THE TEMPLE AND JESUS' RETURN #6

 

The Temple and Christ's Return?

Ancient location of Old Temple

From a book by Grant Jeffrey (publish in 2007) I WILL GIVE YOU ALL THAT J HAS WRITTEN IN THIS CHAPTER AND MY COMMENTS - Keith Hunt NEW FINDINGS RELATED TO THE TEMPLE'S ORIGINAL LOCATION The ancient Dome of the Rock is located almost dead center on the thirtyfive acre Temple Mount. This beautiful octagonal building was completed by Caliph Abdal-Malik in AD 691, following the Arab conquest of Palestine. Assuming this Islamic prayer shrine was built on the foundation of the First and Second Temples, a number of prophecy students concluded that the ancient Muslim shrine would have to be removed or destroyed before the Temple could be rebuilt. If so, it would be virtually impossible for Israel to ever build the Third Temple. However, my studies suggest that the rebuilt Temple and the existing Islamic structures, including the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Agsa Mosque, will coexist on the Temple Mount during the seven-year Tribulation Period leading to the battle of Armageddon. A careful reading of John's prophecy in Revelation indicates that the Dome of the Rock and the Temple will both occupy the Temple Mount, without any disruption of the Muslim shrine. (John's prophecy says nothing about the Dome of the Rock, and says nothing about any 7 year period. A 7 year period is no where mentioned in the New Testament. John's book of Revelation talks about 42 months, 1260 days, a time, and times, and half a time, but 84 months or 7 times/years cannot be found in any verse of John's writings. This false 7 years period is derived by a misunderstanding of Daniel 9.   It was Scofield who brought this up in his Bible at the beginning           of  the 20th century. The old famous Protestant scholars like Albert Barnes        give the true explanation of Daniel's 70 week prophecy. The correct understanding is contained in a study on my Website -   Keith Hunt) John prophesied that during a period after the rebuilding of the Temple, a large part of the Temple Mount to the south of the Temple, known as the Court of the Gentiles (which is outside the inner Temple proper), will remain under the control of the Gentiles (Muslims). This will continue for forty-two months (three and a half years), until Christ returns to set up His millennial kingdom. This will follow His victory over the Antichrist and False Prophet at the end of the battle of Armageddon. (The anti-christ and false prophet are the same person. Revelation 11 is correctly explained by the old fundamental scholar Albert Barnes in his Bible Commentary.   I refer you to his commentary or to my study of the book of Revelation in the "New Testament Bible Story" on my Website - Keith Hunt) In John's vision of the seven-year Tribulation period... (No 7 year anything is mentioned by John, just not there, read the book of Revelation and see if you can find it, then let me know when you do - Keith Hunt) ...including the final three and a half years leading up to the battle of Armageddon, the prophet was told by the angel: "Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and THEN THAT WORSHIP THEREIN. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months" (Revelation 11:1-2). (Nooowwww .... the measurement is not only the Temple but of the people that worship in it. Can you imagine an angel going about measuring the people ...oh this person is 5'5"...this one is 5' 10"...this one is 6'2"...and this one 6'4" and so on and on. If the measurement is literal for the Temple and the altar then the same phrase must be literal for measuring the people worshipping in the Temple.   It's all explained in detail in my study on Revelation in the "New Testament Bible Story" - AND in Albert Barnes commentary  Keith Hunt) During the last few years Jewish archaeologists have made fascinating discoveries on and beneath the Temple Mount that pinpoint the original site of Solomon's Temple and therefore the location for the Third Temple (see diagram). The site is an open area directly north of the Dome of the Rock. This diagram shows the future location of the Third Temple in what is now an open area directly to the north of the Dome of the Rock. The ancient Dome of the Rock is located almost dead center on the thirtyfive acre Temple Mount. This beautiful octagonal building was completed by Caliph Abdal-Malik in AD 691, following the Arab conquest of Palestine. Assuming this Islamic prayer shrine was built on the foundation of the First and Second Temples, a number of prophecy students concluded that the ancient Muslim shrine would have to be removed or destroyed before the Temple could be rebuilt. If so, it would be virtually impossible for Israel to ever build the Third Temple. However, my studies suggest that the rebuilt Temple and the existing Islamic structures, including the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Agsa Mosque, will coexist on the Temple Mount during the seven-year Tribulation Period leading to the battle of Armageddon. A careful reading of John's prophecy in Revelation indicates that the Dome of the Rock and the Temple will both occupy the Temple Mount, without any disruption of the Muslim shrine. (John's prophecy says nothing about the Dome of the Rock, and says nothing about any 7 year period. A 7 year period is no where mentioned in the New Testament. John's book of Revelation talks about 42 months, 1260 days, a time, and times, and half a time, but 84 months or 7 times/years cannot be found in any verse of John's writings. This false 7 years is derived by a misunderstanding of Daniel 9.   The correct understanding is contained in studies I've uploaded from Albert Barnes, Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke on my website   - Keith Hunt) John prophesied that during a period after the rebuilding of the Temple, a large part of the Temple Mount to the south of the Temple, known as the Court of the Gentiles (which is outside the inner Temple proper), will remain under the control of the Gentiles (Muslims). This will continue for forty-two months (three and a half years), until Christ returns to set up His millennial kingdom. This will follow His victory over the Antichrist and False Prophet at the end of the battle of Armageddon. (Revelation 11 is correctly explained by the old fundamental scholar Albert Barnes in his "Notes on the New Testament." I refer you to his commentary or to my study of the book of Revelation in the "New Testament Bible Story" on my Website - Keith Hunt) In John's vision of the seven-year Tribulation period... (No 7 year anything is mentioned by John, just not there, read the book of Revelation and see if you can find it, then let me know when you do - Keith Hunt) ...including the final three and a half years leading up to the battle of Armageddon, the prophet was told by the angel: "Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months" (Revelation 11:1-2). (Nooowwww .... the measurement is not only the Temple but of the people that worship in it. Can you imagine an angel going about measuring the people ...oh this person is 5'5"...this one is 5' 10"...this one is 6'2"...and this one 6'4" and so on and on. If the measurement is literal for the Temple and the altar then the same phrase must be literal for measuring the people worshipping in the Temple. It's all explained in detail in my study on Revelation in the "New Testament Bible Story" - Keith Hunt) During the last few years Jewish archaeologists have made fascinating discoveries on and beneath the Temple Mount that pinpoint the original site of Solomon's Temple and therefore the location for the Third Temple (see diagram). The site is an open area directly north of the Dome of the Rock. This diagram shows the future location of the Third Temple in what is now an open area directly to the north of the Dome of the Rock. TEMPLE MOUNT ............................................................. . . Third Temple ............................... . . ............... . East . . Gate Holy Place . . . ............... . . . ............................... . . . ....... . Dome of the Rock . ....... . . . . . , , . . . ........... . . Al-Aqsa Mosque . .............................................................. After Israel's recapture of the Mount in June 1967, Israeli archaeologists began to dig a nine-hundred-yard-long tunnel proceeding north along the Western Wall, underneath the thousand-year-old Muslim structures. This tunnel is almost sixty-five feet below the present-day streets and basements in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. The tunnel exposed a number of ancient gates to the Temple that had been hidden for almost two thousand years by rubble the Roman soldiers had thrown into the valley beside the Western Wall. The position of these ancient gates supports the theory that the original Temple and the Second Temple, where Christ taught, were in fact directly opposite the Eastern Gate. When Jewish archaeologists excavated the area, they exposed massive foundation stones from the Second Temple and some deep foundation blocks that may have existed since the First Temple. Several of the carved limestone blocks measure forty-six feet by twenty feet by ten feet. They weigh from four hundred to one thousand tons each and fit so closely together that you cannot place a razor blade between them (In comparison, the largest stones used in the Great Pyramid seldom exceed fifty tons.) We know of no modern technology using cranes or helicopters that could transport such massive blocks of stone over one mile from the quarry to the Temple Mount. The most significant confirmation of the true location of the Temple comes from two critical sources. First, Ezekiel foretold that the Messiah would supernaturally enter the rebuilt Temple through the now-sealed Eastern Gate: "And the glory of the LORD [the Messiah] came into the house [Temple] by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east [the previously sealed Eastern Gate]" (Ezekiel 43:4). Since all known ancient temple structures in the Middle East place the temple structure directly behind the major entrance gate leading worshippers within the sacred structure, we can conclude that the rebuilt Temple will be located in a direct east-west line from the massive gate complex known as the Eastern Gate. The Jewish Mishneh records that the Eastern Gate led directly into the Beautiful Gate of the inner Second Temple. (J once more does not understand the CONTEXT OF EZEKIEL 43. THE CONTEXT IS FOR THE MILLENNIUM AGE TO COME - AFTER JESUS HAS RETURNED TO LIVE IN JERUSALEM AND HE GUIDES THE BUILDING OF THE THIRD TEMPLE - Keith Hunt) A further confirmation of the Temple being located north of the Dome of the Rock comes from the Mishneh Torah, which reveals that on the day of the sacrifice of the red heifer, a young priest stood on the plateau of the Mount of Olives. He led a red heifer across a stone bridge composed of arches upon arches that went from the Temple's Eastern Gate eastward across the Kidron Valley to the midlevel plateau on the Mount of Olives. It was there that the sacrifice of the red heifer and the burning of the ashes took place. The priest looked across the valley through a low gap in the Temple Mount wall directly above the Eastern Gate and through the open Beautiful Gate and saw the sacred veil of the inner temple. This could occur only if the original Temple was located in a direct east-west line to the west of the Eastern Gate. James Fleming, a respected teacher working at a college near Bethlehem, was photographing the sealed Eastern Gate in April 1969. A prolonged rainy period had softened the ground in front of the gate, an area occupied by a century-old Arab cemetery. As Fleming walked backward taking a photo of the sealed gate, the ground gave way, causing him to fall unconscious into an ancient necropolis. He awoke a few minutes later lying a dozen feet underground, surrounded by gravestones and skeletons. To his amazement, directly in front of him was the arch of the original Eastern Gate that was part of the First Temple wall. The subterranean Eastern Gate is beneath the present sealed Eastern Gate. This confirms that the ancient gate was located in the very same spot as the current gate.' Almost two thousand years after the destruction of the Second Temple, we can now be confident where the Temple once stood-directly to the west of the sealed Eastern Gate. The Third Temple can be built on the exact location of Solomon's Temple. (Some others say today a third Temple by Jews could be built           anywhere in Jerusalem.  So where is it???  What are they afraid of? See the above diagram of the drawing in J's books. You will note the Temple would be built very very close to the Dome of the Rock. It is inconceivable and asinine to think the Arabs would allow a Jewish worship Temple that close to their Dome of the Rock. There would be fighting and demonstrations like never seen in Israel before. For sure, there would probably be a burning down of both buildings - for some on both side are fanatical to the tenth degree. Animal rights people would flood the area demanding no killing of animals - they alone would cause such outrage to flow that somebody or some group of person would burn down such an animal slaughter house. It is just idiotic to believe the two worship centers could ever stand side by side - Keith Hunt) ISRAEL'S REBIRTH AND THE THIRD TEMPLE Isaiah foretold that the Temple of God would stand again in the latter days: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it" (Isaiah 2:2). In 1948 the dream of almost fifty generations of Jewish exiles was fulfilled when the chief rabbi ordered the shofar (ram's horn) blown in recognition that the hour of redemption was at hand. The chief rabbis stated that the reestablishment of the Jewish state and the ingathering of the exiles meant "the age of redemption" had begun. (Isaiah is referring to the millennium age - the golden age - the age to came. When the Jews formed a nation it was a time of redemption for them - but they are a long way from being even "godly" let alone redemptive with Christ as Savior.   They are a secular people. The Government is secular - Keith Hunt) The prophetic clock started ticking in the countdown to the Messiah's return. Israel, the "fig tree" of Christ's prophecy, was reborn in 1948. And according to Jesus' prophecy, the generation living when Israel was reborn can hope to live to see the return of Christ (see Matthew 24:32-34). (No, Jesus did not say that. J is building a false premise to build yet another false premise on top of the first, it is the blind leading the blind who then both fall into the ditch. It is the signs to watch, and that did not include the re-birth of the Jews into a nation. The generation that will see these signs will indeed see Jesus come in the clouds of heaven back to stand on this earth.   If those in 1948 were adults, say 18, then add 80 years for a           generation, and here in 2022 as I upload this, few of that generation         are still alive. And I can tell you we are many years away from         end time prophecy being fulfilled - Keith Hunt) Some readers will naturally ask how we can be certain that the fig tree putting forth leaves is God's prophetic symbol of Israel's rebirth. In both the Old and New Testaments, the symbol of the fig tree is used exclusively for Israel (see Judges 9:10; 1 Kings 4:25; Luke 13:7; John 1:50). A very early Jewish-Christian commentary on Jesus' Mount of Olives prophecy, the Apocalypse of Peter (AD 110), addresses the identity of the fig tree. When the writer of the commentary asks the rhetorical question, What is the fig tree? the answer is given: "It is the nation and house of Israel." Within forty years of the destruction of the Temple, early Jewish Christians understood that Christ predicted Israel (though at that time desolate) would be reborn as a nation in the generation when the Messiah would return. (That rebirth is at the coming of Christ, not before. As you read the prophets of old it is very clear that when the Messiah returns, Israel and Judah are BOTH in CAPTIVITY to their enemies, from which the Lord delivery them. The generation/s alive at the coming of Christ will be given a new heart and mind, they will have the Holy Spirit poured out on all the tribes, they will rebuild and multiply and their enemies will be defeated by not having to fight; God will fight for them. See all my studies on the Old Testament prophets - Keith Hunt) CAN GENTILES HELP REBUILD THE TEMPLE? In November 1990 a group of Israeli government representatives, architects, engineers, rabbis, lawyers, and archaeologists met to discuss solutions to the practical problems in rebuilding the Temple. They estimated it would take one to two years to build the basic Temple structure. Naturally, the final decorations and finishing details would take ten to twenty years, as it did with the Second Temple. In the days of Christ, the craftsmen had been working on the decorative gold work and wood carving of Herod's reconstruction of the Temple for forty-six years. "Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?" (John 2:20). For the first time since AD 70, the leaders of the Orthodox Jews in Israel are seriously considering the practical steps required to rebuild the Temple. (It is only a very small percentage, most Orthodox Jews teach only the Messiah can build the next Temple - Keith Hunt). Each year a growing percentage of the population believes that Israel must build the Third Temple to demonstrate to the world (and especially the Arab-Islamic world) that the Jews will stay in Jerusalem and Israel forever. (I question that statement, question indeed. Most in Israel today are "secular" and have no religious faith, they could care less about a Temple, they just want peace and prosperity - Keith Hunt) Today many evangelical and charismatic Christians are among the strongest supporters of Israel, and many of us believe in Israel's right to rebuild the Temple. (Yes, because these fundamentalists have this inept teaching that a temple and animal sacrifices MUST take place before Christ can return - Keith Hunt) During my discussions with Jewish religious groups and individuals in Israel, the question of whether Gentiles can help rebuild the Temple often comes up. Based on the biblical account of the Gentiles providing manpower, craftsmen, and materials for Solomon's Temple, it seems there is no fundamental problem in Gentiles helping build the Third Temple. When I asked several Levites and Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem why they were so cooperative in discussing research questions about the Temple project, they sometimes replied they had an ancient tradition that Gentiles would assist in the last days to rebuild the sanctuary. The prophet Zechariah declared that in the millennial kingdom "every one that is left of all the nations [Gentiles] which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles" (Zechariah 14:16). For thousands of years devout Jews have prayed toward Jerusalem three times every day, asking the Lord to return the Divine Shekinah Presence to the rebuilt Temple. After many centuries we have come to the final generation that has been given the task of transforming these ancient dreams into reality. (And that "final generation" is just about all dead. The only Jews   that prayed and dreamed, asking for such, are a small minority,   for as stated before, the majority of Orthodox Jews teach only the   Messiah can build the third Temple - Keith Hunt) ......................... To be continued