About time

It’s been said before that there is a time for everything. If only I had enough time to do everything; enough steps ordained in my life to see all the things I wanted to see in the entire world. As it is, I barley have enough time to see all of San Diego County. It still amazes me every time I turn down a road I have never traveled on.

Truthfully, I’m jealous of people who have time to travel the world. I watch with wonder as some sail the world’s oceans, trek through high and lofty mountains while still others explore  metropolitan areas that are buzzing with people infused in art and entertainment. 

I’m also mystified at how so many people can spend so much of their time reading books. They take every available spare moment to get through another couple of pages where they get lost in some mystery, adventure or romance. I’m puzzled by people who also spend hours trying to figure out crossword, jigsaw and accounting problems.

On the other side of the coin people can do exhilarating things that defy our imaginations. Astronauts have traveled vast distances through time to walk and perform research on the moon. Accomplished artists as well as composers have withstood the test of time while other’s art is not discovered until after their untimely passing. 

At my dermatologist’s office there is a picture on the wall of my doctor with her arms around a 800 pound male tiger. Another friend of mine has a picture of himself falling through the atmosphere with seven other skydivers linked together in the shape of a star. For the record, even if I had enough time to hug a tiger or jump out of an airplane I still wouldn’t do either of those things.

In my opinion the hobbits that exist between the pages of J.R. Tolkien’s books have mastered the correct way to saddle the passage of time. Through many ages they have perfected the cultivation of lush gardens, mastered the cultivation of Old Toby and fermented the world’s greatest ale.

So why I’m I spending so much time on this subject and where is it leading us?

The world, like any great symphony, is heading for a crescendo. The music will heard around the globe while the main movement will be focused on the city of Jerusalem, Israel. We can actually pinpoint the location in Israel’s capitol, a hill known in earlier times as Mount Moriah. It’s a special piece of real estate to God; it’s near the place where Jesus was crucified and where what’s left of the Jewish Temple Complex lies in rubble waiting to be re-built for the third and last time The world stage is now being set as we speak and the final curtain is being drawn open. 

In Judaism, the question of ownership of the Temple Mount has never been questioned by serious bible scholars and world historians. The construction and existence of several Islamic buildings (mosques), on land purchased by Israel’s King David on the ancient Jewish Temple Mount, is a fairly recent event when viewed on a time line of world history.

President Donald Trump, just recently, has taken a bold resounding step to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by beginning to move the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Although there will be much debate and dispute over this situation there can be no question as to who actually owns the Temple Mount.

In the Old Testament book of 2 Samuel, recorded in the tenth century BC, the author records a sales transaction between King David and Araunah for the purchase of the area known as the Temple Mount. 

“Then the king said to Araunah, ‘No but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” 2 Samuel 24:21-25.

The Islamic mosques that stand on the site, near where the first and second Jewish Temples once stood, were built some 1700 years later, after King David purchased the real estate for the nation of Israel. In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel God promises that in the end times His Temple will be re-built for the third and last time.

For all Christians our bodies have become the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The Helper, who now resides in us, is waiting for the right time when the Bridegroom will return to the earth to receive His bride to Himself. Have you made the decision to follow Jesus before time runs out and the last blast of the trumpet is heard around the world?