The Dome of The Rock and the Southern Conjecture

I favor the Southern conjecture of The Temple’s location. Threshing floors were never on mountain tops for one thing, and God commanded Israel NOT to build altars on High Places as the pagans did.

Hadrian had a huge Temple complex to Jupiter built over the entire modern Temple Mount site. Ancient sources say he had a huge Equestrian Statue of himself built over where the Holy of Holies had been. The same Architect built another Temple to Jupiter at Baalbek using the same design. That complex still exists, and a diagram of it fits over the Temple Mount area in Jerusalem perfectly, putting the Equestrian stature where the Al-Kas fountain is, not over either Mosque.
Temple Mount Southern Conjecture Pictures

So I think the future peace plan will have the Al-Kas fountain moved and have The Temple rebuilt between the two Mosques. This fits Revelation 11’s model of the outer court given to the Gentiles perfectly.

Also when Daniel 11:45 says “And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain;” I don’t think this is the Abomination of Desolation yet, because his “death” that leads to his counterfeit resurrection happens next “yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”

The word translated “palace” here is only ever used in Scripture this one time, ‘appeden (ap-peh’-den); Noun, Strong #: 643. Upon further study it’s actually a Persian loan word (Daniel by this time had no doubt picked up a lot of Persian in the third year of Cyrus), from apadana which means “audience hall”.

That is not an accurate description of The Holy Place of the Jewish Temple, which is confined and not public. When The Abomination of Desolation happens the whole world will be be able to see because the Man of Sin will brings news media with him, but it’s design is not to be an “audience hall”. And I don’t think Daniel would have used a gentile non Hebrew word to describe The Temple, this is clearly a Gentile place of worship.

I think he’ll actually place a Throne of sorts on the Rock venerated under the Dome of The Rock. The Dome of The Rock isn't like most Mosques, in fact I’m not sure it’s really considered one at all. In-spite of them usually not allowing cameras in it’s a much more open public area, it could easily serve as an “audience hall”.

I will share some facts I considered interesting back when I learned toward the Mahdi view.  There is no doubt much I always disagreed with here, but it says the entire design of the Dome of The Rock was about it’s Prophetic significance to Muslims.

  http://www.academia.edu/913208/The_Meaning_of_the_Dome_of_the_Rock-published_The_Islamic_Quarterly_Fall_1999
the Muslim Dome of the Rock commemorated an event (rather a connected series of events)which was (and still is) future—the Resurrection, Judgment, and final rule of God upon earth. This is why the Dome of the Rock remains a mystery from the art historical point of reference—commemoration looks to the past—but here, in the first great structure of Islam, the commemoration is eschatological and thus points to the future.-
Muslims also believe, according to the Encyclopaedia of Islam and other sources, that prior to the occurrence of the Resurrection and the Last Judgment,
Mekkah’s
black stone will come to the holy city of Jerusalem, as a bride to her husband, to perform a circumambulation around the Rock which the Dome covers. Then the angel of death,
Israfil
, will blow his trumpet—the last trumpet—and this will initiate the resurrection day.
[Busse, Sanctity, 468, n.141]
This Qur’anic statement is inexplicable if early Islam is to be understood in the same way as modern Islam is comprehended in its separation or distinction from the former faiths. However, if we accept the eschatological solution to the mystery of the origin of the Dome of the Rock, this Qur’anic statement becomes comprehensible.
The eschatological associations, which the Dome of the Rock possesses, are enunciated even in its inscriptions. For example, the inscription on the northeast outer ambulatory states,
To Him belongs dominion and to Him belongs praise. He gives life and He makes to die; He is powerful over all things.
[conflation of Qur’an 64:1 and 57:2]
Muhammad is God’s messenger, may God bless him and accept his intercession on the day of resurrection for his community.[Encyclopaedia of Islam, 267][emphasis mine]-
The Umayyards created a suitable covering over this Rock upon which the Judgment of the World would commence, and surrounded it with the crowns of those who must present themselves before God after the Resurrection. [See Figure 4,page 15]

I obviously don’t expect much of this to be literally fulfilled, and they don’t directly mention the Mahdi. But the key is it’s association with the Resurrection. While for Christians the Resurrection began with Jesus, for Muslims it will begin when Isa resurrects the Mahdi. So it’s easy to speculate that the Mahdi will reign from here publicly for a bit, be assassinated here, and his body entombed here until his counterfeit resurrection.

I think this significance for the Dome of the Rock could also tie into Isaiah 14’s talk of the Abominable Branch being cast out of his sepulcher/buryingplace/grave.  And Daniel 9:27’s talk of the desolating abomination spreading from a Wing of The Temple, which some have already seen linked to the Outer Court reference of Revelation 11.

I do believe the Beast’s receiving his Mortal Wound must be very Public, as Public as JFK’s assassination if the whole world can wonder at it’s healing without doubt it was purely supernatural. And so must it’s healing. So an “Audience Hall” is a fitting location.

I of course am no longer as sold on the Mahdi Antichrist theory, I was for awhile (when I wrote the first draft of this).  But it can work with other theories too.  Since it was built non Muslims have used The Dome of The Rock when they controlled the area.  Like the Knights Templars.

I've studied Chris White's False Christ theory, it's compelling though certain details I can't accept.  I could see a Jewish Leader, or Ally claiming to be messiah Ben-Joseph also making a makeshift "Audience Hall" out of it after retaking control of the Temple Mount.  But I suspect this is a change in control of the site that would happen after The Temple was already built.