Temple Mount Awareness Day
I received an email from the Temple Institute with the following message:
“This month shall be to you the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of the year.” (Exodus 12:2)
It was on this day, Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the month of Nisan that the creator of the world, the G-d of Israel, conferred upon His children the ability and the responsibility to make change in the world, to perfect His creation. And it was on this day, one year later, that the Tabernacle was dedicated in the desert. The Holy Temple is the very jewel in the crown of G-d’s creation, yet today the Temple Mount is desolate. The Holy Temple lies in ruins, and the Moslem Wakf has commandeered the Temple Mount, forbidding all but Moslems to approach the Mount freely and to raise their voices in prayer to G-d.
The Temple Institute has, along with other organizations, declared today, March 16, 2010, the first day of the month of Nisan, the month of our redemption from Egypt and the month of our future redemption, to be THE FIRST ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL TEMPLE MOUNT AWARENESS DAY. We have called upon all who wish to ascend the Mount, Jews and Gentiles, in accordance to Jewish law, to gather at the foot of the Mount this morning. The Israeli police have declared the Mount off limits on this day to all but Moslems, citing Arab threats to commit violence as a response to our desire to ascend the Mount to mark this holy day. The police are thereby by preventing us from fulfilling our commitment to G-d and Torah, and from exercising our inalienable rights as citizens of a democratic society.
Once again, following a decades-old pattern, the police have abandoned the task which has been entrusted to them to uphold, and rather than punish the inciters to violence, they have punished the intended victims of the calls to violence.
Nevertheless, the police cannot prevent us from performing the most important and essential task of petitioning the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, and demanding immediate change: Jews and Gentiles must be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. Today is the day that together we can make our voice heard. Below are the telephone, fax and email contacts for the Prime Minister’s office:
Telephone number: 011-972-02-6705555
Fax number: 011-972-02-5664838
email address: bnetanyahu@knesset.gov.il
additional email address: PMO.HEB@it.pmo.gov.il
Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu,
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the Temple Mount. As you know, the Temple Mount is the holiest site in the world for the Jewish people, yet the Muslim authorities, aided by Israel Police, systematically deny the right of religious expression on the Mount to all non-Moslems. On numerous occasions the High Court of Justice has upheld the Jewish people’s right to pray at the site, yet the police continue to prevent this. Furthermore, Jewish visitors are harassed and degraded. This discrimination is a grave trampling of civil rights. Israeli law is not recognized by the Wakf authorities; illegal digging has destroyed priceless historical remnants of Jerusalem’s Jewish history.
Please, end this travesty and allow Jewish freedom of expression at the Temple Mount. I urge you to include the Temple Mount in your “Heritage Plan” of sites significant to the Jewish people.
Sincerely,Whether you copy and paste this message, or write your own message, please keep your words courteous, respectful and focused on one thing only:
GRANTING FREEDOM OF ACCESS AND FREEDOM OF WORSHIP ON THE MOUNT.
The Prime Minister’s office will receive and be strengthened and encouraged by our thousands of messages. We are taking a stand for our futures and our children’s futures and making a difference. Together we will perform the task which G-d bequeathed us when we left the Egyptian house of bondage and became free men and women forever.
What does this have to do with believers in Messiah? Why should we have any concern over the Temple Mount or the Temple? The short answer is that it was (and will be again) the House of God. It was (and will be again) the House of Prayer for All Nations. It was (and will be again) the place Yeshua loved, spent countless days in and called it “my Father’s House.” If nothing else, Yeshua’s love for his Father’s House should spark a love within us as well.
However, if these answers are not satisfying, then please allow the Scriptures to have a voice in the matter. Search out the prophets such as Zechariah and Ezekiel to find where Hashem will re-institute the Temple in the olam hazeh (this present age) as a means of serving Him properly. If you need still further study to help understand these passages, I highly recommend the audio series by Daniel Lancaster of First Fruits of Zion called “What About the Sacrifices?” You may order them here. Until then, may we pray:
May it be Your will, O LORD, our God and the God of our fathers, that the Holy Temple will be rebuilt quickly and in our days, and give us our portion in Your Torah, and may we server You there in fear, as it was in days long ago and in ancient times. And may the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem be sweet to the LORD, as it was in days long ago and in ancient times.
