Foundation Stone Devotional On The Temple Mount Steps
I first heard the term "Foundation-stone" in
2012, refering to the massive stone under the golden
Dome of the Rock.
Jews call it the Even haShetiya-( אבן השתייה)
Hebrew for Foundation-stone, or
Rock (
Aramaic). Jews consider it the Holiest
Place on earth. Muslims the 3rd Holiest. Much of the
Middle Eastern conflict today is related to it.
Where did the tradition originate? Rabbis
point to
Scripture, and the God who wrote it. The Psalmist said: "
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth
..." "He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." "Where were you," God asks Job, 'when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand...who laid its cornerstone?'"
Isaiah 28:16 says, "So this is what the
Sovereign LORD says: 'See, I lay a stone in
Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed."
According to
Rabbinic tradition, God created
Adam and Eve a hundred cubits east of The Foundation-stone, and after sinning, they offered a sacrifice to the
Lord on
The Rock to atone for their sins.
When
Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to the Lord,
Abel's was accepted and
Cain's not, but according to the Rabbis, the altar used was the
Even haShetiya.
Rabbinic tradition taught the Foundation-stone came from God's
Throne of
Glory and was placed as a lid on the chaotic waters below the earth called the 'tehom'; (Hebrew for 'abyss')
. If the 'tehom' were not held back by the Foundation-stone, its waters would flood the earth. The
Biblical Flood is understood to have occurred because God did remove it, and it only ended when God put the Foundation-stone in place again, at which time
Noah made sacrifice to God on that Rock altar.
According to tradition, the place
Abraham raised the knife to offer his son
Isaac was the even haShetiya. God, however, provided a ram instead.
Later,
Jacob deceived his father Isaac, and stole his older brother
Esau's birthright. He was forced to flee, and one night Jacob fell asleep on a large rock, using a smaller stone from the larger as a pillow. He had a dream, and saw angels ascending and descending from heaven. God said, "I am the Lord, the God of your father
Abraham and Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying... I am with you and will watch over you... I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised..."
When Jacob woke, he said, "
Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." He was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.'"
Rabbinic tradition taught
Jacob's ladder was a "gateway" between
Heaven and earth—the closest place on earth to heaven, which is why prayers and sacrifices offered there were believed so effective. Of course, you can guess where this was all said to have happened, the Foundation-stone!
Scripture records when
David defeated the Jebusites and moved his capital
Jerusalem, he wanted to show his gratitude to God by building a
Temple. He went to Araunhah to buy his threshing floor. Araunhah offered to give it, but David replied, "I will not offer the Lord a sacrifice which cost me nothing?" The threshing floor was the location of the future Temple.
Solomon built the Temple
. In the center was the
Holy of Holies and
Ark of the Covenant, which the Talmud said rested on the Foundation-stone.
So you can see why The Foundation-stone is considered so
Holy to Jews. Much is said to have happened there. But wait. There is still more!
Rabbinic tradition teaches everything that exists in the universe began with this rock. The Tanhuma says,
As the navel is set in the centre of the human body,
so is the land of
Israel the navel of the world...
situated in the centre of the world,
and Jerusalem in the centre of the land of Israel,
and the sanctuary in the centre of Jerusalem,
and the holy place in the centre of the sanctuary,
and the ark in the centre of the holy place,
and the
Foundation Stone before the holy place,
because from it the world was founded.