Perhaps the most visible confirmation of prophecy
being fulfilled will be the rebuilding of the temple for the 3rd time,
in Jerusalem, at the outset of the tribulation period. We have in another
section explained how Daniel and EzekieI’s prophecies make the rebuilding
of the temple an event that initiates the 7-year period of tribulation.
If you are a "pre-tribulation" believer, you believe the "body of believers"
will not be here when Temple number three is rebuilt.
There is no need, in a letter to the
Jews, to amplify the pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation and post-tribulation
arguments. Suffice it to say that intelligent people disagree on whether
the Church, that group of believers filled with the Holy Spirit, will
go through any portion of the 7 year period of tribulation described
by Daniel.
I would say that if the "pre-tribulation"
view is correct, the reader of this letter should realize that Christians,
at least those who are, in the judgment of Jesus, true believers, will
not be here. They will have been "caught up in the clouds." If
the rapture of believers occurs before the rebuilding of the Temple,
and you find yourself still here, then you are going to have no choice
but to go through the tribulation. You will endure both the joy of the
Temple being restored and the tragedy of it being defiled and desecrated.
You will, during these last 3½ years of tribulation, have your
opportunity to declare your faith in God or to capitulate and worship
the Antichrist.
The 3rd Temple will be built in Jerusalem,
soon. Listen to this quotation by the leader of the Temple Mount Faithful
movement. "My call to all the enemies of Israel is to obey the Word
of G-d and to accept His end-time plans for Israel. The redemption of
Israel leads to their own redemption. The march of the G-d and people
of Israel to accomplish redemption is irreversible. The climax of this
march, the rebuilding of the Temple on Mt. Moriah, will come very soon."
Again, prophecy is very clear. The
third Temple will be rebuilt. It will be destroyed 3½ years later
by the Antichrist, the one who earlier struck the compromises it took
to get it rebuilt. The 4th Temple will be built after the Battle of
Armageddon. It will be the millenium Temple. It will endure for 1000
years. There will not be another Temple in New Jerusalem, heaven.
Listen to what Haggai says about the
rebuilding of the 4th Temple. This must be a prophecy regarding the
4th Temple because Haggai says it will be a place of peace and it will
come after the nations have been "shaken." Notice then, after the
shaking, they shall come to the Desire of All Nations. Those capital
letters refer to our Lord. The Lord, after the purging of sinners, is
the Desire of All Nations.
Haggai 2:6-9
6 "For thus says the
LORD of hosts: "Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven
and earth, the sea and dry land;
7 'and I will shake
all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I
will fill this temple with glory,' says the LORD of hosts.
8 'The silver is Mine,
and the gold is Mine,' says the LORD of hosts.
9 'The glory of this
latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts.
'And in this place I will give peace,' says the LORD of hosts." (NKJ)
Scripture places
Israel, at the end of the great tribulation, in a privileged position, a position to which all history seems to point. I can not, in
this brief presentation, do any more than generalize about history,
but bear with me and consider the possibilities.
It is common knowledge, at least in
Jerusalem, that preparations for the rebuilding the 3rd Temple and the
re-institution of sacrifice are being made. Listen to this quotation
from a recent newsletter of the Temple Mount Faithful Movement:
"The Movement Will Continue with
the Preparations for the Temple: Our center has received more items
for the worship in the Third Temple — vessels, priestly garments, incense,
the silver half-shekel, a model of the golden altar of incense and other
items. Soon we shall have two silver trumpets that the priest will use
in the Third Temple. We also have the twelve stones of the breastplate
of the high priest. These preparations are continuing. "
"Construction of the Seven-Branched
Menorah: Our wonderful friends continue to donate gold and jewelry
for this purpose. Each piece of donated gold brings its construction
closer."
These preparations are a necessary
condition in order to apply Daniel’s subsequent prophecy to the current
situation.
Daniel 12:7-13
7 Then I heard the
man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he
held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him
who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time;
and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered,
all these things shall be finished.
8 Although I heard,
I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what shall be the end of
these things?"
9 And he said, "Go
your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time
of the end.
10 "Many shall be purified,
made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none
of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
11 "And from the time
that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation
is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.
12 "Blessed is he who
waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
13 "But you, go your
way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance
at the end of the days." (NKJ)
Here Daniel is told that during the
last period, many will be purified, made white and refined and that
others will do wickedly. He is also told that daily sacrifice will be
taken away. To be taken away, sacrifices would have had to commence.
Doesn’t this astonish you? Can you envision animal sacrifices in the
Temple? You will have to read most of this book for a better understanding
of why God instituted the ritual of sacrifice in the beginning and how
it all pointed to the "final sacrifice" of God’s only Son for the atonement
of our personal sins. One can not enter into God’s presence, as a sinner.
We know that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Animal
sacrifices, as a means to redemption, were not sufficient in
history nor will they be in the future.
Listen as God spoke through the Psalmist
regarding sacrifice.
Psalms 50:8-23
8 I will not rebuke
you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are continually
before Me.
9 I will not take a
bull from your house, nor goats out of your folds.
10 For every beast
of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds
of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
12 "If I were hungry,
I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
13 Will I eat the flesh
of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God thanksgiving,
and pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call upon Me in
the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."
16 But to the wicked
God says: "What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant
in your mouth,
17 Seeing you hate
instruction and cast My words behind you?
18 When you saw a thief,
you consented with him, and have been a partaker with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth
to evil, and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak
against your brother; you slander your own mother's son.
21 These things you
have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like
you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes.
22 "Now consider this,
you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to
deliver:
23 Whoever offers praise
glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the
salvation of God." (NKJ)
Psalms 51:1-19
1 Have mercy upon me,
O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude
of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly
from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge
my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against You, You
only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight-- that You may
be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was brought
forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire
truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to
know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy
and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from
my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away
from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the
joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
13 Then I will teach
transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You.
14 Deliver me from
bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing
aloud of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my
lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
16 For You do not desire
sacrifice, or else I would give it; you do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of
God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart-- these, O God,
You will not despise.
18 Do good in Your
good pleasure to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You shall be
pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and
whole burnt offering; then they shall offer bulls on Your altar. (NKJ)
Sacrifices will resume, but properly
understood, they need to be preceded by a broken spirit, a broken and
contrite heart, then they shall be sacrifices of righteousness. You
need to first be able to say, "Hide Your face from my sins, and blot
out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew
a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence,
and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me."
But, if in your opinion the Messiah
has not come, what do you intend to do to atone for your sin? God has
spoken through the psalmist who says (You, Lord) do not desire sacrifice,
or else I would give it; you do not delight in burnt offering? What
does God delight in? Your salvation, your redemption, your cleansing
and your declaration of faith, all available by His Grace, and because
of His love for you, personally.
Again, corporate worship is good and
desirable, but your salvation is a personal issue, not a corporate issue.
You stand alone, before God. You can either choose to do so in "your
righteousness" or in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
You can not redeem yourself by acts of kindness or by sacrificing animals.
Only the Messiah can present you blameless before the Father.
These sacrifices will cease 1,290 days
(3½) after they start. Then the Antichrist will require the world
to worship him.
Daniel 11:36-39
36 "Then the king shall
do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above
every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall
prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined
shall be done.
37 "He shall regard
neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any
god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.
38 "But in their place
he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did
not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and
pleasant things.
39 "Thus he shall act
against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall
acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule
over many, and divide the land for gain. (NKJ)
The words you just read are very explicit.
They define the character and mission of the one who will blaspheme
God, honor a false god, oppress God’s people and prosper in the process.
He will regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women
and exalt himself above all. You should have no problem identifying
this person.
These prophecies reach their fulfillment
just before the beginning of the Kingdom Age, that 1000 year period
referred to by John in Revelation 20:1-8. The Kingdom Age is the period
of time right after the end of the great tribulation described in Daniel.
If you believe that Daniel’s most precise prophecy is accurate, then
you probably agree that the last half of the 7-year tribulation will
end up being the worst time of persecution that the Jews have ever faced.
The Kingdom Age will be the fulfillment
of at least a hundred prophecies in which God finally redeems His chosen
people. Let’s consider the events leading up to the period of great
tribulation. I believe that "consensus" exists among those who study
the Bible, regarding the following events:
There will be a scattering, then gathering
of Israel. There will be a rapture of believers at some point in time.
There will be declarations of peace and safety in Israel. There will
be a new treaty that includes the resolution of the problem regarding
the precise location of the foundation for the 3rd Temple. The Temple
will be rebuilt for the 3rd time. The reinstitution of sacrifices in
the new Temple will commence.
Still, the recognition of such events
or times except as God visits your heart and confirms it with you personally,
may not "register" with you. You will have to invest great time and
energy in studying the Holy Scriptures themselves, in order to more
fully understand all that God wants to reveal to you. This brief time
"in the flesh" represents a test for you. If you fail this very short
test, called life, your spirit will spend an eternity separated from
God and all those souls He has redeemed or will yet redeem.
Yet, this brief time is the only time
we have been allotted. Upon the fulcrum of this short test, your eternal
existence rests. Thank God you need only "finish well." Our lives
have been and are imperfect, but even now God extends His Hand of redemption.
The door is open but as it was with the Ark, the door did close. The
Scriptures say, "redeem the time." Seek rebirth now. Be
a new creature in Christ in the days or hours that remain.
Do you want to know how much time that
God spends thinking about you? Focus on this Psalm, particularly verse
5.
Psalms 40:1-13
1 I waited patiently
for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.
2 He also brought me
up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon
a rock, and established my steps.
3 He has put a new
song in my mouth-- praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and
will trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is that man
who makes the LORD his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such
as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O LORD my God,
are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward
us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering
You did not desire; my ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin
offering You did not require.
7 Then I said, "Behold,
I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do Your
will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart."
9 I have proclaimed
the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed, I do not
restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know.
10 I have not hidden
Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness
and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your
truth from the great assembly.
11 Do not withhold
Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; let Your lovingkindness and Your
truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable
evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I
am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore
my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD,
to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me! (NKJ)
God’s thoughts toward you are more
than can be numbered. Let that sink in! Our Omniscient, Omnipresent,
Omnipotent Father loves you constantly, seeks to commune with you and
thinks about you in ways you can not comprehend. Listen to these words.
Psalms 139:17-18
17 How precious also
are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count
them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am
still with You. (NKJ)
Ezekiel, in chapters 40-46, tells of
the vision God gave him, while in exile. Ezekiel’s vision was of the
restored Kingdom, the precise dimensions of the Temple, rules regarding
who would serve whom, the role of the prince (King David), the boundaries
of the tribes, the Holy Festivals, rules regarding sacrificial offerings
and the commencement of healing waters flowing east and west from the
temple, with the eastward flow, "curing the waters of the Dead Sea."
This vision, given the unfulfilled
prophecies that lie within it, has to be of the Kingdom to be established
after the battle of Armageddon. Listen.
Ezekiel 40:2-7
2 In the visions of
God He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain;
on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city.
3 He took me there,
and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance
of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and
he stood in the gateway.
4 And the man said
to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and
fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so
that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything
you see."
5 Now there was a wall
all around the outside of the temple. In the man's hand was a measuring
rod six cubits long, each being a cubit and a handbreadth; and he measured
the width of the wall structure, one rod; and the height, one rod.
6 Then he went to the
gateway which faced east; and he went up its stairs and measured the
threshold of the gateway, which was one rod wide, and the other threshold
was one rod wide.
7 Each gate chamber
was one rod long and one rod wide; between the gate chambers was a space
of five cubits; and the threshold of the gateway by the vestibule of
the inside gate was one rod. (NKJ)
God told Ezekiel there "was,"
and then went on to describe "what was," in great detail, with
precise measurements. This prophecy implies that the Temple will be
provided, not built, or it at least does not say who would build it.
It may be too much a reach for you, but consider this. This temple
will not be built with human hands. Listen.
Zechariah 6:12
12 "Then speak to him,
saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying: "Behold, the Man whose
name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall
build the temple of the LORD; (NKJ)
Mark 14:58
58 "We heard Him say,
'I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three
days I will build another made without hands.' " (NKJ)
Now we agree, I am sure, that the Temple
is the dwelling place of God, but there is in a sense, a "fixed" Temple
and a "mobile" Temple. Listen.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
16 Do you not know
that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in
you?
17 If anyone defiles
the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy,
which temple you are. (NKJ)
Now, moving back to Ezekiel, his vision
includes the "chambers for the singers."
Ezekiel 40:44
44 "Outside the inner gate were the chambers for the singers…"
We will make a small digression by
pointing out that our God is a God of joy and celebration, One who has
told us to expect joy to be a "condition" of our eternal existence.
Listen to what Moses had to say about the absence of joy and
gladness.
Deuteronomy 28:47-48
47 "Because you did
not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the
abundance of everything,
48 "therefore you shall
serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger,
in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put
a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. (NKJ)
Here we find Samuel and Zadok, the
priest who anointed Solomon, witnessing a celebration that sounds extremely
joyful.
1 Kings 1:39-40
39 Then Zadok the priest
took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they
blew the horn, and all the people said, "Long live King Solomon!"
40 And all the people
went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced
with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound.
(NKJ)
When David returned the ark, great
joy overflowed.
1 Chronicles 13:7-8
7 So they carried the
ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio
drove the cart.
8 Then David and
all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing,
on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with
trumpets. (NKJ)
As the Ark came to rest David added
new instructions.
1 Chronicles 15:16
16 Then David spoke
to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers
accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and
cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy. (NKJ)
The second time the Temple was rebuilt,
after the captivity in Babylon, Ezra tells of us how it effected the
people.
Ezra 3:10-13
10 When the builders
laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in
their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with
cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king
of Israel.
11 And they sang responsively,
praising and giving thanks to the LORD: "For He is good, for His mercy
endures forever toward Israel." Then all the people shouted with a great
shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house
of the LORD was laid.
12 But many of the
priests and Levites and heads of the fathers' houses, old men who had
seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of
this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy,
13 so that the people
could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the
weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and
the sound was heard afar off. (NKJ)
When the 4th temple is rebuilt, as
prophesied by Ezekiel, he tells you who the priests are. They are the
Sons of Zadok, the same priest who anointed Solomon when the first Temple
was built.
Ezekiel 40:45-46
45 Then he said to
me, "This chamber which faces south is for the priests who have charge
of the temple.
46 "The chamber which
faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar; these are
the sons of Zadok, from the sons of Levi, who come near the LORD to
minister to Him." (NKJ)
Doesn’t it amaze you how God’s plan
comes together? Centuries and centuries change nothing. The scriptures
say:
Psalms 90:4-6
4 For a thousand years
in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in
the night.
5 You carry them away
like a flood; they are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass
which grows up:
6 In the morning it
flourishes and grows up; in the evening it is cut down and withers.(NKJ)
Even today we hear of water emerging
from the area of the foundation of the original Temple. The reason it
is significant is based on Ezekiel’s vision and prophecy, as well as
Joel and Zechariah.
Joel 3:18
18 And it will come
to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, the
hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded
with water; a fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD and water
the Valley of Acacias. (NKJ)
Zechariah 14:8
8 And in that day it
shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them
toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both
summer and winter it shall occur. (NKJ)
The waters will "heal"
the sea (Dead Sea) and fish will return. The trees will be for food,
and their leaves for medicine.
Ezekiel 47:1-12
1 Then he brought me
back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under
the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple
faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple,
south of the altar.
2 He brought me out
by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer
gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right
side.
3 And when the man
went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand
cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my
ankles.
4 Again he measured
one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to
my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the
water came up to my waist.
5 Again he measured
one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water
was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be
crossed.
6 He said to me, "Son
of man, have you seen this?" Then he brought me and returned me to the
bank of the river.
7 When I returned,
there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side
and the other.
8 Then he said to me:
"This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley,
and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed.
9 "And it shall be
that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live.
There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go
there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the
river goes.
10 "It shall be that
fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places
for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the
fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many.
11 "But its swamps
and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt.
12 "Along the bank
of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used
for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail.
They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the
sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine."
(NKJ)
These prophecies will be fulfilled.
Listen to God’s word. Read it as one thirsting. This verse must continually
be before you. The Word is the Bread of Life.
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of
God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (NKJ)
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