Messiah. 

It certainly seems possible that you might find evidence among Muslims that Jesus is the Messiah (e.g., Arabic saying in the Dome of the Rock).  You might even find someone who is Jewish who acknowledges that Jesus is the Messiah (e.g., a Messianic Jew).  So in a sense, you might have two or more witnesses to Jesus as the Christ.  However, you also have the possibility of someone else claiming or being proclaimed as the Messiah (e.g., Simon bar Kokhba, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, or even Evie Moore).   

Where is this all leading?  Some will see this appeal as a call for peace in Jerusalem.  Others will argue it is an attempt to establish a false religion.  Others might interpret this as a call to maintain the present “status quo” in Jerusalem.  Time will tell.    

APPEAL BY HIS MAJESTY KING MOHAMMED VI AND HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS REGARDING JERUSALEM / AL-QUDS THE HOLY CITY AND A PLACE OF ENCOUNTER

A New Look at the Temple

A New Look at the Temple

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thinks it is possible that President Trump is like Queen Esther.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thinks it is possible that President Trump is like Queen Esther.

We have no choice in the trial that awaits us. But we do have a choice in how we respond.

Admonition: We have no choice in the trial that awaits us.  But we do have a choice in how we respond. 

The Zionist Imam

The Zionist Imam

The Al-Aqsa Mosque

The Al-Aqsa Mosque (الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى) is first mentioned in the Quran (Surah 17:1).  However, the present building on the south side of Temple Mount was built in the 7^th and 8^th centuries by Umayyad Caliphs Abd Al-Malik, and his son Al-Walid.  It may well be anachronistic to call this southernmost building on the Temple Mount the Al-Aqsa Mosque.  The 15^th century Muslim scholar Mujir Al-Din Al-Hanbali argued that Al-Aqsa originally encompassed what we know as the entire mount.  He states,

Verily, Al-Aqsa is a name for the whole mosque which is surrounded by the wall, the length and width of which are mentioned here, for the building that exists in the southern part of the Mosque, and the other ones such as the Dome of the Rock and the corridors and other [buildings] are novel (muhdatha).    

Firas Al-Sawway is a Syrian scholar.  He writes on mythology, religion, and history.  In a recent video clip from MEMRI TV dated March 3, 2019, Sawway argues,

The Al-Aqsa Mosque that is mentioned in the Quran is not the place we know today. The one who said that this place in Jerusalem is the Al-Aqsa Mosque was Abd Al-Malik Ibn Marwan. He wanted to build a holy place there and decided to call it the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Historians say that this place indeed became a Qibla for the Muslims at that time. People from all over the world came to visit it, and it has remained a holy place to this day.    

It seems there are several ways to interpret all of the above: 1) someone might suggest that the Quran’s reference to the Al-Aqsa was not located on the Temple Mount, but somewhere else; 2) another view might argue that Al-Aqsa in the Quran refers to the entire mount and that the area belongs entirely to Moslems and not to Jews; or 3) someone might reason that the Al-Aqsa refers to the entire mount, but this area was where the Jewish Temple once stood and that the Israeli people still have a claim to the sacred space.  It is interesting that when the Quran speaks of the Jewish Temple, it uses the term الْمَسْجِدَ, which literally means mosque (Surah 17:7). Perhaps the temple (الْمَسْجِدَ) is in a real sense the most distant mosque in time and space.  God will again show His mercy.    

Dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque (2017)

Wider View of Dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Southern Side of Temple Mount (2017)

Southern View of Dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque (2017)

Jerusalem and God's Peace (Haggai 2:9)

Most of us probably know Star Wars.  We might think of the science fiction epic created by George Lucas in the 1970s, or the missile defense system proposed in the US in the 1980s.  When we hear “satellite wars” we might imagine satellites in space waging war in the heavens or launching attacks upon earth. 

I envision a different kind of conflict.  Presently it is a war of words, rhetoric, and ideologies revolving around the place of ascent.  A man, a woman, and her children surrounded by a number of nations.  Some are Moslem, others Christian, others are secular, and some are even communist.  Some, though not all, are of good will.  In Syria, Turkish President Erdogan appears to have a hand in the new Waqf council that rules over the mount.  Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, speaks out concerning the hill.  King Abdullah II of Jordan is a supporter of the Waqf Islamic Trust, which oversees the palisade.  Pope Francis visited the Dome of the Rock on the esplanade in 2014 with Sheik Omar Abboud and Rabbi Abrahan Skorka who are friends of the pope from Argentina and traveled with him on his visit to the Middle East.  During the visit Francis called for “respect and love” among the Abrahamic religions as “brothers and sisters.”  Russian President Putin has visited Israel several times and expressed his solidarity with the sacred space.    President Trump visited the Western Wall during a portion of his visit to Jerusalem in 2017.  Although he has made it clear that he supports Israel, recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and has moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem, the president has not made public his position on the high point.  Prime Minister Netanyahu acknowledges the importance of the Temple Mount to the peoples of three monotheistic religions, but has made it clear that he upholds the Status Quo. * 

So there are presently a number of leaders who extend a line of influence toward the Temple Mount.  These satellites of nations encompass the Old City of Jerusalem.  In the coming days it will be eventful on the mount.  Prayerfully, I ask that all will be able to live peaceful and godly lives in Jerusalem.  When I visited the old city in 2017, I experienced a sign.  Literally, I saw it and I heard it.  On the wall was a saying in three languages (Hebrew, Arabic, and English). 

When I entered this man greeted me “Peace.” 

I walked away realizing that one day God will fulfill his promise of Peace.

God’s Peace (Hag 2:9)

Doors broken off at Gate of Mercy.

Last Friday a group of Palestinians tore off doors at the Gate of Mercy.  The doors lead to a building adjacent to the east wall of the Temple Mount that has been the site of conflict in recent weeks.  In response the Jerusalem Magistrate Court ordered that the building be closed.  The Waqf has been given 60 days to respond. 

Doors at the Mercy Gate (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

Broken Doors near Mercy Gate (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

How Many Mosques on the Temple Mount?

The Al-Aqsa Mosque was first built by the Caliph Umar in the 7th century, though in later centuries renovated and at times rebuilt.  Until recently, that prayer space was the only Muslim mosque on the Temple Mount for around 1400 years.  Only in the last 23 years have Muslims been adding more mosques on the site.  Solomon’s Stables, which are large underground vaulted areas near the south east corner of the Temple Mount, were converted into the El-Marwani Mosque that was dedicated in 1996.  Although not technically a mosque, the Dome of the Rock also has become a place of prayer.  And of course, most recently the Waqf has attempted to turn the space adjacent to the Golden Gate into a mosque.  Surprisingly, the most recent prayer areas have all been established while Netanyahu has been Prime Minister of Israel (1996-1999 and 2009-to present), which has led one recent writer to pejoratively call him “Father of the Temple Mount Mosques.”     

When I visited Jerusalem in the summer of 2017, I remember taking pictures of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock, the area above the El-Marwani Mosque, and the area near the Mercy Gate where tensions have recently flared up.  One memory that stands out is walking toward a fenced off area that seemed to lead down near the south east corner of the mount.  A man started to shout to me from a distance to turn back and stay away.  It was only later that I learned that this was the area that the Muslim Waqf authority had excavated, and the area of the El-Marwani Mosque.      

Dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque: Taken from Outside the Temple Mount (Summer 2017)

Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Distance (Summer 2017)

Dome of the Rock (Summer 2017)

Dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque: Taken from Inside the Temple Mount (Summer 2017) 

Two teenagers are said to have thrown firebomb on Temple Mount.

Two 15-year-old boys are said to have admitted that they hurled a firebomb at an Israeli police station on the Temple Mount this past Tuesday after seeing a video of an Israeli police officer walking on prayer rugs in the building near the Gate of Mercy.  The two boys will be detained through Saturday. 

  

People at the Temple Mount complex on March 14, 2019. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi

Israeli Police close Temple Mount

Israeli Police closed the Temple Mount on Tuesday after a fire was set in a police station on the mount.  The blaze was the result of something being hurled at the station.  Tensions followed the incident as police evacuated the mount.  The Temple Mount will reopen Wednesday. 

Explosive device thrown on Temple Mount  (photo credit: ARAB SOCIAL MEDIA)

Tug-A-War in the Temple Mount

It has been something like tug-a-war near the Gate of Mercy in the Temple Mount.  Palestinians have taken over a building near the Gate of Mercy (Golden Gate), which Israeli forces closed in 2003, and have turned it into a place for prayer.  However, an Israeli court warned that they would order the closure of the contested area if the Muslim Waqf failed to close the site.  Israeli police refused to remove their shoes when they entered the building used for prayer near the gate.        

King Abdullah II traveled to Washington on Saturday in order to speak to Congress about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general and specifically the new tensions that have arisen between the Israeli police and the Muslim Waqf at the Gate of Mercy.  An Israeli delegation had visited Jordan earlier this week, but no resolutions were made concerning the current crisis. 

The Gate of Mercy building in the Temple Mount, Jerusalem, March 7, 2019 (Credit: AFP)