The Book of Revelations is written by Apostle John the brother of James, Matthew 4:21, 27:56. He recognised Jesus at the Sea of Galilee John 21:7. He was the longest living disciple and he was the only one who died of old age. The Book is about the Great Tribulation which happens during the seven years of a treaty that has at its centre, the Temple Mount.
The Temple was David's desire to be able to commune with God in His own permanent home. By 957BC King Solomon fulfilled David's plan. God told David he could not do it because he was a man of war. There is a principal set in this. There has to be a division in the roles by those set aside to further God's work. This is why the ones who preach the gospel, evangelise, do missionary work, and witnesses in the future will be persecuted. The sword will be at odds with the spiritual work to be done.
This will be reflected in the end times as well. There will be two beasts. One that serves the spiritual and the other serves the physical. The Temple or King Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586BC. But by 516BC it was rebuilt and dedicated. In 167BC the altar in the Temple was defiled by a Greek ruler with a pig sacrifice. In 165BC it was recaptured, cleansed and rededicated. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70CE. It could only be for thanksgiving.
You are probably wondering why the fuss for the Temple in Jerusalem. The most fought for piece of real estate in the world. The many wars fought over Jerusalem is really over the Temple Mount. The most holy temple for the Jews. The symbolism of Jerusalem is about rulership as many of the leaders of Judaism lived in Jerusalem. Often when Jesus rebuked Jerusalem He referred to these leaders the Pharisees and Sadducees. This was discussed in a previous blog.
Many of the nations fighting over Israel have ancient roots. From thousands of years ago, wars were fought to establish the prowess or power of the God over the people. Unfortunately, I believe it is this reason the wars continue to this day. Here I want to explain the how Temple Mount relates to the Great Tribulation:
- the Tent meeting
- Sacrificing
- stumbling block
TENT MEETING
As Christians we know our body is temporary. We know that The Holy Spirit dwells within us. Our body is a holy temple for God. Because it is a temporary structure it is referred to as a tent sometimes. But this referral has a deep seated meaning.
It is about a meeting. Jerusalem is the meeting place with God. It was prophesied that:
- the Jews will survive
- They will return as a nation- 1948
- that they will return to Jerusalem- 1967
- Jews return to Yeshua- happening still
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without seraphim: afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days. Hosea 3: 4-5
The last appointed meeting which is still to happen is the next prophesy to be fulfilled. The spiritual return is supposed to be fulfilled through the return of the sacrifices but it will not work. The re-building of the Temple will be a prophesy fulfilled but God will not be in that temple. Our meeting place is when we rapture.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
In the day when all the nations gather the Jews will look on Him and mourn. They missed the meeting. This would be part of the message that the two witnesses would bring to the Jews. However, only when the witnesses are resurrected and then raptured will some of the Jews understand.
The Christians are the spiritual Jews and the continuation of the Messianic Judaism. We do not need a temple. The judgement of God occurs by the altar of sacrifice which is in the temple. When the devil stops the sacrifices in the end times during the treaty, he walks into the temple and claims he is God. This shows the significance of the temple even to him.
We are told that there will be signs in the heaven marking the times. I love to look out for the eclipses and the blood moons and falling stars. Don’t you? But it has led to some confusion and distraction. In consideration of the trumpets, the feasts and the blood moons it is important to ground everything as being related to Israel.
It is to the Jews first and the rest of the world is impacted. They are all signs specifically significant to the Jews. More than for the Christians. The reason for this is because in end of times the Christians are not on the earth for these events.
The feasts are associated with the timings during the year for the Jews. They have practical, spiritual, and historical value. Leviticus 23 tells me that all the feasts will be fulfilled in Israel. Four of the feasts have been fulfilled in Jerusalem already:
- Passover
- Feast of unleavened bread
- Feast of First fruits
- Feast of Pentecost
There are three more feasts to be fulfilled:
- Feast of trumpets will be fulfilled in the Second Coming of Christ
- Yom Kippur is when the Jews will cry and repent
- Feast of the Tabernacle will be realised when Yom Kippur occurs
During the Great Tribulation there will be specific trumpets sounded. I want to share with you that in 2019, I awakened by the sound of a trumpet being blown in my home by an angel. He blew two times. It was a precious moment. He came to warn me that there was a very wicked plan being made against me. When I read about the trumpets I am especially mindful of; Revelation 8:7, 9:21, 11:15-19.
There have been blood moons before but five are to happen during the Great Tribulation. They will not occur until after the rapture. All the signs are marking specific events in the history of the Jew and now culminate with the unfolding of the end of times.
SACRIFICING
It is hard to believe that in these modern times, nothing has really changed. Without the Temple the priests had no place to work, to sacrifice and no place for worship. The Sinai Covenant was based on sacrificial work to be done only by the priests and in one place which is the Temple in Jerusalem. Without the Jerusalem Temple they can only offer thanksgiving.
Since the Temple was destroyed and they were unable to keep God's commandments of sacrifices the Jews all knew there would be a new message or teaching or word to continue with. This is why Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’. He told them He is the right way, the true way and they can have abundant or eternal life with Him.
Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins. He gave His life as a sacrifice to God The Father. God accepted it as perfect without sin or stain. Jesus came in time to give show them the way for when the Temple would be destroyed. He did tell them it would be. But the Rabbinical Jews (most of them) did not accept Jesus as the Saviour or Messiah. At that time the Jews were:
- expecting a military leader to take them out of Roman rule
- expecting a prophet like Elijah as they knew the prophecy for him to return
- expected a king of splendour and riches
They did not expect that the carpenter's son could be the king they were praying for. They certainly did not think He could be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords either. The Messianic Jews believed and they understood what God was saying to them. Although the Rabbinical Jews knew so much about the laws they did not want to believe that the prophecies were coming to pass in Jesus.
Had they simply checked the timing as revealed in Daniel they would have seen the prophecy fulfilled to the day. Let us take a look at Daniel 9.
7+62 = 69 weeks, to represent 69 years
360 days is a Biblical year
7x69x360 = 173,880 days
You can start counting from the moment the command to rebuild Jerusalem was given to Nehemiah in the Book of Nehemiah chapter 2, you will get April 6, 32AD. This is the date Jesus walked into Jerusalem. This is why some of the Rabbinical Jews did believe but others would not.
Some scholars mark the era of the Gentiles from the day Nehemiah got the decree to rebuild the Temple. To keep it simple though other scholars simply say it is from the time of Christ. I have to point out here that all the prophesies about the Messiah were fulfilled in Jesus. One of the reasons why the testimony is the spirit of prophecy.
Without Jesus or rather without a Messiah they still needed to perform sacrifices. The Messianic Jews and Gentiles believe Jesus is the atonement. Rabbinical Jews believed that a man who was versed in the law could forgive sin. This was another rejection for God. In the past the Jews had told God they wanted a king or ruler over them. Here they were with the King of Kings and they still rejected Him. This was a double whammy for sure!
In the end times which is what we are currently facing, the pre-tribulation would end with a peace treaty of seven years. The terms of the treaty will allow Israel to continue the sacrifices on the Temple Mount. This could mean one of two things, either the Al Aqsa Mosque is destroyed possibly in the pre-tribulation war or that Israel is wronged and has to be appeased in some way.
According to the Book of Revelations the treaty will be broken and the sacrifices stopped 1260 days after signing. The temple that they build will be a false temple and there will be a false peace.
STUMBLING BLOCK
Such violence and trouble over the Temple. This is why we have to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, Psalm 122:6. To this day there is a fight over the Temple and it has not been rebuilt. The Muslims captured the city in 700AD but the Jews were hardly there to defend it. They were in exile by the Romans at the time.
Knowing the importance of the Temple to the Jews, knowing that the Jews will return one day they built the Al Aqsa Mosque on top of it. Given the recent history around Jerusalem in particular, I am convinced they are fighting for Jerusalem to keep the Jews from re-building the Temple.
The Mosque is supposed to be the third largest and reverenced for Arabs and Muslims yet the May 2021 war with Israel saw it being used as a prop to spread false media about Israel. The holy was taken out of it with the staging of lies on two occasions:
- when they filled the mosque with stones and pieces of wood to throw at the Israeli police after throwing stones at the Jews outside
- When they burnt a tree near the mosque and spread a rumour that the Jews set the mosque on fire
Many nations find themselves having to take sides. Usually they are against Israel. This is why Jerusalem is the stumbling block. For Christians in particular it is a challenge. The fake news and propaganda spread globally in the mainstream media and social media sites make it particularly hard to show support for Israel.
The Jews are in the same situation once again. They need the Temple Mount to perform the sacrifices for atonement. It is my belief that when the rapture happens the Jews will be reminded of this and the enemies of Israel will think that the God of Israel has abandoned them. This can be another reason why there will be a pre-tribulation war that according to Ezekiel 38 is for ‘plunder’. Or, it can be about the gas find in Israel.
The leadership in Israel is currently weak. It is bound by an agreement with four Arabs who form part of the new government. These Arabs will not allow Israel to defend itself nor do they condemn violence against Jews inside of Israel. This makes it even easier for the Arabs to think they can attack and win in a war against Israel.
Recently, the new Prime Minister of Iran, said that they are waiting for Israel to make a mistake and they will ‘wipe them out’. Such language still continues to this day. It is draconian and demonic language. It is not about a two-state solution as I have previously discussed. It is about proving whose God is badder and wiping out the entire religion. There has been wars and rumours of war over Israel.
When Nehemiah went to rebuild Jerusalem by decree of King Artaxerxes there were those who tried to stop him. Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite, Geshem, the Arabian are from the same nations that oppose Israel today. They tried to discourage Nehemiah who was only as tall as a man’s knee. They tried to cause confusion for him. As Nehemiah responded, …ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem, Nehemiah 2:20.
The Great Tribulation is a covenant between Israel and God. It is not for the church. We did not go through the 69 weeks nor do we owe God another week or 7 days equivalent to 7 years.
I pray for a precious anointing of The Holy Spirit on you in Jesus name. I pray He teaches you more and more and reveals His truths to you in Jesus name.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you Behold Israel
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