part0017

Before He sat upon the Mount of Olives, just prior to His crucifixion, the Lord told His disciples to “see all these things,” meaning to look upon the Temple and its vastness and beauty. As they did so, He said that all of it would be torn down. Not one stone would be left upon another. He then launched into a series of end-times prophecies after answering their question: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3).

Moriah was to become a barren surface. And, history shows that the Romans indeed inundated that surface with salt so that nothing would grow there. They intended for the Jews to never have a house of worship there again. They wanted to assure that no further rebellion would arise from that promontory.

The Roman soldiers were allowed to take whatever booty they could find from victory, so they took the Temple apart stone by stone. This is because the Temple walls and nooks and crannies of the building was adorned with gold and silver, and in some places, with precious gemstones. Thus, the soldiers took the building apart to get every last bit of these materials they could find.

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:)

Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

But pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:15–21)

In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the excellent and splendid for those who are escaped of Israel.

And it shall come to pass, that he who is left in Zion, and he who remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem.

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning.

And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a defense.

And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain. (Isaiah 4:2–6)

Locations have been found of where two temples stood in the past on the Temple Mount. The “First Temple”—Solomon’s Temple—was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s forces, the armies of Babylon. The destruction took place on the 9th of Av in 586 BC. Jewish exiles, approximately seventy years later, were allowed to return to Jerusalem to build an altar, the Second Jewish Temple, and finally the walls of the city.

The Day of Pentecost following the resurrection of Jesus found Jewish believers assembled for prayer in the Temple courts (Acts 2). There the Holy Spirit came from Heaven to begin the calling out of a new group of believers (both Jews and Gentiles)—a body now known as the church of Jesus Christ. Preaching by the apostles and public miracles recorded in the book of Acts took place in the courts just outside this structure. But the now-magnificent Second Temple was destroyed by General Titus and besieging Roman armies on the 9th of Av in AD 70. This destruction had been predicted by Jesus earlier (see Matthew 24 and Luke 21). Since that time, no Jewish temple has been built on the site, therefore no blood sacrifices for sin have been possible for religious Jews up to the present day.

Jews have an intense interest in the place where the First and Second Temples stood because this is where they await the building of the Third Temple. That structure must be placed upon the hallowed ground where the Holy of Holies once sat. The problem, of course, is that the entire Temple Mount is under the control of the Muslim Waqf. This site has been under such control since it was allowed by Israeli General Moshe Dayan to go into Jordanian hands following Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six Day War. It is still a mystery to many why Dayan agreed to such a thing.

Although the number is growing, only a small portion of Orthodox Jewish believers in Israel believe the Messiah will build the coming Third Temple. Groups like the Temple Institute, however, are dedicated to preparing for every aspect of Temple worship. They believe it can be restarted at first opportunity. Their constant planning, of course, causes great angst among those opposed to such an eventuation. And, the opposition comes from the Islamist factions in and around Jerusalem, Islam in general, and almost the entire so-called international community.

Christians, of course, believe that the Messiah who was promised to the Jewish people, Jesus the Christ (Yeshua), came to Earth already. He will come a second time to establish His millennial kingdom on the Earth, ruling for a thousand years in Jerusalem from the throne of His forefather, King David.

An immense and devastating earthquake is predicted for when Jesus’ foot touches down on the Mount of Olives at His Second Coming. Most of Jerusalem will be destroyed when that quake occurs. There will be great topographical changes. A valley will rip through the region, and water will flow from the holy mountain to the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. These changes in the entire land when Messiah comes are spoken of in numerous passages of the Bible.

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Speak ye tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received from the Lord ’s hand double for all her sins.

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord , make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 40:1–5, quoted in Luke 3:5; emphasis added)

And it shall come to pass…saith the Lord God , that my fury shall come up in my face.

For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

So that the fish of the sea, and the fowls of the heavens,, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. (Ezekiel 38:18–22, emphasis added)

And the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague was exceedingly great. (Revelation 16:17–21)

For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled and the women ravished; half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in its midst toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach untio Azel; yea, ye shall flee, as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days Uzziah, king of Judah; and the Lord my God, shall come, and all the saints with thee.

And it shall come to pass, in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark,

But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord , not day, nor night; but it shall come to pass that, at evening time, it shall be light.

And it shall be, in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea; in summer and in winter shall it be.

And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day shall there be one Lord, his name one.

All the land shall be turned like the Arabah from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in its place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the towar of Hananel unto the king’s winepresses.

(Zechariah 14:2–10)

From all the carnage that will come from this devastation, it is easy to presume that the Third Temple sitting atop Moriah will be destroyed. When Christ’s foot touches down, the land will be shaken so hard that the very mountains of the world will fall flat. The very topography will certainly have to be rearranged greatly. This is because the Fourth Temple—the one Jesus will Himself have constructed on the Temple site at that time, will be enormous—much larger than the previous structures.

The prophet Ezekiel, in chapters 40–48, presents in great detail a future Temple in Israel that is much too expansive to fit on the present site that is believed to be where the Temples once sat. The Temple of Ezekiel proper measures about 875 feet square, and it sits in the middle of a large consecrated area. Bible scholar Lambert Dolphin writes:

Ezekiel’s temple is also very different in many details from any previous temples that have existed in Israel (or elsewhere). Therefore most Bible scholars believe there will one day exist in the Holy Land a Fourth or “Millennial” Temple.

Ezekiel also describes the reapportionment of the land in specific lots during the millennial kingdom. The temple and the temple district are not part of the rebuilt city of Jerusalem according to the details of this reapportionment. Note that the Temple area will be located to the North of rebuilt Jerusalem:

“When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty thousand cubits broad; it shall be holy throughout its whole extent. Of this a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. And in the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him; and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.”

“Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the possession of the city an area five thousand cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long it shall belong to the whole house of Israel.”

“And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.” (Ezekiel 45:1–8.)

Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. The portion which you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and twenty thousand in breadth. (Ezekiel 48). [125]

Because the bloodline of humanity will still be tainted by the original sin from the Fall in the Garden of Eden, people born during the thousand-year reign of Christ will have to be redeemed from sin if they are to go to Heaven. The Temple will, in part, be in place to remind everyone of the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross, as the “Lamb of God,” more than two thousand years earlier.

Mr. John W. Schmitt of Portland, Oregon (Ref. 3) has devoted many years to a study of Ezekiel’s Temple, and to the construction of several fine scale models used for educational purposes.

Ezekiel had planned to enter the priestly service in the First Temple when he reached thirty years of age. His plans were cut short in 597 when King Nebuchadnezzar raided and captured Jerusalem after a brief siege, taking with him young king Jehoichin and “all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths.” (2 Kings 24:14). (By way of reference, Daniel and his three friends of the tribe of Judah plus others from Jerusalem had previously been taken to Babylon in a raid by General—soon to be King—Nebuchadnezzar after the battle of Carchemish in 605. That famous battle ended the rule of Egypt in the ancient world).

In the fifth year of his own exile from Jerusalem, that is in 593 BC, Ezekiel was called by God to exercise a prophetic ministry to the house of Israel which he continued until about the year 570. Ezekiel was married, in fact his wife died as a sign from God on the day the siege of Jerusalem began, (24:18).

Ezekiel’s temple and the millennium occupies the last eight long chapters of his book. He gives 318 precise measurements of the temple using some 37 unique words that are architectural terms, such as “door-posts,” “windows,” etc. Ezekiel received this great wealth of information on the millennial temple in the year 573 BC in the form of a vision and a personally conducted tour of the temple by “a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze.” (Evidently the Angel of the Lord). “He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand and he stood in the gateway.” (40:3) The tour began at the Eastern Gate—which was closed:

“Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. And he said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it; for the Lord , the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord ; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.” (44:1–3)

The present Golden Gate in the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is walled shut. Jewish and Arab tradition teaches—probably because of a misinterpretation of this passage in Ezekiel—that the Jewish Messiah is to enter the Golden Gate. For that reason the gate was walled up by the Arabs in the 11th Century after the Crusades, (if not earlier) or perhaps by Suleiman the Magnificent in AD 1539–1542—to prevent the Jewish Messiah from entering. The much older gate beneath the present Golden Gate, or else another (as yet undiscovered) gate in the Eastern wall could have been the one used by Jesus when He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday riding on the foal of a donkey.

In addition to being a very large and complex structure Ezekiel’s temple differs in several very important ways from any previously existing Jewish temple. These have been cataloged by researcher John Schmitt, a Portland, Oregon Bible scholar, as follows:

Features Unique to Ezekiel’s Temple

No wall of partition to exclude Gentiles (compare Ephesians 2:14) The Gentiles were previously welcome in the Outer Courts, but excluded from the inner courts on pain of death.

No Court of Women (compare Galatians 3:28 (Outer Court and Inner Court only)

No Laver (see Ezekiel 36:24–27, John 15:3)

No Table of Shewbread (see Micah 5:4, John 6:35)

No Lampstand or Menorah (see Isaiah 49:6, John 8:12)

No Golden Altar of Incense (Zechariah 8:20–23, John 14:6)

No Veil (Isaiah 25:6–8, Matthew 27:51)

No Ark of the Covenant (Jeremiah 3:16, John 10:30–33)

Major Changes to the Altar: The sacrificial Altar will be approached by a ramp from the East. Previous altars were all approached from the South. Now there will be stairs to the altar, not a ramp as previously. The top of the altar is now described by the Hebrew word “ariel” [Isaiah 29:1] meaning “hearth of God” or “lion of God.” [Rev. 5:5].

If the previous temples, as well as the Tabernacle of Moses, are pictures for us of man as the dwelling place of God, then Ezekiel’s temple may be intended to teach us about the marvelously new resurrection bodies waiting for every believer when he leaves this present life (2 Corinthians 5:1–5).

Believing saints from the Old Testament epoch, saints from the Christian era, and all those raised from the dead at the rapture and at the second coming of Christ in glory receive new resurrection bodies, like that of Jesus, as detailed in 1 Corinthians 15. Yet, after the Battle of Armageddon, Jesus will gather all the survivors of the nations outside Jerusalem and determine which individual sons and daughters of Adam are worthy to enter the Millennial Kingdom on earth. This is the famous judgment of the sheep and the goats described by our Lord in Matthew 25:31–46, and also given by the prophet Joel:

“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations, and have divided up my land, and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and have sold a girl for wine, and have drunk it. “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will requite your deed upon your own head swiftly and speedily. For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border. But now I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will requite your deed upon your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off; for the Lord has spoken.” Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare war, stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”

Hasten and come, all you nations round about, gather yourselves there. Bring down thy warriors, O Lord . Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the nations round about. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. And the Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwell in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy and strangers shall never again pass through it. “And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the valley of Shittim. “Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to all generations. I will avenge their blood, and I will not clear the guilty, for the Lord dwells in Zion.” (Joel 3)

The criterion for judgment at this time will be how individuals Gentiles have treated the Jews, especially believing Jews who constitute “true Israel.” The “Sheep” category clearly represents those righteous gentiles whose hearts are right before the Lord, that is they are all regenerated men and women, but individuals who have not previously received their resurrection bodies. They will repopulate the earth, according to Christian belief, during the thousand year reign of Messiah under greatly improved living conditions:

“But be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord , and their children with them. Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord .” (Isaiah 65:18–25)

During this thousand year reign of Yeshua over a restored earth, with Satan locked away in the abyss (Rev. 20:2), sinners will be born on the earth and will need to be instructed in matters of God’s grace and mercy. For this reason most commentators on Ezekiel believe that the Fourth Temple will be Memorial in nature, looking back in time to the cross of Jesus Christ, just as the Tabernacle and First and Second Temples pointed ahead in time to the cross. The prescribed worship services of Ezekiel’s temple are also described for us in great detail by the prophet. The priests presiding over the temple services will be of the line of Zadok (44:15) who proved faithful after the failure of the Levitical priests in the line of Eli (1 Samuel 2:35, 1 Kings 2:26–27, 35). The Millennial Temple will not have a separate High Priest. Instead the previously separate offices of King and Priest will be combined in the Messiah as noted, (See Zechariah 6:9–15)

Approximate Distribution of Land to the Twelve Tribes during Messiah’s Coming Reign

In addition to the physical differences in Ezekiel’s Temple a number of changes are made in the annual cycle of Jewish feasts. It is very clearly that the Millennial Temple sacrifices are definitely not a re-instatement of the Mosaic system.

Another feature of the Millennial Temple is the presence of a great stream of fresh water which issues from beneath the Southern wall of the Temple. Ezekiel describes this river, which divides into two branches and flows Westward into the Mediterranean Sea and also Eastward into the Northern end of the Dead Sea, freshening all the land South of Jericho,

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. Going on eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the loins. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea; from Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” (47:1–12)

This same stream of water seems to be identical to that described in Zechariah 14:8 and Joel 3:18. If so then the site of the Fourth Temple would seem to be on or near the present Temple Mount in Jerusalem. If this is so, then the city of Jerusalem will evidently be rebuilt to the South since the temple holy district is specified in Ezekiel 48 as North of the rebuilt city of Jerusalem. Some commentators have suggested that the Millennial Temple will be located at Shiloh, 31 kilometers to the North of present day Jerusalem.

A second reason for believing that the site of Ezekiel’s Temple may be near the present Temple Mount is found in Ezekiel’s description of the return of the Lord to dwell forever with His people Israel. The Lord says the people will no longer defile the temple site with the dead bodies of their kings. Since there are so many cemeteries on and around the Temple Mount this would require a special ritual cleansing of the entire area (described by Ezekiel), and of course the relocation of the rebuilt City to the South of the Temple district as we have already noted:

Afterward he (the angel of the Lord brought me (Ezekiel) to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with his glory. And the vision I saw was like the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and like the vision which I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple; and he said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel for ever.

And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their harlotry, and by the dead bodies of their kings, by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations which they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put away their idolatry and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst for ever. “And you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple and its appearance and plan, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, portray the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, and its whole form; and make known to them all its ordinances and all its laws; and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe and perform all its laws and all its ordinances. This is the law of the temple: the whole territory round about upon the top of the mountain shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. (Ezekiel 43:1–12)

Jerusalem, the rebuilt city in Israel, on earth, during the Millennium, should not be confused with the heavenly city known as “New Jerusalem,” referred to in the New Testament, (Hebrews 11:16, 12:18–29, Revelation 21–22) which seems to take the form of a great orbiting or stationary satellite above the earth. This vast city whose dimensions are of the order of 1500 miles on a side, may be connected to the millennial temple by a space-time gate way. The New Jerusalem does not include a temple (Revelation 21:22, 23)—“The Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb, are its temple.”

During the millennial kingdom sin will continue to exist on the earth, but all forms of defilement and sin are clearly excluded from the New Jerusalem, and guarded against by the complex rituals proscribed for the Temple of Ezekiel on the earth.

Ezekiel saw in a great vision the departure of the glory (the Shekinah ) of God from the Temple of Solomon, (Ezekiel 9:1–11:25). In a subsequent vision of Jerusalem in 573 BC, eighteen years later, Ezekiel was shown the future return of the Shekinah to Israel and to the Temple (43:1–12). That future day had also been foreseen by the prophet Isaiah:

In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing For those of Israel who have escaped. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain. (Isaiah 4:2–6)

Although we are given much information in the Bible on Tabernacle and Temples, the principal Biblical emphasis is not on buildings but on men and their character, scripture does not negate the use of shadows and symbols.

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest. All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:1, 2). [126]

On May 14, 2018, the U.S. moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Jews were rejoicing in Jerusalem (dancing, praising God, etc.) and the Palestinians were rioting in Gaza (about 60 killed, more than 2,000 wounded, etc.).

A Christian friend called and asked, “What is the big deal?”

The big deal is that God has a plan for Jerusalem and Satan is using Turkey, Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinians and others to try to stop it.

The Bible mentions Jerusalem more than any other city on earth (over 800 times).

Prime Minister Netanyahu quoted Zech. 8:3 at the U.S. embassy Dedication Service. Here is Zech. 8:2–8 and what I think God said.

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the Lord ; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness” (Zech. 8:2–8 KJV).

This has not been fulfilled. God’s jealousy means God doesn’t intend to let Satan have Jerusalem (Jesus was presented to God at Jerusalem; Jesus suffered and died at Jerusalem; Jesus ascended into heaven at Jerusalem; Jesus is coming back to Jerusalem; the Church began at Jerusalem and more).

God’s plan calls for Jesus to dwell in Jerusalem (on the Temple Mount), for Him to rule and be worshiped there, and for His Word to go fourth out of Jerusalem during the Millennium (Isa. 2:1–2; Psa. 132:13; Isa. 2:3). Satan wants to stop this.

Satan wants to be worshipped. He doesn’t want Jesus to dwell in Jerusalem, be worshipped and the Word of God to go all over the world. Satan doesn’t want to be cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1–3).

To fulfil His plan, God said He would bring the Jews back to Israel from other countries. He would cause Jerusalem to be rebuilt as a dwelling place for Jews of all ages. He said the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of Jerusalem will be marvelous in the eyes of the Jewish people (thus the rejoicing). But that is just a foretaste of the future because all Israel will be saved and He will be their God.

About 2% of the Jews are Messianic Jews and, as far as I know, they understand God’s plan. Some of the Jews are religious, but they wrongly think they can go back under the Law (rebuild the Temple, resume the animal sacrifices, etc.) and fulfil God’s plan. The remainder of the Jews are secular (not religious) and they have other ideas about what the nation should be doing.

Jerusalem occupies a unique position in two Bible timelines: the beginning and the end of the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24) and the beginning and the end of the “seventieth week of Daniel” (the Tribulation Period; Dan. 9:24–27).

The “times of the Gentiles” began with the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in Old Testament times (Dan. 1:1-2; 2:31–45) and they will end when Gentiles can no longer influence the events in Jerusalem (at the Second Coming of Jesus [Zech. 14:1–4; Luke 21:24]);

The “seventieth week of Daniel” (Tribulation Period) will begin when the Antichrist confirms a worthless treaty with Israel and many others for seven years of peace in Jerusalem and the Middle East (Dan. 9:27) and it will end when Jesus comes back to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem (Zech. 14:1–4).

The existence of Jerusalem was necessary to fulfill all of these prophecies plus another very important one, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 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” (Zech. 12:2–3).

Dr. John Hagee delivered the closing benediction at the U.S. embassy service. Among other things, he said, “It was You oh Lord who gathered the exiles from the nations and brought them home again. It was You who made statehood possible. It was You who gave a miraculous victory in 1967 when Jerusalem was reopened to worshipers of all faiths. Jerusalem is the city of God. Jerusalem is the heartbeat of Israel. Jerusalem is the place where Abraham placed his son on the altar of the Temple Mount and became the father of many nations. Jerusalem is where Isaiah and Jeremiah penned principles of righteousness that became the moral foundations of western civilization. Jerusalem is where Messiah will come and establish a kingdom that will never end.”

He added, “Let the word go forth from Jerusalem today that ‘Israel lives.’ Shout it from the housetops that ‘Israel lives.’ Let every Islamic terrorist hear this message: ‘Israel lives.’ Let it be heard in the halls of the United Nations: ‘Israel lives.’ Let it echo down the halls of the presidential palace in Iran: ‘Israel lives.’ Let it be known to all men that ‘Israel lives’ because He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.”

Just prior to Dr. Hagee’s words, Prime Min. Netanyahu told the gathered dignitaries, they had come to Jerusalem “at a time when Israel is a rising power in the world.”

That reminds me of something Jesus said, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” (Matt. 24:32–33).