“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55: 6-7

דרשו יהוה בהמצאו קראהו בהיותו קרוב׃

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Don’t Confuse Yahweh with Religion

While Christians in America are singing Kumbaya and dealing with a “Black Lives Matter” crisis that was manufactured by Democrats following George Floyd’s murder to subvert the Trump presidency, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a decree that made Hagia Sophia a mosque. That decree created an uproar that is just beginning to reverberate globally.

This is serious, but it is under-the-radar for most Americans. Keep an eye on it. It’s a big deal.

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia was built by the Roman Emperor Justinian. It opened as a church in 537 AD. After Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque by Mehmed the Conqueror.

Hagia Sophia was the main mosque for Istanbul (previously Constantinople) until 1616 AD when Sultan Ahmed built the Blue Mosque nearby. Hagia Sophia remained a mosque until 1931 AD when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Atatürk) closed it to the public for four years. He re-opened Hagia Sophia in 1935 as a museum belonging to the secular Republic of Turkey. Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque are in Old Istanbul.

The Golden Horn is the waterway in Istanbul where the Bosphorus Strait empties into the Sea of Marmara. It’s a strategic waterway leading from the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea through the Bosphorus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles.

Below are 2 pictures. The first picture shows Hagia Sophia. The second picture shows the Blue Mosque. I took them in 2002.

Hagia Sophia

The Blue Mosque

President Erdoğan’s decision had nothing to do with the strategic importance of the waterway. It had everything to do with rallying his political support among Islamists in Turkey, the Middle East, and the world.

The picture below shows Old Istanbul or what used to be Constantinople. It is fronted by the waterway known as the Golden Horn. In the picture, both Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque can be seen. The Sea of Marmara is in the picture beyond Old Istanbul. The Bosphorus Strait is in the picture to the left of Old Istanbul.

Articles about Erdoğan’s Decision

Erdogan Turns Hagia Sophia Into a Mosque: Islamists Rejoice, Trump Is Silent and Turkey’s Opposition Won’t Be Distracted:

In one of his boldest moves ever, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree Friday changing the status of Hagia Sophia from a museum back to a mosque. The cathedral of Hagia Sophia, commissioned by the Roman emperor Justinian I and completed in 537, was originally the crown jewel of the Byzantine Empire’s capital of Constantinople.

In 1453, as Ottoman sultan Mehmet the Conqueror entered Constantinople, he converted the architectural wonder, which had borne the title of the largest cathedral in the world for a thousand years, into a mosque. Even though it would later be joined by the beauties of the Suleymaniye and the Sultan Ahmet (Blue) Mosques vying for attention on the city’s skyline, Hagia Sophia would never lose its original glory.

It was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, iconic leader of the Turkish national movement, who stamped his authority on the building no less than his predecessors. In 1934, by the will of Ataturk, and a cabinet decree, the Christian-then-Muslim house of prayer was transformed into a museum, opening to the public a year later. Hagia Sophia was now declared a relic of the past, a gem to be polished and showcased to the world as the heritage of a land that encompassed both Christians and Muslims.

However Ataturk’s legacy, including his secularizing reforms so admired by the West, remained controversial within his own country. From Erdogan’s first day as Istanbul’s mayor in 1995, he embraced a completely different vision from the state’s founder. For him, Hagia Sophia had never stopped being a mosque, and turning it back into one was always his dream. He believed this reversal would correct Ataturk’s act of historical injustice.

Hagia Sophia: World Council of Churches appeals to Turkey on mosque decision:

In a letter to Mr Erdogan, the Council, which counts 350 churches as members, said the move would sow division.

The Unesco World Heritage site in Istanbul has been a museum since 1934.

The president announced his decision on Friday following a court ruling which annulled its museum status.

The Hagia Sophia was built 1,500 years ago as an Orthodox Christian cathedral, but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453.

It was converted to a museum on the orders of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding father of modern, secular Turkey.

Since then religious services have been banned at the site, but devout Muslims have long campaigned for worship to be allowed.

Hagia Sophia: Pope ‘pained’ as Istanbul museum reverts to mosque:

Pope Francis has said he’s “pained” by Turkey’s decision to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia back into a mosque.

Speaking at a service in the Vatican, the Roman Catholic leader added that his “thoughts go to Istanbul”.

Hagia Sophia was built as a Christian cathedral nearly 1,500 years ago and turned into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of 1453.

The Unesco World Heritage Site became a museum in 1934 under Turkish Republic founding father Ataturk.

But earlier this week a Turkish court annulled the site’s museum status, saying its use as anything other than a mosque was “not possible legally”.

Pope Francis confined himself to a few words on the issue: “My thoughts go to Istanbul. I think of Santa Sophia and I am very pained.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the first Muslim prayers would be held in Hagia Sophia on July 24.

Erdoğan is Up to No Good

See “Turkey vows to ‘liberate Al-Aqsa’ after turning Hagia Sophia to mosque”:

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “liberate al-Aqsa mosque” from Israel after “resurrecting Hagia Sophia” as a mosque on Friday.

The decision to change the status of the ancient Hagia Sophia church, which had been transformed into a mosque in 1453 and then into a museum in 1934, was made controversially last week.

President Erdoğan has been up to no good for a long time. He sees himself as a modern-day Saladin trying to reinstate the Ottoman Empire and to drive the “Crusaders” and Jews out of Jerusalem.

“Liberating” Hagia Sophia was Step 1. It was aimed at his bolstering Erdoğan’s Islamist political base at home.

Step 2 will be “liberating” Al Aqsa Mosque. It’s aimed at establishing Erdoğan’s Islamist bona fides among Middle Eastern Muslims who are primarily Arabs.

I have been writing about Erdoğan’s dirty deeds for many years. See the SnyderTalk editorials below:

It’s ironic that Erdoğan is aiming at Al Aqsa Mosque and the Temple Mount, because Yahweh’s Temple was not on the Temple Mount. It was in the City of David. See “Yahweh’s Temple was not on the Temple Mount (Part 1)”. Also, see the video below. It shows Jerusalem from the air.

It’s ironic that Pope Francis is criticizing Erdoğan’s so-called “liberation” of Hagia Sophia, because the pope is trying to establish his bona fides by giving away land to Palestinians that belongs to Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob/Israel. In essence, the pope is betraying Yahweh, and he professes to be Yahweh’s intermediator here on Earth. See “The Pope and Me: A True Story”.

Yahweh is about Faith, Not Religion

As we know, nations go to war over religion and race/ethnicity all the time. We are heading toward a serious religious and race/ethnic war, but the spiritual war that is raging now is not about religion or race/ethnicity. It’s about faith.

People of faith will side with Yahweh. Others won’t.

It’s crucial to know whose side you are on, because Yahweh wins in the end. Everyone on Earth will have to choose a side. Not choosing is choosing to side against Yahweh. This is serious.

Dinner on the Golden Horn

The picture below shows Katie and me enjoying dinner on the Golden Horn with one of my former students from Turkey. It was taken in 2002. If you haven’t been to Istanbul, you are missing a treat. Turkey is a beautiful country, and Istanbul is a beautiful city.

When this picture was taken, Turkey was a friend of Israel, and it was moving rapidly toward becoming a member of the European Union. Katie and I walked around Old Istanbul unmolested. We were treated like welcomed guests.

Erdoğan took the reins of power in Turkey in 2003. Since then, he has attacked Atatürk’s legacy and made great headway toward reinstating Islamism in Turkey. I would not feel safe walking around Old Istanbul today. Turkey under Erdoğan has become a state that borders on being a dictatorship.

Dinner on the Golden Horn

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“I pray…that they may all be one, even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one. I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 21-24)