We live at a time when the signs of the last days are literally being fulfilled right in front of our eyes.  One of the most exciting signs that Bible prophecy students love to keep an eye on are preparations for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple.  In a previous article, we discussed how the Temple Institute in Jerusalem took a giant step towards the rebuilding of the Temple by beginning to rebuild the sacrificial altar.  Now it has been revealed that the Temple Institute has already spent approximately 27 million dollars on preparations for the rebuilding of the Temple, and that the Temple Institute intends for this future Temple to be a house of prayer for all “monotheistic religions”.

The executive director of the Temple Institute, Yehuda Glick, says that a large portion of the financial support for the Temple Institute actually comes from evangelical Christians….. 

”There are 70 million evangelical Christians around the world, and most of them have become Israel’s strongest supporters.”

So what have all these funds gone towards so far?  Well, the truth is that the Temple Instituted has been extremely busy.  The Temple Institute Museum in Jerusalem’s Old City contains solid gold service vessels, trumpets made of silver, garments to be worn by future priests made from golden thread, copper urns and many, many other items that have been painstakingly designed to Biblical specifications for use in the future Temple.

So when will this Temple be built?

According to Glick, it will depend on when the Messiah shows up…..

”It could well be tomorrow, but it might be another 100 years, or even 400 years.”

Most Christians understand that Judaism believes that the third temple will be built upon the arrival of the Messiah, but what most Christians do not realize is that the Temple Institute envisions a future Temple that will be “a house of prayer open to all believers in the monotheistic faiths” – Christians, Muslims or Jews.

In fact, Glick says that the Al-Aqsa mosque does not need to be removed for the new Temple to be built. 

”Al-Aqsa can stay,” Glick is quoted in The Age as saying.  ”It’s not even on the Temple Mount proper. But we intend to just build over the Dome of the Rock. We might be able to find a way to include it in the third temple.”

As surprising as this may be to many evangelical Christians, the truth is that Glick is far from alone in this belief.

For example, A stunning article that was published in the leading journal of religious law in Israel envisioned a scenario under which a “holy revelation” is given to an “authentic prophet” who would authorize that the Temple be rebuilt in peaceful proximity to the Al-Aqsa mosque and nearby Christian shrines.  This article echoed Glick’s sentiments by discussing the potential for turning the Temple Mount into “God’s Holy Mountain” – a “house of prayer” for all people (Isaiah 56:7).

In fact, there is even a Jewish website promoting a vision of “God’s Holy Mountain” where all faiths would worship together:

www.godsholymountain.org

This website depicts a harmonious future for the Temple Mount where Muslims, Christians and Jews mingle and pray between the Dome of the Rock and a rebuilt Jewish Temple.

This project is headed up by Jewish members of the Interfaith Encounter Association.  This organization is actively encouraging all three religions to adopt a new theological outlook which would allow all three faiths to worship on the Temple mount.

Of course those of us who study the Scriptures know what God would think about such plans.

But could the Antichrist someday pose as the Jewish Messiah and use such expectations to promote the use of the rebuilt Temple for his one world religion? 

It is something to think about.

In any event, preparations for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple are heating up as never before, and as students of the prophecies of the last days this is something that we need to continually keep an eye on.

What do you think about all of this?  As always, we welcome your comments and your questions…..

In another sign of just how serious the people of Israel are about rebuilding the Temple of God is Jerusalem some day, one organization has erected an enormous scale model of the Second Temple at a location that is directly opposite the Temple Mount.

The Aish HaTorah Yeshiva, which is located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, has placed a huge model of the Second Temple on the yeshiva’s rooftop, where it overlooks the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

The plan is for this very impressive model of the Second Temple to remain there on permanent display. Reportedly, the goal of this project is to reemphasize the connection between Judaism and Jerusalem’s holy sites.

The model is 10 feet by 4 and a half feet in size and it was built on a very precise 1:60 scale.  The creators of this model placed a great deal of importance on being as exact as possible.

For students of Bible prophecy, this is year another indication of just how very serious preparations for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem have become.

For more information on preparations for the rebuilding of the Temple, we would encourage you to read a couple of other articles that we recently posted on this topic:

http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-sacrificial-altar-is-being-rebuilt-for-the-future-temple-in-jerusalem

http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/a-plan-for-jews-and-muslims-to-share-the-temple-mount

On a day when Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple almost 2,000 years ago, the Temple Institute made a giant step towards the rebuilding of the Temple by beginning to rebuild the sacrificial altar.  The sacrificial altar is the location in the Temple where the Jews once offered sacrifices to the Lord, but there have been no sacrifices made since 70 A.D. when the Roman army destroyed both Jerusalem and the Temple.

It is difficult to understate the significance of the rebuilding of the sacrificial altar.  You see, the sacrificial altar was the center of Temple worship.  It was located near the center of the Temple, and upon that altar the priests would offer the numerous sacrifices that are commanded in the Torah.

The Temple Institute has previously rebuilt many of the other required instruments and vessels for the Temple, but rebuilding the sacrificial altar represents another huge leap forward in their goal.

Of course the Temple Institute is not able to rebuild the sacrificial altar in its proper location on the Temple Mount, so they are building it off site and will transport it to the Temple when it is rebuilt in the future.

The rocks for the sacrificial altar were gathered from the area around the Dead Sea and they were individually wrapped in order to ensure that they are not touched by metal as the Torah requires.

For students of Bible prophecy, this development is very exciting because it represents another huge step towards the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem as the Scriptures foretell.

In fact, the Bible tells us that one day the Antichrist will set himself up in God’s Temple and proclaim himself to be God.  Just read what it says in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4…..

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for (that day will not come) until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

But should the Temple Institute be doing this?  Should anyone be trying to rebuild the Temple without direct instructions from the Lord?

We know that it WILL be rebuilt, but is it proper for them to be doing it right now?  After all, the first two Temples were only built after the Lord gave direct instructions that they be built.

What is your opinion?  Feel free to tell us in the comments section below.

There is a new push to make the Temple Mount in Jerusalem a site that is shared by Jews, Muslims and Christians, and where a rebuilt Jewish Temple can stand side by side with the Islamic Dome of the Rock that stands there now.

Does that sound absolutely crazy and unrealistic?

Perhaps.

But there are scholars and organizations that are actually promoting this idea and working on plans to bring it to fruition.

A recent article that was published in the leading journal of religious law in Israel has sparked a great deal of debate in the Jewish community about the possibility of sharing the Temple Mount.  The article in “Tehumin” discussed the potential for making the Temple Mount into “God’s Holy Mountain” – a “house of prayer” for all people (Isaiah 56:7).

Of course, to many Jews and Christians such a concept would be a blatant abomination, but there are religious authorities in Israel that are taking this idea very seriously.

The article in Tehumin envisioned a scenario where a “holy revelation” is given to an “authentic prophet” that would authorize that the Temple be rebuilt in peaceful proximity to the Dome of the Rock and nearby Christian shrines.

The article also seems to think that such a scenario would be in keeping with the words of the famous 12th Century Jewish sage Maimonides that Christianity and Islam are part of God’s ultimate plan “to direct the entire world to worship God together.”

As unlikely a scenario as this may seem right now, the truth is that this sets the stage for the Antichrist to come on the scene as “an authentic prophet” in the future with a peace plan that would propose just such a thing.

Yoav Frankel, the director of the project promoting a vision of “God’s Holy Mountain” acknowledges the skepticism that many have regarding the project but at the same time expresses a great deal of long-term optimism:

“We offer this vision for a long and deep discussion, and of course want to continue with a parallel research from other religions.”

There is even a website for the project promoting a vision of “God’s Holy Mountain”:

www.godsholymountain.org

The website depicts a harmonious future for the Temple Mount where Muslims, Christians and Jews mingle between the Dome of the Rock and a rebuilt Jewish Temple.

The project is headed by Jewish members of the Interfaith Encounter Association, and they are actively encouraging all three faiths to consider a new theological outlook which would allow for all three religions to worship there.

However, with tensions increasing seemingly with each new day in the Middle East right now, such a scenario for the Temple Mount is not likely to come to fruition any time soon.

But many Bible prophecy teachers have believed for a long time that just such a scenario some day will come to pass.  After the next great war involving Israel, many on both sides will be crying out for peace.

In such an environment, the Antichrist may just be able to convince both the Muslims and the Jews that a shared Temple Mount would be a great symbol of peace.

But as students of Bible prophecy we know how that would turn out.

The preparations for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem are heating up! The Temple Institute has announced the creation of two golden censors known as the Bezichin which will be used in the service of the Temple by the priests once the Temple has been rebuilt.

This is very exciting for those of us who are looking forward to the return of Yahshua the Messiah. The fact that the preparations for the rebuilding of the Temple are taking place is yet another sign that we are living in the last days.

The Scriptures tell us that the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt and that the anti-Messiah will desecrate it in the last days. The anti-Messiah will do something so evil in this rebuilt Temple that the Scriptures refer to it as “the abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15).

For hundreds of years, scholars mocked and said that the Temple would never be rebuilt in Jerusalem. But the truth is that the Word of God is true and nothing man can do can stop it from being fulfilled.

The following is a little bit of background on the bezichin from the Temple Institute website…..

The two golden bezichin – frankincense vessels, referred to in the above passage from Exodus, as “spoons,” are an essential element of the golden show bread table and the service of the showbread. These two bezichin were used to contain the two handfuls of frankincense that the priests were instructed to place upon the showbread table beneath the twelves loaves of lechem hapanim – showbread. The twelve loaves were replaced every Shabbat and the loaves that were removed were eaten by the outgoing shift of priests in the Chamber of the Hearth, located along the Temple Courtyard. New loaves were set in their place simultaneously, and with them the two bezichin of fresh frankincense. Our sages tell us that the showbread never grew stale, that it remained hot and fresh, and that even a morsel of the bread was filling and satisfying the priests that ate it.

The Temple Institute has also produced a short little YouTube video on these vessels that we have embedded below for you…..

The reality is that we are living in the last days and the signs are all around us.

Praise God that we get the privilege of living in such extraordinary times!

We are truly living in historic times.  Preparations for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem are heating up, and this has got Bible believing Christians very excited.

Just a few months ago, the Temple Institute opened a workshop that will manufacture priestly garments in preparation for the rebuilt Temple.

This is absolutely stunning news. These garments have not been produced for centuries, and this is just another indication that the intensity of preparations for the third temple is increasing.

For so many centuries skeptics mocked the Scriptures and said that Israel would never become a nation again and that the Temple would never be rebuilt.

But God is always right and the skeptics are always wrong.

The temple WILL be rebuilt just like the Bible says that it will.

You see, the Scriptures prophesied all of this long ago.

Did you know that no nation that has been destroyed has EVER come back into existence after 2000 years of not being a nation?

In 70 A.D., the Romans flattened Jerusalem and drove the Jewish people out of the Holy Land and scattered them all over the earth.

But the Bible said that Israel would be regathered one day and would once again live in the land of Israel as a nation in the end times. 

The Scriptures also tell us that the Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem in the last days (read Ezekiel 37, 2nd Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 11).

No matter what man does to try to prevent it, the reality is that the Word of God cannot be stopped.

For information on the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in the last days, go here and click on “Preparations for the Rebuilding of the Temple”:

http://www.christian.tv/index.php?module=ctv&action=mediaCenter&cid=22