Jerusalem

Jerusalem.  The most religiously, politically, and militarily important location on earth.  For millennia this small area has been the epicenter of wars and atrocities, worship and blasphemy.  This tiny speck on the map has been the topic of more discussions, the destination of more pilgrimages, and the core of more arguments than any other geographical location. 

As a Christian, I have spent all of my life with Jerusalem as a key figure in my mind.  So much of scripture is centered in this very spot that one cannot ignore its significance.

With the renewed focus on Islamic radicalism over the past decade, I thought I'd point out a few things you might find interesting.  This blog is called The Daily Whims of an Overactive Mind for a reason.  I was struck with a serious case of insomnia last night.  Among the many topics that swirled and sworled through my brain, this one kept coming back.

Do a quick Google image search for Jerusalem, and what do you see?  In nearly every image, you'll see a skyline dominated by a large gold-colored dome.  Ask ten people what this is and eight of them will say, "That's the Temple Mount."  They are partially correct.  Let me fill you in on some important details.  For some, this will be elementary knowledge.  However, stick with me until the end of this post and you might find that your outlook has changed somewhat.

That large, arguably beautiful, gold dome is called the Dome of the Rock.  It is an Islamic shrine.  It is sometimes called the "Mosque of Omar."  However, it is neither a mosque, nor was it built by Omar.  The prayers of Muslim men are offered up at the Al Aqsa mosque about 200 meters away.  Muslims believe that this is the precise spot where Abraham nearly sacrificed his son, Ishmael.  This, you'll quickly recognize, is a distortion of the biblical account of Abraham nearly sacrificing his son, Isaac, until the Angel of the Lord told him to stay his hand.

The shrine was built by the Muslim ruler Abd el-Malik in 688-691.  It wasn't always gold in color, nor is it real gold.  Because of its situation on bedrock, the numerous earthquakes over the centuries have not caused significant damage to the structure (unlike its neighbor Al Aqsa mosque).  This shrine was covered by a lead dome from 691 until it was replaced with a gold-colored covering in the early 1960s. Because of rust, the anodized aluminum cover was again replaced in 1993 with a gold covering.

I know the details can seem dry, but there is a point to all of this information.  For over fourteen hundred years, the Dome of the Rock has been the dominant structure in the Jerusalem skyline.  Two hundred meters away is a second Muslim structure, the Al Aqsa mosque.

Let's look at the specific location for a moment before we get back to the shrine.

Mount Moriah is the actual name of the hill we call the Temple Mount.  As I mentioned earlier, the Bible declares it as the place where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac.  It is the place God selected for His Holy Temple.  Israel's King David built an altar here.  Later, his son, Solomon built the first Holy Temple on this very spot.  It stood for four hundred ten years until it was destroyed by Babylonians in 586 BCE.

It was rebuilt around seventy years later by Jews returning from the Babylonian exile.  At one end was the Stoa, an elevated area upheld by pillars.  This is likely the scene where Jesus cleansed the temple of the money changers.  Every structure and gate had spiritual and national significance.  It was a place of passionate worship of Jehovah.  It was a place of ceremony and a place of dedication.  The Jewel of Jerusalem.  To understand the importance of the Holy Temple to the Jew is to understand the importance of the heart to the body.  They love and long for it.  Without it, something is missing from their lives.

For Christians, the Temple Mount plays a significant role as well.  Jesus religiously visited the Temple.  From there, one can see the Mount of Olives, where Jesus delivered His famous sermon.  Just outside the walls, one can quickly travel to the spot where Jesus was crucified and buried.  Throughout scripture, we are told of the exploits of biblical characters in the streets of this great city.

We are also told of the future of this location.  We are told of the rebuilding of the temple.  We are told of the return of the Messiah to the Mount of Olives, a fact upon which both Jews and Christians agree.

With a little more understanding of the importance of the Temple Mount to the Jews of Jerusalem, perhaps you will see the Dome of the Rock in a different light.  This is the holiest place on earth to the Jews.  This is the focal point of the Jewish faith.  It is the focal point of their history and their future.  To Christians, this is the city to which God's Son was sent to create a pivot-point in history.  This is the city over which Jesus wept.  Is it possible that with the eternal eye of God, Jesus was looking upon the desecration of the Temple Mount by radical Muslims?  Read Luke 19:41-45 and tell me it's not a possibility.

Now, in the holiest place on earth, stands a flashy shrine to a false prophet.  A dome of gold that dominates the landscape.  A brazen altar to a false god who claims peace, yet bathes the land with blood.  You see, the Dome of the Rock is a defilement, a desecration, and an abomination.  It might look pretty to the uninformed eye, but it's sole purpose is to demonstrate Islam's purported superiority to both Judaism and Christianity.  It's a touchdown spike, an end-zone dance.  And as a Jew or a Christian in Jerusalem, you have to see it every time your heart causes you to look to the place God chose for His holiest site.

The mere presence of this building is a vile desecration of the Holy Place of God.  Since Islam's desire is to insult both Judaism and Christianity, inscriptions in the building declare that God has no Son, and that to believe that is to believe a falsehood.  Islam's insult slams the truth of Holy Scripture.  Once again, the "religion of peace" is on the offense. 

Yet, our media wants us to believe that the Muslim Palestinians are victims.  We're supposed to feel sorry for them.  We hear daily of how poor Palestinians are in Israel, how their schools are overcrowded and how difficult their lives are.  We hear of Israeli Defense Force tanks rolling into neighborhoods and terrorizing the poor people, while we are made to believe that Israelis live lives of ease.

The truth is quite different.  In 2011, there were 680 recorded rocket, missile, and mortar attacks on Israel from the Palestinians in Gaza.  In Israel, it isn't a question of if you'll experience Palestinian violence.  It's when.

Yet, the media portrays the Palestinians as victims of an "occupation" that has lasted since 1948.  What about the occupation of Jerusalem's holiest place for the past fourteen hundred years?  What about the multiple ransacks of Jerusalem by Islamic radicals?  What about the countless Jewish dead over the millenia, slaughtered by Islamists? 


What I used to think of as a "pretty golden dome" that seemed to be a part of Jerusalem's skyline now resembles an ugly scar.  It is a disgusting feature on an otherwise beautiful landscape.  Scripture says it will one day be destroyed, to be replaced by the Temple of the One True God.  I long for that day.