Israel is the key to all end-time prophecy.

Keep your eye on Jerusalem  


Nov 26

Dateline Jerusalem

When the Psalmist described a great, end-times coalition that huddles together to plot the final destruction of the Jews (Psalm 83), it must have been somewhat difficult for contemporaries to fully imagine such a large community of enemies coming together at once.

Today, it is not so difficult to imagine. If globalism in the days of the prophets meant the outer edges of Arabia, or possibly India, today it means just that: covering the globe.

The plotting described in Psalms has all the earmarks of an Arab-led plot to finish the job attempted by historical psychos Haman, Antiochus Epiphanes, Hitler, etc.

Fifteen years ago, Jerusalem was fairly secure in terms of stability. The strengthening of the country by leaders like Menachem Begin and, yes, Ariel Sharon (who spearheaded the expansion of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria in the ‘70s) gave at least the sense that Israel was strong and Jerusalem in particular was certainly united under Israeli sovereignty, for sure.

But never underestimate the mendacity and tenaciousness of Arab terror chieftains, who can wait 100 years to achieve their goals (see statements by Syrian mass-murderer Hafez Assad). Whereas Westerners weary of all sorts of things, from prolonged wars to standing in line for ice cream, the Palestinians and their Arab cousins and Iranian neighbors adopted a long-range strategy based on terrorism, political deceit, and nationalist propaganda education.

From America, we can see the tightening of a noose around Israel’s neck. From Israel, one sees the breathtaking threats up-close. This takes place in many forms — terror, saber-rattling from neighboring countries, heavy security presence — but I’d like to point out a seemingly more benign circumstance. It is in reality every bit as vicious as the suicide-bombers.

Whenever I’m in Israel, I love to visit the Temple Mount. Not long ago, I hailed a cab at my hotel and asked to driven to the security checkpoint just inside Dung Gate. It is here the Temple Mount looms over the plaza.

Pulling up, we were told “maybe” it’s open; this even though we were there during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. I had my doubts, but thought it at least worth trying.

Sure enough, the security guard came back and shook his head: not open.

But that meant it wasn’t open to Christians or Jews. Muslims usually have access to the Temple Mount — what they call Haram-al-Sharif.

As a Christian pilgrim, the Temple Mount is a major place of worship. So many giant biblical figures were there in the past, and one senses that it is the spiritual center of the universe. Yet I couldn’t “go up there.”

And the last time I had been on the Temple Mount, I was shocked by the efforts of the Palestinians to wipe away thousands of years of Jewish presence. Now, just behind the Golden Gate (which Scripture tells us the Messiah will enter one day), there is a series of stone steps descending down to a new mosque built underneath the Temple Mount — in the area known as Solomon’s Stables. Part of the Temple Mount has been dug up!

Besides this, the very plaza stones themselves are being pulled up and replaced. All this is an attempt to dissolve the Christian and Jewish heritage of the area. For the Arabs, it is all from Allah, and belongs to Allah.

For many years, Palestinian leaders have been denying that the Jewish temples ever stood on this spot. It is an outrageous, aggressive lie that the world rarely challenges.

But despite all this, I know that God is in control. There will be some confusion of the plans of those who are conspiring against the Jews, in their own state. The God of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.