THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNIFICATION OF JERUSALEM
US President Donald Trump visited Israel on 22- 23 May and ascended to the Temple mount to pray in the Western Wall, in which he enacted precisely what King Solomon prayed at his dedication of the First Temple. ...
Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted. …
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple. Then Solomon said, ‘The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.’ While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned round and blessed them. …
‘But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open towards this temple night and day, this place of which you said, “My Name shall be there,” so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays towards this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. …
‘As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name – for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm – when they come and pray towards this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling-place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name. …
‘May your eyes be open to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign LORD, brought our ancestors out of Egypt.’
１Kings 8:1- 5… :10-14… :27-30… :41-43… :52-53.
3,000 years ago during the Feast of Tabernacles, King Solomon dedicated the Jerusalem Temple to the Lord. Just as a visible manifestation of the presence of the Lord had descended on the tabernacle at Sinai, so the glory of the Lord filled the temple when the priests brought up ‘the ark of the Lord’s covenant’. Spreading out his hands, Solomon prayed a prayer of dedication and rightly recognised that even though God had chosen to dwell among His people in a localized way, He is too great to be contained in a human made temple.
Solomon referred to the time when Israelites were unable to pray in the temple itself, but instead directed their prayers towards the place where God had pledged to be present among His people. During the Babylonian exile Prophet Daniel is recorded to have done so from Babylon. Solomon also articulated a case of the foreigner’s prayer, who came from a foreign land to pray to Israel’s God at the temple;
hear from heaven, your dwelling-place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
US President Donald Trump visited Israel on 22- 23 May, which coincides with “Jerusalem Day”, when Israel celebrates the 50th anniversary of the unification of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. Many Israelis expected him to give the order actualising his promise of the US Embassy’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which Trump promised as part of his presidential campaign platform and because of which he succeeded in drawing support from many pro-Israel voters.
According to Breaking Israel News, the Sanhedrin had sent a letter to President Trump, calling on him to ascend to the Temple Mount and pray for world peace at his arrival in Jerusalem. He chose to answer the call and he not only became the first-ever sitting US president to visit the Western Wall, but also enacted precisely what King Solomon prayed at his dedication of the First Temple. At this specific point of history when the prospect of war is truly a serious reality, rabbis believe Trump’s role essential
to be a part of a process to bring the Messiah and unprecedented blessing to the world, in the same manner that King Cyrus played his part in building the Second Temple.
Although Trump would not take the opportunity to dramatically announce his decision about his campaign promise as many had expectantly speculated, according to the rabbis, he would receive blessings because he prayed on the Temple Mount, “the proper place for a leader” to do so. (breakingisraelnews.com/88117/sanhedrin-calls-trump-fulfill-king-solomons-mandate-praying-temple-mount/#oIrg8SDxMx9HImzI.99)
Knesset members and major rabbis are expecting record number of people coming to the Temple Mount on this Jerusalem’s Jubilee, an event of untold significance, commemorating the day when Israeli forces took back the Old City, Western Wall and Temple Mount from the occupation of the Jordanian army in 1967.
An investigative archaeologist, Harry Moskoff argues that now is the most appropriate time to recognise the importance of biblical archaeology and its projects, believing that finding the sacred ark of the Lord’s covenant and vessels is a catalyst for the coming of the Messiah. He holds a unique 100-year-old map that belonged to a certain farmer who claimed to fall into a cave where these ancient holy vessels were hidden in the Jerusalem area, and it even indicates the tunnel entrances to discover the long-awaited items when the time comes.
Now that UNESCO has officially declared that no part of Jerusalem belongs to the State of Israel, Moskoff feels that now is the time to create new legislation stating that whatever is found on top of or beneath the Temple Mount belongs to the Jewish People. He claims:
Biblical archaeology is being hijacked for political purposes. How can discoveries from excavations in East Jerusalem, for example, be taken away from Israel’s possession? ... The Palestinian Arabs try to do this every day. They strive to take away all Jewish connection to the Land.
He believes that with President Trump in office, God has opened up a unique opportunity to strengthen the State of Israel politically as well as biblically.