Clashes erupted this morning ahead of Islamic prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on the last Friday of the Muslim-observed month of Ramadan.
Israeli police said they were forced to intervene when hundreds of Palestinian rioters hurled rocks and launched firecrackers at the ancient compound, including in the direction of the Western Wall where Jewish worshippers pray.
“We will continue to act decisively against rioters and outlaws for public safety and security,” said a police statement.
Contrary to claims circulating on social media, order was restored when Israeli security forces applied crowd-dispersal measures; after which Muslim worshippers were once again granted free entry onto the Temple Mount.
Two of the riot’s instigators were arrested, according to Police Spokesperson’s Unit. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that at least 42 Palestinians were injured in the early morning clashes at Islam’s third-holiest site.
Thousands of IDF and Border Police troops have been deployed throughout the Israeli capital ahead of Ramadan, typically an opportunity for Muslim riotsthat peak on the final Friday of the holiday. Ramadan ends next week and the final Friday of the fasting month often sees especially large crowds gather at Al-Aqsa.
There were almost daily confrontations this month between Palestinians and Jerusalem police at the gilded 7th-century Dome of the Rock and the 8th-century Al-Aqsa Mosque at a complex known as Haram al Sharif by Muslims, built on the ruins of both Biblical Temples. The compound is located atop the Old City plateau on the eastern side of Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War, annexed immediately afterward. Palestinians demand that sector serve as the capital of a state they seek to establish in the West Bank and Gaza.
The area is called Temple Mount by Israel, and considered by the Jewish People as the holiest site in the world, also revered to Christians. The compound is Islam’s third most sacred site after Mecca and Medina; and the Al-Aqsa Mosque area is the most sensitive site in the generations-old conflict. The clashes were particularly violent when Ramadan overlapped with the Jewish celebration of Passover, which brought hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Jews to the site.
Israeli officials blame the surge of clashes on Islamist terror groups, including the Hamas rulers of the Palestinian Gaza Strip, underscoring they have encouraged youths to stage riots aimed at stirring anger in the Muslim world against Israel.
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Throughout the Bible, there is written an extensive history of the temple mount. It is recorded how King David purchased the temple (1 Chronicles 21:18–26) and prepared the material for his son Solomon to build (1 Chronicles 22). That temple continued until it was destroyed by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:8-17). 70 years later, after the destruction of the first temple, a second temple was built (Ezra 1-6). That second temple was as well destroyed, as prophesied by Jesus Christ in Mark 13:1-2, by the Romans in 70 AD.
That brings us to today. The rejection of the Jewish rights to the temple mount is caused by a rejection of God’s infallible word and the same antisemitism that has plagued the Jewish people since their enslavement in the land of Egypt. It is shocking to consider that the Muslim claim to the temple mount is “over-rinding” the Jewish history considering the claimed reference in the Quran, “the farthest mosque,” is unlikely and unproven to be speaking of the temple mount.
Hal Lindsey in his article, “It’s About the Temple Mount” wrote about the modern Palestinian tensions surrounding the temple mount and what Bible Prophecy tells us about a coming third temple:
Whether they believe it’s possible or not, Palestinian leaders use fear of a rebuilt Jewish Temple to stir up their constituents to the point of violence. Even proposals to rebuild the temple without harming the mosques draws a frenzy of rage from the Muslims. No matter what Israel promises, they fully expect the Jews to destroy the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
It’s interesting that so many Palestinians are convinced that there will be another Jewish Temple on the site. Few of them know it, but they’re agreeing with the Bible. It says that before the mid-point of the seven-year period known as Daniel’s 70th Week, the temple will be rebuilt and sacrifices will be offered again.
Daniel 11:31 says that forces from the Antichrist “will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.” To “do away with the regular sacrifice,” and to “set up the abomination of desolation” requires that the temple be rebuilt.
In the meantime, to understand the Temple Mount hysteria among Muslims, we need to understand the spiritual dimensions of the problem. This is not just a real estate dispute. It is about principalities and powers. Satan will stir anyone he can, as much as he can, in an attempt to keep the holy place in a state of desecration.
But he cannot stop God’s plan. The mighty can never defeat the Almighty.
Unbelieving religious Jews will rebuild the false temple and offer false animal sacrifices during the first part of the Tribulation. (Daniel 11:31) Then the “man of lawlessness”, the Antichrist, will desecrate that false temple of God by taking his seat in the Holy of Holies, displaying himself as being God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). That event will start the last half of the Tribulation. That will start 3½ years of the greatest horrors yet known to mankind. It will end with the visible Coming of THE ALMIGHTY, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will rule for 1000 years of peace. Then is the Last Judgment of all unbelievers of all ages. He will then establish forever the New Heaven and Earth.
