Jerusalem! Just hearing her name stirs the soul. Wednesday was Jerusalem Day, marking the 44th anniversary of the liberation and unification of Jerusalem. For 1900 years Jerusalem was occupied and ruled by strangers. For nineteen years Jerusalem was divided. Israel had reclaimed her western flank, while the heart of Jerusalem, the old city, the City of David, and the Temple Mount, were in the hands of the Jordanian occupiers.
This Jerusalem day hundreds of observant Jews as well as many G-d fearing Gentiles ascended the Temple Mount. Tens of thousand more weaved their way through the thoroughfares of Jerusalem waving the flag of Israel and wound down the narrow paths of Jerusalem's old city as they headed towards the Holy Temple's western retaining wall - the Kotel. It was a type of aliya - a type of pilgrimage ascent, reminiscent of Israel's historical festival pilgrimages of Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot.
This upcoming Tuesday night-Wednesday is Shavuot, the festival which features the bringing of the bikurim - the first fruits - to the Holy Temple, and which commemorates the Sinai revelation - the receiving of Torah at Mt. Sinai. The journey to Sinai was, as we know, fraught with danger. Both the sole superpower, Egypt, and the terrorist nation of Amalek did their level best to stop Israel in her tracks, and both failed. And as we will witness in the upcoming weeks as we proceed through the book of Numbers, countless prophets and soothsayers and kings and armies and plotters and planners would all seek to block the way, to keep Israel from entering the land and possessing Jerusalem...
Exerpt from Yitzchak Reuven
The Temple Institute
Friday, June 3, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Zechariah: All Nations to War Against Jerusalem
"I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle...Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations... 17 And it shall be, that whoso of the families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain." Zechariah 14, Circa 520 BC
1 Behold, a day of the LORD cometh, when thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, but the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fighteth in the day of battle. 4 And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleft in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, so that there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel; yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and the LORD my God shall come, and all the holy ones with Thee. 6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall not be light, but heavy clouds and thick; 7 And there shall be one day which shall be known as the LORD'S, not day, and not night; but it shall come to pass, that at evening time there shall be light. 8 And it shall come to pass in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem: half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter shall it be. 9 And the LORD shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall the LORD be One, and His name one. 10 All the land shall be turned as the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel unto the king's winepresses. 11 And men shall dwell therein, and there shall be no more extermination; but Jerusalem shall dwell safely. {S} 12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. 14 And Judah also shall fight against Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in those camps, as this plague. 16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso of the families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, they shall have no overflow; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses: HOLY UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the basins before the altar. 21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy unto the LORD of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein; and in that day there shall be no more a trafficker in the house of the LORD of hosts.
Zechariah Chapter 14
Circa 520 BC
1 Behold, a day of the LORD cometh, when thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, but the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fighteth in the day of battle. 4 And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleft in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, so that there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel; yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and the LORD my God shall come, and all the holy ones with Thee. 6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall not be light, but heavy clouds and thick; 7 And there shall be one day which shall be known as the LORD'S, not day, and not night; but it shall come to pass, that at evening time there shall be light. 8 And it shall come to pass in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem: half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter shall it be. 9 And the LORD shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall the LORD be One, and His name one. 10 All the land shall be turned as the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel unto the king's winepresses. 11 And men shall dwell therein, and there shall be no more extermination; but Jerusalem shall dwell safely. {S} 12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. 14 And Judah also shall fight against Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. 15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in those camps, as this plague. 16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso of the families of the earth goeth not up unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, they shall have no overflow; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses: HOLY UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the basins before the altar. 21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy unto the LORD of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein; and in that day there shall be no more a trafficker in the house of the LORD of hosts.
Zechariah Chapter 14
Circa 520 BC
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
King David Bought Temple Mount 3000 Years Ago
King David bought the Temple Mount and Jerusalem from the Jebusites 3000 years ago.
He bought the place from Arauna the Jebusite. Why did he need to buy a place which G-d had promised and given for ever to the people of Israel? The answer is that three places in the land of Israel were bought by the people of Israel even though the land had been promised by G-d because when nations come and say: "this land does not belong to you.", the answer to them will be: "This land was given to us by G-d Who is the owner of all the universe, and we also paid for those three places which symbolize this land." These three places are the Temple Mount, The Machpelah cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem. King David built an altar and made a thanksgiving sacrifice on this rock. His son, King Solomon, built the First Temple, on this rock, 3,000 years ago. The rock became the place of sacrifice in the First and Second Temples when the altar was built on the rock.
After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, when the people of Israel were taken into exile by their enemies, the Temple Mount and the rock of Abraham became a place of foreign pagan worship up until the present time.
http://www.templemount.org/ftm/archeology.html
He bought the place from Arauna the Jebusite. Why did he need to buy a place which G-d had promised and given for ever to the people of Israel? The answer is that three places in the land of Israel were bought by the people of Israel even though the land had been promised by G-d because when nations come and say: "this land does not belong to you.", the answer to them will be: "This land was given to us by G-d Who is the owner of all the universe, and we also paid for those three places which symbolize this land." These three places are the Temple Mount, The Machpelah cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem. King David built an altar and made a thanksgiving sacrifice on this rock. His son, King Solomon, built the First Temple, on this rock, 3,000 years ago. The rock became the place of sacrifice in the First and Second Temples when the altar was built on the rock.
After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, when the people of Israel were taken into exile by their enemies, the Temple Mount and the rock of Abraham became a place of foreign pagan worship up until the present time.
http://www.templemount.org/ftm/archeology.html
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