INFORMATIONAL: TEMPLE MOUNT TRUTH

Temple Mount Truth

24 February 2025: We know from Scripture, fulfilled and prophetic, the absolute truth about "the Rock" at the top of Mount Moriah, a/k/a Mount Zion (Isaiah 4:5), in Jerusalem, Israel. We should also know from Genesis 22:2 that the LORD God told Abraham to take his only begotten son Isaac to the land of Moriah, Moriyah meaning "Chosen by Yah," to offer him there as a burnt offering on one of its mountains. Isaac's sacrifice was aborted by God and a ram was substituted instead. 

A thousand years later God led Solomon to the tabernacle of meeting in Gibeon, the same tabernacle which Moses had prepared in the wilderness. Solomon brought with him thousands of all Israel as well as the "ark of God" which he brought with him from its tent in Jerusalem. It was here that very night when God appeared before Solomon and asked what he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge, and God gave him both plus riches, wealth and honor such as no king had possessed before or since. Solomon returned to Jerusalem and commenced to build the temple for the name of the Lord which the Lord had led him to do. Solomon's Temple stood over the rock until the armies of Babylon destroyed it in 586 BC and took Israel into captivity for 70 years because of their sins. In 516 BC the second temple was build and then expanded upon by Herod in 12 BC. This temple was destroyed in 70 AD. As prophesied by the Lord Jesus Christ in His Olivet Discourse not one stone was left standing upon another.

Fast forward to 692 AD and the Muslims built the Dome of the Rock over the same rock that Abraham was to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, as well as being the location within the Temple's known as the Holy of Holies. As stated initially here, we know this from God-breathed Scripture. 

This brings us to the Supreme Moslem Council produced pamphlet, "A Brief Guide to Al-Haram Al-Sharif," (best transliterated as The August Sanctuary) a copy of which I have and whose cover is seen above as it appeared in its first printing dated one-hundred years ago in 1924 AD. This pamphlet is essentially a very detailed Muslim tourism guide for the approximately 36 square acres of the Temple Mount area on Mount Moriah (i.e. Chosen by Yah). It was remarkably approved for publication by Haj Amin al-Husseini, a virulent anti-Zionist imam, a leader of the Arab riots in 1921 who massacred Jews and Muslims alike and was a close ally of Adolf Hitler during WWII. In him we see our present-day HAMAS, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

Nevertheless, his approval for the publication of this pamphlet was essential. Its text states the following concerning the entire Temple Mount: (emphasis added)

"The site is one of the oldest in the world. Its sanctity dates from the earliest (perhaps pre-historic) times. It's identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This, too, is the spot, according to universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.' 2 Samuel XXIV, 25" (2 Samuel 24:25)

So much for the espoused "Palestinian" claims of nearly a century to the Temple Mount and Islamic edifices standing upon it.

 Marana'tha!

Global SITREP B10-23: The End Game Part II

Overhead View of Temple Mount

UPDATED 23 July 2023: Continuing the theme of the previous SITREP as has become the custom here, the above image  of the Temple Mount - Har HaBayit - (click on it for an easy to study enlargement or to save it to your PC) from the Temple Institute is where we begin. This, brothers and sisters, is THE focal point of the "end game." This is a fixed location, there is and can be no other! This is the place that God has chosen, so says the LORD Gpd in Deuteronomy 12:5-6.

This image presents two views of the Temple Mount, one with and one without the Temple. For reference the compass is central to this image. If you have saved it, rotate the image one-click clockwise so that north is at the top and not to the left. This gives better perspective, especially with regard to the Mount of Olives due east of the front of the Temple where (in a little over a year or so) the red heifer will be sacrificed and burned in the essential purity ritual. A lot can happen in a year, so Eschatology Today has chosen to highlight this image at this time for your information The point is that regardless if one believes the prophetic narrative or not, the "status quo" of the Temple Mount, a/k/a Mount Zion, and its environs will drastically change. Bible prophecy dictates it will be so as we all should be aware.

Today, once again as we've discussed in the past, the enemies of God and the children of Israel have raised their heads and their voices declaring in the most unambiguous manner possible that now is the time for them all to rise up as one, as was foretold by the singing chozeh/prophet Asaph in Psalm 83:1-8. Just yesterday the leader of the political wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) called upon all groups to recognize the historic opportunity which now exists to wage holy war upon Israel in order to eliminate it and the name of Israel from the land. There is no question that this agenda is forefront is the PIJ's primary foreign backer, the Islamic Republic of Iran. The intent and objective is to use the ongoing political divide in Israel over "judicial reform" and the directly associated refusal of IDF reservists, both pilots and special forces, to serve if called upon. 

As we all know, none of this is coincidental.

FINAL UPDATE 7 August 2023: As we approach the 14th year of the Eschatology Today blog it has been noted that, prophetically speaking, the conflict between Israel and its neighbors has without question entered the "end game." Indeed, without warning the end will come to further SITREPs and/or updates and comments. These past 14 years are in the rear view mirror for us, but not for Israel and its people; they have much to endure prior to the advent of the 70th Week of Years, also known as the time of Jacob's trouble.

Israel's Ministry of Defense (MoD), the defense establishment, has published by release to Israeli media its analysis of the coming war. This analysis, without a single referencing of the Biblical prophetic narratives of the major prophets of old, nevertheless bears a striking resemblance to the Scriptures, near verbatim but in a wholly secular context.

The Israeli MoD is forecasting that war on the northern front (Lebanon and Syria) will be joined by war emanating from Gaza, as well as within Israel itself, Judea and Samaria in particular. This is the multi-front war refenced here umpteen times over the years, a war which will exceed in ferocity and casualties the sum total of the previous Arab-Israeli wars of 1948, 1967, 1973 and 2006 combined. The MoD expectation, as reserved and conservative as it is, estimates 1,500 rockets of various types will inflict combat effective damage upon Israeli infrastructure and death among the citizenry. That's just the first four days of warfare. 1,500 rocket strikes per day.

In contrast the MoD cites the May 2021 Gaza War which saw 5 times fewer rockets, or 300 per day over a five-day period. Going back six years earlier to the 2014 war the MoD cites almost 20 times fewer rockets over the 50 days of that conflict. Even still those conflicts and all the rocket fire amounted to miniscule combat effectiveness against Israeli infrastructure and civilian fatalities. 

According to Isaiah 17:4-6 the civilian casualties in this coming war will be quite substantial. And Isaiah 17 references a time, as is the present, where Israel is in disbelief (i.e. verse 10 "You have forgotten God your Savior.") This speaks to imminence. Ezekiel 38:7-10 prophesies that Israel will recover from the death and destruction of this multi-front war, and that all of its people will live in safety, without walls, bars or gates. This last part about bars or gates is most interesting, as there are several dozen crossing points between PA-controlled areas, as well as Gaza, where the crossings have armed troops, bars and gates to protect Israel and its people. Following this war all of these security measures will no longer exist; they'll be purposeless, completely unnecessary. Furthermore, Ezekiel 28:24 confirms this, in quoting the LORD God saying, "And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God."

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP A2-23: The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

15 January 2023: The subject of a new political entity to the east of the State of Israel has been floating around in whispers since 2020. It potential reality has been noted in several comments on Eschatology Today during the interim. Now, it appears to be nearing the point of becoming a reality. This plan was originally crafted in Saudi Arabia, it has been published and is the subject of secret negotiations. According to a news brief published by Arutz Sheva today, the plan has been quietly revised by Jordan, the PLO and HAMAS. The revisions, amazingly, are not seen as being detrimental to the State of Israel, as the above linked Op-Ed by David Singer attests. 

Eschatology Today will explore this plan further, but the bottom line is that the plan makes very clear that Jordan is Palestine. As subset to this are the agreed-to bylines highlighting that (1) Israel will not be divided into a "two-state solution within its sovereign borders, (2) Jerusalem will be the undivided capital city of Israel; (3) Amman will be the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with Abdullah II as its reigning monarch, (4) Israel will control 90% of Judea and Samaria, and most importantly, provision will be made for the Temple Mount to be shared among the three "Abrahamic faiths."

Focusing on prophetic Scripture informs us that this plan has no chance of becoming a geo-political reality. Asaph's Psalm 83, Isaiah 11:14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26 all indicate a different intervening reality, the reality within the will of God and the coming Kingdom of the Lord on the Earth. Both the Isaiah and Ezekiel prophecies indicate the timing as well. Isaiah prophesied that this reality will occur after the Lord has brought Israel back from places around the world into the land for the second time. 

The full-scope of Prophetic Scripture

The first diaspora of Israel (607-586 BC) was returned to the land from the Babylonian captivity in 537 BC, and thus fulfilling the 70 years of captivity of Scripture. Ezra led the revival of Israel and the rebuilding of the Second Temple in its exact location on Temple Mount. The second diaspora occurred in the time of the Roman conquest during the 7 years from 67 to 73 AD, and continued for 1,875 years until 1948 AD fulfilling numerous prophecies in the process, most notably Ezekiel 36-37. 

Ezekiel 28 tells us the that prophecy will fulfill after the same second regathering of Israel as noted in Isaiah 11. Ezekiel adds that the restoration of Israel in the land will be to that which encompasses the permanent Abrahamic Land Covenant, expanded upon and passed to Isaac and Jacob (Israel). Deuteronomy 30:4-5 attests to this promise, and Joshua 1:4 provides the full scope of the land Israel will possess. If one believes in the inerrant Word of God, then one knows without any doubt that a Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine cannot exist on the same territory as Israel which God has returned His people to for the second and final time.

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP D10-22: The Emergent Religious Israel

UPDATED 20 December 2022: Within hours Israel's new government will be announced and Eschatology Today believes this will be an Israel that very few living today have ever seen before. Only those aged 75 or older might remember the religious fervor that accompanied Israel's founding. Now with several Religious Judaism parties holding sway within the Likud government of PM Bibi Netanyahu tremendous events stand before us, all of them noted in key prophetic verses of Old and New Testament Scripture.

One item that will manifest early on is the removal of the sign imaged above which forbids Jews from enter the Temple Mount. This is something that Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's new National Security Minister will in all certainty will play a key role in. A new law, known until now as the "Ben-Gvir Law," will establish his position and add to his official portfolio a police ordinance whereby he alone will set and control what the Israeli police can and cannot do. 

As you may recall the Israeli police enforce the prohibition against Jews ascending to the Mount as well as Jews engaging in prayer on the Mount. NSM Ben Gvir is going to change that and he will soon ascend the Mount, as he's promised to do many times, and he will most likely pray once he's there. Ben-Gvir will be instrumental in opening up Temple Mount to all Jewish worshipers.

Most everyone can see where this is leading. Muslims will riot, and the Temple Mount will become the focus of the next crisis in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The battle for the Temple Mount will be joined and the history of the past 56 years will become footnotes in any books written about the current era. 

Update 23 December 2022: In concluding this SITREP, we'll build off and move forward from my comment posted at 2:31 PM yesterday regarding the new Israeli law. This new law is to be enacted prior to the passage of the 2023 budget of the new government of the State of Israel. This new law mandates the death penalty for those who commit acts of terrorism that are intent on harming the State of Israel and its Jewish people. As most of us can now clearly see with the new government in Israel the proverbial gloves have come off. 

More new laws are coming. One of them, a religious liberty law, will exempt religious Jews and business owners from exercising their Torah beliefs in refusing to provide services that are against those beliefs. This means that currently existent "anti-discrimination" laws that punish religious Jews for refusing to honor the desires of the LGBTQ community, and others, which are in direct conflict with the Hebrew Scriptures.

And finally the greatest of the new actions, and the one with very profound prophetic implications, is the inclusion in the Coalition agreement between Likud and the Religious parties is the "Sovereignty Plan." The Sovereignty Plan will bring full Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. This plan was first proposed by PM Bibi Netanyahu in September 2019. It implementation will fulfill the Zionist vision of "Israeli sovereignty over the birthplace of the Jewish people, Judea and Samaria." The election of the Likud/Religious Zionist coalition is seen as a mandate approved by the majority of Israel's voters, who have clearly made known their desire for full Israel sovereignty over the whole of Biblical Israel and no to a "Palestinian" state on the territory of Eretz Israel.

There no doubt that the sovereignty plan will be vehemently opposed, domestically and from abroad. It is very likely, in conjunction with what will occur on the Temple Mount, to be a catalyst for tremendous violence and a wholesale re-shaping of the map of the Eastern Mediterranean, to include Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and even the Sinai. This will bring about the so-called "one-state solution." All of this is one-hundred percent prophetic. In particular we'll cite Isaiah 11:12-14, and which goes hand-in-hand with Ezekiel 28:24-26, Joshua 13:1-7 and the Psalm 83 prophecy. This we have been discussing over the past 13 years (2009-2022) on Eschatology Today and are all very familiar with the subject matter.

The difference now is that we can see it coming to fulfillment through the newly elected government of Israel. The Church Age is quickly coming to a close and God's attention is moving toward Israel. The Harpazo of the Bride of Christ is more imminent than ever before, so now is the time to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all who  will receive it for their names have been written into the Book of Life even before the foundation of the world.

Marana'tha!

Global SITREP E10-21: Operation Guardian of the Walls

Israel's Iron Dome rocket defense in action. Reuters image.

UPDATE 15 May 2021: According to info received from a special edition of the MEMRI Iran Threat Monitor Project (ITMP) communication was made from HAMAS Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades which revealed that both HAMAS and PIJ are firing Iranian-made "Sejjil" missiles and several other types of Iranian "arrows" with the designations SH85, J80, SA120, S40 and Q20.

The enemy also has a name for this war. That name is "The Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Swords War." IRGC General Mohammed-Hossein Sepehr has stated that Iran has built bases from Tehran to Baghdad, and from there to Beirut, Syria, Yemen, and to the Horn of Africa. These bases have been built in order to wage war on the cancerous growth that is Israel. He stated, "We have a religious duty to annihilate Israel."

The weapons noted above were delivered to Syria on direct flights from Iran, moved overland into Lebanon where they went to Hezbollah armories. From there they were transported by sea to Gaza. Obviously, these weapons transfers occurred over many years; they were personally overseen of Hajj Qassam Solemani, the late general who ran the IRGC Qods Force. The transfers also involved direct meetings between Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

Al-Assad's specific approval for the transfer of the missiles was discussed al length by Nasrallah and Solemani with them agreeing that whoever met him face-to-face first would request his permission to execute the transfer to HAMAS. Nasrallah had the face-to-face and al-Assad's response to the transfer request was "as far as I am concerned, no problem."

Also among the weaponry transferred were Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles sold to Iran, transferred to Syria and on to HAMAS in Gaza. There are also armed "suicide drones," known as "Shahab." Some of these Shahab drones have recently attacked Israel's natural gas platforms off the coast of Gaza. Some of the transfers also were routed through the former regime in Sudan. Much of those transfers were conducted under the guise of "diplomatic relations." The movement of diplomatic "bags" is covered under international accords; a "bag" may be as large as a shipping container. They are exempt from the routine customs inspections.

Israel was aware of the weapons transfers and has  been attacking their storage depots inside Syria for well over a year now. Based upon the sheer size of the missile barrage from Gaza, Israel got some of the shipment, but most certainly not all of them. The IDF have got a serious fight on their hands. It's no coincidence that rockets continue to trickle into Israel from both Lebanon and Syria in the past couple of days. A sign of the expanded war to come, no doubt. 

An almost certain IDF armor incursion into Gaza will encounter the Kornet ATGM and other weapons. These ATGMs are stationed near to the Gaza border with Israel to exact a heavy toll on IDF armor. The IRGC Qods Force, Hezbollah and HAMAS/PIJ work very closely together, like to peas in a pod; they all have the same higher command structure. 

Altogether, this war was planned for years in advance and the objective is to soundly "defeat the occupation forces" and liberate all of Palestine. Planning for this war really intensified in May of 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The HAMAS/PIJ soldiers came from both Gaza and Judea and Samaria. They trained covertly at camps set up by Soleimani and they numbers in the thousands. Many have returned to their homes; some now are serving as the tip of the 5th column spear inside Israel.  As we all know from Psalm 83, this is precisely the objective as prophesied by Asaph.

11 May 2021:  Operation Guardian of the Walls is the name of Israel's ongoing military response to HAMAS and PIJ rocket and incendiary attacks. Closing in on nearly 300 strikes of all types in Gaza alone as of this morning, 11 May. The number of terror rockets fired into Israel is about the same.

The neoCommunist Biden Admin and Democrat Party have lost all credibility in Israel. An epic rupture in bilateral relations that has little chance of restoration has occurred in the last 5 days. Bottom line: Israel has been wholly betrayed by Biden and Democrats who now openly side with Islamic jihadists in Gaza and within Israel itself.

If you've been following comments under SITREP E9-21 then you well aware of the circumstance of how this new conflaggration began in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. This frees Eschatology Today to focus on current news and leave the history to historians.

We are informed by the prophet Ezekiel that prior to the Gog/Magog invasion God speaks to the mind of Gog, "You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’." It may yet turn out that Operation Guardian of the Walls might morph into the fulfillment of Ezekiels prophecy. The current rhetoric coming from PM Netanyahu has been heard repeatedly in the on again-off again conflicts with the Islamic jihadists of the Gaza Strip. 

Therefore it remains to be seen in the coming hours/days if this operation truly is the debut of Israel's new no-holds-barred warfighting doctrine we've discussed recently as "Israel Victory." The IV doctrine has all of the elements necessary to produce the outcome foretold by Asaph, Isaiah, Ezekiel and perhaps even Jeremiah. The Iranian hand in Gaza is plainly evident, and a northern front operation by Hezbollah and Syria is entirely possible. It's also interesting to note that this newest shooting war in the Holy Land has erupted just about two weeks prior to Pentecost.

Watching...

Global SITREP B2-19: Has The Prophetic Flood of Wars Arrived?

Widely distributed map of the Golan Front

UPDATE 24 March 2019: Big happenings expected in the next 48 hours based upon the happenings of the past 72-96 hours. 

Israel's PM Netanyahu arrives in Washington, D.C. for an important summit with President Trump tomorrow. At that summit Trump will present an official document of U.S. recognition of Israel's annexation of and sovereignty over the Golan Heights. This summit comes just 14 days prior to Israel's highly-charged national election. (Just a note, both PM Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are in the U.S.) With the official recognition of te Golan as Israeli territory there is an anticipation of violence to erupt on that front.

SECSTATE Pompeo also traveled to Beirut to warn the Lebanese government of the dangers it faces by allowing Hezbollah to control the national destiny.

The U.S. and Israel have successfully completed testing of anti-ballistic missile  (ABM) systems in Israel against both long and medium range ballistic threats.

A large-scale IDF operation inside Gaza is currently on a short fuse. Heavy IDF reinforcements have been arriving in the area non-stop. Of note, last night was among the most violent along the entire Gaza border region, but the IDF offered virtually no response to those attacks. This is a strong I&W of the large-scale operation commencing in a matter of hours. The scale of this imminent operation has been discussed here within the past month, so no one should be surprised by it.

AN-124 at Maiquetia Int'l photo: Frederico Back

Unrelated to Middle East events, but of keen interest. Uniformed Russian Federation military forces and their equipment have arrived in Venezuela within the past 24 hours. They were photographed disembarking from IL-62M and AN-124 heavy lift aircraft at Maiquetia International Airport.

21 March 2019: At 1PM today the President of the United States of America tweeted this message: 

"After 52 years it's time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability."
14 March 2019: About four hours ago rockets were fired at Tel Aviv from Gaza. It is currently assessed that these rockets were the Fajr-5 type made by Iran and smuggled into Gaza for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) to use against Israel. With the rejection of their demands noted below, it was expected that something like this would take place. Israel contacted the Egyptian delegation in Gaza and told them to depart from Gaza with all due haste. 

A significant Israeli response has commenced against the Gaza terrorists as of 19:30 EDT. 

13 March 2019: This topic has been discussed on Eschatology Today for quite some time, and based upon all of the real-world events, war-time actions, wars and rumors of wars that have been placed before us within the past 30 days, dare this blog put forth the assessment that, yes, it does appear the time has arrived for the flood of literal prophetic fulfillment to commence in very short order.

The precise sequence is no longer of concern as elements of all of the prophetic pre-70th Week military engagements are now present in one form or another, both around Israel and along the periphery as we've recently discussed. How does the weight of all this get walked back to the relative stability of just a few months ago? It probably can't be walked back, so down the slippery slope the Middle East will almost certainly go. Brothers and sisters, we're talking inevitability at this point, and that's the thing about Bible prophecy - it inevitably comes to pass as written by the ancient prophets.

Look at Jerusalem. The Temple Mount issue is legitimately a white-hot coal. Then look at Gaza. The terrorists of HAMAS and PIJ presented a list of cease fire demands through Egyptian mediators that was so outrageous no Israeli government however liberal could accept them, much less a conservative Likud government facing election in about a month, on top of a purely political witch hunt to carve several pounds of flesh from the current embattled Prime Minister. Then look at the Lebanese and Syrian front. We've been on this through a four-part set of SITREPs, each one becoming more inflamed that the last. And some have said the Syrian civil war is over; that Bashar al-Assad won. Eschatology Today says, nonsense. Damascus and Syria's future fate are foretold quite explicitly in Scripture.

Look at the whole, like a big picture, and there's Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49:23-37; Psalm 83 with the attendant parallel prophecies of Isaiah 11:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26. How does Israel fully deal with Hezbollah without a literal fulfillment of Joshua 13:1-7. Plus Iran and it's ballistic and nuclear program once again are approaching, pun intended, critical mass. Further afield, several of the 'kings of the East" are rumbling, all three with nuclear weapons at the ready and the means to deliver them. So, with this as the current situation the next report could be about any or all of the above prophecies in any combination thereof. 

Global SITREP A8-19: Temple Mount

Sheikh Abdelazim Salhab

24 February 2019: Last night Israeli police arrested the man pictured above, the head of the Jerusalem Waqf, because on Friday, 22 February, he ordered the breaking of the locked chain in place since 2003 at the Gate of Mercy. This gate, known in Hebrew as the Sha'ar HaRachamim, is known in Christianity as the Golden Gate and provides direct access to the Temple Mount. 

The door known as bab al-Rahma opened (i24 image)

The Friday order to break in allowed Muslims to swarm inside the long-closed interior compound through double doors known as Bab al-Rahma (southern door) and bab al-Taubah (northern door). Also arrested was Sheikh Salhab's deputy, HAMAS' Sheikh Najih Bakirat, who is also leads the Academy of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Islamic media are referring to these arrests as "abductions." In this action the Jordanian Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, Abdul Nasser Abu Al-Basal, declared Israeli forces  to be "playing with fire." Later this morning the two Waqf officials were released from police custody with an order banning them from Temple Mount for one week.

In this action the Islamic Waqf is seeking to usurp Israeli sovereignty by igniting a full-fledged religious war over control of the Temple Mount. It is not Israel that plays with fire, but Islam itself. Eschatology Today made this clear nearly ten years ago when we quoted Zechariah 12:2-3 in the post titled: America, Listen to the Lord thy God and Leave Jerusalem Alone!!! 

"Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of [a]drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it."

The Jerusalem Post yesterday also published an article under the headline:

WAQF: TEMPLE MOUNT SITE WILL REMAIN OPEN DESPITE ISRAELI CRACKDOWN. The article has a nice photo of the interior view. Also worth checking out is the GotQuestions website's article on this subject. It contains important details worthy of our contemplation: What is the significance of the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem?  This article may answer questions some of us may have on this subject.

Global SITREP B6-18: Jerusalem and the Temple Mount

U.S. Ambassador with image of prophetic Jerusalem

23 May 2018: Islamists like having their way in almost every conceivable venue. However, when it comes to imagery of currently non-existent realities, not so much. 

This is especially true when it comes to U.S. Ambassador David Friedman who had his smiling visage captured while standing next to a large modern-day portrait of the City of Jerusalem. This Jerusalem does not yet exist because it illustrates the Temple Mount minus the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. This image was enough for one of Mahmoud Abbas' innermost circle to refer to our Ambassador as a "terrorist settler."

Take a closer look by clicking on the image above. You'll notice that while the two aforementioned structures are absent, the very and imminently prophetic Third Temple is very much present in the very center (heart) of the portrait. 

This is not a new image. There have been dozens of these produced over the years. Eschatology Today published one of them back in January 2014 at the head of a post entitled "All These Things Be Fulfilled." What is new at this time is that the U.S. Ambassador, fresh from his newly opened U.S. Embassy residence in Jerusalem, has had his smiling image taken standing next to one. 

Every picture is worth a thousand words, but this image is speaking volumes, especially with the United States Government representative to Israel appearing as he does with it. Altogether this image conveys official U.S. Government sanction to the portrait and what it depicts. Some will call this inflammatory. Eschatology Today will call it eminently prophetic as this image will shortly become the fact-of-the-matter for the Jerusalem and Temple Mount skyline.

How would it become the fact-of-the-matter reality as prophesied in God's Word? It is the assessment of Eschatology Today that Iran is the unspoken key. Iran's military presence in Syria is the key to a lot of unfolding prophetic fulfillment. If Iran were not in Syria, Israel would have no over-riding interest in Syria and no reason to conduct preemptive strikes anywhere on Syrian territory. 

However, the current military fact is that as long as Iran is in Syria, then Israel MUST continue to launch heavy preemptive strikes on all of its military assets and personnel. There is no other option for Israel. And any one of the coming strikes could be the ignition point for the warfighting that would eventually reach Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

Global SITREP D7-15: About the Psalm 83 Prophecy

UPDATE 6 October 2015:  SITREP D7-15 has been about the external aspects of the Psalm 83 and directly related prophecies being driven by events related to violence around Jerusalem's Temple Mount and Jewish desires for sovereignty and full access, plus the overall sequence of prophetic events and how they are coming upon the world "as a flood." Now we see the internal aspects of Psalm 83 being driven by the rampant and ancient hatred of Arab Muslims against the very existence of Israel. This will be the subject of the following SITREP D8-15.

25 September 2015: As was reported yesterday by Israeli media, the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan is at risk of collapse because of the strife occurring on Mount Moriah, site of Islam's Dome of the Rock and future home of Israel's 3rd Temple, which this blog refers to as the 70th Week Temple. 

The strife which has been occurring for some time can legitimately be referred to as kinetic Islamic jihad against the presence of infidels. The jihadists have taken to arming themselves with more than rocks to hurl as projectiles at non-Muslim infidels on the mount, but explosives and firebombs are being utilized and stored within the Al Aqsa Mosque for the waging of jihad. This is obviously known and condoned by the Islamic authority, the Waqf, which is under the jurisdiction of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The Israeli government's (PM Netanyahu and Security Cabinet) response to this escalating jihad on the mount has been to authorize a .22 caliber 'open fire' order for Israeli security forces to immediately halt any threat to human life by the jihadists actions. 

The high-end result of Israel's new rules of engagement for its security forces on Mount Moriah has been a total freeze in the 24-year long peace treaty status quo between Jordan and Israel as ordered by the Jordanian monarch, Abdullah II, who has openly declared the Temple Mount to be a "Muslim's Only" religious site. All lines of communication between Abdullah II and PM Netanyahu have now ceased, and a direct threat of Jordanian abrogation of the 1994 Peace treaty suddenly exists as Jordan is threatening to break diplomatic relations by expelling the Israeli Ambassador.

The clearly spoken threat made by Abdullah II is that "grave consequences for the entire region" will result from what it says are Israel's attempts at "Judaizing" the Temple Mount. These are unambiguous words threatening war, the war we know from Bible prophecy as the Psalm 83 War.  Our watchful eyes are wide open.

21 September 2015 (Edited to include New Information): Eschatology Today has noticed of late the emergent travail within the bride of Christ regarding the fulfillment of the prophecy of Psalm 83. My intent has been to stay clear of the fracas, but that is no longer a viable position to maintain.

In a nutshell, and because I do not wish to belabor the issue here, Bill Salus sent out a report yesterday which clearly illustrates the travail. Bill is at a point of brotherly loggerheads on this issue with Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum whose opinion, according to Salus, holds the view that Psalm 83 was fulfilled in 1948. The Salus counter-point is that the primary instigator are the modern-day Edomites whose tents (i.e. war refugee status) did not come into existence until after the combat of 1948-49 was concluded with the armistice of 1950. 

In the past week I have researched this issue and have found nothing to indicate Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum holds the view that's been assigned to him. To the contrary I have found that Fruchtenbaum has long held to the same interpretation as I do; that Psalm 83 has been a prophecy in the process of fulfillment since 1948, and it primarily involves two front line Arab Muslim nations: Lebanon and Jordan. His work "The Arab States in Prophecy, Part 2" clearly makes this point of view.  So, now I am at a complete loss to understand why there is any disagreement between Salus and Fruchtenbaum, they are on the same page and much of Salus' work in his 2008 book Isralestine came from reading what Fruchtenbaum had penned previously.

To re-cap the Psalm 83 War from 1948 to the Present and the expected outcome in the near future:

As readers of Eschatology Today will probably recall, I have addressed the Psalm 83 fulfillment issue since 2009 within the context of the "Prophetic Dominoes" paradigm, which itself is 100% based upon the study of the sequence of warfare of prophecy within the word of God. More importantly still  than this Bible-based paradigm is the fact, as also readily understood by Eschatology Today readers, that the word of God tells us directly and precisely when Asaph's Psalm 83 prophecy will have come to its fulfillment:  Isaiah 11:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:24-26. 

For the past 67 years Psalm 83 has remained and continues to be a Holy Spirit-inspired prophecy in the process of fulfillment!

As prophetically declared by Isaiah: Does Israel have sovereignty over Gaza and are those terrorists vanquished? Are the ancient lands of Edom and Moab in modern-day Jordan now the sovereign territory of Israel; do the people of Amman obey the government of Israel in Jerusalem? 

As prophetically declared by Ezekiel: Does there still exist today a "pricking brier" of despising enemies all around Israel; does Israel dwell safely and securely and build houses at their leisure wherever they choose to build them? 

When these prophetic specifics have become reality as the aftermath of full-scale warfare between Israel and the enemies which currently surround her, then and only then can it be stated with absolute certitude that Psalm 83 has come to its ultimate fulfillment. Until then several dominoes must fall in their sequence; this is what we are witnessing in the run-up to Isaiah 17, and ultimately after Psalm 83 the specific conditions which will exist for the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38/39 to occur.

Global SITREP C30-14: Tisha B'Av 5774 and Israel Prays on Temple Mount

5 August 2014/ 9 Av 5774 (72-Hour Truce in Effect): Today is a special day - Israel is praying to the God of their fathers on the Temple Mount. This is a Tisha B'Av unlike many others in the past 1,944 years since the Roman Legions destroyed the second Temple in 70 AD.

Israel is at war, although a truce is currently holding (4 hours and counting as of 0500 EDT) among the various terrorist groups in Gaza. Jerusalem's police force swept Arab Muslim rioters from the area and remain there with a powerful presence so as many of Israel as would chose to do so could ascend the mount and pray to God in peace on this most solemn day. The image above is proof of this. Let us pray with them.

Update 7 August 2014: The 72-hour truce is now about 4 hours into its third and final 24-hour period. By all current indications the war in Gaza against HAMAS and their fellow terrorists will resume tomorrow. In simple terms, Israel presented its permanent albeit heavily laden conditional ceasefire proposal which HAMAS promptly rejected along with an extension of the current ceasefire. Additionally, there is also no doubt that the IDF failed to eliminate all of the terror tunnels in Gaza; HAMAS and the other jihadists remain at many of their firing positions to resume the war tomorrow.

That said, let there also be no doubt that Israel now has no choice, no other viable option, but to eliminate HAMAS and all terrorists from Gaza. This is the as yet unfulfilled prophetic truth. NEWSFLASH UPDATE: It was reported a short time ago via Israel's Channel 2 that the Strategic Affairs Minister, Yuval Steinitz, has affirmed that if Hamas resumes its warfighting upon Israel tomorrow, then Israel has no other choice but to go back into Gaza and forcibly demilitarize HAMAS and the other terrorist groups.

Another thing to understand is that kidnapping and murder of three youths in Israel by HAMAS led to the events which precipitated Operation Protective Edge. As it turns out OPE was, or still is, essentially a pre-emptive war that has saved hundreds if not thousands of Israeli lives. Captured HAMAS terrorists have told their Israeli interrogators that HAMAS had planned a massive terror attack to coincide with Rosh Hashana on September 24. That attack would have seen many treams of terrorists emerge from the tunnels in Israel with the goal to kill as many Israelis as possible. Israel's leaders now more fully understand the scope of the planned HAMAS attack because they now more fully understand the extent of HAMAS tunnel network. When this war began Israeli intelligence had no clue as to the full extent of the network of tunnels. Now they more fully appreciate what Hezbollah has been doing up north based upon the tunneling technology derived from North Korea and Iran.

And speaking of the Temple Mount... thank KenB for the image below which I have titled The Hand of God on Temple Mount.

This is what much of these pre-70th Week wars are all about, setting the conditions under which Israel will rebuild the Temple on Mount Moriah.

NOTE: The SITREP with the image of the two young Arab boys being hung up by their shirt collars allegedly in Gaza by an adult male has been deleted out of necessity. After exercising due diligence once I found evidence of photoshopping within the image it was further determined with 100% accuracy that the image had nothing to do with the current war in Gaza and was, in fact, several years old.

Global SITREP B10-13: The Jordan Valley

UPDATE 27 March 2014:  Getting back to the premise of the 20 December post regarding the "great upheaval" that will have to overtake Jordan, an article published in the Winter 2012 edition of Middle East Quarterly (link is to a .pdf) is now making the intel round again. The article was authored by Mudar Zahran and it gives a glimpse of what that upheaval might look like as well as its causation.

In that article Zahran shows how the relative clam in Amman, Jordan is an illusion maintained by the Hashemite, (i.e. Bedouin) royal family and regime. Zahran effectively points out that the "Palestinians" are the largest ethnic group within Jordan, and that they have a profound hatred of the Hashemite regime whom they view as illegitimate occupiers and intruders upon the eastern half of their country. The bottom line: A full-fledged revolt in Jordan is extremely likely; it would be a revolt where the minimum 66% majority of common "Palestinians" take up arms to overthrow the regime of the minority Hashemite Bedouin elite.

Keep an eye on Jordan as this is precisely the kind of "great upheaval" in Jordan that would be a precursor to Jordan's involvement in the coming Psalm 83 finale. Islamist Palestinians in control of Amman and the rest of that land east of the Jordan River would then rapidly set their sights on Israel as a remainder to be conquered west of the Jordan River. Or so they will think according to Psalm 83.

3 February 2013: Once again DEBKAfile has the confirming data regarding the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan's very strong opposition to a "Palestinian" security or military presence in the Jordan valley. Jordan has once again diplomatically smacked U.S. SECSTATE John Kerry upside his head with the "Treaty of Peace Between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan." In particular there are two parts of the treaty King Abdullah II wants Kerry to pay attention to: Annex I (borders and sovereignty issues) and Article 9 which deals with Jordan's 'special status' regarding Jerusalem and the Temple Mount and the high priority Israel places on Jordan's historical role in negotiation regarding its final status. In effect King Abdullah II is telling Kerry that there can be no Israel-Palestinian accord without Jordan's concurrence.

06 January 2014: Contrary to most other Israeli media, this morning's news published at DEBKAfile confirms what was posted to this topic one month ago. Most Israeli media are putting a decidedly pro-Kerry spin to their reports, probably because their editorial staffs believe it is better to see whipped-cream-pie-in-the-sky reporting than the truth concerning the abject rejection of US SECSTATE Kerry's so-called "framework" has received from Israel, Jordan and the PA. The best that they can say is that Kerry spent more than 1 hour yesterday in Amman with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. However, there is not one word about Jordan's total rejection of Kerry's plan for the Jordan Valley. This is the kind of ridiculous spin one can expect from the globalist's compliant lapdog media.

20 December 2013: The "great upheaval" that will have to occur within Jordan for it to become openly hostile to the existence of Israel is any change to the status of Mount Moriah (Temple Mount) that has existed since the end of the Six Day War in June 1967. This "great upheaval" is something that could be manufactured almost overnight. And it has been. We may refer to this new situation is an Islamic demand for apartheid on Temple Mount, or a Muslim Only Temple Mount.

On the very day of my posting this topic, the issue of Jordanian control of the Temple Mount suddenly reemerged when a Muslim riot erupted in the early afternoon on 6 December was instigated by a Jordanian cleric in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. When Israeli police intervened to halt the Muslim rock-throwing riot directed at themselves, a no-brainer intervention which the Jordanian cleric knew would happen, made-up charges of an Israeli plot to make Muslim worshipers "uncomfortable" at the Mount appeared out of thin air. Even the long-term presence of security cameras on the Mount suddenly became an issue for the clerics as well as Jordanian government ministers.

Now the Muslim's have raised the bar in the control of Temple Mount they were given in great error by General Moshe Dayan some 46 years ago. The Muslim clerics have urged their deceived youth resort to violence and bloodshed in the instant they see any Jew or Christian engage in prayer, or what they believe is prayer, on the ground of the Temple Mount. Previously Christians have been allowed to ascend and to pray on the Mount, but no longer as the Muslim clerics are now declaring the Mount to be a "Muslim Only" religious site.

I am of the assessment that this new situation may well force Israeli authorities, and I mean in the Israeli Knesset, to take action to enforce a full and free access to the Temple Mount by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Per Bible prophecy, Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, will be the center of the "great upheaval" in these last days. It will likely be the largest spark in a sea of sparks to ignite this powder keg in the near-term.

06 December 2013: The geo-political and military situation in the Jordan Valley (image above) is tremendously informative as to where we are prophetically with respect to the fulfillment of Psalm 83, Ezekiel 28:24-26 and Isaiah 11:14 at any point in the near term. This present situation clearly informs that some great upheaval will have to occur within the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Jordan's official name) for it to become openly hostile to the existence of Israel as made clear in the prophecy.  

As can be determined by reading an article published yesterday morning in The Times of Israel, at the present time Jordan is resolutely supportive of Israel through the IDF maintaining total military control of the Jordan Valley and the West Bank instead of Palestinian Authority's forces. Amman wants Israel to complete a security fence along this frontier because it would be a security benefit for both Jordan and Israel. Jordan has been telling its American ally that it supports Israel's position in the ongoing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. And US SECSTATE John Kerry's notion of an international security force for this region has already been shot down in flames, almost before it was presented to these nations.

Obviously Jordan and the PA are not reading from the same sheet of deadly music as seen in the above noted prophecies, therefore something of a sea-change will have to occur between these two nations. Isaiah 17 might be the catalyst for that change, but only time will tell. It's clear to me that Jordan will be key to how the final fulfillment of the Psalm 83 prophecy comes to fulfillment. We'll keep an eye on this for new developments.

The map above  has been added to illustrate the nations and peoples prophetically identified by Asaph in Psalm 83. This is how the region was geo-politically divided 2,900-3,000 years ago. However, at that time none of these nations or peoples were united in an alliance against Israel. Only since 1948 A.D. has this been true, making Psalm 83 a prophecy in he process of fulfillment for our time.