No 10

(The Tribulation Temple or Third Temple)

God’s present temple is in all believers as we saw in our last study. He is, of course, in heaven but when the Church, the Body of Christ will be raptured as indicated in 1 Thess 4: 13 – 17, an actual physical temple will be erected in Jerusalem as in Old Testament times. In the book of Daniel in chapter 9:27 the Bible reads “…And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease…” The “he” referred here is the antichrist who will come into the picture after the Rapture and for him to cease the sacrifices and oblations, this activity must be going on; otherwise the passage makes no sense.

Just as in the days of Haggai, the Levitical sacrifices of the Second Temple looked forward to the coming Messiah, in the days of the Third Temple, the book of Leviticus will look back in remembrance of the blood sacrifice of Christ. The next Jewish Temple must be built by the midpoint of the seven year tribulation period as indicated above. The antichrist will stop the kosher Levitical sacrifice of the Biblical Jews at that time and they will flee into the wilderness for the last part of the tribulation.

There is only one spot on which this temple can be built. When Israel won the six-day war and re-took the part of Jerusalem where the original temple was built, there was a question asked “Should we re-build the Third Temple?” Unfortunately, the third holiest place of Islam is located on the temple mount – the Omar Mosque or the Dome of the Rock. This edifice would have to be torn down and we all know what that means – all-out war in the Middle East. How will this happen?? When will this happen? These are questions even the best politicians aren’t able to answer. There is really only one sure thing – God has a plan and it will come to pass whatever the circumstances.