Revelation Chapter 11 Verse 1

 This direction from the angel to John presupposes, or implies, that

there is at this point in the Great Tribulation, a functioning rebuilt

temple! (And that there are worshippers there which most likely

means what we are reading is the first half of the Tribulation period.)

That implication is precisely aligned with prophecies of Daniel, Jesus

and the writings of Paul. Reformed theologians for centuries linked

this to the church, allegorized or spiritualized this because from 70AD

all the way until 1948, there couldn’t possibly be a temple because

there wasn’t even an Israel!

 Jesus said in Matthew 24:15-16, “Therefore, when you see the

‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing

in the holy place, (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those

who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Basically, when you see this,

run. Why? And what is the Abomination of Desolation?

 Jesus is obviously speaking of a future event, and the disciples may

have been puzzled a bit in hearing this because the Abomination of

Desolation had already happened. Antiochus IV, the king of the

Greek Seleucid dynasty…who took the title “Theos Epiphanes,”

which literally means, “manifest god,” was written of by Daniel…and

is a prominent extra-biblical historical figure.

 This king ruled between 175 and 165 BC and Daniel tells us in Daniel

11:21 that Antiochus Epiphanes gained his throne by “coming in

peaceably and seizing the kingdom by intrigue.” Exactly, in a way,

what the Anti-Christ will do!

 Daniel continues in Chapter 11 of his book to tell us of the excursions

of Antiochus into the adversarial nations surrounding Israel under

some sort of agreement or covenant with the nation of Israel but then

in verse 28 of Daniel Chapter 11 we read how Antiochus broke that

treaty and turned against his previously established holy covenant

which concluded with him desecrating the temple.

 Essentially, he put an end to the practice of temple worship. At that

time, a lamb was sacrificed twice daily, morning and evening on the

altar there at the temple in Jerusalem. Daniel had already predicted

this in chapter 9:27.

 Antiochus set up an altar to Zeus in the temple. He then sacrificed a

pig (an unclean animal) on the altar. Flavius Josephus writes in Book

1, The War of the Jews, “Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with

his unexpected taking of the city (Jerusalem), or with its pillage, or

with the great slaughter he had made there; but being overcome with

his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during the

siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and

to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine's flesh upon

the altar; against which they all opposed themselves, and the most

approved among them were put to death.”

 The entire nation, way of life and religion of Judaism under

Antiochus’ reign was made desolate, all kicking off with the greatest

of abominations…so what happened…? Revolt. A rural Jewish priest,

Mattathias the Hasmonean, refused to conform and worship the Greek

gods. A Hellenized Jew stepped forward to take Mattathias’ place in

his priestly duties and Mattathias killed him as well as a Greek officer

that was sent by Antiochus to enforce the sacrifice to Zeus. After that

Mattathias fled to the wilderness with his family of five sons.

 After his death only about one year later in 166 BC, his son Judah

Maccabee led an army of Jewish dissidents to victory over the

Seleucid dynasty known today as the Maccabean Revolt. In triumph,

the Maccabees entered and ritually cleansed the temple. The Jewish 8-

day festival of Hanukkah celebrates this rededication and cleansing.

 According to Rabbinic tradition, the victorious Maccabees could only

find a small jug of oil that had remained pure and uncontaminated by

virtue of a seal, and although it only contained enough oil to sustain

the Menorah for one day, miraculously it lasted for eight days, which

was how long it took to prepare new oil. (Which is SUCH a great

picture for you and for me! No clue how to get back to God? Just set

out to do so and God will provide!)

 So, you see how many things tie together…all stemming from this

historical event that Jesus mentions in Matthew 24…but…as a future

event… Antiochus was a type…a type of the Anti-Christ that is yet to

come and he will go into the rebuilt temple and essentially do the same

thing! Jesus said, “when you see,” referring to a future event. So,

there is a temple coming…and many believe it will be rebuilt under

the command and the direction of the Anti-Christ himself. In fact, the

Jewish religious elite hold strongly to the declaration that whoever

builds their temple and restores their right standing with God (as is

only possible in Judaism with a temple and with sacrifices) that man

must be the promised Messiah…

 Things are already in place and prepared! Check out the website

Templeinstitute.org. Go there today and your mind will be blown!

The website opens with the Levitical Choir and one of the first

statements that perhaps catches your eye is, “The three weeks of

mourning which stretch from the fast of the 17th of Tammuz to the fast

of the 9th of Av may be a time for some people to look backward and

dream about the Holy Temple that was. Not so for the people that

make up the Temple Institute. The Temple Institute is forever looking

forward and working tirelessly to educate Israel and the world about

the importance of the Holy Temple in our future, while always training

and preparing in every way possible for the rebuilding of the Holy

Temple and the renewal of the Divine service, soon, and in our days!”

 The garments of the priests are complete. The High Priest’s breastplate

and golden gown, all ready. The animals for sacrifice are available. On

the home page of the website there is an entire section about the Red

Heifer, even a picture of her, ready for the consecration of the temple

as commanded in Numbers 19.

 Why is it so important for the temple to be rebuilt anyway? I mean the

people have lived without a temple for nearly 2,000 years, and seem to

be doing fine without one. Out of the 613 divine commandments that

you find in the Torah, one-third of them or 202 are totally dependent

on the existence of the temple and the Orthodox Jewish community

believes that the current state of Judaism is spiritually bankrupt,

because of their lack of a temple. They have instituted

“remembrances” in place of the missing commandments and believe

that in order to restore Judaism to its magnificence and fully restore

the Jews as a nation to God, the temple must be rebuilt.

 Does this mean that we will see the temple rebuilt before the rapture of

the church? Is this what we are to look for? Not necessarily, why?

Because there is a rather large obstacle in the way; In the year 692, an

Islamic shrine was built on the temple mount. It collapsed in 1015 but

was rebuilt in 1023. The Dome of the Rock. The oldest extant work

of Islamic Architecture and of utmost importance to Muslims.

 But, huge “but” here, just in recent history a discovery and a

conclusion has been made that unpacks the end times scenario

perhaps with precision and with clarity…look at verse 2…

Revelation Chapter 11 Verse 2

 Forty-Two (42) months is exactly three and a half years. Mid-way

point in the Great Tribulation. What is meant here by “Leave out the

court which is outside the temple, because it has been given over to

the gentiles, or the heathen?” Until only a few years ago, no one

really knew.

 In the late 600s, the Mosque of Omar (Dome of the Rock) was built. It

was built where it is believed Abraham nearly sacrificed his son.

However right about that time, a man named Mohammad emerged on

the scene proclaiming that an angel had appeared to him giving him

new revelation and he presented the Quran, exalting himself to the

position of God’s only prophet…and what does the Quran say of

Abraham? That it was Ishmael who was the chosen son of Abraham

who was nearly sacrificed at that site…

 When was Genesis written? Who wrote the Book of Genesis? Moses,

right? When did Moses die? Around 1400BC. So, 2000 years later,

what has been written from antiquity and is fact regarding Abraham,

Issac and Jacob…is now Abraham, Ishmael and Esau? And it was an

angel that revealed all this… Interestingly, Paul warned us about this

in Galatians Chapter 1, well before it happened in the year 600 AD.

 But now this site, which many believe to be the original site of the

Jewish temple, had been claimed by this new religion, Islam as their

most holy place which renders a rebuilding of the Jewish temple

impossible because the Muslims would immediately invade Israel if

anything happened to that shrine.

 Now, check this out. About forty years ago, after spending 16 years

studying the temple mount area, a physicist and archeologist at

Hebrew University named Dr. Asher Kaufman came to some

remarkable conclusions. In 1983 he released the results of his findings

within the March/April issue of Biblical Archaeological Review.

 In that he declared with sound evidence and conclusive analysis that

while the Mosque of Omar has been assumed for years to be built

directly over the site of the Jewish temple, the actual location of the

Jewish temple foundation is most likely one hundred meters to the

north!

 What is one hundred meters to the north of the Dome of the Rock? A

small, unassuming, solitary gazebo-like structure, below which was

found, and is now exposed, bedrock of the original temple! Now why

is bedrock important? Because the rock upon which the Mosque of

Omar is built is very jagged and uneven…it doesn’t even make sense

to build upon it…but one hundred meters to the north…flat,

leveled…perfect for a structure…

 And not only more logical, Kaufman’s conclusion reveals other

answers to mysteries that have been set aside for

centuries…According to the Mishna, (the highly esteemed book of

Jewish oral traditions), when the priest stood in the Holy of Holies on

the Day of Atonement, he could look through the veil, through the

door, and see the Eastern Gate directly before him. (Ezekiel 44 tells us

the Messiah will return to the temple through this gate)

 In 1970 it was concluded once and for all that the original Eastern

Gate is directly below the present Eastern Gate…now guess what you

cannot see directly from the Dome of the Rock? You got it…however

go 100 meters to the north…the Eastern Gate is in plain view!

 What does all of this mean! It means that the Orthodox Jews are very

active and excited! Why? Because the temple can indeed be rebuilt

and the Dome of the Rock can certainly remain right where it's at!

And you know what that would make the Dome location? The outer

courtyard of the temple or more traditionally stated, the Court of the

Gentiles!

 Now can you believe that there’s even more…one last knockout punch

that absolutely assures us that God’s Word is on point?! The angel

says there to John in Verse 2 that the court has been “given” to the

Gentiles. Notice he doesn’t say that they took it…it’s that word didomi

in the Greek literally meaning “given with permission,” kinda like a

gift…

 Here’s the mind blower! During the Six-Day War of 1967, the Israelis

launched a preemptive strike against the Arabs and recaptured the city

of Jerusalem. General Moshe Dayan could have easily booted the

Muslims off the perceived temple mount at this time saying, “you lost,

too bad, get out…” I mean it was a war! The Jewish nation had

won…they had overcome the Arabs entirely! But he didn’t do that!

 In a gesture that he himself never explained, he let them retain control

of the 35-acre parcel. Thus, the outer court of the temple remains

today, “given” to the gentiles. And for 42 months, 3.5 years, they will,

“Tread the holy city underfoot.” Two ways to look at this. Both

happening at the mid-point of the Great Tribulation.

 One perspective is that at the midway point of the Great Tribulation,

the Anti-Christ will go into the rebuilt temple, claim to be God, and

demand to be worshipped. Paul gave us that in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.

That will begin the period of “Treading,” or that will end

it…depending on what the gentiles do… No matter how you take this,

something significant will take place, per Revelation 11 and Daniel 11

at the midway point of the Great Tribulation…and things believe it or

not, will get much much worse…which we will get into next week…

 What does all this mean? Man, the Word of God is beyond

accurate…it is divine! It captures and reveals to us what is to come!

The future, even like it has all already happened!!