Volume 19, Issue 1 _________________________________Bible Prophecy Ministry


The Temple Mount Dilemma. . .Page 2



     It was Caesar Augustus who confirmed Herod as the "King of the Jews". Herod, in attemping to endear himself to the Israeli people began an extensive task of refurbishing the Temple of Zerrubabel. He more than doubled the size of the Temple, but then he had placed over the eastern gate an emblem of a golden Roman eagle, which in essence symbolized the point that the King of the Jews was a subordinate of that other high God; Rome's Caesar.

      It was this magnificent structure of Herod and of Caesar that Jesus referred to in Matthew 24 that was prophesied to be destroyed.

      Shortly after the death of Jesus, the Roman emperor Caligula ordered that a statue of his image be placed within the Holy of Holies of Israel's Temple. This act led to the revolt by the Jews in 66 AD that culminated with the total destruction of Jerusalem and its fabled temple in 70 AD by the Roman general Titus.

      This act of placing a pagan statue in the Holy of Holies of the Jewish Temple has been a practice of anti-Messiahs throughout Israeli history.

      Prior to the Roman conquest of the Holy Land; the Jews rose up in revolt against the Syrian dictator Antiochus Epiphanes, after he had erected a shrine to Jupiter in Israel's temple and sacrificed a sow on the altar. This occurred in 175 BC.

      The Maccabean family became the rulers in Israel after this period, even assuming the High Priest role; but soon an internal civil war erupted with one side appealing to the rising Roman power in the west to arbitrate the war. This request would set the stage for the Herodian subjection to Rome during Jesus lifetime. It was Aristobolus I who established the precedent of taking upon himself the title of "King of the Jews". In truth Herod and all the Hasmonean Kings obtained their positions from their political whoredom with Caesar.

      In essence then, Herod's temple was an attempt by Satan to usurp Jesus legitimate right to reign in the Holy Temple. Remember Jesus answering his accusers with the statement, "Destroy this Temple", and in 3 days I will make it rise again? Jesus, of course would never have consented to abiding in a defiled temple built by the filthy, corrupt puppet of Rome. The Jews of course could not grasp the meaning of Jesus words with regards to the temple. Jesus was referring to the reality that He himself was in fact the one for whom Israel's temple was built in the first place, and that He was the temple!

      I can hear the mockers screaming, He thinks he is the King of the Jews; a claim that Herod prostituted the nation of Israel in order to steal for himself under the power of Rome! Jesus confronted not only the puppet Herod, but also the world superpower of Rome, and the Satanic power of Lucifer which was behind both, and he won!

      Upon hearing that Herod desired to kill him, listen to what Jesus said in response:

      Luke 13:32 And he said unto them, Go tell that "old" fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow and the third day I shall be perfected.

      I wonder if Jesus took an opinion poll before he responded:

      But then in verse 35, Jesus announces to Israel, the house that you have built for me shall be left unto you desolate, and shall remain desolate until the time will come when you learn to say, "Blessed is he who shall come in the name of the Lord!

      John 5:43 relates that many Anti-Christs will come in their own names, with Satan lurking right behind.

      The Herodian Temple was completely destroyed by fire on the ninth day of the Jewsish month of Av, in 70AD, exactly the same day that Nebuchadnezzar also destroyed the temple of Solomon 656 years prior.

      The Roman soldiers literally took each and every block of stone off the top of each, to get to the melted gold that had seeped down in between the temple stones. On the Mount of Olives; 38 years before, Jesus had said this would occur just as it did. ( Matt. 24:2 )

      Upon the ruins of Jerusalem, Rome built a new city dedicated to the God of Rome, naming the new city, "Aelia Capitolina"; or the world capitol in honor of Jupiter Capitolinus, with a temple erected on Mount Moriah to the God Jupiter.

      Acts 19:35 portrays Jupiter as that great image that fell from Heaven, and was co-deified with the great female goddess of Diana. Acts 14:13 records the fact that priests of Jupiter made sacrifices unto Jupiter.

      In fact, Jupiter was the Roman name of the Greek God Zeus, the supposed "Father of the Gods"; which in reality was really Lucifer. Afterall, it is Lucifer who is the bandleader of the Fallen Gods! So, in essence, it was an image of the Devil himself erected within Israel's temple by Antiochus, Herod, and Rome. The future Antichrist will go one step farther!

      Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the Holy Place:

      II Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

      There has not been a Jewish Temple existant upon old Mount Moriah since the days Israel rejected its true king. The gate to Moriah remains shut. Israel still flirts with a power like Rome!

      Hosea 3:4-5 indicated that Israel would be subject to endure many days without its Temple or a King. That length of days has now progressed into nearly 2000 years. But as expressed in verse five of Hosea chapter 3; after that timespan, the Lord shall return unto them in the latter days.

      A prerequisite for this eventuality has always been, first, a return to the land, and 2nd, a return to God. Israel has returned unto the land, but they have not turned unto the Lord.

      Ever since the New Testament assertion that man can now be the dwelling place of God, Israel became absolutely desolate of a housing place for their God. Acts 7:48 indicates that although God agreed to dwell among his people in a temple, he now insists upon dwelling within his people.

      I Corinthians 3:16 states: Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? I Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

      Each believer in Jesus, is a stone, a living stone in the dwelling place of God. Jesus himself is the chief cornerstone upon whom the whole house is built.

      When Jesus submitted himself to the old rugged cross on that other mountain outside of the Old City, he laid a sure and firm foundation for the institution that was born on the inside of believers, and also on the inside of the Old City back on Mount Moriah which came to be called the Church!

      It was on Mount Moriah, on the Day of Pentecost, that the Church was born. Here, where Israel built a house for God, God built a house for man! It is this very same vicinity that is today prohibited to both Jew and Christian alike, by Muslim authorities.

      On June 6th, 1967; Israel regained possesion of the Temple Mount area and the "Old City" of Jerusalem. On June 17th, IDF General Moshe Dayan entered the Al-Aksa mosque on the south side of Mount Moriah and consented to permit the Supreme Muslim Waqf clerics to retain official control of the Temple Mount plaza, which includes the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque.

      Observant Jews, led by Rabbi Shlomo Goren, tried to establish a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount, but was obstructed by unforseen powers.

      The Chief Rabbinate of Jews lobbied to have access to the Temple Mount be denied to Jews because of the fear that unclean Jews may tread upon the site where the ancient Holy of Holies once stood. It was hoped that Archaelogists might evaluate the area to pinpoint the area for the future construction of a third temple.

      Also, the political powers of Israel were not willing to unnecessarily provoke the Muslim countries, so the mount has been off limits to Jews as a result ever since.

Continued page 3. . .


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