The Temple Mount Jerusalem Convention (TMJC) is dedicated to the holiest place on earth and invites the nations to Jerusalem to discuss, network, get educated, and inspired with zeal for God’s House.
The convention has been an unprecedented meeting between Bible-believing Jews and Christians.
It is written,“My House shall be called a House of prayer for all nations.” — Isaiah 56:7
Featuring top Christian and Jewish speakers, TMJC 2023 will explore passion, excitement, and zeal for “a House of Prayer for All Nations.” We will investigate the Biblical vision for the Temple Mount and the current reality in Jerusalem.
Enoch Lavender was born in Australia, raised in Norway, spent time living in China and is now based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been studying Hebrew and the Jewish roots of our faith for the past decade, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective.
Looking at any Biblical map of Jerusalem you will notice the Temple of God dominating the city. It was a magnificent structure which would truly have been the pride of the city and represented nothing less than God Himself dwelling among mankind.
Yet, looking more closely at the map, you will notice something rather puzzling – the Temple seems to be facing away from the city of Jerusalem. This was true for King Solomon’s Temple, which was built to the north of the ancient citadel and faced away to the east. It was also true for the Second Temple in Jesus’ day. By then, the City of Jerusalem had grown in size, yet it’s houses, streets and bustling markets were all located either to the west or the south of the Temple – with the Temple standing seemingly with its back facing away from the city and towards the east.
The Temple was built after divine instruction given to King David, yet I’m sure many would have questioned this rather odd design. Shouldn’t the Temple be facing the people of Jerusalem?
In Scripture, God often commanded His people to do something a certain way – and only later explained why. In the case of the Temple’s odd direction, it is not until we get to the prophecies of Ezekiel that we finally get some light on this unusual design.
Ezekiel chapters 8 to 11 foretell the departure of the glory of God from the Temple – detailing how it would leave the Temple and head east to the Mount of Olives and then ascend to the heavens. It is interesting to note that after His resurrection, Jesus also ascended from the very same site on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 43-44 portrays God’s glory returning the same way it left – from the Mount of Olives to enter Jerusalem and the Temple from the east. This prophecy seems to speak of Jesus’ return, as we know from other Scriptures that He will one day return to the Mount of Olives and enter Jerusalem from the East (Is. 63:1, Acts 1:11). Being aware of these messianic prophecies, Islamic leaders have sealed shut the Eastern Gate to the Temple Mount with a brick wall – but as you and I know, our Messiah has no problem going through brick walls!
Coming back to the direction of the Temple, it can be seen that it was not built facing eastward for the sake of the people, or for the sake of the many travelling pilgrims to the city. The Temple was built this way to fulfil its ultimate purpose– which is to welcome the King of Glory to His rightful place. This is the top priority for the Temple, and by this pattern it was built.
As this book explores the prospect of the Temple being rebuilt in our days, remember that while the Temple in itself is magnificent and fascinating, its primary purpose is to point us to the King of Glory who will one day return to dwell among His people in Jerusalem.
May the developments concerning the Temple’s rebuilding in our days inspire us all to be ready for that great day when our Lord will return!
Learn More: Special Book Rebuilding the Third Temple
Enoch Lavender was born in Australia, raised in Norway, spent time living in China and is now based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been studying Hebrew and the Jewish roots of our faith for the past decade, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective.
Many of us have grown up in Church with a theology that says that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice, putting an end to the sacrificial system. While it is built on truth, its conclusions about the sacrificial system being done away with clashes directly with the practice of the early disciples.
For example, after he wrote most of his NT letters, Paul the Apostle headed back to Jerusalem and happily agreed to pay the costs of four believers who were completing their vows. This included the believers offering a range of sacrifices in the Temple – costing in todays terms literally thousands of dollars. Neither these believers, nor Paul himself had an issue with performing this service. In Acts 24:17 Paul further explains that his purpose of going to Jerusalem in the first place was to give alms and offerings (in the language of the day, this clearly meant to sacrifice in the Temple). The book of Acts highlights further that the disciples met regularly in the Temple and were in high esteeem with all the people (which would have been hard to do if they suddenly rejected the God-given sacrificial system). Furthermore, Acts 6:7 describes that a number of priests joined the faith, and again there is no mention of them ceasing their work in the Temple because of their new found faith.
In essence the sacrifice of Jesus is on a higher level and represents a higher priesthood and does not do away with the Aaronic priesthood, it just serves a higher function. After all, the Aaronic priesthood was never able to take away sins in the first place. Furthermore, the Aaronic priesthood appears to be coming back into action in the Millennium according to the prophecies of Ezekiel.
It is true that the Aaronic sacrifices pointed to Jesus and gave much light on what He did for us. As such, these sacrifices would have taken on extra deep layers of meaning for these early disciples.
I hope this helps you, and let’s all continue to explore for ourselves what the Bible says of this topic.
I explore a similar topic in this video – ‘Can Christians support the rebuilding of the Temple?’:
Enoch Lavender was born in Australia, raised in Norway, spent time living in China and is now based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been studying Hebrew and the Jewish roots of our faith for the past decade, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective.
October 29th, 2014 was just another day in the life of Jerusalem Rabbi and Temple Mount Activist Yehudah Glick. The soft spoken red-headed Rabbi – described by some as ‘the most dangerous man in the Middle East’ – had just finished giving a public lecture on “The Importance of Maintaining a Jewish Presence on the Temple Mount” and was packing his bags into the boot of his car while his wife was waiting patiently in the passenger seat. Suddenly a man on a motorcycle pulled over and asked in heavily accented Hebrew: ‘Are you Yehudah Glick?”. “Yes”, affirmed Yehudah while his wife casually listened on from inside the car.
“I am terribly sorry,” the man on the motorcycle continued with anger rising in his voice, “but you are an enemy of al-Aqsa”. With that the man pulled a gun and fired four rapid shots at point blank rage into Yehudah’s unprotected chest before speeding off on the motorbike.
We will hear more of what happened to Rabbi Glick later in this article. While this attack was intended to spell the end for the Temple restoration movement, we will see how it actually ended up galvanising the movement across Israel. We will also see the significance of this movement in light of Bible Prophecy and the end times.
Rebuilding the Temple – A Dream of the Minority
A few years ago, I attended a lecture by a practicing Jew who is a leader within the Zionist community. During the Q&A after the lecture, a keen Christian took note of the leader’s obvious faith in the God of Israel and asked him about his thoughts on rebuilding the Temple. His response – which took several of us Christians by surprise – was to explain that he was not at all interested in the rebuilding of the Temple. He went on to explain how he viewed the sacrificial system as something quaint and irrelevant nowadays and that he was glad to leave it in the dustbin of history.
While many Christian students of Bible Prophecy are very excited about the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple as setting the stage for End Time events, I have learned to my surprise that only a minority of Religious Jews share this interest. After the destruction of the second temple by the Romans, Judaism adapted itself to a religion no longer dependent upon sacrifices for forgiveness of sin, but one that encouraged good works as a path to a right standing with God. While the site of the ancient Temple remains revered across the spectrum of Judaism, the concept of rebuilding the temple now remains a controversial dream of a small minority.
Fears of an International Backlash
Apart from a lack of religiously motivated enthusiasm to rebuild the Temple, another dampening factor is the reality that any such moves would be likely to trigger off an immediate World War 3. As many of you would know, the Temple Mount is today occupied by the third holiest site in Islam, namely the Al Aqsa Mosque and the picturesque Dome of the Rock. Any action that appears to threaten the sanctity of these sites will draw the immediate wrath of the Islamic world. Highlighting the level of Islamic concern for this site, the Organisation of Islamic Co-Operation was founded in 1969 specifically with the goal to protect the Al-Aqsa mosque. Today this influential organisation boasts 56 member states and is the second largest intergovernmental organisation in the world.
With such a huge body of nations dead-set against any strengthened Jewish presence on the Temple Mount, and being a fringe view within Judaism, Temple Mount Activists have been seen by many Israelis as irresponsible trouble makers who need to be kept in check to avoid a major international conflict.
Will there be a Third Temple?
In light of the above, it would seem unlikely that the Temple could be rebuilt in this age. In fact, successive Israeli governments have firmly and repeatedly committed themselves to maintaining the ‘status quo’ on the Temple Mount to avoid fermenting trouble.
However, New Testament and Old Testament prophecies about the End of Days assume the presence of the Temple. For example, Jesus (Mt. 24:15) and Paul (2 Thes. 2:3-4) prophesied an End Time defilement of the Temple. Although some may argue that this refers to a ‘spiritual temple’ (i.e the church), it is clear that these predictions would have been understood by their original listeners as referring to the literal building itself. Other predictions such as Daniel’s mention of the daily sacrifices being taken away are also best understood to refer to a literal Temple.
The restoration of Israel after 1900 years of exile was unlikely, yet happened in accordance with many prophecies throughout the Bible. In the same way, the rebuilding of the Temple appears unlikely, but if God’s Word is telling us that it will happen, then we can expect it to take place.
Do we see evidence today that we are nearing the time when the Temple might be rebuilt? Let’s return to Yehudah Glick’s story to see what has happened since the attack on his life.
Returning to Yehudah Glick
On October 22, doctors at the Shaarei Tzedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem worked frantically to save the life of a bullet riddled terrorist. One nurse openly questioned why they should work so hard to save the life of a man who had just killed three innocent civilians, but the rest of the team responded that they were simply doing their job.
A week later to the day1, the same team were set to work on Rabbi Glick, and lessons learned from the week before helped them give Yehudah the best possible treatment as he was hovering between life and death. Many prayers were being lifted up for Rabbi Glick and his survival and subsequent recovery has been described by many as nothing short of miraculous. The doctors who operated on him reported that none of the bullets left serious lasting damage – one bullet hit his spine without touching the spinal cord, while another bullet went through his neck passing within millimetres of a major artery5.
Being released from hospital less than a month later, a pale looking Yehudah Glick held a press conference where he praised ‘the God who raises the dead’. A year later, in commemoration of the event that had almost snuffed out his life, a re-vitalised Yehudah Glick returned to the scene of his attempted assassination and danced so vigorously that younger men might have had trouble keeping up with him.
The Revitalised Temple Mount Movement
Before the assassination attempt, Rabbi Glick was a fringe activist mainly known within the ideological right. The attack became headline news across Israel, and he quickly become a household name. As his fame grew, new supporters were added to the cause including a new youth movement.
Yehudah was subsequently interviewed by many media outlets including the BBC. Within four months of the attack, a general election was held in Israel and Rabbi Glick ran for election as a candidate for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party2. He was listed way down on the ballot list and did not succeed in entering the Knesset. Since then, his profile has continued to rise and later reports are now saying that he is a certainty to enter the Knesset at the next election.
Yehudah has high ranking supporters within Netanyahu’s party, and was in August granted his first one-on-one audience with Netanyahu. During the half an hour meeting, Netanyahu reportedly expressed warmth, understanding and sympathy for Glick’s cause3.
While Yehudah Glick is rising in the corridors of power, the Temple Mount Institute of which he is a part is continuing preparations training young priests believed to be descendants of the Priestly line in performing the ancient sacrifices and preparing the holy vessels for the day when the Temple is rebuilt.
It appears that the terror attack that was meant for evil has strengthened the Temple Mount movement and may indeed be a sign that we are getting closer to the End Times and ultimately to the Coming of Our Lord.
There are significant inter-faith developments taking place that are of concern from a Christian perspective, but that may fit in with the end time scenario. Despite his controversial views regarding the Temple Mount, Yehudah Glick has been actively involved in interfaith dialogue and believes that the Temple should be a ‘house of prayer for all nations’. In August 2015, 8 months after the attempt on his life, Glick was invited to Turkey to be the guest of honour at a Ramadan celebration attended by 1000 Muslim Clerics.4 The event was arranged by popular Turkish Muslim writer Adnan Oktar, who has publically called for the rebuilding of the Jewish temple. While many Bible-believing Christians and orthodox Jews disagree that the Temple worship could in any way be shared with the Islamic faith, Glick is open to the idea. It is interesting in this context that Revelation 11:1-2 describe the outer court of the Temple as being ‘given to the gentiles’, perhaps indicating some kind of shared arrangements on the Temple Mount as envisaged by Glick and certain Muslim leaders.
Summary
There remain many hindrances to the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. Despite the progress made so far, the majority of religious Jews still oppose it and it remains strongly opposed by most of the Islamic world. It would require nothing short of a miracle for these sentiments to shift enough to allow for the rebuilding of the Temple. However, just as the restoration of the nation of Israel seemed unlikely during her 1900 years of exile, God has a way of fulfilling what He has repeatedly promised throughout the Scriptures. Our God is in complete control of world events and is setting the stage for the End Time events of Scripture. Now is the time for us as believers to live whole-heartedly for God, to make sure our own ‘Temples’ are in order and to pray for our loved ones to be in right relationship with God.
Enoch Lavender was born in Australia, raised in Norway, spent time living in China and is now based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been studying Hebrew and the Jewish roots of our faith for the past decade, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective.
A tumultuous week of Israeli politics has capped off a series of unlikely events that have brought temple mount activist Rabbi Yehudah Glick into the Israeli parliament as a member of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.
How did Glick get there and what does his rise to prominence mean for the future rebuilding of the Temple?
Rabbi Yehudah Glick’s Stunning Rise to Prominence
Rabbi Yehudah is a veteran of the Israeli Temple Mount movement. He is the soft-spoken leader of the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation, and has been described by friends and foes alike as the ‘friendly face’ of Israel’s Temple Mount movement.
Yehudah Glick and his peers from the Temple Movement have for years been regarded as insignificant fringe elements of Israeli society with only limited influence. All this changed dramatically on October 29, 2014 when a terrorist targeted and sought to murder Yehudah Glick. Rushed to hospital with four bullet wounds to the chest, it looked like the end for Rabbi Glick and the loss of one of the best spokespeople for the Temple Mount movement. However – in what doctors described as a miracle – none of the bullets hit any vital organs. One bullet hit his spine without touching the spinal cord, while another bullet went through his neck passing within millimetres of a major artery. Within one month and after nine surgeries, a pale-looking Yehudah Glick was able to leave the hospital, giving thanks to ‘God who raises the dead’.
The assassination attempt and the subsequent dramatic recovery catapulted Yehudah Glick into the national spotlight, making him a household name and breathing new impetus into the Temple Mount Movement. His assassination attempt and subsequent recovery spawned the birth of several new organisations devoted to Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount.
Entering into Politics
Yehudah Glick is no novice to politics. His resume includes a 10 year stint as a spokesman in the Immigration and Transport Departments. He has also in recent years worked closely with several Members of Parliament to promote the rights of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.
A member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, Rabbi Glick was listed as #56 on the ballot papers for the election of 2013. For the following election in March 2015, the newly recovered and more prominent Glick was upgraded to #33 on the ballot papers. At the time, most pundits expected Netanyahu’s Likud party to barely win 20 seats. Asked by the Israeli press if he would run for a more realistic place on the ballot papers, Glick explained that his wife had vetoed the decision and that he was content to stay outside of Parliament and to have a merely symbolic listing on the ballot papers.
While Glick may not have planned to enter the Parliament, the surprising and sweeping victory of Netanyahu in the elections brought about a change of plans as an unexpected total of 30 Likud candidates entered the Knesset.
During the past year, there have been several resignations from Netanyahu’s party – and the fall out of last week’s coalition changes included one more high profile resignation – paving the way for the very unlikely Yehudah Glick to join the Knesset.
The rise of Yehudah Glick from the brink of death to the national spotlight, and now to the Israeli parliament is truly breathtaking. It would seem that God has had a hand in the unlikely turn of events that has seen this man survive such an ordeal and now be given an increasing influence in the nation of Israel.
Slow and Steady Progress Towards The Temple
While Yehudah Glick’s entry into the Knesset may excite many Bible Prophecy observers, it does not necessarily point to a speedy rebuilding of the Temple in the near future.
If he stays true to form, Rabbi Glick will not be advocating publically for an imminent rebuilding of the Temple. He has in addition vowed not to re-visit the Temple Mount while serving as a member of the Knesset in honour of Netanyahu’s ban on such visits for MK’s. But on the other hand, he has affirmed that he will continue to campaign for equal prayer rights for Jews on the Temple Mount.
Those who wish to see speedy action towards a possible rebuilding of the Temple may well find themselves disappointed in Glick’s approach.
Rabbi Glick and the Temple Institute have for years recognised the impossible political situation concerning the rebuilding of the Temple on the Temple Mount. Given the strong opposition by most orthodox Jews – and the threat of an Islamic World erupting in unparalleled levels of violence – Rabbi Glick and the Temple Institute have found it wiser to take a slow and steady approach to changing the status quo.
According to their web site, the stated goal of the Temple Institute for now is to “rekindle the flame of the Holy Temple in the hearts of mankind”. In the same spirit, Yehudah Glick has since 2009 shifted away from public calls to rebuild the Temple and has instead focussed his public activism on equal Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount. This move has helped secure broader religious support for his movement and has already helped rekindle a flame in many hearts for the Temple. Yehudah’s shift of focus appears to have paid off as the number of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount has doubled since 2009.
Asked recently about the likelihood of equal prayer rights for Jews on the Temple Mount, Yehudah exclaimed “Whether it’s in two years, five years or 10 years from today, I don’t know. I have patience”.
A Sudden Green Light to Rebuild the Temple?
While Rabbi Glick and the Temple Institute both take a slow and steady approach, they none-the-less have their eye on the big picture and are awaiting the right moment to rebuild the Temple.
In the words of the Temple Institute, their long term goal “is to do all in our limited power to bring about the building of the Holy Temple in our time”. As such, they are doing everything possible to be ready for the day when permission is granted. They are recreating and preparing vessels of the Temple for actual use and are training priests in the complex ancient temple sacrifices and rituals. In addition, in a recently announced project, they are seeking to use advanced technology to secure the birth of a perfect red heifer which is required for purification prior to the resumption of the Temple Service.
It is certain that Yehudah Glick who has devoted much of his life to the Temple Mount still shares the same vision and has a deep longing for the day when the Temple can be rebuilt. Just as the Temple Institute is standing increasingly ready for the day when the go-ahead to rebuild is given, so Rabbi Glick is finding himself in an ever more favourable position to act when that day comes.
Rebuilding the Temple may seem impossible right now, yet many Bible teachers see it playing a prominent role in the End Times. If this is so, then we can expect there to come a dramatic change sooner or later which will bring about the necessary favourable environment for the rebuilding of the Temple.
Just as Yehudah Glick has had an unexpected and rapid rise to power, could it be that there are more unexpected changes lying ahead in the near future that will set the stage for the building of the Third Temple? Watch this space!
Enoch Lavender was born in Australia, raised in Norway, spent time living in China and is now based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been studying Hebrew and the Jewish roots of our faith for the past decade, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective.
For us who are watching prophetic developments in the earth, there is something very exciting about monitoring the historic preparations taking place for the rebuilding of Israel’s Temple. In the last few weeks, two big stories have hit the headlines that are worth noting. The first news item concerns the resurfacing of a report of a mysterious gemstone that could belong to the original breastplate of the High Priest. The second news headline is that Israel’s reconvened Sanhedrin has taken the momentous step to nominate a High Priest – for the first time since the Temple’s destruction in AD 70!
In this article we will look more at these intriguing developments and will then look at the prophetic implications for us as believers as we draw closer to the time of the Lord’s coming.
Mysterious Gem Discovered
Detailed reports of a mysterious gem re-surfaced this week and have also made headlines in the secular media. There is strong speculation that the gem could be from the breast plate of the High Priest. Others suggest that it may be one of the two stones worn on the High Priest’s shoulders or even be part of the legendary Urim & Thummim. While these speculations may seem far-fetched at first glance, a detailed and scientific analysis of the gem has highlighted its stunningly unique and mysterious features.
The precious stone – which has been carefully passed down the documented line of a Crusader’s family tree – is a semi-precious sardonyx with little intrinsic value in and of itself. It has been cut into a hemisphere, and researchers are baffled as to how the ancients could possibly have cut the stone in this way.
Even more astounding than the cut of the stone, is an inscription in ancient Hebrew inside the stone, visible through its clear surface. Professor Moshe Sharon – who is an expert on ancient Hebrew Script at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem – describes the Hebrew inscription as being in a style of Script from approximately 1000 BC.
This Hebrew inscription leads to speculation that the gem could belong to the legendary Urim and Thummim which were used in Bible times to determine God’s will (Ex. 28:30, 1 Sam 28:16). It is interesting to note that the Jewish Talmud describes the Urim and Thummim as being stones that would light up to spell an answer in Hebrew in response to petitions to God. Could this stone be one of the mysterious Urim and Thummim?
Another mystery is how this ancient Hebrew script was inscribed inside the gem – without any visible signs of engraving or cutting of the stone. Noted professor of archaeology and religious studies Dr. James Strange comments that, ‘there is no modern or ancient technology known to me by which an artisan could produce the inscription (inside the stone), as it is not cut into the surface of the stone”.
Upon examination, Dr. Strange also noted that the stone has no external markings, ruling out that it had been part of a ring or necklace. His conclusion was that the stone must have been set in a large plate or breastplate.
Ian Campbell, a leading South African gemologist, priced this unique gem at $200 million as a starting point, but acknowledged the difficulty of pricing a one-off unique gem with such tremendous religious significance. While the owners have expressed interest in the gem being restored to Jewish hands, the cost is prohibitive and its authenticity must be proven.
Dr. Strange is today issuing a call for a fresh scientific examination of the stone to determine whether it is an elaborate hoax or a genuine artifact belonging to the Jewish people. At this stage it is too early to tell, but perhaps this stone will be restored to Israel and play a role in the rebuilt temple?
The Sanhedrin Nominates a High Priest
Just prior to the reports about this mysterious gem, another prophetic headline ricocheted across the world as the Israeli Sanhedrin announced that it had taken the ground breaking step to nominate a High Priest.
The Sanhedrin at the time of Jesus served as a kind of Supreme Court for the Jewish nation. It was disbanded in 425 AD, and was only reconvened in 2004. At the time, leading prophecy teachers hailed it’s reconvening as an important step in preparing for the rebuilding of the Temple.
The modern reconvened Sanhedrin consists of 71 distinguished rabbis (after the pattern of Moses + 70 elders), and it meets monthly to rule on key spiritual issues. Rabbinical teaching holds that the High Priest for the Third Temple would either be appointed by the Sanhedrin or by the King (the Messiah Himself). In the absence of the Messiah, and in the lead up to the all important Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) sacrifice for the nation, the Sanhedrin has agreed on the need to nominate a High Priest who can perform this vitally important sacrifice if permission is granted.
Permission to sacrifice on the Temple Mount could come sooner than many expect. With the unexpected and dramatic rise of Temple Mount activist Rabbi Yehudah Glick into Netanyahu’s coalition government, and the increasing support for a rebuilt Temple among both Government ministers and a small but growing segment of the population, the Sanhedrin can sense a change in the air. This sense of change also carries with it great responsibility as it would be a disaster if permission was granted and no High Priest was ready to perform the crucial Day of Atonement sacrifice for the nation.
It is against this backdrop that the momentous decision was taken by the Sanhedrin to appoint a High Priest – for the first time since the temple was destroyed in AD 70! The nominated candidate for High Priest was Rabbi Baruch Kahane, an expert on the complicated laws pertaining to the Temple Service.
In a surprising twist, Rabbi Baruch declined the role at this time, but accepted a similar role with the title of ‘Rosh Kohanim’ (Head of the Priests). This role is often but not always synonymous with being High Priest. In other words, Rabbi Baruch will be available to be called on to be High Priest if and when the situation should arise.
It is important to note that sacrificing on the Temple Mount does not require the prior existence of a rebuilt Temple and can be restarted before the construction has even begun. If granted permission by the Israeli authorities – which would still be a major miracle in itself – the Sanhedrin’s goal is to be ready to conduct sacrifices with only a week’s notice. The appointing of a High Priest is therefore a crucial step in preparation for the resumption of sacrifices on the Temple Mount.
The Temple and End Times
Believers in Jesus rightly point to Him as the ultimate sacrifice for mankind and that we as believers no longer require animal sacrifices for sins. However, restoring the sacrificial system could be an important step in preparing the Jewish people for their Messiah and certainly plays a key role in the End Times.
Modern rabbinical Judaism has moved away from sacrifices to good works as a means of salvation, and it is therefore hard for many Jewish people to understand the significance of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. But as sacrifices are restored to the Jewish nation, it will shift modern Judaism back closer to Biblical Judaism. This would open the eyes of many to the importance of the sacrifice in dealing with sins, and perhaps even help prepare the way for the nation to understand fully the sacrifice of Jesus and what was accomplished at the cross.
In regards to End Time Prophecy, many believe that the Scriptures warn of Temple Sacrifices being stopped for a period of time by the Anti-Christ (Dan 9:27). If this is correct, then a rebuilt Temple is an essential piece of the prophetic puzzle. The rebuilding of the Temple and the re-institution of a High Priest (with or without the mysterious gem!) are therefore all significant steps bringing us that much closer to the day when the Lord Himself will return!
Enoch Lavender was born in Australia, raised in Norway, spent time living in China and is now based in Melbourne, Australia. He has been studying Hebrew and the Jewish roots of our faith for the past decade, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective.
Apart from a lack of religiously motivated enthusiasm to rebuild the Temple, another dampening factor is the reality that any such moves would be likely to trigger off an immediate World War 3. As many of you would know, the Temple Mount is today occupied by the third holiest site in Islam, namely the Al Aqsa Mosque and the picturesque Dome of the Rock. Any action that appears to threaten the sanctity of these sites will draw the immediate wrath of the Islamic world. Highlighting the level of Islamic concern for this site, the Organisation of Islamic Co-Operation was founded in 1969 specifically with the goal to protect the Al-Aqsa mosque. Today this influential organisation boasts 56 member states and is the second largest intergovernmental organisation in the world.
