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PAGE 12
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, SEPTEMBER 7, 1984
houses in the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem--all of which are located
along the routes leading to the Temple Mount.
In keeping with the Jewish-Christian symbiosis that characterizes
the Temple Mount movement, though the yeshivah and its students
are all Jewish, much of its funding--for the yeshivah itself as
well as· for the houses they are buying and living in--comes from
evangelicals, mostly in the United States.
Some of the members of these committees, yeshivahs, and groups
are simply interested in the historical or scientific aspects of
the Temple Mount.
But many--and their number is growing--are
working for a Jewish presence on the Mount, and eventually the
rebuilding of the Temple. Some of these people are highly ortho
dox, and firmly believe that the Messiah will soon arrive.
Others •re primarily Israeli nationalists, who view Muslim con
trol of the Temple Mount as an insult to the Zionist dream. But
in the end the religioul\ and nationalistic themes are hard to
distinguish from each other, and the effect is the same: Wagf
control over the Temple Mount is being challenged.
By far the most dynamic of the challengers is the Israeli section
of the Jerusalem Temple Foundation, headed by Stanley Goldfoot, a
South African Jew who came to Israel in the '30s and fought in the
Stern Gang during the postwar period. A passionate nationalist,
a highly skilled rtetorician, and a man of demonstrated activism,
Goldfoot believes that the Temple Mount belongs to Israel, and to
Israel alone•••.
Goldfoot sees the Christians as logical allies.... In Goldfoot's
view, it is the Christians above all who realize that "we are
coming to a crucial period in earth's history, and they want to
help fulfill prophecy and thus hasten the coming of the Messiah."
It is thus not so surprising that those who planned to sabotage
the Temple Mount in January carried Christian versions of the Old
Testament, for the Temple Mount movement is based on a messianic
vision that, at least in
its
first stages, is common to both Jew
ish and Christian religions. To be sure, there is a basic dis
agreement, but it is one that will only be resolved in the Final
Days. As one Jewish leader put it to us last summer in Jerusalem,
"They believe that once the Temple io built, Jesus will come
again. We expect the Messiah to come for the first time. Let's
build the Temple, and see what he lodks like."
Both the evangelical Christians and the activist Jews are in for a shock.
Whether there is to be a literal Temple building or not, Christ will be com
ing back this time to a spiritual Temple (I Cor. 3:16-17� II Cor. 6:16},
which is now, unperceived by the world, under construction by means of the
education and training of God's begotten children today.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau