The 60th Anniversary of the Modern State of Israel/Program 4

By: Adnan Husseini, Benjamin Netanyahu, Moshe Arens, Major General (retired) Jacob Amidror, Lt. General Jerry Boykin, Itamar Marcus, Dr. Gabriel Barkay, Benjamin Elon, Hillel Weiss, Daniel Dayan, Abraham Rabinovich, Dr. Jimmy DeYoung; ©2008

Visit the Temple Mount. See key biblical sites and hear what life would have been like at the time of King David and during Jesus’ lifetime.

Contents

Introduction

Today, on The John Ankerberg Show, from Jerusalem, we will be covering The 60th Anniversary of the Modern State of Israel. Why is this nation a monument to the fulfillment of biblical prophecy? We will take you to Independence Hall where it all started in 1948 when David Ben-Gurion announced to the world the new State of Israel. What does it all mean to the Jewish people today?

Itzik Dror: This building is a historic building, because Israel was born here. And this was one of the greatest moments in the history of our people.

Lt. General Boykin: I think the very fact that this nation was reestablished 60 years ago, the very fact that it has gone from probably in 1948 less than a half million Jews to a country of almost six million now, is all prophecy being fulfilled. The Jews are being re-gathered to the land of Israel. Christ will eventually reign from here. I think we’re seeing prophecy in many ways being fulfilled.

Mr. David Weilder: We are seeing in Europe today an extreme influx of extreme Islam in Scandinavia and France. And the Jews are pouring out. They are scared. And they are going to come here. And that is going to create a whole new situation in Israel. It is going to create new facts on the ground, a new reality. And b’ezrat hashem, with the help of God, we’ll see the influx of Jews, we will see the coming of Messiah, we will see the building of the temple.

But it wasn’t until the 1967 war that the Jewish people were able to reunite the city of Jerusalem and gain access to their own Temple Mount for the first time in nearly 2000 years.

Gabriel Barkay: Now, first of all, you have to remember that the Temple Mount is the soul, heart and spirit of the Jewish people. It is the gem of Jerusalem, one of the most important sites in the history of the world, and the focus of Judeo-Christian belief.

Yet with all of their success, the Jewish people and the modern State of Israel still face threats to their existence.

Ankerberg: Can you be partners with the Palestinians right now?

Weilder: No.

DeYoung: And have a peace process?

Weilder: No, of course not.

Ankerberg: Why not?

Weilder: Because they want to kill us. They want to kill us and they don’t want us here. They say it again and again and again. Nonstop.

Today, the modern State of Israel stands as a monument to fulfilled biblical prophecy.

Dror: Well, you know Ben-Gurion said once, if you know the history, the modern history of Israel, if you know the story of Israel and what happened here, and you do not believe in miracles, you are not realistic. Something is wrong with you.

My guest today and guide through Israel, is news correspondent Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, who has lived in Jerusalem since 1993. He has interviewed every Israeli prime minister over the last 15 years, as well as Jordan’s King Abdullah, and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. We invite you to join us for this special edition of the John Ankerberg Show.

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Ankerberg: Today we will take you to the original City of David, and to the world famous and controversial Temple Mount. The Bible is the historical guidebook for anyone who visits the land of Israel. Archaeology of Israel has shown that the people the Bible describes lived here. The geographical places the Bible talks about can be seen and visited here. Artifacts bearing inscriptions of each of the time periods and many of the names of the people in the Bible have been found here. Some of the oldest and most important writings in the world of been discovered here. The Dead Sea Scrolls prove how accurately the Bible was written while providing further evidence of the events that happened here. Jimmy DeYoung and I visited the original site of the City of David to take you on a trip through history, to show you how prophecy has been fulfilled in the past, and to visit some of the places the Bible says prophetic events will happen in the future.

DeYoung: The Kidron Valley below us, John, leads all the way down to the Dead Sea. This going up the slopes of the Mount of Olives would be Silwan, which is a Palestinian village. Several terrorists come from over there in Silwan itself. But what we came here for was to look at the excavations going on right now in the City of David. The 10 acres below us represents the original city of Jerusalem dating back some 3000 years ago. King David had been the king of the tribe of Judah and actually located in Hebron for about 7½ years. Then all eleven tribes came to ask him to become king of all 12 tribes. They came here to this Jebusite stronghold, had an opportunity to capture the stronghold and establish this as the political capital for the Jewish people.

Now think about this for a moment. That was 3000 years ago. Longevity of time gives us some type of evidence as to the reason the Jewish people can claim this as their city, as their land. And then it was into this same location over from Kiriath-Jearim, which is out toward Tel Aviv that they brought the Ark of the Covenant here. And David established, see where that almost tabernacle looking item is right there up the steps? He put the Ark of the Covenant just about there. And they kept it there until King Solomon, his son, would build the temple and it would be built right here on top of Mount Moriah.

Now, that’s the pewter domed building, which is the al-Aqsa Mosque. And about 100 yards to the north of that you would then have the gold dome building, which was the peak of Mount Moriah where King Solomon built that first temple.

Ankerberg: So then David’s house was lower than the temple.

DeYoung: It certainly was. In fact, they believe, now I am not announcing this, but they believe it may well be just a couple of yards from where we are standing.

Ankerberg: His house.

It was here in Jerusalem that God responded to David’s request to build God a house, a temple to dwell in. God told the prophet Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you. When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body. I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me. Your throne will be established forever. Then David responded, Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. This is your law for all mankind.”

This promise of God to David is called the Davidic covenant. This set the stage for one of the key passages in Scripture regarding the coming of the Messiah, one of David’s future descendants. This promise is an expansion and a clarification of God’s promises to Abraham. It represents an unconditional promise to David that he would be the father of an everlasting kingdom.

The word house here not only meant a human house, David’s family, as can be seen in the verse, “I will raise up your offspring,” but also David’s future son, the Messiah. God said, “He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Second it meant a temple, “Are you the one to build me a house?” asked God. And third, it meant a dynasty, just as in English, the current British royal family is called “the House of Windsor.” God said, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me.”

Some of God’s promise was fulfilled in Solomon, but part awaits the future and can apply only to Jesus Christ. Why? Because God states that David’s throne would endure forever and that David’s house and kingdom will be established forever. But David does not have a descendant upon his throne today. And there is no throne in Jerusalem. So, did God not fulfill his promises? No! God states in Psalm 89:34–36, “For I will not break my covenant or go back on what I promised. Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness, I will never deceive David. His dynasty will last forever. His throne will endure before me.” The full promise of God to David will take place in the future when Jesus Christ, one of the descendents of David, returns.

DeYoung: King Solomon would have had a house here, too. It is interesting to know, it took King Solomon 7½ years to build his temple. It took him 13½ years to build his house. It was opulent. And that was the way King Solomon was.

You know, there in the Kidron Valley the people can walk along. Actually, if they continue to walk down the Kidron Valley, they would end up at the Dead Sea.

Ankerberg: We have got a beautiful mountainside here that’s loaded with history, so take us across. What are we seeing here?

DeYoung: We are talking, first of all from the right here as I am looking at it, Silwan, which is this Arab village. And then as we continue to make our way across what is the Mount of Olives, right there we see the high minaret at the edge of Silwan. If you were to go on beyond that over to the other side of the Mount of Olives, it would be Bethany. It’s the location where Mary, Martha and Lazarus would have lived. And Jesus would spend much time with them. In fact, every time he came to Jerusalem he would stay with this dear family.

As you continue along then, you see in front of us the Jewish cemetery. Now, the Jewish people desire to be buried in that location because of the fact that they believe the Messiah, Zechariah 14:4, will step down on the Mount of Olives. Some of them, John, have even given up to a million dollars for a burial plot there just to be there to meet the Messiah when he comes back.

Ankerberg: So even though they’re buried there, they actually believe that when the Messiah comes they’ll be raised from the dead and they will be able to reign with him?

DeYoung: They will be resurrected and they will meet the Messiah face to face. Going along the slopes and the top of the Mount of Olives you see the tower there. And that tower is the Church of Ascension, traditional site of where Christ would have ascended into the heavenlies.

And then as we continue along, we see over here the, I call it the Church of the Onions. You see the gold there. That’s a Russian Orthodox Church. It was built by the last czar of Russia for his mother. Her patron saint was Mary Magdalene. What’s so unique about that is the fact that Mary Magdalene was the first one to the gravesite of Jesus Christ. And there on the Mount of Olives, I believe the scriptures would teach us that that is the location of the crucifixion. And, of course, then now you see from where we are here on the top of the City of David…

Ankerberg: Yeah, start at the end.

DeYoung: Well, that would be the pinnacle of the temple.

Ankerberg: Where Jesus was tempted.

DeYoung: Exactly. Satan brings him here, tells him to cast himself off and he could have the kingdoms of the world. In reality, Satan did not realize he was talking to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who would have all the kingdoms of the world. But you come across, now this would be the southern retaining wall of the Temple Mount. King Herod used about 10,000 slaves to build this southern retaining wall. At the pinnacle there you can to down the eastern retaining wall, and from this vantage point we can’t see it, but the Eastern Gate would be there. You can see the location up here where the Hulah Gates, barely can make it out between the trees. But when we go up on the…

Ankerberg: Yeah, there are three little circles up there.

DeYoung: Exactly. And that would have been where the worshippers, the Jewish worshippers, would have gone up onto the Temple Mount. All in front of this area would have been all types of ritual baths, the Mikvah. And they would go and they would take the ritual bath. You have to walk seven steps down into what they refer to as living water, water that was either running water or rain water. And they would take the ritual bath and then go up onto the Temple Mount.

Ankerberg: Next, we take you up onto the controversial Temple Mount where Solomon built the first temple and where someday Jesus Christ will return and reign.

DeYoung: John, we are standing here just in front of the Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock the location where the Holy of Holies was, according to 97% of orthodox Jewish scholarship.

Now the temple would have stood here and this cupola just to the east of the Dome of the Rock here would have been the location for the two story high altar. That’s where all of the animals would have been sacrificed. This is approximately five stories high. That was actually the height of the door that would have opened up into the temple itself. The temple would have been anywhere between 17 and 21 stories high, based on how they considered the cubit. Some say from the elbow to here about 17-18 inches, the raw cubit is about 21 inches.

Ankerberg: Yeah, so if somebody comes into Jerusalem and they look at the highest building on one of the mountains over here, which is the Hilton hotel, the old Hilton hotel, that would be the exact height.

DeYoung: That is 21 stories high, the exact height.

Ankerberg: And the temple would have to be at that height right here.

DeYoung: Exactly; on this holy spot. So this is the most sacred piece of property in all of creation where Jesus Christ will rule and reign from. He will come back. He will come back by way of the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley, enter the Eastern Gate, walk into the Holy of Holies. The Book of Ezekiel 43:7 says, he will sit down his name never again to be profaned. And he will rule and reign forever and ever from his throne.

Now this is, this the pewter domed building right here, is al-Aqsa Mosque. That is the only mosque on the Temple [Mount]. The Muslim people refer to the entire Temple Mount, they don’t use that term, they call it al-Aqsa. But that is the al-Aqsa Mosque, the only temple, excuse me, the only mosque on the Temple Mount. And that’s where they come for their sermons, for their worship on their holy day, which is Friday. And just beyond that, we cannot see the gold dome building, but that is the Dome of the Rock, where the First and Second Temple stood.

Ankerberg: What you are saying is right back here is where Abraham sacrificed Isaac.

DeYoung: That’s exactly right.

Ankerberg: Right where the Dome of the Rock is at.

DeYoung: That is exactly right. And that is the Holy of Holies on the previous temples, the First Temple, the Second Temple, and for the next two temples, a tribulation temple that will be there, and then the temple that Messiah Jesus Christ will build.

When he comes back to the Mount of Olives, his schedule is going to be: Arriving here on earth, those of us who know Christ as Lord and Savior having been raptured out of here, spent seven years in the heavens with him, will come back with him to the spot.

Now the armies of the world will gather here in Jerusalem. We talk about the campaign…excuse me, the battle of Armageddon. It should be referred to as the campaign of Armageddon or the campaign that begins in Jerusalem. The armies of the world will gather here in this Kidron Valley surrounding the city. Jesus comes back, they flee. This mountain will open up, and the text says that it will open up a way for them to make their way 97 miles north through the middle part of the state to the Jezreel Valley. And in the Jezreel Valley they will prepare for war. He goes to the Jezreel Valley. In the Jezreel Valley he, all I think he does is say “Die!” and the 100,000 or the 100 million soldiers there will die.

And he goes, he gathers in about 4 million Jews; because the Bible says in Zechariah 13:8 two out of every three Jews will be killed. At present population that would leave about 4 million. He goes to Petra where God has provided a place for them. He brings them through the way of the east. He comes over that mountain to the east, the Mount of Olives. He comes across this Kidron Valley. He enters that Eastern Gate. He comes to the temple that he has just built a couple of days earlier, walks into the Holy of Holies and sits down to rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Ankerberg: It’s an amazing, amazing spectacle. And we are right here on the spot.

DeYoung: It is exciting.

Ankerberg: In the months ahead, we are going to do six other television series regarding Israel and biblical prophecy. But in this first series, we wanted you to see Independence Hall and hear the story of where the modern State of Israel began 60 years ago. As God promised Israel through the prophets 2500 years ago, “Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in that land.” [Ezek. 37:21-22] No one today can doubt that these prophecies have been fulfilled in our lifetime exactly as God said.

Further, the absolute proof that God has restored the Jewish nation was clear not only when we visited Independence Hall, but when we visited the Knesset and with government leaders.

We also wanted you to see the city of Hebron, where God promised Abraham, “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendents after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendents after you.”

And then today we wanted you to see the original City of David, where God promised him in the future he would raise up one of David’s descendents to establish his house as an everlasting kingdom. The apostles identified that descendent of David as Jesus Christ.

In the months ahead we are going to do six other series. Take us through those topics that we are going to talk about up ahead.

DeYoung: Jewish settlements are very controversial not only in the State of Israel itself but around the world. World leaders say the problem with the Israeli Palestinian conflict are those Jewish settlements out there. The Palestinian leadership says that’s the number one problem. That’s why we can’t come to a peaceful agreement. Jewish settlements will be one of our subjects.

Then we are going to be talking about the alignment of the nations. John, I want to take you on a ride. We’ll get us an old Land Rover and we’ll drive the borders of Israel and we’ll show people how in one day you can touch all the borders of Israel with enemies of the Jewish people living in those lands that border the State of Israel. That will be the alignment of the nations we want to talk about.

But there’s peace being talked about all the time, world leaders giving their lives to bring peace. President George W. Bush saying that in his last months of his administration he hopes to see peace in the Middle East. Ban Ki-Moon the new Secretary General of the United Nations making the statement, “My number one priority is to bring a resolution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.” Well, that is going to be some of our conversation as well, with those who are helping us to understand, is there going to be a peace in the Middle East or will that peace only come when Jesus Christ comes back?

We’re going to be talking about the arrangements to build the temple with the spokesperson for the Sanhedrin, Professor Hillel Weiss. He’s going to tell us how the Sanhedrin is now in place and how every preparation has been made to erect that temple on the Temple Mount in the city of Jerusalem. Is that the final temple that Jesus rules and reigns from? No it’s not, and you need to stay tuned to find out why that temple is so important.

We are also going to be talking about the Israeli Palestinian conflict. This is a conflict that has a 4000 year history. It is not going to be resolved, I don’t care what any world leader says, until Jesus Christ comes back. We need to understand why that is the case and what Bible prophecy has to say about it.

And finally we are going to be talking about the city of Jerusalem. Zechariah, the ancient Jewish prophet, said that the city of Jerusalem will be the center of controversy in the last days. The Palestinian people, the Islamic world, want the city of Jerusalem. God has promised it to the Jewish people. He said, “I will dwell among my people forever in the city of Jerusalem.” Thus it will be a cup of trembling, a burdensome stone as Zechariah said; the center of controversy in the last days.

Read Part 5