 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
 |
|
ISRAEL PRAYER TEAMS
Sign up now to recieve a weekly summary Also
Special Focus Prayer Perspectives
like this: FOR
THE HAND OF THE LORD WILL REST ON THIS MOUNTAIN, JERUSALEM: The past Monday morning we were awakened shortly after 4:00 to the cries of prayers and proclamations to the Muslim god echoing and re-echoing through the wadis and valleys surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem. It was the end of Ramadan, and the prayers, which usually subside after a minute or two, went on for almost two hours, electrically amplified to an incredible degree, and emanating primarily from the four ancient minarets on the Temple Mount. If the spirit presently working through the King of Jordan has its way, a year from now the calls from these four towers may well be joined by those of a fifth. Exactly two years ago (25 Oct 2004) the Israeli newspaper HaAretz reported that King Abdullah II of Jordan had decided to build a fifth minaret on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Plans were to be completed by the end of the year and construction was to begin in 2005. The plan did not materialize. Last week the King again issued a proclamation, that for the first time in 600 years, a new minaret will soon be constructed on the eastern wall near the Golden Gate. At 42 meters, it would be the largest, and with its completion all Five Pillars of Islam would be represented on the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem. A minaret is a thin tower adjoining a mosque wall. In earlier times, a “mullah” would emerge onto a circular balcony near the top of the minaret five times a day to lead Muslims in the surrounding area in the proscribed prayers (a practice which comprises one of the Five Pillars of Islam). Nowadays, electrical amplification is used. In Israel these calls sometimes include extra-religious messages, including incitements to violence. Although Israel
took the Mount from Jordan during the ’67 War, it was decided
shortly thereafter that custodianship of the Muslim ‘holy
sites’ would remain with the Kingdom of Jordan. What this
has meant has been that Israel continues to claim sovereignty and
is responsible form over-all security—but since the entire
top of the hill (with the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa mosque)
is considered a “holy Muslim site”, a contingency of
Jordanians known as the WAQF polices the area alongside the Israeli
troops and oversees administration and maintenance. Non-Muslims
are allowed on the Mountain, but only at certain designated hours,
and they are not allowed to worship or pray demonstrably while there.
This arrangement is looked at as a “status quo.” Maintaining
it has been a delicate business; the tiniest alteration can cause
shock waves. As of this writing,
Israeli officials claim not to have received an official request
from Jordan to build the minaret, and are therefore not studying
the issue of issuing or denying the required permits. However, their
silence is being taken by many Jews and Muslims as indifference,
if not tacit assent. A recent article in the Post was headed, Israel
unopposed to building of 5th Temple Mount minaret. An article this
weekend, entitled “Spiraling out of control,” dealt
with waves of restlessness which are beginning to be sensed in both
Muslim and Jewish quarters regarding the minaret. One Jewish group
has stated its plan to build a synagogue on a portion of the Mountain.
Of course, the real battle which is rising will be a spiritual one. The spirit behind Islam has never been content to dwell in Saudi Arabia. Isaiah 2:2 speaks of a mountain in Jerusalem which in the Last Days will “be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills.” But that mountain is called “The Mountain of YHVH (the Covenant God of Israel). Islam demands “submission”…nothing can rise above its god and prophet. Within 25 years of the death of Mohammed, the mountain in Jerusalem was designated the location of the “Farthest Mosque (Al Aqsa)” where the prophet had supposedly ascended to heaven to receive his revelations. An elaborate mythology was developed in which Abraham was the first Muslim who sacrificed Ishmael (not Isaac) on this mountain. From the 10th century until well into the 20th the “Hashemite” family in Arabia, claiming direct descent from Mohammed, held oversight of the holy places in Mecca. In the early 1920’s this oversight was taken away by the Saudis, but in 1922 Britain divided up the land of Palestine (all of which had been intended in the Balfour Declaration as a future home for the Jews), forming a land called Trans Jordan. As a gift to the Hashemite leader who had assisted them in overthrowing the Turkish rule in the Middle East during the First World War, they offered to grant him a limited leadership of this new territory. With independence in 1946, Abdullah I became sovereign over the Kingdom of Jordan. And oversight of the Muslim holy sites in Mecca was shifted to those in Jerusalem. It is his young grandson, King Abdullah II, who desires to build the new minaret, and in so doing to “complete” a representation of the pillars of Islam in Jerusalem—placing it over the very gate where the Messiah of Israel is prophesied to return to take up His throne. Of course, present-day Jordan lies in the area of ancient Moab and Ammon (The part north of the Arnon River later became the territories of the Hebrew tribes Reuben, Gad and part of Manasseh). And so, it is a sovereignty from the land of Moab which presently represents the religion of Islam on the Mountain. Isaiah 25 speaks of some of the wonderful events which will someday take place at this location, where the LORD of Hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples; where “on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which over all people”; where He will “swallow up death for all time” and “remove the reproach of His people [i.e. Israel] from all the earth (vss 6-8). Then comes verse 10: “For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab will be trodden down in his place as straw is trodden down in the water of a manure pile…the Lord will lay low his pride.” Before this takes place, a fierce battle is brewing. PLEASE PRAY: *That “He Who sitteth in the heavens” would speak and terrify the powers rising up to establish a further edifice to a false god on the place where He has placed His Name and where His Son will rule (Psalm 2). *For God’s mercy, mercy and guidance to bewildered Israel in how to maintain her sovereignty over the Mountain. Pray that the Israeli government will not allow this fifth minaret to be built. A great breach of spiritual darkness may be opened if it is allowed to be completed, creating an enormous vulnerability to Israel in the heart of Jerusalem. *The Lord’s Prayer—that God’s Name be hallowed; that His Kingdom come and His will be done in Jerusalem. *For the Kingdom of Jordan, that God’s redemptive purposes for that land and people will come forth. In Jeremiah 48:47 He promises “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days,” and in 49:6 He promises the same for Ammon.” Pray for King Abdullah II that he will be diverted from the folly of his present plans…that he would rule his people wisely and be freed from the false faith of his ancestors. *In Jeremiah 50:19, God promises that returned Israel will again dwell in the hill country of Gilead (an area of Jordan where she dwelt in ancient times). It is worth remembering that Elijah the prophet (who “is coming and will restore all things” (Matt. 17:11 NASB)) was from this area and returned there before being caught up into heaven. Pray that God’s will for this land as it relates to the future of Israel will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven!
A
SAMPLE issue of Israel Prayer _8/28/06_
David & Michaella Lazarus, old city Jaffa,
in sight of Tel Aviv War
is terrible, but it does prove a few things.
Prayer
Perspectives:
We
welcome article submissions from the indigenous Israeli Ministries
|
||||||||||