The Truth About the Temple Mount

Tonight we want to talk to you about the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and talk to you about that specifically because that is the issue. Concerning the events in the land of Israel. I'm afraid that if you watch a lot of CNN or MS or whatever it is you watch, You have been taken for a ride on many issues concerning the nation of Israel. I hinted at it not too long ago, I think it was maybe last week or the week before. The TV calls it the land of Palestine. You know, that's not right. That's wrong. I'm going to tell you why.

Turn to me to Ezekiel 37. We're going to be in a lot of verses this evening, and so maybe you might not have to get to all of them yet, but just as an introductory. I just want to let you know that God has always called it the land of Israel. That's the way it's always been, that's the way it always is. It's those of us in modern-day time who have decided to call it the land of Palestine. Ezekiel 37 says this, verse number 11. Then he said to me, Son of man, These bones are the whole house of Israel.

Behold, they say, our bones are dried up. Our hope has perished. We are completely cut off. Therefore, prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people, and I will bring you into Palestine. Or what? The land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. And I will put my spirit within you, and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land.

Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, declares the Lord. Whose land is God going to put his people on? Their land. Whose is that? Israel. It's their land. Now if you have the opportunity to go with us to Israel in the springtime, we will go to a place called Masada. On top of Masada, they had a synagogue. And in that synagogue, they had a portion of Ezekiel 37. That's how they know that the Jewish people up there, the location in which they excavated, was the synagogue they used to worship God because it was the vision.

Of the dry bones that was interpreted for Ezekiel for them to have hope and courage for the future. That one day God was going to resurrect them, that one day God was going to restore them, that one day God was going to give them the land. The Romans had come in and they had destroyed the people. They had ravaged the city in 70 A. And of course in 74 A it was all over on top of Masada when over a thousand Jews killed their li took their lives. So that the Roman soldiers would not kill them. But the significance is that God has a plan for his people.

The plan is to put them into the land of Israel. It's always called the land of Israel. It's not the land of Palestine. So please, don't call it Palestine, even though C does. Even though Yasser Arafat calls it Palestine. It's not. It's the land of Israel. It's Israel's land, the Bible says.

Very significant for us to grasp. All that to say. That on September 28th, when Ariel Sharon went to the Temple Mount, he went there with a specific purpose. You were told that he went there to provoke a riot. That's what the news media said he did. That's not why Ariel Sharone went to the Temple Mount. You must understand that Ariel Shar is the head of one of the two major parties in the land of Israel. Like in America, we have the Democratic Party and the Republican Party and a lot of lesser little ones that don't make any difference whatsoever.

Well, the same way it is in the land of Israel. They have two major parties, the Laik Party and the Labor Party. Ariel Shar is part of the Laikud Party. Eh Barak is part of the Labor Party. And those two parties, one is more conservative than the other, for lack of a better term, because the Lik Party is the party that holds to the promises of the Bible. And God's plan for the nation of Israel, more so than the Labor Party. In the Labour Party you have Hissak Rab, you have Eh Barak, in the Leik Party you have the likes of Benjamin Netanyahu, which we'll talk about in a moment, and of course Ariel Shar.

But according to the Kness, that's Israel's parliament, Mr. Shar was to take regular visits to the Temple Mount. To make sure that the Islamic community was allowing access to the Temple Mount to all the religions of the world. He does that on a regular basis. That's what he's supposed to do. That's what the parliament in Israel has designed him to do. And yet you were told that he went there to provoke a riot. That's not true. Tonight, what we want to show you is the real truth about the Temple Mount.

Because everything that's happened in Israel All these last few months centers around that aspect, that dome of the rock, that place where Abraham offered up Isaac, which they say was Ishmael. Now we know that Ehud Barak decided that he was going to step down as Prime Minister of Israel, and that would make them have another election. And according to law, that would happen on February 6th. And according to law, there would be no time for his Arch rival Benjamin Netanyahu to be able to be a part of that election.

Why? Well, when Benjamin Netanyahu was defeated by Barack in May of 1999. He resigned from the parliament. You can only be the prime minister in Israel if you're part of the parliament. Eh Barak's plan was to resign. Have elections in such a time that Netanyahu could not become a part of the parliament and then run for prime minister. But if you know, if you watch the news even today, you know that there has been a bill that's passed 61 to 35 in favor in the parliament of Netanyahu to be able to run for prime minister in the new elections.

So Barak's tactical scheme backfired on him because Netanyahu has the popular vote. How does all that play itself out in the Dome of the Rock? How does all that play itself out in the history, in the timetable of Israel and the Lord's return? Hopefully, tonight we can shed some light on that for you. I want to cover seven things with you this evening about the Temple Mount. To help you understand exactly what the Bible says, I have a lot of things to say.

Hopefully, I can get them done in the next 30 minutes or so. First thing you need to know is that the Temple Mount.

It was proclaimed as the mount of the L. So we need to understand that. But in Genesis 22, begin with verse number 1: Now it came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. They said, Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Where's the land of Moriah? That's the Temple Mount, the Mount of Moriah. And offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. They get to the mountain.

They go up to the mountain. He begins to put things together, and Isaac, being the smart young man that he was, says, Where's the lamb? And listen to verse number eight. This is the gospel. And Abraham said, God will provide him. God will provide him a lamb. Very important. Why? Because God says he will be the lamb.

Literal Hebrew, God will provide him a lamb. He will be the lamb. For the burnt offering to my son. So the two of them walked on together. Go down with me to verse number 14. And Abraham called the name of that place the Lord will provide, as it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord, it will be literally. Seen. What will be seen? The fact that God will provide. Where will God provide? On Mount Moriah. Where is Mount Moriah? Are you ready for this? You got to go to Israel. Why? Because Mount Moriah is the mountain that Herod took stones from to build the wall around the city of Jerusalem and the temple.

And where did he stop? He stopped at a very specific location. It's called now Gog. The mountain went all the way out of the city. He took all the stones from that mountain. To build that city. And what was left was the skull place, the place where Jesus Christ was crucified. God says, I will provide myself as the Lamb.

Where? On Mount Moriah. When? Will I send my son? And all the world will see my provision. But it's important for us to see. That the Temple Mount was proclaimed as the Mount of the Lord. Number two, Temple Mount was purchased by King David of Israel.

The Temple Mount was purchased by King David of Israel. Turn me to 2 Samuel 24. You must understand this. The Islamic world says David never existed. They like to say that nothing ever happened. The temple never existed. David never existed. Islam believes that Jesus was a great prophet. In fact, If you go with us to Israel in the spring of next year, you will notice that in the dome of the rock, there is a phrase in Arabic that says this: God has no s.

Interesting, huh? God has no son. Really? That's not what the Bible says, but that's what the Islamic world would have us to believe.

They didn't want to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. They don't want to believe that He's the Messiah of the world. They don't want to believe He's a Son of David. Although the Bible proves that He is a Son of David. And that the son of David will sit on the throne of David and rule from the city, the great city in Mount Zion. But they deny that. They deny he ever existed. And yet, Second Samuel 24 says that this temple mount.

Was purchased by King David of Israel. Verse number 18: So Gad came to David that day and said to him, Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Arunah, the Jebus. And David went up according to the word of Gad, just as the Lord had commanded. And Arunah looked down and saw the king and his servants crossing over toward him. And Arunah went out and bowed his face to the ground before the king. Then Aruna said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant And David said, To buy the threshing floor from you, in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be held back from the people.

And Arunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges, and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. Everything, O king Arunah, gives to the king. And Aruna said to the king, May the Lord your God accept you. However, the king said to Aruna, No, but I will surely buy it from you. For a price. For I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God, which costs me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

That's big bucks in today's vern. And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the Lord was moved by entreaty for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel. Now, listen.

The Islamic world believes that the Dome of the Rock sits over the threshing floor of Aruna. The Koran teaches that. The Bible teaches that David purchased that threshing floor. David purchased it. And the Bible is very clear on that. And every Jew knows that King David purchased that threshing floor. Every Jew knows it. Y the Islamic world wants to deny that David ever existed. They have to. Because if they admit that he did exist, they have to admit that he bought a run threshing floor. And they refused to admit that.

And therefore, you must understand that the Temple Mount was purchased by King David of Israel. Number three, the Temple Mount was prepared as a site for Solomon's temple.

Turn with me to 2 Chronicles chapter 3. So we know historically and archaeologically that there was a man by the name of Solomon who existed. Yet Islam denies that Solomon ever existed. Interesting. It says in 2 Chronicles 3, verse number 1: Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David at the place. That place, or excuse me, that David had prepared on the threshing floor of who? Ornan or Runa, the Jebus. Same place, you see that?

And Solomon began to build his temple there. That's where he built it. Now, now we've got a problem. What's the problem? The Jews have never found Solomon's temple. So they say, well, if you never found it, it never existed. Well, what have they found? They have found the temple that Herod built. Herod built his temple on top of Solomon's temple. Are you ready for this? If you go. In the springtime, to Israel with us, and you walk up to the city, the old city of Jerusalem. There's a big, old, long ramp.

A lot of people going up there, you know, everybody trying to get in. If you look over to the right side, you will notice that there are concrete stones, rocks, not concrete stones, but rocks piled up, or not piled up, but all over the place over to your right.

They're all over the place. Why are they there? They are there. Listen very carefully. For one reason and one reason only. The Jews are not going to move them. You know why? Because young Yeshu, Jesus Christ, made a prophecy. That temple would be destroyed, and not one st would be left on top of another. And when they began to dig down to the foundations of the temple and realize that not one st was left On top of another. It stands as a monument. It stands as a testimony to the fulfillment of prophecy of young Yeshua, number one.

Jesus Christ, and number two, that there was a temple on the Temple Mount. And you'll see it there. And you wonder why they don't clean it up. You wonder why they don't make it nice and neat. Because they want everybody to know there was a temple there. All you got to do is look at the whaling wall.

Those stones, those are Roman-sized stones, huge stones. There definitely was. A temple there. The Bible says that Solomon built his temple there on Mount Moriah.

There, where his father purchased the threshing floor. From a ruin of the Jebus. The Bible is very clear about the Temple Mount and who owns it. Still with me? Gets better. Number three, number four, it was polluted by the sins of God's people.

It was polluted by the sins of God's people. 2 Chronicles chapter 7, just a couple of pages over. 2 Chronicles 7, verse number 1 and 2. Now, when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices. And the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house. Amazing, amazing scene. Over to verse number 12. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice, if I show up the heavens.

So that there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people, and my people who are called by my name Humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal what? Their land. Whose land? Israel's land. Israel's land. But if you turn away and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them.

Then I will uproot you from my land, which I have given you. And this house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a by among all peoples. As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, Why has the Lord done this to this land and to this house? And they will say, Because they forsook the Lord the God of their fathers, who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worship them and served them, therefore he has brought all this adversity on them.

And that's the way it is even until this very day. Number five: it is predicted. To be the site of great destruction, even while it was still st. It was predicted to be a site or the site of great destruction while it was standing. Luke chapter 21. Luke chapter 21 is the text. Verse number 5. And while some were talking about the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and vote of gifts, he said, As for these things, what you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.

Number six. The Temple Mount is prophesied that a temple would be placed on that mount, but shared by Gentile occupation. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 11.

Well, I'm going to tell you, most Christians in the world do not believe. Who? Roman Catholics don't believe it. Lutherans don't believe it. Episcopalians don't believe it. Reformed. Theologians don't believe it. Coven people don't believe it. Why? They're what we call, theologians call preter. That is, they believe that all the prophecies of Christ were fulfilled in 70 A at the destruction of Jerusalem. The book of Revelation is symbolic. It's an allegory. It's not exactly the way it's going to be in the future.

They are called preter. There are very few people in the world who are pre-tribulational. Pre-millennial kind of people. There's us and maybe a few other churches around the world and a few other denominations. Very few people believe what we believe at Christ Community Church. And very few people believe what I'm going to tell you right now.

Revelation chapter 11, verse number 1. And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff. And someone said, Rise and measure the temple of God. There's the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it. Wait a minute. John says, John's been told to measure the temple. When you measure something, that's a phrase used by God to talk about his destruction or protection. And God, as St. John, measures out the temple. Now, 25 years earlier, the temple was destroyed. There was no temple. Now God says to John, measure the temple.

John gets a word of encouragement here. He realizes that there's going to be a temple. There's going to be a temple when in the future. There's going to be a temple. Good news for John. Very good news. Why? Because this tells us that in the tribulational period, there's going to be a temple. And if you were with us in our study in Revel 11, we've explained that. And last, number seven, and we really must hurry, it was promised that the Temple Mount and future temple will be the place where all nations will worship.

God. All nations will worship God. Read the last nine chapters of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 40 to 48. Read Zach 15, 16 to 21, Joel 3:18, Isaiah 2: to 5, Isaiah 56, 7, Isaiah 60, Verses 12 to 13. And let me read one verse to you.

That's Haggai chapter 2. I read last week, verse number 6. It says this: For thus the Lord of hosts, Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also, and the dry land. What was that? That was the seventh bowl, the great earthquake. The earthquake where every island was moved. Everything on earth shook. All the cities crumbled. Hagg prophesied about that in Hag 2, verse number 6. Now read verse number 7. And I will shake all the nations, and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts.

The silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I shall give peace, declares the Lord of hosts. God is speaking about the day and he rules from the New Jerusalem. He's speaking about the day he rules from the throne of David. That his people will come to him and worship him, and all the nations of the world will bow before him and pay homage to him as the king, the ultimate dictator of the world.

He will rule. From the city of Jerusalem, from the city of David on Mount Zion. Let me read to you Psalm 122, verse number 6.

It says this. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. You ever do that? Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper. We Who love you? May they prosper who love you. Did you ever pray for the peace of Jerusalem? God said, you need to do that. Remember Luke chapter 2, verse number 14? When the angel said, Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace. Among men with whom he is well pleased. Jerusalem does not have peace today. One day they will have a semblance of peace, but it won't be true peace, because the Antichrist will rule.

And then they will experience the worst Holocaust in the nation's history. If you've ever been to Yad Vashim there in Israel, in Jerusalem, if you go with us, you'll visit that place. It says, this is a monument so that it never happens again. They never want the Holocaust to happen again. The problem is, it's going to happen. It's going to happen worse than they've ever dreamed of it ever happening. It'll be so bad. They'll never believe it. But God has prophesied it, and God has promised it. And then the peace will come.

Then the peace will come. God will establish Himself a remnant there in Israel. My desire tonight was to somehow get you just a little bit more curious about the return of Christ. Folks, what is happening today? Is so pertinent to the end of the world. Jesus is coming. He's coming sooner than any of us think. And you know what? Guess what? All the little pity problems you have-physical, financial, emotional-they all pale in comparison to one thing: the return of Jesus Christ.