Page 17 - Satan in the Sanctuary

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Another Temple—So What?

JUNE, 1967.
An Israeli paratrooper, machine gun in hand, leaps
through narrow passageways, sobbing with emotion. He
hurls himself against a wall—the Wailing Wall, remnant
of Herod's great Jerusalem Temple. Within these walls had
stood the ancient priests of biblical Judaism. And here, too,
once stood Jesus Christ, preaching the Word of God.
The soldier was running in footprints going back through
millennia. Egyptian troops, Assyrians, Babylonians, Ro-
mans, Arabians, crusading Europeans, Turks, the British,
and modern Arabs, had all contested this battle-scarred,
thirty-four-acre property. For 3,000 years wars have raged
in dispute over the Temple site.
What for?
Previous conquerors wanted control of the crossroads of
the Middle East, but the most significant answer is what
will happen in the future on this real estate. True enough,
the site has always had great significance. God wanted His
great first Temple built exactly on this spot. On this spot he
tested His faithful follower Abraham with the hardest of
all tests—the sacrifice of his only son. Then He passed the

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