"If you build it they will come." To the avid baseball fan, this famous movie quote may bring to mind a cool summer evening at the ballpark filled with homeruns and hotdogs or of the days when Kevin Costner made a decent movie. But if you are a Muslim living in the Middle East, that same quote may strike a chord of anger or even fear. You may ask yourself why would those seven seemingly insignficant words create such disdain among the Muslim people. Well, for the past few decades there has been an ongoing battle for the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This battle has pit the Muslims, with their Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, against the Jewish people and their plans to rebuild their sacred Temple. The Muslims consider this spot their 3rd holiest site in the world because it is believed to be the place where Muhammad ascended to heaven. The Jewish people also consider this place holy because it is the place where the first two Jewish Temples used to stand.
For a brief history of the Temple Mount click here.
The battle has heated up in the past few decades because the Jewish people have been diligently preparing to rebuild the Temple and according to one Muslim Sheikh, Raad Salah, they are now closer than ever to accomplishing their goal. Salah announced this week that he believed that the newly elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would try to rebuild the temple during his term in office. Salah warns that the Rebuilt Temple would bring danger to Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and is therefore making a call for the arab nations to mobilize and come together to "confront their duty" regarding this problem.
Read the full story here.
Whether or not the muslim nations heed his call to join him in his "fight" against the rebuilding of the Temple is irrelevant because according to the Bible there will be a rebuilt Jewish Temple in the "last days". In Daniel 9:27, Daniel prophesies that, "He [the Anti-Christ] will confirm a covenant [peace treaty] with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him" (emphasis mine). As you may have realized, in order for the Anti-Christ to put an end to sacrifice and offering in the Temple there has to be a Temple first. But Daniel isn't the only book of the Bible that refers to the rebuilt Temple, here are some more: 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Revelation 11:2 , and Matthew 24:15. According to the Bible, the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt prior to the "last days" and according to at least on Muslim Sheikh could be in the very near future!
Check out the Official Jewish Temple website: http://www.templeinstitute.org
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