TEMPLE MOUNT

ORACLES ON THE CENTRE OF THE CENTRE

“Thus said the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain” (Zechariah 8:3) “Then David said to Ornan (Araunah), Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plaque may be stayed from the people.And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshingfloor for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering: I give it all.And King David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and He answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof.At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there”(I Chron. 21:22-28 ref. II Sam. 24:18-25)

“Then Solomon began to build the House of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite”(II Chron. 3:1)

Let me state from the beginning that whether spiritually or physically, God is amused seeing strange pillars upon His Holy Mountain; and that considering the centrality of the Jewish Temple to Jewish spirituality, the present desolation sullies Jerusalem's reputation as THE Holy Land. There was a Jewish Temple on the Holy Mount to receive Jesus, in His first coming.Therefore, I dare to say that, until these strange pillars - this desolator is removed from the Mount of God, Jerusalem will not regain her estate as the Holy Land; neither to the Jews nor to the spiritual Jews – the Christians. If I may take matters a little further, the sincere homage paid to God in Jerusalem at present does not ascend to the LORD God of Israel but to the one

who had thought in his heart, to ascend to the Mount of the congregation! (Isaiah 14:13). Painful! Isn’t it! But this was his game plan all along!It is on the basis of this that the LORD had vowed to tread him to pieces upon that Mount. (Isaiah 14:24-25).The benefits of this divine intervention are:

1. The symbol of worldwide oppression will be removed. (Isa.25:7)2. Jewish spiritual and political freedom3. Jewish and universal spiritual revival and rebirth4. repossession of our spiritual heritage5. repossession of our spiritual and political inheritance (Isa. 14:25 ref.

Obadiah 1:17)

for those of us who might think otherwise of our assertion that Jerusalem is presently in bondage, we go no further in supporting our view, than invite the authority of a great Jewish teacher and writer; the Apostle Paul, who speaking under unction of the Holy Spirit said,

“For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children” (Galatians 4:25)

The LORD had chosen Jerusalem to be the place of His Sanctuary, yet she is now in bondage. She has been made desolate and reduced to the same rank with the mountain of Arabia! Is it any wonder that the princes of Arabia found it easy to place strange pillars upon the Mount of God? However, God can not dwell in bondage nor will the divine presence dwell in desolation. There can never be such concord!

The LORD had taught us to pray, “…as it is in heaven, so let it be done on earth…”

If the Jerusalem above is free, then the footstool of the LORD on earth must be free!How Jerusalem and the Temple Mount came to be enslaved is not the focus of this piece, but to remind us of the Ownership of the Temple Mount and therefore of Jerusalem.This is necessary because, soon He will stretch forth His hand to reclaim His own.Going back to the scriptures at the beginning of this essay, we can see that the Temple Mount was not obtained by conquest or by force. Rather, it was gotten through legitimate and peaceful exchange (II Samuel 24:23). The fact that the deal has been recorded in the Holy Scriptures – the time tested, reliable, historical, and scared custodian of universal divine oracles; means that the transaction is immutable, non-transferable, beyond the adjudication of mortals and unbreakable by Heaven or earth: it is written, therefore it is settled.

King David originally bought the land and everything on it, to offer appeasement sacrifice unto the LORD, by which he persuade the LORD to stay His from striking Israel.Long before Elijah called down fire upon the altar and the sacrifice, in that epic battle to determine the authentic God, the LORD God first answered David by fire upon the Temple Mount! This not only confirmed that He had accepted David and his sacrifice, but also that He was delighted with the location of the altar; because it where He had chosen (II Sam. 24:18-19 ref. I Chron. 21:18-19).It is therefore not surprising that King David instructed king Solomon to build the First Temple on that spot. To cap it all, if according to king David, it was the LORD God that showed him all the architecture, fittings and finishing of the Temple (I Chron. 28:19), then it is certain that it was the LORD that also instructed on the location of the Temple: therefore, it is foolhardy to attempt to undo the counsel of the Most Dread LORD. It is however, most excellent wisdom to allow Him have His way. That way, no bones will be broken rather the supporters of His will, will go home blessed. The alternative is that He will have His way in the presence of His crushed or broken enemies.Emperor nebuchadnezzer knows what he saw before he declared the LORD God of Israel to be the Most High God!I tell you the truth; God is comfortable with all the options: the harder the opposition, the brighter His glory!In retrospect, why David left this choice property in the hands of a Jebusite, long after he had taken Jerusalem from them, remains a mystery I will like to uncover from king David when he comes back in the resurrection. Yet I sense the divine hand here. And it is significant that the Temple Mount was BOUGHT from the JEBUSITES and OFFERED to the LORD God!Here again we can see divine wisdom and foresight at work – of all places in Jerusalem, only the place of His Sanctuary was BOUGHT! Therefore, to prove that the LORD was pleased with Solomon for following through with all the instructions given to him concerning the Temple, God said,

“…I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice…For now have I chosen and sanctified this house that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually” (II Chron. 7:12,16)

He may have allowed the place of His name to be trampled but His eyes and heart have not left it one day; He may have ordered every stone of the place of His footstool to be thrown down, yet He is jealously watching over His own grounds and patiently waiting to show forth His excitement about the certain return of the days of glorious communion with the House of Israel!He may even have allowed strange pillars and posts to be erected over His own, yet His eyes and heart are perpetually stayed on the prime of His possessions, and His heart certainly primed to revenge the insult done to His hallowed grounds.

The fact that the Temple Mount is an offering unto the LORD means that it is only Him that can decide its fate. He has eternal right of first refusal and promptly designated it the perpetual place of His Footstool and Sanctuary . Therefore, even if the House of Israel decides to hand over East Jerusalem or the whole of Jerusalem to the world, the LORD will defend and keep the Temple Mount with all the power that makes Him God, because it is an offering to Him from the man whose heartbeat resonated with His.Moreover, the force – physical or spiritual, that is powerful enough to force God to abandon a treasured gift has not been created yet nor ever will be.

All that Israel needs to do, to get God interested in the place of His Sanctuary is to seek, draw near, abide with and worship the Truth, in spirit and in truth.All that Israel and the Jews seek: spiritual, territorial and political emancipation are all found in Jesus Christ. That is assuming that, they are still interested in these heavenly grails.However, for His name sake, the LORD God of Israel who can not give His glory to any other nor suffer His word to be broken – because He said He will, He will indeed gather the whole of Israel together. Hence the hour of our glory is delayed because they are yet to recognize Jesus of Nazareth for who He is – their LORD and Saviour.Until this spiritual foundation is set right, what ever physical concession, we get from those who helped pushed forward the affliction of Jerusalem, will be like building a house with saliva as the mortar.The State of Israel is more than a political entity; it is the eternal witness to Divine Existence.Therefore the divine imprint must be seen at every stage of the Israeli Dispensation, especially its foundation thereof.Consequently, the commencement of the dispensation is delayed until they are prepared to end their sorrows through accepting the King of princes, the LORD and Head above all – Jesus of Nazareth.Hear God,

“Yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the King of princes” (Hosea 8:10, ref Isa. 9:6-7, Zech. 12:10, Rev. 19:16, I Chron. 29:11,etc)

Without prejudice to any paragraph in this essay, let me say that when Jesus is ready to show forth His mighty hand, no one or group whether physical or spiritual, can hold captive the Holy Mount one second longer than is allowed. The set time is here!Israel, all that you seek is in Jesus Christ! He is your glory! Therefore, you have a choice to make: either to bend the knees before Jesus of Nazareth or to remain a vassal state to successive world powers.

My earnest desire and prayer is that they accept the fullness of Jesus, so that the prime dominion of His Empire may come to them. This is their duty to God; this is the least they can give back to God for all those centuries of preservation.

In the days ahead, let us keep this fact in remembrance:That which was bought by King David from Araunah the Jebusite, has never been bought back by anybody or group, therefore it remains a sacrifice of King David unto the LORD His God: it is HOLY unto the LORD God of Israel.It is therefore incumbent on the House of Israel to sanctify and rededicate that holy ground unto the LORD, and to hallow the grounds forever by placing on it, a Holy Tabernacle unto the LORD. This is the delight of Heaven. This is the glory of Israel. This is the felicity of humanity.Blessed are those who delight to honour the LORD thus, blessed are those who think upon this with joy and good actions; in Jesus name I declare.

I am acutely aware that some may want to know why we are concerned about the Holy Mount and the Third Temple – Ezekiel’s Temple, so we proceed as follows:The Bible says,

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams…For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:17,39)

Now, I am a young man!I have seen a vision!I have seen the Millennium Reign!It is so clear, so bright, so real and so compelling, we are certain we have received it from Heaven!

However, during this period, the joy and bliss of humanity is the perpetual residency of the Shekinah Glory in Mount Zion.Scriptures abound to show that the presence of God in this Temple will be comprehensive and permanent, and because Jesus is the fullness of God bodily, in the millennium reign, it is Jesus of Nazareth that will be worshipped here (Dan. 7:14, 27)Imagine bonding with the fullness of the Holy Spirit; imagine bonding with the fullness of Jesus Christ! Now, recall that when God’s Holy Spirit came upon you, it was only a portion of God that came upon you, by whom God’s unique gift in you became activated! Now, imagine having communion with Him who has the Holy Spirit without measure! Imagine climbing Mount Zion knowing that the fullness of God awaits

you! That which we presently enjoy in the spirit, God wants to make physically real!And so we state again, it is the fullness of Jesus’ Spirit that will be resident in the Temple as LORD God, because He had said,

“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son” (Rev.21:7 ref. Zech. 8:8)

If you think the references do not add up, how about Zechariah 2:10-12?

Here, God is speaking in His dual capacity as the Immanuel and Transcendent God; the visible and invisible God; the Sent and the Sender; the Son and the Father; Jesus Christ and YHWH!Hear Him,

“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the LORD shall Inherit Judah His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again”(Zech. 2:10-12)

Did you hear that? Jerusalem is His inheritance; and His portion therein is Mount Moriah – the Temple Mount! The presence of God will be so manifest in Jerusalem, the whole city will be called Jehovah Shammah! (Ezekiel 48:35). Halleluyah!

Therefore, blessed are the nations, peoples, persons and bodies that will set aside a portion of their yearly budget to raise and beautify the place of His Sanctuary. The Hour is here!Ezekiel’s Temple is here!The glory of the Later House is here!

Prepare to serve the LORD anew! The clarion call is at hand!

Shalom!