Rebuilding the Temple

The New Temple and the Second Coming: The Prophecy That Points to Christ's Return in Your Generation
by Grant R. Jeffrey, Ph.D.

Jewish authorities are making preparations to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. They have recovered lost artifacts from the ancient Temple and have recreated sacred vessels used in worship. The new Sanhedrin, reconvened in Israel, is training Levite priests to reinstitute animal sacrifice.

Temple worship and sacrifice are prophesied events that will set the stage for Christ's return. Prophecy expert Grant R. Jeffrey has uncovered not only the prophecies, but also an array of archaeological finds and discoveries from the ancient city hidden beneath Jerusalem. His research leads to a stunning conclusion: the generation alive today will witness the Second Coming.

In Jeffrey's new book, readers will examine little-known end-times mysteries, including:

• The search for lost Temple treasures
• The discovery of underground Jerusalem
• The process of recreating sacred Temple vessels
• Unexpected clues revealed in the Copper Scroll and the Ezekiel Tablets
• The latest plans for rebuilding the Temple

The Temple and the Second Coming shows readers how the rebuilding of the Temple will prepare the way for Christ to return-in our generation.

The Countdown to Christ's Return

Watchman, what of the night?
Watchman, what of the night?
The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.

Isaiah 21:11-12

Almost two thousand years ago, after nearly two years of terrible siege, the brutally efficient legions of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple to the ground. Led by General Titus, the son of Emperor Vespasian, the Roman army completed its mission of destruction on the ninth day of Av (August) in AD 70.

The glorious Temple, built by King Herod, was the second of the sacred Temples to stand on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The First Temple had been built by King Solomon around 1000 BC and was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. The Second Temple, built initially by the Jews after their return to Jerusalem in 536 BC following the Babylonian captivity and then expanded by Herod in the first century, remains in ruins today. However, exciting developments are taking place in Israel that will result in a Third Temple being built on the ancient foundations that Solomon put in place more than three thousand years ago.

You and I are part of the generation that will live to see a Temple of God once again stand in Jerusalem, the spiritual crossroads of the world.

The rebuilding of the Temple holds profound prophetic significance, equal to the appearance of the Antichrist or the forming of the pagan armies to invade Israel in the coming War of Gog and Magog. While many students of biblical prophecy have debated the role that will be played by the Third Temple in end-times developments, the Scriptures make it clear that just before Christ returns, the Third Temple of God must stand again on the original location on the Temple Mount.

Preparations to rebuild the Temple have progressed on several fronts, with plans already in place that go into far greater detail than most people are aware of. The Temple project is yet another major prophetic signpost on the time line leading to the final conflict of the battle of Armageddon and the establishment of the kingdom of God. No less a prophet than Jesus Christ made it clear that the generation that witnessed the return of the Jews to the Promised Land would live to see Him return to earth. The modern State of Israel was born in 1948, which means that you and I are part of the last-days generation (see Matthew 24:32-34).

However, the Temple must once again occupy its place on the Temple Mount before the major prophesied events of the last days can take place.

Many scholars have questioned whether the Temple will ever be rebuilt because of the immense practical, religious, and political obstacles that stand in the way. Mosques, shrines, and other Muslim holy sites occupy the Temple Mount, a thirty-five acre site that is under the administrative control of Arab authorities. Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel has controlled the entire city of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. However, Israel allows the Supreme Muslim Religious Council (the Waqf ) to control religious activities and to police (without firearms) all activities on the Temple Mount. This area is the location of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Religious Jews do not worship in the area of the Dome of the Rock because the chief rabbis warn they might inadvertently trespass on the site of the ancient Holy of Holies. Muslim control of the Temple Mount fulfills the prophecy of Luke 21:24, that "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."

In addition to the political and religious tensions that stand in the way of rebuilding the Temple, a longstanding and seemingly unsolvable dilemma from within Judaism has presented a major obstacle. The Jews cannot rebuild the Temple or resume worship in the Temple unless the long-dormant Sanhedrin Court, the highest body of Jewish lawmakers, is reconvened. This is necessary in order to reestablish the Levitical priesthood. The Sanhedrin is the only religious body authorized to determine the correct location of the Temple, to reinstitute the ancient rituals, and to oversee the many details related to Temple ritual and worship.

One of Jesus' prophecies indicates that the Sanhedrin will indeed be fulfilling its duties in the last days. Christ warned His disciples about the coming persecution in Jerusalem during the Tribulation. He told them to pray that their flight from the city would not be "on the sabbath day" (Matthew 24:20).

The reason for this is the commandment against performing work on the sabbath (see Exodus 20:8-10). The ancient Sanhedrin had determined that any travel on the sabbath that exceeded one thousand paces was considered work. However, if an invasion force should attack on the sabbath and the Jews in Jerusalem limited their travel to one thousand paces, it could ensure their destruction. Christ's prophecy implies that the Sanhedrin will exist in the last days and will have the authority to enforce such a religious rule. The historian Flavius Josephus calculated the distance from the Temple Mount to the Mount of Olives, known popularly as "the sabbath's day journey," as approximately one thousand yards.

Interestingly, the gospel historian Luke wrote in the book of Acts that the distance from the Mount of Olives to the Temple Mount is approximately a thousand paces, a "sabbath's day journey" (1:12).

Copyright © 2007 by Grant R. Jeffrey

About the Author

Grant R. Jeffrey is an internationally known author of more than twenty bestsellers and the editor of the Marked Reference Prophecy Study Bible. Recognized as one of the world's leading teachers of prophecy and an intelligent defense of the Christian faith, Jeffrey appears frequently on television and radio throughout the world. He studied at Philadelphia College of the Bible before entering the business world. Later he earned his masters and Ph.D. degrees in biblical literature from Louisiana Baptist University. He and his wife, Kaye, live near Toronto where they serve in full-time ministry.