Dear John & Doves,I had made a brief comment in my 10/8 post called TEMPLE INSTITUTE WEBSITE REDONE at http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/oct2004/donnad108-6.htm about the Antichrist helping the Jews to build the Third Temple, and someone e-mailed me asking me the scriptual basis for that. Well, there is no Bible verse that I can think of that says that the Antichrist will help the Jews build the Third Temple, and I am sorry that I didn't make it clear in my post that it was a thought that came to mind when I saw the words of Isaiah 56:7 under a picture of the Third Temple which say, "For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."
However, someone else e-mailed me an article which I received Sunday morning, and inside of that article was a link to an article called"FERVENT MASONIC DESIRE TO REBUILD SOLOMON'S TEMPLE IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE EVENTS OF THE MID-EAST TODAY. ONCE COMPLETED, END TIMES' PROPHECY WILL BE FULFILLED!at http://cuttingedge.org/news/n1643.cfm I am pretty sure that I have read this article before, and here is a quote below from it."Now, can you appreciate the ruling handed down a few years ago by the Orthodox Jewish leadership that "only Messiah can build the Temple"? When the Masonic Christ shall come, then shall be fulfilled Waite's quote, "the Lord shall build the House"!"
So let me explain it this way. We know from 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 that the man of sin, the son of perdition "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." This means that the temple will have to be built in order for the son of perdition to sit inside of it and declare himself to be God before the second coming of the Lord to earth. We also know that that Lord Jesus will not be returning to planet earth until his second coming which is depicted in Zechariah 14:4 when his feet shall stand on the mount of Olives. The reason we know why that the Lord Jesus is not returning to earth until that time is because according to Matthew 24:21-28 Jesus tells his disciples that during the time of great tribulation that "if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there: believe it not.. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; in so much that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." The Lord Jesus does not even return down to the earth to get his believers at what we call the Rapture because he meets them in the air according to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. So the Lord Jesus cannot be returning to build the third temple for the Jewish people since he will not be planting his feet on planet earth until his second coming.
However, according to Amos 9:11-12, the Lord said, "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this." Jeremiah 23:5-6 also says, "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Zechariah 6:12-13 says, "And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of this place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." So if the Orthodox Jews believe that the Lord or the Messiah is to build the temple in Jerusalem and it is built before the second coming of the Lord to the earth, then they would have to believe that the Lord or the Messiah built the temple which would fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament when in reality the Antichrist or son of perdition built it who sits in it and who declares himself to be God before the second coming of the real Lord Jesus Christ to the earth. So while there is no Bible verse that says that the Antichrist will build or help to build the third temple, you can see the logic of why he might do so, and why the Orthodox Jews would mistakenly believe that the Messiah or the Lord had built the temple.
God bless,
Donna