‘Former Palestinian Terrorist Wants To See The Holy Temple Built’

Model of ‘Second Temple’ by Daniel Ventura

In its newsletter today, the Temple Institute had the following:

Astonishing! Former Palestinian Terrorist Wants To See The Holy Temple Built – “A House Of Prayer For All Nations” In an interview with media personality Avri Gilad, former Palestinian terrorist Mohamed Masad tells a dumbfounded Gilad that G-d brought the Jewish people from all over the world back to the land of Israel, that this is G-d’s will and no one can stop it. G-d has done this so that the Jews will build the Holy Temple and bring peace to the world!

While God has allowed many Jewish people to return to the land of Israel to fulfill prophecies, no, it is not God’s plan that the Jews are there to build what is called the ‘third temple’ to “bring peace to the world.”

There are various prophecies, such as three in the Book of Daniel that tell of a time when Jewish animal sacrifices will be stopped by a European that Daniel refers to as the King of the North (Daniel 11:40):

27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. (Daniel 9:27)

31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. (Daniel 11:31)

11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Daniel 12:11)

For those sacrifices to be stopped in our age, they first must be started.

As far as God’s “Holy Temple” goes, which is a term that the Palestinian Mohamed Masad also used, since Jesus’ resurrection, this is not something that the Jews can build. In this era, the collective of the true Christian church is the temple of God (see Why is a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem Not Required?).

Now, let me point out that the Temple Institute believes that it must clear the Temple Mount of Islamic structures in order to build its temple:

When will the reconstruction of the Holy Temple Commence?

There are two approaches to answering this question.

One approach is based on the geo-political dynamics of the Temple Mount, and the other approach is based on the desire of the nation of Israel and her fellow nations to rebuild the Holy Temple.

Geo-politically, the Temple Mount has to be cleared of the Dome of the Rock and the mosques which are presently located upon it before the physical rebuilding of the Holy Temple can begin. Many scenarios can be imagined which would accomplish this, the most promising, and not necessarily the most far-fetched, would entail Moslem recognition of the Mount as the intended location for the rebuilt Temple. With the acquiescence of the Moslem world the Moslem structures currently on the Mount would be disassembled and reassembled elsewhere. (http://www.templeinstitute.org/frequently-asked-questions.htm viewed 11/10/13)

Of course, the Muslims are not interested in getting their famous Dome of the Rock and their mosques removed–putting in such a temple would bring war, not peace. That is part of why I have long understood that the Jews would be willing to resume animal sacrifices without the rebuilding of a full Jewish Temple–and that is consistent with the Bible (Ezra 3:6) as well as the position of certain Jewish leaders, such as those in the reconstituted Sanhedrin (see Why is a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem Not Required?) and even some at the Temple Institute.

Notice something that the late Pastor General of the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, wrote about this:

God made a prophecy in the third chapter of Malachy…Continuing, “…shall suddenly come to His temple…” What kind of temple is He coming to? Are the Jews going to tear down the Dome of the Rock and build a new temple? Oh, no!… A holy temple! Christ is coming to His church! Christ is coming to His temple! Do we see that? The church is the temple. “…in whom ye are also builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Armstrong, Herbert W. Congress of Leading Ministers Hears Defined and Reemphasized Spiritual Organization of Church. Worldwide News, March 6, 1981, p. 10)

“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles [New Testament] and prophets [Old Testament], Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy TEMPLE in the Lord” (verses 20-21). So God reveals here that the Church is: 1) the HOUSEHOLD or begotten FAMILY of God; 2) a building—a HOLY TEMPLE—fitly joined together—that is, well organized (and, of course, on GOD’S pattern). As a building—the HOLY TEMPLE to which Christ will come—it is built on a FIRM FOUNDATION: the apostles, chosen by Christ, and the prophets. …

There has been much perplexity and discussion as to when the temple will be built to which Christ shall come. Malachi’s prophecy speaks of Christ’s second coming to His temple (Malachi 3:1-6). In Haggai’s prophecy it is referred to prophetically. Zerubbabel has been sent as governor of a colony to build the second temple 70 years after the destruction of Solomon’s temple. He built the temple to which Jesus came, though it had been enlarged and embellished by the Roman Herod. But speaking of this temple, as a type and forerunner of the temple to which Christ shall come at His second coming , it is written, “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the ‘ Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:9).

It is inconceivable that the Israelis, in the present international turmoil over their possession of old Jerusalem, could ever demolish the Arab Moslem Dome of the Rock – now on the site of Solomon’s temple-and build a new one there of greater splendor and glory than Solomon’s! However, as the second temple Zerubbabel was building was a typical forerunner of the temple to which Christ shall come, even so Zerubbabel was the typical forerunner of one Christ would use in building the far more glorious temple to, which Christ shall come in His GLORY!

Zechariah 4:9 : “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it . . .. ” And as Zerubbabel’s hands did finish that second temple, so shall the one Christ uses in building the temple to which He shall come in His GLORY!

And the Church of God of the present day shall be a “building fitly framed together [and growing] unto an holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:21). (Armstrong HW. 7 Proofs of God’s True Church, Part 6. Plain Truth. August, 1979, p. 38)

Many of us are being tried and tested as NEVER BEFORE–and for our own good! But, verse 11, “from the time the daily sacrifice shall be taken away ….Consider this a moment. This does NOT imply a material temple to be built in our time in Jerusalem. It does seem to imply the Israelis may restore the daily (twice daily) sacrifice–possibly at the wailing wall. (Armstrong HW. The Time We Are In, Now. Pastor General’s Report-Vol 1, No. 15, November 20, 1979, Page 2)

Let me also add here that the old Church of God, the group that changed its name to Church of God (Seventh-Day) in the 20th century, published the following in the 19th century:

What is the ‘holy place’? I understand it to be the Church, which is called the temple. Turn to 1st Cor. 3:16, 17. (Watkins J. The Midnight Cry. Hope of Israel, October 28, 1863)

So, a published Church of God position in the 1800s was that the ‘holy place’ and the temple was the Christian church.

Here is what Jesus stated:

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) (Matthew 24:15)

In that verse, Jesus says that we should look at Daniel. Jesus also taught that the one who reads this passage needs to understand something—perhaps Jesus’ comment itself suggests that the apparent idea that “a physical Jewish temple may be required” may not be correct?

Carefully, notice that no temple of any kind is specifically mentioned in this passage. Bible literalists should realize that perhaps a future Jewish, physical temple is not being referred to by Jesus here, but that Jesus is referring to either the area the temple was originally built at or to something else in the city of Jerusalem.

Thus, it seems improper to teach that Jesus is specifically teaching that a third Jewish temple will be rebuilt as there is no scripture in the entire New Testament that shows that He specifically taught that.

Although several Jewish groups want a massive temple to be built, and some hope the current religiously-inclined government in Israel will support that building. Let me add that representatives of the ‘Reconstituted Sanhedrin and Temple Institute have directly told me that all that they need to resume animal sacrifices is an altar. And they have had one for years–the Reconstituted Sanhedrin specifically performed a ceremony on December 10, 2018 to dedicate a new altar for the use of daily sacrifices (for more information, watch: Sanhedrin makes burnt offering to dedicate altar!).

It should pointed out that the Bible itself specifically shows that sacrifices were made in the time of Ezra BEFORE the second temple was ready:

6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid. (Ezra 3:6)

Thus, Jews know that they can perform animal sacrifices without a rebuilt Temple. And that is what the main groups behind doing so have told me.

That said, perhaps it should be mentioned that stones from the second temple were believed to be moved to build what seems to have been the first Christian church building in Jerusalem (see Church of God on Jerusalem’s Western Hill). While this building might relate to one that the Man of Sin of 2 Thessalonians 2 may end up in, it would not yet seem to be a place that animal sacrifices would begin in–especially since the Temple Institute and the Sanherdin have another location in mind. That being said, because of traditions that this building is above the tomb of David and the ark of the covenant (many discount that, but others agree, see also Church of God on Jerusalem’s Western Hill), if additional archaeological evidence surfaces to support this (or some other location related to David, the ark of the covenant, or the temple), groups like the Temple Institute may change their location ideas.

Anyway, here is a photo I took in October 2013 of some of the original bricks of the Church of God on Jerusalem’s Western Hill:

None of those bricks are expected to be used by the Jews to build a temple before Jesus returns.

Despite the views of many that a massive third temple in Jerusalem has to be built before the start of the Great Tribulation/Apocalypse, the reality is that the Jews do not need a temple to be rebuilt before Jesus returns.

All that being said, the Bible does show that there will be daily sacrifices again in Jerusalem and that they will one day be stopped (Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11) and that they can be done without a temple (Ezra 3:6).

Tearing down the Dome of the Rock will not bring real peace (though a temporary peace deal will come per Daniel 9:26-27). While the Jews can build structures in this age, they cannot build God’s Holy Temple.

Yet, since sacrifices will be resumed, the Jews will use an altar and likely put up a tent or an actual structure to do so. No massive third temple is needed for the sacrifices or for prophecies for this age to be fulfilled.

But the stopping of animal sacrifices scripturally must occur.

UPDATE 02/26/23: We just uploaded the following related video:

14:39

Palestinian Calls for Jewish Temple

In an interview with media personality Avri Gilad, a former Palestinian terrorist named Mohamed Masad said that God brought the Jewish people from all over the world back to the land of Israel, so that the Jews will build the Holy Temple and bring peace to the world. Is that God’s plan? Do most Muslims agree? The Temple Institute wants to disassemble the Dome of the Rock and the Muslim mosques on the ‘Temple Mount’ and move them elsewhere in order to build a “third Jewish Temple.” What is an end-time prophetic role for Jews? Do Jewish leaders from the Temple Institute and the Reconstituted Sanhedrin believe that daily sacrifices can be implemented without the need to construct a massive Jewish Temple? What did they tell Dr. Thiel about that? What does the Bible say about that? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel go over these matters.