In a move some are calling an "incredible victory for Christians in the United States," the Institute for Digital Archaeology has announced that plans to build a giant arch for the Temple of Baal in New York City and London have been canceled.
In March, the New York Times reported that reproductions of the 50-foot arch that formed the temple's entrance were to be installed in New York and in London, a tribute to the 2,000-year-old structure that the Islamic State destroyed last year in the Syrian town of Palmyra.
"It will be uncanny and thrilling to see this arch from an ancient desert civilization set against the bright lights of New York," reads the report.
Baal is today recognized as the pagan god of the Canaanites in Old Testament times. Baal worship served as a problem to Israel throughout the period of the judges (Judges 3:7) and was prevalent in the reign of King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 16:31-33).
However, earlier this week, The Telegraph released a report revealing that the original plan to put up the arch from the Temple of Baal in the cities had been simultaneously had been scrapped. Instead, the Institute for Digital Archaeology announced they will model the structure after the Arch of Triumph of Palmyra.
"The Palmyra arch that is being reconstructed is no longer the entrance to the Temple of Bel (sic) (which survived an attempt to blow it up in August 2015) but the Arch of Triumph (partially destroyed in October) formerly located at one end of the Great Colonnade," the outlet reported.
The Institute confirmed the news on its website: "The IDA's Arch of Triumph of Palmyra serves as a model for how, together, we will bring life back to Palmyra and restore the site as a message of peace against terrorism, and will further collaborate in this way on other heritage sites in Syria."
The report notes that the entrance arch, to be displayed in London, might move to New York City as an archeological display. Currently, there are no plans to build permanent buildings for Baal worship in either of the two cities.
In an op-ed for Charisma News, Michael T. Snyder, publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and author of The Beginning of the End, called the decision to cancel plans to erect the pagan structure an "incredible victory for Christians in the United States."
"[Let] us not underestimate the prayers of God's people," he wrote. "Once this story went viral, Christians all over America started praying against this arch. From personal experience, I know that the prayers of righteous men and women are extremely powerful, and we may never know how much of an impact they had on this situation."
He added, "So let us celebrate this victory, but let us also understand that what this country is facing is not going to fundamentally change unless there is true repentance. Because even though a monument to Baal is not going up in New York City next month, we continue to embrace the ways of Baal as a nation."
