Probably, the most controversial city on the face of the earth is Jerusalem and the 35 acres in the Old City that make up the Temple Mount where the First and Second Jewish Temples stood before the Babylonians destroyed them in 586 B.C. and 70 A.D. When Israel became a sovereign nation again in 1948, after over 2,000 years of exile, the eastern portion of Jerusalem was still controlled by Jordan until the Six Day War of 1967. At that time Israel captured East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, thus bringing all of Jerusalem under Israeli control. With the hope of bringing about a “Peace” between them and the Muslim nations, Israel gave jurisdiction of the Temple Mount to the Muslims.
Needless to say, this did not work, so from 1948 until the present day the Muslim nations have tried to destroy the Jewish people and take complete control of the Holy Land. But why is there such controversy and blood shed over the city of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount? Why do the Muslims, the government of the United States, Europe, Russia and other nations continue to push for a Palestinian State within the State of Israel? The reason goes deeper than an issue about land rights. It is a spiritual problem. Let me explain.
When God brought Israel, His Chosen People, out of Egypt they were His blood covenant people. Not only were they His covenant people, but He had chosen a covenant land (the land of Canaan) to be their Holy Land. Psalm 78:54 says, “He brought them to His holy border, this mountain which His right hand had acquired.” Deuteronomy 12:5-7 says, “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His habitation…there you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes…and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.”
God chose Canaan (the land of Israel) for the Jewish people. Not only that, but it says He chose Jerusalem as His holy covenant city, and the Temple Mount, as His Holy Mountain. There, Israel would build His holy Temple and offer holy blood covenant animal sacrifices to their covenant God, which were types and shadows of the true sacrifice, Jesus Christ, who would later come and shed His sinless blood as the ultimate sacrifice.
Israel was the only nation on the face of the earth that God had ever entered into a blood covenant relationship with, and they were to be a light to other nations of God’s power, love and saving grace. Ever since Satan rebelled against God, and tried to take over His kingdom, he has done all he could to destroy God’s work on earth. And the city he hates the most is Jerusalem, Israel. Why? Because it was there that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, gave His life as the Sacrificial Lamb for the salvation and redemption of the world.
It was in Jerusalem where Jesus Christ rose from the dead and defeated Satan, death, hell and the grave forevermore. And it is in Jerusalem that the soon coming Temple is going to be rebuilt which will play a major role in ushering in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ who will set up His kingdom rule on earth over all nations.
Time To Rebuild
When Jesus was on earth one of His predominant teachings in regard to the Tribulation Period was the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. In Matthew 24:15 He says, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)....” In essence, He was saying that in the last days, before His return, another temple would be built in Jerusalem, and would be defiled by a coming antichrist during the Tribulation Period.
The Jewish apostle Paul also spoke about this in II Thessalonians 2:3,4. “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” For these scriptures to be fulfilled, a temple must be built. But what about the time period for this to happen? Are we living in those days now? Yes! Here are some solid reasons why the temple will soon be rebuilt in Jerusalem, Israel.
The Architectural Plans Are Prepared for Rebuilding the Temple
It is my understanding that the architectural plans to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem are complete. According to the website www.3rdtemplebill.org a bill has been drawn up to gain political approval within the Jerusalem Building Commission to build the Third Temple (Bet HaMikdash, in Hebrew). Within the Bill are eight proposals, three of which, if agreed upon by the Commission, are to undertake Initial Limited Non-Invasive Explorations to determine the exact location of the Third Temple, the protection of the Al Aksa Mosque, and the right of Muslems to pray on the Temple Mount, and movement of the Dome of the Rock 200 yards to the northwest part of the Temple Mount.
There are 12 Jewish organizations that have joined together for the rebuilding, two of which are The Temple Institute and The Temple Mount Faithful. Both of these sites have everything you need to know in regard to building the soon coming Third Temple in Jerusalem.
The Aaronic Priesthood Has Been Determined
When the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. all the genealogical records of the Jewish that were kept there were destroyed.
Afterward, when the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world in the Diaspora many of them intermarried with Gentiles, but those of the priesthood carried their name and lineage on. The Hebrew for “priest” is “Cohen”, although the name varied as the Jewish people adopted different cultures and languages. The variations are Kahn, Kagan, Kaplan, Katz, etc.
Jewish High Priest Garments
In 1996, Dr. Karl Skorechi, head of molecular medicine at Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, along with colleagues from London, England, and the University of Arizona, did a test study to identify the priesthood of the Jewish people. Of 188 Jewish men, 68 who claimed priestly descent was proven true through DNA testing. They used the same test that links criminals to crimes, fathers to babies, and fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls to one another, based on the DNA of each sheep whose hide was used. Because a bit of man’s identity is transferred from the father to the son by the “Y” chromosome (which carries the gene for maleness), and is the only chromosome that does not cross over and recombine, it was selected to search for any genetic marker that might appear. A swab was taken from inside the cheek, and the test discovered that those who claimed priestly descent carried a dominant type of the “Y” chromosome that marked them genetically from the rest of the Jewish population. They then conducted a larger study with the same results.
Dr. David Goldstein of Oxford University said, “Since each persons DNA is as individual as a fingerprint, this characteristic linked men together as a separate, and identifiable, group that must be traced back to an original ancestor. They have the “Y” chromosome of Aaron, the first hight priest.”
In 1978 a call went out worldwide to men with the name of Levi and Cohen to register for the priesthood, and Yeshiva (college) Ateret Cohanim was established in the old city of Jerusalem for the training of the priests. It is estimated that of the 7 million Jewish males in the world, 350,000 are of priestly descent, which means that there are 100,000 to 120,000 in Israel now. What a great God we serve. God set it up at the end of the age, before the Lord Jesus returns, when modern science, medicine, and technology would combine to reveal, without a doubt, who the Aaronic priesthood is.
The Dyes for the Priestly Garments Have Been Rediscovered
The Murex Trunculus
In Exodus 39:29,30 God commanded that the garments of the High Priest were to be made of fine linen, dyed blue, purple and scarlet. Also, the cord for the mitre, as well as the tassels on the border of the garments were to be blue. But the origin and manner of producing the blue dye was lost when the Moslems invaded Israel in 638 A.D. and forced the Jewish dye industry underground. Through the investigation of archaeological excavations, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Isaac Herzog, found that the dye came from the “Murex Trunculus” snail (see photo on right), and the secret of producing the dye was rediscovered by Otto Elsner of the Shenkar College of Fibers. He found that the hypobranchial gland of the snail, from which the dye was produced, held a clear liquid which, when exposed to the air, turned purple, but when crushing the shells to extract the dye, and exposing them to the sunlight, caused the dye to turn a brilliant blue.
According to the Talmud the shores of Israel are covered with these snails only once every 70 years. People thought it was an exaggeration, but in late October 1990 it happened, and the Ultra Orthodox saw this as a sign of the imminent coming of the Messianic Age, the revival of the priesthood, and the rebuilding of the Temple. They are now using this dye for the first time in 1,300 years. The photo is one of the recently finished High Priestly Garments, in which they used this blue dye, and in Roman times was valued at $96,000 a pound in today’s currency.
 |
The information on this dye is so important that I do not have room to cover all of it.
The Holy Anointing Oil and the Holy Incense
Using the information found in the Copper Scroll (this scroll is part of the Dead Sea Scrolls), which listed the hiding places of 64 sacred articles used in the Second Temple, archaeologist Vendyl Jones began excavations in the Cave Of The Columns, and in 1988 found the holy anointing oil. Then, in 1992 he found 900 pounds of the holy incense. These have been analyzed and found to be the biblical oil and incense used in the services of the Second Temple, and were hidden away in the Qumran Cave before the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Now, the priesthood can duplicate the formulas in preparation for the rebuilding of the Third Temple.
Temple Articles
The seven-branch solid Gold Menorah, the Golden Altar of Incense, and over 100 other articles have been made in preparation for the rebuilding of the Temple.
Two Important Things Needed To Rebuild
I. Ashes of the Red Heifer
The below quote by Gershon Salomon was taken from Randall Price’s book, The Coming Last Days Temple, page 361.
Nine Red Heifers were born during the time of the Tabernacle and the two Temples. The tenth, according
to this tradition, will be born in the end-times for the Third Temple. Since the destruction of the Second Temple and in the time of the exile over the last 2000 years no Red Heifers have been born, but now they are coming one after another, in Israel and on the ranches of friends of Israel. It is a clear message from God to His people, Israel, that the time for the rebuilding of the Temple has come. -Gershon Salomon
Gershon Salomon is head of The Temple Mount Faithful in Jerusalem. He believes with all his heart that the time to rebuild the Third Temple is now, and the only thing missing is the ashes of the Red Heifer. Numbers chapter 19 says that a Red Heifer without spot (not even one hair of another color is allowed), and on which there has never been a yoke, must be taken outside the camp and killed, then its ashes, mixed with clean water, were used to sprinkle anyone who had become defiled by coming in contact with a dead body, in order for them to be made ritually clean again.
Today, the orthodox Jewish rabbis believe that it will take the ashes of the Red Heifer to cleanse the Temple Mount, as well as the Jewish people who would come there, due to the fact that they have lived among the Gentile Nations and have become defiled. It is said that a Red Heifer already exists in Israel. If so, then we are on the brink of Jesus’ return.
II. Control of the Temple Mount
In order for Israel to build the Third Temple, she must have control of the Temple Mount, which today is controlled by the Islamic Wakf – the Muslim Supreme Council. Also, the Muslim Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque dominate the Temple Mount. Any attempt to take control of the Mount by Israel could result in all-out war with Islam. If Israel won that war then of course the Temple Mount would be under their control.
There are other scenarios, such as an earthquake, a negotiated agreement between Israel and Islam, a shared Temple Mount between Israel and Islam, which could happen based on Revelation chapter 11, verse 2. “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 underfoot forty and two months.” But there is an even more plausible reason than these.
The first book in the Koran (the Islamic Bible) is called Parah, “the calf”, which pertains to the ashes of the Red Heifer. Islam believes that whoever finds it will rule the world. What if it is Israel? What kind of reaction would that bring from the nations of the world? Only time will tell.
One thing is for sure! A Third Temple is soon to be built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and will be defiled by the antichrist, which will bring about the Battle of Armageddon and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, keep your eyes on Jerusalem and lift up your head, for our redemption draws nigh. Shalom! Shalom!
|
