JU6-25: Would God Allow His Holy Temple To Be Built Next To The Dome Of The Rock?

“That very night Adonai said to him, ‘Take your father’s bull and the other bull, the seven-year-old. Destroy the altar to Ba‘al that belongs to your father, cut down the sacred pole next to it’…”-Judges 6:25

From verse 25 we see that God didn’t waste a second kicking off the purification process to free Gideon and Israel from the idolatrous mess they had gotten themselves entangled in.

The first order of the day was that Gideon was to destroy the altar to Ba’al.

Why?

Because an altar to the Lord was to be built on that very same spot.

And there was no way the Lord was gonna allow the two to coexist.

Now this leads us headfirst into a topic that should be of interest to all of us.

I’m talking about the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount.

Scholars have debated for quite some time now how exactly that might happen seeing that Islam’s current Rock of the Dome is standing there at the moment.

I mean the situation seems politically impossible.

One idea is that the Lord will send a huge earthquake to destroy that Golden Dome that will open the door for a Jewish Temple to be built.

While that seems plausible (if an earthquake were to really happen), it still doesn’t do away with the political barriers.

Why?

Because the secular world spearheaded by the United Nations would demand that Israel maintain peace with Islam.

And that would be impossible if Israel barged ahead and immediately began building their temple on the spot where the Dome of the Rock now stands.

The other alternative discussed is why not have a Jewish Temple co-exist alongside the Dome of the Rock?

Since the Temple Mount is located a few meters south of where Herod’s Temple used to stand, such a proposition is not impossible.

And it would seem to solve all of the worldly political friction surrounding the matter.

Unfortunately, while such an idea might be politically feasible from a worldly perspective, God would NEVER accept such a thing.

Like are you kidding me?

Take a look at what He has just ordered Gideon to do?

Do you honestly think the Lord is gonna share His land with heathen deities?

Hell to the no man.

Not only do we have this example with Gideon, but in other parts of the Tanach, you’ll find that anywhere God orders a monument or altar to be constructed in His Holy Name where His Holy Presence will reside, every last remaining fragment of temples built to other gods must be cut down, destroyed and removed.

And then the area needs to purified.

There is to be zero compromise on this matter.

Got it?

That’s why we see God ordering Gideon to destroy the altar of Ba’al and tear down the sacred pole standing next to it.

He was then to replace the pagan altar with a proper one built in the Lord’s name.

In order to accomplish this task, we see that Gideon took his father’s bull that he would sacrifice to purify the area.