Israel’s election is 14 days away (April 9th, 2019) and Moshe Feiglin just might be the “Kingmaker”!. Why is this important in Bible Prophecy? Because Moshe Feiglin is an advocate to rebuild the Jewish Temple.  To understand this dynamic, we need to review the background of the Temple Mount site. The Temple Mount is the permanent site,chosen by God, where the Jewish Temple is located.

Background To The Issue

The First Temple was first built by King Solomon (David’s son) about 960 BC, it was destroyed by Babylon in 587 BC. According to the Bible this is the only location the Jews are allowed to build a Temple. King David purchased this site as instructed by God from Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:18). Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the armies of Babylon, after God judged the idolatry of Judah (Jeremiah 7). Most of the inhabitants of Jerusalem died in the siege, but a remnant survived. The remnant was taken to Babylon. Their descendants would return and remake the nation as proclaimed by Jeremiah.

When Cyrus the Great defeated Babylon in 539 BC, he allowed the Jews to return and rebuild the Temple. This became known as the Second Temple, it was completed in 516 BC, seventy years after the First Temple was destroyed. Herod's Temple is part of the Second Temple, he just modified it to his own building standards.  During Second Temple period, God spoke through prophets to Israel until the prophet Malachi. The other prophets and books of the Bible that came out of this period include Zechariah, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, I and II Chronicles and Ezra. Overtime the Romans conquered Judah, making it a vassal kingdom, Herod was the installed king under Roman authority.

When the Jews rebelled against Rome in A.D. 70, the Romans destroyed both the Temple and Jerusalem. According to Josephus, a captured Jewish general and an eyewitness, over one million Jews were killed by the armies of Rome. The surviving Jews were scattered throughout the Roman empire and the Temple Mount site was abandoned. Then 50-years later the Jews again rebelled against Rome during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 76-138). He crushed the rebellion and another 500,000 Jews were slaughtered by Rome. Hadrian renamed the land Palestine in honor of the Philistines, the enemies of the Jews. Over time the pagan Roman empire became the Christian Byzantine Empire.  The Temple Mount was in-fact used as garbage dump during some part of this period.

The Armies of Islam

Most Jews were out of the land of Palestine, scattered some lived in North Africa, in Europe, Asia and Arabia. In A.D. 571 Muhammad was born, at the age of 40 he proclaimed himself a prophet, a new religion known as Islam was born. The city used as the base of this faith, Medina, was founded by three Jewish tribes. Under Jihad, the doctrine of submission through war, Muhammad conquered the surrounding tribes unifying them under the banner of Islam. He died in AD 632, but the expansion of Islam continued under his successors (Caliphs). In AD 637, Muslims took control of the land of Israel,they defeated Byzantium. Then 685 they built the Dome of the Rock on the ancient site of the Solomon's First and Second Temple site.  Except for the short "Crusader Period" the Muslims had continuous control of the site. The site has long been viewed as a confirmation of Islam being the final "true" religion on earth. The Dome of the Rock, the gold domed building was built to show the world that Islam had succeeded Judaism and Christianity as the religion of God. Muhammad claimed to ascend to Heaven from the top of Mt. Moriah, God Himself confirming the religion of Islam. This remained the case and was not really an issue for over 1300-years as long as Islamic nations controlled the Temple Mount site. This was about to change.

The Beginning of Conflict

During the First World War, the Great War, Britain promised if they defeated the Ottoman Empire, they would allow for the creation Jewish and Arab states in the land of Palestine.This was known as the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in a letter addressed to Walter Rothschild, Alfred Balfour, British Foreign Secretary, declared his intent of creating a Jewish homeland out of the Ottoman lands. After the Allies won, the creation of a Jewish state was not an easy task, even though other Arab nations were founded out of the Ottoman remains, countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, a Jewish state would not be so simple. Arabs resisted dividing up Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state. They rebelled against any such idea. So as a result, Britain did not force the issue, but kept control of Palestine for the time being, lest things swing out of control.

This changed after World War II, the conflict became uncontrollable for Britain, after the League of Nations voted for the creation of a Jewish State, Britain washed their hands on the situation. On the date slated for the Jewish State creation, May 14, 1948, Britain would leave and the new state of  "Israel" would have to fend for itself. Jews and Arabs battled the next day, each trying to gain land and control of Jerusalem. This battle over Jerusalem would continue in the years to come.  Jerusalem the Holy City was the main prize, included with Jerusalem was the Temple Mount site now occupied by Islam's "Third Most Holy" site the Dome of the Rock.

 Israel Gets Control of the Temple Mount

On June 10th,1967, war broke out again (The Six Day War) this time Israel took military control of the Temple Mount, this was the first time in over 2000-years the Jews had control of the site. The Romans came on the scene in the time of General Pompey in 63 BC. From 63 BC to 1967 AD, the Temple Mount site was under the authority of foreign powers. Now the Jews finally had control of the site, Israel restrained its authority. As the result of extreme international political pressure, Israel ceded control and management of the site to Muslim authority. However, Israel refused relinquish Jewish sovereignty. Recently Israel has begun to take a more active role in allowing Jews and others to visit the site causing Muslim anger. Jews, both religious and secular see the Temple Mount as part of their national and spiritual heritage. With Jerusalem's Temple Mount as the prize, political parties within Israel have competing views of this this hot potato.

Political Parties and the Third Temple

First, the Liberal parties, parties left of center think the Temple Mount is not that important, they are willing to negotiate authority and control for peace. Some Orthodox parties also believe it up to the Messiah to rebuild the Temple and Israel possession of the Temple Mount is un-biblical, other Orthodox parties disagree.  Conservative and nationalist parties such as Likud, believe the Temple Mount is part of the national and spiritual heritage of the Jewish people and they refuse to negotiate the sovereignty of the site. They also refuse to build a Third Temple lest the world turn against the nation. On the minority are the parties that want to build the Third Temple, such Habayit Hayehudi and Zehut headed by Naptali Bennet and Moshe Feiglin respectfully.

The Likud Party, the controlling party conservative party headed by Netanyahu has always maintained the position to keep Jewish sovereignty of the Temple Mount site, however they refuse to go to the next step and construct a Third Temple. World political opinion is just too risky, from their point of view. There is no political will to move forward on the issue. This is where Moshe Feiglin enters the stage, he was of part of Likud under Netanyahu, but his extreme position of rebuilding the Third Temple put him at odds with leadership. Therefore, he left Likud and founded his own party, Zehut, since Israel is has a "Parliamentarian" system the ruling government needs to have a majority of the 120 Knesset seats to rule. Since the nation is so divided, each Knneset seat matters and Zehut is polling high, projected to take 7 seats at last count, this would force Natanyahu to cede power to Moshe Feiglin’s party to join the government. One of the main issues of Zehut is the building of the Third Temple, the party also is for the legalization of Cannabis giving them support from younger voters. For those familiar with Bible prophecy, this moves us closer to the apocalyptic event foretold in scripture.

The Third Temple

The Third Temple is a major marker of the “End Times” (Matthew 24:15, Revelation 13, Daniel 9:24-27), according to Bible Prophecy (70 Weeks of Daniel) the Antichrist will sign an agreement with Israel allowing them to build the Third Temple. The time is closer than most people realize, when you want to know the time, you don't look at your shoes you look at a watch. The Third Temple is one of the main markers in God's prophetic clock, you need to keep your eyes on the clock of Bible Prophecy. Jesus said to “Watch” (Matthew 25:13) so you are not taken by surprise. If you watch the progress of events regarding the Third Temple you would now the time is near, Jesus links the “End of the Age” with the Third Temple.

Jesus and the Third Temple

Jesus proclaimed the Third Temple will be built in the last days in Matthew 24:14-15! What? Where do you get that you might say?  Let look at these verses.

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 in Matthew 24:2 identifies the destruction of the Second Temple which occurred in AD 70. The disciples were marveling at the building and Jesus told them it is all coming down even to the last stone. That is exactly what happened as General Titus and his armies assaulted Jerusalem, the Arch of Titus in Rome captures the images of this event. The disciples then want to know what the event what the signs of your coming and the “End of the Age”. Jesus is standing there right in front of them, what do they mean by “Your coming”? Jesus has told them he is going to die and be rejected, they are asking about the “Second Coming”.

Mat 24:3 (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, then beings to explain to them the series of events to follow leading up to his “Glorious” return in Matthew 24:30. When he returns he is coming with the angles of heaven in power and Great glory….not a little glory, but great glory. What leads up to this event? Here are 10 identified events prior to the Glorious return.

1. Many will come in my name (Matthew 24:5)

2. Many will be deceived (Matthew 24:5)

3. Hear of wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6)

4. Nation will rise against nation, Kingdom against kingdom (Matthew 24:7)

5.  Famines, Pestilences and Earthquakes

6. Deliver you up to tribulation and kill you (Matthew 24:9)

7. Hated by all nations for the name of Jesus (Matthew 24:9)

8. Hate one another and be offended (Matthew 24:10)

9. False prophets will arise and deceive many (Matthew 24:11)

10. Lawlessness and coldness for one another (Matthew 24:12)

Jesus however singles out two specific events leading to his coming that we need to watch for mentioned earlier. Jesus in Matthew 24:14, clearly refers to the Gospel of the Kingdom reaching the “Whole world” and then the End will come.  Jesus then links a very well know event to the end that requires the Third Temple to be built.

Jesus says to watch for the Abomination of Desolation spoken by Daniel standing in the Holy Place. The first Abomination of Desolation happened 200-years before Jesus when Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid Greek ruler installed an image of Zeus in the Second Temple and sacrificed a pig on the altar(1 Maccabees 1:54). This act was known as the Abomination of Desolation in Jewish history. When the Jews defeated the Greeks and took the Temple back, the feast of Hanukah was the result.

Jesus is referring to a future Abomination of Desolation in the End Times, because he links it to the spreading of the Gospel, he says... “So when you see” the Abomination of Desolation. Jesus is talking about a future event, not the event 200-years before him. He is talking about the event described in Daniel, so to understand it you need to look at Daniel. Four times Daniel refers to the Abomination of Desolation, each reference requires the existence of a Jewish Temple, since Jewish sacrifice can only take place at the Temple.

1. Daniel 8:10-15
2. Daniel 9:24-27
3. Daniel 11:31
4. Daniel 12:11-12

For the Abomination of Desolation to take in the future requires a Third Temple, so if you want to know where we are watch for the Third Temple.