The old city of
Jerusalem is known to be the capital of the old Jewish kingdom. In the new state of
Israel, this old city is still at the heart
of the new and expanded
Jerusalem, which is the capital of the state of
Israel. But while outside the walls of the old city, the population is mostly Jewish, and is thought to be the Jewish center not only for the people of Israel, but also for all Jews around the world, inside the walls the city of Jerusalem is divided and separated.
Today the old city of Jerusalem is divided into three residential quarters, the Jewish quarter, the Moslem quarter, and the Christian quarter. All three religions claim that the city is holy to them and is one of the most holy places in the world. They all claim that it is their holy center, and are not willing to relinquish their hold over the city.
In the middle of this divided city lays the Temple Mount, at its base is set the Western Wall, which is thought to be the only remaining relic from the Second Temple that was built on top of the Mount. Some even associate it with the First Temple, and some even claim that it is the only part of the First Temple built by King David himself. That is why it is the most holy place in the world for all the Jewish people, and the place from which the Third Temple will start to arise.
But at the top of the Temple Mount lays anther building, the existence of which prohibits the building of the Third Temple, this is the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Built around the 8th century as part of the Islamic quest to take over all the Jewish holy places in the holy land of Israel, it stands shining with its golden dome over the Mount.
This mosque is an abomination to all the Jewish people, whom see it as a desecration of the place where the holy of holies lay in the first and second Temples, and where the place of the Third Temple should be. That is why the Moslems had to fabricate a story that the prophet Muhammad ascended there to heaven, in order to justify their claim over the Temple Mount.
If you look at the Moslem quarter of the city, you will also see that there is much evidence in the structure of its buildings to suggest that they were originally inhibited by Jews. The Moslems occupying the quarter today do not even bother to try and hide these signs. They are so confident in their hold over the Temple Mount, that they feel they can do anything they want in the old city, and that there is no one to stop them. Unfortunately in the current political climate in Israel, they are probably right.
Until 1967 the old city was ruled by the Jordanian kingdom, which forced out all the Jewish inhabitants of the city, after the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948. At that time the border between Israel and Jordanian was in the heart of the city. But after the six day war in 1967, Israel obtained control over the old city, and the Temple Mount. But the government of Israel at that time was afraid to take real control over the Mount, because it feared international retaliation against Israel if it evacuated the Mount from its Moslem inhabitants in order to allow for the possibility to begin building the Third Temple. In the last forty years that political climate has not changed, in fact it has become worse, today the government of Israel is a very weak government, that is afraid to deal with any sort of political pressure, especially from left wing political movements whom always favor the Arabs over their Jewish brothers, and so today the Temple Mount is actually ruled by the waqf an Islamic council, that oversees the area and has control over everything that affects the Al-Aqsa Mosque, wile the entrance to Jewish visitors is very limited. This fact also allows the Arabs who visit the Mount to riot whenever they feel like it, throwing stones and other objects on the heads of the Jews praying by the Western Wall below them, and disrupting their prayers, while they enjoy the freedom to pray without interruption.
There is, of course, a great difference between the Jewish claims over the city, to that of the other religions. First of all the city was the holy capital of the old Jewish Kingdom, far earlier then it became holy to the other religions. In fact only after the exile of the Jews by the Roman Empire, and the destruction of the Second Temple, when the land of Israel was left desolate and bare, did the other two religions take interest in it and decided to claim it as their own. Secondly, the other two religions have great holy centers of there own, that are not connected to Jerusalem. For the Moslems it is Mecca, and for the Christians it is the Vatican. But for the Jewish people there is no other place, no other holy center, only the one on top of the Temple Mount, where the first and second Temples stood and where the Third Temple will ultimately stand. This makes their claim over the city and the Temple Mount much more valid and true than that of the other two religions.
This is why ultimately the other two religions will have to relinquish their hold over the city. For the prophecies that are written in the holy bible clearly state that as part of the final redemption, and the arrival of the King Messiah, the Third Temple must be built on top of the Temple Mount. Some prophecies claim that the other two religions will understand this on their own, and will relinquish their hold over the city peacefully, while other prophecies claim that there will be a divine intervention by God himself whom will force the other two religions to relinquish their hold over the city, and yet other prophecies say that there will be a great war of Armageddon, at its end the other two religions will be forced to relinquish their hold over the city. Whatever the scenario the end result is still the same, the Temple Mount will be in the hands of the Jewish people, and the Third Temple will be built on it. That is why in my opinion a peaceful solution should be reached today where the other two religions will relinquish their hold over the city and avoid unnecessary confrontation in the present and near future, when the time of resurrection of the Third Temple will arrive.
Long live the King Messiah
