THE TEMPLE AND JESUS' RETURN #7

 

The Temple and Coming of Christ #7

Sanhedrin and True Location

From a book by Grant Jeffrey [2007] THE PRACTICAL PREPARATIONS FOR REBUILDING THE TEMPLE In this chapter J talks about the "Sanhedrin" - the highest court in ancient Israel. They were the group of priests, religious leaders, and elders of Israel, who were given the authority to rule on all religious matters, issues, and disputes for the nation and the power to determine the rules for Temple worship. J says that before Israel can rebuild the Temple the Sanhedrin MUST be restored (emphasis mine). J likes to believe, like many others, that the last ancient Sanhedrin met for the last time in AD 453 in the town of Tiberias, on the western side of the Sea of Galilee. This is far from the truth as I prove to you in my studies on the "Calendar" question. I refer the reader to those studies. J goes on to say that in the last days the Sanhedrin must be reconvened to issue necessary rulings regarding scared rituals, sacrifices, qualifications for membership in the Temple Levitical priesthood, and other matters pertaining to the rebuilding of the Temple and authentic Temple worship. J then goes into a page or two with certain facts in the last number of years from 2004, concerning what he considers "unprecedented steps in the practical preparations for building a new Temple." It is all tied in with the anointing oil, ashes of the red heifer, and ingredients for making a unique deep blue dye required for the special priestly garments. J takes you back to the first "Sanhedrin" (meaning "assembly") of Moses time as found in Numbers 11:16-17). 71 elders appointed form the 12 tribes. They held their authority till 586 BC and the destruction of the first Temple. J tells you the "modern-day Sanhedrin was formally convened in Jerusalem on January 20, 2005. They were to meet monthly to issue religious legal rulings. They discussed several key issues related to the building of the third Temple. They were also wanting to announce the first day of the month as the old ancient Sanhedrin did, this would give them some religious authority or power of some kind. In February 2005 they discussed the three possible locations of the first and second Temples. They have all kinds of ideas for a rapid assembly of the Temple. J does, on page 110 admit that many Jewish rabbis and scholars argue that it is presumptuous for Jews to make plans to rebuild the Temple before the Messiah appears. Many Jewish scholars he admits believe that the Scriptures and Talmud both declare that the Messiah will be the one to rebuild the Temple. They point to the words of Zechariah 6:12-13. J then argues, as he gets the context correct this time around, that the prophecy in Zechariah is for the millennium, and is no contradiction of the "numerous other prophecies in both Old and New Testaments that refer to the Jews of Israel building the Third Temple prior to the anti-christ defiling the sanctuary during the Tribulation" (page 111). (I have proved on my Website in many studies that such Old and New Testament prophecies of Jews building a Temple BEFORE the Messiah comes, are simply NOT THERE!! Keith Hunt) J quotes from Maimondies that none of the 613 commandments itemized in the Torah are dependant upon the Messiah's arrival. From that J deducts then that many of the 613 commandments to do with Temple worship can be put it place, and hence a third Temple can be build by the Jews. And in the "Jerusalem Talmud" is found, "The [third] holy Temple will in the future be re-established before the establishment of the kingdom of David." (Kinda nice, if you have a teaching that states a Temple MUST be built by the Jews BEFORE Jesus can come again. But such a teaching is not found in the Holy Bible. What men can say, what men can think, what men can desire, is just that, the ideas of men. It is the inspired Word of the Lord that counts, not the writings and wishes of some sect of Judaism, or the ideas of fundamental Christianity. There is no prophecy in the entire word of God that teaches a Temple will be build in Jerusalem BEFORE the Messiah returns in glory - it just NOT there. And all the so- called passages that are used to try and prove this doctrine from a few within Orthodox Judaism and fundamental Christianity, is thoroughly examined in detail on my Website, and found to be false doctrine that has no Scriptural basis in actual fact - Keith Hunt) THE MODERN SANHEDRIN? J likes to paint a picture, with certain words, about this "new" Sanhedrin. He does not refer you to this new Sanhedrin's Website. It is there on the Internet!! I ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO AND READ ***ALL*** WHAT THEY HAVE WRITTEN ON THEIR WEBSITE! YOU WILL FIND MUCH THAT WILL GIVE YOU THE WHOLE PICTURE IN 3-D!! The first thing you should note when reading the above Website is that the "Sanhedrin" has tried to be resurrected (to those whom claim it died) a number of times in the last 100 years. What is happening now is nothing new, it's all been tried before. The overall of their Website should shown you very clearly that all this fuss about restoring a supposed lost Sanhedrin, is by a small sector of Orthodox Judaism. As they admit, they have to become the ruling establish Israeli Government, or be backed by the Government as the establish ruling body for all the laws of the State of Israel. Their agenda is a "religious" governed State of Israel. They can among themselves discuss laws, mandate laws, rule and guide all "orthodox" religious Jews; they can stand on the house-tops and proclaim the "new month day" every month for a thousand years, but UNLESS they become the governing body of daily life through the government, setting rules and judging (like some supreme court), they will rule and judge, and set laws, for only the orthodox religious Jews who will be willing to be ruled by them. THE OIL OF ANOINTING We have seen J cover this before, and is based on Exodus 30:26,30-31. J teaches this oil is crucial in the last days as it must be used to anoint the Messiah when He appears. He once more uses Daniel 9:24 to uphold his teaching. As I've said, this chapter and prophecy is explained in full details on my Website. It has nothing to do with what the fundamentals would have you believe (page 111-112). BLUE DYE FOR GARMENTS OF THE HIGH PRIEST A blue dye was used to create some beautiful robes for the high priest (Exodus 28:31). this dye is known as "tchelet." J claims that since the Second Temple crucial ingredients have been lost, hence authentic Temple worship garments would not be "authentic." J says this dye was produced by a rare mollusk found only in the Mediterranean Sea, a marine creature long thought to be extinct. HOWEVER in the late 1990s Israeli divers discovered the mollusk, the hillazon snail (Murex trunculus), in the Red Sea. We are told the Temple Institute in Jerusalem has created a supply of the blue dye, and so the garments of the high priest can again be "authentic" blue (page 113) THE ASHES OF THE RED HEIFER To add to the list of "must be" for this Temple to ever get going (you talk about making it hard on yourself to ever reach your dream) is that the area on the Temple Mount must be "purified" using water of purification from the ashes of an unblemished red heifer (Numbers 19:2). And yes according to the Torah, the Talmud, and the rabbis, it is ESSENTIAL for Israel to resume the sacrifice of the ashes of the red heifer in order to produce the waters of purification needed to ritually cleanse the Temple Mount, the sacred vessels, and the Levitical priesthood in preparation for rebuilding the Temple (page 114). It is only the ashes from the red heifer that can purify the Temple Mount. J says two chief rabbis in "Time" magazine of 1989 confirmed that it must be so.           (All this stuff was being preached in the 1980s decade, as many Protestant          fundamentals were saying Jesus would return by 1988, 40 years, as it was back then a          generation. J was far from being the first one to preach on this doctrine of the Temple -          Keith Hunt)  Jewish authorities he says are raising a number of red heifers in Israel, ready for when the Temple can be built. The red-heifer sacrifice is recorded in Numbers 19:2,5,9). J tells use that according to the Mishneh, the ceremonial burning of the red heifer happened rarely in Jewish history: "the first time under Moses during the Exodus, once by Ezra, and five to seven other times after the Babylonian captivity and before the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70. Maimonides J says, wrote that 9 red heifer sacrifices had been done from the Tabernacle days to the destruction of the Second Temple. J adds that Maimonides "indicates" the tenth red heifer sacrifice would occur only when the messianic King was ready to appear (pages 115-117). J does not give us the quote from Maimonides, but you will note he says "indicated" which is indicative of a fuzzy meaning. then again, as I've said before, the writings of men mean nothing; it is only the inspired Word of the Lord that is truth (John 17:17). J takes us back to the Copper Scroll found in Cave 3 near Qumran and now in the museum in Ammon, Jordan. It is said to confirms the last date of the sacrifice of the ashes of the red heifer, just before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Then we are told the "Essene" priests buried the container where the ashes were put, near Qumran. And yes .... investigators under the auspices of the chief rabbi and people from the Israeli museum, are .... searching for it. The rabbis we are told believe the recovery of the ashes of the red heifer and the ark of the covenant are the KEYS to rebuilding the Temple. Some have been searching for "several years." Then the bottom line as J puts it is: "Temple worship could resume after a ritual cleansing using ashes from the sacrifice of a NEW unblemished red heifer (pages 118-119). (Now it seems to be taking these Jews a mighty long time to produce a red heifer, they've been a nation since 1948. And surely they could have many others in different parts of the world trying to raise a pure red heifer. How did the Essenes get that last red heifer sacrifice ashes? They lived off by themselves. They had nothing to do with the Temple. Jesus never answered any of them as they came with questions to Him. I guess not for Jesus and the Essenes had nothing to do with each other. They probably thought Jesus was some "quack" as they, living off in their own little world, were the only correct ones, as far as they were concerned - Keith Hunt) THE NEXT RED HEIFER SACRIFICE J is certainly correct in saying the Temple Mount has been repeatedly defiled over the last 2,000 years. He gets Ezekiel out of context once more, quoting Ezekiel 36:25, as the last days fulfilment. Also Ezekiel 44:16-17 is given by J for to happen in the last years of this age. He is WRONG on BOTH accounts, as both prophecies are for AFTER Jesus the Messiah has come back to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. According to J (which I question) the Temple Institute has prepared more than 100 of the sacred worship vessels and hundreds of priestly garments for the coming Levites and the Temple. He claims Jerusalem Bible colleges have trained more than 500 young Jewish men who are "descended from the tribe of Levi to fulfil the duties of Temple worship and sacrifice. They can play the re- created musical instruments such as the ancient trumpets and lyre" (pages 119-121). ................. NOTE: Men can do what they will. They can write what they write. They can believe whatever they choose to believe. But the Word of God still stands as the truth. You need to SEARCH the Scriptures daily to see if what J tells you is the truth, or if what I have written on my Website (regarding this teaching by some that a physical Temple MUST be built before Jesus can return) concerning this Temple idea is a FALSE DOCTRINE of the end times. Yes time to blow the dust off your Bible on this topic and SEARCH the Scriptures! I have a relatively NEW "Bible Archaeology" book, published in 2005. The authors would DISAGREE with J over where the Temple was situated. They present a color diagram showing the Temple, Holy Place and Holy of Holies, to be indeed where the Muslim Dome of the Rock now stands. Here is what they have to say on the location of the original Solomon's Temple and the Temple that Herod built. THE LACTATION OF THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE "A highly debated aspect of Herod's building program is the precise location on the mount of the Temple itself. When he built it, Herod did not relocate the Temple constructed by Zerubbabel, but archaeologists have disagreed on the precise location of the structure. Josephus affirmed that the Temple stood at the top of the mount, and therefore it has been argued that it stood adjacent to the north side of the Rock where the Muslim Dome of the Rock, where the bedrock was assumed to be higher than that under the Dome. An Israeli architect has discovered, however, that the stone floor under the small Dome of the Spirits, immediately north of the Muslim Dome of the Rock, is not actually bedrock, but is, rather, a large paving slab, and bedrock is at least 8 feet below the floor of this little monument. This means that this stone floor is not the highest point on the mount. The rock under the Dome of the Rock is actually 15 feet higher than that under the little Dome of the Spirits and is thus the only visible choice for the Temple location. According to the tractate Middoth 2:1 in the Mishnah (a third-century compendium of Jewish regulations and beliefs), the platform of the Temple was 500 royal cubits square (861 feet, 262.5 meters). Investigations of key points around the Temple Mount have revealed that the Dome of the Rock stands on the precise 1,640-foot square area (500-meters-square) where the Temple would have stood. Thus for the first time all the factors - topographic, archaeological, and historical - seem to agree on its location." ("Bible Archaeology" by Alfred Hoerth and John McRay, published 2005, page 184-185). THE DOME OF THE ROCK WOULD HAVE TO BE DESTROYED IF THE JEWS EVER WANTED TO BUILD A TEMPLE BEFORE THE MESSIAH COMES AGAIN. THIS DESTRUCTION WILL ***NOT*** TAKE PLACE UNTIL THE BEAST POWER OF EUROPE DEFEATS THE KING OF THE SOUTH AND ENTERS THE HOLY LAND, AND SURROUNDS JERUSALEM TO DESTROY IT - MAKING IT DESOLATE (DANIEL 11:40-45 AND LUKE 21:20). THEN WILL BEGIN THE GREAT TRIBULATION (DANIEL 12) WHICH TOGETHER WITH THE DAY OF THE LORD, WILL LAST FOR 42 MONTHS, 1260 DAYS, A TIME, TIMES, AND HALF A TIME, JUST AS FORETOLD IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. Keith Hunt (February 2009)