God commands Israel to build Temple!
Both the apostle Paul prophesied of the Temple of GOD (not just the Jews) in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and the apostle John testifies it's the Temple of GOD (not just the Jews) in the Book of Revelation 11:1. Will we believe the testimony of these two witnesses (writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) that God claims the Temple as His own?
We must warn the Jews to beware Europe's imminent wannabe divine emperor who would pollute the Temple just like Antiochus Epiphanes did, although after it was cleansed, it was rededicated and Yeshua referred to that cleansed, rededicated Temple as "MY FATHER'S HOUSE." Regardless of whatever "guarantees" of peace and security Europe will undoubtedly offer to seduce our Jewish brethren, Israel must not trust them or let their guard down or the walls of Israeli sovereignty will come tumbling down!
As far as the commanded sacrifices go (even though Yeshua fulfilled their meaning, they're still commanded for now), prayerfully consider:
The Ezekiel Temple by Jan Willem van der Hoeven, director of the International Christian Zionist Center in Jerusalem. Regardless that Mr. van der Hoeven is a Protestant, what he writes that is true remains true and we should be able to glean from his article as we are able to glean from many secular sources which we do on a regular basis, and not foolishly limit ourselves.
If the former Worldwide Church of God members could understand how Ambassador Auditorium, a concert hall in Pasadena, California, could formerly serve as "God's House," how can some be so proud and stubborn and blind to fail to RECOGNIZE that God would place His Name where He only and always has: on the TEMPLE Mount(Zechariah 1:16)? God says He'll accept the Temple, so why shouldn't we? (Haggai 1:8).
It ought to be understood that since GOD has restored Israel to the Land (part of the prophesied restoration and process of redemption of the Land and lives of Israel), Israel must build the Temple. After all, IT IS A COMMAND: "And let them make me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8).
God has never revoked that command for NATIONAL ISRAEL (Malachi 4:4). It is the greatest national command, the grandest mitzva that is woefully ignored!
The Temple serves as a unifying national symbol, a central focus for the knowledge and worship of the true God (Micah 4:2). It encourages us to remember to keep the biblical festivals of God, and to send representatives to Jerusalem to celebrate before the LORD, following the letter and the spirit of the Law and the Prophets (Deuteronomy 16:16; Zechariah 14:16).
But how can Israel reclaim the Temple Mount without starting a war? Presently that most holy site is under a militant Muslim occupation that forcibly forbids any Jew or Christian from praying or reading the Bible there. This shameful situation continues despite the fact that Israel supposedly guarantees "freedom of access" to religious sites according to their 1967 Law for the Protection of the Holy Places.
Israeli "leaders" continue to look the other way as the Muslims practice blatant religious discrimination daily. Israel must stop taking into "protective custody" those who seek to exercise their religious rights upon the Temple Mount and instead REMOVE THE THREAT.
I was arrested on Simchat Torah (the Last Great Day) in 1995 to protect me from the mad Muslims, as related in a "House of Prayer for ALL nations?"
As written in a letter of mine published in The Jerusalem Post: "The Temple Mount is not in our hands, because it is not in our hearts and minds. This is to the shame of our political and religious leaders. I doubt that Jews prayed for 2,000 years to return to Zion and pray at a wall."
Of course, on an individual level we must welcome God into our hearts and minds, our personal lives, to find a loving home (Isaiah 66:1-2). But on a NATIONAL LEVEL, on a physical plane, we need a physical building to serve as the "Embassy of the Eternal." We shouldn't become so "spiritual" that we forget our Hebrew roots and biblical responsibilities as a NATION, since the vast majority of us aren't just spiritual members of the Church of God but physical members of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel and even some are from Judah!
Physical Preparation for Messiah
Herbert W. Armstrong asked whether Christ would return to a nonexistent throne, knowing full well David's throne continues to this day, as prophesied. In the same sense, we should ask: WILL CHRIST BE HOMELESS? Of course not! We should reflect upon how "breathtakingly beautiful... the Temple [will be] in which Christ will dwell" (Mystery of the Ages, pg. 322).
Mr. Armstrong began to touch upon spiritual things that he didn't fully understand, but he recorded it for us in his autobiography. He wrote that there is a "PHYSICAL PREPARING, as well as spiritual, in preparing the way for Messiah's coming!" (emphasis mine, Autobiography of HWA., Vol. II, pg. 470). God's apostle began to see and know and understand God has given us a MIDEAST COMMISSION!
The vast majority in God's Church still don't get it! Why haven't any of the Church leaders taught this? Why do they attempt to ignore it? We need to understand that part of the prophesied physical preparation is:
1) the return of a significant number of Jews to Jerusalem and Israel, representative of all Twelve Tribes, and
2) their literal clearing of the way (by reclaiming the land), that will ultimately result in the restoration of the Temple Mount as the TEMPLE Mount, culminating in Messiah's Coming! (Isaiah 57:14, 62:10).
Those zealous for God's House set an example for everyone else to follow, and help direct our energies and attention where it belongs! (Jeremiah 50:50). We must help God's Church and Israel to "PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD!" (Amos 4:12).
Mr. Armstrong wrote in a Good News article that it was significant that he was of the House of David and made reference to Zechariah 12:8. He expressed a desire to spend more time in Jerusalem. And he will - at the resurrection! But meanwhile another converted descendant of David must fulfill that vital role.
The leading spokesman between the Two Witnesses will hail from David's Royal House. In the mighty spirit of Elijah he'll identify the Messiah to Israel and introduce Him to Judah (Isaiah 40:2,9). That involves far more than producing television programs for outside Christian consumption or broadcasting into Israel from afar! Such efforts are a start in the right direction but are clearly insufficient for the task at hand. God's Work Permit and Contract requires an INSIDE JOB to take place in Zion and on and near the Temple Mount! (Joel 2:1).
GOD - not some Church official - will soon SEND His apostle to the Middle East (Isaiah 41:27; 52:7). The Two Witnesses have a burning desire to see Jerusalem fulfill her calling and they won't rest their case until they've won (Isaiah 62:1, 6-7). This focus on Jews, Jerusalem and Israel appears as a tedious preoccupation to some, but others recognize it as an inspired occupation: God's Mideast Work and Church Commission!
A Faithful Few
A dedicated few cleansed the Temple Mount during the days of the Macabbees. (Hanukkah commemorates their miraculous victory. Yeshua kept the "Feast of Dedication" - John 10:22). They didn't wait for every last Jew to repent before they acted upon their convictions. They put their faith into practice - and GOD WAS WITH THEM!
After they took action, others joined with them and rallied to the cause (Daniel 11:32). That was God's Work in those days. Jewish spiritual survival was at stake! The occupying enemy forces, in league with Jewish traitors, were bent on destroying what truth God had preserved among Judah. The Sabbath, circumcision, dietary laws and other embers of divine revelation were banned upon penalty of death! The Temple itself was polluted with pig's blood and an idol! Thankfully, a holy remnant, "Gideon's army," the Macabbees, rose up and fought back! They saved the nation, cleansed the Temple, and enabled Messiah to later appear there right on time (Malachi 3:1).
Yeshua's presence gave God's Temple a GREATER GLORY than Solomon's Temple ever enjoyed (Haggai 2:9). And the Second Temple was only prophesied in one place. Isaiah spoke of Cyrus - an unlikely, pagan Gentile king (Isaiah 44:28; 45:9) - whom nevertheless GOD would raise up for this purpose (and who are we to question His wisdom?). And, interestingly enough, the Temple Zerubbabel built wasn't based on Ezekiel's vision! Some could've opposed it on those grounds, lacking vision, but they didn't - at least it's not recorded.
We have several strong indications, if we'll only believe what the Bible says, that there will be a Temple in Jerusalem before King Messiah's return from Heaven in full view of all mankind.
Satan, in his insane jealousy, will move his counterfeit king of kings, Europe's last emperor, to take up residence where he ought not (Mark 13:14). Will the pope, Europe's false prophet, help install him in the Holy of Holies? (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Daniel 11:45). They'll have crossed the line and their days will be numbered, because God will give Jerusalem over to the fascist EU as part of the punishment of Judah's sins, but God decrees the holy Temple Mount and holy Temple are off-limits! (Revelation 11:1-2).
The pope doesn't claim to be God; he'll prepare the way and proclaim Europe's EMPEROR as divine (Ezekiel 28:2). He's the Catholic "Elijah." The Bible labels him the false prophet, not the false Christ. The true prophets of God, in the spirit of Elijah, will meet them head on in Jerusalem! The Two Witnesses' testimony before a world court will sound throughout the universe! They'll be bold as lions and braver than the Maccabees!
Meanwhile, we should wholeheartedly support the biblical efforts of those dedicated to building the Temple and physically preparing for Messiah's coming (Isaiah 62:1). The Church of God used to have a designated "building fund." What greater NATIONAL PROJECT THAN OUR TEMPLE TASK?
And we should help warn Judah of the consequences they'll suffer for despising their inheritance. If they're so weak and willing to sinfully surrender land to the Gentiles, and tolerate the continued Nazi-Muslim occupation of the Temple Mount - the only designated site for God's House - God will despise His inheritance (Israel) and give up Jerusalem to Gentile occupation, permitting Jewish land and lives to be violated, and their homes and personal property looted! (Zechariah 14:2).
Israel's Missed Opportunities
Israel has had the Cornerstone for the Third Temple since the 1980's, thanks to the Temple Mount Faithful Movement who quarried the stone from Mitzpeh Ramon (in southern Israel) and sanctified it with the appropriate Levitical blessings. But the Israeli government and Jewish people have REJECTED THE CORNERSTONE! (Psalms 118:22). Israel could've begun immediate construction for the Third Temple. Instead they've shown a serious lack of interest or ungodly fear of Gentile threats. Both the spiritual and physical cornerstone, as prophesied, have been rejected!
Every Israeli has seen the Cornerstone since it's brought out on a flatbed truck during the Temple Mount Faithful's frequent demonstrations, especially during the biblical festivals, but they've failed to recognize its importance. Regardless of Israel's temporary blindness to God's Purpose and timid or treacherous Jewish leaders, the Cornerstone will be put in place - laid upon the Temple Mount! Wasn't the second Temple built despite fierce opposition? (Ezra 4:4).
We must encourage Jerusalem: "You shall be built; and to the Temple, Your foundation shall be laid" (Isaiah 44:28), and join with those faithful Jews who HERALD THE HEADSTONE'S ARRIVAL (Hosea 11:12). Soon God will remove the mountain of opposition that blocks my return to Zion (Isaiah 45:2; Zechariah 4:7; Matthew 21:21). My unjust deportation will have served it purpose and be history. Once again in Jerusalem, by God's grace and Spirit, I shall continue to build upon the foundation that God has laid for His end-time Work in Israel and it'll be as if I had never left! Back to the future!
Yes, "He which testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20). May we feel privileged to help PREPARE THE WAY!
************
The Scriptures clearly command the Temple to be built and it will be; the prophecies reveal the restoration of animal sacrifices and they will be; and all this will be whether or not we perfectly understand.
To help folks understand:
How should Christians view efforts to build the Temple?
The Ezekiel Temple
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
How should Christians view efforts to build the Temple?
Below are excerpts from a lively discussion with a brother in the Sabbath-keeping Church of God:
It is interesting how God uses Duality in the scriptures, but isn't it always true that the "physical" type always precedes the "spiritual" fulfillment?
That's true, but are you denying the "Elijah" prophecy has been relevant more than once? By your human reasonings it could've only been used once, the "Elijah" of John the Baptist only, which our critics contend, and Mr. Armstrong or the Two Witnesses (the leader of the two) couldn't be "in the spirit and power of Elijah."
You would again be limiting how layered the prophecies of God can be when Antiochus Epiphanes defiled the Temple and later in the Ephesus era the great apostasy began and culminated in a pagan pope pretending to be God, yet you don't deny that such an evil attitude, a polluted person hasn't defiled God's Church in these latter days, so why would you try and deny that there can't be a Temple with Europe's wannabe divine emperor proclaiming himself God? I say DUALITY can be as often as God chooses it to be applicable and the prophecies clearly show it's happened time and again.
I confess, I do not know what God wants physical Israel to do now.
I confess I do: "Remember the Law of Moses" (Malachi 4:4). God restored Judah to the Land, liberated Jerusalem and expects them to follow through with their divine duty to build God's House upon His Temple Mount.
I do know what Stephen said to the Jews in the book of Acts:
Act 7:48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet
Who said He did? I do know you need to remember CONTEXT. He was speaking to that generation who had literally seen and rejected Yeshua, "God with us."
Have you forgotten that Yeshua called the Temple "My Father's House?" That it was only after THAT GENERATION rejected Him that God rejected, for the most part, THAT GENERATION?
Did God dwell within "God's House," Ambassador Auditorium? Have you missed where Jesus made clear reference to the Temple, speaking against those who would be where they ought not? trespassing in the MOST HOLY PLACE? Some professing Christians would say there's no such place, that the Church is the only "holy place" and important "Temple" and they would be dead wrong! Blind to duality and the God-ordained role for the physical and the spiritual, each important to God.
Have you forgotten Solomon's dedication prayer at the Temple God ordained him to build?
1 Kings 8:27-29
27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! 28 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: 29 that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, 'My name shall be there,' that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.
The true servants of God have always known that the House of God, the Temple of God, is merely like an "Embassy of the Eternal" as I refer to it within Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. And, as such, it deserves our respect and honor as is due, even as Daniel continued to face Jerusalem in his prayers, turned purposely towards the Temple Mount.
What has a Temple to do with us who are the Temple of God????
Are you no longer a physical Israelite now that you've become a spiritual Jew? Are you no longer a man because spiritually in Christ we're neither male or female, Gentile or Israelite? Paul was a physical Israelite and a spiritual Jew and didn't forget it! He went out of his way to go up to Jerusalem, according to the Law, to keep the biblical festivals at the Temple! Do you deny this? Read the Book of Acts and see for yourself, and see what a great difference in attitude the early Church of God had towards fellowshipping and worshipping in the physical Temple! They didn't consider themselves so superior and spiritual that they shunned it!
If you're part of the Temple of God then you should rejoice that God has been faithful to physical Israel and Judah, and rejoice that Judah is prophesied to remember the Law of Moses (that will bring them this time to Messiah, since God will soon lift the blindness as He has prophesied) and repent of their woeful neglect of the Temple Mount that is presently under a Nazi-Muslim occupation, a disgrace to the God of Jacob and a shame for us (physical Israelites and Jews).
What physical Israel does will be God's will but He has shown us nothing in His word that would indicate that we should rebuild a temple devoted to physical sacrifices before He comes again.
I never said the Church is supposed to build the Temple. It's a great start if God's Church would at least recognize that God has given this biblical responsibility to our Jewish brethren, to the NATION of Israel, but I would hope that we would at least, in attitude if not in actions, support such a holy endeavor. It's sad and interesting, quite telling, most revealing, that such an uproar never occurred when Mr. Armstrong taught THERE IS A PHYSICAL PREPARATION FOR THE COMING OF A MESSIAH, as well as a spiritual! Where were all the "spiritual" brethren hiding out when Mr. Armstrong was excited about the City of David archaeological digs in Jerusalem, Israel in cooperation with Hebrew University? Where was the outcry about that's none of our business, we're past that now since we're so spiritual?
God's Word calls for the NATION (I never said the Church) to build His House of Prayer for All Peoples, and Jesus said He did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets - that command is still in effect since His generation of Jews were punished with Jerusalem and the Temple's destruction and their dispersion, but this is a NEW GENERATION, a generation of Jews who are prophesied to welcome King Messiah, for Yeshua said He wouldn't return and the Jews and Jerusalem wouldn't see Him again until they had this change of heart and attitude that's coming, the Temple is part of it, saying "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!"
JESUS CHRIST IS FOCUSED ON JERUSALEM AND HIS PHYSICAL BRETHREN THE JEWS, while working simultaneously with the Church. But mind you that we're going to Jerusalem! They're not coming over here or to any of the many Church headquarters - but to JERUSALEM! I guess that physical location is still important to God and it should be to those who claim to belong to Him.
You know it is a dangerous thing to get ahead of God in a thing. Zionism has to do with God bringing His people back to their land and God rebuilding their Temple and God ruling over the entire world, NOT Judah!
Read your Bible again and see how God brings Judah back and works with them once they're back in the Land, and that God brings them back through people, human instruments, not on a magic carpet, and that God build His Temple through His Jewish hands, just like He always has, since God is consistent. And in the World Tomorrow, converted Judah will be the leader as God has ordained under the Kingdom-Family of God.
The New Covenant will be made available to physical Israel when God is ready but it is available to us RIGHT NOW!
In principle, but it will not take full effect until the Resurrection to perfection, when God's LAW is truly written upon the tablets of our hearts and minds forever.
No Temple built today will carry over into the new world in any case. The destruction will be far too great for that.
There isn't any mention of the Third Temple (that God reveals in Revelation 11:1) being destroyed. Malachi gives every indication it will be standing and in need of cleansing and a purification of the priesthood, which Christ NEVER did when He came before. Think about that, and don't try and spiritualize away the Levites and sacrifices and all, because the Church will have already been made ready, as the spiritual Temple, for Christ's coming! Malachi shows the Messiah - who is more than a man - comes to HIS Temple! Again, God claims the physical Temple as His own.
If the Jews build a new Temple what design do you think they will use? Solomon or the description in Ezekiel?
They'll use everything God inspires them to, as God has given this responsibility into their hands, not the fickle and Gentilized Israelites. They'll prayerfully take everything into consideration and get it right, and God puts His seal of approval on it since He refers to it as the "Temple of GOD."
Interesting. If the sacrifices could be made without a temple why aren't the Jews doing so?
For the same reason they haven't built the Temple YET. The Feast of Tabernacles is over and the traditional books to read are Ezra and Nehemiah. I encourage all to read them. They reveal the sacrifices were restored BEFORE the foundation of the Temple was laid!
Christ told the Samaritan women that we would no longer be looking to a physical place of worship but we would Worship the Lord in Spirit and TRUTH.
He was making a point and not disrespecting the most holy place on Earth, the Temple Mount, especially since HE is the God who said that place ALONE is where He would place His Name and have HIS House! God doesn't contradict Himself. Jesus also said "salvation is of the Jews and we know who we worship," and all the Jews knew they could pray anywhere, as the NT reveals they prayed in places other than the Temple, but for OFFICIAL NATIONAL WORSHIP they gladly met where God had placed His Name: the Temple Mount.
Please note that in answer to the direct question about WHERE she should worship God Christ, in essence, told her it did not matter. We would worship God in Spirit and did not need a place to do so.
If you're worshipping God in spirit and in truth, "thy Word is Truth" and the Word of God reveals that Christ will command all nations to come up to Jerusalem, to worship the King of Israel, and learn Torah at THE TEMPLE! Maybe Jesus just doesn't get it and isn't as spiritual as some think they are!
Again, I said it would be great for God's Church to at least recognize that God has commanded ISRAEL to build the Temple, but hopefully God's Church would have this same holy and excited attitude:
Isaiah 2:2-3
2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the [Temple] mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say,
" Come, and let us go up to the [Temple] mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Please remember that the reason given for doing that, David, was to try and stop the Jews from killing him. (Paul's literal sacrifice at the Temple with other Jews)
May you refresh your memory and read it again and see that was not the reason! His reason, listening to the Jewish Church elders, was to PROVE that he still kept the Law and the Jewish customs, unlike all the lies against him were saying.
I do not care if the temple is rebuilt.
That is a casual attitude that is most selfish. We should hope and pray the Jews repent of their woeful neglect of the Temple Mount and build the Temple since God has commanded THEM to do so. Are you only concerned about yourself and not our nation and peoples?
You seem to be blending them in some way I do not find in the bible.
Ever heard of Paul the Benjaminite?
We have God's Holy Spirit within us. He is Tabernacling with us even now, David. This is not something national Israel has available.
The Law and the Prophets prove otherwise. Our Israelite and Jewish brethren are sanctified as the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and God's spirit in times past was only in our prophets, but through them was in and with the NATION. Besides, holy men and women filled with the Holy Spirit loved the holy Temple!
A physical temple is not something God's church should be involved with at all, in this age.
But teaching English to Thai people is? Or buying gifts of Steuben crystal for world leaders or being involved in other different physical projects? What a corner-Church mentality that I would hope God's people would break free from who haven't already!
Again, God has commanded ISRAEL to build His Temple and I'm excited they soon will, and I would hope the Church would at least encourage them to obey God as they're given to understand Him at this point in time - not carp from the sidelines like those evil men you'll encounter (who opposed God's Work in Judah and Jerusalem) in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Those who truly are Children of Light will see and recognize the fulfillment of prophecy taking place, recognizing the Temple as a magnificent SIGN of how close we are to the Two Witnesses' worldwide ministry from Jerusalem, with a special message to the cities of Judah, and rejoice knowing King Messiah is on His way!
******************
A House of Prayer For All Peoples?
Will the pope act like Belshazzar or Cyrus?
Major Upheaval in Israel?
Third Temple Coming Soon to Jerusalem!
The Temple of God in Holy Jerusalem
Where's the Temple On the Temple Mount?
It is interesting how God uses Duality in the scriptures, but isn't it always true that the "physical" type always precedes the "spiritual" fulfillment?
That's true, but are you denying the "Elijah" prophecy has been relevant more than once? By your human reasonings it could've only been used once, the "Elijah" of John the Baptist only, which our critics contend, and Mr. Armstrong or the Two Witnesses (the leader of the two) couldn't be "in the spirit and power of Elijah."
You would again be limiting how layered the prophecies of God can be when Antiochus Epiphanes defiled the Temple and later in the Ephesus era the great apostasy began and culminated in a pagan pope pretending to be God, yet you don't deny that such an evil attitude, a polluted person hasn't defiled God's Church in these latter days, so why would you try and deny that there can't be a Temple with Europe's wannabe divine emperor proclaiming himself God? I say DUALITY can be as often as God chooses it to be applicable and the prophecies clearly show it's happened time and again.
I confess, I do not know what God wants physical Israel to do now.
I confess I do: "Remember the Law of Moses" (Malachi 4:4). God restored Judah to the Land, liberated Jerusalem and expects them to follow through with their divine duty to build God's House upon His Temple Mount.
I do know what Stephen said to the Jews in the book of Acts:
Act 7:48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet
Who said He did? I do know you need to remember CONTEXT. He was speaking to that generation who had literally seen and rejected Yeshua, "God with us."
Have you forgotten that Yeshua called the Temple "My Father's House?" That it was only after THAT GENERATION rejected Him that God rejected, for the most part, THAT GENERATION?
Did God dwell within "God's House," Ambassador Auditorium? Have you missed where Jesus made clear reference to the Temple, speaking against those who would be where they ought not? trespassing in the MOST HOLY PLACE? Some professing Christians would say there's no such place, that the Church is the only "holy place" and important "Temple" and they would be dead wrong! Blind to duality and the God-ordained role for the physical and the spiritual, each important to God.
Have you forgotten Solomon's dedication prayer at the Temple God ordained him to build?
1 Kings 8:27-29
27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! 28 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: 29 that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, 'My name shall be there,' that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.
The true servants of God have always known that the House of God, the Temple of God, is merely like an "Embassy of the Eternal" as I refer to it within Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. And, as such, it deserves our respect and honor as is due, even as Daniel continued to face Jerusalem in his prayers, turned purposely towards the Temple Mount.
What has a Temple to do with us who are the Temple of God????
Are you no longer a physical Israelite now that you've become a spiritual Jew? Are you no longer a man because spiritually in Christ we're neither male or female, Gentile or Israelite? Paul was a physical Israelite and a spiritual Jew and didn't forget it! He went out of his way to go up to Jerusalem, according to the Law, to keep the biblical festivals at the Temple! Do you deny this? Read the Book of Acts and see for yourself, and see what a great difference in attitude the early Church of God had towards fellowshipping and worshipping in the physical Temple! They didn't consider themselves so superior and spiritual that they shunned it!
If you're part of the Temple of God then you should rejoice that God has been faithful to physical Israel and Judah, and rejoice that Judah is prophesied to remember the Law of Moses (that will bring them this time to Messiah, since God will soon lift the blindness as He has prophesied) and repent of their woeful neglect of the Temple Mount that is presently under a Nazi-Muslim occupation, a disgrace to the God of Jacob and a shame for us (physical Israelites and Jews).
What physical Israel does will be God's will but He has shown us nothing in His word that would indicate that we should rebuild a temple devoted to physical sacrifices before He comes again.
I never said the Church is supposed to build the Temple. It's a great start if God's Church would at least recognize that God has given this biblical responsibility to our Jewish brethren, to the NATION of Israel, but I would hope that we would at least, in attitude if not in actions, support such a holy endeavor. It's sad and interesting, quite telling, most revealing, that such an uproar never occurred when Mr. Armstrong taught THERE IS A PHYSICAL PREPARATION FOR THE COMING OF A MESSIAH, as well as a spiritual! Where were all the "spiritual" brethren hiding out when Mr. Armstrong was excited about the City of David archaeological digs in Jerusalem, Israel in cooperation with Hebrew University? Where was the outcry about that's none of our business, we're past that now since we're so spiritual?
God's Word calls for the NATION (I never said the Church) to build His House of Prayer for All Peoples, and Jesus said He did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets - that command is still in effect since His generation of Jews were punished with Jerusalem and the Temple's destruction and their dispersion, but this is a NEW GENERATION, a generation of Jews who are prophesied to welcome King Messiah, for Yeshua said He wouldn't return and the Jews and Jerusalem wouldn't see Him again until they had this change of heart and attitude that's coming, the Temple is part of it, saying "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!"
JESUS CHRIST IS FOCUSED ON JERUSALEM AND HIS PHYSICAL BRETHREN THE JEWS, while working simultaneously with the Church. But mind you that we're going to Jerusalem! They're not coming over here or to any of the many Church headquarters - but to JERUSALEM! I guess that physical location is still important to God and it should be to those who claim to belong to Him.
You know it is a dangerous thing to get ahead of God in a thing. Zionism has to do with God bringing His people back to their land and God rebuilding their Temple and God ruling over the entire world, NOT Judah!
Read your Bible again and see how God brings Judah back and works with them once they're back in the Land, and that God brings them back through people, human instruments, not on a magic carpet, and that God build His Temple through His Jewish hands, just like He always has, since God is consistent. And in the World Tomorrow, converted Judah will be the leader as God has ordained under the Kingdom-Family of God.
The New Covenant will be made available to physical Israel when God is ready but it is available to us RIGHT NOW!
In principle, but it will not take full effect until the Resurrection to perfection, when God's LAW is truly written upon the tablets of our hearts and minds forever.
No Temple built today will carry over into the new world in any case. The destruction will be far too great for that.
There isn't any mention of the Third Temple (that God reveals in Revelation 11:1) being destroyed. Malachi gives every indication it will be standing and in need of cleansing and a purification of the priesthood, which Christ NEVER did when He came before. Think about that, and don't try and spiritualize away the Levites and sacrifices and all, because the Church will have already been made ready, as the spiritual Temple, for Christ's coming! Malachi shows the Messiah - who is more than a man - comes to HIS Temple! Again, God claims the physical Temple as His own.
If the Jews build a new Temple what design do you think they will use? Solomon or the description in Ezekiel?
They'll use everything God inspires them to, as God has given this responsibility into their hands, not the fickle and Gentilized Israelites. They'll prayerfully take everything into consideration and get it right, and God puts His seal of approval on it since He refers to it as the "Temple of GOD."
Interesting. If the sacrifices could be made without a temple why aren't the Jews doing so?
For the same reason they haven't built the Temple YET. The Feast of Tabernacles is over and the traditional books to read are Ezra and Nehemiah. I encourage all to read them. They reveal the sacrifices were restored BEFORE the foundation of the Temple was laid!
Christ told the Samaritan women that we would no longer be looking to a physical place of worship but we would Worship the Lord in Spirit and TRUTH.
He was making a point and not disrespecting the most holy place on Earth, the Temple Mount, especially since HE is the God who said that place ALONE is where He would place His Name and have HIS House! God doesn't contradict Himself. Jesus also said "salvation is of the Jews and we know who we worship," and all the Jews knew they could pray anywhere, as the NT reveals they prayed in places other than the Temple, but for OFFICIAL NATIONAL WORSHIP they gladly met where God had placed His Name: the Temple Mount.
Please note that in answer to the direct question about WHERE she should worship God Christ, in essence, told her it did not matter. We would worship God in Spirit and did not need a place to do so.
If you're worshipping God in spirit and in truth, "thy Word is Truth" and the Word of God reveals that Christ will command all nations to come up to Jerusalem, to worship the King of Israel, and learn Torah at THE TEMPLE! Maybe Jesus just doesn't get it and isn't as spiritual as some think they are!
Again, I said it would be great for God's Church to at least recognize that God has commanded ISRAEL to build the Temple, but hopefully God's Church would have this same holy and excited attitude:
Isaiah 2:2-3
2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the [Temple] mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say,
" Come, and let us go up to the [Temple] mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Please remember that the reason given for doing that, David, was to try and stop the Jews from killing him. (Paul's literal sacrifice at the Temple with other Jews)
May you refresh your memory and read it again and see that was not the reason! His reason, listening to the Jewish Church elders, was to PROVE that he still kept the Law and the Jewish customs, unlike all the lies against him were saying.
I do not care if the temple is rebuilt.
That is a casual attitude that is most selfish. We should hope and pray the Jews repent of their woeful neglect of the Temple Mount and build the Temple since God has commanded THEM to do so. Are you only concerned about yourself and not our nation and peoples?
You seem to be blending them in some way I do not find in the bible.
Ever heard of Paul the Benjaminite?
We have God's Holy Spirit within us. He is Tabernacling with us even now, David. This is not something national Israel has available.
The Law and the Prophets prove otherwise. Our Israelite and Jewish brethren are sanctified as the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and God's spirit in times past was only in our prophets, but through them was in and with the NATION. Besides, holy men and women filled with the Holy Spirit loved the holy Temple!
A physical temple is not something God's church should be involved with at all, in this age.
But teaching English to Thai people is? Or buying gifts of Steuben crystal for world leaders or being involved in other different physical projects? What a corner-Church mentality that I would hope God's people would break free from who haven't already!
Again, God has commanded ISRAEL to build His Temple and I'm excited they soon will, and I would hope the Church would at least encourage them to obey God as they're given to understand Him at this point in time - not carp from the sidelines like those evil men you'll encounter (who opposed God's Work in Judah and Jerusalem) in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Those who truly are Children of Light will see and recognize the fulfillment of prophecy taking place, recognizing the Temple as a magnificent SIGN of how close we are to the Two Witnesses' worldwide ministry from Jerusalem, with a special message to the cities of Judah, and rejoice knowing King Messiah is on His way!
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A House of Prayer For All Peoples?
Will the pope act like Belshazzar or Cyrus?
Major Upheaval in Israel?
Third Temple Coming Soon to Jerusalem!
The Temple of God in Holy Jerusalem
Where's the Temple On the Temple Mount?
Monday, September 29, 2008
Jews, Christians, Biblical Festivals
Observant Jews, Christians, and biblical festivals
Re: Jews must make tough choice between work, school and religion
If you're an observant Jew, there are seven religious holidays in the next month that you will have to take off from work or school.
And if you're an observant Christian, a Sabbath-keeping Church of God member (who keeps the biblical Sabbath, festivals and dietary laws like Yeshua and the early Church of God), you take off the biblical days the Bible commands us to (without the additional days Judaism - for its traditional reasons - has tacked on).
If our Jewish brethren find it so difficult to love and obey God in their self- imposed exile, at least they can always opt to follow Judaism to the Jewish homeland where such holy days, the biblical festivals, are recognized and kept. Furthermore, the Holy Land of Israel is the ideal location to celebrate before the LORD!
David Ben-Ariel posted on 2008-09-29 13:13:52 ET Reply Trace
Re: Jews must make tough choice between work, school and religion
If you're an observant Jew, there are seven religious holidays in the next month that you will have to take off from work or school.
And if you're an observant Christian, a Sabbath-keeping Church of God member (who keeps the biblical Sabbath, festivals and dietary laws like Yeshua and the early Church of God), you take off the biblical days the Bible commands us to (without the additional days Judaism - for its traditional reasons - has tacked on).
If our Jewish brethren find it so difficult to love and obey God in their self- imposed exile, at least they can always opt to follow Judaism to the Jewish homeland where such holy days, the biblical festivals, are recognized and kept. Furthermore, the Holy Land of Israel is the ideal location to celebrate before the LORD!
David Ben-Ariel posted on 2008-09-29 13:13:52 ET Reply Trace
God revealed plans for tabernacle and temple
David Ben-Ariel on the post " Solomon's Temple The article should give cause to...":
Who cares if aspects of pagan temples shared some similarities with the Temple of God in Jerusalem? Other religions share some similarities with the life, death and resurrection of Yeshua. Should that cause us to stumble? Doubt the Word of God? Lose faith? I don't think so!Regardless of imperfect human beings or questionable reasons some might have for seeking the construction of the Third Temple - the Temple of God (not of the Masons, pagans, etc.) in Jerusalem upon the Temple Mount, it is a holy command from God, it's original plan was revealed to David and passed on to Solomon, just like the tabernacle's plans were given to Moses. You either believe God or you don't - distracted by the serpent's lies and insinuations.
The Temple of God in Holy Jerusalem
Who cares if aspects of pagan temples shared some similarities with the Temple of God in Jerusalem? Other religions share some similarities with the life, death and resurrection of Yeshua. Should that cause us to stumble? Doubt the Word of God? Lose faith? I don't think so!Regardless of imperfect human beings or questionable reasons some might have for seeking the construction of the Third Temple - the Temple of God (not of the Masons, pagans, etc.) in Jerusalem upon the Temple Mount, it is a holy command from God, it's original plan was revealed to David and passed on to Solomon, just like the tabernacle's plans were given to Moses. You either believe God or you don't - distracted by the serpent's lies and insinuations.
The Temple of God in Holy Jerusalem
Saturday, September 27, 2008
God Doesn't Ordain Women Preachers!
I just read an abominable article written by a proud and stubborn woman attempting to justify rebellious women doing what only God has ordained men to do: preach from the pulpit as ordained ministers.
NONE of the examples given proved her points and actually proved just the opposite. Sharing dominion over nature, Creation, is not the same as who has the right to preach. That is non sequitur and a dangerous leap in logic...
God Doesn't Ordain Women Preachers!
NONE of the examples given proved her points and actually proved just the opposite. Sharing dominion over nature, Creation, is not the same as who has the right to preach. That is non sequitur and a dangerous leap in logic...
God Doesn't Ordain Women Preachers!
Friday, September 26, 2008
PA Blindly Bashes Jews' 'Imaginary Temple'
PA Blindly Bashes Jews' 'Imaginary Temple'
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
(IsraelNN.com) The Palestinian Authority, run by PLO Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas, is again making efforts to popularize Muslim denial of the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, especially to the site of the two Jewish Temples. The PA claims fly in the face of the archaeological evidence, as well as the history of Jerusalem as endorsed by the most authoritative Muslim sources.
According to Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook of the Palestinian Media Watch organization, Fatah-controlled television broadcasts have been promoting a music video that "denies any historical connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem." Building on the denial of Jewish rights in Jerusalem and the claim that the Temple Mount is "ours," meaning it is Muslim, PMW explains, that "the lyrics repeat the Palestinian fabrication that Israel is planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and therefore it needs protection."
As translated by PMW, the video clip that appeared on PA TV on September 23, 2008, includes the lyrics, "Oh [Sons of] Zion, no matter how much you dig and no matter how much you destroy, your imaginary Temple will not come into being, Al-Aqsa is ours. Al-Aqsa is ours, Oh Muslims, Al-Aqsa is ours." It goes on to call for another Saladin, the Muslim conqueror of Jerusalem in 1187, according to PMW.
Marcus and Crook explain that the clip has appeared on both Fatah and Hamas TV "intermittently during the last 18 months, and it constitutes part of a prolonged hate campaign against Israel. The campaign denies the historical fact of the connection between the Jewish people, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, while infusing hatred and fear by pretending that Islam's holy site, as well as its adherents, are in great danger."
Jerusalem Muslim Council: Temples in Jerusalem 'Beyond Dispute'In complete opposition to the claims promoted by the PA today, as reported by Israel National News earlier this year, a tourist guide published by the Supreme Muslim Council (the Waqf) of Jerusalem in 1925 declares of the Temple Mount, "Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the L-rd....' "
In addition, on page 16 the pamphlet makes reference to the underground area in the south-east corner of the Mount, which it refers to as Solomon's Stables. "Little is known for certain of the history of the chamber itself," the guide reads. "It dates probably as far back as the construction of Solomon's Temple. According to Josephus, it was in existence and was used as a place of refuge by the Jews at the time of the conquest of Jerusalem by Titus in the year 70 A.D."
Islam's Founder Muhammad: The Temple is in JerusalemThroughout the religious, behavioral and doctrinal codebooks Muslims believe were transmitted from Muhammad or his immediate associates, known as Hadith, Jerusalem is primarily called Bayt al-Makdis in Arabic. The term is an Arabic translation of the Hebrew Bait HaMikdash, which means "the Temple" in English.
Jerusalem, however, is not mentioned by name in the primary Islamic scripture, the Koran. However, Muslim apologists often point to a description in the Koran of a mystical journey Muhammad made to "the furthest mosque," which they claim is al-Aqsa mosque currently located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
However, the Hadith that provide more details of the mystical journey also refer to Jerusalem as the location of the Jewish Temple. As the Hadith collection Sahih Muslim states: "[The] Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: I was brought al-Buraq who is an animal white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, who would place his hoof a distance equal to the range of vision. I mounted it and came to the Temple (Bait al-Maqdis in Jerusalem), then tethered it to the ring used by the prophets." To this day, the Muslims refer to the Western Wall as "Al-Buraq Wall".
Archaeological Evidence: The Temples Were in Jerusalem Archaeological finds in recent years in and around Jerusalem have been providing physical evidence for the history as presented by the earliest Jewish, Christian and Muslim sources. Some examples follow:
* In 2005, following painstaking archaeological work carried out in a dump from an illegal Wakf construction project on the Temple Mount, researchers discovered: a coin from the period of the First Revolt against the Romans, which preceded the destruction of the Second Temple, bearing the phrase "For the Redemption of Zion"; an inscription chiseled on a jar fragment of the First Temple period, with the ancient Hebrew letters heh, ayin and kof; A seal with five-pointed star with ancient Hebrew letters spelling "Jerusalem" spaced between the points; a Hasmonean coin bearing inscription "Yehonathan High Priest, friend of the Jews"; a coin of Alexander Jannaeus; a Scytho-Iranian arrowhead, of the type used by the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar that destroyed the First Temple in 586 BCE; and more.
* In 2005, a Hebrew University archaeologist uncovered a clay seal dated from about 580 BCE bearing the name Yehuchal Ben-Sheleimiya, who is identified as a royal envoy and court minister sent by King Zedekiah to the prophet Jeremiah (in chapters 37 and 38 of the Bible's Book of Jeremiah).
Several years earlier, another circa-580 BCE royal seal was found at the same site. It had the name of Gemaryahu, son of Shafan, who is also mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah as a top official in the court of King Zedekiah's predecessor, King Yehoyachim. Another seal found among dozens of others bears the name of Azaryahu Ben-Hilkiyahu, a member of a priestly family, who served in the Temple before Jerusalem's destruction, according to I Chronicles, 9:10.
* In May 2007 archaeologists revealed a number of seals and signet rings from the time of the Biblical Kings David and Solomon, unearthed in the City of David, below Jerusalem's Old City.
* In July 2007 an expert in ancient Babylon discovered a small clay tablet that records a donation of gold by "the chief eunuch of King Nebuchadnezzar," a man named Nabu-sharrussu-ukin. In Jeremiah 39, the researcher noted, the man's name is listed as one of Nebuchadnezzar's top ministers, who took part in the destruction of the First Holy Temple 2,500 years ago.
* In January 2008 archaeologists discovered a stone seal that includes the name of a family, Temech, whose members were servants during the First Temple, were exiled to Babylonia and then returned to Jerusalem. The seal was found near the Dung Gate walls of the Old City. The Book of Nehemiah (Chapter 7) refers to the Temech family by name.
* In March 2008 a coin from the Second Temple used during the turbulent Second Temple period to pay the Biblical half-shekel head-tax was found in excavations in the City of David.
* In August of 2008 archaeologists unearthed a completely intact seal impression bearing the name of another minister to King Zedekiah, Gedaliahu son of Pashur, a few meters away from the site where a the seal of Yehuchal Ben-Sheleimiya was found three years earlier.
***********
Would to God a proper Jewish government would be formed that would immediately send such barking dogs running to Mecca with their tails between their legs. As a going away present, the Israelis could see them off with whatever dust is left of their pagan shrine al aksa when the Temple Mount is cleansed of its impurities.
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
(IsraelNN.com) The Palestinian Authority, run by PLO Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas, is again making efforts to popularize Muslim denial of the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, especially to the site of the two Jewish Temples. The PA claims fly in the face of the archaeological evidence, as well as the history of Jerusalem as endorsed by the most authoritative Muslim sources.
According to Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook of the Palestinian Media Watch organization, Fatah-controlled television broadcasts have been promoting a music video that "denies any historical connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem." Building on the denial of Jewish rights in Jerusalem and the claim that the Temple Mount is "ours," meaning it is Muslim, PMW explains, that "the lyrics repeat the Palestinian fabrication that Israel is planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and therefore it needs protection."
As translated by PMW, the video clip that appeared on PA TV on September 23, 2008, includes the lyrics, "Oh [Sons of] Zion, no matter how much you dig and no matter how much you destroy, your imaginary Temple will not come into being, Al-Aqsa is ours. Al-Aqsa is ours, Oh Muslims, Al-Aqsa is ours." It goes on to call for another Saladin, the Muslim conqueror of Jerusalem in 1187, according to PMW.
Marcus and Crook explain that the clip has appeared on both Fatah and Hamas TV "intermittently during the last 18 months, and it constitutes part of a prolonged hate campaign against Israel. The campaign denies the historical fact of the connection between the Jewish people, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, while infusing hatred and fear by pretending that Islam's holy site, as well as its adherents, are in great danger."
Jerusalem Muslim Council: Temples in Jerusalem 'Beyond Dispute'In complete opposition to the claims promoted by the PA today, as reported by Israel National News earlier this year, a tourist guide published by the Supreme Muslim Council (the Waqf) of Jerusalem in 1925 declares of the Temple Mount, "Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the L-rd....' "
In addition, on page 16 the pamphlet makes reference to the underground area in the south-east corner of the Mount, which it refers to as Solomon's Stables. "Little is known for certain of the history of the chamber itself," the guide reads. "It dates probably as far back as the construction of Solomon's Temple. According to Josephus, it was in existence and was used as a place of refuge by the Jews at the time of the conquest of Jerusalem by Titus in the year 70 A.D."
Islam's Founder Muhammad: The Temple is in JerusalemThroughout the religious, behavioral and doctrinal codebooks Muslims believe were transmitted from Muhammad or his immediate associates, known as Hadith, Jerusalem is primarily called Bayt al-Makdis in Arabic. The term is an Arabic translation of the Hebrew Bait HaMikdash, which means "the Temple" in English.
Jerusalem, however, is not mentioned by name in the primary Islamic scripture, the Koran. However, Muslim apologists often point to a description in the Koran of a mystical journey Muhammad made to "the furthest mosque," which they claim is al-Aqsa mosque currently located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
However, the Hadith that provide more details of the mystical journey also refer to Jerusalem as the location of the Jewish Temple. As the Hadith collection Sahih Muslim states: "[The] Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: I was brought al-Buraq who is an animal white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, who would place his hoof a distance equal to the range of vision. I mounted it and came to the Temple (Bait al-Maqdis in Jerusalem), then tethered it to the ring used by the prophets." To this day, the Muslims refer to the Western Wall as "Al-Buraq Wall".
Archaeological Evidence: The Temples Were in Jerusalem Archaeological finds in recent years in and around Jerusalem have been providing physical evidence for the history as presented by the earliest Jewish, Christian and Muslim sources. Some examples follow:
* In 2005, following painstaking archaeological work carried out in a dump from an illegal Wakf construction project on the Temple Mount, researchers discovered: a coin from the period of the First Revolt against the Romans, which preceded the destruction of the Second Temple, bearing the phrase "For the Redemption of Zion"; an inscription chiseled on a jar fragment of the First Temple period, with the ancient Hebrew letters heh, ayin and kof; A seal with five-pointed star with ancient Hebrew letters spelling "Jerusalem" spaced between the points; a Hasmonean coin bearing inscription "Yehonathan High Priest, friend of the Jews"; a coin of Alexander Jannaeus; a Scytho-Iranian arrowhead, of the type used by the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar that destroyed the First Temple in 586 BCE; and more.
* In 2005, a Hebrew University archaeologist uncovered a clay seal dated from about 580 BCE bearing the name Yehuchal Ben-Sheleimiya, who is identified as a royal envoy and court minister sent by King Zedekiah to the prophet Jeremiah (in chapters 37 and 38 of the Bible's Book of Jeremiah).
Several years earlier, another circa-580 BCE royal seal was found at the same site. It had the name of Gemaryahu, son of Shafan, who is also mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah as a top official in the court of King Zedekiah's predecessor, King Yehoyachim. Another seal found among dozens of others bears the name of Azaryahu Ben-Hilkiyahu, a member of a priestly family, who served in the Temple before Jerusalem's destruction, according to I Chronicles, 9:10.
* In May 2007 archaeologists revealed a number of seals and signet rings from the time of the Biblical Kings David and Solomon, unearthed in the City of David, below Jerusalem's Old City.
* In July 2007 an expert in ancient Babylon discovered a small clay tablet that records a donation of gold by "the chief eunuch of King Nebuchadnezzar," a man named Nabu-sharrussu-ukin. In Jeremiah 39, the researcher noted, the man's name is listed as one of Nebuchadnezzar's top ministers, who took part in the destruction of the First Holy Temple 2,500 years ago.
* In January 2008 archaeologists discovered a stone seal that includes the name of a family, Temech, whose members were servants during the First Temple, were exiled to Babylonia and then returned to Jerusalem. The seal was found near the Dung Gate walls of the Old City. The Book of Nehemiah (Chapter 7) refers to the Temech family by name.
* In March 2008 a coin from the Second Temple used during the turbulent Second Temple period to pay the Biblical half-shekel head-tax was found in excavations in the City of David.
* In August of 2008 archaeologists unearthed a completely intact seal impression bearing the name of another minister to King Zedekiah, Gedaliahu son of Pashur, a few meters away from the site where a the seal of Yehuchal Ben-Sheleimiya was found three years earlier.
***********
Would to God a proper Jewish government would be formed that would immediately send such barking dogs running to Mecca with their tails between their legs. As a going away present, the Israelis could see them off with whatever dust is left of their pagan shrine al aksa when the Temple Mount is cleansed of its impurities.
Jews Must Demand Rights to Temple Mount
A House of Prayer for All Peoples?
The Issue of the Temple Mount
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Temple Mount In Ruins
Temple Mount In Ruins
by Dr. Israel Eldad
Written in 1951 - Translated by Zev Golan
Does the Holy Temple, once the glorious symbol of everything Jewish, have a place in our modern Israel?
I must confess, it now grieves me that three years ago I concluded a speech to the Jews of Jerusalem with a call for architects to immediately begin the designing of the Third Temple. I sinned, not by misleading my listeners into believing that the capture of the Temple Mount was at hand, no, my error was in thinking that it was time for the builders of buildings, for the movers of materials. In my naiveté I assumed that between our assembly hall and the Temple Mount lay a mere few hundred meters, a mere Ottoman wall, mere legions of Jordanian soldiers. I forgot to take into account the psychological aspect which, after all, determines true distances and the true distances and the true thickness of walls.
My mistake sprang from the heady atmosphere of those days when people suddenly felt feelings of possession and mastery over this Land, after we had conquered parts of it. We felt that the blood we had shed had blazed a trail straight to the long buried dry bones, reviving them, and once again Hebrew soldiers were marching, soldiers feeling as the soldiers of Joshua, the soldiers if Davis, the soldiers of the Macabees had felt towards this Land. Soldiers who obeyed the declarations of G-d rather than the declarations of the United Nations.
Three years later it is clear: all this was an illusion. The awakening form this pleasant dream has been so rude that many are speaking of the "destruction of the Third Temple," referring not to the loss of the physical Temple (that has not even been built yet) nor to the ruin of the State itself, but to the destruction of the "Heavenly Temple," that is, the spiritual and moral Temple that seemed to hover over our heads here. People may have seen different things in this "Temple" and heard different commandments emanating from it, different do’s and don’ts, but this Temple, or more correctly those Temples, sometimes called by us idealism or pioneering, now lay in ruins. If I use the term Temples in the plural, it is because my feeling is that that the reason for the destruction lies in the fact that we saw Temples rather than the one important Temple. An old Midrashic legend states that because Jews spent their time tilling the hills and mountains of other peoples, G-d removed His presence from our two mountains, Mt. Sinai and the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah), and today both are desolate and abandoned. For those who prefer the metaphor in simpler language: because what is called "Zionism" got sidetracked with other ideologies the two basic ideas were left behind: Torah and Malchut (Majesty). As Mount Sinai and the Temple Mount remained outside our legal borders, the ideas they represent, Torah and Malchut , remained outside our lives.
I include among the causes that sidetracked us not only socialism and Marxism, but such "kosher" and honorable ideas as "in-gathering of the Exiles" and a "state of expression of the independence" and "freedom of the individual." All these and their like may be fine mountains pleasing to the eye and heart, but they are not more than false gods when compared to the one mount, the Temple Mount, which took for itself much if not all of the glory and mystery of Mount Sinai.
The Temple Mount, referred to in the Book of Deuteronomy tens of times as "The place the L-rd will choose," called the ritual center by Biblical scientists, and of which was said in the beautiful, the mother of all prayers, of Solomon of the Temple ( 1Kings 8) "The L-rd said that the He would dwell in, a settled place for you to abide forever." As if Solomon were saying to G-d that "as long as you are obscured there cannot be any contact between us. I am building you a tangible, clear, geographic home in which you can receive the prayers of your people Israel and the prayers of any who wish to pray to you," for "your eyes to be open toward this house night and day."
A request for G-d to center his prayer-accepting heart around this house. "What prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all your people Israel… and he shall spread forth his hands toward this House."
"And also the foreigner who is not of your People Israel…when he shall come and pray toward this House, and you shall hear."
"If your people go out to battle against their enemy, and they shall pray to the L-rd toward the City which you have chosen and the House I have built for your name."
And so all, individual and collective, Hebrew and non-Jew, shall find the way to G-d only through this House. Not only by entering it, for those far away too, there is no other way to the Heavens: "If they sin against you, and their captors carry them away to the land of their enemy, and pray to you toward their Land which you gave to their fathers, the City which you have chosen and the House I have built for your name, and you will hear." (What brilliant thinking! For those who come to pray he mentions only the Temple. And for those in Exile in the distant Diaspora, he includes the Land, the City and the Temple.)
The imagery and phrasing of this prayer are so concrete and concise that they make it the ultimate expression of Hebrew belief. It rises above all that philosophers and theologians and even prophets have written in all the generations that followed. The localization of the Temple, despite Solomon’s full knowledge that "not even the Heavens can contain you," and the idea is wider and more open than pantheism, yet nonetheless, or perhaps precisely because of this, there is a need for trying to this one spot a gate open to foreigners. We are not a religious community that keeps its G-d to itself and posits places for other religions. We are liberal enough to allow other religions their belief, but not so overly liberal that we credit them with the label "truth." We ado not concede the possibility of a different Gate to heaven … therefore Our Temple’s gateways to Heaven are open to all. Also note the reference in this prayer to war; let us do away with the notion of on being a pacifist before the era of the Messiah, for the ideas are intertwined: G-d’s return to the Temple and a war of conquest, with revenge upon enemies.
As for the location of this spot, let artists try to explain it with their paint brushes. Let strategists expound, geopolitists and geologists and archeologists exigise. This is not our business. What is our concern is that this spot, with no possibility of change is "the place that is chosen." No apparent "rationalism," no "enlightened" philosophy can change this, nor move even one square meter of the mount.And especially he who believes most deeply in the oneness, the all-encompassing-ness, the infinity of G-d, as every believing Jew, he will be most adamant about this oneness, this unique example in time and space; Temple Mount. No other Temple is acceptable, no matter how beautiful, if it is not on this Mount. Nor is this Mount acceptable without the "Great and Holy Temple" standing on it. Great and holy, both symbolizing the unification and synthesis of the material basis, the great foundation in the land that surrounds it, with the quality of Holiness.
A secular historian might try to evade this point by suggesting "The spot is sanctified by the blood zealots spilled in defending her." But the question remains: Why so much blood spilled over this spot? The reason for which so much blood was spilled is that which obligates the spilling of more blood to re-conquer her, if necessary. And the reason is: the objective holiness of this spot as the Kodesh Kodeshim , Holy of Holies, of our nation , and in the Days to Come, of all nations, for this is the meeting place of Heaven and earth. The Temple allows us to recognize that G-d is above nature, beyond us, yet still within our reach. Here man takes hold of G-d, and G-d takes hold of man. Centralizing prayer here provides the strength to stand in this physical word that has no beginning and no end and therefore no actuality. It gives our eyes and hearts a focus other than pure abstraction. It is the only refuge of man between the two things that never end and never really begin; physics and metaphysics. It is the center of the universe. According to Jewish tradition the "foundation-stone" at the center of the mount (today the rock under the Dome of the Rock) is the stone that served as foundation of the world, from it G-d created our world. This stone witnessed the birth of faith as well, for on it Abraham bound his son Isaac, some say the Jewish people have been inexorably bound to this spot ever since. Certainly we have been on the altar since then. This same stone would later become the center of the Temple. And so, this mount is the spiritual and physical center of the universe. Through it man comes to life, learns to live. Some see this clearly, others merely feel it, but both know that the power and meaning of existence are to be found here. Those who besieged Jerusalem, who conquered the Temple, found it strange as well. There are of course other instances of patriotism, of a people’s love for its capital, but never accompanied by such Holiness. People have always seen in their capital important moral and military point, but for strategic reasons they did not hesitate to retreat from the capital, even burn it, and to establish in its stead a capital behind the lines of defense.
Nor has there ever been another example of a connection simultaneously political, military and religious as with Jerusalem and the Temple; nor of the bereavement of a nation, expressed in its mourning, mourning even the date of the loss of independence of the fall of vital fortresses. Not even regarding the ultimate fall of Jerusalem! Only regarding the destruction of the Temple itself.
To compare the Temple Mount to Mount Olympus is to bring everything into focus.
The Greeks simply took the highest mountain and assumed it to be the home of the gods, that is why, they reasoned, it is the highest and perhaps the most beautiful, because the gods are there. Israel, however, lowers its G-d to a mountain that is not necessarily the highest, that is in fact surrounded by higher peaks, and raises Him to this mountaintop. This is not a matter of a chance physical or geographic occurrence, this is a spiritual choice. There we, find enslavement to natural occurrences, here these are subordinate to spirit. Their philosophy one or another ends in a deep freeze, whether materialistically / physically or idealistically / metaphysically, with the resulting fatalistic / amoral cycles. Here lies the fire of prophecy, flamed by historical and moral dynamics.
This is the foundation-stone of our world. On it we are bound as on the original altar. On it we are bound as on the original altar. On it we continue to exist. Anyone who thinks the Temple a matter of religious ritual has not grasped the meaning of what is called "Israel in the world." The Temple is not just another "Jeshurun Synagogue," perhaps prettier, that can be located just as easily in New York, the Temple’s tie to the geopolitical and historical point called the Temple Mount symbolizes the uniqueness of our outlook on the world.
The Temple (literally, "The House’) is the House that is chosen upon the Mount that is for the people who are chosen. The central and sanctified heart of a nation cannot be a glorified synagogue as many religious people picture it, nor can it be a political "House" of Lords or Representatives as some secularists would have it. The territorial necessity involved with it is related to its basic role: expressing the world-view that makes our people unique, that gives us the possibility of a meaning for existence of man in general, in this infinite world. This shall not change, not if Mars is conquered, nor if electrons explode: without this tie, man is dust in the wind.
Our land is not only a Homeland in the sense that Poland is a for the Poles or Korea is for the Koreans, but rather it is the Land in which we can "Go up to appear and bow down." The Temple Mount is not sufficient without a good, spacious land around it, but neither is such a land sufficient without the Temple Mount. We are not like the nations of the world, they belong to a land; transfer them to another land and they will belong to it. Nor is this land like the lands of other nations, take away one nation, they will belong to another. Here a third factor comes into play, supreme and decisive, which does not permit the above occurrences. Jerusalem and the Temple Mount transform our tie to the land into a weltanschauung.
This weltanschauung is symbolized by the Temple. This centralization, this facing toward one spot wherever our people have been, is what has kept us together for thousands of years.As long as this tie was known and recognized by the nation, a wise rabbi was able to laugh even when he saw foxes walking the ruins of the Temple Mount. But when this tie has ceased to be recognized by the nation, there is no reason to laugh or to celebrate even on the Temple Mount, not even if it should be beautiful.If the Temple Mount lies physically desolate (for us, this is the meaning of a foreign house of prayer in it) this is because, and only because, it did not possess the decisive value in our lives that it historically deserves. No one expresses any doubt that had we fought for the Temple Mount in 1948 as our fathers had in the past, it would today be in our hands. How did it happen that just as we stood before the Holy of Holies of our people we suddenly decided to obey an order from some faraway nations? We did not even try to "obey" in the way we "obeyed" their orders concerning … the declaration of statehood, and the establishing of a government.
For our generation was weaned on the idea of a state, we taught, sought and fought for a state, the fighting youth threatened rebellion for it, and not for the Temple Mount. It was so close ….
This is not just another matter for dialectics and discussion, like aliyah, settlement, industry or military capability. As Herzl and Jabotinsky looked upon the idea of a state not as one of many links in the Zionist chain, but rather as the basis for them all, so, too, is the Temple Mount not one of many places in the Land of Israel we have yet to conquer, not just a link, but rather it is the basis, the foundation, in fact the foundation-stone, that gives relevance and meaning of all the other welcome and blessed conquests.
Therefore the difference between our foreign minister saying: one half kilometer from our border an important event occurred (referring to the murder of King Abdullah) or if he had said: On the Temple Mount a foreign king was killed. The change in terminology requires a change of position, or more correctly, the change in viewpoint is still one of kilometers and hundreds of meters, advancing or retreating. And even the representatives of what is called religious Judaism, the rabbinate, even they were not shaken and did not protest at the order top retreat from conquering the Temple Mount.
On the day that the nation mourns, or should mourn the destruction of the Temple, we traditionally raise a picture of the Western Wall, the Wailing Wall. This rather than the foundation-stone, the rock under the dome. During the years of Exile, the Wailing Wall serves a fine purpose, and from near and far tears and prayers of the nation flowed to it. Now, the source of tears seems to be sealed. There are no wailers, no one feels the need to wail for the destruction of the nation, who will then be found to cry with all his heart for the destruction of that House of long ago?
Would it not be best to transfer the center of honor from the Wall of the Mount to the Mount itself? Should we not pressure for this transfer, and if I say "pressure" I do not refer to external powers, to Arabs or to the United Nations, but rather to internal powers, among ourselves.
Before we can commission architects to prepare the plans for the House, we must commission men of spirit, men with this particular spirit inside them, to raise form the ruins the spiritual Temple Mount. We must raise the concept, stir the longings, kindle desire. We must contemplate the foundation-stone upon which we were bound and upon which we have existed until now. We must reunite Heaven and Earth, which were torn form each other, the tearing being the destruction of the Temple. The mending of this tear is the purpose of Hebrew liberation. As else: land to sustain us, in-gathering of exiles, cultural and physical creativity, growth in strength and morality and beauty, will spring from foundation-stone.
The foxes that today walk on the Temple Mount are not those that prolong our mourning and postpone Redemption, but rather the little foxes among us, those who sabotage our own vineyards, In the same way that the destruction of the Temple in our souls is that which prevented and which still prevents the redemption of the Temple Mount form the hands of the foreign foxes.
And perhaps until recently the charge might have seemed flippant, against which one could reply "There was no opportunity to test it;" and then came these felonious days, beginning with the agreement to internationalize Jerusalem, including the acceptance of a cease-fire, including the halting of our attack, and continuing to standing calmly by the side in these very days, and these proved to the true extent of the destruction, and its true location.
This translation was originally published in December 1, 1982 edition of Ha-Or, which was published by Council of Jewish Organizations, Queens College, New York.
by Dr. Israel Eldad
Written in 1951 - Translated by Zev Golan
Does the Holy Temple, once the glorious symbol of everything Jewish, have a place in our modern Israel?
I must confess, it now grieves me that three years ago I concluded a speech to the Jews of Jerusalem with a call for architects to immediately begin the designing of the Third Temple. I sinned, not by misleading my listeners into believing that the capture of the Temple Mount was at hand, no, my error was in thinking that it was time for the builders of buildings, for the movers of materials. In my naiveté I assumed that between our assembly hall and the Temple Mount lay a mere few hundred meters, a mere Ottoman wall, mere legions of Jordanian soldiers. I forgot to take into account the psychological aspect which, after all, determines true distances and the true distances and the true thickness of walls.
My mistake sprang from the heady atmosphere of those days when people suddenly felt feelings of possession and mastery over this Land, after we had conquered parts of it. We felt that the blood we had shed had blazed a trail straight to the long buried dry bones, reviving them, and once again Hebrew soldiers were marching, soldiers feeling as the soldiers of Joshua, the soldiers if Davis, the soldiers of the Macabees had felt towards this Land. Soldiers who obeyed the declarations of G-d rather than the declarations of the United Nations.
Three years later it is clear: all this was an illusion. The awakening form this pleasant dream has been so rude that many are speaking of the "destruction of the Third Temple," referring not to the loss of the physical Temple (that has not even been built yet) nor to the ruin of the State itself, but to the destruction of the "Heavenly Temple," that is, the spiritual and moral Temple that seemed to hover over our heads here. People may have seen different things in this "Temple" and heard different commandments emanating from it, different do’s and don’ts, but this Temple, or more correctly those Temples, sometimes called by us idealism or pioneering, now lay in ruins. If I use the term Temples in the plural, it is because my feeling is that that the reason for the destruction lies in the fact that we saw Temples rather than the one important Temple. An old Midrashic legend states that because Jews spent their time tilling the hills and mountains of other peoples, G-d removed His presence from our two mountains, Mt. Sinai and the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah), and today both are desolate and abandoned. For those who prefer the metaphor in simpler language: because what is called "Zionism" got sidetracked with other ideologies the two basic ideas were left behind: Torah and Malchut (Majesty). As Mount Sinai and the Temple Mount remained outside our legal borders, the ideas they represent, Torah and Malchut , remained outside our lives.
I include among the causes that sidetracked us not only socialism and Marxism, but such "kosher" and honorable ideas as "in-gathering of the Exiles" and a "state of expression of the independence" and "freedom of the individual." All these and their like may be fine mountains pleasing to the eye and heart, but they are not more than false gods when compared to the one mount, the Temple Mount, which took for itself much if not all of the glory and mystery of Mount Sinai.
The Temple Mount, referred to in the Book of Deuteronomy tens of times as "The place the L-rd will choose," called the ritual center by Biblical scientists, and of which was said in the beautiful, the mother of all prayers, of Solomon of the Temple ( 1Kings 8) "The L-rd said that the He would dwell in, a settled place for you to abide forever." As if Solomon were saying to G-d that "as long as you are obscured there cannot be any contact between us. I am building you a tangible, clear, geographic home in which you can receive the prayers of your people Israel and the prayers of any who wish to pray to you," for "your eyes to be open toward this house night and day."
A request for G-d to center his prayer-accepting heart around this house. "What prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all your people Israel… and he shall spread forth his hands toward this House."
"And also the foreigner who is not of your People Israel…when he shall come and pray toward this House, and you shall hear."
"If your people go out to battle against their enemy, and they shall pray to the L-rd toward the City which you have chosen and the House I have built for your name."
And so all, individual and collective, Hebrew and non-Jew, shall find the way to G-d only through this House. Not only by entering it, for those far away too, there is no other way to the Heavens: "If they sin against you, and their captors carry them away to the land of their enemy, and pray to you toward their Land which you gave to their fathers, the City which you have chosen and the House I have built for your name, and you will hear." (What brilliant thinking! For those who come to pray he mentions only the Temple. And for those in Exile in the distant Diaspora, he includes the Land, the City and the Temple.)
The imagery and phrasing of this prayer are so concrete and concise that they make it the ultimate expression of Hebrew belief. It rises above all that philosophers and theologians and even prophets have written in all the generations that followed. The localization of the Temple, despite Solomon’s full knowledge that "not even the Heavens can contain you," and the idea is wider and more open than pantheism, yet nonetheless, or perhaps precisely because of this, there is a need for trying to this one spot a gate open to foreigners. We are not a religious community that keeps its G-d to itself and posits places for other religions. We are liberal enough to allow other religions their belief, but not so overly liberal that we credit them with the label "truth." We ado not concede the possibility of a different Gate to heaven … therefore Our Temple’s gateways to Heaven are open to all. Also note the reference in this prayer to war; let us do away with the notion of on being a pacifist before the era of the Messiah, for the ideas are intertwined: G-d’s return to the Temple and a war of conquest, with revenge upon enemies.
As for the location of this spot, let artists try to explain it with their paint brushes. Let strategists expound, geopolitists and geologists and archeologists exigise. This is not our business. What is our concern is that this spot, with no possibility of change is "the place that is chosen." No apparent "rationalism," no "enlightened" philosophy can change this, nor move even one square meter of the mount.And especially he who believes most deeply in the oneness, the all-encompassing-ness, the infinity of G-d, as every believing Jew, he will be most adamant about this oneness, this unique example in time and space; Temple Mount. No other Temple is acceptable, no matter how beautiful, if it is not on this Mount. Nor is this Mount acceptable without the "Great and Holy Temple" standing on it. Great and holy, both symbolizing the unification and synthesis of the material basis, the great foundation in the land that surrounds it, with the quality of Holiness.
A secular historian might try to evade this point by suggesting "The spot is sanctified by the blood zealots spilled in defending her." But the question remains: Why so much blood spilled over this spot? The reason for which so much blood was spilled is that which obligates the spilling of more blood to re-conquer her, if necessary. And the reason is: the objective holiness of this spot as the Kodesh Kodeshim , Holy of Holies, of our nation , and in the Days to Come, of all nations, for this is the meeting place of Heaven and earth. The Temple allows us to recognize that G-d is above nature, beyond us, yet still within our reach. Here man takes hold of G-d, and G-d takes hold of man. Centralizing prayer here provides the strength to stand in this physical word that has no beginning and no end and therefore no actuality. It gives our eyes and hearts a focus other than pure abstraction. It is the only refuge of man between the two things that never end and never really begin; physics and metaphysics. It is the center of the universe. According to Jewish tradition the "foundation-stone" at the center of the mount (today the rock under the Dome of the Rock) is the stone that served as foundation of the world, from it G-d created our world. This stone witnessed the birth of faith as well, for on it Abraham bound his son Isaac, some say the Jewish people have been inexorably bound to this spot ever since. Certainly we have been on the altar since then. This same stone would later become the center of the Temple. And so, this mount is the spiritual and physical center of the universe. Through it man comes to life, learns to live. Some see this clearly, others merely feel it, but both know that the power and meaning of existence are to be found here. Those who besieged Jerusalem, who conquered the Temple, found it strange as well. There are of course other instances of patriotism, of a people’s love for its capital, but never accompanied by such Holiness. People have always seen in their capital important moral and military point, but for strategic reasons they did not hesitate to retreat from the capital, even burn it, and to establish in its stead a capital behind the lines of defense.
Nor has there ever been another example of a connection simultaneously political, military and religious as with Jerusalem and the Temple; nor of the bereavement of a nation, expressed in its mourning, mourning even the date of the loss of independence of the fall of vital fortresses. Not even regarding the ultimate fall of Jerusalem! Only regarding the destruction of the Temple itself.
To compare the Temple Mount to Mount Olympus is to bring everything into focus.
The Greeks simply took the highest mountain and assumed it to be the home of the gods, that is why, they reasoned, it is the highest and perhaps the most beautiful, because the gods are there. Israel, however, lowers its G-d to a mountain that is not necessarily the highest, that is in fact surrounded by higher peaks, and raises Him to this mountaintop. This is not a matter of a chance physical or geographic occurrence, this is a spiritual choice. There we, find enslavement to natural occurrences, here these are subordinate to spirit. Their philosophy one or another ends in a deep freeze, whether materialistically / physically or idealistically / metaphysically, with the resulting fatalistic / amoral cycles. Here lies the fire of prophecy, flamed by historical and moral dynamics.
This is the foundation-stone of our world. On it we are bound as on the original altar. On it we are bound as on the original altar. On it we continue to exist. Anyone who thinks the Temple a matter of religious ritual has not grasped the meaning of what is called "Israel in the world." The Temple is not just another "Jeshurun Synagogue," perhaps prettier, that can be located just as easily in New York, the Temple’s tie to the geopolitical and historical point called the Temple Mount symbolizes the uniqueness of our outlook on the world.
The Temple (literally, "The House’) is the House that is chosen upon the Mount that is for the people who are chosen. The central and sanctified heart of a nation cannot be a glorified synagogue as many religious people picture it, nor can it be a political "House" of Lords or Representatives as some secularists would have it. The territorial necessity involved with it is related to its basic role: expressing the world-view that makes our people unique, that gives us the possibility of a meaning for existence of man in general, in this infinite world. This shall not change, not if Mars is conquered, nor if electrons explode: without this tie, man is dust in the wind.
Our land is not only a Homeland in the sense that Poland is a for the Poles or Korea is for the Koreans, but rather it is the Land in which we can "Go up to appear and bow down." The Temple Mount is not sufficient without a good, spacious land around it, but neither is such a land sufficient without the Temple Mount. We are not like the nations of the world, they belong to a land; transfer them to another land and they will belong to it. Nor is this land like the lands of other nations, take away one nation, they will belong to another. Here a third factor comes into play, supreme and decisive, which does not permit the above occurrences. Jerusalem and the Temple Mount transform our tie to the land into a weltanschauung.
This weltanschauung is symbolized by the Temple. This centralization, this facing toward one spot wherever our people have been, is what has kept us together for thousands of years.As long as this tie was known and recognized by the nation, a wise rabbi was able to laugh even when he saw foxes walking the ruins of the Temple Mount. But when this tie has ceased to be recognized by the nation, there is no reason to laugh or to celebrate even on the Temple Mount, not even if it should be beautiful.If the Temple Mount lies physically desolate (for us, this is the meaning of a foreign house of prayer in it) this is because, and only because, it did not possess the decisive value in our lives that it historically deserves. No one expresses any doubt that had we fought for the Temple Mount in 1948 as our fathers had in the past, it would today be in our hands. How did it happen that just as we stood before the Holy of Holies of our people we suddenly decided to obey an order from some faraway nations? We did not even try to "obey" in the way we "obeyed" their orders concerning … the declaration of statehood, and the establishing of a government.
For our generation was weaned on the idea of a state, we taught, sought and fought for a state, the fighting youth threatened rebellion for it, and not for the Temple Mount. It was so close ….
This is not just another matter for dialectics and discussion, like aliyah, settlement, industry or military capability. As Herzl and Jabotinsky looked upon the idea of a state not as one of many links in the Zionist chain, but rather as the basis for them all, so, too, is the Temple Mount not one of many places in the Land of Israel we have yet to conquer, not just a link, but rather it is the basis, the foundation, in fact the foundation-stone, that gives relevance and meaning of all the other welcome and blessed conquests.
Therefore the difference between our foreign minister saying: one half kilometer from our border an important event occurred (referring to the murder of King Abdullah) or if he had said: On the Temple Mount a foreign king was killed. The change in terminology requires a change of position, or more correctly, the change in viewpoint is still one of kilometers and hundreds of meters, advancing or retreating. And even the representatives of what is called religious Judaism, the rabbinate, even they were not shaken and did not protest at the order top retreat from conquering the Temple Mount.
On the day that the nation mourns, or should mourn the destruction of the Temple, we traditionally raise a picture of the Western Wall, the Wailing Wall. This rather than the foundation-stone, the rock under the dome. During the years of Exile, the Wailing Wall serves a fine purpose, and from near and far tears and prayers of the nation flowed to it. Now, the source of tears seems to be sealed. There are no wailers, no one feels the need to wail for the destruction of the nation, who will then be found to cry with all his heart for the destruction of that House of long ago?
Would it not be best to transfer the center of honor from the Wall of the Mount to the Mount itself? Should we not pressure for this transfer, and if I say "pressure" I do not refer to external powers, to Arabs or to the United Nations, but rather to internal powers, among ourselves.
Before we can commission architects to prepare the plans for the House, we must commission men of spirit, men with this particular spirit inside them, to raise form the ruins the spiritual Temple Mount. We must raise the concept, stir the longings, kindle desire. We must contemplate the foundation-stone upon which we were bound and upon which we have existed until now. We must reunite Heaven and Earth, which were torn form each other, the tearing being the destruction of the Temple. The mending of this tear is the purpose of Hebrew liberation. As else: land to sustain us, in-gathering of exiles, cultural and physical creativity, growth in strength and morality and beauty, will spring from foundation-stone.
The foxes that today walk on the Temple Mount are not those that prolong our mourning and postpone Redemption, but rather the little foxes among us, those who sabotage our own vineyards, In the same way that the destruction of the Temple in our souls is that which prevented and which still prevents the redemption of the Temple Mount form the hands of the foreign foxes.
And perhaps until recently the charge might have seemed flippant, against which one could reply "There was no opportunity to test it;" and then came these felonious days, beginning with the agreement to internationalize Jerusalem, including the acceptance of a cease-fire, including the halting of our attack, and continuing to standing calmly by the side in these very days, and these proved to the true extent of the destruction, and its true location.
This translation was originally published in December 1, 1982 edition of Ha-Or, which was published by Council of Jewish Organizations, Queens College, New York.
The Sounding of the Ram's Horn
"A remembrance proclaimed with the sounding of the ram's horn, a holy convocation."(Leviticus 23:24)
Elul 25, 5768/September 25, 2008
Rosh HaShana: the day on which all humanity stands before G-d in judgment and in recognition of His sovereignty over all creation. Just what is the central motif of this grand and lofty coronation ceremony? The blasting of the shofar - a ram's horn: "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto you, a remembrance proclaimed with the sounding of the ram's horn, a holy convocation." (Leviticus 23:24)
How odd that an occasion so sublime and of such grandeur and loftiness as the universal declaration of G-d's dominion over all humanity should be accompanied by something so humble and unassuming as a ram's horn. True, in the Holy Temple the shofar sounded by the priest on Rosh HaShana was plated with gold and accompanied by silver trumpets, but in essence, the shofar blown in the Holy Temple was the same shofar blown today on Rosh HaShana. Why does G-d assign so prominent a role to the shofar on this of all days?
Rosh HaShana marks the day on which Adam, the first man was created, and it is fitting that on the day that all of Adam's descendants stand in judgment before G-d and declare His sovereignty over themselves. But simply making a verbal declaration attesting to the creation of man as a historical fact is not what G-d desires of us. We need to relive the creation of Adam, in which G-d "breathed into his nostrils a breath of life." (Genesis 2:7) We relive the experience by recreating it: It is this same breath which G-d breathed into us that we employ to blow the shofar and thereby proclaim testimony to our creation and to the King Who created us!
To truly accept upon ourselves G-d's sovereignty, to truly acknowledge Him as our creator we need to strip down our self perception way beyond what words can describe, way beyond what our intellects can possess. We must re-immerse ourselves in the wordless vibration of our own coming into being. For coming into being, renewing our potential for growth and change, this is how we declare G-d's sovereignty. This is how we reassume and reinvigorate our simple but pure created selves. And what better way to herald in the new year than by reclaiming our capacity for change and for growth. It is with this renewed potential to become that we prepare ourselves for the upcoming challenge of Yom Kippur and the new year that lays ahead.
Tune in to this week's Temple Talk as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven discuss the original six days of creation - which are happening all over again today - the time altering power of teshuva - repentance - and the sounding of the shofar on Rosh HaShana - a wordless tribute to the one King, recreating the breath of life, and retracing its path from the narrow to the expansive - sweetening the judgment!
"Even if you are dispersed in the ends of heaven, from there will HaShem your G-d gather you in, and from there He will take you." (Deuteronomy 30:4) Parashat Nitzavim, the final parasha before Rosh HaShana, contains within in the Divine promise that G-d's children will repent, and that, having done so, G-d will turn back their captivity, and gather them in.
Even if our teshuva - repentance - is not totally pure, but is done for reasons other than purely for the sake of heaven, that is, is done for reasons that are merely "dispersed in the ends of heaven," even then G-d will accept our teshuva - and gather us in. Click here to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on parashat Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20).
Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,
Yitzchak Reuven
THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE
PO Box 31876
Jerusalem, Israel 97500
www.templeinstitute.org
Elul 25, 5768/September 25, 2008
Rosh HaShana: the day on which all humanity stands before G-d in judgment and in recognition of His sovereignty over all creation. Just what is the central motif of this grand and lofty coronation ceremony? The blasting of the shofar - a ram's horn: "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto you, a remembrance proclaimed with the sounding of the ram's horn, a holy convocation." (Leviticus 23:24)
How odd that an occasion so sublime and of such grandeur and loftiness as the universal declaration of G-d's dominion over all humanity should be accompanied by something so humble and unassuming as a ram's horn. True, in the Holy Temple the shofar sounded by the priest on Rosh HaShana was plated with gold and accompanied by silver trumpets, but in essence, the shofar blown in the Holy Temple was the same shofar blown today on Rosh HaShana. Why does G-d assign so prominent a role to the shofar on this of all days?
Rosh HaShana marks the day on which Adam, the first man was created, and it is fitting that on the day that all of Adam's descendants stand in judgment before G-d and declare His sovereignty over themselves. But simply making a verbal declaration attesting to the creation of man as a historical fact is not what G-d desires of us. We need to relive the creation of Adam, in which G-d "breathed into his nostrils a breath of life." (Genesis 2:7) We relive the experience by recreating it: It is this same breath which G-d breathed into us that we employ to blow the shofar and thereby proclaim testimony to our creation and to the King Who created us!
To truly accept upon ourselves G-d's sovereignty, to truly acknowledge Him as our creator we need to strip down our self perception way beyond what words can describe, way beyond what our intellects can possess. We must re-immerse ourselves in the wordless vibration of our own coming into being. For coming into being, renewing our potential for growth and change, this is how we declare G-d's sovereignty. This is how we reassume and reinvigorate our simple but pure created selves. And what better way to herald in the new year than by reclaiming our capacity for change and for growth. It is with this renewed potential to become that we prepare ourselves for the upcoming challenge of Yom Kippur and the new year that lays ahead.
Tune in to this week's Temple Talk as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven discuss the original six days of creation - which are happening all over again today - the time altering power of teshuva - repentance - and the sounding of the shofar on Rosh HaShana - a wordless tribute to the one King, recreating the breath of life, and retracing its path from the narrow to the expansive - sweetening the judgment!
"Even if you are dispersed in the ends of heaven, from there will HaShem your G-d gather you in, and from there He will take you." (Deuteronomy 30:4) Parashat Nitzavim, the final parasha before Rosh HaShana, contains within in the Divine promise that G-d's children will repent, and that, having done so, G-d will turn back their captivity, and gather them in.
Even if our teshuva - repentance - is not totally pure, but is done for reasons other than purely for the sake of heaven, that is, is done for reasons that are merely "dispersed in the ends of heaven," even then G-d will accept our teshuva - and gather us in. Click here to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on parashat Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20).
Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,
Yitzchak Reuven
THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE
PO Box 31876
Jerusalem, Israel 97500
www.templeinstitute.org
The Holocaust
Re: THE MAN WHO HID ANNE FRANK
You would do well to focus on what Kahane said about the family (and the rabbis say Jews are deserving of the leaders they get - so Kahane’s tough love, his criticism, wasn’t merely about “particular Jews”), since enough time has been wasted on wringing hands and blaming non-Jews in an attempt to extort guilt and divert attention from the shirked Jewish responsibilities. Enough is enough.
Comment by David BenAriel — September 25, 2008 @ 7:26 am
Double-minded Jews! The Holocaust is a Jewish issue, the Holocaust isn’t merely a Jewish issue (visit any of the many Holocaust museums and see how they’ve included every politically correct “persecuted” group), the non-Jews should have done more, the non-Jews didn’t do enough, but it’s a Jewish issue. Oy veh!
When Jews engage in a blood libel against Christians and every non-Jewish European, intelligent folk would expect a backlash, would expect such blanket condemnation would be utterly rejected, and not merely require Christians to hang our heads and suffer an imposed guilt that isn’t justified any more than blaming all Jews for the Jewish Communists and Socialists whose perverted secular messianism resulted in untold deaths, mass murder, of professing Christians in Russia and Eastern Europe and around the world.
Furthermore, how did you fail to notice the blame assigned for the Holocaust that I quoted was from MEIR KAHANE, a Jew, and a reference to another article about Jewish hypocrisy concerning the Holocaust written by another RABBI? I have merely shared and agree with their historical and biblical conclusions. Why does that make you uncomfortable?
Christian agenda? How absurd. You haven’t seen any “Christian agenda” on my part, just the plain truth of the Bible and history, but your imagination has run wild if you strangely consider noting the distinction between Jews and Israelites, as recorded in the Law and the Prophets, or making references to Meir Kahane and other rabbis concerning Jewish hypocrisy and the Holocaust as “Christian agenda.” Where’s your respect for reality?
Comment by David BenAriel — September 25, 2008 @ 7:43 am
********************
Liberal Jews are a disgrace and a humiliation
Where are Jews who denounce Jewish doctrines of destruction?
Counterfeit Christianity feeds Jewish stereotypes
Jewish Blood Libel Against Christianity
Christian Zionist Orde Wingate
Miriam Weiss of Ramat Yohanan
And what did Kahane say about the non-Jewish world at the time, regardless of
this criticism of particular Jews?
You would do well to focus on what Kahane said about the family (and the rabbis say Jews are deserving of the leaders they get - so Kahane’s tough love, his criticism, wasn’t merely about “particular Jews”), since enough time has been wasted on wringing hands and blaming non-Jews in an attempt to extort guilt and divert attention from the shirked Jewish responsibilities. Enough is enough.
Comment by David BenAriel — September 25, 2008 @ 7:26 am
“David Ben Ariel”, the Holocaust is a Jewish issue
Double-minded Jews! The Holocaust is a Jewish issue, the Holocaust isn’t merely a Jewish issue (visit any of the many Holocaust museums and see how they’ve included every politically correct “persecuted” group), the non-Jews should have done more, the non-Jews didn’t do enough, but it’s a Jewish issue. Oy veh!
and assigning responsibility is left to Jews. Not to you.
When Jews engage in a blood libel against Christians and every non-Jewish European, intelligent folk would expect a backlash, would expect such blanket condemnation would be utterly rejected, and not merely require Christians to hang our heads and suffer an imposed guilt that isn’t justified any more than blaming all Jews for the Jewish Communists and Socialists whose perverted secular messianism resulted in untold deaths, mass murder, of professing Christians in Russia and Eastern Europe and around the world.
Furthermore, how did you fail to notice the blame assigned for the Holocaust that I quoted was from MEIR KAHANE, a Jew, and a reference to another article about Jewish hypocrisy concerning the Holocaust written by another RABBI? I have merely shared and agree with their historical and biblical conclusions. Why does that make you uncomfortable?
Please show some respect on a Jewish site and leave your Christian agenda at the
door
Christian agenda? How absurd. You haven’t seen any “Christian agenda” on my part, just the plain truth of the Bible and history, but your imagination has run wild if you strangely consider noting the distinction between Jews and Israelites, as recorded in the Law and the Prophets, or making references to Meir Kahane and other rabbis concerning Jewish hypocrisy and the Holocaust as “Christian agenda.” Where’s your respect for reality?
Comment by David BenAriel — September 25, 2008 @ 7:43 am
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Liberal Jews are a disgrace and a humiliation
Where are Jews who denounce Jewish doctrines of destruction?
Counterfeit Christianity feeds Jewish stereotypes
Jewish Blood Libel Against Christianity
Christian Zionist Orde Wingate
Miriam Weiss of Ramat Yohanan
Church of God Fall Holy Day Calendar
Holy Day Calendar
Read more about God's Holy Days!
God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind
Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Observe?
Feast of Tabernacles Information
2008 Date
Feast of Trumpets *September 30
Day of Atonement *October 9
Feast of Tabernacles *October 14-20
Last Great Day *October 21
* Begins evening before
Read more about God's Holy Days!
God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind
Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Observe?
Feast of Tabernacles Information
2008 Date
Feast of Trumpets *September 30
Day of Atonement *October 9
Feast of Tabernacles *October 14-20
Last Great Day *October 21
* Begins evening before
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The Holocaust and Jewish Hypocrisy
THE MAN WHO HID ANNE FRANK Re: THE MAN WHO HID ANNE FRANK
Meir Kahane noted the hypocrisy of Jews who cry about how the Gentiles didn’t do more to stop the Holocaust when the American Jewish establishment failed to lift a finger to help their brethren, and how European Jewish leaders even collaborated with the Nazis!
Never again? Shimon Peres, that bloody vulture who came to power over Rabin’s dead body, sells out Jerusalem and betrays Israel for his German-Jesuit masters. The Jews are their own worst enemy.
Comment by David BenAriel — September 24, 2008 @ 8:22 am
The Dutch are the tribe of Zebulon.
Comment by David BenAriel — September 24, 2008 @ 8:31 am
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I made a point of visiting the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam years ago, as I traveled throughout Europe en route to Israel.
The Nazis are about as Christian as Communists, Socialists and the erev ra are Jewish.
There is nothing new under the sun, as far as the Twelve Tribes of Israel haven't always acted like family, especially when you consider the biblical account of the "holocaust" against Benjamin and how the first time the word Jews is used in the Bible it is when the Northern Kingdom of Israel, allied with Syria, fought against the Jews! (Further proof that Joes and Jews are not one and the same, regardless of those who would remain in denial of the biblical distinction between Jews and Israelites).
Meir Kahane noted the hypocrisy of Jews who cry about how the Gentiles didn’t do more to stop the Holocaust when the American Jewish establishment failed to lift a finger to help their brethren, and how European Jewish leaders even collaborated with the Nazis!
Never again? Shimon Peres, that bloody vulture who came to power over Rabin’s dead body, sells out Jerusalem and betrays Israel for his German-Jesuit masters. The Jews are their own worst enemy.
Comment by David BenAriel — September 24, 2008 @ 8:22 am
The Dutch are the tribe of Zebulon.
Comment by David BenAriel — September 24, 2008 @ 8:31 am
***********
I made a point of visiting the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam years ago, as I traveled throughout Europe en route to Israel.
The Nazis are about as Christian as Communists, Socialists and the erev ra are Jewish.
There is nothing new under the sun, as far as the Twelve Tribes of Israel haven't always acted like family, especially when you consider the biblical account of the "holocaust" against Benjamin and how the first time the word Jews is used in the Bible it is when the Northern Kingdom of Israel, allied with Syria, fought against the Jews! (Further proof that Joes and Jews are not one and the same, regardless of those who would remain in denial of the biblical distinction between Jews and Israelites).
Islam In Actions (Interfaith Dialogue, What is it Good for?)
Islam In Action
Interfaith Dialogue, What is it Good for?
Posted: 23 Sep 2008 01:47 AM CDT
As I am doing my research on the issue of Islam I sometimes come across articles speaking about interfaith dialogue. Interfaith sounds well and good but the question is what are the actual results of these meetings? Most recently there was a world wide interfaith conference sponsored by the Christian oppressing Saudis. As for Jewish people, they are not even allowed in Saudi Arabia. Just weeks later those same Saudis had over a dozen Christians deported from Saudi Arabia. The horrifying crime of these Christians was worshipping in their homes. Now on September 25Th there will be an interfaith dinner with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad taking place in NYC. The dinner is to break the Ramadan fast. How any self respecting person can sit and eat dinner with the President of Iran is beyond me, let alone Christians and Jews. The Iranian President has a clear agenda that is no one is going to change. He recently has stated that Israel will not survive in any shape or form and the Iranian government has recently voted in a bill calling for the death penalty of those that leave Islam for another religion. Talking to this so called man will not change a thing and it is a complete lesson in denial for those the extend their hands to him. Let us look at three so called "moderate" Islamic countries, starting with Jordan. The Jordanian government prohibits conversion from Islam and the proselytizing of Muslims. The government there has been enforcing this law, as they have recently arrested eight Evangelists for this offense. Secondly is our so called "ally" Egypt who we support by giving them $3 billion dollars a year. Coptic Christians have been persecuted there for centuries and most recently the Egyptian police themselves violently stopped Christians there from rebuilding the only Church in their area. The police even went so far as to hit three women who were helping with the repairs. The third so called "moderate" Islamic country that I will address today is Turkey. A September report shows that the Turkish army has been following Christian missionaries in Turkey and recording their every move. This is clearly an act of intimidation. It is clear that only one group benefits from interfaith dialogue and interfaith dialogue only has one result, that is Islam advancing in our societies. It is time to stop pretending and start protecting ourselves. It is time for a call to end all Mosque construction and Muslim immigration.
**************
The Plain Truth about Imam Khattab
Ohio Mosque Promotes Murder!
Muslims incited to kill Jews
Behind the Veil of Islam
Toledo, Islam, and Terrorists
Interfaith Dialogue, What is it Good for?
Posted: 23 Sep 2008 01:47 AM CDT
As I am doing my research on the issue of Islam I sometimes come across articles speaking about interfaith dialogue. Interfaith sounds well and good but the question is what are the actual results of these meetings? Most recently there was a world wide interfaith conference sponsored by the Christian oppressing Saudis. As for Jewish people, they are not even allowed in Saudi Arabia. Just weeks later those same Saudis had over a dozen Christians deported from Saudi Arabia. The horrifying crime of these Christians was worshipping in their homes. Now on September 25Th there will be an interfaith dinner with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad taking place in NYC. The dinner is to break the Ramadan fast. How any self respecting person can sit and eat dinner with the President of Iran is beyond me, let alone Christians and Jews. The Iranian President has a clear agenda that is no one is going to change. He recently has stated that Israel will not survive in any shape or form and the Iranian government has recently voted in a bill calling for the death penalty of those that leave Islam for another religion. Talking to this so called man will not change a thing and it is a complete lesson in denial for those the extend their hands to him. Let us look at three so called "moderate" Islamic countries, starting with Jordan. The Jordanian government prohibits conversion from Islam and the proselytizing of Muslims. The government there has been enforcing this law, as they have recently arrested eight Evangelists for this offense. Secondly is our so called "ally" Egypt who we support by giving them $3 billion dollars a year. Coptic Christians have been persecuted there for centuries and most recently the Egyptian police themselves violently stopped Christians there from rebuilding the only Church in their area. The police even went so far as to hit three women who were helping with the repairs. The third so called "moderate" Islamic country that I will address today is Turkey. A September report shows that the Turkish army has been following Christian missionaries in Turkey and recording their every move. This is clearly an act of intimidation. It is clear that only one group benefits from interfaith dialogue and interfaith dialogue only has one result, that is Islam advancing in our societies. It is time to stop pretending and start protecting ourselves. It is time for a call to end all Mosque construction and Muslim immigration.
**************
The Plain Truth about Imam Khattab
Ohio Mosque Promotes Murder!
Muslims incited to kill Jews
Behind the Veil of Islam
Toledo, Islam, and Terrorists
Monday, September 22, 2008
Economic Collapse and War
Our Banks Are Going To Collapse
Re: Judgment Day on Wall StreetHow many investment bankers are yet as scared for their own personal safety as the typical convenience-store clerk? When the average investment banker is wearing Kevlar instead of Brioni suits, then it really will be "Judgment Day On Wall Street."
Before it's all over, everybody is going to be affected by our economic collapse and even those in their ivory towers will come crashing down, as Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall warns:
OUR BANKS ARE GOING TO COLLAPSE, AND OUR ARMY WON’T BE ABLE TO MUSTER ANY STRENGTH! This national demoralization (we’ve only just begun to experience) will result in DEMOBILIZATION! We’re going down (Ezek. 7:14) in FLAMING DEFEAT!
The prophet Isaiah had two sons with symbolic names (Isa. 7:3, 8:1, 18). They’re to warn us of two major events about to take place: 1) OUR DESTRUCTION’S IMMINENT: THE BLITZKRIEG’S ABOUT TO BEGIN! (Maher-shalal-hash-baz). And 2) OUR HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS WILL RETURN HOME (Shear- yashuv)...
O Israelites! Who could beat Great Britain in battle, or whip the U.S. in war, when God shed His grace on thee? Europe could NEVER knock us down and kick us around—until now! Because GOD’S REFINING OUR GOLD IN THE FURNACE OF AFFLICTION, AND PURIFYING OUR SILVER THROUGH GREAT TRIBULATION (Isa. 48:10).
David Ben-Ariel posted on 2008-09-22 09:29:49 ET Reply Trace
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Joes and Jews
Biblical distinction between Jews and Israelites
Re: Patriotism and exceptionalismreaders who are unfamiliar with that ridiculous distinction that normal humans (who would consider a Joe also a Jew) don’t make, only nutcases like you do
Ridiculous distinction? What chutzpah and blasphemy! You slander all those holy men and prophets inspired to make such distinctions. It is historically and biblically important to make this distinction between Jews and Israelites and to be careful not to blur their identities (Ezek. 44:23). After all, God has devoted four books of the Bible to do just that!
However, it is easy to perceive why those captive souls steeped in the Babylonian Mystery religion of TRADITIONAL Christianity (who follow Roman wolves in sheep’s clothing with their accursed replacement theology of Sunday, pagan holidays pretending to be Christian and many other unclean doctrines and idolatrous ideas of their Gentilized Christianity) want to remain willfully ignorant of our Hebrew roots and biblical responsibilities and keep others in the dark about it, blind to Joseph’s identity, because they’re proud and stubborn and unwilling to repent of their Gentile religious lies and tinsel traditions to return to the Faith once delivered and be restored and reconciled with our Father God, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the Promised Land of Israel.
Comment by David BenAriel — September 21, 2008 @ 8:22 pm
Shocked by the Bible
WND failed to read Beyond Babylon
WorldNetDaily reports:
"Shocked by the Bible" is jam-packed with fantastic facts no one has dared to publish for general audiences.
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Apparently WND and Joe Kovacs failed to read Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. Regardless, it's great to see others help spread the Word! Kudos to Kovacs!
Beyond Babylon fulfills the need to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God while emphasizing a warning to the world; it includes the truth about our Hebrew roots and biblical responsibilities; about God's Sabbath and Holy Days versus Satan's Sunday and pagan holidays; about Israel's demise and Europe's rise -- these are foundational truths.
Beyond Babylon builds upon that sure foundation by pointing out that it's the sorcerer-pope, the false prophet, who presents Europe's imminent leader as the Savior of "Christian Western Civilization;" he'll perform miracles in his presence urging Europe to remodel themselves after the "Holy Roman Empire" (Rev. 13:14). Together they'll create a counterfeit Kingdom of God.
Beyond Babylon also explains -- FOR THE FIRST TIME -- why there are two witnesses, what their mission and purpose is, why they're stationed in Jerusalem and how they fulfill the Elijah role.
John Bull
Rashi and John Bull
Regarding the Unicorn. Joseph consisted of two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. The two symbols of Joseph mentioned in Scripture are the Bull or Young Bull ("BULLOCK") and the Unicorn.
HIS GLORY IS LIKE THE FIRSTLING OF HIS BULLOCK, AND HIS HORNS ARE LIKE THE HORNS OF UNICORNS: WITH THEM HE SHALL PUSH THE PEOPLE TOGETHER TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: AND THEY ARE THE TEN THOUSANDS OF EPHRAIM, AND THEY ARE THE THOUSANDS OF MANASSEH": [DEUT 33:17].
Here we have two symbols applied to Ephraim and Manasseh and since each Israelite Tribe had its own symbol we may assume that each of the two symbols belonged to one of the two tribes. In the verse above the word translated as BULLOCK (young bull or bull calf) is "SHOR" which actually means "bull" (but not necessarily "young bull") though elsewhere Ephraim is nicknamed a "young bull":
[Jeremiah 31:18] I HAVE SURELY HEARD EPHRAIM BEMOANING HIMSELF THUS; THOU HAST CHASTISED ME, AND I WAS CHASTISED, AS A BULLOCK UNACCUSTOMED TO THE YOKE: TURN THOU ME, AND I SHALL BE TURNED; FOR THOU ART THE LORD MY GOD.
Here Ephraim is called a "young bull". The word used for "young bull" (i.e. "bullock") in Hebrew is "AEGEL". In Ancient Hebrew the word "Aegel" could also actually have been pronounced as "angle". Historically this very name "Aegel" was a diminutive (favorite nickname) for the ethnic term "Angle". Together with the Saxons, Jutes, Vandals, and others the Angles conquered from the Celts the land that was later named England.
The Angles gave England (i.e. “Angle-land”) its name. The Angles were also called “Aegels”. The appellations “Angle” and “Aegel” were employed interchangeably. The Hebrew word for young bull is "Aegel". Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yistchaki 1040-1105 CE) was the foremost Medieval Jewish Commentator. In commentating on this verse (Jeremiah 31;18) Rashi states that the Hebrew word “Aegel” (Young Bull) was a name applied to Ephraim.This accords with the simple meaning of the verse. This was another name applied to the English. The English now nickname themselves "John Bull". This is an important point: the verse is strongly indicating that the English (Angles) are to be identified with Ephraim. We therefore have grounds to ascribe the bull symbol to England which leaves the unicorn sign for Manasseh. In addition it is hinted that the section of Israel represented by the horns of unicorns in the last days would be the most powerful.
[Numbers 24:8] GOD BROUGHT HIM FORTH OUT OF EGYPT; HE HATH AS IT WERE THE STRENGTH OF AN UNICORN: HE SHALL EAT UP THE NATIONS HIS ENEMIES, AND SHALL BREAK THEIR BONES, AND PIERCE THEM THROUGH WITH HIS ARROWS.
The Midrash (Numbers Rabah 2;7) says that the unicorn is the symbol of Manasseh and the bull that of Ephraim. It is true that the unicorn is now part of the symbolic coat of arms of the UK but they derived it from Scotland which has two unicorns on its standard. The USA is dominated by Manasseh. The above verse is hinting that Menasseh (symbolized by the unicorn) would end up being the most powerful tribe.
Getting back to the Midrash:
The Midrash (Numbers Rabah 2;7) says that the unicorn is the symbol of Manasseh and the bull that of Ephraim. The Midrash accords with a logical understanding of Scripture. A Midrash is a Rabbinical explanation from the Talmudic era explaining Biblical verses that was accepted at the time as worth recording for future study. Just because the Midrash says something I do not expect you to. I do not accept all Midrashim. Sometimes they are difficult to understand and at times they may appear to contradict each other. Nevertheless they often contain insights to Biblical passages ands/or recall genuine traditions. The Talmud sources, Midrashim, and related sources often correspond with Brit-Am findings and to my mind this shows that we are on the right track. This especially helps where we have an interpretation of Scripture that other people (including some religious Jews) might not agree with.
Excerpt from Yair Davidiy's "Brit-Am Now" -476
British Israelites and Jewish colonists
Joes and Jews are colonists by divine design!
Re:Patriotism and exceptionalismComment by — September 21, 2008 @ 10:14 am
Friday, September 19, 2008
Patriotism
Manifest Destiny Inspires Patriotism!
Re:Patriotism and exceptionalismAmerican or Israeli patriotism that is of substance is a patriotism based upon a strong biblical foundation, one that firmly believes in Manifest Destiny - whether Manifest Destiny for these “Lands of the Covenant” (Artzot Habrit) promised to B’nai Menashe (Joseph isn’t Jewish!) or Manifest Destiny for the Jewish homeland of Israel (presently held in trust by Judah for all Twelve Tribes of Israel).
Manifest Destiny! Such a spiritual drive and religious motivation works wonders! Without it, our Israelite family of nations are bankrupt and without meaning and purpose, wandering in bewilderment, an easy prey for the German-Assyrian eagle that rises again.
Comment by — September 19, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
"You will take of the first of every fruit..."
"You will take of the first of every fruit..."
(Deuteronomy 26:2)
Elul 18, 5768/September 18, 2008
(Deuteronomy 26:2)
Elul 18, 5768/September 18, 2008
Listen, see, hear, behold! In the book of Deuteronomy we find Moses repeatedly exhorting his people to utilize their ears and their eyes in order to better absorb and understand the words of G-d 's message, as they prepare for entering and inheriting the land of Israel. To be able to listen and to observe are prerequisite qualities of a good student. And above all else, G-d 's requirement of the children of Israel in the desert was for them to be good students, and to learn the words and ways of Torah. Toward that end, in order to facilitate an ideal learning environment for the Israelites, G-d even saw to it that their clothes would remain intact throughout the forty years, and that they would receive their daily measure of physical nourishment via the manna, two facts that Moses alludes to at the close of this week's Torah reading of Ki Tavo, (see Deuteronomy 29:4).
But soon the children of Israel will enter the land and everything will be different. Their needs will no longer be provided for directly by G-d . On the contrary, they are expected to cultivate the land and raise its crops for sustenance. They will weave their own clothing, make their own shoes, and build their own dwellings. How will they do all these things and still maintain the intimate relationship that they shared with G-d in the desert?
This is the challenge of living in the land of Israel, a land in which every individual must forge a bond between heaven and earth with all their actions, including their daily endeavor to eke out a living and provide for themselves and their loved ones. The secret of how this is accomplished can be seen in these words:
"And it shall be, when you come into the land which HaShem your G-d has given you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell in it; that you will take of the first of every fruit of the ground, which you bring in from your land that HaShem your G-d has given you; and you will put it in a basket and go to the place which HaShem your G-d shall choose to cause His name to dwell there. And you will come to the priest that shall be in those days, and say to him: 'I profess this day to HaShem your G-d , that I have come into the land which HaShem swore unto our fathers to give us.'" (Deuteronomy 26:1-3)
In short, a man is required to gather the first and best of the fruits of his labors, and bring them to "to the place which HaShem your G-d shall choose," - the Holy Temple. There, upon presenting his bounty to the priest, he recites the words of praise and recitation of history prescribed in Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:5-10)
As we know, this place, the Holy Temple, is the one place on earth where Torah requires us to be seen, ("Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the L-rd G-d " - Exodus 23:17).
In addition, the commandment of bringing the first fruits requires us to make ourselves heard in this place.
And the very objects over which our words are uttered are no more and no less than the result of our inheriting, possessing and working the land of Israel.
In other words, those three aspects which most exemplified the Israelite existence in the desert - listening, seeing and having their most basic needs provided for directly from heaven - are, now that they have entered and possessed the land, transformed from passive to active qualities: Instead of seeing and looking, each individual must make himself seen - three times a year in the Holy Temple. Instead of listening and hearing, each individual must make himself heard, by uttering the first-fruits prayer - in the Holy Temple. And instead of receiving his nourishment from the heavenly manna, each individual must work the land, and bring the first of his fruits - to the Holy Temple. In this manner, the transformation from the passive childlike desert experience of being cared for, to the land of Israel reality of true independence and self-reliance, is effected without diminishing, and in fact, strengthening the intimate connection between the children of Israel and the G-d of Israel.
This place which G-d chose, this Holy Temple, is the one place where G-d 's promise of independence to the former slaves and desert wanderers could ultimately be brought to fulfillment. The verses in this week's Torah reading make this clear concerning the generation that entered the land 3,500 years ago. And so too, the Holy Temple's role for our current generation, not merely as a symbol, but as a facilitator of the nation of Israel's struggle for independence and service to G-d , cannot be overestimated.
Tune in to this week's Temple Talk as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven discuss the bringing of the first fruits, the remarkable willow basket - the te-ne - which held the first fruits, the brilliant intensity of the land of Israel, and the making of the upcoming Hakhel ceremony.
The joy of being in the land of Israel, as expressed through the simple act of bringing the first fruits to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and expressing our gratitude to G-d . When all is said and done, fulfilling our own G-d given role in life, and accepting with joy all that He has granted us, is what it's all about. Click here to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on parashat Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8).
Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,
Yitzchak Reuven
THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE
PO Box 31876
Jerusalem, Israel 97500
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Practice what you preach. Both the Bible and history testify to the plain truth of Manifest Destiny.
Was it? Who needed any justification if we truly wanted to commit genocide against those who were occupying the land before the rightful heirs arrived. Did the Americans annihilate the Beringian immigrants (so-called “Native Americans”)? No! We easily could have but we didn’t, so enough of your murderous lies against Joes (Joseph, specifically his son Menashe).
Both the Bible and history testify against your self-righteous rejection of Manifest Destiny, your blindness to Joseph’s identity. Whether or not you choose to remain in denial, both Joes and Jews are colonists, colonizing the lands God has given us, pioneers, settlers (and that’s a GOOD thing contrary to the politically correct cultists who would call good evil and evil good), especially Joseph “to the ends of the Earth.”
The Bible foretold Joseph would branch out with God’s blessing, to colonize and spread out to the far reaches of the Earth as our Great Creator ordained, and the Joes certainly have fulfilled these prophecies!
Deuteronomy 32:8
8 When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations,
When He separated the sons of Adam [even though we're all family],
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the children of Israel [ethnocentric Bible with its focus on the family of Jacob: everything centers around Israel, nationally, internationally].
“Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well [water], whose branches run over the wall,” (Gen. 49:22).
“His glory is like the firstling [firstborn] of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of an unicorn [the unicorn is in the national seal of England] with them he [Joseph] shall push the people together to the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh,” (Deut. 33:13-17).
The Word of God proves Joes were to push out other peoples to make way for our Israelite inheritance, even as the Jews have pushed out some Arabs (but clearly not enough) to secure the Jewish homeland. Why resist the Word and Will of God and cry for pagan Gentiles rather than praise God for blessing Joseph and Judah?