Building the Third Temple in our lifetime. The Temple Mount Faithful Feast of Tabernacles Celebration – 5769/2008

In the midst of a critical time of redemption in Israel — and during a very complicated time of trouble all over the world, the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement held one of its most exciting events in its campaign to build the Third Temple in our lifetime. Now, more than any other time in the past, our materialistic generation needs the G-d of Israel to dwell in the midst of our daily lives. This generation needs the light of G-d to shine into the darkness that is now spreading to the four corners of the earth. As was prophesied through the prophets of Israel, G-d chose this time to bring about His plans with Israel in order to begin the endtime redemption of the entire world.

In a time when so many people in the world are searching and seeking after materialistic achievements and serving the “Golden Calf”, the Faithful Movement has been involved in intensive endtime activities. We have been seeking the spirit, the morals, the values and the word of the G-d of Israel. We have been demonstrating for the rebuilding of His Holy House in Jerusalem and for the coming of Mashiach Ben David in our lifetime.

This most recent event took place on Thursday, 17 Tishrei 5769/October 16, 2008, during the Feast of Succoth — the Feast of Tabernacles.

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Via Reuters:

Archaeologists in Israel said on Thursday they had unearthed the oldest Hebrew text ever found, while excavating a fortress city overlooking a valley where the Bible says David slew Goliath.

The dig’s uncovering of the past near the ancient battlefield in the Valley of Elah, now home to wineries and a satellite station, could have implications for the emotional debate over the future of Jerusalem, some 20 km (12 miles) away.

Archaeologists from the Hebrew University said they found five lines of text written in black ink on a shard of pottery dug up at a five-acre (two-hectare) site called Elah Fortress, or Khirbet Qeiyafa.

Experts have not yet been able to decipher the text fully, but carbon dating of artifacts found at the site indicates the Hebrew inscription was written about 3,000 years ago, predating the Dead Sea Scrolls by 1,000 years, the archaeologists said.

Several words, including “judge,” “slave” and “king,” could be identified and the experts said they hoped the text would shed light on how alphabetic scripts developed.

In a finding that could have symbolic value for Israel, the archaeologists said other items discovered at the fortress dig indicated there was most likely a strong king and central government in Jerusalem during the period scholars believe that David ruled the holy city and ancient Israel.

“The chronology and geography of Khirbet Qeiyafa create a unique meeting point between the mythology, history, historiography and archaeology of King David,” said Yosef Garfinkel, the lead archaeologist at the fortress site.

Click here for more photos.

For those who might not have realized the association, this website’s title, Smooth Stone, is based upon the Bible story of David and Goliath, as recorded in 1 Samuel 17.

David was a shepherd, a brave man who rose to the challenge of the Philistine giant, Goliath, who himself was a taunting, arrogant, but ultimately beheaded warmongerer. You can read more about David, his five smooth stones, and Goliath in an article I wrote here.

Samson is another great figure in our Holy Jewish Bible who interacted with the Philistines. He was known for his great strength and bravery, but the places in which, according to tradition, he lived and acted are not as well known.

Eyal Davidson, a researcher and tour guide at the Yad Ben Tzvi Institute, has written an article documenting his visits to the home grounds of Samson, from Samson’s grave in Tel Tzora to the altar of his father, Manoach, where his barren mother received word of her pregnancy. Eyal writes:

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There is a profound lack of knowledge of the Jewish Biblical and modern historical connections to Gaza.

Gaza is named in our Torah. Its size, shape, region and identifying markers are precisely mentioned and illustrated. Gaza is but another area of Jewish land that has been stolen from us by Arab Muslim thieves and murderers:

The following Biblical references should help you in talking points on the subject:

Biblically speaking:

1. Genesis 15 – The area in which Gaza is located was included as part of Abraham’s inheritance.

2. Numbers 34:2-6 – The Bible details precisely the northern, southern, eastern and western borders of ancient Israel. Readers should note that in every reference there is a body of water – the Mediterranean Sea, a lake, a river and a wadi (a dry river bed that flows only after an infrequent heavy rain). Bodies of water are permanent markers in most cases. In Numbers 34:5 with reference to the southern border it states: From Azmon the boundary shall turn towards the Wadi of Egypt (near el-Arish) and terminate at the sea (Mediterranean). This would include the entire present-day Gaza Strip and additional land in the Sinai.

3. Joshua 13:2 – The Lord said to Joshua: This is the territory that remains to be conquered: all the districts of the Philistines, those of the Gerurites, from the Shihon, which is close to Egypt, to the territory of Ekron in the north, are accounted. Canaanite, namely those of the five lords of the Philistines – the Gazities (Gaza), the Ashdodites (Ashdod) etc.

4. Joshua 15:47 - Most Biblical commentators hold that the modern day Gaza Strip was within the territory allotted to the tribe of Judah.

5. Consider in Joshua Chapter 15: This was the portion of the tribe of Judea (15:20); Ekron, with its dependencies and villages (15:45); Ekron, westward, all the towns in the vicinity and Ashdod, with their villages (15:46); Ashdod, its dependencies and its villages, Gaza, its dependencies and its villages, all the way to the Wadi of Egypt and the edge of the Mediterranean Sea (15:47).

6. Judges 1:18 - And Israel captured Gaza and its territory, Ashkelon and its territory, and Ekron and its territory.

7. Kings 5:1 – Solomon’s rule extended over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and the boundary of Egypt (Wadi of Egypt or to el-Arish).

8. Ezekiel 47:19-20 – 47:19 The southern limit shall run: A line from Tamar to the waters of Meriboth-kadesh, along the Wadi (of Egypt and ) the Great Sea (Mediterranean). That is the southern limit.

Historically speaking:

* During the 3rd century BCE, Gaza and Akko were the leading centers of trade and industry. Both cities had numerous Jewish residents, including some very wealthy and influential families. [1]

* There were Jewish communities in Gaza during the Hasmonean period (166-63 BCE).

* During ancient times, in the taking of tithes (shmittah), the Gaza area was included in this Jewish religious obligation. Shmittah is observed to this day in Jewish settlemens located in the Gaza Strip as it was deemed part of ancient Eretz Israel.

* During the 4th century CE, Emperor Constantine attempted to build a church in Gaza but the Jewish population located there was opposed to this.
At that time, Gaza was the principal port for trade and commerce for the Jewish population of the Holy Land. A very ancient synagogue was excavated there some time ago. Influential rabbis, Israel Najara, author of the popular prayer and Shabbat song Kah Ribon Olam, and Rabbi Avraham Azoulai, the renowned mekubal, lived in Gaza Jewish communities.

* During the 7th century CE: “When the Arab hosts now began spreading northward, they encountered the first focus of resistance in the city of Gaza, then occupied by a strong Byzantine garrison under the command of the provincial governor, Sergius. At that time Gaza embraced a substantial Jewish settlement, in fact the most important community in Judea. Jews seem to have fought alongside the Byzantines in the ensuing battle, which ended in Sergius’ defeat.” [2]

* Also during this period, “Saccording to the famous grammarian, Jonah ibn Janah, Gaza, too, lost its status as the foremost community in Judea, but it remained a center of learning and well-developed community life.” [3]

* From 1885 to World War I Jews lived in Gaza.

* A renewed Jewish community existed in Gaza until the Muslim pogroms against Jews in 1929. Jews were murdered in many communities throughout Palestine, especially Jerusalem, Hebron and Safed – three Jewish holy cities.

The following is a list of Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip:

Alei Sinai, founded in 1983
Bedolach, founded in 1986
Bnei Atzmon (Atzmona), founded in 1979
Dugit, founded in 1990
Gadid, founded in 1982
Gan-Or, founded in 1983
Ganei Tal, founded in 1979
Katif, founded in 1986
Kerem Atzmona, founded in 2000
Kfar Darom, founded in 1946
Kfar Yam, founded in 1984
Morag, founded in 1984
Netzer Hazani, founded in 1977
Netzarim, founded in 1984
Neve Dekalim, founded in 1983
Nisanit, founded in 1984
Peat – Sadeh, founded in 1989
Rafiah – Yam, founded in 1986
Shirat HaYam, founded in 2000
Tel Katifa, founded in 1992

Notes:
[1] A Social and Religious History of the Jews, Salo Wittmayer Baron,
Vol 1,
page 255, (Original copyright 1937)
[2] Ibid, Vol 3, page 87
[3] Ibid, page 102

References to Jewish Connections to Gaza by Anthony David Marks: Israel Hasbara Committee

A very interesting read, via Tamar Yonah’s blog:

Mystery Mountain, Los Lunas, New Mexico. That’s where a fascinating find was discovered with the Hebrew inscription of the Ten Commandments. What is amazing about this find, is that the ten commandments were written in a Hebrew script that is so ancient, it was last used around and up to the Babylonian expulsion. This means it was probably written between 2,500-3,000 years ago! How did this script, as well as the text of the ten commandments wind up in New Mexico, so many centuries ago?

“Over two thousand years before Columbus “discovered” America there were people of semitic origin in New Mexico worshipping the God of Israel. How can this possibly be reconciled with known history? It is seemingly apparent that the financial backing to launch a Hebrew-Phoenician voyage of world exploration could have readily occurred during the reign of King Solomon of Israel. Solomon worshipped the true God of Israel and had the means to fund explorative voyages to other lands. With Solomon’s main port being located on the Red Sea it would be difficult to explain how his fleet would have entered America through the Atlantic drainage. (Reference note: Kings I 9:26) :

And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

Update: See this email from historian and author Steve Collins here:

http://www.britam.org/collins/lo…s/ losLunas.html.

He speaks about Judean coins being found there as well. The presence of Phoenician/Hebrew inscriptions in North America and all over the globe is evidence that Solomon’s fleets literally explored the globe during his reign. There are many more Hebrew inscriptions in North America than the Los Lunas and Decalogue artifacts. Another one was the Bat Creek stone, a Hebrew inscription from the American Southeast, which the establishment declared to be a forgery until it was realized they were trying to read it upside down.

Professor Adam Zertal is an archaeologist and professor at Haifa University. Click here for the audio of Prof. Adam Zertal describing his discovery of Joshua’s Altar on Mount Ebal.

What is significant about Mount Ebal?

When the Jews first returned to the Land of Israel under Joshua’s leadership, they built an altar to God at Mount Ebal near Shechem (Joshua 8:30). Later, Jews made the yearly pilgrimage to Shilo where the ark was kept (I Samuel 1:3). The ark was subsequently captured by the Philistines, returned to the Jews, and remained for 20 years at Kiryat Yearim (I Samuel 7:2). Apparently no need was sensed to keep the ark at a particular site or declare one site as the central focus of worship.

The Ki Tavo parsha portion mentions Mt. Ebal. It includes bringing to the Temple as an offering the first fruits of the Seven Species special to the Land of Israel, Declaration of tithes, the Almighty designating the Jewish people as His treasured people (Deut. 26:16 -19), the command to set up in the Jordan River and then on Mount Ebal large stones which had the Torah written upon them in 70 languages, the command to have a public ratification of the acceptance of the Law from Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal; the Torah then sets forth the blessings for following the Law and the curses for not following it, and concludes with Moshe’s final discourse.

In Mark Twain’s Excursion to the Holy Land, Egypt, Crimea, Greece and Intermediate Points of Interest, Brooklyn, February 1st, 1867, he writes about his stay in Mt. Ebal in Chapter XLVII.:

Joseph became rich, distinguished, powerful — as the Bible expresses it, “lord over all the land of Egypt.” Joseph was the real king, the strength, the brain of the monarchy, though Pharaoh held the title. Joseph is one of the truly great men of the Old Testament.

In Chapter LI, Mark Twain writes,

At two o’clock we stopped to lunch and rest at ancient Shechem, between the historic Mounts of Gerizim and Ebal, where in the old times the books of the law, the curses and the blessings, were read from the heights to the Jewish multitudes below.

Verse 28:46 of Deuteronomy tells us the importance of serving the Almighty with “joy and a good heart.” The last verse of the portion instructs us:

“You shall fulfill the words of this covenant and do them so that you will succeed in all that you do!”