2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

 

 

Does Bible Prophecy Require a Third Temple to Be Built?

 

The Bible talks about sacrifices resuming in Jerusalem, but does this mean a temple must be built there for end-time prophecy to be fulfilled? Many believe so, but what does the Bible say?

 

Isaac Khalil - LifeHope&Truth

For years, the Temple Institute in Jerusalem has been preparing the implements and materials needed for a third temple.

In 2015 they completed an altar needed to restart sacrifices and performed a reenactment of the Passover sacrifice. In 2017 they performed a sacrifice near the Temple Mount, a controversial act that resulted in some being arrested.

In 2018 they were given permission to perform a reenactment of the Passover sacrifice at the foot of the Temple Mount.

This week the Temple Institute overcame a major hurdle in their plans to build a third temple. It was something most people would not expect: cows. 

Why were red heifers sent to Jerusalem?

The Temple Institute made the news when five red heifers were flown to Israel from Texas to meet the requirements for resuming temple sacrifices. These five unblemished red heifers (a heifer is a young female cow that has not yet calved) were supplied by a Christian group in Texas. 

The requirement comes from Numbers 19:2-10, where God commanded a sacrifice of this special heifer whose ashes would be used for “the water of purification,” necessary to purify the priests before they could offer sacrifices. 

A red angus cow. The red heifers sent to Israel from Texas were of this breed.

[Saints See: Rabbi says there is no red heifer suited for ceremony of third temple in Israel - According to Rabbi Ariel, a prominent figure associated with the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, the quest for a ritually pure red heifer, a key element in Jewish tradition tied to the purification rites described in the Book of Numbers, remains unfulfilled.
In a statement that has sparked discussion across religious and cultural spheres, Rabbi Ariel declared, “At this moment, we do not have a red heifer suited for the ceremony,” highlighting the ongoing challenges in meeting the stringent biblical requirements for this rare animal.]

In times past, obtaining an unblemished red heifer was difficult. As a cow ages, hairs may turn white or black causing the animal to be rejected by the rabbis as blemished. 

Here’s the irony of the red heifers being provided by a Christian group:

For the Jews, the red heifers are for the purification of the priests so they can offer sacrifices in a future temple to prepare for what they believe will be the first coming of the Messiah. 

But some Christian groups believe that the third temple must be built so it can be occupied by the “man of sin,” based on their reading of 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

So, by providing the red heifers to the Jews, they seek to speed up end-time events. Ironically, the fulfillment they wish to hasten will be largely destructive to the Jews and the world. 

Though the Temple Institute represents a radical fringe group in Israeli society, many evangelical Christians support their efforts because they believe the building of a third temple is necessary to fulfill prophecy. (Both groups seem to conveniently ignore that their respective views of the end times and coming of the Messiah are diametrically at odds.)

But does Bible prophecy require a temple to be built as a sign of Christ’s return? What does the Bible say about the third temple? 

Will daily sacrifices be resumed in Jerusalem? 

After the collapse of Alexander the Great’s empire, his kingdom split into four smaller empires under his generals (Daniel 8:8). A ruler named Antiochus Epiphanes rose to power in the Seleucid Empire. He ruled over the Jews and outlawed worship of the true God. He stopped the daily sacrifices and offered unclean sacrifices to pagan gods instead (Daniel 8:11-12, 13; 11:31). This event is discussed in our article “Abomination of Desolation.”

If the “daily sacrifices” are going to be stopped in the future, that means they must first be resumed! Jesus prophesied that this historical event would also have a future fulfillment. In the end times, a despotic ruler (“king of the North”) would stop the “daily sacrifices” again.

We know from Daniel that these events will occur at “the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9) and that “from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days” (verse 11)—indicating a countdown to Jesus Christ’s return.

If the “daily sacrifices” are going to be stopped in the future, that means they must first be resumed! This is why the actions of the Temple Institute and their emboldened plans to resume sacrifices are interesting.

Must a third temple be rebuilt?

After the destruction of Solomon’s temple, the Jews were subjected to 70 years of captivity in Babylon (Daniel 9:2; Jeremiah 29:10). Afterward, God began the process of returning them to their homeland to rebuild.

Under Ezra’s guidance, a group of Jews returned to Jerusalem and resumed sacrifices to God. These sacrifices were performed before work had even begun on the second temple (Ezra 3:1-2, 3-4, 5-6).

This shows that only an altar is necessary for sacrifices to be offered. A temple is not a requirement.  

So why do some believe a temple must be built in Jerusalem in the end times before Jesus Christ returns?

Does Ezekiel’s temple describe a rebuilt temple in this age? 

In Ezekiel 40-48 we read about a vision of a future temple. The vision is recorded after the destruction of the first temple and before the construction of the second temple.

The second temple was not a fulfillment of this vision because it did not have the physical features described by Ezekiel. So, some connect this with the prophecy of the sacrifices being stopped and conclude that there will be a temple built in Jerusalem before Christ’s return.

But, as we have seen, the sacrifices don’t require a temple. When you study the description of Ezekiel’s temple, it becomes clear that this is a structure that will be built after Jesus returns. Here are some reasons:

These prophecies clearly describe a temple to be built during the millennial reign of Christ on earth—not a temple built by human beings in this age.

Will the “man of sin” actually occupy a third Jewish temple? 

Does the prophecy about the “man of sin” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4  require a third temple to be built in Jerusalem? Many do see this scripture as an indication that a temple must be built in Jerusalem before Christ returns. 

However, though it could possibly be fulfilled by a physical temple, there is another more likely way this scripture could be fulfilled. 

The New Testament identifies the true Church of God, composed of believers who have God’s Holy Spirit, as the spiritual temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16).

In 2 Thessalonians 2:4 Paul described things that the man of sin will claim are true, but are actually false. For instance, he claims to sit “as God,” though he is not God.

Matthew 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

 

So, the reference to the “temple of God” could be another false claim he will make—that  the church he leads is the true “temple of God.” However, the church he will lead will be a counterfeit of the true temple of God—the faithful Church Jesus built in the first century. 

Interestingly, many people have noted that the Roman Catholic Church has historically claimed to be the one true universal church and the Kingdom of God on earth.

To learn more, read “Church History: Constantine, an Emperor Who Defied God” and “How to Spot a Counterfeit Church.”

 

Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits.

[Saints, See: Pope Urban II orders first Crusade - On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II makes perhaps the most influential speech of the Middle Ages, giving rise to the Crusades by calling all Christians in Europe to war against Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land, with a cry of “Deus vult!” or “God wills it!”

Born Odo of Lagery, Urban was a protege of the great reformer Pope Gregory VII. Like Gregory, he made internal reform his main focus, railing against simony (the selling of church offices) and other clerical abuses prevalent during the Middle Ages. Urban showed himself to be an adept and powerful cleric, and when he was elected pope in 1088, he applied his statecraft to weakening support for his rivals, notably Clement III.]

By the end of the 11th century, the Holy Land—the area now commonly referred to as the Middle East—had become a point of conflict for European Christians. Since the 6th century, Christians frequently made pilgrimages to the birthplace of their religion, but when the Seljuk Turks took control of Jerusalem, Christians were barred from the Holy City. When the Turks then threatened to invade the Byzantine Empire and take Constantinople, Byzantine Emperor Alexius I made a special appeal to Urban for help. This was not the first appeal of its kind, but it came at an important time for Urban. Wanting to reinforce the power of the papacy, Urban seized the opportunity to unite Christian Europe under him as he fought to take back the Holy Land from the Turks.]

[Saints, See: The Papacy and the Crusade, 1400–1600 - In October, 1394, Pope Boniface ix issued a bull proclaiming a new crusade against the Ottoman Turks, whose emir, Bayezid i, had led raids into Bulgaria and Hungary the previous year.1 Two years later, an allied force of French, Ger-man, Hungarian, and Burgundian troops met the Ottoman army in battle below the Bulgarian fortress of Nicopolis. Although a fleet of Venetian and Genoese ships had sailed up the Danube to lend support, land and naval forces were unable to join up and the crusader army was left dangerously exposed. Thou-sands of Christian soldiers were killed in the fighting, while the Turks captured hundreds more and held them for ransom.
The Crusade of Nicopolis has been called the last crusade of the Middle Ages, both because of the magnitude of the defeat and because—as many his-torians see it—it was the last time a pan-European land force ventured east to confront an Islamic adversary.2 And yet, as the fifteenth century dawned, Catholic Europe’s long history of conflict with the Islamic world was hardly over. Over the next two centuries, Latin Christian and Ottoman Turkish forces would clash repeatedly on both land and sea. Large crusader armies like the one that perished at Nicopolis were rarely mustered, and few Christian soldiers confronted Turkish troops in pitched battle.]

[Saints, See: The Cathar Crusade: Part I - The papacy versus the preachers - The Cathar Crusade, a crusade against non-violent followers of a different form of Christianity, lasted from 1209 to 1229, and resulted in the conquest of the Toulouse region by the French king, the establishment of papal domination over the Christian church in Europe and the creation of the Papal Inquisition, basically the first secret police.]

Why did the Albigensian Crusades Happen? - Medieval History

 

John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight,

It can be easy to assume a physical temple must exist for the sacrifices, but we need to be careful not to force conclusions into Scripture when other options are certainly viable.

Does Bible prophecy require a third temple in this age?

Some prophecy students erroneously believe a third temple must be built in Jerusalem for end-time prophecy to be fulfilled. 

But it’s important for our readers to understand that the building of a third temple in Jerusalem before Christ’s return is not necessarily a definite prophetic sign to watch for.

What is essential is the reinstitution of sacrifices in Jerusalem—which requires only an altar, not a completed temple.

Continue watching Jerusalem and Europe. Watch for continued efforts to reinstate sacrifices in Jerusalem and for the rise of a religious and political power in Europe that will eventually end those future sacrifices. (Saints, Jesus ended those sacrifices when he offered up himself on the cross!
Galatians 1:7 but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

Hebrews 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

John 1:29 Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

 

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This is the Third Temple || Walter Veith

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Inquisition update by Tom Friess: "The third temple deception"

 

Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

 

Need More Evidence That A Third Temple is Coming? Watch This!!!

Saints, I post a short clip of this video to show how deceived Evangelical Christians are concerning the need for a Third Temple.

 

Trump’s Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: Miracles in Israel & Hope for the Third Temple

 

Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

Revelation 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.