1. FOUR PILLARS RISE NEAR THE RESTING-PLACE OF THE ARK: THE NEW MOSQUE IN ABU GHOSH.
A little over six miles west of Jerusalem lies the village of Abu Ghosh. Home to some 6000 Israeli Arabs, the town is nested in a woodsy part of the hills surrounding the Israeli capital. In fact, it was very near to here in Kiryat Ye’arim (English Bibles: Kirjath Jearim—“town of forests”) that the Ark of the Covenant once rested for over 20 years (I Samuel 7:2). Today there is a monastery on the hill overlooking the town, whose church’s marvelous acoustics are exploited by a classical choral festival held there twice a year. There is also a large community of ultra-Orthodox Jews nearby.
Arab villages in the area to maintain a position of neutrality. The friendly relations have continued down to the present. Today the restaurants in the village are flooded each weekend with Jewish Jerusalemites, enjoying the friendly atmosphere as they sample the famous humous and othermizrachi cousine.
We say mizrachi (Eastern)—but there is a strong tradition that the ancient ancestors of the majority of the inhabitants of Abu Ghosh did not come from Arab nations to the east, that they in fact arrived in the 16th century as Circassian units of the Ottoman Empire, who hailed from what is today called Chechnya. The religion of Chechnya is Sunni Muslim, strengthened according to one theory, as a “religion of liberation” from a continual oppression by Russia. For years, Abu Ghosh’s Muslims have worshipped in a small village mosque holding around 150. But that is all about to change.
During the past year (It has actually been under construction for over two years) a structure suddenly began capturing the attention of motorists passing by on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. Unlike anything seen in Israel before, its four golden pointed turrets might at first call to mind a Disney fairy-tale castle. It is, in fact, a vast new mosque. Second in size throughout Israel to only the Al Aqsa itself on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. this mosque is expected when completed to host as many as 3,000 worshipers.
The mosque is being funded primarily by the Islamic Republic of Chechnya. The cost (which also includes reconstruction of streets leading to the mosque) is thought to be somewhere between 5.5 and 10 million dollars. The official story is that Abu Gosh residents began raising money to build a new mosque, but when they were unable to get enough, the Chechyn government stepped in and provided funds which, together with those of private Chechyn Muslim donors, formed a fund which has provided the vast majority of the monies. The fund was named after Akhmad Kadyrov, a former Chechyn President who was assassinated in 2004 and is considered a hero in Chechnya. It is now reported that the mosque will itself be named for Kadyrov.
His son, Ramzan Kadyrov is the republic’s current president and has stated in Russia Today that he plans to come to Israel for the mosque’s inauguration. He has seen that it is decorated in the Chechen tradition, and plans that when finished it will offer Chechen language and culture courses. Of the Abu Ghosh citizens he states, “These people emigrated to the Middle East five centuries ago. They want to preserve their national identity and cultural identity. This is worthy of deep respect” (“This mosque is for Allah…”: The Times of Israel, May 21, 2013). The locals are of course, excited about their new center for worship. Abu Ghosh Mayor Salim Jaber comments, “This mosque is for Allah. It will be neither fanatic, nor inciting. I want to invite all the people of Israel to the opening: rabbis, priests, sheikhs. Anyone who loves Abu Ghosh.” (Ibid.).
Yet we find something deeply disturbing in the appearance of this ornate structure in Abu Ghosh. For all the mayor’s assurances, the Islam eminating from Chechnya is hardly what one might call moderate (witness the brothers Tsarnaev who perpetrated the Boston Marathon attacks last year). What might this mean in Abu Ghosh? As one reporter put it,“Somehow, Islam was always a footnote in the village’s public image. But that may change soon” (Ibid.).
And this is not just any mosque—it is the largest built in Israel in over a thousand years. The only one larger is located where the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD God of Israel came finally to rest—Jerusalem. Now the second-largest is being built where the Ark rested before being brought there. And it has four minarets instead of the normal one or two. Said to be a uniquely Chechyn phenomenom, this is presently the only 4-towered mosque in Israel.
And what of these minarets?
Practically-speaking, they are edifices upon which is supported a small balcony where a Muslim holy man emerges five times a day to lead the surrounding neighborhood in prayers (almost exclusively executed electronic amplification in modern times). In Israel one may immediately identify a village as Muslim Arab by observing the presence of these erections projecting up into the heavens.
And what of their spiritual significance? The Hebrews were instructed that upon entering Canaan they were to not bow down to the gods which were worshipped there. They were to“utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars”. (Exodus 23:24 NKJ). The word here translated “sacred pillar” is matzevah (Strongs/Brown-Driver-Briggs 4676,4678). It comes from a word meaning to “take a stand or position”, to “set oneself” (See Exodus 17:9; Habakkuk 2:1). So, such a pillar “stood” for something.
Not all were evil. It might be a stone “set up and anointed as a memorial of divine appearance”, as occurred with Jacob in Gen. 28:18, 22; 31:13. Moses erected 12 of these in conjunction with an altar at the foot of Mount Sinai as a sign of covenant between the 12 tribes and the LORD (Exodus 24:4). Yet, when a matzevah is set up on behalf of another god, jutting, as it were, brazenly into the face of the God of Israel, “taking its stand” on behalf of falsehood and death, it is a thing which He hates. They were to be “completely broken down”.
“Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for YHVH whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land…and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice” (Exodus 34: 12-15. See also II Kings 10:27; I Kings 14:22-23;II Kings 23:14). In Micah 5:12-13, God speaks of a day when “I will cut off sorceries from your (i.e. the remnant of Jacob’s) hand, and you shall have no soothsayers. Your carved images I will also cut off, and your sacred pillars from your midst…”
We are not here suggesting that Islamic minarets in Israel should be cut down. But we are saying that their prevelance in a place strengthens the power of the spirits they represent. We believe this to be the real reason that there is such a push for their proliferation in countries where their masters seek to gain control. The author remembers being told, while in Istanbul 20 years ago, that there was literally a push to have a minaret raised on every city block in the city. That nation is now under its first Islamist leader in almost a century.
We suspect this to be the real reason why the Kingdom of Jordan periodically seeks to gain Israeli approval for a “fifth” minaret to be raised over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem(reportedly over the Eastern Gate). There would then be over the most holy place on earth, a network of minarets representatives of the “Five Pilars of Islam.” The breach in the heavenlies were this to happen is difficult to imagine.
We believe that the raising of this enormous 4-towered mosque in Abu Ghosh may represent a spiritual conspiracy for the establishment of a new key stronghold of darkness in the “mountains surrounding Jerusalem.” In 1948, the Abu Ghosh citizens are said to have shown mercy to the trucks trying to make it through the pass to bring nourishment to the starving Jews in Jerusalem (all other villages along the passage through the mountains sought only to attack and pillage the caravans). When the this mosque becomes activated, might the city’s present-day citizens find themselves being influenced to behave in an exactly opposite way?
In addition to all of this, there are disturbing reports which suggest that the motive of the whole enterprise may not be so much the blessing of the Abu Ghosh citizens with a rich reflection of their heritage as has been broadcast. One Russian paper quoted Chechyn President Ramzan Kadyrov as saying, “ The idea for the construction of the new mosque is to strengthen the relationship between Israel and Russia.” (“Ramzan Kadyrov is Preparing a Gift to Muslims in Israel”: islam.ru; 09 Dec 2013).
EAGLES AND ALMOND BLOSSOMS
The almond blossoms present in the photograph at the top of the Update were not included merely as decoration. As we wrote in a recent issue, Biblically these early flowers betoken the need to be awake and alert, watchmen on the wall, even as those all around are still sleeping. We sense that Abu Ghosh and beyond may be coming into a great danger. We love the citizens of Abu Ghosh and want to watch over them in our attention and prayers. We are grateful for their continued friendship to their Jewish neighbors and to the government of Israel. We long for the blessing of those which bless the seed of Abraham to continue to rest upon them—and further, for them to come into the life, freedom and joy of the One whose day Abraham himself rejoiced to see! (John 8:56).
As we were taking pictures of the mosque last Wednesday morning, an eagle flew by (picture above) and began circling the valley in which it is situated. Its presence there brings several Scriptures to mind, “For the LORD’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance…As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him” (Deuteronomy 32:9, 11-12 Emphases ours). But also this, from Obadiah 1:4 (We have previously written of the link between the spirit of Edom and that of Islam): “‘Though you [Edom] ascend as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,’ says YHVH.”
PLEASE PRAY:
*That “He Who Watches over Israel” will bring to light anything lying in darkness (Daniel 2:22) in Abu Ghosh with purposes for harm to His purposes in His land.
*That the Body of Messiah in Israel will be awake, and hear what the Spirit is saying regarding the establishment of this new hall of Islamic worship west of Jerusalem. Pray for God’s strategy for countering any move of the enemy against His purposes for the people in Abu Ghosh whom He loves, and for Israel and Jerusalem itself.
*For Abu Ghosh Mayor Salim Jaber, that he will lead his city wisely—that he will receive supernatural revelation of El Elyon, the Most High God and of His Son. Mr Jaber reportedly said that he was unconcerned that Chechnya would try to impose its flavor of Islam in Abu Ghosh, “They will not intervene, because there are borders. Their practices are different than ours…” (Ibid: The Times of Israel). Pray that he will be protected from any such influences.
*For a testimony of Yasuah (Yeshua/Jesus) to be awakened among the Arab Muslim citizens of Abu Ghosh. Pray for dreams and visions from Heaven. Pray against any entrance of spiritual powers from abroad into this region.
*There are several growing communities of Messianic Jews which God has been raising up within only a few miles of the place where this mosque has been built. One in particular is in close alliance with Arab believers in Jerusalem. Pray for prophetic insight and revelation from the Holy Spirit in these communities. Pray for high praise and worship in spirit and in truth to be released; Pray for strategic strategies from on High!
–Friends in Jerusalem
Post time 13-3-2014 12:40 PM
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