Update on Jewish Prayer on the Temple Mount

In an article by Rayhan Uddin in the Middle East Eye, Israeli Minister Ben Gvir says, “If I could do what I wanted, a synagogue would…be established on the Temple Mount.”  There have been mixed responses to Gvir’s statement.  Uddin points out that the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said that there are no plans to change the “status quo” on the Temple Mount.  Uddin adds that some Israeli ministers and politicians were critical of Gvir’s remarks, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Interior Minister Moshe Arbel.  However, not all agree with their criticism.  In 7Israel National News, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, founder of the Temple Institute, claims there was some support among the Chief Rabbinate Council in 2000 for a Jewish synagogue on the Temple Mount.  However, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron is to have argued that the majority of the council was against building a synagogue on the Temple Mount for religious reasons.

 

With all that being said, there are those who argue against the “status quo” and for Jewish freedom to pray on the Temple Mount.  In a recent opinion piece, Michael Freund insists there is no Temple Mount “status quo” because the Wakf and Palestinians trampled it.  Jeremy Sharon reports that Israeli Police have been allowing Jewish worshipers to prostrate and pray on the east side of the Temple Mount in recent weeks; this practice is said to have begun around 2018 but has increased since August 13, 2024.   

Jewish worshippers prostrate themselves on the Temple Mount during a prayer service at the holy site,
August 28, 2024. (Jeremy Sharon/Times of Israel)

Old Testament Land Promises and Israel Today

I came across three articles that discuss the theme of the "land promise" made to Israel in the Old Testament and how they relate to the present state of Israel’s existence in the Middle East.  All three articles are dated November 17, 2023, thus all three were written following the Hamas’ attack against Israel on October 7^th of that same year.  Gregory Beale's article is titled “On the Expected Universalization of the Old Testament Land Promises,” Darrell Bock’s article is entitled, “On Israel’s Role in the Land Promise,” Gerald R. McDermott's article is titled “On Why the Land Promises Belong to Ethnic Israel.”

McDermott argues against supersessionism—that is, the idea that the Christian church has superseded the Jewish people of Israel.  Rather, the land promises belong to ethnic Israel.  McDermott claims, “Jesus predicted a time when Jews would have political control over their capital. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say the beginning of Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem could be seen as a fulfillment of prophecy by the New Testament Jesus.”

Beale investigates the land promise to Israel in the Old Testament.  He sees that the promises were meant to extend beyond the ancient borders to envelop the "whole earth."  The ancient location of the land promises in Canaan evolved to encompass the whole earth.  This “eschatological expansion of Israel’s borders” was part of “God’s predestined plan.”  In this present age, the promises have already begun to be perfected spiritually in Christ, and the land promises will find their ultimate physical fulfillment in the new heavens and new earth.  Thus, Beale concludes, “none of the references to the promise of Israel’s land in the Old Testament appears to be related to the promises of ethnic Israel’s return to the promised land on this present earth. What’s going on in Israel today is in God’s predestined plan, but it’s not any kind of fulfillment of his promises in the Old Testament.”

Block argues, "Whatever else happens with the Christ promise, whatever expansion the promise involves, it doesn't involve the elimination of the original commitments."  He asserts, "The New Testament stresses Gentile inclusion not Israelite exclusion from the promise." Block insists that the New Testament hope includes Israel, which is found in texts such as Matthew 19:28; Luke 13:34-35; 21:20-24; 22:30; Acts 1:6-7; 3:18-22; 26:7; and Romans 9-11.  

YMCA - Jerusalem, Israel

Tisha B’Av (תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב)

As Tisha B’Av 2024 approaches—this is a fast day that remembers the destruction of the First Jewish Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and the razing of the Second Jewish Temple by the Romans in 70 CE—Israel awaits the reports that Iran could launch an attack on Israel this week.  At the time of this post, I am watching the Western Wall Live camera in Jerusalem.  The time stamp is 23:52.  There are many gathered at the wall.  There are some Jews who argue that the Jewish Temple belongs to Israel’s past.  However, not all agree.  Rabbi Sam Millunchick argues that,      

On Tishah b’Av, we grieve not only for the physical loss of the Temple but also for what that loss represents — our current distance from the ideal relationship with the Divine that the Temple embodies. We yearn for a day, soon to come, when we are again worthy of God’s presence.

Is Iran planning to attack Israel?

According to the Jerusalem Post, Iran is planning to attack Israel on Tisha B’Av, which begins this month on Monday, August 12^th, and ends Tuesday, August 13^th.  On Tisha B’Av, the first and second temples were destroyed.  On this day, Jews fast, mourn and remember the destruction of the temples in Jerusalem.  The planned attack is said to be in response to the assassination of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran.

Iran plans to attack Israel on Tisha B’Av - the Jewish day of disasters, Western intelligence says (msn.com)