The Most Valuable Piece of Real Estate

Once again, Middle East peace talks are cranking up with US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell trying to get Arab and Israeli leaders together. In the past, it has always been about land, and how much land belongs to Palestinians and how much should Israel give up to the Palestinians. Then Jerusalem became an issue: The Palestinians decided they wanted Jerusalem as their capitol and Israel began building housing settlements there. But now, we are beginning to get down to the real piece of real estate that is really going to put these negotiations on the map and that is the Temple Mount.

Jewish groups are becoming more vocal about their desire for a third temple and they believe it needs to be on the Temple Mount. The problem is, the Arabs also claim it and have a couple of mosques there. How valuable is a piece of property? How much money would one be willing to give? Even Donald Trump wouldn’t give up his life for the most perfect piece of property in the world, no matter how great the location; but Arabs are willing to do so, and Israelis will fight for it as well. That’s what makes this the most valuable piece of real estate in the world—there are groups who will fight for it, literally.

This little piece of property is also valuable because it affects the whole world. The Prophet Zechariah prophesies of this when he says: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.  And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it” (Zechariah 12:2-3)

Arabs are claiming they are being attacked around their mosques by Israelis in an attempt to escalate the tension. According to Israeli National News:

“The facts are different. During the period from 1949-1967, when Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria and parts of Jerusalem, it prohibited Jews from visiting the Western Wall and also banned Christians, except for high-profile dignitaries, from all holy sites. Since Israel regained sovereignty in the areas in the 1967 Six-Day War, it opened all of the holy sites to members of all religions and has acted to preserve them.”

When we begin to look at the signs of the end times it really doesn’t matter that much now many earthquakes or how intense they have become in the last decade, it doesn’t matter that the world economy is spinning out of control and we are headed for a one-world system, it doesn’t matter how soon or how quick—we know those are signs. What matters is Jerusalem and more specifically, all the attention centered on the Temple Mount—this is the big sign.

Look for tensions surrounding the Temple Mount to increase. Let this be the big sign for you. This is the heavy stone about which Zechariah prophesied. No one can “heave it away” because it belongs to the Jews.