Artist's layout of future (third) Jewish temple.
Click on the image to go to the article.
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Artist's layout of future (third) Jewish temple. Click on the image to go to the article.
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THETHIRD
JEWISH
TEMPLE
A study by Gavin Finley M.D.
endtimepilgrim.org
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 desire among many observant Jews both out in the Diaspora and back in Eretz Israel to see the temple rebuilt.
At the present time the construction of the Third Temple is quite impossible from a political perspective. The Temple Mount area is under rather strict Islamic control. But the prophetic scriptures indicate that the temple will indeed be rebuilt. We can only assume that those sad conditions we see and take for granted today will change quite dramatically in the future. At some point there will be a new peace on the Temple Mount. And in this peace the Third Temple will be constructed.
What power will have come onto the scene to change the status quo here? What national or international entity will have done this? Well at present we do not know. But one thing we can say with some assurance. At some future time the Temple Mount in Jerusalem will be secured. And Middle East peace will be guaranteed by some very significant power. And that power will most certainly not be an Islamic one.
These are awesome issues to consider.
The prophecy we are considering here is extremely important.
Daniel 9:27 is the most
significant prophecy yet to unfold.
It is the next big event to pop up on the calendar.
This extraordinary future peace accord must be signed and ratified.
When that happens the trumpets will be blowing,
some in celebration, and some in warning.
Some students of Bible prophecy believe that there is some good evidence
that the peace covenant of Dan.9:27 will occur right on
some future Jewish new year. And thus
the
Feast of Trumpets will come into its New Covenant fulfillment.
It seems that the Day of Atonement seven years
later marks out with total precision the 2550 days
that will encompass
Daniel's 70th Week.
It is an exact fit. Is this just a coincidence?
Probably not.
This epic future peace in the Middle East would certainly fit the trumpet blowing scenario. The Feast of Trumpets is the first of the Fall Feasts which are the final three feats of the Seven Feasts of Israel. In fact the feast characterised as one of "blowing of trumpets" is the very next feast to come to fulfillment. This blockbuster future peace covenant will not just be something done in secret. Nor will it merely be a photo-op with a handshake and something signed on a piece of paper. It will not be just political theatrics or a hyped up event with no meaningful subsequent execution. We saw a demonstration of this sort of empty political showcasing with the PLO peace agreement signed on the White House lawn. This was not worth the paper it was written on. Then later we saw the Oslo accords which again failed to bring in the desired peace in the Middle East. In fact matters went from bad to worse.
This future seven year covenant will be different. It will be the genuine article. Its reality will be proven by the epic subsequent history that it opens up. When this covenant is signed and confirmed there will be consequences. Great and awesome events will start to happen. This is clearly laid out for us in Daniel 9:27.
So just how will this future megadealer
have managed to pull off this epic Middle East peace deal?
It seems that this "confirmation of the covenant"
will in fact be the completion and ratification of the very same
Peace Process we have been seeing develop in recent years.
The peace will finally be nailed down.
How will it have happened?
Well this is an interesting question. It is entirely possible that this future peace treaty will be brokered in the aftermath of a future Middle East conflict. This coming war may turn out to be be a very destructive one. And history demonstrates a recurring pattern. Great treaties do not happen in peacetime by monetary coaxing. They usually follow wars.
The future war that leads to this Middle East peace
may surprise and shock us. It may even involve
the explosion of a nuclear device.
This would set the international community screaming,
"Someone do something!"
Enter then the peacemaker and prince.
Where might this war take place? Israel has recently expressed concern that terrorist cells of Hamas and Hezbollah are holed up in Damascus. This is very close to Jerusalem. The city of Damascus is the oldest city in the world. And it has never been destroyed in all its history. But there is a prophecy awaiting fulfilment that involves this old city. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the city of Damascus becoming a "heap of rubble". (Isa.17) That being the case, we might do well to keep an eye on this developing situation in Syria.
One thing we can say with complete assurance. If the Third Temple is to be built then the balance of power will have been changed in a dramatic way. Something big will have to happen to break the present Islamic hold on the Temple Mount. Without the political status quo being overturned there can be no construction of the Third Temple.
Just where did the original temple stand? Was it really in the center? Or was it situated to the north of the present location of the Dome of the Rock? Some Jewish authorities on the subject, such as Asher Kaufmann are saying precisely this.
This is very interesting. It opens up the very real possibility that the Third Jewish Temple will be constructed on the north side of the Mount. Could the Temple be rebuilt next to the Islamic Dome of the Rock and peacefully coexist with it? This would be very politically favorable to world peace. If such a plan was acted upon then the Temple Mount would look something like we see in the picture up above.
As we have previously stated, it seems that the Third Temple can only be built under the covering of an all encompassing world peace. This peace will most certainly involve Israel and her neighbors. It is a peace that we have not seen yet. Quite obviously it is out there in the future. Because all attempts by the Jewish 'Temple Mount Faithful' to place a foundation stone for the temple on the temple mount have incited Islamic rioting. When Ariel Sharon decided to take a stroll on the Temple Mount some years ago the result was a huge hue and cry throughout the Islamic world. In fact it started off a wave of terrorism that came to be known as "the intifada".
So how will the peace necessary to allow this rebuilding come? Will it come after a future war? Will the radical fundamentalist Islamic powers currently ruling the Temple Mount be defeated by a combined Judeo-Christian (anti-terror) alliance?
During the 1967 Six Day War the Israelis made
it as far as the Wailing Wall.
And that is where they stopped.
This was a pivotal moment in holy history.
At that awesome moment they blew the shofar.
The Temple Mount was just a few meters away.
They were so close.
How about next time?
Will the Israelis make it all the way to the top?
Will Jewish forces end up capturing the Temple Mount?
If they do then another question arises. Just who will then step in as peacemaker? Who will see that the spoils are divided in a way that is considered equitable for that point in history?
Clearly the temple rebuilding project and the world at large is crying out for "peace and security". Will it come in by a peace treaty brokered by an emerging global peacemaker? If history does call for such a man to arise on the stage he will be a man of some stature and capability. He will have to be a convincing megadealer and and a capable crisis manager. Will such a peacemaker arise in that future day? Who will be the one who picks up the pieces after that future war?
Of course there is more to the story. The jigsaw puzzle of Bible prophecy is coming together in many areas. Yes, early on a "prince" will appear on the stage of history. At the beginning he will take the spotlight in his 'peacemaker' or "Mr. Niceguy" role. But this global power broker will not remain just as a peacemaker. He will have just secured for himself enornous international power. Perhaps sovereign power will be given him to disarm the world of weapons of mass destruction. But the scriptures are clear on his future acts. He will go on later to break the covenant he has just made. Then, midway through the seven years he will be revealed as someone less than benevolent. (Dan.9:27 part B) He will turn out to be none other than the coming false Messiah or Antichrist. Moses gave a warning of this great latter day trial and tribulation for the covenant people of God. And Jesus Himself warned that His people would accept another "prince" who came not in the Father's name but "in his own name". (John 5:43)
This alignment of the Temple with the Eastern Gate would only be appropriate. The architectural layout of the temple would surely have been to allow the Messiah to come "straight up" through the eastern gate and into His Temple. He would enter the city and go straight into the temple without doing any turning left or "jigs" as he entered the temple mount on His way into the temple.
Here is the issue. If the temple was in the center of the Temple Mount then Messiah would have to turn left upon entering the city. Turning left is just not good form for a returning King. It is, in fact, unthinkable. Surely Zerubbabel, (and Solomon before him), were mindful of this when the temple was designed. It was a magnificent Temple. And we can be sure that it was meticulously and tastefully laid out. YHVH God Himself was the true divine Architect. He guided King David as the king prepared for his son Solomon to build the temple. We can well assume that the former two temples were faithfully constructed by the builders according to the blueprint of a holy and divine order. This would only be in keeping with the beauty our Messiah most assuredly deserves.
As it happens, this northern site is being looked at by one of several Jewish groups who are working towards the rebuilding of the Hebrew Temple. The last temple, the second temple built by Zerubbabel and embellished by Herod, was destroyed by the Romans under Titus in 70 A.D..
As we look now at the present situation we see that the Dome of the Rock occupies the center of the Temple Mount. The future Third Temple could therefore be rebuilt to the north of the Dome and be on the same site as the former temple. There would be enough room to provide an acceptable easement between the two buildings. There would,in fact, be a clearance of 150 feet. This would allow the Dome to co-exist with the future Jewish Temple. It could be built to the north of the Dome of the Rock and straight opposite the Eastern Gate.
The good news, from a world peace perspective is that there is no necessity to destroy the Islamic holy place, the Dome of the Rock. It is entirely possible that the Dome covers the site where Abraham was preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac, but was stopped by God.
If we think about it for a moment the Temple of YHVH is not based on Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. This act was a mirror of what God was doing on His side of the covenant. Abraham's willingness was indeed important. It was man's or Abraham's part of the Eternal Covenant. But it was not God's part of the Covenant. In the manner of covenants Abraham's part was an essential one. He showed a willingness to enter into a blood covenant with God. It was indeed essential for Abraham, as God's blood covenant partner, to be willing to sacrifice his son.
But there would be a greater reality. YHVH/God was Abraham's covenant partner. And He was taking the initiative in the covenant. He would provide a Lamb.
YHVH would do the same for the family of Abraham as Abraham had shown himself willing to do for YHVH God. He would "provide a sacrifice". YHVH God would offer up His only son. This would happen at Calvary 2,000 years later. At that time another son, like Isaac, carried the wood for the sacrifice up the hill. The Son of God, carried a wooden cross up the hill. That cross would be the altar upon which the final Sacrifice would be made for the sins of the world.
These issues of blood covenant are not well understood by modern Christians in the west today. Even evangelicals, for the most part, do not understand the necessity of blood covenant witness. They do not understand blood covenant Christianity as it relates to their own New Covenant. This is the relationship they presently have with Jesus Christ/Yeshua Hamashiach. They are in a blood covenant relationship. But they do not understand what that means.
The binding of Isaac by our patriarch Abraham and his willingness to sacrifice His only true son was a blood covenant reflection and a witness of greater things that YHVH God was going to do for Israel and for all mankind in a future time.
Our God is not slack concerning His promises. He Himself would provide a sacrifice. Yes Abraham saw the ram caught by his horns, even with the thorns binding his head. Abraham then released his son and turned to see the sacrifice lamb that God had provided. So right there, on the temple mount, in the divine typology, was a picture of a promised future Sacrifice Lamb, the Holy One of Israel, the Meshiach ben Joseph or 'Suffering Servant' Isaiah spoke about. (Isa.53)
If the Dome of the Rock covers the ground where Abraham offered up Isaac then it should be remembered. It should be honored. Abraham's sacrifice, on man's side of the covenant surely deserves a place of prominence on the Temple Mount.
And a future Jewish Temple ought be built beside it. It should be built upon a greater reality, even the sure promise of a Sacrifice Lamb. In fact this is the first thing that confronts the visitor to the Temple, or the Tabernacle that preceded it. They see the brazen altar. And they see the lamb of sacrifice upon that altar.
The promised and Expected One will be lifted up and seen by all
mankind. He comes to us from the heart of the Holy One of Israel.
He will be a 'Light to the Gentiles'. (Isa.42:6, 49:6, & 60:3)
Surely the Anointed One, the Messiah is that Lamb in His earlier priestly role
as the Suffering Servant Isaiah spoke about.
This Sacrifice Lamb the true basis and foundation for the future Temple.
Because the Lord of Hosts declares,
"....I will shake all nations,
and the Desire of all nations shall come,
And I will fill this house with glory." (Hag.2:7)
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