Rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem?

The Deseret News ^ | May 3, 2014 | William Hamblin and Daniel Peterson

[2ndDivisionVet]

The dramatic recent collapse of the Arab-Israeli peace talks and the ongoing political turmoil involving the Temple Mount have again focused world attention on the centuries-old struggle for that sacred site. Since antiquity, the roughly 37 acres of the Temple Mount and its immediate surroundings have frequently been the focus of interreligious strife.

The destruction of the Jewish temple by the Romans in A.D. 70 was a devastating event in the history of Judaism. It served as a transforming catalyst in both the origins of Christianity and the transition of Israelite religion from a priestly sacrifice-centered system to the legalistic text-centered religion of rabbinic Judaism as we know it today. Ever since that catastrophic year, many Jews have longed for the restoration of their lost temple.

During the centuries after its destruction, Jews made three major attempts to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. The first was the messianic movement of Shimon Bar Kokhba from A.D. 132-135. His efforts were cut short by the overwhelming victory of the Roman emperor Hadrian, who altogether expelled the Jews from Jerusalem and built a temple to Jupiter on the site of the ancient house of the Lord....

[2ndDivisionVet]

Daniel C. Peterson, professor of Islamic studies and Arabic at BYU, is editor-in-chief of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative and a blogger for Patheos. William Hamblin is a professor of history at BYU and co-author of “Solomon's Temple: Myth and History.” Their views do not necessarily represent those of BYU.

[elcid1970]

Been hearing rumors about Israelis stockpiling materials to rebuild the Temple since late 1967 after they captured east Jerusalem.

Ain’t gonna happen. The Temple Mount is under Muslim control (voluntarily ceded by Israel) and the Dome of the Rock plus the Al-Aqsa mosque would have to be razed to make room for the new Temple.

Sorry, folks.

[Roman_War_Criminal]

Uh-huh....

2 Thessalonians 2:3 - Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

2 Thessalonians 2:4 - 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, shewing himself that he is God.

Still in the future, so it will be rebuilt. Just a matter of time.

[Prospero]

Where the God of Abraham, his friend, makes a stand count on the "world" to immediately camp out all over the top of it.

However patient the present landowner may be, there is a lien on the Title granting a kind of perpetual easement. Those parties are both capable and righteous in taking possession at any time.

Those anxious about rebuilding fail to see their resemblance to Abraham "working out God's will" in a tent with his wife's slave girl. Ultimately, God does not need any of our help in defending his claims or reputation.

When Jesus prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem he was quite specific. "No one stone," he said of Herod's "improvements" on Nehemiah's "Second Temple."

"As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." - Luke 21:6

Last time I looked, and that was just yesterday, interestingly enough, the Wailing Wall, including the incredibly heavy "Western Stone" was still standing.

I sometimes wonder how many Christians' of nominal faith would melt away if (or when) God "watching over his word to perform it" does not fulfill in a manner consistent with what they've been taught.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I have also read that the Temple could be built beside the Dome of the Rock. The Temple is not very big so it would fit on the site easily.

[ShadowAce]

I sometimes wonder how many Christians' of nominal faith would melt away if (or when) God "watching over his word to perform it" does not fulfill in a manner consistent with what they've been taught.

Yup--that's why the Pharisees hated Him, and that's why most Jews refuse to accept Christ.

[iowamark]

Don’t rely on Mormonism for Biblical history.

[PhilipFreneau]

>>>Last time I looked, and that was just yesterday, interestingly enough, the Wailing Wall, including the incredibly heavy “Western Stone” was still standing.<<<

I, like many Jews, believe the so-called “Wailing Wall” is actually part of the old Fort Antonia, and not a part of the old temple complex. Therefore, the prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled in AD 70.

Philip

[elcid1970]

Try selling that to the muzzies who control the Temple Mount.

BTW I would never discount Biblical prophecy. It’s just that current politics in Israel don’t favor rebuilding the Temple.

I would love to see the Dome of the Rock & Al-Aqsa mosque obliterated. Of course I also would like to see the Kaaba & the Grand Mosque of Mecca blown sky high but that’s a different subject, sort of.

[bmwcyle]

The temple is in all modules sitting in storage for years. It is going up at God`s will. Never think it will not be rebuilt. You would be wrong.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.

[Monkey Face]

Very interesting. I believe the Third Temple will be built but the rest of the thought, I will keep to myself.

History has a way of validating the Biblical prophecies.

Thanks for the ping, SC.

[one Lord one faith one baptism]

The only “temple of God” that exists since Jesus died on the cross is the Church, which is the Body of Christ on earth.

any building purporting to be the temple of God, built by people who reject Jesus as Messiah CAN NOT BE THE TEMPLE OF GOD.

[ckilmer]

Sometime in the second half of this century — the first of many many large scale off world migrations will begin. (ie it might be nearer to 2050 and it might be nearer to 2090. Right now we are in the midst of accelerating technological development so there is a time compression currently extant for events. The more and longer this compression extends — the sooner starts the migrations.)

To many eyes these migrations will look as star tingly like signs of the world’s end as did 60 years ago —the birth of Israel. That is, these migrations will look like something they might have read from the Left Behind series. Or if they’d read the bible — something out of the book of Revelations.

I don’t know that this will be true. The same sort of mystery of those leaving and those staying behind has been felt by all peoples around the world going back five centuries between those who have come to the New World and those who stayed home.

There will be the same great break between those who stay on earth and those who go into space.

Life is a journey. Its commonly pointed out these days that Abraham begins the specifically Jewish part of Genesis when he is called to a westward migration by God.

There are parts of Abraham’s journey —including faith in things unseen— there are very much like the stories of people coming to america several hundred years ago.

(these day people who migrate to the new world —have seen pictures and movies and videos offline online in detail. So its not the same.)

[2ndDivisionVet]

[wildbill]

Although it would not follow the historical precedent of the temple on the Temple Mount, why couldn’t the Israelis find a new site and build a new temple in Jerusalem.

For example, build up an area next to the Temple Mount along the Wailing Wall and build it to a height slightly above the Temple Mount. Eventually it would be known as the Temple Mount after a couple of thousand years, give or take.

[PapaBear3625]

Ain’t gonna happen. The Temple Mount is under Muslim control (voluntarily ceded by Israel) and the Dome of the Rock plus the Al-Aqsa mosque would have to be razed to make room for the new Temple.

OK, so un-cede it, knock down the Dome, and build the Temple.

Israel doesn't have "eminent domain"?

[2ndDivisionVet]

[PhilipFreneau]

>>>The temple is in all modules sitting in storage for years. It is going up at God`s will. Never think it will not be rebuilt. You would be wrong.<<<

The so-called "third temple" might be built, but not by God's will. It is not prophesied anywhere in either the old or new testaments; so the pretense has been squeezed (e.g., spiritualized) out of the text.

The following passage in Ephesians identifies the true holy temple of the Lord, of which all Christians are a part:

"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (Eph 2:19-22 KJV)

Paul also identified the holy temple in the Corinthians:

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." (1 Cor 3:16-17 KJV)

The holy temple is also identified in the Revelation of Jesus Christ as being located in the holy city, New Jerusalem (the Church;) and, again, it is not a physical building of any sort:

"And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." (Rev 21:22 KJV)

The same was also mentioned in the Acts:

"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;" (Acts 17:24 KJV)

Philip

[lbryce]

The specific area of the Jewish Temple, its very location, is overwhelmingly fundamental to its very existence.

Isiah 66:1 This is what the LORD says (to David): "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?

David built the Temple so that God would have a place to rest on Earth. That place is the holiest site for Judaism and is the very basis for its structure. Jews are still forbidden today to walk above on the Temple Mount because that is where God's Spirit had taken up to rest as signs in several languages give ample warning to all. God's resting place is what anchors the Temple and which is its raison d'etre for having been constructed.

Where is this specific site where the Jewish God rested?? It's the exact same spot where these G-d dammed misbegotten Muslims decided to build their Whore house of prayer, the Dome of The Rock, exactly right on top of the spot where the Jewish God's Spirit rested.

So, if you want a Jewish Temple that exists, is built according to the specifications, protocols in which God's Spirit would rest as it did in the previous two Temples, you're not going to build it in Short Hills, New Jersey, just like you won't build a Lincoln Memorial in Astana, Kazakhstan, it's capital city.