If I’m not Jewish, why should I care what the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization says about the Temple Mount in Jerusalem? As Christians, everything that touches our Jewish brothers affects us. The heritage of the Temple Mount is a part of our Christian history, too. So, what undeniable facts disprove UNESCO lies?
Since the United Nations organization denies any connection between the Jews and the Temple Mount, referring to the area only as Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, our task to debunk their claim calls for a simple review of history.
First Temple 953 B.C.
Since the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, the Arc of the Covenant rested in its specific place in the Tent of Meeting. The contents of the special Arc included the stone tablets on which the finger of God had written the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded, and a gold jar with a bit of the daily manna God miraculously provided for the people to eat during their desert journey (Hebrews 9).
Though King David longed to provide a luxurious permanent home for the Arc, God gave the charge to his son, Solomon.
“He said to me: ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts.’” (I Chron 28: 6a NIV)
David understood God’s reason but knew his teenage son had no experience in such great projects. As such, David set the preparations in motion while offering encouragement to young Solomon.
“David also said to Solomon his son, ‘Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.’” (I Chron 28:20 NIV)
Four years after his father died, King Solomon took up the plans for the temple, and the work began.
“In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.” (I Kings 6:1 NIV)
While Jeremiah recorded the details of the event in Kings, Ezra threw in a few bits in his account in Chronicles that enriches our understanding of why this exact spot is so important to the Jewish people.
“Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David. He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.” (II Chron 3:1-2 NIV)
A thousand years earlier, on that exact spot, Abraham put his only son on an altar of sacrifice in obedience to the almighty God. As Abraham raised the knife to slay his son, God stopped him, providing a ram for the sacrifice (Genesis 22.)
For seven years, Solomon and all of the laborers worked to follow the plans to the letter. Construction segments had been prepared outside the city. This enabled the assembling of the large stone and wood edifice to be carried out with minimal noise at the holy site.
Solomon’s Temple celebrated the opening in 953 B.C. If you’d like all of the details, read First Kings (Chapters 5-8) and 2 Chronicles (Chapters 1-7).
For more than 400 years, the Israelites worshiped and held their festivals at this Temple.
When the armies of Nebuchadnezzar took the people captive, moving all but a remnant to Babylon in 586 B.C., they destroyed the Temple.
Whatever happened to all the stuff that made up the Tent of Meeting? Jewish scholars believe it is still stored in rooms deep under the foundation of the First (Solomon’s) Temple.
God orchestrated the Babylonian captivity because His People had disobeyed Him, refusing to put their trust in Him. As with all punishment from a good Father, it had a limit. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God assured the people they’d return in seventy years and rebuild the Temple.
Second Temple 516 B.C.
Exactly seventy years after the Israelites left their remnant in Jerusalem and settled as captives in Babylon, God brought them home. The rebuilding of the Temple began straight away, under Zerubbabel.
The incredible story spanning those years of construction are recorded in the Books of Nehemiah and Ezra—well worth reading.
Throughout the subsequent centuries, the leadership over Jerusalem changed hands a few times. Whether under the Persians or Greeks, the Jewish people worshiped and celebrated their God, Yahweh, in this Second Temple.
When the Roman Empire made plans to take Jerusalem in 70 A.D., General Titus and his three generals unanimously agreed the Temple should be spared in order for the Jewish people to continue their worship. The military leaders gave orders to that effect down through the ranks.
A band of renegade Roman soldiers found a crowd milling around the Temple property. They stirred the vagrants against the Jews. Before long, the raucous shouts and threats turned to an uncontrollable rampaging mob. They stormed the Temple, destroying whatever they got their hands on and setting aflame everything that would burn.
The rogue Roman soldiers acted against their military orders. When General Titus witnessed their actions, he wielded his sword against his own men, attempting to stop them.
The Jewish historian, Josephus, recorded the details of the unauthorized destruction he witnessed at the temple Mount in Jerusalem. At the end of the siege, only one outer wall, the western wall, remained standing.
Assigning a sinister spiritual cause for the destruction of the Second Temple makes a lot of sense. The Romans had no problem with the Jews continuing their worship. The soldiers that survived the uprising probably found themselves in military prison, not enjoying the spoils of their conquest. Only one element left the scene satisfied that day.
In the same wicked way, satan continues to use mere mortals to prevent or interrupt the worship of the Jewish people on the Temple Mount. It’s as true today as in 70 A.D.
Interim
All who accept the Bible is the Word of God, believe as the Jewish people, that a Third Temple will be built on that exact spot. In the meantime, we need to be aware of the important present-day history recorded at the Temple Mount.
When Israel became a State again, the armistice granted the Jewish people access to the Temple Mount so that they could continue to worship at the western wall. However, between 1948 and 1967, not one single Israeli was allowed access to the area. Not one.
Instead, the Arabs used the most holy Jewish site for a garbage dump.
At the close of the Six-Day War in 1967, the Israeli soldiers regained control of the Temple Mount. The practice of writing a prayer request on a small bit of paper and slipping it into one of the cracks in the stone wall revived that triumphant day. The first man to stick his tiny rolled petition into the Western Wall, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, asked for an everlasting peace to descend on the House of Israel.
Many of us have had opportunity to scribble a request and find just the right spot to insert it in a crack of the Western Wall. Touching the stones brought a sense of awe to my soul. God said His heart would always be there. Perhaps, that’s the something unique about the Presence at the Wall.
The Jewish people welcome Christian worshipers at the Western Wall. Recently the decision to set aside a section for corporate Christian prayer groups brought strong opposition from the Muslims. As hard as that may be to understand, the April 2016 UNESCO Resolution is even more difficult to digest.
UNESCO and the Temple Mount
By way of introduction to a UN organization with which many of us may be unfamiliar, the purpose of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is described in Article One of its Constitution:
“to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among the nations through education, science and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law, and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations’.”
Given that purpose, in light of the abovementioned Jewish history, why did UNESCO deny any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount in their April 2016 resolution? In the Paris announcement, the organization referred to the Temple Mount area solely as Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, except for two references to the Western Wall Plaza that were put in parentheses as a point of reference.
Mohamed received his first revelation in 610 A.D.–far from the Temple Mount. Forced to leave his spot on the Arabian Peninsula, Mohamed and his followers claim the first migration in 622 A.D. Ten years later, Mohamed died, leaving the power struggle that exists today between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Fast forwarding to the first mosque constructed in the area will set the timeline marker down in 705 A.D. No one denies the mosque existed, but the dates clearly prove which edifice of worship has longevity.
Recently on his official Facebook page, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the UNESCO resolution: “Two weeks ago, I was shocked to hear that UNESCO adopted a decision denying any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, our holiest site. It is hard to believe that anyone, let alone an organization tasked with preserving history, could deny this link which spans thousands of years.”
PM Netanyahu invited the staff of UNESCO to join him in a seminar on Jewish History, conducted by a well-known Jewish scholar.
I caught only one Twitter reply from a high-ranking member of UNESCO refusing the invitation. There may have been others, or some might have accepted the invitation.
Clearly, the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount has never been a secret. Often, when a time of prayer for a nation has been called, the familiar passage in II. Chronicles 7:14 is read out as the theme or key passage for the event.
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (II. Chron 7:14 NIV)
Today, let’s not stop there. Continue for two more verses.
“Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” (II. Chron 7:15-16 NIV)
Conclusion
Of the fifty-eight UNESCO member countries, only Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, UK and USA opposed the resolution. Seventeen countries abstained from voting. The undeniable historical facts make it obvious that the opposition is to the Jewish people, not some confusion over land boundaries.
I urge you today to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters who refuse to give in to the forces of evil still trying to rid the world of their presence and history. Their heritage is also ours. Speak up whenever you have the opportunity, and you’ll put a smile on God’s face.
