The traditional Temple Mount in Jerusalem is a point of contention between the Muslims and the Israelis. The Muslims insist that it is the site of Mohammed’s departure from this world and the Jews insist that it is the site of the Temple of God. Situated on the Temple Mount, as you probably know, is the golden domed Mosque of Omar, or the Dome of the Rock. There has been much speculation about how, and whether, the next Temple could be built there as long as the Dome of the Rock existed.

Part of the Muslim insistence is attached to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, which Muslim tradition says is the “farthest mosque” as noted in the Koran. Any perceived attempt to usurp the location of the Al-Aqsa results in immediate riots by the Palestinians.

A Saudi Arabian historian, Osama Yamani has created a controversy in an article he wrote November 13, 2020 in the Saudi state daily, Okaz. Yamani stated that the Al-Aqsa was actually not in Jerusalem, but in an Arabian village named Al-Ju'aranah.

Yamani states further that the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem was built in 691 A.D. by the fifth Umayyad caliph, 'Abd Al-Malik bin Marwan, as an alternative destination of pilgrimage because Mecca at the time was under the control of a rebel ruler who made difficulties for pilgrims wishing to visit it. This is according to Ahmad Al-Ya'qubi, a renowned Shi'ite Arab historian who lived a thousand years ago in the 9th Century.

This historic view is confirmed by several Israeli and Arab historians, both modern and from centuries ago. Click HEREfor a link to an article from Israel365 News with more detail.

Perhaps this denial of the importance of the Temple Mount mosque is part of the move toward reconciliation between various Middle Eastern countries and Israel, a welcome move. So, it would seem that if this Muslim tradition is overcome, it would ease the building of the Temple of God in Jerusalem.

Those of you familiar with my writings know that I believe the traditional Temple Mount to be a Maccabean fortress. It was the Maccabees that defeated and expelled the wicked Antiochus IV Epiphanes out of Israel. This fortress was strengthened and enlarged by King Herod, who then named it “Antonia” and gave it to the Romans. This is all described by the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, who lived at that very time. (Wars of the Jews, Book I, chapter 21, paragraph 1, – Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XV, chapter 11, paragraph 4 – Flavius Josephus)

The Lord said that He would choose a place for His name. Scripture tells us that the Lord chose Zion as that place, and that Zion is in the City of David(!), not several hundred feet north in Jerusalem, where the traditional Temple Mount is located.

Please click HERE for my article giving more detail.

The reconciliation between Israel and some Muslim countries, and this new development is both exciting and worrisome. Both feelings are tied to the End Times.

The Bible says in First Thessalonians 5:3 :

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail (labor) upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”

These may be more indications of the nearness of the Day of the Lord.

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” – Revelation 22:20