July 17, 2017 - A. V. Rauf
Tension on the Temple Mount!
Jerusalem has seen two temples built on the Temple Mount. The first was built by King Solomon close to 3,000 years ago. It was destroyed by the armies of Nebudchadnezzar in 586 B.C. The second temple was built under Zerubbabel during the years 520-516 B.C. This was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. Since that time there has been a deep longing amongst many observant Jews both out in the Diaspora and back in the land of Israel to see the temple rebuilt once again.
Avid Bible Prophecy students are fully awrae of the fact that the coming Third Temple has major prophetic and eschataological implications that culminate in the end of the Church Age and the beginnig of the Tribulation period.
Once a year, on the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, Jews fast, cry and mourn for the destruction of their Holy Temple. They long for the rebuilding of an edifice that was destroyed 2,000 years ago.
At the present time the construction of the Third Temple is quite impossible from a political standpoint. The Temple Mount area is currently under strict Islamic control. But the prophetic scriptures indicate that the temple will indeed be rebuilt.
At some point there will be a new peace on the Temple Mount. And in this peace the Third Temple will be constructed. However, this peace may come after a future war in the Middle East ignites. Will it be Psalm 83? Will it be Jeremiah 49:34-39?? Will it be the destruction of Syria mentioned in Isaiah 17. Or will it be Ezekiel 38-39??
The Bible repeatedly describes the Temple as the spiritual center of the world and the source for peace and prosperity.
Over the past decade there has been a growing “Movement” to rebuild the temple in Israel today with thousands of Jews working to rebuild the temple. According to a poll taken last year in a leading newspaper Ha’aretz, one third of Israelis believe that Israel should erect the Temple on the Temple Mount. Just last year, Israel’s Housing Minister called publicly for the rebuilding of the Temple, “We’ve built many little, little temples,” MK Uri Ariel said, referring to synagogues, “but we need to build a real Temple on the Temple Mount.”
Schools throughout Israel are diligently studying the laws of the temple and Jews of all backgrounds visit the Temple Mount each month. The Jerusalem Post quoted Sarit Berko, a non-observant Israeli who came to the Western Wall to observe the 9th of Av from her home in Tel Aviv, an annual pilgrimage she has made since the Six Day War in 1967. “During Passover, most Jews say ‘Next year in Jerusalem’,” explained Berko, “As an Israeli I pray, ‘Next year may the Third Temple be built and last for eternity.’
The Temple is such a central theme in the Bible that one third of all its commandments deal with laws carried out in it. In the near future it will be rebuilt and part of it will be given over to the gentiles:
Revelation 11:1-2—–And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Forty and two months is equivalent to 3.5 years which in itself is half of seven, or quite possibly midway through the last seven years of history prior to the Return (NOT THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH) of the Lord Jesus Christ. These seven years have been referred to by many scholars as the Tribulation.
The Temple Institute in Jerusalem has announced that it has finished building an altar that can be utilized for Temple service. The altar, which took several years to build, can be operational at little more than a moment’s notice, reported Matzav Haruach magazine.
Furthermore, the third Temple’s sacred vessels, the menorah, showbread table and incense altar are completed. The architectural design is also done. It is also being reported that the third Temple will be a mix of steel, stone and composite materials conforming to the Law. The architectural plans only need to be executed.
A Biblical description of the preparation of the temple can be found in Zechariah Chapters 1-4. Interestingly enough, the fourth chapter reads right into the advent of the two witnesses of Revelation Chapter 11—-See Below:
The Temple Institute is committed to preparing all the necessary clothing and tools for the re-built Holy Temple in Jerusalem. In addition, the institute operates an educational center for visitors and a preparatory training program for members of the Aaronic priesthood who wish to be ready to serve as soon as the Temple is rebuilt.
Events continue to escalate on the Temple Mount following the murder of two Israeli guards on the Temple Mount just last week.
The Temple Mount was closed Friday after three Arab Israeli terrorists emerged from the compound and opened fire at a group of police officers just outside, killing two of them.
On Sunday, the site was opened to Muslims only, and on Monday, it was opened to non-Muslim visitors as well.
Under the status quo, established after Israel captured the site in 1967, the site is managed by an Islamic foundation under the auspices of Jordan — the Waqf — and Israel controls access.
Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray, at the site — the holiest place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam.
Pay close attention because here is where this gets very interesting:
The current ruling Fatah party of Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas re-broadcast his call for violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosue in 2014. The broadcast was in response to the closure of the Temple Mount following the terrorist attack in which two police officers were murdered Friday morning. Palestinian Media Watch reported that Fatah posted the video on its official Facebook page. In it, Abbas calls on Arabs to use violence to prevent Jews from ascending the Temple Mount.
“We must all carry out Ribat [religious conflict] in the Al-Aqsa Mosque… We have to prevent them, in any way whatsoever, from entering the Sanctuary… They have no right to enter it. They have no right to defile it. We must prevent them. Let us stand before them with chests bared to protect our holy places,” Abbas says in the video.
In addition, last week the country of Jordan also condemned the violence in Jerusalem but also demanded that Israel “immediately” reopen the Temple Mount compound for Muslim worshipers.
Jordan’s Government Spokesman Mohammed Momani said in a statement quoted by the Jordanian news agency Petra that Jordan rejects any violation against the right of Muslims to perform their religious rituals in their holy shrines.
Israeli officials were angered by Jordan’s statement, saying on Friday evening they rejected it.
“Instead of condemning the attack, Jordan chose to attack Israel, which protects the worshipers and preserves freedom of worship in the area,” the statement said, according to Israeli media outlets.
“Israel will not tolerate any ham to the holy sites and it maintains the status quo in them. It would be appropriate for all the parties involved, including Jordan, to maintain restraint and prevent an escalation,” it added.
Jordan is one of two Arab countries, the other being Egypt, to have signed a peace treaty with Israel.
Events like these can be looke upon as trigger points that can escalate to war.
Many Bble prophecy students are aware of the coming Revelation 12 sign: See here––
Just how will this Middle East peace be achieved? What will have happened to suddenly change the political landscape in the Middle East and thus open the way to allow the temple to be rebuilt? A new “prince” will have come into power. But who will this man be? And in whose name will he come? Will he turn out to be the peacemaker or power broker spoken of by the prophet Daniel? Shall we come face to face with the long awaited peacemaker of Daniel 9:27:
Daniel 9:27–And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
This future seven year covenant will be different. The final solution of the “Road Map to Peace” will be on the front pages of our newspapers and News websites on Fox and CNN cable news. This seven year peace deal or covenant will kick off the final seven year history of this world spawning earthshaking political events of Biblical proportions.
When this covenant is signed and confirmed there will be major international consequences. Great and awesome events will start to happen as the Holy God of Israel resumes His determined covenant dealings with the nation of Israel and the rest of the world.
Zechariah 12:1-11—The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. 4 In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. 6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 7 The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. 8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
It is of a surety that we are living in the very season of the Lord’s return, and have been for quite some time. As Jesus Christ taught in the Gospels, the prophetic birth pangs that are so prevalent globally speaking, in so many different prophetic spheres, are becoming more pronounced and stronger with each passing day.
As we approach the end of the Church Age, all the prophetic pieces are falling into their Biblically ordained end-time places and this is exactly what we are witness to in all other areas of Biblical eschatalogy or end-time prophecy.
A recent Blockbuster Summer movie was released with a sub title called “HOMECOMING” and interestingly enough a soundtrack that played in the opening scenes contained the following words:
“Can’t you hear me knockin’ on your window”
“Can’t you hear me knockin’ on your door”
“Can’t you hear me knockin’, ahh, are you safe asleep?….”
Revelation 3:20-22: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Song of Solomon 2:10-13—My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Can you hear HIM Knockin’??