According to a popular and most obvious interpretation of a prophecy known as “Daniel’s 70 Weeks”, found in Daniel chapter 9, a third Jewish temple must be built exactly on the site of the previous two before the return of Jesus Christ. However, a highly revered Islamic holy site controlled by Jordanian officials is in its place. Will the temple be rebuilt? In present circumstances it seems impossible.

The entire Islamic world would be vehemently and violently opposed to this happening, and the Israeli government and certainly the leftist political scene in Europe and America has no intention of allowing such a thing. This is not necessarily an obstacle. God is able to go around or through any force or eventuality, and if he has really said there will be a temple, there will be a temple.

Don’t call me a heretic-yet-but I have wondered, given the seeming impossibility, whether there will actually be a third temple built before or during the Tribulation. Yes, several trusted Bible versions, such as ESV, NKJV and NASB tell us Paul said that Antichrist will be revealed by sitting in the temple (2 Thessalonians 2:4). In slight contrast the NIV says that Antichrist “sets himself up in God’s temple”. It seems as clear as can be that there must be a third temple. Talk of a metaphorical temple, in the hearts of nominal believers, doesn’t fit with the references to it. Paul declared it to be an unmistakeable sign to be “seen”, not a vague metaphorical idea.

AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW

However, all the above versions quote Jesus, in his “Olivet Discourse”, as saying not that Antichrist will be in the temple, but “standing in the holy place” (Matthew 24:15). Today, Even though there is no temple on the temple mount, Jews will not tread just anywhere on the temple mount (even if they’re allowed up there) for fear of accidentally standing on the spot of “the holy place”, in case just standing on that spot even by mistake will be an offense to God. Could it be that Paul, when he said Antichrist will sit in the temple, overstated the prophecy, or that his words were wrongly recorded? Will Antichrist simply ascend the temple mount as it is now, and knowingly stand on that special spot to stake his claim, without having need of a holy of holies, or even a temple?

In Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks the NKJV, NASB and the ESV versions do not mention the temple! Instead they cryptically say that “… on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate” (Daniel 9:27b).

WHAT ABOUT THE SACRIFICE?

But isn’t the daily sacrifice put to an end by Antichrist? It will, or has it perhaps already been put to an end by “the prince who will come” (Daniel). There is and can be no sacrifice today offered on the temple mount without the Islamic world going berzerk. Could the prince referred to there in Daniel ultimately be Satan? In this case, he’s already put an end to sacrifice, in 70 AD with the help of Rome, since the crucifixion of Jesus negated the need for any more sacrifice. There is a view that the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week has already taken place. All that remains to happpen is the time of Jacob’s Trouble, a period of three and a half years.

So what of Paul’s words to the Thessalonians where he used the word “temple”? Indeed. And what of John’s mention of the temple in Revelation chapter 11″? That one (John’s) certainly could be a metaphorical reference, but it seems, according to Paul, that there has to be a third temple. Even so I can’t help wondering. We know that some Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in the past were not clear to many or to anyone until after the fact.People expected one thing to happen, but something else happened which fulfilled the prophecy in a more profound way. The words “The Lord will suddenly come to his temple” come to mind here. In prophecy God wants to demonstrate that He knows the end from the beginning.

In any case, the possibility of the building of a temple is really not greatly significant to the timing of last days events. Trump arranged for the building of an American embassy in Jerusalem, and had it done all in very short time, against the will of most of the world: an indicator of how quickly a temple could be erected on the temple mount if the decision is made. New political arrangements or even a war could make the building of a third temple much more acceptable and straightforward.

MY THOUGHTS

If a new temple is built it will go up quickly. If not really needed, all that remains is for that man-Antichrist-to ascend the present-day slope to the temple mount, and to stand there claiming to be God or to be speaking for God. At that point, we will be three and half years from the return of the King.

• BIBLE PROPHECY
• OPINION