squint posted in message #47:
Revelation is "about" the REVEALING of CHRIST.
This REVEALING will transpire in THE TEMPLE(s.)
Jesus Christ will be physically revealed to the world
in the clouds of the sky (the first heaven) at His
second coming (Revelation 1:7, 19:11-21, Matthew
24:29-31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
squint posted in message #47:
Mankind, our BODIES, are THE REAL TEMPLES.
While the bodies of believers are real temples
(1 Corinthians 6:19), so was the first-century
temple-building in Jerusalem a real temple (Matthew
21:12-13, 23:21, Luke 1:9), even after the
establishment of the Church (Luke 24:53, Acts 2:46,
3:1, 22:17), and so is the temple-building in the
third heaven a real temple (Revelation 11:19, 15:8).
Likewise, the Orthodox Jews will rebuild a temple-
building in Jerusalem which will be a real temple
(Revelation 11:1-2), before which they will offer
Mosaic daily sacrifices to God. But then, after two
or three years the Antichrist will stop the daily
sacrifices and sit in the temple-building and
proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel
11:31,36).
It could be the Orthodox Jews' desire to rebuild a
temple-building in Jerusalem that could eventually
bring about the destruction of the state of Israel,
even before the Antichrist comes on the scene. What
could happen is that some Orthodox Jews could blow up
the Dome of the Rock (one of the holiest sites of
Islam) because it's sitting on the site where the
former Jewish temple-buildings stood in ancient
times. That's why the hill on which the Dome of the
Rock is located is called the "Temple Mount". Some
Orthodox Jews, brought to a state of extreme
excitement by the discovery of the Ark of the
Covenant and/or the appearance of a miracle-working
Orthodox-Jewish "Messiah", could say that "It is
God's will that we now rebuild the Temple, so we must
first get rid of the Dome of the Rock".
One way they could do this is to go into the
synagogue off the north end of the Wailing Wall (the
western retaining wall of the Temple Mount) and then
break through some gates in the eastern wall of the
synagogue which lead to tunnels which run under the
Dome of the Rock. Some Orthodox Jews could then place
explosives under the Dome of the Rock which could
destroy it. This action, if they do it, will cause
tremendous outrage in all Muslims worldwide, and
could cause a massive Muslim Army to attack and
destroy the tiny state of Israel. This Muslim Army
could mainly consist of a huge Iraqi Army which could
have just finished being fully trained and equipped
by the U.S. to attack and destroy huge Iran instead.
But how could some Orthodox Jews even think of
blowing up the Dome of the Rock if that could possibly
lead to the destruction of the state of Israel?
Because many Orthodox Jews (especially many Ultra-
Orthodox Jews) couldn't care less about the state of
Israel; they see it as a man-made contrivance. What
they want to establish is a Theocracy which is based
solely on the Old Testament, not based on any secular
values such as democracy or freedom of religion.
If some Orthodox Jews blow up the Dome of the Rock,
they could do so (as they could say) "In full
assurance that it is God's will. God wants us to
establish a true state of Israel, one which follows
His Law perfectly, including all of the sacrificial
laws before a rebuilt Temple. So what if the current
state of Israel is destroyed in the process? It is
not of God. Look at how full of sin it is because it
refuses to enforce God's moral Law! God will see to
it that our new godly state of Israel will somehow
survive, no matter what happens to the old ungodly
state of Israel. All we have to do is to be obedient
to God, to do His will, and He will miraculously
protect us and our Holy City of Jerusalem, just as
He miraculously protected Holy Jerusalem in the days
of Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:32-36)".
And this could turn out to be the case, insofar as
the Orthodox Jews could manage to hold onto the
walled Old City of Jerusalem (which contains the
Temple Mount) even as all the rest of Israel is
overrun and destroyed by a massive Muslim Army.
But why wouldn't a massive Muslim Army be able to
take over the Old City of Jerusalem if it were able
to take over all the rest of Israel? One reason
could be that the leader of the Muslim Army could be
a Baathist (in Daniel 11:17, the Hebrew word
translated as "daughter" is "bath"). Baathists don't
care so much about religious stuff; what they are
interested in is bringing about the political
unification of all Arab nations into one powerful
United Arab States, free of all U.S. hegemony.
What could happen is that a Baathist leader of a
massive Muslim Army could use the destruction of
the Dome of the Rock as the perfect casus belli for
an immediate invasion of Israel. But he won't want
to stop at conquering Israel, but will want to sweep
on south and also take Egypt (Daniel 11:15-16), the
leader of which the Baathists see as a stooge of the
United States. So if the Baathist leader comes upon
the Old City of Jerusalem and finds the tops of its
walls ringed with thousands of Orthodox Jews armed
with machine guns, he could think to himself "It will
take too much time to conquer the Old City; it's too
well defended. I need to make it to Egypt before the
U.S. has a chance to shore it up". And so the
Baathist leader could leave a mere token force to
"lay siege" to the walled Old City while he keeps on
going south toward Egypt with the huge bulk of his
Army.
And the Baathist leader may never come back, but
could disappear from the scene after trying to take
one too many countries (Daniel 11:18-19) in North
Africa. And all during the time that the Baathist
leader is busy in North Africa, the Orthodox Jews
could be clearing away the rubble of the Dome of
the Rock, rebuilding their temple, and initiating
the offering of the daily Mosaic sacrifices before
the temple.
After his disappearance, the Baathist leader could
be replaced by a new leader who will only last a
few days before he dies (Daniel 11:20), and who will
then be replaced by the Antichrist (Daniel 11:21).
The first thing that the Antichrist will do upon
being given power over what the Baathist leader has
conquered will be to attack the Old City of
Jerusalem and defeat the Orthodox Jews there,
including their "Messiah" (Daniel 11:22). But then
the Antichrist will "cut" (Daniel 9:25) a peace
treaty with the "Messiah" (Daniel 11:23), permitting
the "Messiah" and his Orthodox-Jewish followers to
continue to offer the daily Mosaic sacrifices before
their rebuilt temple for at least seven more years
(Daniel 9:27a). Once that treaty is signed, it will be
two or three years before the Antichrist breaks the
treaty, stops the sacrifices, and commits the
abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27b, 11:31), when
he will sit in the temple and proclaim himself God
(2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36).
During the two or three years that the Orthodox Jews
will be allowed to continue their sacrifices before
their rebuilt temple, they could pat each other on
the back and say "We were right to obey God and blow
up the Dome of the Rock and rebuild the Temple. Look
at how God has rewarded us! We are able to fulfill His
Law perfectly, and no man can stop us! Praise God!"
But when the Orthodox Jews have taken over the Old
City of Jerusalem to establish (what they could
call) "A true, godly state of Israel", this will not
be good for those living in the Old City who are
not Orthodox Jews. In order to (as they could say)
"Cleanse Jerusalem to make it as holy as the rebuilt
Temple", the Orthodox Jews could drive out at the
point of machine guns every person living in the Old
City who isn't an Orthodox Jew, such as all
Christians, all Muslims, and all Jews who are non-
Orthodox. Then the Orthodox Jews could burn every
non-kosher thing in the Old City, including even the
most holy site of Christendom, the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre. The Old City could be made completely
"Orthodox-Jewish Only", with no non-Orthodox-Jewish
person or non-kosher thing even allowed within its
gates.
The Orthodox Jews could then declare the
establishment in the Old City of Jerusalem of (what
they could call) "The True State of Israel".