Israel without a 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.

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With the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, Israel lost the Temple as the center of its spiritual life. During the nineteen centuries that followed, Jews in exile prayed for their prophesied return to the Promised Land. Every year at Passover and at the end of Yom Kippur, righteous Jews have prayed, "Next year in Jerusalem." Along with that hope, religious Jews have longed to rebuild their Temple and establish the long-promised kingdom of God on earth under the rule of the long-awaited Messiah.

Over those same centuries, three times a day devout Jews living in exile have prayed that they will live to see their Temple rebuilt: "May it be Thy will that the Temple be speedily rebuilt in our days."2 They looked forward to the day when the Temple would once again stand on the Temple Mount.

They longed for the Lord to return His Shekinah Glory and Divine Presence to the sanctuary in Jerusalem. Finally, after nineteen centuries, today's generation has been given the task of making these ancient dreams come true.

God's Command to Build a Sanctuary

The rebuilding of the Temple is central to the messianic hopes of the Jewish people. As the rabbis have noted, God never rescinded His command that Israel build a sanctuary for Him (see Exodus 25:8). Therefore, His command remains in force today.

The Lord gave Moses the precise blueprint to follow in constructing His earthly sanctuary, the movable Tabernacle that Israel used prior to the building of the First Temple. The sacred vessels and worship instruments that later were used in Solomon's Temple, including the ark of the covenant.

Likewise, God revealed to King David and his son Solomon the detailed plans for building a permanent Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Solomon's Temple was destroyed in 586 BC. The Second Temple, initially completed in 516 BC and totally refurnished and enlarged by King Herod beginning in 18 BC, was destroyed as well, in AD 70. Yet Jesus mentioned the existence of "the holy place" in a future Temple when He told His disciples about the events of the last days and the Great Tribulation.

He warned that "when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains" (Matthew 24:15-16). Jesus' prophecy echoed that of the prophet Daniel, who indicated that the "abomination that maketh desolate" would stand in the Temple of God in Jerusalem (see Daniel 11:31; 12:11). Both prophecies suggest that the Third Temple will be built before the Antichrist comes to power and takes control of Europe and the surrounding Mediterranean nations.

Satan will spiritually defile the Holy Place of the rebuilt Temple by directing his Antichrist to violate the Holy of Holies at the beginning of the last three and a half years of the Tribulation. The False Prophet, the Antichrist's partner, will then demand that the Antichrist be worshiped as "god" in the rebuilt Temple.

Controversy over Rebuilding the Temple

Among the ongoing tragedies of the Middle East is that both Arabs and Jews claim the right of possession of the Holy Land, the city of Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount. In just about any current news report involving the conflict between Israel and its Arab enemies, the ancient, walled Old City of Jerusalem plays a prominent role. God told His prophets thousands of years ago that the final battle for the soul and destiny of mankind will be decided in Jerusalem, whose name literally means "city of peace," the city where the coming Messiah will establish His eternal throne.

The Third Temple will be built on what is the most passionately contested piece of real estate on earth. Not only is this rebuilding prophesied in Scripture, but today rabbis, researchers, archaeologists, and other interested parties are drawing up detailed architectural plans, re-creating precious vessels to be used in Temple worship, and searching for the lost treasures of the ancient Temple. Incredible progress has been made recently in locating, gathering, and in some cases re-creating the necessary vessels, utensils, and other sacred objects that will be necessary to reinstate sacred worship and animal sacrifice.

Key figures of the Orthodox Jewish leadership in Israel have finally thrown their support behind the many efforts currently under way to prepare for building the Third Temple. The progress, extent, and timing of these preparations will be examined in later chapters of this book.

Control of the Temple Mount

After Israel's stunning victory over the Arab armies during the Six-Day War in June 1967, Israeli defense minister General Moshe Dayan went to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to meet with the five leaders of the Supreme Muslim Religious Council. The council had exercised control over the Temple Mount during nearly twenty years of Jordanian military control of the eastern portion of Jerusalem, from Israel's 1948 War of Independence until the Six-Day War. The meeting between Dayan and the Muslim leaders established Israel's religious and political policy concerning the Temple Mount, a policy that remains unchanged today. Dayan, a nonreligious Jew, did not appreciate the profound historical and spiritual significance of the Temple Mount and thus relinquished administrative control to the Arabs. He hoped the generosity of this gesture would be appreciated. Unfortunately, they interpreted it as an indication of the weakness of Israel's resolve to possess and hold their holiest place of worship, the Temple Mount.

Dayan ordered the Israeli flag that Jewish soldiers had affixed to the golden dome removed from the Dome of the Rock. His further concessions surrendered administrative control of the Temple Mount to the Supreme Muslim Religious Council, a Jordanian-controlled Muslim trust known as the Waqf. Though Jews would be permitted limited access to the Temple Mount area, all prayer or reading of Scripture by Jews and Christians was prohibited.

The Temple Mount remains at the center of Israeli-Arab tensions, with Arab authorities continuing to exercise administrative control over Israel's most sacred site. However, God has called on His people to rebuild the Temple. Not only is this critical development commanded by God, but the Scriptures reveal that the Temple will be rebuilt before the Messiah returns to earth.

In the chapters that follow, we will look not only at the advancing plans and preparations to rebuild the Temple, but also at a number of closely related developments, such as the training of Levite priests, the recovery of long-lost Temple treasures, developments in locating the ark of the covenant and returning it to Jerusalem, and the discovery of ancient vessels and artifacts that are required for Temple sacrifice and worship. With a new Sanhedrin Court now in place, with some five hundred Levites being trained in the requirements of Temple animal sacrifice, and with critical lost treasures from the Second Temple being located and returned to Jerusalem, it is no longer just a dream that the Temple of God will once again stand on the Temple Mount.

After nineteen centuries of praying and waiting, the Jews have finally been given the historic task of making their ancient dreams come true. The building of the Third Temple will commence much sooner than most people expect. The generation alive today will see the Temple of God once again standing in Jerusalem, and the King of Israel-the returning Messiah-ruling from the throne of David!

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.