Now, here we are at the period of history known as the Tribulation, a seven-year period of history divided into two three-and-a-half-year periods. Now, at the beginning of this, the Antichrist will rise to power in a ten-nation European confederacy or federation, and he will make a peace treaty with Israel during that time, and that peace treaty will allow the temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. And since we've already talked about A and B when we studied the Antichrist, I want us to spend some time tonight talking about the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Now, the temple, it seems from this passage and others, and we're over in chapter 11 now of Revelation, beginning with verse 1, and there was given to me a measuring rod like a staff, and someone said, Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. and leave out the court which is outside the temple, do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations, and they will tread underfoot the holy city for forty-two months." And of course that's three and a half years. Now that passage indicates that there will be a temple. Also you remember over in 2 Thessalonians we read last week where the man of destruction will go into the temple And he will put a stop to the sacrifices, and he will blaspheme, and he will proclaim himself to be God. So that indicates that there's going to be a temple that the Antichrist will go into. Also over in Daniel, it talks about the Antichrist putting a stop to sacrifices after the three and a half years, after 42 months. And again, for the Jews to offer sacrifices, they must have a temple. The Jews have not offered sacrifices for 1,900 years. Now, we don't offer sacrifices as Christians because we know Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, but as Jews, they don't believe that. And their religion dictates, mandates, as you know from the Old Testament, that they offer sacrifices. But they cannot offer the sacrifices needed to atone for the sins of the nation until they have a temple. Now you remember how the temple first came about. David wanted to build God a house. He said, I live in a house and God's in a tent. I want God to have a house. You remember God told him he could not do it because he had bloodshed on his hand, but Solomon, his son could build it. Now there was only one place it could be built. Mount Moriah. You know what happened on Mount Moriah? That was where Abraham was called on to sacrifice his son Isaac. That is a holy place. And it was that place where the first temple, Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, was built. And that temple thrived until 586 B.C. when the Babylonians came in. And you remember Nebuchadnezzar and his crowd destroyed Jerusalem and took people off to exile and he destroyed the temple, took the sacred utensils and all. And so when they came back after 70 years, one of the first things they wanted to do was rebuild the temple. So under Haggai and Habakkuk and some others, after much opposition, they managed to rebuild the temple. And it remained until 63 B.C. when it was destroyed by Pompey. So once again, the Jewish people were without a temple. But in 19 BC, the temple was rebuilt again, this time by King Herod. It could be rebuilt in one place. Where was that? Abraham sacrificed Isaac, where Solomon built his temple, where the post-exilic temple was. And so this is the temple that you read about in the New Testament. It's the one that Jesus drove out the money changers from. But this temple, lasted until 70 A.D. when the Romans came in again and destroyed Jerusalem. And this is where Jesus said not a stone will remain as he talked about it over in Matthew and in Luke. And the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 A.D. Now for 1,900 years, the Jews have not had a temple. Therefore, they have not offered any sacrifices. They have not been able to assemble and to worship as they have done in the temple in the past. But to the Jews, the temple is the central part of their worship, of their religion. Because what happened in the temple? What was the Holy of Holies? What was it all about? That's where God was. I mean, you know, it makes sense. If you thought God was a certain place, that'd be the most important place of your whole religion, right? And to the Jews, obviously, They believed and God did dwell in the Old Testament in the Holy of Holies there on the mercy seat, on the Ark of the Covenant. But though the Jews have not had a temple in 1900 years, it has not diminished their desire for a temple. They have wanted one, they have desired one, they have lusted for one. I mean, it is still a burning desire within their hearts to have a temple. Now you and I, at least I think most of us do, believe that if we're going to see ourselves getting close to the end times, there must be this rebuilding of the temple. And in fact, I think we can be fairly certain that we are not in the tribulation period until there is a temple. Because they've got to reinstitute sacrifices, and in order to do that, there's got to be a temple. Now, I'm not saying that if the temple were built tomorrow that we'd start the tribulation tomorrow, but I'm saying we couldn't be in the tribulation tomorrow if the temple hasn't been rebuilt. Now, I have a video I want to show you tonight that I found rather insightful. It's amazing what has been done for the first time in 1900 years, what has been done in preparation for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. Go on the internet and look up templeinstitute.org. You will be amazed at what they've done. And we're going to see some of it tonight in just a moment. And then hopefully I'll have a moment to say a few more words. Okay, Frank. Well, on June 7th in 1967, Israeli forces captured the city of Jerusalem in what was called the Six Day War. After nearly 2,000 years of exile, the Jewish people were close to their dream of a new temple. But that dream lasted just a few days. The Temple Mount was later returned to Muslim authorities. And four decades later, Jews are still forbidden to worship there. But that hasn't stopped some people from making plans to build the next temple. Here's Chris Mitchell in Jerusalem. We dreamed to come back to this place, to the Temple Mount, to meet again our God. The Temple Mount is the seat of God, the place the Lord would choose. Every day, three times a day, Jews recite this prayer. May it be your will that the temple be speedily rebuilt in our own time. It's a prayer they prayed for almost 2,000 years. But Jews here in Jerusalem are doing more than just praying. Just a few steps away from the Western Wall, rabbis and craftsmen are building what they call a temple in waiting. We're supposed to build the temple and nothing about that changed. Nothing about that commandment changed. Haim Richman is a director at the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. The Temple Institute is actively engaged in research and preparation for the resumption of the service in the Holy Temple to the extent of actually preparing operational blueprints for the construction of the temple according to the most modern standards. This menorah is just one of several vessels created for the next temple. It's covered with 95 pounds of pure gold and has a price tag of $2 million. Piece by piece, the third temple is taking shape with priest garments, vessels of copper, gold, and silver, and a new generation of Levite priests specially trained for temple service. We have enough in place now to resume the divine service and to build the temple. But obviously, a lot of things have to happen in order for this to happen. Richmond isn't the only one who's ready to rebuild. You actually have blueprints, architectural drawings for the third temple. 3,000 years after King Solomon built the first Jewish temple, another Solomon is laying the foundations for the third. From the womb of my mother, I have a task and a mission in my life, which is connected with the rebirth of Israel. Gershon Solomon leads a group called the Temple Mount Faithful. They commission these cornerstones for the Third Temple. The six ton stones were consecrated with water from the biblical pool of Siloam and cut with diamonds. And why God commanded us not to cut them by iron? Don't forget that these are stones for the house of God. They cannot be like other stones. For several years, Solomon and his followers tried to place the stones on the Temple Mount. And every year, they were stopped by Israeli police. Unfortunately, weakness of the Israeli leadership did not allow us to bring the cornerstone to the right place. The end time temple should be built on the same location of the first and the second temple. But that location is already occupied. The holiest site for Jews is also the third holiest site for Muslims. And neither side is ready to share. The Temple Mount, 35 acres of it, is the most explosive piece of territory on the face of the planet. In 2002, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told an Arab newspaper that the Israelis found not a single stone proving that the Temple of Solomon was there because the temple was not in Palestine at all. Dr. Yusuf Nache is in charge of tourism at the Dome of the Rock. Here's what he had to say when I asked him about the Jewish temple. It's not an undeniable fact. It is fierce. And the political situation, the misunderstanding, the mistrust distorted all the facts. That is stupid, because the Arabs themselves, they called Jerusalem the place of the Temple. And the Golden Dome right behind me, the Dome of the Rock, was built in order to replace Solomon's Temple. I think this Temple denial is more serious than the Holocaust denial. To counter this so-called temple denial, Gabriel Barca is pushing the archaeological envelope. Muslim law forbids any digging on the mount itself. So instead, Barca is digging through its trash. We have here the entire history of the Temple Mount. He and his team are sifting through truckloads of debris, unearthed by bulldozers and discarded by Muslim authorities. So there could be artifacts in here going back to the first and second temple? Yes, there are. No doubt. Among their finds, a Babylonian arrowhead from the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. And this 2400 year old Hebrew coin, the oldest ever minted in Jerusalem. Do you think in your lifetime there will ever be a time when you can actually investigate what's under the Temple Mount? No, I don't. I'm very pessimistic about it. Some of the most dramatic traces of temple life have been unearthed here at the Western Wall. This street was part of the marketplace outside the Second Temple. On the walls you can still see the marks from the fires that destroyed the temple in 70 A.D. and overturned stones still lying where they were thrown from the top of the Temple Mount by the armies of Rome. On one stone is a Hebrew inscription to the place of trumpeting. It's a set of ancient directions to the southwest corner of the temple, where trumpeters announced the arrival of the Sabbath 2,000 years ago. Even more intriguing is the part of the Western Wall that's still underground. Amongst the causes of the Western Wall, I mean the line of stones which we have here, this is the greatest and the most exciting one we have here. Dan Fahat spent 40 years excavating the tunnels around the Temple Mount, and he says the most compelling case for the Temple is yet to be discovered. I believe that behind this stone is a large arch which forms a storehouse, a big storehouse, which stored all the treasures of the Temple. But we don't have till now anywhere where those treasures were. And the only possibility is that it must be subterranean somewhere around the Temple Mount. I believe that it might have been behind this wall here. So you think it's possible that the treasures are still there? I hope so. Maybe in the future, when it will be possible to dig, maybe we'll get to there. I say we. It must be my grandchildren, the earliest. But Behat's interest in the Temple is strictly in its past. not in its future. There is no chance whatsoever for the third temple. The third temple will be when the Messiah comes and both of our Jews and Christians are waiting for him. So let us see when he comes what happens. It won't happen before. Rabbis for centuries did not understand this and in fact argued, well are we supposed to build the temple and then the Messiah will come? Or are we supposed to wait and then the Messiah will build the temple? Again, I could hear the voice of God like He's speaking to all of us. I brought you here to build my house. Build my house. Okay, it's amazing, isn't it? What preparation has gone into all that's needed is permission to rebuild. on the Temple Mount, but that's where the rub is. As I brought out, the Dome of the Rock is a Muslim shrine. It's believed that Muhammad ascended into heaven from that place. Therefore, they are not looking forward and are not willing to give it up. Now, let me just, in conclusion here, give you three theories now that where Mount Moriah is. Where exactly must the temple be rebuilt? One theory is put forth by an architect from Tel Aviv, based on accounts in ancient sources and topographical elevations, argues the temple was situated at the southwestern corner of the platform near to where the Al-Asr Mosque is today. All right? And there's a Dome of the Rock, but there's also a mosque there on the Temple Mount. Now, according to this, the Temple could be rebuilt without disturbing the Dome of the Rock or their mosque. In fact, this guy believes that when he told him not to measure the court of the Gentiles, that he was talking about the Dome of the Rock and the mosque. Another theory, with both traditional support and the consensus of Israeli archaeologists, is the temple stood exactly where the Dome of the Rock is today. And that's obviously the one that is the biggest problem. If that's true, then the temple must be built, the Holy of Holies must be there, and the Dome of the Rock is there. A more popular theory is that of Hebrew University physicist Asher Kaufman, his research relying upon the details given in the Madat, computations of angles, the line of sight between the Mount of Olives where the red heifer was sacrificed, and the eastern court of the temple where the great altar stood, as well as physical clues discovered around the outside of the platform. Now the story hidden by the concludes that the temple was built on the northwestern corner of the platform only about 330 feet from the Muslim dome of the rock. He believes that the bedrock identifiable within a small cupola at this site, known in Arabic as the Dome of Tablets, was the foundational stone within the Holy of Holies. So again, it's a spot about 330 feet from where the Dome of the Rock is. When I was over in Israel back in the early 80s, I had read about this spot, and so I purposely, when I went on the Temple Mount, I wanted to go stand on that exact spot where this fellow said that he believed the cornerstone for the whole of Holies was. And so these feet stood there, or what it was worth. But we don't know. But now again, Most teachers of end times say that, though this seems like an insurmountable problem, doesn't it? Where? How can they rebuild the temple there with the Muslims in control? That the Antichrist, in his persuasive diplomatic measures and ways, he will through his treaty with Israel somehow broker with the Muslims and the Jews a way for the temple to be rebuilt. And this will be part of the genius of his diplomatic ways. And so, though it seems like an insurmountable problem to us, Part of the Antichrist's great diplomatic and winsome ways is that he will be able to broker this among those areas and those peoples and those areas so that it can be done. That concludes our study for tonight.