Fulfilling biblical prophecy, fox spotted on Temple Mount

Fox spotted walking along Temple Mount wall during Tisha B’Av fast.

By World Israel News

A fox was seen along a wall of the Temple Mount during a fast marking the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem this week, fulfilling an ancient prophecy regarding the ruins of the holy site.

Footage of the fox at the southern wall of the Temple Mount went viral on social media after the animal was spotted Wednesday night.

Social media users noted that the fox’s presence at the holy site during the night of Tisha B’Av – the traditional Jewish fast day memorializing the destruction of King Solomon’s Temple and the Second Temple – fulfilled the prophecy given by Uriah in the Book of Micah (3:12): “Therefore, for your sake Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become rubble, and the Temple Mount as the high places of a forest (where foxes are found).”

In the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Makkot 24b), Rabbi Akiva is recorded having laughed upon visiting the ruins of the Holy of Holies at the site of the Second Temple. Three other rabbis accompanying him asked Rabbi Akiva why he laughed where others mourned, prompting Rabbi Akiva to point out that the prophet Isaiah had linked Uriah’s prophecy of the desolation of Jerusalem with Zechariah’s prophecy of the city’s redemption.

“Until the prophecy of Uriah was fulfilled I was afraid that the prophecy of Zechariah would not be fulfilled. Now that the prophecy of Uriah was fulfilled, it is evident that the prophecy of Zechariah remains valid,” Rabbi Akiva said.

The three other rabbis present, Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, and Rabbi Yehoshua, responded, “Akiva, you have comforted us; Akiva, you have comforted us.”

Old City of JerusalemTemple Mounttisha b'av