(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.)
King David and the Threshing Floor– “But the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying You have shed much blood and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to My name…” (1Ch 22:8)
King David ordered a census to be taken against God’s desires. So, Jehovah sent a plague upon Israel for three days that killed many Israelis. The plague was halted by God at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. To honor Jehovah for stopping the plague, David bought the threshing floor and built an altar there.
Later, David desired to build a Temple for his God Jehovah, but God said no, a man who shed much human blood would not be allowed to build the temple. Instead, your son Solomon will be the one to build my Temple. But God did allow David to make preparations for the building. So, in his later days King David prepared much material and identified the sight for the Temple as the threshing floor of Araunah which was situated above Jerusalem. King David also organized all the workers, Priests, and other officials as needed.
King Solomon and the 1st Temple– “Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest… For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.” (1Ch 22:9-10)
King Solomon began the building of the 1st Jewish Temple ~1004 BC over the threshing floor of Araunah, and completed it 7 years later. It is important to note that the threshing floor required a flat surface of bedrock around 10-40 ft square near the top of a very steep hill; Mt Moriah. Also, to accommodate the large number of worshipers and priestly activities around the temple, a flat surface approx. 900 ft square, called the Temple Mount, was constructed. Finally, a large imposing wall was built around the area, with a gate at center of each wall. There were two types of walls constructed: retaining walls (like the Western “Wailing” Wall) and defensive walls (like the Northern Wall). This temple stood for over 400 years until 586 BC when Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.
King Cyrus and the 2nd Temple– “So says Cyrus king of Persia: Jehovah, the God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:2)
Sheshbazzar, Prince of Judah, was given charge by King Cyrus of Persia to rebuild the Temple and the destroyed city of Jerusalem 70 years after the 1st Temple was destroyed. It took seven years to rebuild and many who had seen Solomon’s 1st Temple were dismayed for the former glory was not duplicated. Later King Herod, who ruled during the time of young Jesus, expanded the Temple Mount and refurbished the Temple and the surrounding buildings.
Destruction of the 2nd Temple– “And now the Romans, judging that it was in vain to spare what was round about the holy house, burnt all those places, as also the remains of the cloisters, and the gates, two excepted: the one on the east side and the one on the south.” (Josephus, The Wars of the Jews)
In AD70, the future Roman Emperor, Titus, captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple and all the buildings associated with it. Now, over the centuries the exact location of the Temple and the Holy of Holies has been lost.
New 3rd Temple – “And he [the anti-Christ] shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and offering to cease, and on a corner of the altar desolating abominations, even until the end.” (Dan 9:27)
There are many references, both historical writings and archeological findings, that point to 2 main proposed locations for the rebuilt Temple: under the Dome of the Rock or under the Dome of the Spirits, which lies about 200ft north and west of the Dome of the Rock. Mr. Widner’s position is that the ‘Holy of Holies’ is under the Dome of the Spirits for the following reasons:
The bedrock under the Dome of the Spirits has all the characteristics of a Bronze Age Threshing Floor. No where else on the Temple Mount does.
The whole Temple Mount of about 30 acres is aligned using the Dome of the Spirits bedrock as “the Cornerstone”.
The Temple Mount area encompassing the East/North/West walls, equidistant from the Dome of the Spirits is sufficient to house the required Temple outer court dimensions.
Mr. Widner believes the Golden Gate along the eastern wall is the original gate built for the 1st Temple, by King Solomon.
The eastern Golden Gate is in perfect alignment with the Dome of the Spirits and the northern wall of the Temple Mount. It is not aligned with the Dome of the Rock.
The Eastern Gate is the gate Jesus entered the Temple on Palm Sunday and is prophesied to be the gate Jesus enters into the Temple upon His second return.
It is biblically difficult to determine if the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt before or during the 7-year Tribulation. The Bible says that the anti-Christ will make a 7-year treaty with Israel in the latter days allowing sacrificial services, only to break it 42 months later. Remember in Islam, warring leaders are allowed to make a “Hudna” treaty with non-Islamic peoples up to 10 years long but only as a deception to further territorial gains. So, look for a treaty to be negotiated between Israel and its Islamic neighbors, one that allows Israel to restart the old animal sacrifices.
There is also another possibility instead of a rebuilt Temple, that is to build and set up a tent, or tabernacle on the Temple Mount, to the specifications given Moses in Exodus chapters 35-38. This would allow the Dome of the Rock to remain and not be as obvious or permanent as a rebuilt Temple.
But no matter when or what is built, preparations for the sacrificial instruments, priests, animals, and ceremonies have been going on for several years now and will continue and be visible to all the world. There are many YouTube shows on these preparations going on now. Included are interesting updates on the Red Heifers. Either way, watch for major movements on the Temple Mount.
What Must We Do?
America in Trouble – In my opinion, America is in very deep trouble. From a Biblical point of view America doesn’t exist in the end-times. What happens? I can see several possibilities:
Mystery Babylon – Revelation 18 speaks of a great power that exists towards the end of civilization but is destroyed in a single day. The US fits all the items listed, so this may be our end.
CME/EMP – Modern cultures are so dependent upon electricity and our electronic devices that if a solar Coronal Mass Ejection or man-made Electro Magnetic Pulse occurs all our home electricity, travel, communications, supply chain, and electronic financial transactions will be halted, throwing us into the dark ages.
Fade Away – As the older generations die off, we are left with DEI-educated young adults that really know only a woke/liberal imaginary world. Yes, our conservative-trained children may be homeschooled and attend church or synagogue, but they are a precious few compared to the hordes coming out of the universities and service academies. The leaders of the future are just itching to become untethered from the past ‘mistakes’ that us older people have left them with. America will soon reach a tipping point where the woke have enough control to take over all institutions, then we are “toast”.
Merge into EU – A new Roman Empire will arise during end-times and it is possible we will merge or be closely tied to that new empire, especially if we lose our superpower status.
Rapture – 63% of Americans still claim to be Christians (Wikipedia), so if only half of these are true Christians that is still 30% of American citizens disappearing just as all these above Trends converge into a perfect storm of trouble.
Get Right with God
In my opinion, we are now entering Biblical times and events. There may be no worldly preparations that we can do to protect us from what is soon coming. Therefore, we need to prepare for our eternal peace and security.
“No one comes to the Son except first the Father draws them.” (Jn 6:44)
The word “draw” here is describing the creation of a vacuum, similar to drawing on a straw. Nature abhors a vacuum, so something must replace what was removed. In this Biblical context, God will remove our worldly attempts (drugs, sex, entertainment, etc.) to satisfy our needs and wants until we finally look up and cry ‘uncle’. These are definitely ‘drawing’ times. So much has happened in just 10 years that it is almost unfathomable: A pandemic that stopped the world, a European war that is about ready to break out of Ukraine into all of Europe, an Israeli war that threatens its very existence, and a cabal of Americans that are bent on not allowing the former President to run for re-election. It is obvious to me that all our preps will not save us for what is coming. So, we need to admit that we cannot save ourselves. I am not saying that we should not continue our preps, for we are always encouraged to plan and prepare for our families, right up to the time of our death. But there is a prep that transcends all our other activities: where we will end up after our time on earth is over.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.” (Jn 14:6)
Jesus says that he is ‘The Way,’ there are no other alternatives. Even our Jewish friends will eventually recognize that they missed the first coming of their Messiah.
Jesus says that he is ‘The Truth.’ We are inundated with dis/mis/mal information so much now that it is hard to know what is truth. He says that his truth can be found primarily through the Bible, prayer, and like-minded community.
Jesus says that no one gets to Heaven except ‘Through Him.’ That path was created when He died on the cross as penalty for all the world’s sins. When He was buried for three days to signify the destruction of his earthly body. And when He arose from the grave on the third day in a resurrected body to show the hope of everlasting life if we follow the same path. But it is not just a path of death, burial, and resurrection, but that we do each step ‘Through Him’.
So, we first admit that we are sinners headed for destruction. Second, we admit we cannot save ourselves and that we therefore need a savior. And finally, we ask Jesus to be our savior and come into our heart and make us a new person.
When we follow these steps we give our sins to Him, we spiritually die to this world through Him, we turn away (repent) from our sinful nature through Him, and we receive a second birth with a renewed soul and spirit. We are Born Again. We also get an added bonus because the Holy Spirit is now given an avenue into our new spirit, showing us the way we should live our lives.
“I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you shall have tribulation, but take heart. I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33)
Born-again Christians are not perfect while living on this earth. We will continue to make mistakes. We will continue to sin and we will continue to have hardships as we go through life. But now we have two advocates for us to help guide our path to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness. To encourage us to make amends for the wrongs we do and to keep us from the evil that is soon upon us. Take heart, do not fear, the battle is not ours to win, for we are not alone.