Arab Muslims have controlled the Temple Mount since the conquest of Jerusalem in 638 AD, with brief exceptions during the eleventh and twelfth centuries when European crusaders occupied the city. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, and the Dome of the Rock, which sits on the spot from which Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to heaven, were constructed in the late seventh century, despite the claim by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, that Al-Aqsa was either built by Adam or by angels “during his time.”[1]
When Israel captured the Temple Mount during the Six-Day War in 1967, the geopolitical fallout of taking full control of the site was considered so dangerous that the first action of Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Dayan was to take down the Israeli flag that his paratroopers had raised over the mount.
The Temple Mount today is administered by the Waqf, an Islamic religious trust that has overseen the area since 1187. The government of Jordan acts as custodian, although security is provided by Israeli police. This arrangement makes no one happy. It’s a constant source of irritation and provocation to Jews and Muslims alike.
Christians, as spiritual descendants of Judaism, also attach special significance to the Temple Mount. In addition to the Old Testament history linked to the site, some of the major events of Jesus’ life took place on the Temple Mount. Still, its importance to Christians, especially in the mostly secular West, pales in comparison to the significance of the Temple Mount to Jews. American Christians can only guess at the level of frustration religious Jews must feel at being forbidden to pray on the mount.
Moshe Dayan and Israel’s secular leadership in 1967 apparently believed that the mount was a holy site only for Muslims and nothing more than “a historical site of commemoration of the past” for Jews.[2] By granting Jews access to the Temple Mount, Dayan thought demands for worship and sovereignty there would be satisfied; by allowing Muslims to keep religious control of it, he hoped to remove the site as an inspiration for Palestinian nationalism. It was the ultimate no-win situation.
The Roman Catholic Church recently waded back into these shark-infested waters; on June 26, 2015, the Vatican signed a treaty with the “state of Palestine,” essentially acknowledging the independence of a sovereign Palestine.[3] The Israeli government wasn’t happy about that; if the Palestinian Authority can achieve independence through outside pressure on Israel, why negotiate?
News of this agreement stirred up old suspicions among some Jews that the Vatican is conspiring with Palestinian leaders, and possibly with Israeli elites as well, to take control of the Old City and/or the Temple Mount. Stories have circulated for years that the Vatican is working with Jewish elites on a secret deal to turn over administration of the Old City to the Roman Catholic Church.[4]
This isn’t entirely conspiracy theory. The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine included a proposal to designate Jerusalem corpus separatum (Latin for “separated body”), a zone under international control because of the city’s shared religious importance. The proposal was included in the plan largely because of a powerful diplomatic effort by the Vatican, which had been concerned about the status of Christian holy sites in the Holy Land since the nineteenth century.
The partition plan failed. War broke out almost immediately after Israel declared its independence, and it’s hard to talk when bullets are flying. Months of intense fighting left Israeli forces in control of western Jerusalem, and Israel kept that territory when an armistice was signed to end the 1948–49 war.
Today, at least one Middle East think tank, the Jerusalem Old City Initiative, formed by Canadian diplomats after the failure of the Camp David talks in 2000, “concluded that an effective and empowered third party presence was imperative in the Old City.”[5] A similar proposal was reportedly made by the Obama administration in late 2013. US Secretary of State John Kerry, in Israel to broker a deal for a Palestinian state, is said to have offered a “third party solution” for administering eastern Jerusalem. Under the proposal, the Vatican would have controlled holy sites in partnership with a coalition of Muslim countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Israeli leaders were unreceptive, especially to Turkey’s participation.[6]
A suggestion that Jordan might replace Turkey in the international coalition got a lukewarm response in Amman. King Abdullah wasn’t eager to get involved in a delicate, potentially explosive situation in Jerusalem with the Syrian civil war raging just across Jordan’s northern border.
The relationship between Israel and Turkey used to be friendly, but it’s soured in recent years, probably due to the regional ambitions of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey supported the so-called Gaza Freedom Flotilla, a 2010 mission to deliver construction materials and humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip coordinated by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief. However, since Gaza has been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007, aid is normally delivered to Israel and then transferred to Palestinian authorities. The flotilla tried to make a political and public relations point by running the blockade.
When Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla on May 31, 2010, nine people were killed on board the Turkish ship MV Mavi Marmara. Although Erdogan said in 2013 that relations with Israel could be normalized if certain conditions were met, he has since called for Sunnis and Shias to set aside their differences and “protect” the Temple Mount.[7]
In the current political climate, Israel will grow increasingly resistant to pressure to give up the Temple Mount. The Netanyahu administration, which has governed Israel since 2009, except for an interlude between June 2021 and December 2022, has been quietly investing in efforts to prepare for the construction of the Third Temple.[8] This includes educating young Israelis about the importance of the Temple, and preparation of the architectural plans, utensils, and even sacrificial animals needed to make the Temple a reality.
In September 2018, a perfect one-week-old red heifer was certified by a board of rabbis as meeting all the biblical requirements for the ritual purification needed to build the Third Temple.[9] Meanwhile, close allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—specifically a deputy defense minister and a key US fundraiser—have been making large financial contributions to advance the cause of the Temple’s construction.[10]
This could be the tinder waiting for a spark that touches off a confrontation of literally biblical proportions. While modern Israel is mainly secular, in recent years respected Orthodox and Haredi rabbis have issued regular proclamations of the Messiah’s imminent arrival. Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a leading authority in mainstream Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Judaism not previously given to messianic predictions, advised Jews from 2014 until his death in 2022 to make aliyah(relocate to Israel) as soon as possible to prepare for Messiah’s arrival.
It should be noted that Rav Kanievsky predicted the Messiah’s arrival in the first year after the Shemitah, which would have been by September 2016.[11] The point isn’t whether he was right or wrong, it’s that this is what religious Jews are being taught right now and what many believe. One’s actions are determined by one’s beliefs, so making sense of the end times, which culminate in an earth-shaking battle at Jerusalem, requires understanding at least a little of what Jews believe about the last days.
As with Christian interpretations of end-times prophecy, Jews believe Israel will face an existential threat from a coalition of enemies invading from the north. That’s the prophecy of the war of Gog and Magog recorded in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. Typically, Christians understand that this war will end when God intervenes and supernaturally destroys the invading army with “pestilence and bloodshed… torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur.”[12]
Jews believe the mashiach takes an active part in this battle. In fact, two are expected in Jewish prophecy—Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David. Unlike the Christian understanding of the Messiah, Jews believe Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David are human men, observant Jews, rather than supernatural saviors.
The origin and character of the Messiah of the tribe of Joseph are rather obscure. It seems that the assumed superhuman character of the Messiah was thought to conflict with prophecies of his death. Jews never really accepted the idea of the Messiah as a suffering servant. Obviously, they wouldn’t see “him whom they have pierced”[13] as Jesus. Therefore, the haggadists created a second Messiah who would come from the tribe of Joseph (or Ephraim) instead of Judah who willingly suffers for his nation and falls in the Gog-Magog war.
In a nutshell, Mashiach ben Yosef is killed during the Magog invasion. He’s then replaced and later resurrected by Mashiach ben David (or, some believe, Elijah), who goes on to purify Jerusalem, gather the Jews to Israel, build the Third Temple, reinstitute the Sanhedrin, and restore the system of sacrifices.
Then comes the Final Judgment: Mashiach ben David judges the nations and their guardian angels, presumably the seventy placed over the nations by Yahweh after the Tower of Babel incident, and then throws all of them—nations and angels—into Gehenna.
Not all Jews believe in the literal return of the mashiach. Generally speaking, Orthodox and Hasidic Jews are most likely to await his arrival, while Conservative, Reform, and Deconstructionist Jews tend to view the mashiach as just a symbol for the redemption of mankind from the evils of the world.
You may have noticed a key similarity between the Jewish mashiach and the Sunni Mahdi: Both will be devout men, obedient to their God, who lead their people to ultimate victory over the forces of darkness. Shias and Christians, on the other hand, are waiting for the return of a supernatural deliverer.
This sets up a bizarre scenario for the last days: Sunnis and Shias both expect the other’s Mahdi to be the Dajjal, comparable to the Christian Antichrist and the evil figure called Armilus in medieval Jewish eschatology. Both Muslim camps will probably see a Jewish mashiach figure as the Dajjal, and it’s unlikely Muslims or Jews will recognize the true Messiah for who he is.
In other words, the Fallen have woven a confusing tangle of deception that will lead a lot of people discovering, too late, that they followed the wrong man.
No kidding. That’s partly why prophecy scholars still can’t agree on how things play out even after two thousand years of study, prayer, and arguing. One tip for Christians: If someone claims to be the Christ and his feet are on the ground, it’s not Him. Remember, Jesus said to look for a cloud, power, and great glory at His return.[14]
Of course, the main reason we haven’t figured it all out is because God is the greatest military mind of all time and He hadn’t told us everything He knows. Loose lips sink ships, and too many of us talk to the Enemy.
Still, read on. We’re going to take a shot at a plausible end-times scenario that lays out Allah’s plan for Muslims and shows you the doom that’s already been decreed for the hellish coalition behind Islam.
[1] Ilan Ben Zion, “Jerusalem Mufti: Temple Mount Never Housed Jewish Temple.” The Times of Israel, October 25, 2015 (https://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-mufti-denies-temple-mount-ever-housed-jewish-shrine/), retrieved 1/25/19.
[2] Ezequiel Doiny, “Replace the Waqf.” Israel National News, July 17, 2017 (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/20761), retrieved 1/25/19.
[3] Elisabetta Povoledo, “Vatican Formally Recognizes Palestinian State by Signing Treaty.” The New York Times, June 26, 2015 (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/27/world/middleeast/vatican-palestinian-state.html), retrieved 1/25/19.
[4] Joel Bainerman, “The Vatican Agenda: How Does the Vatican View the Legitimacy of Israel’s Claims to Jerusalem?” RedMoonRising.com (http://www.redmoonrising.com/chamish/vaticanagenda.htm), retrieved 1/25/19.
[5] Jerusalem Old City Initiative (http://www.cips-cepi.ca/event/jerusalem-old-city-initiative/), retrieved 12/12/15.
[6] Aaron Klein, “International Mandate to Control Sections of Israel’s Capital,” WND, December 15, 2013 (http://www.wnd.com/2013/12/u-s-plan-gives-jerusalem-holy-sites-to-vatican/), retrieved 2/12/19.
[7] For example: Bethan McKernan, “Turkish President Erdogan Calls on All Muslims to ‘Protect’ Jerusalem Holy Site Known as Temple Mount and Noble Sanctuary.” The Independent, July 25, 2017 (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/recep-tayyip-erdogan-jerusalem-turkey-president-muslims-temple-mount-mosque-haram-esh-sharif-a7858691.html), retrieved 1/25/19.
[8] “Report: State Funds Groups That Advocate Building Third Temple.” Jerusalem Post, August 31, 2014 (https://m.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Report-State-funds-groups-that-advocate-building-Third-Temple-321990), retrieved 1/25/19.
[9] Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, “Harbinger to Messiah: Red Heifer Is Born.” Breaking Israel News, September 5, 2018 (https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/113476/temple-institute-certifies-red-heifer/), retrieved 2/19/19.
[10] Uri Blau, “Netanyahu Allies Donated to Groups Pushing for Third Temple.” Haaretz, December 9, 2015 (https://www.haaretz.com/netanyahu-allies-donated-to-groups-pushing-for-third-temple-1.5434678), retrieved 1/25/19.
[11] Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, “Shmittah and the Messiah: Could This Be the Year Before His Arrival?” Breaking Israel News, July 12, 2015 (https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/45001/shmitah-messiah-this-year-arrival-jewish-world/), retrieved 1/25/19.
[12] Ezekiel 39:22 (ESV). Note that “pestilence” in this verse is Deber, the patron god of ancient Ebla (c. 2500 BC), who’s mentioned in Habakkuk 3:5 alongside Resheph, the plague-god.
[13] Zechariah 12:10.
[14] Matthew 24:30, Luke 21:27, Mark 13:26, Revelation 1:7.