The Rock Behind The Rock Behind The Dome

As anyone who pays any attention to world news knows, there is a large gold dome in Jerusalem called, The Dome of the Rock. It is in an area where the Al Aqsa mosque is also located. Why is that dome there? What is under the dome? What is written on the tiles that cover the dome's structure?

What does that Dome and Rock have to do with the Bible? What does that Dome have to do with Jesus?

As the name suggests, the Dome of the Rock was built over a rock.

The Jews revere that Rock for three reasons: (1) it is where Abraham took Isaac and was about to sacrifice him in faithful obedience when God intervened (Abraham become the "father of faith"); (2) it is part of the land purchased by King David as the location of the temple; and the temple's holiest place (Holy of Holies) was built over that rock.

The Holy of Holies was crucial to the Mosaic legal system (the Old Covenant). On the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the high priest would enter behind a very thick curtain (a hand's breadth thick) into the Holiest Place in order to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Mercy Seat, where God's presence was believed to dwell.

Jesus came to complete and replace the Old Covenant with a New Covenant in His perfect blood (Hebrews 9; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-38). The thick curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn in two from top to bottom just before Jesus’ death on the cross (Matt. 27:51; Luke 23:45), signifying that Jesus’ blood sacrifice once and for all opened the way to direct access to God the Father. The sacrificial temple system ended when the Romans tore down the temple in 70 AD, as Jesus predicted. The Old Covenant sacrificial system has not been used since then.

The Muslims eventually gained control of Jerusalem. They built both the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock on the temple mount. The Dome of the Rock is directly centered over the exact same rock over which the Holy of Holies was built (this is explained using models by the guides who lead the tour of the tunnels under the temple mount area). Although Mohammed never came close to visiting Jerusalem, a legend arose (based in part on vague references in the Quran) that in one night, Mohammed traveled from the Arabian desert to Jerusalem, where he was shown how to pray on the rock of the temple mount, and was then transported back to his home in Arabia. Muslims believe that Mohammed had an encounter with heaven from that rock.

Based on that legend, the Dome of the Rock was constructed. The dome of the rock is a copy of the dome over the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Church of the Resurrection). The Muslim leaders in Jerusalem wanted a basilica that was just as great as the Christian basilica. The Muslims found that Arabs were attracted to Jesus as the Son of God and they wanted to stop that. So, tiles were added in the 1500s with Arabic writing. Among other things, the Arabic writing attacks the deity of Jesus Christ, while acknowledging that Jesus a prophet who was born of a virgin, died and rose from the dead. The writing emphasizes that Jesus was a man, not the Son of God.

The translation below comes from the Arabic writing on the inside walls of the Dome of the Rock. Keep in mind that the “people of the Book” are the Christians:

• O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion
• nor utter aught concerning God save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of
• Mary, was only a Messenger of God, and His Word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit
• from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and say not 'Three' - Cease! (it is)
• better for you! - God is only One God. Far be it removed from His transcendent majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is
• in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And God is
• sufficient as Defender. The Messiah will never scorn to be a
• servant unto God, nor will the favoured angels. Whoso scorneth
• His service and is proud, all such will He assemble unto Him.
• Oh God, bless Your Messenger and Your servant Jesus
• son of Mary. Peace be on him the day he was born, and the day he dies,
• and the day he shall be raised alive! Such was Jesus, son of Mary, (this is) a statement of
• the truth concerning which they doubt. It befitteth not (the Majesty of) God that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him!

The outer part of the Dome of the Rock includes this language, which is often repeated:

• In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no
• associate. Say: He is God, the One! God, the eternally Besought of all! He begetteth not nor was begotten. And there
• is none comparable unto Him.

This is taken from this website, which translates the language: http://www.islamic-awareness.org/History/Islam/Inscriptions/DoTR.html

Again, the focus is on warning people against acceptance of the Trinity. The Jesus accepted by Muslims is not much different than the Jesus of the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses, because He is portrayed as someone other than the eternally pre-existent Son of God.

There is another sacred rock in the middle east, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where the Black Stone of the Kaaba is the center of Islamic worship. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Stone. Thus, there is a competition of sorts between Arab and Jewish rocks. Both rocks are the center of worship for masses of people.

The book of Deuteronomy addresses this conflict between rocks long before the rise of Islam:

Deuteronomy 32:31, 36-37, ESV:

For their rock is not as our Rock;
. . . For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge ....


Paul says that when the Jewish people were wondering in the wilderness, they were accompanied by a Rock, "and the Rock was Christ." Jesus is also described as a "stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." (Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:8.) Jesus is the chief "cornerstone" or building block of His church. Jesus Himself will become the temple (the chief object and means of worship) in Jerusalem. (Rev. 21:22-27.) Jesus will bring healing to the nations that war and fight over Jerusalem. (Rev. 22:2; 21:26.)

As if to emphasize that the Rock of Deuteronomy 32 is Jesus, who will bring reconciliation with the Gentile nations, Paul quotes from the Septuagint version of Psalm 32:43 in Romans 15:8-13:

"For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”
And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” [Septuagint version of Deut. 32:43) And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."

Thus, every time we see the Dome of the Rock, we should remember that our Rock - Jesus Christ - the Jewish Messiah who died to redeem both Jew and Arab and Gentile - is the Rock of our hope, the rock of our joy and our peace when we place our faith in Him. Our Rock is not like the rock of this world. He sustains and prevails and abounds forever. We are called to worship Him as long as we have breath; and we can be sure that we will worship Him when our breath is gone (Phil. 2:10-11).

Devil Winds and Times of Refreshing

Devil Winds and Times of Refreshing

Acts 3:19-20 – “[19] Repent . . . [20] that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord . . . .” (ESV).

Santa Ana winds, sometimes called “devil winds,” have been blowing through our area of Orange County, sucking the moisture out of everything. The winds originate in the Mojave Desert and blow toward the coast, reversing the normal wind pattern. Nose, throat, skin, ground, vegetation, everything is dried out and bakes under an intense sun, usually sending temperatures to their highest point of the year – 98 degrees today, May 1, 2014.

It was too hot to prayer walk around the neighborhood, so I went to the beach to walk along the water, hoping to recover enough moisture in the air to make a five mile walk tolerable. Even close proximity to the beach was not enough to escape the effect of the devil winds. However, once my feet hit the wet sand and the water lapped at my feet and ankles, my entire body cooled and I was refreshed. The air above the wet sand and lapping water was moist and easy to breath. There was true refreshment. I could walk and pray freely. I love being refreshed! I don’t like being hot and miserable.

Acts 3:19-21, and especially the “times of refreshing” words, reverberated in my mind as I walked and prayed. There are three promises that are given for repentance by Peter in those verses: (1) forgiveness of sins, (2) refreshment from the intimate presence of the Lord, and (3) the eagerness for the return of Jesus to remove the curse and restore all beauty and holiness to the world.

The land without repentance is a land of devil winds, void of refreshment. In that land, all the things that promise satisfaction and refreshment end up dehydrating the soul, much like salt water to a thirsty sailor.

In Ezekiel 36, God goes back and forth between the devastation on the land of His unrepentant people, and the future blessing that will come on the land when He vindicates His holiness before the nations and places His Spirit within them so that they will walk in His ways and their land will be blessed. Ezekiel 37 then illustrates both the desolation that resulted from sin and the new life that comes through the Spirit. In a valley of dry, dry bones, where there is no moisture and everything is exceedingly dry, the Lord God will cause breath/spirit to enter those bones and they will come together and be covered with living flesh and come alive through His Spirit within them. God’s promise is to Israel, but He will also do this for all who repent of their sins and trust Him completely, as Peter preached in Acts 3.

1 John 1:9 says that when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness – from everything that dries us up and makes us spiritually ugly. In that cleansing, “our joy [becomes] complete.” 1 John 1:4.

So, as I walked, I considered the refreshment that God will bring to a repentant city, to a repentant county, to a repentant state, to a repentant nation. Repentance means to reverse direction, to walk God’s way instead of my way. We do that best when we are immersing ourselves in the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to illumine the truth of the Word so that we understand how to live and, more than anything else, how to know and love Jesus, from Whom flows the waters of life that are necessary for our life and for the healing of the nations. See John 4:10-14, 6:35, 7:37-39; Rev. 22:1-3; Ezek. 47:1-12.

I love times of refreshing, which only come as we immerse in the water of life through time in the presence of Jesus. Unlike the ocean, which requires us to visit it for refreshment, we can take the refreshment that comes from Jesus with us wherever we go in the parched, barren land. We can offer living water to thirsty people, people who desperately need refreshed in the presence of Jesus.

Everyone wants refreshed by Jesus. No one on the planet appears to view Jesus as a scoundrel. Not even the enemies of Christians view Jesus as their enemy. However, most people want refreshed on their terms. They want to continue to control their own lives, living according to their own desires, with Jesus as a non-judgmental friend. They have no intention of repenting, because repentance costs them control.

Refreshment doesn’t come from wanting refreshment, but from repentance, from turning from my way toward Jesus’ way. Many people profess to “honor” Jesus, but they aren’t willing to repent and obey Jesus. As good as Jesus may be to them, they don’t see Him as the eternal Son of God who alone can give them refreshment through repentance. They don’t see Him as worthy of a surrendered life, as the One before Whom every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is LORD. (Phil. 2:9-11.)

Repentance requires surrender and submission to Jesus’ authority. We can’t want forgiveness, but continue to habitually do the things for which forgiveness is needed. Habitual sin dies hard, but Jesus is just and faithful to cleanse us and remake us in His image as we repent and cultivate the intimacy needed for refreshment.

Refreshed people stand out in a barren, parched land. One of the amazing things about watching Roger Federer play tennis is that he never seems to have to work as hard, or generate as much sweat, as the other players. He comes across cool and classy most of the time, no matter how long and difficult the tennis match.

The same is true for those refreshed by their time with Jesus. They stand out in a thirsty world. People want to know the reason for the joyful hope of refreshed people (1 Pet. 3:15).

My prayer today is that more people would find the joy and refreshment of a life surrendered to the authority of, and intimacy with, Jesus Christ. May others also find refreshment through studying the Word of truth, praying by the power of the Holy Spirit, living in fellowship with the saints, sharing the joy of the salvation granted to us through Jesus, explaining our hope, and living by faith in the promises of God. May we take that refreshment into a hot and barren world, offering the water of life to all who are thirsty.