Most observers of life in Israel today are likely to be familiar with only the popular soundbytes and icons of historic events and locations.  The facts of history and destiny are regularly passed over in favour of support for the Jewish people in their current adversities, while the Zionism central to the modern state becomes, in plain sight,  an apathetic and immoral program of theft and corruption.  Zion’s king however  has a view of the holy mountain that makes the ventures in East Jerusalem unrecognizable. 

Zion has no temple

When the state of Israel came into being there was no temple in the nationbuilders’ plan.  There was a mosque where the temple used to stand.  It eludes me how a people, knowing their history, could neglect returning the nation’s capital to its former glory.  The place where God put his name and the seat of the kings are both critical to the nation’s integrity.

Zion is not Jerusalem.

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.

1 Kings 8:1

Geography proves the point.

Zion is valued above Jerusalem, according to David (Psalm 87:1).  It is home to the peoples of Rahab (Egypt),  Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, “along with” Ethiopia.   Abuse of the sacred texts is no laughing matter. There is no speculation about temple mount that rises to deserve the attention of people familiar with the prophetic tradition.

The Lord loves the gates of Zion More than all the other dwelling places of Jacob. 2) Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. Selah. 3) “I shall mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me; Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.’” 4)  But of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in her”; And the Most High Himself will establish her. 5)

Psalms 87:2-5

Of all the things an Israelite should remember there is the deliverance from bondage with a view to sympathy for foreigners. Observance of the Sabbath is glued to the remembrance of the Exodus. Xenophobia in the name of ethnic purity does massive disservice to the sovereign majesty of Israel’s  God and draws a line between delighting oneself in the Lord’s law and sitting in a scornful seat.

Crimes in the city pales in comparison to the criminal enterprise located in the temple.  Everything that makes it attractive to many observers is coated with avarnish of lies.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

Deuteronomy 5:15

Zionism has surely gone off the rails and our support and love for the Jewish people does not obscure our love for mercy, justice and humility. Israelites

There is something special in East Jerusalem that many do not want to admit, yet they want to call it home and sully its dignity with their owner mentality.  That thing is not a temple.  It is people who have every right to be there apart from Israel’s primary covenant mediated by Moses.

Holy Residence vs Rubbish

As far as the sacredness of God’s name is concerned it is certain to be located in one of two places: the temple built by Solomon or the human body.  While the state of Israel pioneers friendly relations with Arab nations a house of prayer belonging to a religion that is openly hostile to all Jews adorns the site where Solomon’s temple stood.  So let nothing distract us from Zion’s destiny as the city of the great king. If it is not a person of David’s dynasty and himself a priest outside the levitical order the crimes get compounded by more inventions like the Arab peace accords and the continuing broadcasts of the fables of the oral tradition.