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This book presents a series of interlocking images/pieces that have for millennia created the current puzzling view of the holy city of Jerusalem and nearby mountains. Since all Hebrew temples were destroyed, Gross begins in the introduction with the Dome of the Rock. Chapter 1 leaps backward in Hebrew history to Abram and his son Isaac on top of Mt. Moriah. Moses brings the freed Hebrew slaves from Egypt to Mt. Sinai, where he introduces the Ten Commandments. Moses viewed the promised land from Mt. Pisgah, but Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan into the land. Having defeated most of their enemies, Israel’s King David climbs through the subterranean Gihon spring to conquer the Jebusites’ stronghold, renaming it Jerusalem.
Chapters 6 and 7 proceed through the prophets, the apocryphal books, and onto Revelation’s end-time judgment at Armageddon. Finally, New Jerusalem comes down from heaven and onto the new earth. Other key characters introduced are Melchizedek, Solomon, and King Josiah, the last person to see the holy Ark of the Covenant. The author expects God to intervene again regarding this city where his holy son died on Golgotha’s hill. This study of moments atop Israel’s mountains supports his theory while also attempting to unravel the issue of the ownership of the Dome of the Rock.
Gross is thorough in documenting his resources, providing sections and verses along with explanations of older spellings of various names. He helps support his ideas via quotes from historians such as Josephus, the Bible, as well as Hebrew and Muslim writings with their attributions placed below. Some resources introduce quite novel interpretations of well-known biblical characters. The dates provided for more recent happenings in Jerusalem help the reader follow along with the author’s train of thought.
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