Why there needs to be a Third Temple[1]?

This was the question asked recently:

“What is your support for the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in the tribulation I don't think there is one going to rebuild that temple.?”

 First point to understand here is that the Scripture clearly teaches, before the “Second Coming” when Jesus returns in “Glory and Power” there will be a Third Temple on the Temple Mount site. 

Let’s look at the scriptural and prophetic evidence for a Third Temple.   In Matthew 24, Jesus talks about both the 2^nd and 3^rd Temples, he makes a distinction between both. The Second Temple existed in the time Jesus

walked the streets of Jerusalem with his disciples. This Temple was completed in 516 BC, but was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.  The Muslim Dome of the Rock now sits where the First and Second Temple were located.

  When Jesus was with his disciples, they were at the 2^nd Temple site, the disciples admired the building pointing out the majestic buildings.  Jesus responded, warning them of the 2^nd Temple’s impending destruction. Jesus said, “there will not be left here one stone upon another”.

Mat 24:1-3

(1)  Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

(2)  But he answered them, "You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."

(3)  As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

Jesus and his disciples walked across the Kidron valley to the Mt. Olives which overlooks the Temple site, they asked him privately about the end. They said,

What is the sign of “Your coming and the “End of the Age”?

Jesus’ reply links the 3^rd Temple as a sign of his “Second” coming in his answer.  Let’s look at Jesus’ reply to this question.  First, Jesus was with his disciples, they were right there on the Mount of Olives, so this is not talking about his first coming.  He was there, in front of them, they wanted to know the “Sign of your coming” this means its talking about the Second Coming.  The disciples also understood the Second Coming was the End of the Age, they linked his coming with the end of the Age.  The word “age” is translated from the Greek word “Aion” meaning the current age.  When Adam and Eve sinned, humanity fell, the Messiah (Christ) was coming to restore humanity (Genesis 3:15). We are living in a fallen age, it’s the end of this fallen age they are referring to.

Jesus then begins to explain the disciples, what will happen after AD 70, he told them in verse 2, how the 2^nd Temple would be destroyed, “not one stone upon another that will not be thrown down”. This was fulfilled when the Romans armies burned the 2^nd Temple in AD 70, then they threw down all the stones from the Temple Mount in their hunt for melted gold between the walls.  Jesus said after this, events would occur, these events trace the progress of Christianity from the time of Jesus till the end of the age.

The Abomination of Desolation and the Third Temple

These events, wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes and false messiahs were all leading up to the end between[2] His First Coming and His Second Coming, and he makes that point in the following verses Matthew 24:14-15.  In Verse 14, Jesus says the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and “then the end will come”.  Jesus Second Coming is timed according to the Gospel going out, he says THEN the end will COME. 

In verse 15, he links the Third Temple with his Second Coming, after he refers to the end.  Jesus tells us a very specific event will occur before His Second Coming, it’s called the Abomination of Desolation[3].  Most non-Jews who read the Gospels are not familiar with this event but it is a part of Jewish history.  Jesus is talking to people who know Jewish history, this event occurred 200-years before his birth.

1 Maccabees 1:57 "Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and built idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side;"  

1 Maccabees 6:7 "Also that they had pulled down the abomination, which he had set up upon the altar in Jerusalem, and that they had compassed about the sanctuary with high walls, as before, and his city Bethsura.

The Abomination of Desolation occurred when Antiochus Epiphanes (215-164 BC) the Greek Seleucid ruler who tried to force the whole of Israel into the Greek pagan religion, he killed Jews who resisted and set up an idol of Zeus in the Jewish Temple. This event is known as the Abomination of Desolation, and recorded in 1^st Maccabees.   Jews understood what Jesus was talking about, the event occurred during the 2^nd Temple period.  Jesus in Matthew 24:15, refers to a future Abomination of Desolation recorded in the Book of Daniel, this event will require a Third Temple, because the Second was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, as recorded on the Arch of Titus in Rome.

Jesus links the “Gospel of the Kingdom” going out into the whole world as a testimony to all nations, before the END.  Notice then he says in verse 15, so when you see, The Abomination of Desolation spoken by Daniel standing in the Holy Place.  The Holy place is Mount Moriah, designated by God as the location of the Temple Solomon was to build, The First Temple. This is also the location of the Second Temple and will be the location of the Third Temple.

Mat 24:14-15

(14)  And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

(15)  "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

Jesus then tells us specific events will occur that coincides with the Abomination of Desolation, and incredible destruction so great, that it was never equaled in history and never to be equaled again. It’s such a horrific event that, unless God intervenes with the Second Coming, “No flesh would even be saved” this is telling us very clearly the Second Coming and the Third Temple are linked.  This unparalleled event is also noted in Daniel 12:1 and Jeremiah 30:6-8, the event is unequaled in human history. 

Mat 24:16-22

(16)  then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

(17)  Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house,

(18)  and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.

(19)  And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!

(20)  Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

(21)  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

(22)  And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Therefore to conclude, there must be a Third Temple in place, in order for the events described by Jesus in Matthew 24 to take place.

Websites to explore to learn more about the coming Third Temple:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/198621

https://www.templeinstitute.org/

http://www.templemount.org/

http://www.templemountfaithful.org/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Temple-Institute/22738684968