Many of those who study end times prophecy are convinced that a third Jewish temple will be constructed in Jerusalem. These views received a boost recently by past comments made Pete Hegseth, America’s new Secretary of Defense, Charisma News reports.
According to Israel365 News, Hegseth, a born-again Christian, threw his support behind a third temple during a presentation in 2018 at the Arutz Sheva conference in Jerusalem.
“1917 was a miracle, 1948 was a miracle, 1967 was a miracle, 2017, the Declaration of Jerusalem as the capital was a miracle,” Hegseth said. “And there’s no reason why the miracle of the reestablishment of the Temple on the Temple Mount is not possible.”
A year later, Hegseth repeated his position when he visited the Temple Mount with Rabbi Chaim Richman. At the time, Richman was the International Director of the Temple Institute, an organization dedicated to the construction of a third Temple.
“Muslim leaders and groups deny the temple of the Bible? Why deny history? Worse, why destroy history?” said Hegseth during the visit. “Because if you deny (and destroy) Jewish claims to the Temple and the old city of Jerusalem, you can justify denying Jews further influence in the city. By denying the Temple, you deny the State of Israel.”
As James Lasher points out in his article for Charisma News, Hegseth’s appointment to Donald Trump’s cabinet, “places him in a position of unprecedented influence.”
But there are major obstacles hindering such a construction.
The Current Status of the Temple Mount
At this point, the Temple Mount is controlled by the Muslims through the Jordanian Waqf. There are presently two Muslim buildings on the site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s second oldest mosque. It also has the Dome of the Rock which is said to be Islam’s oldest religious structure. Some believe it was built on the site of the second Jewish Temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
But the Jews have a historical claim to the Temple Mount that precedes Islam’s by over 1500 years. The first Jewish Temple was constructed on the Temple Mount, called Mount Zion, around 950 BC. The oldest Islamic building on the site, the Dome of the Rock, was only built in 690 AD.
At this point, Muslims strongly oppose any efforts to build a Jewish Temple on the site. Nonetheless, there is certainly room for a Jewish Temple on the site.
The Third Jewish Temple in End Times Prophecy
But many point to End Times prophecy that suggest a third Jewish Temple will be built before Jesus’ returns. From a Christian perspective, one of the most convincing of these is found in the Book of Revelation..
In his vision of the end times, the apostle John was commanded to “measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it” (Revelation 11:2 NASV).
Since the temple had been destroyed about 20 year’s earlier, many believe this refers to a third, yet unbuilt, temple.
John’s command is akin to one given the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 41:13. The temple that Ezekiel measured was massive, much larger than the previous two Jewish temples, suggesting these are also the dimensions of an unbuilt third temple
While this is certainly a possibility. John does throw a wrinkle into this discussion. In his Gospel, he points to an incident where Jesus insinuates that His body is the temple of God.
“Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and yet You will raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking about the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.” (John 2:20-22 NASV)
In turn, the New Testament writers referred to the church as both the Body of Christ (Romans 12:5) and God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, I Peter 2:5).
If this is the case, then we need to ask if John was speaking of a spiritual temple or physical one in the book of Revelation?
And, we can’t forget the day that Jesus cursed the temple!
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