The "Third Temple" (Hebrew:בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הַשְּׁלִישִׁי,Bēṯ hamMīqdāš hašŠlīšī,transl. 'Third House of the Sanctum') refers to a hypothetical rebuiltTemple in Jerusalem. It would succeed theFirst Temple and theSecond Temple, the former having been destroyed during theBabylonian siege of Jerusalem inc. 587 BCE and the latter having been destroyed during theRoman siege of Jerusalem in 70CE. The notion of and desire for the Third Temple is sacred inJudaism, particularly inOrthodox Judaism. It would be the most sacred place of worship forJews. TheHebrew Bible holds thatJewish prophets called for its construction prior to, or in tandem with, theMessianic Age. The building of the Third Temple also plays a major role in some interpretations ofChristian eschatology.
Among some groups of devout Jews, anticipation of a future project to build the Third Temple at theTemple Mount in theOld City of Jerusalem has been espoused as an ideological motive inIsrael.[1] Building the Third Temple has been contested byMuslims due to the existence of theDome of the Rock,[1] which was built by theUmayyad Caliphate on the site of the destroyed Solomon's Temple and Second Temple; tensions between Jews and Muslims over the Temple Mount have carried over politically as one of the major flashpoints of theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, and the area has been a subject of significant debate in theIsraeli–Palestinian peace process.[2] Most of the international community has refrained from recognizing any sovereignty overJerusalem due to conflicting territorial claims between Israel and thePalestinian National Authority, asboth sides have asserted it as their capital city.
Since thedestruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE by the Romans, some Jews have expressed their desire to build a Third Temple on theTemple Mount, with a formal petition for a rebuilt Temple included in the Conservative and OrthodoxAmidah.[3] Although it remains unbuilt, the notion of and desire for a Third Temple has traditionally been an integral principle in Judaism.
Following the Second Temple's destruction, "most rabbis adopted the position that Jewish law prohibits reconstructing the Holy Temple [Third Temple] prior to the age of messianic redemption, or that the law is too ambiguous and that the messiah must come first."[3]
In the early 2nd century CE, RomanEmperor Hadrian granted permission to rebuild the destroyed Second Temple—probably as a means to pacify the Jews after the widerDiaspora Revolt and the specifically JudaeanKitos War—but changed his mind.[4] There used to be a minority of scholars claiming that the forces ofSimon bar Kokhba captured Jerusalem from the Romans[4] in 132 and held it for about three years,[5] but there is little mainstream support for the concept.[4] The dwindling hope for regaining Jerusalem led to the writing of theMishna, as the religious leaders believed that the next attempt to rebuild the temple might be centuries away, and memory of the practices and ceremonies must be documented, otherwise they would be lost.[6][7] As punishment for the revolt, the Romans induce the Jews in Judea through mass killings, widespread enslavement, and displacement of many of the Jewish populations; the Romans also renamed Jerusalem toAelia Capitolina, a Romanpagan city, and Judea toSyria Palaestina;[8][9][10] Jews were prohibited from accessing the city except on the day ofTisha B'av. SomeRabbis who survived theRoman persecution were allowed to continue theirTalmudic academies in Syria Palaestina as long as they paid theFiscus Judaicus tax.[citation needed]
There was an aborted project underRoman emperorJulian (361–363 CE) to rebuild the Temple. Julian is traditionally called Julian the Apostate because he rejected the Christian faith in which he had been brought up. Once emperor his policy was to seek to revive the traditional religion by enabling traditional religious practices and restoring holy places across the Empire.[11] As part of this policy, Julian permitted the Jews to begin building a Third Temple.[12]Rabbi Hilkiyah, one of the leading rabbis of the time, spurned Julian's money, arguing thatgentiles should play no part in the rebuilding of the temple.[citation needed]
According to later ancient sources, includingSozomen (c. 400–450 CE) in hisHistoria Ecclesiastica and the pagan historian and close friend of Julian,Ammianus Marcellinus,[13] the project of rebuilding the temple was aborted because each time the workers tried to build the temple using the existing substructure, they were burned by terrible flames coming from inside the earth and an earthquake destroyed what work was done:
Julian thought to rebuild at an extravagant expense the proud Temple once at Jerusalem, and committed this task toAlypius of Antioch. Alypius set vigorously to work, and was seconded by thegovernor of the province; when fearful balls of fire, breaking out near the foundations, continued their attacks, till the workmen, after repeated scorchings, could approach no more: and he gave up the attempt.[14]
— Ammianus Marcellinus, The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus, Book 23, Chapter 1, Line 3
The failure to rebuild the Temple has been ascribed to theGalilee earthquake of 363CE, and to theJews' own ambivalence about the project.[12] Sabotage is a possibility, as is an accidental fire. Divine intervention was the common view among Christian historians of the time.[15] When Julian was killed in battle after a reign of less than three years, theChristians reasserted control over the empire, and the opportunity to rebuild the Temple ended.
In 610 CE, theSassanid Empire drove theByzantine Empire out of the Middle East, giving the Jews control of Jerusalem for the first time in centuries. The new rulers soon ordered the restart of animal sacrifice for the first time since the time ofBar Kochba. Shortly before the Byzantines took the area back, the Persians gave control to the Christian population, who tore down the partly built edifice,[16] and turned it into a garbage dump, which is what it was when the CaliphOmar took the city in the 630s.
An Armenian chronicle from the 7th century CE, written bythe bishop Sebeos, states that the Jews and Arabs were quarreling amongst each other abouttheir differences of religion duringthe Siege of Jerusalem in 637CE but "a man of the sons of Ishmael named Muhammad" gave a "sermon of the Way of Truth, supposedly at God's command" to them saying that they, both the Jews and the Arabs, should unite under the banner of their fatherAbraham and enterthe Holy Land.[17] Sebeos also reports that the Jews began a reconstruction of the temple, but the Arabs expelled them and re-purposed the place for their own prayers. In turn, these Jews built another temple in a different location.[18]
In 1267, during theMongol raids into Syria, aninterregnum period between the complete domination of theLevant by thecrusader states until 1260 and the conquest of Levant by theMamluks in 1291,Nachmanides wrote a letter to his son. It contained the following references to the land and the Temple:
What shall I say of this land ... The more holy the place the greater the desolation. Jerusalem is the most desolate of all ... There are about 2,000 inhabitants ... but there are no Jews, for after the arrival of theTartars, the Jews fled, and some were killed by the sword. There are now only two brothers, dyers, who buy their dyes from the government.At their place a quorum of worshippers meets on the Sabbath, and we encourage them, and found a ruined house, built on pillars, with a beautiful dome, and made it into a synagogue ... People regularly come to Jerusalem, men and women from Damascus and from Aleppo and from all parts of the country, to see the Temple and weep over it. And may He who deemed us worthy to see Jerusalem in her ruins, grant us to see her rebuilt and restored, and the honor of the Divine Presence returned.[19]
In mainstream Orthodox Judaism, the rebuilding of the Temple is generally left to the coming of theJewish Messiah and todivine providence. A few organizations, representing a small minority of Orthodox Jews, want to realize the construction of a Third Temple in present times.The Temple Institute, the self-proclaimed "Temple Mount Administration" and theTemple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement each state that its goal is to build the Third Temple on the Temple Mount (MountMoriah).
In August 1967, after theIsraeli capture of the Mount, RabbiShlomo Goren (deceased 1994) the formerChief Rabbi of theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF) (and later chief rabbi of the State of Israel), began organizing public prayer for Jews on the Temple Mount. Rabbi Goren was known for his controversial positions concerning Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount. On August 15, 1967, shortly after theSix-Day War, Goren led a group of fifty Jews onto the Temple Mount, where, fighting off protesting Muslim guards and Israeli police, they held a prayer service.[20] Goren continued to pray for many years in theMakhkame building overlooking the Temple Mount, where he conducted yearlyHigh Holy Days services. His call for the establishment of asynagogue on the Temple Mount was reiterated by his brother-in-law, the former Chief Rabbi of Haifa,She'ar Yashuv Cohen (deceased 2016).
Goren was sharply criticized by theIsraeli Defense Ministry, who, noting Goren's senior rank, called his behaviour inappropriate. The episode led the Chief Rabbis of the time to restate the accepted laws of Judaism thatno Jews were allowed on the mount due to issues of ritual impurity. The secular authorities welcomed this ruling as it preserved the status quo with theJerusalem Islamic Waqf. Disagreeing with his colleagues, Goren maintained that Jews were not only permitted, but commanded, to ascend and pray on the mount.
Goren advocated building a Third Temple on the Temple Mount from the 1960s onward. In the summer of 1983, Goren and several other rabbis joined RabbiYehuda Getz (deceased 1995), who worked for the Religious Affairs Ministry at theWestern Wall, in touring a chamber underneath the mount that Getz had excavated. The tunnel was shortly discovered and resulted in a massive brawl between young Jews and Arabs in the area. The tunnel was quickly sealed with concrete by Israeli police.[21] The sealed entrance can be seen from theWestern Wall Tunnel, which opened to the public in 1996.
TheChief Rabbis of Israel,Isser Yehuda Unterman andYitzhak Nissim, together with other leading rabbis, asserted that "For generations we have warned against and refrained from entering any part of the Temple Mount."[22] A recent study of this rabbinical ruling suggests that it was both "unprecedented" and possibly prompted by governmental pressure on the rabbis, and "brilliant" in preventing Muslim–Jewish friction on the Mount.[23] Rabbinical consensus in theReligious Zionist stream of Orthodox Judaism continues to hold that it is forbidden for Jews to enter any part of the Temple Mount[24] and in January 2005, a declaration was signed confirming the 1967 decision.[25] On the eve ofShavuot in 2014, or 6th Sivan, 5774 in the Hebrew calendar, 400 Jews ascended the Temple Mount; some were photographed in prayer.[26]
The most immediate and obvious obstacle to the realization of these goals is the fact that two historic Islamic structures, which are 13 centuries old, namely theAl Aqsa Mosque and theDome of the Rock, are built on top of the Temple Mount. Any efforts to damage or reduce access to these sites, or to build Jewish structures within, between, beneath, beside, cantilevered on top of, or instead of them, could lead to severe international conflicts, given the association of theMuslim world with these holy places.[27]
The Dome of the Rock is regarded as occupying the actual space where the Second Temple once stood, but some scholars disagree and instead claim that the Temple was located either just north of the Dome of the Rock, or about 200 m (660 feet) south of it, with access to the Gihon fresh water spring, or perhaps between the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque.[28]
In addition, most Orthodox Jewish scholars reject any attempts to build the Temple before the coming of the Messiah. This is because there are many doubts about the exact location where it must be built. For example, while measurements are given incubits, there exists a controversy whether this unit of measurement equals 56 cm (1.84 feet), the scholarly consensus, or 44 cm (1.43 feet), put forward by respected historian Asher Selig Kaufman.[29] Without exact knowledge of the size of a cubit, thealtar could not be built. TheTalmud recounts that the building of the Second Temple was only possible under the direct prophetic guidance ofHaggai,Zechariah, andMalachi. Without valid prophetic revelation, it would be impossible to rebuild the Temple, even if the mosques no longer occupied its location.
Many rabbis interprethalakha (Jewish religious law) as prohibiting Jews from entering theHoly of Holies.[30] The situation is complicated as the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque fall under control of Muslim clerics, but Israeli police administer its security.[31] According toCNN:
In 1996, the Israeli government opened an archeological tunnel just outside the compound, sparking riots in which 80 people, most of them Palestinians, were killed.[31]
A 2000 visit to the Temple Mount byAriel Sharon resulted in a clash between "stone-throwing Palestinians and Israeli troops, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd," coinciding with the beginning of theSecond Intifada whichended in 2005.[31]
During theSukkot festival in 2006,National UnionKnesset memberUri Ariel visited the Temple Mount without incident, and the Israeli police witnessed no provocation by the protestors.[30]
_La_distruzione_del_tempio_di_Gerusalemme_-Francesco_Hayez_-_gallerie_Accademia_Venice.jpg)
Orthodox Judaism believes in the rebuilding of a Third Temple and the resumption ofkorban (sacrifices), although there is disagreement about how rebuilding should take place. Orthodox scholars andrabbinic authorities generally believe that rebuilding should occur in the era of theJewish messiah at the hand ofdivine providence, although a minority position, following the opinion ofMaimonides, holds that Jews should endeavour to rebuild the temple themselves, whenever possible.[32][unreliable source?][33]
The generally accepted position among Orthodox Jews is that the full order of the sacrifices will be resumed upon the building of the Temple.[34] This belief is embedded in Orthodox Jewish prayer services. Three times a day, Orthodox Jews recite theAmidah, which contains prayers for the Temple's restoration and for the resumption of sacrifices, and every day there is a recitation of the order of the day's sacrifices and thepsalms theLevites would have sung that day.Conservative,Reform, andReconstructionist authorities disavow all belief in the resumption of korban.
Maimonides wrote inThe Guide for the Perplexed "that God deliberately has moved Jews away from sacrifices towards prayer, as prayer is a higher form of worship". However, in his Jewish legal code, theMishneh Torah, he states thatanimal sacrifices will resume in the Third Temple, and details how they will be carried out.[35] Some[who?] attribute to RabbiAbraham Isaac Kook the view that animal sacrifices will not be reinstituted. These views on the Temple service are sometimes misconstrued (for example, inOlat Raiyah, commenting on the prophecy ofMalachi ("Then the grain-offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to God as in the days of old and as in former years" [Malachi 3:4]), Kook indicates that only grain offerings will be offered in the reinstated Temple service, while in a related essay fromIgrot HaRaiyah he suggests otherwise.[36]
Conservative Judaism holds a belief in amessiah and the rebuilding of the Temple, but it does not support the restoration ofkorbanot (cult sacrifices). Accordingly, Conservative Judaism'sCommittee on Jewish Law and Standards has modified the prayer book to reflect the movement's theology. Conservative prayer books call for the restoration of the Temple, but do not ask for the resumption of sacrifices. The daily Orthodox Torah study portion on Temple sacrifices duringShacharit was replaced with Talmudic passages[which?] teaching that deeds of loving-kindness now atone for sin.
In theAmidah, the central prayer inJewish services, petitions to accept the "fire offerings of Israel" and "the grain-offering of Judah and Jerusalem" (Malachi 3:4) are substituted. In the specialMussaf Amidah prayer said onShabbat andJewish holidays, the Hebrew phrasena'ase ve'nakriv (we will present and sacrifice) is modified to read toasu ve'hikrivu (they presented and sacrificed), implying that cult sacrifices were necessary in the Jewish past, not in contemporary or future Judaism. The prayer for the restoration of "the House of our lives" and for theShekhinah to dwell "among us" in the weekdayTorah reading is retained in Conservative prayer books, although not all Conservative congregations or individuals recite it. In Conservative prayer books, words and phrases with dual meaning, referring to both Temple features and theological or poetic concepts, are generally retained. Translations and commentaries, however, generally refer to the poetic or theological meanings only. Conservative Judaism also takes an intermediate position onKohanim and Levites, preserving patrilineal tribal descent and some aspects of their roles, but lifting restrictions on whom Kohanim are permitted to marry.
In 2006, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards addressed the role ofniddah, related to a woman's menstruation, in Conservative Judaism, considering it in the context ofritual purity concepts from the Temple in contemporary Judaism. One responsum adopted by a majority of the Committee held that concepts of ritual purity relevant to entry into the Temple are no longer applicable to contemporary Judaism and accepted a proposal to change the term "family purity" to "family holiness" and to explain the continuing observance ofniddah on a different basis from continuity with Temple practices.[37][38] Another responsum, also adopted by a majority of the Committee, called for retaining existing observances, terminology, and rationale, and held that these Temple-related observances and concepts continued to have contemporary impact and meaning.[39] Thus, consistent with Conservative Judaism's philosophy ofpluralism, both views of the continuing relevance of Temple-related concepts of ritual purity are permissible Conservative views.
Theodor Herzl includes the reconstructed Temple in his novelAltneuland along with an intactDome of the Rock.[40]
Reform Judaism does not believe in rebuilding a central Temple or restoring Temple sacrifices or worship. It regards the Temple and sacrificial era as a period of a more primitive form of ritual from which Judaism has evolved and should not return.[41] It also believes a special role forKohanim andLevites represents acaste system incompatible with modern principles ofegalitarianism, and does not preserve these roles. Furthermore, there is a Reform view that theshul or synagogueis a modern Temple; hence, "Temple" appears in numerous congregation names in Reform Judaism.[42] Indeed, the re-designation of the synagogue as "temple" was one of the hallmarks of early Reform in 19th-century Germany, when Berlin was declared the new Jerusalem, and Reform Jewry sought to demonstrate their staunch German nationalism. TheAnti-Zionism that characterized Reform Judaism throughout much of its history subsided significantly following theHolocaust and the subsequent establishment and later successes of the modern state ofIsrael. The belief in the return of the Jews to the Temple in Jerusalem is not part of mainstream Reform Judaism, however.[43]
While there is a wide variety of views withinChristianity regarding the significance or requirement of a third temple inJerusalem, according to the writers[which?] of theNew Testament, theNew Covenant—insofar as they interpretedJeremiah 31:31–34 and Ezekiel 36:26–37 as referring to it—is marked by the indwelling of theHoly Spirit in the Christian believer. Therefore, every Christian's body and gathering thereof comprise "the temple" and, as such, the temple, if not Judaism, has beensuperseded.[44][citation needed]
Paul of Tarsus illustrates this belief in his letter to the early Corinthian church (in1 Corinthians 6:19 of the New Testament):
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19,NASB)
The author argues thatJesus, having claimed to be and do what the temple was and did, is thenew temple,[45] and that, as parts of the "body of Christ" (ie, the Christian church), arehis people and parts of a new temple, as well.[46][47][48] (That said, Jesus was a contemporary of theSecond Temple, as was Paul of Tarsus for at least a portion of his life.) The result, according toN. T. Wright, is that the earthly temple, along with the city of Jerusalem and theLand of Israel, is no longer of any spiritual significance:
[Paul] refers to the church, and indeed to individual Christians, as the 'temple of the living God' (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19). ToWestern Christians, thinking anachronistically of the temple as simply the Jewish equivalent of acathedral, the image is simply one metaphor among many and without much apparent significance. For a first-century Jew, however, the Temple had an enormous significance; as a result, when Paul uses such an image within twenty-five years of theCrucifixion (with the actual temple still standing), it is a striking index of the immense change that has taken place in his [Paul's] thought. The Temple had beensuperseded by theChurch. If this is so for the Temple, and in Romans 4 for theLand, then it musta fortiori be the case forJerusalem, which formed the concentric circle in between those two in the normal Jewish worldview.[49]
In the teaching of both Jesus and Paul, then, according to Wright,
God's house in Jerusalem was meant to be a 'place of prayer for all the nations' (Isaiah 56:7; Mark 11:17); but God would now achieve this through the new temple, which was Jesus himself and his people.[49]
— T. Wright, 1994
Ben F. Meyer also argued that Jesus applied prophecy regardingZion and the temple to himself and his followers:
[Jesus] affirmed the prophecies ofsalvation with theirend-time imagery Zion and the temple—belonging to theeschatological themes that the "pilgrimage of the peoples" evoked. But contrary to the common expectation of his contemporaries, Jesus expected the destruction of the temple in the coming eschatological ordeal (Mark 13:2=Matt 24:2=Luke 21:6). The combination seems contradictory. How could he simultaneously predict the ruin of the temple in the ordeal and affirm the end-time fulfilment of promise and prophecy on Zion and [the] temple? The paradox is irresolvable until one takes note of another trait of Jesus' words on the imagery of Zion and temple, namely,the consistent application to his owndisciples of Zion- and temple-imagery: the city on the mountain (Matt 5:14; cf. Thomas, 32), the cosmic rock (Matt 16:18; cf. John 1:42), the new sanctuary (Mark 14:58; Matt 26:61). The mass of promise and prophecy will come to fulfilment in this eschatological and messianic circle of believers.[50]
Some would therefore see the need for a third temple as being diminished, redundant, or entirely foreclosed and superseded. In contrast, others take a position that the building of the third temple is an integral part ofChristian eschatology. The various perspectives on the significance of the building of a third temple within Christianity are therefore generally linked to a number of factors including: the level of literal or spiritual interpretation applied to what is taken to be "end-time" prophecy; the perceived relationships between various scriptures such asDaniel, theOlivet Discourse,2 Thessalonians andEzekiel (amongst others); whether or not adual-covenant is considered to be in place; and whetherOld Testament (Hebrew Biblical) promises of the restoration of Israel remain unfulfilled or havecome true given the Messiah was Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). Such factors determine, for example, whether Daniel9:27 or 2 Thessalonians2:4 are read as referring to a still-future physically restored third temple.
A number of these perspectives are illustrated below.
The dominant view withinRoman Catholic,Eastern Orthodox andProtestant Christianity is that animal sacrifices within the Temple were aforeshadowing of thesacrificeJesus made for the sins of the world through his crucifixion and shedding ofhis blood on the first day ofPassover.[51] TheEpistle to the Hebrews is often cited in support of this view: the temple sacrifices are described as being imperfect, since they require repeating (ch. 10:1–4), and as belonging to acovenant that was "becoming obsolete and growing old" and was "ready to vanish away" (ch. 8:13,ESV). See alsoAbrogation of Old Covenant laws. Christ's crucifixion, being a sacrifice which dealt withsin once and for all, negated any need for further animal sacrifice. Christ himself is compared to theHigh Priest who was always standing and performing rituals and sacrifices. Christ, however, having performed his sacrifice, "sat down" – finally attained perfection (ch. 10:11–14,18). Further, the veil or curtain to theHoly of Holies is seen as having been torn asunder at the crucifixion – figuratively in connection with this theology (ch 10:19–21), and literally according to theGospel of Matthew (ch 27:50–51). Likewise,Revelation 21:22 explicitly describes the absence of a temple in theNew Jerusalem, "for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb." For these reasons, a third temple, whose partial purpose would be the re-institution of animal sacrifices, is seen as unnecessary and thussuperseded. Irenaeus[52] and Hippolytus[53] were among early church writers who foresaw a rebuilding of the Temple, as necessary for the preparation for the reign of theAntichrist.
Additionally, Jesus himself stated, in response to aSamaritan asking whether it is right to worship onMount Gerizim or Mount Zion, that "a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem... But in spirit and in truth". He stated of theHerodian temple, "Not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down" – John 4:21, Luke 21:6.
Those Protestants who do believe in the importance of a future rebuilt temple (viz., somedispensationalists) hold that the importance of the sacrificial system shifts to a Memorial of the Cross, given the text ofEzekiel Chapters 39 and following (in addition to Millennial references to the Temple in other Old Testament passages); since Ezekiel explains at length the construction and nature of the Millennial temple, in which Jews will once again hold the priesthood; some others hold that perhaps it was not eliminated with Jesus' sacrifice for sin, but is a ceremonial object lesson for confession and forgiveness (somewhat like water baptism and Communion are today); and that such animal sacrifices would still be appropriate for ritual cleansing and for acts of celebration and thanksgiving toward God. Some dispensationalists believe this will be the case with theSecond Coming whenJesus reigns over earth from the city ofNew Jerusalem.[specify] Some interpret a passage in theBook of Daniel, Daniel 12:11, as a prophecy that the end of this age will occur shortly after sacrifices are ended in the newly rebuilt temple.[citation needed]
In 1762,Charles Wesley wrote:[54]
We know, it must be done,
For God hath spoke the word,
All Israel shall their Saviour own,
To their first state restor’d:
Re-built by his command,
Jerusalem shall rise,
Her temple on Moriah stand
Again, and touch the skies.
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ManyEvangelical Christians believe that New Testament prophecies associated with the Jewish Temple, such as Matthew 24–25 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12, were not completely fulfilled during the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70CE (a belief offull preterism) and that these prophecies refer to a future temple. This view is a core part ofdispensationalism, an interpretative framework of the Bible that stressesbiblical literalism and asserts that the Jews remain God'schosen people. According to dispensationalist theologians, such asHal Lindsey andTim LaHaye, the Third Temple will be rebuilt when theAntichrist, often identified as the political leader of a trans-national alliance similar to theEuropean Union or theUnited Nations, secures a peace treaty between the modern nation of Israel and its neighbours following a global war. The Antichrist later uses the temple as a venue for proclaiming himself as God and the long-awaited Messiah, demanding worship from humanity.
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Catholic andEastern Orthodox Christians believe that theEucharist, which they hold to be one in substance with the one self-sacrifice ofChrist on theCross, is a far superior offering when compared with the merely preparatory temple sacrifices, as explained in theEpistle to the Hebrews. They also believe that Christ Himself is theNew Temple, as spoken of in the Book of Revelation and that Revelation can best be understood as theEucharist,heaven on earth. Their church buildings are meant to modelSolomon's Temple, with theTabernacle, containing the Eucharist, being considered the new "Holy of Holies." Therefore, they do not attach any significance to a possible future rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple.
The Orthodox also quoteDaniel 9:27 ("...he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease ...") to show that the sacrifices would stop with the arrival of the Messiah, and mention that according to Jesus, St. Paul and the Holy Fathers, the temple will only be rebuilt in the times of the Antichrist.
Quotations:Matthew 24:15 "When you see the desolating abomination spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)...."
2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 "Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed,* the one doomed to perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God,* claiming that he is a god – do you not recall that while I was still with you I told you these things?"
Latter Day Saints (LDS) believe that the Jews will build the Third Temple before theSecond Coming of Jesus Christ,[55] and after the Second Coming the Jews will accept Jesus as the Messiah. Most Jews will then embrace the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then, it is believed, the Third Temple will be God's temple as Christ reigns on the earth, and it will become the Jerusalem LDS Temple.[citation needed] There will be manyLDS Temples but two main temples will jointly serve as the central governing places – the Jerusalem Temple will function as the resurrected Jesus Christ'sEastern Hemisphere governing place and theNew Jerusalem Temple inIndependence, Missouri, will function as the resurrected Jesus Christ'sWestern Hemisphere governing place.[citation needed] Both of these two temples will havethrones for Jesus Christ to sit on during his millennial reign.[56]
TheCommunity of Christ, the second largest denomination of theLatter Day Saint movement, has operated a temple, open to the public, in Independence, Missouri, since 1994. Another denomination of the LDS movement, theChurch of Christ (Temple Lot), possess theTemple Lot, the actual spot on which the Temple will be built.
Most Muslims view the movement for the building of a Third Temple on the Temple Mount as an affront to Islam due to the presence of theAl-Aqsa Mosque and theDome of the Rock in the stead of the former Holy Temple. Today the area is regarded by the majority of Muslims as thethird holiest site in Islam. Muslims are resolute in calling for recognition of their exclusive rights over the site and demand that it be wholly transferred to Muslim sovereignty; furthermore, some Muslimsdeny any association with the Mount to the former Jewish Temples which stood at the site.[57][58]
TheOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation was initiated in reaction toDenis Michael Rohan, an Australian Christian whoset fire to a 12th-century pulpit of theAl-Aqsa mosque, in an attempt to initiate the second coming of Christ. The protection of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in the primary mandate of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.[citation needed]
In theBaháʼí Faith, the prophecy of the Third Temple was fulfilled with the writing of theSúriy-i-Haykal byBahá'u'lláh in pentacle form.[59] The Súriy-i-Haykal or Tablet of the Temple, is a composite work which consists of a tablet followed by five messages addressed to world leaders; shortly after its completion, Bahá'u'lláh instructed the tablet be written in the form of apentacle, symbolizing the human temple and added to it the conclusion:[60]
Thus have We built the Temple with the hands of power and might, could ye but know it. This is the Temple promised unto you in the Book. Draw ye nigh unto it. This is that which profiteth you, could ye but comprehend it. Be fair, O peoples of the earth! Which is preferable, this, or a temple which is built of clay? Set your faces towards it. Thus have ye been commanded by God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.[61]
Shoghi Effendi, the head of the Baháʼí Faith in the first half of the 20th century, explained that this verse refers to the prophecy in the Hebrew Bible whereZechariah had promised the rebuilding of the Temple in the End Times as fulfilled in the return of theManifestation of God, Bahá'u'lláh, in a human temple.[60][62] Throughout the tablet, Bahá'u'lláh addresses the Temple (himself) and explains the glory which is invested in it allowing all the nations of the world to find redemption.[59][63] In the tablet, Bahá'u'lláh states that the Manifestation of God is a pure mirror that reflects the sovereignty of God and manifests God's beauty and grandeur to mankind.[59] In essence, Bahá'u'lláh explains that the Manifestation of God is a "Living Temple" and Bahá'u'lláh addresses the organs and limbs of the human body and bids each to focus on God and not the earthly world.[59]
We remind, for the 1,000th time, that the entire Al-Aqsa mosque, including all of its area and alleys above the ground and under it, is exclusive and absolute Muslim property, and no one else has any rights to even one grain of earth in it.
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