Gaza Strip, November 15: Israeli Jews are busy raising funds to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, to rebuild their alleged Temple to pave the way for the coming of Messiah.
”All that we know is that we are now living in the age of miracles,” Yehuda Glick, executive director of the Temple Institute, told.
“And all of those miracles are predicted in the Book as happening on the eve of the end of days.”
Glick, a 44-year-old American-born Jew, spends most of his time preparing for the Messiah coming.
“It could well be tomorrow, but it might be another 100 years, or even 400 years.”
In Jewish traditions, Messiah refers to a future King of Israel, from the Davidic line, who will rule the people of Israel and herald an age of global peace.
He supervises the manufacture of utensils the high priests will need when the day arrives.
He also prepares special clothes for its rabbis, special places for sacrificial offerings, incense chalice, copper vessels for meal offerings, silver vessel for wine libation and other offering implements.
Evangelical Support
Preparing for the Messiah coming, Glick is busy detaining plans to raze Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged Haykal (Temple of Solomon).
”We intend to just build over the Dome of the Rock (shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa compound),” Glick said.
“We might be able to find a way to include it in the Third Temple.
”It will be a modern building, with car parks and elevators, but it will look very much like the Second Temple,” he said.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the Muslims’ first Qiblah [direction Muslims take during prayers] and it is the third holiest shrine after Al Ka`bah in Makkah and Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Its significance has been reinforced by the incident of Al Isra’a and Al Mi’raj — the night journey from Makkah to Al-Quds and the ascent to the Heavens by Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him).
Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which houses the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, represents the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Jews claim that their alleged Haykal (Temple of Solomon) exists underneath Al-Haram Al-Sharif and want to destroy the Muslim holy shrine to build their temple.
For this, Israeli Jews, supported by US Evangelical Christians, are raising funds to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque and build their Haykal.
”We started with $US100,” Glick said.
The Temple Institute has become a fixture on American evangelical tours of Israel and their large donations is making up a big portion of the organization budget.
”There are 70 million evangelical Christians around the world, and most of them have become Israel’s strongest supporters.”
Thanks to Evangelical Christians donations, Glick’s institute has so far spent $27 million on the preparations, said Glick.
Several Evangelical leaders have repeatedly stated that they have a biblical and moral obligation to support and protect Israel.
They have insisted over the years that their position was part of “God’s foreign policy” because Israel is an important catalyst in the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Believing that the Israeli-Arab conflict is a battle between good and evil, conservative evangelicals built a bulwark of support for Israel, sending donations and denouncing Israel’s critics.
Evangelical Christians have had a growing impact on American political landscape, in part because adherents believe conservative Christian values should have a place in politics and they support politicians who agree with them.
-Agencies