For over 2000 years the Jewish people have been mourning the destruction of the Holy Temple. On every festive occasion, its loss is remembered. No wedding takes place without the symbolically broken glass.
Ashes of mourning are placed upon the forehead of the groom and a section of a new home is left unpainted or unfinished, all in remembrance of the Destruction and the Exile from Zion.
One might ask, why are they still crying after 2000 years? Why can’t they get over it and move on? Why? Because there was never any closure, no burial. Why? Because even though the Temple’s bricks and stone have been destroyed, the Divine Promise still stands. The Temple will be rebuilt and until that day Zion will never be forgotten.
Jesus said, “Therefore when you see the ‘Abomination of Desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place…” – Matthew 24:15
On Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av, the day that marks the destruction of both the First and Second Temple), Napoleon Bonaparte was walking along a street when he stopped in front of a synagogue. He heard crying from within. “What are those Jews doing?” he asked the soldier at his side. “They are mourning over the destruction of their Temple.”
“When did that happen?”
“Around 2000 years ago.”
“They are still crying after 2000 years? A nation that mourns so long will never cease. They will surely return to their land and see the rebuilding of their Temple.”
What was it that Napoleon saw that gave him the confidence to make such a statement? He understood that the connection between the People and the Place is intrinsic. One cannot live without the other. Just as the Jewish People are alive, so too is Zion. A nation that will not allow itself to forget will also not allow itself to let go or give up.
The Jews are still crying after 2000 years because they realize the greatness of what was lost and they long for its return like a father who knows his child is missing, but who is not dead. They also cry in anticipation as they see the ingathering of the exiles and wait for when Zion will be restored to its former state and the Temple will be rebuilt.
The Temple Institute is an organization which works to create the vessels that will be used in the Third Temple. Take a fascinating look into what’s happening today!
The vessels of the Holy Temple must be made according to the Torah and Jewish Law with all of the correct measurements. Only then, are they fit for service in the Holy Temple when it is rebuilt.
These holy vessels, built specifically for use in the Third Temple, are being constructed right now. Don’t miss this video!
Bible prophecy reveals that this temple will be occupied by the Antichrist and ultimately destroyed. Would these orthodox Jews be so zealous to rebuild the temple if they took this scripture from their Torah as prophecy?
“Forces from him (Antichrist) shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” Daniel 11:31-32
This is not the end of the temple story as Ezekiel is given a detailed description of a fourth temple that God will construct and which Jesus will occupy and rule/reign from in the Millennium.
“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 forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places, 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 that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put away their whoring and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. “As for you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.” Ezekiel 43:7-12
Jerusalem in the Millennium is on top of the highest mountain in the world
Most Christians think they know who builds the third temple in Jerusalem. But what if it’s not Israel, what are the implications if it’s someone else? Will the Antichrist build the third temple? Could the discovery of the Ark of the Covenant and the location of the original temples be involved? How might the discovery of the Ark of the Covenant be related to the Abomination of Desolation in the temple? Find all these answers by watching this video by Nelson Walters. What I like about Nelson is he knows he does not have all the answers and that as we search the Scriptures God continues to give us new revelation just as he did with the OT prophets. He will prompt you to search the Scriptures yourself and it is amazing that when you do, the Holy Spirit will give you fresh revelation which strengthens your faith and resolve to be an overcomer.
Another Biblical clue to the location of the temple is the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. This threshing floor is found in 2 Chronicles 3:1,
“Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”
Scripture records that Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah and over the threshing floor that David purchased from Ornan the Jebusite. The mention here of Mount Moriah and Zion is important. It shows that these locations are synonymous, as is also the City of David and Zion.
The threshing floor where Solomon built the temple belonged to a Jebusite. This fact suggests that it was likely within the borders of the Jebusite city. If true, this would place the threshing floor within the City of David and not on today’s Temple Mount. Remember that what they call the Temple Mount today is a third of a mile from the ancient Jebusite city.
What is a threshing floor? This was an area where farmers would separate the grain from the straw and husks. This required a surface that was flat, smooth and hard. The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (ISBE) states,
Rock under the Dome of The Rock – it isn’t flat, smooth or hard as needed for a threshing floor
“The threshing-floors are constructed in the fields, preferably in an exposed position in order to get the full benefit of the winds.
The surface of a threshing floor had to be flat, smooth, and hard. This allowed the oxen to tread the grain. It must also be in a location where there would be sufficient wind to separate the grain. This is key as it pertains to the temple.
Most believe that Ornan’s threshing floor was under the Dome of Rock on the traditional Temple Mount. The problem is, as seen in the image below, the surface underneath the Dome of the Rock is not flat. This fact alone makes it highly unlikely this area served as a threshing floor.
Another issue with the threshing floor being located on the traditional Temple Mount is that threshing floors were prone to robbery. ISBE states, “Threshing-floors are in danger of being robbed (1 Samuel 23:1). For this reason, someone always sleeps on the floor until the grain is removed (Ruth3:7). In Syria, at the threshing season, it is customary for the family to move out to the vicinity of the threshing-floor. A booth is constructed for shade; the mother prepares the meals and takes her turn with the father and children at riding on the sledge.”
With this in mind, does it make sense that Ornan and his family would place their threshing floor a third of a mile from the “fort”? Keep in mind that during this time the traditional Temple Mount contained no walls or defense. It was completely open to attack. It is far more likely that Ornan’s threshing floor was within the confines of the old Jebusite city and not on an unguarded hill a third of a mile away.
The Gihon Spring
One of the most compelling reasons for the temple’s being located within the City of David is the location of the Gihon Spring. This spring sets along the Kidron Valley near the ancient City of David. The name “Gihon” comes from the Hebrew gihu, meaning, “gushing forth.” It is one of the world’s largest intermittent springs and made life possible for ancient Jerusalem. While the water from the spring was used for irrigation in the Kidron, it was also central to temple worship.
The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary speaks to the ancient and modern history of this famous spring, “The intermittent spring that constituted Jerusalem’s most ancient water supply, situated in the Kidron Valley just below the eastern hill (Ophel). This abundant source of water was entirely covered over and concealed from outside the walls and was conducted by a specially built conduit to a pool within the walls where a besieged city could get all the water it needed. ‘Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?’ the people queried in the time of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:2-4). Hezekiah’s Tunnel, 1,777 feet long, hewn out of the solid rock and comparable to the tunnels at Megiddo and Gezer, conducted the water to a reservoir within the city. From the top of Ophel the ancient Jebusites (c. 2000 B.C.) had cut a passage through the rock where water pots could be let down a 40-foot shaft to receive the water in the pool 50 feet back from the Gihon. Early excavations at Jerusalem by the Palestine Exploration Fund under the direction of Sir Charles Warren (1867) resulted in finding the 40-foot rock-cut shaft. It is now known as Warren’s Shaft. Conrad Shick in 1891 discovered an ancient surface canal that conveyed water from the Gihon Spring to the old pool of Siloam, located just within the SE extremity of the ancient city. Isaiah seems to have alluded to the softly flowing waters of this gentle brook when he spoke poetically of ‘the gently flowing waters of Shiloah’ (Isaiah 8:6),” “Gihon.”
As stated, the Gihon is Jerusalem’s most ancient water supply. Without the Gihon there would have been no Jebusite city for David to conquer. Jerusalem today would likely not exist without this spring.
The location of the Gihon Spring is just east from the Ophel, which joins the ancient city of David. Again, this is one-third mile from the traditional Temple Mount. Knowing that the Gihon is the only major water source in Jerusalem, does it make sense that Israel would have built their temple a third of a mile away from their only water source on the traditional Temple Mount?
Ancient Witnesses to Temple Location
History speaks of 70 Jewish families who relocated from Tiberius to Jerusalem in the 7th century CE. Tiberius is located in northern Israel along the Sea of Galilee. Reuvin Hammer, in his book Jerusalem Anthology, describes this relocation: “Omar decreed that seventy households should come. They agreed to that. After that he asked: ‘Where do you wish to live within the city?’ They replied, ‘In the southern section of the city, which is the market of the Jews.’ Their request was to enable them to be near the site of the Temple and its gates, as well as to the water of Shiloah, which could be used for immersion.
This was granted them by Omar, the Emir of the Believers.” Omar was the companion of Mohammed and the second caliph or Islamic leader within Islam.
Several important points need to be made here. These Jewish families insisted on the southern section of the city, near the Pool of Siloam. There is only one section of Jerusalem that is in the southern portion and contains the Pool of Siloam and that is the ancient city of David.
According to these Jewish families, this was also the area where the temple once stood. This is hard evidence for the temple location within the city of David and not on the traditional Temple Mount.
This author also states that the water from the Pool of Siloam could be used for immersions, which would have included ceremonial washings. What was the water source for the Pool of Siloam? This was the Gihon Spring.
In our expedition to Israel several in the group walked through the Gihon Spring channel underneath the City of David to the Pool of Siloam.
The fact that water from the Gihon could be used for ceremonial purposes verifies that not all water was equal. It also adds credence to the importance of the Gihon for temple worship. Again this begs the question why the Jews would have built their temple a third of a mile from their only water source. Such an idea seems completely preposterous.
A Gushing Spring
The smoking gun for the temple as it relates to the Gihon Spring is eyewitness testimony of a spring-like reservoir within the temple precincts. Two men provide evidence for this.
The first eyewitness to confirm this fact is a man named Aristeas, a Jew who lived during the 2nd or 3rd century BCE. Eusebius, the 4th century church historian, records his account.
“There is an inexhaustible reservoir of water, as would be expected from an abundant spring gushing up naturally from within; there being moreover wonderful and indescribable cisterns underground, of five furlongs, according to their showing, all around the foundation of the Temple, and countless pipes from them, so that the streams on every side met together. And all these have been fastened with lead at the bottom of the side-walls, and over these has been spread a great quantity of plaster, all having been carefully wrought,” Eusebius’ recording of Aristeas, chapter 38.
Aristeas was an eyewitness to the temple location from the 2nd or 3rd century BCE. It’s important to realize that this was not Herold’s temple, but the temple of Ezra and Nehemiah. Aristeas said that there was an “inexhaustible reservoir of water, as would be expected from an abundant spring gushing up naturally from within.”
The only spring within Jerusalem is the Gihon. If what this eyewitness said is true, the only possible location for the Temple would be within the City of David and above the Gihon Spring.
Again, these facts present a real problem for those who claim that the temple was on the traditional Temple Mount. The only way to reconcile these accounts is to relocate the temple from the traditional Temple Mount to the Ophel, near the Gihon Spring.
The Temple Institute was founded in 1987. The Institute is dedicated to every aspect of the Torah commandment to build the Holy Temple of God on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. It has been actively engaged in the research and preparation of the resumption of service in the Holy temple to the extent of actually preparing operational blueprints for the construction of the temple.
However, would not another temple, with all the attendant animal sacrifices required, be a blasphemy in light of the “Ultimate Sacrifice” which has already been given through Jesus Christ on the cross?
By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. – Hebrews 10:10
Based on man’s rebellious nature, it is not surprising to see the frantic effort to rebuild another temporal, earthly temple in Jerusalem. This is in direct opposition to what Scripture clearly teaches us about how Yeshua came to transform us.
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
1 Corinthians 3:16
Why would the Most High God revert to inhabiting wood and stone after making a flesh and blood appearance? As noted, the prophet Daniel says this is a move that we should expect of an unrepentant Israel still awaiting their Messiah. While the Bible does prophesy that there will be a temple restoration before His return to rapture the saints. It is short lived, as we know that a Satan empowered antiChrist will enthrone himself as God in the temple, mid point through the last seven years.
“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel – let the reader understand – let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Matthew 24: 15-16
At Christs return to earth with the saints, and before the beginning of Christ’s Millennial Reign, Satan will be bound and Hell sealed over for 1000 years.
“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.”
Revelation 20:1-3
It is during this time that there will be complete and total “temple restoration” of the Body of Christ who will enjoy the kingly rule of Yeshua Himself upon His Second Coming.
After 6000 years of fallen mankind, we will enjoy a 1000 year Shabbat with the Lord of the Sabbath.
Note, Jesus expects Christians to be around during the Tribulation and for the Great Tribulation, but as He promised, not during the period when God’s wrath is poured out on the earth during the Trumpet and Bowl judgements.
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 