Hal Lindsey -
Last week, President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
He also announced that the United States would begin the process of moving its embassy there. That process will take at least three years, and probably more.
It's hard to see why this is such a big deal. Jerusalem has never not been the capital of Israel. Not only since the formal founding of modern day Israel in 1948, but thousands of years before that.
Nevertheless, the mainstream media went into a frenzy. Reuters said that it "reversed decades of U.S. policy" and imperiled "Middle East peace efforts and (upset) the Arab world and Western allies alike." And it got all those calamities into just the first sentence!
Saudi Arabia called the move "irresponsible and unwarranted."
Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei said Trump's action was the result of "incompetence and failure..." Huh?
The EU's top diplomat said it would "undermine" EU peace efforts. It's a little hard to undermine something that has already been dead and buried for years!
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh routinely declared that the move was "an uncalculated gamble that will know no limit to the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim reaction." So what isn't?
Truth be known, though there were a few violent protests in Gaza and the West Bank, the reaction has not been as bad as the response to last summer's decision by Israel to install metal (read that "weapons") dectectors at the entrances to Temple Mount. And that was intended to protect everyone's safety! Muslim and non-Muslim alike.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared it "a momentous day...." He said that in Jerusalem's "extraordinary history and over the millennia, you can cite a few significant milestones. Yesterday's statement by President Trump is such a milestone."
Ironically, just as America's support for Israel is reaching new heights, its support by young evangelical Christians is reaching new lows.
One key to U.S. support for Israel has been the evangelical Christian community. But among younger evangelicals, that support may be diminishing.
A recent survey reveals that, among evangelicals 18-34, 58% have a positive view of Israel. That compares with 70% of those over 50 and 77% of those over 65. Those aren't huge differences, but they do show a definite trend downward.
In view of the findings, Joel Rosenberg noted, "If you extrapolate that, in 10 years you have a crisis, but now we have a challenge."
In commenting on these findings, The Jerusalem Post noted, "Younger people are less familiar with the Bible and increasingly moved by social justice concepts. That means they are easy targets for pro-Palestinian narratives."
And do they have some narratives!
In fact, Muslims are masters of myth.
Sometimes Arab propaganda is subtle. At other times, it can be so outrageous, so preposterous, and so imaginative that you have to marvel at the sheer inventiveness.
Here's an example. One of the Mideast myths cut from whole cloth is the notion that Jerusalem is actually an Arab city.
The Arab propaganda machine has managed to convince world media, diplomatic establishments, and many in academia that Jerusalem is as important to Muslims as it is to Jews.
While it's true that Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine are important to Islam, and they're located in Jerusalem, they were actually built on top of the Jews' old Temple -- which existed thousands of years earlier.
Jerusalem was never an important city to Muslims. In fact, when Mohammed started Islam, in order to attract Jews and Christians, he suggested that daily prayers be directed to Jerusalem.
After 18 months, that proved a bust. So he changed direction. Since then, Muslims have prayed in the direction of Mecca -- the undisputed holiest city in Islam.
Long after Mohammed was dead, a legend arose that he ascended into the seventh heaven from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Koran only says that the event took place at the "uttermost mosque." But there was no mosque in Jerusalem at that time.
At the time of Mohammed's death, Medina was the farthest mosque. In fact, there was a Christian church occupying Temple Mount when Mohammed died. Yet the Palestinians want to rename the Western Wall -- or Wailing Wall -- the "Buraq Wall" in honor of Mohammed's horse (on which he rode into heaven).
There is no historical evidence that Mohammed ever set foot in Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa mosque may, indeed, be Islam's third holiest site, but there is nothing about the city of Jerusalem that would even compare it to Islam's holiest cities of Mecca and Medina.
British historian and Persian scholar, Christopher Sykes, wrote, "To the Muslims, it is not Jerusalem, but a certain site in Jerusalem which is venerated. To a Muslim, there is a profound difference between Jerusalem and Mecca and Medina. The latter are holy places containing holy sites. Apart from the hallowed rock, Jerusalem has no major Islamic significance."
Until 1948, that is.
When the Jews declared the modern state of Israel, with Jerusalem as their capital, "...suddenly, for the first time in history, the Arabs discovered and revealed to the world the vehement, passionate, almost desperate, accents of a deep-rooted, long-standing and undying attachment to Jerusalem." (Samuel Katz)
Muslim attachment to Jerusalem came about in the last 100 years. But for the Jews, it has been 3,000 years. No people are as connected to a city as Jews to Jerusalem. That connection is historical, religious, physical, emotional, and spiritual.
For hundreds of years, Jews around the world have ended the Passover Seder with the words, "Next year in Jerusalem."
Despite what the UN, the EU, or the Arab world might say, God Himself made Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel.
December 15th, 2017
Last week, President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
He also announced that the United States would begin the process of moving its embassy there. That process will take at least three years, and probably more.
It's hard to see why this is such a big deal. Jerusalem has never not been the capital of Israel. Not only since the formal founding of modern day Israel in 1948, but thousands of years before that.
Nevertheless, the mainstream media went into a frenzy. Reuters said that it "reversed decades of U.S. policy" and imperiled "Middle East peace efforts and (upset) the Arab world and Western allies alike." And it got all those calamities into just the first sentence!
Saudi Arabia called the move "irresponsible and unwarranted."
Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei said Trump's action was the result of "incompetence and failure..." Huh?
The EU's top diplomat said it would "undermine" EU peace efforts. It's a little hard to undermine something that has already been dead and buried for years!
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh routinely declared that the move was "an uncalculated gamble that will know no limit to the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim reaction." So what isn't?
Truth be known, though there were a few violent protests in Gaza and the West Bank, the reaction has not been as bad as the response to last summer's decision by Israel to install metal (read that "weapons") dectectors at the entrances to Temple Mount. And that was intended to protect everyone's safety! Muslim and non-Muslim alike.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared it "a momentous day...." He said that in Jerusalem's "extraordinary history and over the millennia, you can cite a few significant milestones. Yesterday's statement by President Trump is such a milestone."
Ironically, just as America's support for Israel is reaching new heights, its support by young evangelical Christians is reaching new lows.
One key to U.S. support for Israel has been the evangelical Christian community. But among younger evangelicals, that support may be diminishing.
A recent survey reveals that, among evangelicals 18-34, 58% have a positive view of Israel. That compares with 70% of those over 50 and 77% of those over 65. Those aren't huge differences, but they do show a definite trend downward.
In view of the findings, Joel Rosenberg noted, "If you extrapolate that, in 10 years you have a crisis, but now we have a challenge."
In commenting on these findings, The Jerusalem Post noted, "Younger people are less familiar with the Bible and increasingly moved by social justice concepts. That means they are easy targets for pro-Palestinian narratives."
And do they have some narratives!
In fact, Muslims are masters of myth.
Sometimes Arab propaganda is subtle. At other times, it can be so outrageous, so preposterous, and so imaginative that you have to marvel at the sheer inventiveness.
Here's an example. One of the Mideast myths cut from whole cloth is the notion that Jerusalem is actually an Arab city.
The Arab propaganda machine has managed to convince world media, diplomatic establishments, and many in academia that Jerusalem is as important to Muslims as it is to Jews.
While it's true that Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine are important to Islam, and they're located in Jerusalem, they were actually built on top of the Jews' old Temple -- which existed thousands of years earlier.
Jerusalem was never an important city to Muslims. In fact, when Mohammed started Islam, in order to attract Jews and Christians, he suggested that daily prayers be directed to Jerusalem.
After 18 months, that proved a bust. So he changed direction. Since then, Muslims have prayed in the direction of Mecca -- the undisputed holiest city in Islam.
Long after Mohammed was dead, a legend arose that he ascended into the seventh heaven from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Koran only says that the event took place at the "uttermost mosque." But there was no mosque in Jerusalem at that time.
At the time of Mohammed's death, Medina was the farthest mosque. In fact, there was a Christian church occupying Temple Mount when Mohammed died. Yet the Palestinians want to rename the Western Wall -- or Wailing Wall -- the "Buraq Wall" in honor of Mohammed's horse (on which he rode into heaven).
There is no historical evidence that Mohammed ever set foot in Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa mosque may, indeed, be Islam's third holiest site, but there is nothing about the city of Jerusalem that would even compare it to Islam's holiest cities of Mecca and Medina.
British historian and Persian scholar, Christopher Sykes, wrote, "To the Muslims, it is not Jerusalem, but a certain site in Jerusalem which is venerated. To a Muslim, there is a profound difference between Jerusalem and Mecca and Medina. The latter are holy places containing holy sites. Apart from the hallowed rock, Jerusalem has no major Islamic significance."
Until 1948, that is.
When the Jews declared the modern state of Israel, with Jerusalem as their capital, "...suddenly, for the first time in history, the Arabs discovered and revealed to the world the vehement, passionate, almost desperate, accents of a deep-rooted, long-standing and undying attachment to Jerusalem." (Samuel Katz)
Muslim attachment to Jerusalem came about in the last 100 years. But for the Jews, it has been 3,000 years. No people are as connected to a city as Jews to Jerusalem. That connection is historical, religious, physical, emotional, and spiritual.
For hundreds of years, Jews around the world have ended the Passover Seder with the words, "Next year in Jerusalem."
Despite what the UN, the EU, or the Arab world might say, God Himself made Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel.
He also announced that the United States would begin the process of moving its embassy there. That process will take at least three years, and probably more.
It's hard to see why this is such a big deal. Jerusalem has never not been the capital of Israel. Not only since the formal founding of modern day Israel in 1948, but thousands of years before that.
Nevertheless, the mainstream media went into a frenzy. Reuters said that it "reversed decades of U.S. policy" and imperiled "Middle East peace efforts and (upset) the Arab world and Western allies alike." And it got all those calamities into just the first sentence!
Saudi Arabia called the move "irresponsible and unwarranted."
Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei said Trump's action was the result of "incompetence and failure..." Huh?
The EU's top diplomat said it would "undermine" EU peace efforts. It's a little hard to undermine something that has already been dead and buried for years!
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh routinely declared that the move was "an uncalculated gamble that will know no limit to the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim reaction." So what isn't?
Truth be known, though there were a few violent protests in Gaza and the West Bank, the reaction has not been as bad as the response to last summer's decision by Israel to install metal (read that "weapons") dectectors at the entrances to Temple Mount. And that was intended to protect everyone's safety! Muslim and non-Muslim alike.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared it "a momentous day...." He said that in Jerusalem's "extraordinary history and over the millennia, you can cite a few significant milestones. Yesterday's statement by President Trump is such a milestone."
Ironically, just as America's support for Israel is reaching new heights, its support by young evangelical Christians is reaching new lows.
One key to U.S. support for Israel has been the evangelical Christian community. But among younger evangelicals, that support may be diminishing.
A recent survey reveals that, among evangelicals 18-34, 58% have a positive view of Israel. That compares with 70% of those over 50 and 77% of those over 65. Those aren't huge differences, but they do show a definite trend downward.
In view of the findings, Joel Rosenberg noted, "If you extrapolate that, in 10 years you have a crisis, but now we have a challenge."
In commenting on these findings, The Jerusalem Post noted, "Younger people are less familiar with the Bible and increasingly moved by social justice concepts. That means they are easy targets for pro-Palestinian narratives."
And do they have some narratives!
In fact, Muslims are masters of myth.
Sometimes Arab propaganda is subtle. At other times, it can be so outrageous, so preposterous, and so imaginative that you have to marvel at the sheer inventiveness.
Here's an example. One of the Mideast myths cut from whole cloth is the notion that Jerusalem is actually an Arab city.
The Arab propaganda machine has managed to convince world media, diplomatic establishments, and many in academia that Jerusalem is as important to Muslims as it is to Jews.
While it's true that Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine are important to Islam, and they're located in Jerusalem, they were actually built on top of the Jews' old Temple -- which existed thousands of years earlier.
Jerusalem was never an important city to Muslims. In fact, when Mohammed started Islam, in order to attract Jews and Christians, he suggested that daily prayers be directed to Jerusalem.
After 18 months, that proved a bust. So he changed direction. Since then, Muslims have prayed in the direction of Mecca -- the undisputed holiest city in Islam.
Long after Mohammed was dead, a legend arose that he ascended into the seventh heaven from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Koran only says that the event took place at the "uttermost mosque." But there was no mosque in Jerusalem at that time.
At the time of Mohammed's death, Medina was the farthest mosque. In fact, there was a Christian church occupying Temple Mount when Mohammed died. Yet the Palestinians want to rename the Western Wall -- or Wailing Wall -- the "Buraq Wall" in honor of Mohammed's horse (on which he rode into heaven).
There is no historical evidence that Mohammed ever set foot in Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa mosque may, indeed, be Islam's third holiest site, but there is nothing about the city of Jerusalem that would even compare it to Islam's holiest cities of Mecca and Medina.
British historian and Persian scholar, Christopher Sykes, wrote, "To the Muslims, it is not Jerusalem, but a certain site in Jerusalem which is venerated. To a Muslim, there is a profound difference between Jerusalem and Mecca and Medina. The latter are holy places containing holy sites. Apart from the hallowed rock, Jerusalem has no major Islamic significance."
Until 1948, that is.
When the Jews declared the modern state of Israel, with Jerusalem as their capital, "...suddenly, for the first time in history, the Arabs discovered and revealed to the world the vehement, passionate, almost desperate, accents of a deep-rooted, long-standing and undying attachment to Jerusalem." (Samuel Katz)
Muslim attachment to Jerusalem came about in the last 100 years. But for the Jews, it has been 3,000 years. No people are as connected to a city as Jews to Jerusalem. That connection is historical, religious, physical, emotional, and spiritual.
For hundreds of years, Jews around the world have ended the Passover Seder with the words, "Next year in Jerusalem."
Despite what the UN, the EU, or the Arab world might say, God Himself made Jerusalem the eternal capital of Israel.
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