Temple Mount

There is one piece of real estate in the entire world that is truly invaluable. The entire world focuses their gaze on this tiny patch of land. This is the spot where the Bible indicates Abraham proved His faith, and David atoned for his mistake in counting human strength more important than God's. Islam claims this is the place where Mohammed ascended to heaven.


This is the Temple Mount. Want to know what most of the trouble in world politics over the entire course of modern history is primarily about?...It is who controls this 37 acres of land! Want to know why peace is elusive in the Middle East, why both Palestinians and Jews want to claim Jerusalem as their capital city? It is these 37 acres of land. Want to know why Jews have been persecuted throughout the last 2,000 years, having their capital city, Jerusalem, destroyed and their entire nation being wiped off the face of the map in 70 A.D.? Why Jews were literally then chased by people who wanted to exterminate them throughout Europe and the Middle East for the next 1,800 years?...yep, the Temple Mount. This is 37 acres of the most precious and deadly real estate on the face of the earth.


There is one reason this spot is so important. Satan wants to be worshiped, and this is the spot God directed His people to build Him a house of prayer. David, the one who asked God to give him his desire of his heart: to be with God as much as possible, started night and day worship in a tent called the Tabernacle. God's answer to David's request was to show David how to agree on earth with what happens in heaven 24/7, night and day worship and revelation of God, with the glory of that revelation spreading throughout all of creation. David it started it and it was what his entire life became about. Because it was everything to David to agree with God, David wanted to build God a temple, a permanent place for this new worship order that was released by God on earth. But God had a different plan:


I Chronicles 29:1-3 Furthermore King David said to all the assembly: “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced; and the work is great, because the temple is not for man but for the Lord God. Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might: gold for things to be made of gold, silver for things of silver, bronze for things of bronze, iron for things of iron, wood for things of wood, onyx stones, stones to be set, glistening stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and marble slabs in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver


David was a man after God's own heart. David's fidelity to God, despite many mistakes in his life, was what was necessary to see to it that worship of God came first...before man's plans or strength was attended to. God said David "got it." Very few after David got it. Even Solomon, David's own son, turned away from God by the end of his life, letting fidelity to his wives before God defile him:


I Kings 11:2-6 from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord , and did not fully follow the Lord , as did his father David.


Solomon's temple was eventually destroyed and Israel was eventually exiled in Babylon because of hearts disloyal to God, trusting in the strength of men, instead of the invisible God who Had blessed their land so greatly during the reign of David.


483 years later, a new temple, one built by Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel, and added onto by Herod, was in Israel, and Jesus came and demonstrated He was the Christ. Israel rejected God's anointed King of peace, love, and mercy, instead hoping for one more man-like...once again, choosing the strength of man fear over faith in God. Shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the second temple was destroyed, along with the nation of Israel once more.


The prophets were told this would happen, that Jesus would be cut-off, appearing to have achieved nothing, even though in the heavenly realm He won it all!


Daniel 9:25-27 “Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he 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.”


These 69 weeks (483 years) were perfectly fulfilled, historically proven to be the time it took for the temple to be rebuilt, and the remainder of the 483 years leading to the cutting off of Jesus in the spring of 32 A.D. but the Daniel prophecy left one week to go...7 last years that would include one more temple to be defiled by mankind...the Tribulation Temple.


The Tribulation Temple almost always gets confused with the "millennial temple" (the fourth temple). They are VERY different. The third temple is not sanctioned, but is allowed, by God. The third temple is the sanctuary of the final rebellion of God's people and is enabled by the antichrist...for he knows it will eventually be his temple! The Bible says that in their zeal to fix their situation with their own wisdom and strength, Israel will make a "treaty with death":


Isaiah 28:18 Your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it.


The Tribulation Temple will be the fruit of the peace agreement Israel achieves with the man of lawlessness, the antichrist. Rather than making God their strength, one last time Israel will trust a man to be their protector, promising to make peace with their neighbors if antichrist will promise to protect them for 7 years...a covenant with many...an unbreakable alliance. But this alliance will be broken, exactly halfway into it.


When the alliance is broken, antichrist will go into Jerusalem under the pretext of keeping his promise to protect Israel, and he will demand to be worshiped in the temple. When this happens, anyone who refuses will be killed. Israel will be trampled down by their treaty which includes building this third temple.


What Israel will see as right, will miss the point of being in a relationship with God. Israel will want the tangible result, God wants the heart. As far as God is concerned, they might as well offer dogs instead of the proper sacrifice in this tribulation temple. This last passage is one of the most amazing prophecies about this time we live in. God starts with the tribulation temple, the house Israel should not build for God because their heart isn't right, then it shows that his sovereign hand is behind it all, reminding his current nation of Israel they wouldn't even exist if it were for him rebuilding their nation in a day (in 1948). Then God tells us "when you see this evil temple built, rejoice, because Jesus will be there right away!" This passage is worth investing some time in!


Isaiah 66:1-18 Thus says the Lord : “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord . “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word. “He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood; He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations, So will I choose their delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered, When I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.” Hear the word of the Lord , You who tremble at His word: “Your brethren who hated you, Who cast you out for My name’s sake, said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, That we may see your joy.’ But they shall be ashamed.” The sound of noise from the city! A voice from the temple! The voice of the Lord , Who fully repays His enemies! “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, She gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” says the Lord . “Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb? ” says your God.

Isaiah 66:10-18 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, And be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; That you may feed and be satisfied With the consolation of her bosom, That you may drink deeply and be delighted With the abundance of her glory.” For thus says the Lord : “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; On her sides shall you be carried, And be dandled on her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” When you see this, your heart shall rejoice, And your bones shall flourish like grass; The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants, And His indignation to His enemies. For behold, the Lord will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword The Lord will judge all flesh; And the slain of the Lord shall be many. “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol in the midst, Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together,” says the Lord . “For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.