In the middle of time, as we know it . . . on the cusp of B.C. and A.D., along came a prophetess, Anna. She spoke profoundly, in a prophetic way, to all people who were looking for: the redemption of Jerusalem. Whatever that is. . .
The Western world has been wondering, for over 2000 years now, what is meant by the “redemption of Jerusalem.” This concept is yet to be clearly manifested.
But we do notice that now, in 2023, the opposite is happening, again. The furies start to fly, maybe because Pandora has opened her box? but that’s just an old Greek wives’ tale.
Yesterday, all those troubles seemed so far away; now it looks as though they’re suddenly here to stay. Newly-appointed Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the mosque, with Israeli Security guards surrounding him.
His visit has stirred up a hornet’s nest of Muslim rage.
According to Jean Shaoul, writing yesterday for the World Socialist, Itamar had posted pictures of himself last May while he and his family were visiting the mosque. At that time he had “called for its destruction to ‘establish a synagogue on the mountain.’”
That’s pretty serious stuff, and the fact that Itamar is now an official of the Netanyahu administration has upped the ante in this notorious poker game of the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif.
Yesterday, January 5, Ben-Gvir stirred up a hornet’s nest of Muslim rage when he visited Al Aqsa again, this time in his official capacity with a group of Israeli security guys surrounding him.
The problem here goes back to the seventh century BC, when Muhammed, the Most Holy Prophet of Islam, was transported in a nocturnal vision, to the mountain and had a visitation with Allah.
According to Abu Abd al-Rahman and his translator, Frederick S. Colby, in The Subtleties of the Ascension, 2006:
“The narrative describes how the Prophet was led by the angel Gabriel in the middle of the night from a location in Mecca to a remote location, which came to be identified with Jerusalem.”
The location at issue is the historic mountaintop in Jerusalem, called Haram al-Sharif by the Muslims, called the Temple Mount by Jews and Christians.
The mountain had originated as a holy spot because, in ancient times, Abraham had sacrificed a ram there instead of his son Isaac. Centuries later, the Jews established their tabernacle there.
Later, under King Solomon, they built their Temple. The Israelis have hopes of building a new temple there. If they are ever able to erect one, it might look something like this:
Their original Temple was destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman general Titus, as Jesus had vaguely predicted. Centuries later, the Dome of the Rock, Muslim holy site, was built there, which still stands.
A dozen years ago, I wrote a novel, Glass half-Full, in which a news reporter strolled across the spacious plaza pictured above, and wondered why the Jews could not build their new temple there, and everybody would be happy with both Jews and Israelis attending their sacred place on the mountain.
During the 1967 war between Israelis and Muslims, General Moshe Dayan took military possession of the sacred mountintop. He (wisely) forbade his men to wreck the place.
History reveals that this mountaintop is the hottest spot in the world for contention and enmity. Someday the words of the prophetess Anna will be fulfilled, when the “redemption of Jerusalem” is achieved, however that plays out. Notice that the western gate is currently closed. Someday, it will be opened.
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