Some 1000 Israelis were slaughtered and killed this weekend with another 2000 wounded. Backed by Iran using Hamas and Hezbollah as proxies a sneak attack was launched upon the tiny country with devastating fury. It took awhile but Israel is fighting back with its own brand of fury with a full-scale siege which includes cutting off water, fuel, and food. They have declared war and are launching full scale reprisals with jets and deadly weapons of war as this is written.
The Palestinians sent approximately 5000 rockets into Israel, cut holes in border defense walls for penetration by special forces, and sent in paraglider troops to shoot anyone in sight. They dragged Israelis in the streets, killed and raped women and children, and slaughtered innocent citizens.
I must assume that God is taking a keen interest in what is occurring. He loves this Holy Land and Jesus will return there at the time of God’s choosing. One of the objectives of the Muslims is to deprive Israel’s access to the Dome of the Rock which is for now an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Dome of the Rock gets its name from the fact that it is built over the highest part (the dome) of Mount Moriah which is where Jews and Christians believe Abraham was prepared to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. Palestinians believe that Muhammed ascended into heaven from this site. It is believed that this is the place where Adam was created by God, and Jesus Christ shared many of his teachings.
Thus the Temple Mount is a very holy site for Jews and Christians.
The Temple Mount area where the Dome of the Rock is located is important not only to the Muslims who control it now, but also to Jews and Christians. As the place where the Jewish temple once stood, the Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism and is the place where many (including me) believe that the third and final temple will be built. This area is the third holiest site in all of Islam. Because of its importance to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, the Temple Mount area is a highly contested religious site over which the Palestinian Authority and Israel claim sovereignty.
It is ironic that such a holy place to so many of these religious factions use the site to perform their blood lust here. I was at the Dome of the Rock and was looking at some Israeli jets streaking through the blue sky as they celebrated their Independence Day and happened to notice a small dove with an olive branch in its beak perched on a power line. How ironic it looked. I have often thought of this little bird and believe that God put it on that power line to remind me of Jesus walking the steps of the temple here and reminding me that blood lust will not always reign in God’s domain. In fact, just the opposite will occur. It will be a time of peace and love that will endure. Until then the bloodthirsty will keep on hating and killing and the entire world would be destroyed if God did not intervene and stop it.
Proverbs 29:10
The bloodthirsty hate a man of integrity; and they seek the life of the upright