History, politics and spiritual doctrine of the Temple Mount

For those who are interested…this is a good review of the history behind the Temple Mount. It's the holiest site in Judaism, and the 3rd holiest site in Islam. (Some words are chopped up, my apologies.)

http://www.dunamai.com/articles/Israel/third_temple_built.htm

The most volatile 35 acres on earth are undoubtedly those comprising a rectangular platform in East Jerusalem, known as the Temple Mount, on which the ancient Jewish Temple once stood. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament together affirm that a new Temple will once again occupy this platform as part of God's end time program for the Nation of Israel.

Since the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70, Jewish prayers have been made for its rebuilding. Such a precedent was set by the Prophet Daniel while in Babylonian exile (Dan. 6:10), and Orthodox Jews, the denomination most desirous for a Third Temple, who today recite three times daily the words: "May it be Thy will that the Temple be speedily rebuilt in our own time." Even so, almost 2,000 years have passed. Today Israel is largely a secular state, and many understand this prayer only metaphorically.

The Place for the Temple

In order to build the Temple, it is believed the exact location of the former two Temples must be correctly identified. One reason is because the site for the Temple was divinely appointed. Another is because there appears to be a continuity between Temples - each being built with its Holy of Holies enclosing the same protrusion of Mount Moriah known as Even ha-Shetiyah ("The Foundation Stone"). Since it was upon this stone that the Ark of the Covenant had been set and the Shekinah (Divine Presence) had descended, departed, and promised to return, it is thought that no other place can be substituted.

The Temple Mount platform, built to support the Temple and its courts, has been preserved down through the centuries. While this has limited the area for the search for the original site, it is impossible to resolve the matter due to the lack of complete access to the site. Nevertheless, based on many evidences that can be discerned without archaeological investigation, three major theories of location have been advanced.

What evidence is there in Israel today that this predicted rebuilding is close to becoming reality?

The Protocol for the Temple

Orthodox Jews differ as to when and how the Third Temple should be rebuilt. One school of thought believes that the Temple will descend in fire from heaven completely built after a religious gov<caron>ernment is established as the Messiah arrives in the Age of Redemption. The predominate school of thought, however, is that the Torah obligates the Jewish Nation to rebuild the Temple whenever it becomes possible to do so. Therefore, the reason Israel, and even the whole world, has national problems is that Israel has failed to rebuild.

One theory put forth by Tel Aviv architect Tuvia Sagiv, based on accounts in ancient sources and topographical elevations, argues that the Temple was situated at the southwestern corner of the plat<caron>form near to where the AI Aqsa Mosque is today.

Another theory, with both traditional support and the consensus of Israeli archaeologists, is that the Temple stood exactly where the Dome of the Rock is today.

A more popular theory is that of Hebrew University physicist Asher Kaufmann. His research, relying upon details given in Middot, computations of angles of line-of-sight between the Mt. of Olives (where the red heifer was sacrificed) and the eastern court of the Temple where the Great Altar stood, as well as physical clues dis<caron>covered around the outside of the platform (now destroyed or hidden by the Muslims), concludes that the Temple was built on the northwestern corner of the platform only about 330 feet from the Muslim Dome of the Rock. He believes that bedrock identifiable within a small cupola at this site, known in Arabic as the Dome of the Tablets, was the Foundation Stone within the Holy of Holies.

The Plans for the Temple

According to experts, detailed blueprints for the Third Temple have existed for the past four years. The plans were drawn according to the primary sources of information: the Bible, Josephus, and the Mishnah tractate known as Middot ("Measurements"). Other struc<caron>tures, including the Sanhedrin complex, have also been planned or actually built. The restored Temple complex envisioned by Ezekiel, is to be thirty times larger than that of previous Temples. The legal stipulations that the Sanhedrin will use to govern Israel's relationship to the rebuilt Temple and its services have already been researched and are in the process of being published by the Research Center for Jewish Thought under the direction of Yoel Lerner.

Preparation for the Temple

Shortly after the national commemoration of Tisha B'Av in the Jewish year 5763 (August 7, 2003), the authorities opened the gate of the Temple Mount. Now that Israeli sovereignty has been re-asserted over the site and the gate to the Temple Mount promised "never again to be closed to Israelis and non-Muslims," how long will the Israeli authorities tolerate Palestinian Authority control over the Temple? A first stage in the liberation of the Temple Mount seems to have been taken. Will it, in fact, lead to other stages that will in turn conclude with the rebuilding of the Temple?

Since 1987, the Temple Institute, a group of rabbinical researchers, designers, and craftsmen, has been creating in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem what they call a "Temple-in-waiting." Among the 103 Temple items that have, or are in the process of being recreated are: apparel for the High Priest, sacrificial incense spices, urns, incense pans, the golden lavar, and the stone vessel (kelal) for grinding and holding the purifying ashes of the red heifer, the golden menorah (lampstand), silver trumpets, the Golden Altar of Incense, and the Table of Shewbread. Other building projects include a full scale altar for the training of the priests. The Ark of the Covenant is believed to exist in a chamber under the Temple Mount. Another group active in the rebuilding of the Third Temple, the Temple Mount Faithful, has brought three cornerstones to Jerusalem from Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev. It is one of the few places in the Land of Israel where the character and color of the stone is similar to that from which the First and Second Temples were made.

The Priests for the Temple

According to rabbinic tradition, the Tribe of Levi was forbidden to alter their names (which connoted their priestly heritage) when assimilated into foreign cultures. Thus, we continue to this day to have Levis and Cohens, and derivatives of these names. Recently, a more scientific test to verify those of priestly lineage has appeared. A computerized list of all known priestly candidates in Israel is main<caron>tained. Orthodox organizations in Israel are helping to educate this priesthood.

The Purification for the Temple

In order for a Temple to be rebuilt today, those who would enter the holy areas must first be ritually pure. All Jews have become cere<caron>monially unclean in the Diaspora and must be purified by the ashes of the red heifer (described in Numbers 19). In 2002, a red heifer was born in Israel, the first in 2,000 years. Because the Jewish sage Maimonides taught that there had been nine red heifers between the beginning of the Tabernacle and the end of the Second Temple, and, that the tenth would be prepared by the Messianic King, a special urgency is attached to the recovery of the Temple Mount.

The Politics of the Temple

The issue of rebuilding the Temple has been at the forefront (though often downplayed) of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Islamic authority (Wakf), who maintains rigid control of the Temple Mount, blamed the Israeli government for starting a fire in the AI Aqsa Mosque in 1969 in order to destroy the structure and rebuild the Temple. In fact, a mentally unstable member of a cult actually set the blaze! In March of 1997 Yasser Arafat was shown in an AP photograph, holding up an artist’s rendering of a restored Jewish Temple and telling his peo<caron>ple to "get ready for the next battle" (for Jerusalem). Similar calls for conflict were also issued from loudspeakers on the Temple Mount.

Now that access to the Temple Mount has been permitted for reli<caron>gious purposes, many services long suspended since the Temple's destruction may be re-instituted. Such actions, it has been argued, would further demand a rebuilt Temple to complete and focus these acts of devotion.

Is the Day Growing Near?

A first stage in the liberation of the Temple Mount seems to have been taken. Will it in fact lead to other stages that will in turn con<caron>clude with the rebuilding of the Temple? These are exciting times in which to live, and perhaps witness the occurrences that will climax in this momentous event.

The modern physical preparations and political demonstrations by Orthodox Jews point toward the ultimate fulfillment of a restored Jewish Temple. For Believers in Yeshua (Jesus). in this present age of the Church who are awaiting the Rapture, these present efforts to rebuilt: represent a significant sign of events that will be part of' the Tribulation. As such <caron>readiness to rebuild announces the nearness of this coming day, and encourages us as Believers <caron>to live godly and productive lives as we watch and wait for the Blessed Hope.