Chapter 2: Behind the Scenes: Players and a Plan
In a fantastically liberal feature by Kerry Bolton for Foreign Policy Journal titled “US Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital: A Travesty of History,” the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is depicted as an arch-Zionist Jew that, along with Donald Trump and his evangelical advisors, views the USA and Israel as synonymous in terms of policy objectives and prophetic destiny. [25]
Bolton’s increasingly familiar animosity toward evangelicals and their biblical mandate to be a blessing to Israel results in his lament that “the Zionist dream for Palestine is based on three primary aims that are of messianic intent: (1) Greater Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates rivers, (2) Rebuilding of the Temple of Solomon on the site of the present al-Aqsa mosque, (3) Jerusalem not only as the capital of Israel, but as the central seat of universal law.” [26] He then quotes the Temple Mount Faithful’s website, which confirms:
Consecrating the Temple Mount to the Name of G‑d so that it can become the moral and spiritual center of Israel, of the Jewish people, and of the entire world according to the words of all the Hebrew prophets. It is envisioned that the consecration of the Temple Mount and the Temple itself will focus Israel on:
(a) fulfilling the vision and mission given at Mt. Sinai for Israel to be a chosen people separate unto G‑d, a holy nation, and a nation of priests (Exodus 19:6), and
(b) becoming a light unto all the nations (Isaiah 42:6) so that the Name of G‑d may be revered by all nations and the biblical way of life may be propagated throughout the world. [27]
Bolton concludes: “Regardless of what any Israeli government states, these are the ultimate objectives which messianic Zionists believe are ordained by their God. They will never be relinquished.” For example, the first prime minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion, a “moderate” and a socialist, asked by Look to describe his vision of the future, alluded to this:
In Jerusalem, the United Nations (a truly United Nations) will build a shrine of the prophets to serve the federated union of all continents; this will be the seat of the Supreme Court of Mankind, to settle all controversies among the federated continents, as prophesied by Isaiah. [28]
Other secular writers appear similarly suspicious that Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the US embassy there extends end-times “messaging” to his conservative Christian base, which has not gone unnoticed by the appropriate members of his audience. Enlisting the well-known craft of “actions in place of words,” the president is viewed as encouraging his compatriots in Armageddon-planning to probe beneath the surface of his exploits where, sotto voce (“under voice”), he is telling them he understands and sympathizes with their eschatological worldview and that, when the time is right, he will offer full-throated voice in support of the Third Temple.
Nancy LeTourneau for the Washington Monthly suspects as much too, writing: “The most obvious gesture he’s made towards Israel since he became president was to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. That was targeted at his base of support among white evangelicals, and it isn’t because they have so much affection for Jews.” LeTourneau cited what Diana Butler Bass, a theologian, wrote:
For decades, conservative evangelicals have been longing for this recognition. They believe it is necessary in order to regain control of the Temple mount. That is important because rebuilding the Temple is the event that will spark the events of the Book of Revelation and the End Times.… They’ve been waiting for this, praying for this. They want war in the Middle East. The Battle of Armageddon, at which time Jesus Christ will return to the Earth and vanquish all God’s enemies. For certain evangelicals, this is the climax of history. And Trump is taking them there. To the promised judgment, to their sure victory. The righteous will be ushered to heaven; the reprobate will be banished to hellfire. [29]
Let me take a moment to make issue with LeTourneau and Bass, as I’ve been at the center of mainstream evangelical Christianity for five decades and have been blessed to personally know many leading prophecy scholars and theologians, and have yet to meet a single one who wants “war in the Middle East. The Battle of Armageddon, at which time Jesus Christ will return to the Earth and vanquish all God’s enemies.” We simply believe what Jesus taught, that “when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28). Movement toward the construction of a Third Temple could signal the imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and that is what we “want.” While the objectives listed by the antagonists above do reflect some of the accomplishments many Jews and Christians anticipate, it is not for the reasons they insinuate, as they obviously don’t seem to comprehend the “blessed hope” Christians have for the Second Coming of Jesus, which a Third Temple could signal, or that which Jews have for their final redemption and Messianic era.
Having said that, any successful attempt at garnering support for a reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem will indeed require enough multicultural and international support. Thus, prejudices by Bolton and the other writers quoted above aside, their feelings about behind-the-scenes discussions and deals that could witness the materialization of a Third Temple is warranted, and, in this writers’ opinion, they certainly should be suspicious that a plan is under consideration wherein international players are quietly moving chess pieces clandestinely toward a sooner-than-later realization of a rebuilt Temple.
In the parlance of Sherlock Holmes, the game is afoot!
Who might some of these powerful players be? My investigation leads to include:
The list above could go on and on, but our probe into the issue suggests that things go much deeper than these headlines suggest and are in fact far more intriguing, including actual espionage and subterfuge by two of the very entities that could actually make a rebuilt Temple happen: 1) the United States, with back-channel negotiations between the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia that could result in Riyadh replacing the Jordanian Waqf’s management of the Temple Mount; and 2) the Vatican. The Islamic Waqf is the religious trust that controls and manages the current Islamic edifices on and around the Temple Mount, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The king of Jordan supplies funding needed for operations by the Waqf, and in one form or another, they have governed access to the sites since the Muslim reconquest of the kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187. [34] Tensions between Jews and Muslims involving access to the mount where Israel’s Temple once stood continually flow over often because, as stated earlier, Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount is completely forbidden. “Jews may enter only to visit the place, and only at limited times. Muslims are free to pray on Temple Mount, however, Christians and Jews may only visit the site as tourists. They are forbidden from singing, praying, or making any kind of religious display.” [35] Why does such overbearing oversight of the Temple Mount exist? Why such restrictions on Jews and Christians? After spending several chapters in his books The Great Inception and The Last Clash of the Titans outlining why the Temple Mount is biblical Zion and the very place where Armageddon will be initiated, Derek Gilbert explains what’s really behind the ancient—and future—struggle over this sacred plot of land. This is where the capital of God’s kingdom on Earth will exist—Jerusalem and the Temple Mount—and thus why the energies of evil are focused on it! As Derek notes:
The faith of Abraham, the dynasty of David, and the divinity of Jesus were established there. At the heart of this plateau is the hill on which Yahweh, the Creator of the universe, established His “mount of assembly.” The temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel were built there, and a prophesied Third Temple will someday occupy that place. [36] The long war by the Fallen against their Creator is ultimately for control of God’s mount of assembly, Zion. That’s His prize jewel, and that’s why the enemy wants it: “For the L ord has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: ‘This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it’” (Psalm 132:13–14, ESV). Plenty of other verses support this idea, but you get the point. God’s holy mountain, His mount of assembly, is Zion—the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. [37]
These implications and anxieties surrounding the building of a Third Temple at Zion are not lost on ardent students of prophecy. They know the contest over this consecrated plot of land reflects profounder malaise that cannot be superficially perceived. Principalities and powers manipulate earthly governments, and the forthcoming construction project sits in the navel of an end-times clock that, once initiated, will quickly count down to the arrival of Antichrist, Armageddon, and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. That’s the real reason secret meetings over control of the Temple Mount are proceeding outside the public’s view. Yet for the perceptive—those “with eyes to see and ears to hear,” as the Bible puts it—we clearly understand what is behind Palestinian and Muslim news agencies worried over the fact that “‘Saudi Arabia is currently investing a great deal of behind-the-scenes effort into taking away from Jordan its guardianship of the holy sites of Jerusalem,’ a senior official in the Palestinian Authority (PA) told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. The pressure seems linked to the Saudis’ friendly relations with the United States, and with President Donald Trump’s desire to win Arab support for his Middle East peace plan, which Jordan has not backed.” [38]
Until the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi—who publicly opposed the policies of Saudi Arabia’s new heir, Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman—the Saudi prince had been assiduously cultivating a relationship with Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner (who has spent dozens of hours in phone calls and private meetings with the crown prince cementing a personal relationship with him [39] ) to guard the pursuits of his administration and Arabian interests in the US Congress and around the world. In trade for—or as part of—this diplomacy, the prince has spoken publicly in support of Israel having a right to their own land, [40] and he even met in 2018 with American evangelical Christians “as the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom seeks to open up more to the world and repair an image of religious intolerance.” [41] Now that the CIA believes the Saudi prince may have played a role in the murder of Khashoggi, it is unclear what effect this may have on US relations.
Regardless, I am told and do believe that placing management of the Temple Mount into the hands of Saudis and progressive or “secular” Muslims and the US administration would be, by design, intentionally inching the world toward one aspect of Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century” for Middle East peace (though the Third Temple negotiation could be part of a separate agreement) that cannot yet be uttered involving compromises that could ultimately allow for construction of the Third Temple. Even the secretary-general of the Muslim World League recently took “the unprecedented and potentially controversial step of urging Muslims to form a delegation alongside Christians and Jewish religious leaders to visit Jerusalem as a step toward peace.” [42]
Besides Muslim authorities, the United States, and Saudis, another powerful player that has shown interest in controlling the Temple Mount will assuredly play a role in the eschatology surrounding it. Let’s consider this force from Rome.
The Vatican, the Third Temple, and the Burdensome Stone
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Zechariah 12:3)
As investigated by myself and Cris Putnam in our bestselling book Petrus Romanus , there is ample evidence to suggest that the Vatican has had a long-running interest in controlling Jerusalem and, by extension, the Temple Mount—with possibly the objective of a Third Temple.
Over the last ten years alone, surreptitious negotiations have included Netanyahu seeking to give David’s Tomb to the Vatican, [43] claims that the Vatican is hoarding Second Temple treasures until geopolitics allow for a rebuilt Temple under their control, [44] and even efforts by the United States via Secretary of State John Kerry involving plans “for eastern Jerusalem that calls for an international administrative mandate to control holy sites in the area” including the Temple Mount. Kerry’s plan recommended a coalition under Vatican oversight with Muslim countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia. [45]
The possible Vatican connection to a rebuilt Temple is intriguing when one considers Peter Goodgame’s convincing argument that the Roman prince seen in Daniel 9:27 who sets up the Abomination of Desolation is the False Prophet rather than the Antichrist. [46] He cites Revelation 13:14, in which the False Prophet “deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live” (emphasis added), and Daniel 11:31, which prophecies, “And arms shall stand on his part , and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice , and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate” (boldface added; italics added). These passages clearly show it is the confederates of the Antichrist who set up the desolating image connected to a rebuilt Temple. Goodgame also argues that because Daniel refers to the Antichrist as a king (Hebrew melek ) in 7:24, 8:23, and 11:21–35, it seems unlikely that he would call him a prince (Hebrew nagiyd ) in 9:26–27. We can safely assume that he is Roman by the phrase, “And the people of the prince who is to come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary” (v. 26; boldface added), which necessarily refers to the Roman sacking of Jerusalem in AD 70. Goodgame’s exegesis and reasoning are sound and compelling.
In line with Daniel 9:27’s prediction of a covenant for one week, Goodgame argues that this infers that a pope will broker an agreement over Jerusalem.
This final seven-year period will begin when the future Roman prince “confirms a covenant” that will involve the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, which many evangelical scholars connect to a “deal” resulting in the building of the Third Temple. This has led to the belief that this future Roman prince will be the False Prophet of Bible prophecy, and that he may indeed be a leader of the Roman Catholic Church. It is clear from Scripture that the False Prophet will be a powerful and well-respected global spiritual leader, and there is none more powerful or more respected in religious matters than the Roman Catholic Pope. [47]
Even some Catholic scholars have connected the current Pope Francis with the rise of the False Prophet and Antichrist. [48]
To some, this may seem like a scenario lifted right out of the Left Behind novels, but it coheres nicely with Malachi Martin’s finishing assertions about the role the Vatican will play in assisting Antichrist. As far as Jerusalem and the coming Third Temple, formally classified US State Department memos have been obtained that suggest “religious figures, non-governmental people” should be put in charge of the Holy City. [49]
On December 15, 2011, this story ran on the Israeli Arutz Sheva 7 website:
Exposé: The Vatican Wants to Lay Its Hands on Jerusalem
“Peace negotiations in the Middle East must tackle the issue of the status of the holy sites of Jerusalem,” Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Vatican’s Council for Interreligious Dialogue, declared several days ago in Rome.
The Vatican’s former foreign minister asked to place some Israeli holy places under Vatican authority, alluding to the Cenacle on Mount Zion and the garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
The first site also houses what is referred to as King David’s tomb. [50]
As stated earlier, if you take the Bible seriously, Jerusalem has a prophesied future as the spiritual capital of the world, and for this reason, there are natural and supernatural interests in who controls its axis. The Hebrew prophets all spoke of a golden age, a righteous reign of the Messiah, and their oracles often included references to Jerusalem (Isaiah 44:26–28, 52:1–10; Joel 2:28–3:21). Of course, before that happens, we expect a usurper to sit in a rebuilt Third Temple declaring that he is God. As we will examine, there seems to be evidence that the Vatican wants to participate in building that Temple. We now come full-circle to the bombshell 2008 leaked classified US State Department memo that recorded this exchange between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (CR) and Dr. Saeb Erekat (SE), a Palestinian representative:
CR: I understand that there is no agreement without Jerusalem. 1967 as a baseline. But if we wait until you decide sovereignty over the Haram or the Temple Mount…your children’s children will not have an agreement! Sometimes in international politics you need to have a device to solve the problem later. When it comes to holy sites, no one will argue the sovereignty of the other—leave it unresolved [i.e. both Palestine and Israel could simultaneously claim sovereignty over the Haram].
SE: And actually in life?
CR: There are two other issues—who will administer? Make sure that the sewer system, the municipal issues are resolved [notes that this was a problem in Berlin], safe access to all the holy sites for all. I understand that this worked well before 2000. Some kind of custodians appointed by the world, possibly religious figures, non-governmental people.… One problem is that under the Dome is crumbling. Every time Israel tries to fix it, you call it excavations! [51] (brackets in original; the formatting but no content was altered)
While Condoleezza Rice’s relationship with the Vatican was murky, her suggestion that “religious figures” become custodians of the Old City of Jerusalem is in line with the exposés by Israeli journalists. In August of 2007, Rice met with Cardinal Tarcisio Pierto Bertone (a leading candidate for Petrus Romanus at the time), who said of the American Secretary, “If the angels did not accompany her, then she would not be able to knit back together all of these relationships that have been so fragile.” [52] Could this strange coalescence of diplomacy and prophecy be leading toward the final manifestation of apostate ecumenical faith predicted in Revelation 17 to be headquartered in Jerusalem? We think there is compelling evidence suggesting just that.
Prophecy scholars have long suspected that the Antichrist will seemingly resolve the Middle East conflict, which will drive his meteoric rise to fame and adoration. This idea is drawn from Daniel’s seventy-weeks prophecy, which predicts that in the final week, “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, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Daniel 9:27). We think this interpretation must be correct, because the “consummation” is rendered from the Hebrew term kālâ, which carried the basic idea of “to bring a process to completion.” The beginning of the seventy-weeks prophecy listed things like “to bring in everlasting righteousness” (9:24b), which simply has not yet occurred. Furthermore, the same term is used in Daniel 12:7, rendered as “end,” unambiguously referencing the Day of the Lord. This firmly places the initial covenant at the beginning of the final seven years prior to Armageddon and Jesus’ return. Another problem with interpretations that place this final week in the past is that Jesus spoke of the “abomination of desolation” as a future event occurring just prior to His return: “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)” (Matthew 24:15). The seventieth week includes “the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate,” and Jesus mentions Daniel explicitly so one cannot take Him seriously while arguing that the events of the seventieth week are previous history. Furthermore, the population forming the context of this prophecy was Daniel’s people, the Jews, and the covenant violation is interference in the Temple sacrifice. Accordingly, we believe that the “covenant with many” speaks to the two-state solution for the Israel/Palestinian issue and forecasts the Tribulation Temple being built in Jerusalem.
It is also reiterated in the new documentary Belly of the Beast that the design of Washington DC in the likeness of Vatican City, with its proportionate Dome and Obelisk, was no accident, but rather the product of an arcane science ostensibly related to apotheosis. These parallel apotheotic sites seem poised to spawn the beast from the bottomless pit (Revelation 11:7) and the beast from the earth (Revelation 13:11). While it is speculative, this could suggest coordination between the two locations—the Vatican as the spiritual influence (False Prophet) and Washington as the political (Antichrist). From Washington, a figurehead could initiate the covenant spoken of in Daniel 9 (Donald Trump’s peace plan and/or work by his Orthodox Jewish son-in law, Jared Kushner?). While the Washington figure could be a Jew, that is not really necessary. The late Messianic Christian author Zola Levitt wrote, “It is an outsider that has to sign a legal covenant with the Jewish people, not one of their own.… They wouldn’t need a special covenant drawn up between them and one of their own citizens.” [53] In fact, while it is possible, there is no direct evidence that the Antichrist will be accepted as the Jewish Messiah. Rather, he could simply be the one who facilities the building of the Tribulation Temple like the Persian King Cyrus (to whom Trump has been widely compared), who was designated a mashiyach (“anointed one”) for freeing the Jews to build the Second Temple (Isaiah 45:1).
In fact, Orthodox Jews are not likely to be fooled by the Antichrist. Midrash tradition, including works like Sefer Zerubbavel , contains warnings about a character named Armilus, who will deceive the whole world into false idolatrous worship. He is said to come to power when ten kings fight over Jerusalem, and after emerging victorious, he rules the entire world for a brief time before Messiah comes. According to Randall Price, “Other sources describe Armilus as rising from the Roman empire, having miraculous powers, and being born to a stone statue of a virgin.” [54] This sounds remarkably congruent with Roman Catholic Mariolatry, wherein stone statues feature prominently. Other traditions say he is the offspring of Satan and a virgin, which sounds eerily similar to the pedophilic rite described by Malachi Martin that occurred on June 29, 1963, at the parallel enthronement site in Charleston, South Carolina, and that was connected to the enthronement of Lucifer at the Vatican. Furthermore, this stone statue aspect of the Jewish tradition could find some sort of bizarre realization in the image of the beast, which seemingly comes to life (Revelation 13:4, 15). While a minority of religious Jews are aware of these traditions, the secular Jews probably are not. Still, with the centuries of papists corralling Jews into ghettos and mandating yellow badges, one wonders how they could be persuaded by a future pope leading an ecumenical religion in Jerusalem. Time will tell, but one thing is certain. Not in our lifetime has more interest been raised in building the Third Temple, around which and in which religious and political figures will soon rise in a theater of fantastic finality.