Topics Menu
We are a Christian Fellowship meeting in North London with a strong interest in teaching the Bible and understanding our time in
the light of Bible prophecy
Will the Temple be rebuilt?
In about 540BC Daniel, a Jewish captive in Babylon, was praying to God for
the restoration of the Jewish people to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the
Temple. In response God gave him a remarkable prophecy that the Temple would
be rebuilt 'in troublesome times' and that 483 years (of the Jewish
calendar) after the command to 'restore and rebuild Jerusalem' 'Messiah
shall be cut off but not for himself.' Following this 'the people of the
prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary' and wars and
desolations will follow. This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter by the
sacrificial death of the Messiah Jesus and the destruction of the Temple and
Jerusalem. Jesus also prophesied this event which took place 40 years after
his death and resurrection (Matthew 23.37-24.2, Luke 19.41-44, 21.20-24).
There is a fascinating entry in the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 39b) which shows
that Rabbinic Judaism had to recognise that something significant happened
40 years before the Temple was destroyed:
'Our Rabbis taught: During the last forty years before the destruction of
the Temple ... the scarlet thread did not become white, nor did the western
lamp shine; and the doors of the Holy of Holies would fling themselves open
of their own accord.'
The scarlet thread was tied to a post outside the Holy of Holies where the
High priest made the annual sacrifice on Yom Kippur to atone for the sins of
the people. When it turned white supernaturally he knew that God had
accepted the sacrifice. According to the Talmud the shining of the western
lamp is an indication of the Shekinah, the glory of God, being present in
the Holy of Holies. The reason why this sign of God's acceptance of the
sacrifices should have stopped happening 40 years before the Temple was
destroyed is clearly given in the New Testament. The death of the Messiah
Jesus meant that the animal sacrifices were no longer acceptable as an
atonement for sin. God had brought the Old Covenant sacrificial system to an
end and caused atonement for sin to be made freely available to all through
the blood shed by Messiah. (See Hebrews 7-10)
Rabbinic Judaism rejected Jesus' claim to be the Messiah and so this means
of atonement was denied to those who followed this religious system. When
the Temple was destroyed there was no longer any place where the animal
sacrifices could be offered, so the Rabbis taught that God no longer
requires the shedding of blood for the atonement of sin. This can be
achieved, they said, through prayers, fasting and good deeds.
However there remained within Judaism a deep sorrow over the absence of the
ancient Temple ritual, as is expressed by this prayer for the Day of
Atonement (Yom Kippur):
'How glorious was the appearance of the high priest when he came forth
safely from the Holy of Holies without any evil occurrence ... Happy the eye
which saw our Temple and the joy of our congregation; but verily only to
hear of them afflicts our soul .. But the iniquities of our fathers have
caused the desolation of the Temple ... And because of our abundant
iniquities we have no burnt offering, nor trespass offering ... no Temple,
nor sprinkling; no confession nor sin-offering.'
For this reason the Jewish people have prayed throughout the years of
dispersion, 'O Lord, build your house as at the first, set your Temple on
its foundations, allow us to see it built and make us joyous in its
establishment, return priests to their service and Levites to their songs
and music, and return Israel to their pleasant places, and there we will
ascend and be seen and bow down before you.
According to Maimonides, the medieval Rabbi whose writings are the basis of
much of modern Judaism, the Messiah will be revealed by the successful
building of the Temple:
'If there arises a ruler from the House of David, ... who leads Israel back
to the Torah, strengthening its laws and fighting God's battles, then we may
assume he is the Messiah. If he is further successful in rebuilding the
Temple on its original site and gathering the dispersed of Israel, then his
identity as the Messiah is a certainty.'
So will the temple be rebuilt?
A group of Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem at the Temple Institute are working
hard to get ready for the building of a new Temple. Located in the Jewish
Quarter of Jerusalem they are making sacred objects and garments used in
Temple worship, researching each item and keeping to the specifications of
the Bible. Its director, Zev Golan, says its task is 'to advance the cause
of the Temple and prepare for its establishment, not just talk about it.'
Historian David Solomon agrees: 'The Temple was the essence of our Jewish
being, the unifying force of our people.' Golan admits it may be a long time
before the building rises: 'No one can say how, and no one wants to do it by
force. But sooner or later, in a week or in a century, it will be done and
we will be ready for it.'
Against this there are many objections, the most serious of which comes from
the Muslims. The whole area where the Temple once stood is under the control
of the Wakf, the Muslim authorities. Jews are forbidden to pray on the
Temple Mount and the recent tragic events in Hebron have increased hostility
between Muslim and Jewish worshippers. Some commentators have speculated
that the ancient Temple stood some distance away from the Muslim shrines of
the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, but this makes little
difference as the Muslims today are in no mood to allow any Jewish building
on any part of the Temple Mount, a site they consider sacred to Islam.
There are also Jewish objections from those who say that Judaism has evolved
into a religion which centres on the teaching of the synagogue not the
sacrificial system of the Temple and that there is no unifying structure
which could reconstitute the Sanhedrin and re-establish the Temple
sacrifices. There is also the Christian objection that the final sacrifice
for sin has come in the Messiah Jesus' death and resurrection and that
therefore any re-built Temple offering sacrifices would be 'trampling
underfoot the blood of Messiah.'
Clearly the present circumstances are not right for any rebuilding of the
Temple. It would take a cataclysmic event to make this possible, one which
would break the power of Islam and unite the Jewish people in what would
amount to a Messianic vision. Could it be that the War of Gog and Magog,
(Ezekiel 38-39) which we looked at in our previous edition will prepare the
way for the rebuilding of the Temple? This leads to our final question.
Does the Bible indicate that there will be a third Temple?
In the course of his answer to the disciples' question, 'What will be the
sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Jesus warned that there will
be a time of 'great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of
the world until this time, no nor ever shall be.o He also specified the
event which will trigger off this time of tribulation:
'Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation' spoken of by Daniel
the prophet standing in the holy place (whoever reads let him understand),
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.' Matthew 24.15-16
The reference to Daniel takes us back to Daniel chapter 9, the passage we
considered at the beginning of this article. The final verse of the
prophecy, which concerns the Temple, has not yet been fulfilled:
'Then he (i.e. the 'prince who is to come') shall confirm a covenant with
many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to
sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who
makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured
out on the desolate.' Daniel 9.27
In chapter 11.31 and 12.11 Daniel also refers to the 'abomination of
desolation.'
For this prophecy to be fulfilled we should expect to see some restoration
of the Temple offering sacrifices, with the agreement of the world ruler
described by Daniel as 'the prince who is to come'. This world ruler will
make a seven year peace treaty with Israel which he will break after three
and a half years, showing his true intention in allowing the Temple to be
rebuilt. This is in order to place an image of himself in the holy place and
demand universal worship from the people of the earth (Revelation 13.12-15).
The Jewish people will realise they have been deceived, refuse to worship
the world ruler who is identified in Revelation as 'the Beast' and then
endure the 'time of Jacob's trouble' (Jeremiah 30.7) which only the direct
intervention of the Lord will save them from.
Isaiah 66 begins with a prophecy of a Temple being built in which the
sacrifices are an abomination to the Lord (verse 3). This could not apply to
the second Temple in which the sacrifices were acceptable to the Lord, but
only to a Temple built after Jesus the Messiah has come to take away sin by
his atoning blood. At that time the Lord will 'look to him that is poor and
of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word.' Those who do this will be
hated and cast out by their brethren, who will think they are pleasing God
and bringing glory to his name. Instead the ones who have been cast out will
be vindicated by God and those who have done the casting out will be ashamed
(verse 5-14).
Today Jewish believers in Jesus are hated and cast out by Orthodox Jews, who
believe they are 'sanctifying the name of God' in rejecting those they
consider to be heretics. When the true Messiah is revealed to the Jewish
people it is the believers in Jesus who will be vindicated as Israel looks
'on him whom they have pierced' (Zechariah 12.10) and those who have
rejected him and his followers will be ashamed.
In the light of this it is interesting to read a book by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan,
'The Real Messiah?' which rejects Jesus' claim to be Messiah and tells
Jewish people to look for a Messiah to come, who will solve the Middle East
problem with 'such a demonstration of statesmanship and political genius'
that he is put in a position of world leadership.
'In his position of leadership, through direct negotiation and perhaps the
concurrence of the world powers this Tzadik (righteous man) might just be
able to regain the Temple Mount for the Jewish people. With a Sanhedrin to
iron out the many halachic questions (matters of Jewish law), it might then
be possible to rebuild the Holy Temple. If this is accomplished we will
already have fulfilled the essential part of the Messianic promise.o ('The
Real Messiah?' page 93)
For the rest of the story we recommend Rabbi Kaplan to read Daniel and
Revelation.
