The beginning of the seven year Tribulation period is marked by a seven year peace plan for Israel, with the surrounding Arab nations and the right to rebuild their temple on the existing Temple Mount. For many years, we have wondered how this would ever be possible with the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, already occupying this space.

The Temple Mount. B Represents the Al-Aqsa Mosque, A Where the Third
Temple will be built, just after the Seven Year Tribulation Begins

In the Book of Revelation, John is instructed to measure the Temple that will exist during the seven year Tribulation. He is told to “leave out the court which is outside the temple.” The reason? It has been “given to the Gentiles.”

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. Revelation 11:2

John is told that for the next 42 months the Gentiles will “tread the holy city underfoot.” How could the rebuilding of the Temple be possible, given the current strong opposition by Palestinians to any Jewish occupation of the Temple Mount?

Just prior to the beginning of the Feast of Rosh Hashanah this past Sunday, September 13, Israeli police chased a group of Palestinian youth to the Temple Mount. These young men were believed to be carrying pipe bombs and storing other explosive material at the Muslim mosque. For years, Palestinian leaders have encouraged these young men to harass Jewish worshippers who come to the Temple Mount to pray during Jewish Feast Days. After the incident with Israeli police and the Palestinian youth, there were great objections from Jordan and the Palestinian authority in Israel.

An article from the Jerusalem Post on September 16, Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas stated that any occupation by the Jews, on their Muslim holy site, would not be permitted.

“Al-Aksa is ours and so is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet. We won’t allow them to do so and we will do whatever we can to defend Jerusalem.”

Abbas said that the Palestinians would not allow any Israeli “scheme” to divide the Aksa Mosque compound.

“There will be no Palestinian state without Jerusalem, We are in Jerusalem and we will stay in it to defend our Islamic and Christian holy sites. We’re not going to leave our country.”

The prophecies of Daniel chapter 9, are very specific to Israel and the Jews. God has determined seventy-weeks for the nation, in order to accomplish His final plans for the salvation of all those in Israel who will believe in the Messiah that God has already sent to them.

Daniel’s Prophecy Of 70 Weeks, Begins With A “Command,” For Israel

Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times. —Daniel 9:25

Daniel’s prophecy is fulfilled on the day that Jesus enters Jerusalem

And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest! —Matthew 21:8-9

In Daniel 9:25, the Lord is giving Israel the precise day that the Messiah will come to Jerusalem. First, a command will be given. Then “seven weeks” and “sixty two weeks…until the Messiah the Prince will come.”

• In the first seven weeks (49 years), the Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem.
• In the second sixty-two weeks (434 years), the Messiah will arrive.

The trigger for the countdown of this prophecy is the command to restore and build Jerusalem. A detailed discussion on the seventy weeks is explored in Prophecy 307.

The purpose of this prophecy from Daniel chapter 9, verse 25, is to understand the complete details of the angel Gabriel’s words to Daniel, in comparison with the actual events of history.

This section of Daniel’s prophecy, describes a total of 69 times 7 years, or a total of 483 years. Encyclopedia Britannica records that Artaxerxes Longimanus issued the command to release the captives of Israel in Babylon, on March 14, 445 B.C.[1]

The Babylonian calendar was based upon a 360 days per year cycle. 360 days per year times 483 years, equals 173,880 days. Taking into account the calendar year change over from 1 B.C. To 1 A.D. because there is no “0” year. Adding 116 days for leap years.

483 X 360 days = 173,880

173,880 days plus 116 years for leap years, added to March 14, 445 B.C. We come to the date of April 6th, the year 32 A.D.

How We Know The Command Came In 445 B.C?

The reign of Artaxerxes I (Longimanus) is computed from 465 B.C., according to the history of the Persians.[2] Xerxes I, was murdered by Artabanus the commander of the royal bodyguard of the king. He was the most powerful of the officials in the court of the Persian king. With the help of Aspamitres, a eunuch, Artabanus assassinated Xerxes I, bringing Artaxerxes Longimanus to the throne in 465 B.C.[3]

According to Nehemiah 2:1, Artaxerxes wrote the command for the Jews to return to Jerusalem in the 20th year of his reign.

And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. —Nehemiah 2:1

Computing 20 years from Artaxerxes ascension to the throne in 465 B.C., we come to 445 B.C.

Hebrew months were not calculated in the same way that our current calendar months are determined. The first day of a Hebrew calendar month begins immediately following a new moon (when no moon is visible).

The way in which the first day of the month was determined in Israel during their ancient history was by observation. When at least two witnesses noticed that a new moon had occurred, they would notify the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem. Upon verification of the beginning of the new moon, the leaders of Israel would declare the “rosh chodesh,” the first of the month. Messengers would then be dispatched over the land to notify the people that the new month had began.[4]

In the year 445 B.C., the new moon occurred on the 13th day of March at 7:09 a.m.[5] This would place the 1st day of April, the Hebrew month of Nissan, on March 14, 445 B.C. This was also the day that the Passover Lamb was offered.

Ezra and Nehemiah traveled together from Babylon, back to Jerusalem after Artaxerxes issued to command to return and rebuild the city. We know from Ezra’s account that they left Babylon on the first day of the first month, which is Nissan 1, or our calendar, the 14th of March, 445 B.C. Ezra says that he arrived back in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, Av by the Jewish calendar.

On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. —Ezra 7:9

This verifies from the secular, historical, record and the Bible, that the date of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, from Artaxerxes, was in fact issued on March 14, 445, B.C.

According to Nehemiah 6:15, the walls of Jerusalem were completed after just 52 days on the 25th day of September. Counting backwards for 52 days, we come to the 3rd of Av. This confirms that Nehemiah would have arrived with Ezra on Av 1, according to Nehemiah 2:11.

So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days. —Nehemiah 2:11

From the historical records of the Persians, the Jews, and the Hebrew scriptures, we can accurately compute the date of Artaxerxes command to return to Jerusalem as March 14, 445 B.C.

The Jews who had been held captive in Babylon for 70 years, were allowed by Artaxerxes command, to return to Jerusalem and begin building the city. This is the object of the first seven weeks, or 49 years of Daniel’s prophecy, which was precisely fulfilled according to the Book of Nehemiah, Chapters 3-6.

United Nations Resolution; 2178 And The Seven Year Peace Plan

During the beginning of 70th week of Daniel, the Temple must be built. We know that this is true, because Daniel describes the antichrist bringing to an end, the sacrifices and offering that have begun once again at this new Temple

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

U.N Resolution 2178, signed in 2014, is not specific to Israel, nor does it grant the nation a firm peace treaty for seven years. The antichrist cannot appear on the scene until this specific agreement is signed, nor can the Jews receive permission to rebuild their third temple on the Temple Mount, until this covenant is signed.

The temple must be built during the beginning of the first year, as it takes three years to complete.

At the 3 1/2 year mark of the seven year Tribulation, according to Jesus in Matthew 24:15, and 2 Thessalonians 2:3, the antichrist will enter the Holy Place and command the world to worship him as God. This is the “Abomination of Desolation.” This event begins the last 3 1/2 year, called “The Great Tribulation,” marked by the Book of Revelation, chapter 6, verse 3, the opening of the second seal.

This resolution that is asserted as the seven year covenant of Daniel, began a year ago, yet the Temple still has not been started.

For this reason, resolution 2178, cannot be the “covenant” that is described by Daniel 9.

When The Prophetic Time Clock Of The Last Days Began

From the day that Israel became a nation once again, the prophetic time clock began a countdown to the return of the Messiah. Until the Jews were back in their own land, the temple could not be rebuilt and there could be no sacrifices offered. Until there were sacrifices offered in the temple, the antichrist could not make his entrance into history.

Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica and described the coming of the antichrist, during a time when Israel will build the third temple. We know that this is true because this new world ruler will enter the newly built temple and sit in the Holy of Holies—proclaiming that He is God and commanding the world to worship Him.

…the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. —1 Thessalonians 2:3-4

This act will take place at the mid-way point of the seven year tribulation period. Jesus and Daniel called this moment; “The Abomination of Desolation.”[6] It is this specific event that begins the 21 separate judgments described in the Book of Revelation, chapter 6, verse 3, through chapter 19.

The Third Temple Will Be Built In Three Years

It is interesting that when the seven year peace plan is signed by Israel and the surrounding Arab nations at the beginning of the seven year Tribulation, the antichrist will allow Israel to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem on the original site. This entire construction project will take just 3 years. We know this because at 3 1/2 years, the antichrist will go into the new temple and command the world that they should worship him as their God. This will begin the 21 judgements in which nearly two-thirds of the people of earth will die.

The Second Temple Also Took Just Three Years To Build

The 70 year period of Judah’s captivity is broken down into three specific parts. First, Israel began their servitude of the King of Babylon. Next the captivity took place. Finally, the desolations of the nation as the temple is destroyed.

• The Servitude of Israel: In 605 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, took the city of Jerusalem captive.[7]
• The Captivity of Israel: In 598 B.C., 11,000 young men were taken captive to Babylon.[8]
• The Desolations of Israel: In 589 B.C., Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar in his 19th year. The King of Babylon dispatches troops to burn the second temple on August 7th.

The “Servitude” began in 605 B.C., and ended in 536 B.C., after 70 years. This was the date that Cyrus gave the command to rebuild the second temple at Jerusalem.

The “Captivity” began in 598 B.C., and ended in 536 B.C., after 70 years, seven years after the Servitude began.

The “Desolations” began in 589 B.C., and ended in 520 B.C. According to the word of the Lord (Jeremiah 25), seventy years were determined for Israel. Therefore, when Cyrus made his command to rebuild the temple in 536 B.C, there were still 17 more years remaining to complete the 70 years God required. The word of God is more powerful than the words of even the greatest king of the world…

According to Haggai 2:18-19, on December 17, 520 B.C., the foundation to the temple was laid. The original command came by Cyrus 17 years before in 536 B.C. Although the words of a Persian king were considered the words of a living god and could not be ignored or changed once he spoke them, it took 17 years before the foundation of the temple was actually laid in Jerusalem. This is because God had determined that the Temple could not begin until the 70 years of the “Desolations of Israel” were concluded (see the chart in Prophecy 309). The “Desolations” began in 589 B.C, and 70 years later, ended on December 17, 520 B.C. (See the charts above for a graphic illustration of this point)

Consider now from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (December*), from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid—consider it: Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you.’ ” —Haggai 2:18

*April is the first month in the Hebrew calendar, the ninth month is December.

It was after Nebuchadnezzar took Judah captive and destroyed the temple, the nation began The “Desolations of Israel.” This period described by God, ended on December 17, 520 B.C. According to Haggai 2:18-19—seven days later on the 24th day of the 9th month (December), of the 2nd year of Darius the King of Persia, the Temple Foundation was Laid.[9]

Just Three Years Later The Second Temple Was Finished In 517 B.C.

When the antichrist orchestrates the signing of a seven-year peace plan between Israel and the surrounding nations, the rebuilding of the third temple will be a great priority. The Temple will be completed in just 3 years, just as the second temple was built so quickly from 517 to 520 B.C. At the three and one half-year mark of the newly built temple, the antichrist will command the world to worship him as God. Jesus warned the Jews living in Jerusalem that during the time of this event—which is called by Jesus and the prophet Daniel: the “abomination of desolation” —they should flee Jerusalem to the mountains.

Therefore when you see the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. —Matthew 24:15-22

The “Great Tribulation” is distinguished by the last three and one half years of the seven-year Tribulation. The events described by the Book of Revelation Chapters 6:3-chapter 18, will occur during this brief period of time. Jesus said that unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

The elect, describes the Jews who will be living in Jerusalem during the time of the seven-year Tribulation. The Lord will supernaturally deliver those who flee Jerusalem from the grasp of the antichrist, as they make their way into the mountains.

… let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…

Many of those who study these events believe that the place of refuge from where the Lord will protect Israel during the final three and one half years of the Great Tribulation will be the rock city of Petra in the present-day nation of Jordan. Through all of the conflicts that have occurred between Israel and the Palestinians, Jordan has consistently stayed out of these conflicts and has remained neutral.

There is an interesting statement by Daniel in chapter 11 of his prophecies: When the antichrist returns to the glorious Land (Israel), he will overthrow all the nations in his path, except one: Jordan which contains Edom, Moab, and Ammon—the ancient cities of Jordan where the fortress of Petra is located.

He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon (cities inside the nation of Jordan). —Daniel 11:41

There is an obscure verse of scripture located in Isaiah in which the Lord requests that the nation of Jordan, specifically Moab, near the location of Petra—that they would be a shelter to His outcasts until the devastation of the spoiler is at an end.

Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab; Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler. For the extortioner is at an end, Devastation ceases, The oppressors are consumed out of the land. —Isaiah 16:4

When the Jews living in Jerusalem see the abomination of desolation occur, they will flee to Petra, where the Lord will shelter His outcasts for the final 1,260 days of the Great Tribulation. During this time, the 21 horrible judgments of the wrath of the Lamb will be poured out on the inhabitants of the earth. Seven Seals, Seven Trumpets, and Seven Bowl-judgements will grow in intensity and severity, until two-thirds of the people who dwell on the earth at that time will perish.

The Book of Revelation gives us a striking description of the antichrist’s response to the mass exodus of the Jews from Jerusalem to Petra. The language of this section of the scripture is very colorful and almost poetic in its description of how God will supernaturally protect the Jews who obey Jesus’ instructions to flee Jerusalem.

Then the woman (Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. —Revelation 12:6

Now when the dragon (satan) saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman (Israel) who gave birth to the male Child (the Messiah). 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle (protection by God), that she might fly into the wilderness (Petra) to her place, where she is nourished for a time (1 year) and times (two years) and half a time (1/2 year), from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood (a great army) after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. —Revelation 12:13-16

Time, times, and a half time, are defined by the book of Daniel as years. A time is 1 year, times—two years, half time—one-half of a year.[10]

It will be during these three and one-half years, as God supernaturally delivers the Jews who are fleeing Jerusalem for Petra, that their eyes will be opened and they will understand that Jesus is their long-awaited Messiah.

At the end of the seven years, the final 1,260 days or “time, times and half time,” as they are variously described in the prophecies of the last days, Jesus will return to the earth with His church at the Mount of Olives. He will fight and destroy the antichrist and his waiting armies who are assembled at the Valley of Megiddo. The beast (antichrist) and the false prophet will be cast into the Lake of fire.

Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. —Revelation 19:20

Jesus will begin His one thousand-year reign—promised to David’s Son, the Messiah. All of the Jews who come out of the Great Tribulation, as they are sheltered by God at Petra, who have received Jesus as their Messiah, will be permitted to enter the one-thousand year kingdom. Then will come to pass the scripture that says: And all Israel will be saved.

And so all Israel will be saved… —Romans 11:26

Israel will once again have a King ruling from Jerusalem and a brand new Temple built by the Messiah.

The second temple must be rebuilt when Messiah comes the first time. The third Temple must be rebuilt before Messiah comes the second time.

According to the prophecy of Psalm 118, which is a vivid description of the day the Messiah arrives in Jerusalem, the temple will be standing. This will be the second temple, built under the orders of Cyrus. According to Psalm 118, on the specific day that God has chosen for His revealing of the Messiah, the people will cry out: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

After Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah and condemned Him to death, He told these men that Israel would not see Him again until they said these words.

See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ” —Luke 13:35

David predicted that the second temple would be standing when the Messiah arrived, as the people will recite the words to his Psalm,

Old Testament Prediction:

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD. —Psalms 118:26

New Testament Fulfillment:

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!” And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. —Matthew 21:9-12

The certainty that Psalm 118:26 is Messianic, is understood by David as he writes these words to the Messiah: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!”

When we see the term: “LORD” in the Old Testament, it is the designation for “Jehovah,” or “Yahweh.” Not that the Messiah is coming in the name of God, as His representative, but that He will be: Jehovah or Yahweh, the Eternal God.

David is making it clear that this Messiah who is coming to His temple at Jerusalem, is also God.

By David’s words from Psalm 118:26, we understand that the second temple will be standing:

“We have blessed you from the house of the LORD,” which will be recited by those who see Him, at His arrival, during the time of the second temple.

As David describes the coming of the Messiah, Malachi adds: He will come suddenly to His temple.

“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple —Malachi 3:1

Detailed History Of Israel’s Temple:

The first temple in Jerusalem was built in 957 B.C. by king Solomon, who reigned from 970 B.C. to 930 B.C.[11]

The Second temple in Jerusalem was ordered rebuilt in 537 B.C. by Cyrus. However, it was not until the passage of an additional 17 years, that his command was followed and the actual construction began in 520 B.C.[12] The “Desolations of Israel” ended on December 17, 520 B.C., seven days later on the 24th day of the 9th month (December) of the 2nd year of Darius, the King of Persia, according to Haggai 2:18-19, the Temple Foundation was laid. Three years later, in 517 B.C., the second temple was completed. See the chart in Prophecy 309 for the specific details.

In 175 B.C., Antiochus Epiphanes became the king, replacing his older brother who ruled for just one year.[13] The Jews rebelled against his strict laws, outlawing the Sabbath and the rite of circumcision. In 167 B.C., Antiochus Epiphanes erected a statue of the Greek God, Zeus, in the Holy place of the temple and thereby committed the first incidence of the abomination of desolation (Prophecy 312).[14]

According to 2 Maccabees:
“When these happenings were reported to the king, he thought that Judea was in revolt. Raging like a wild animal, he set out from Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm. He ordered his soldiers to cut down without mercy those whom they met and to slay those who took refuge in their houses. There was a massacre of young and old, a killing of women and children, a slaughter of virgins and infants. In the space of three days, eighty thousand were lost, forty thousand meeting a violent death, and the same number being sold into slavery.”[15]

“Not long after this the king sent an Athenian senator to force the Jews to abandon the customs of their ancestors and live no longer by the laws of God; also to profane the temple in Jerusalem and dedicate it to Olympian Zeus, and that on Mount Gerizim to Zeus the Hospitable, as the inhabitants of the place requested…They also brought into the temple things that were forbidden, so that the altar was covered with abominable offerings prohibited by the laws. A man could not keep the sabbath or celebrate the traditional feasts, nor even admit that he was a Jew. At the suggestion of the citizens of Ptolemais, a decree was issued ordering the neighboring Greek cities to act in the same way against the Jews: oblige them to partake of the sacrifices, and put to death those who would not consent to adopt the customs of the Greeks. It was obvious, therefore, that disaster impended. Thus, two women who were arrested for having circumcised their children were publicly paraded about the city with their babies hanging at their breasts and then thrown down from the top of the city wall. Others, who had assembled in nearby caves to observe the sabbath in secret, were betrayed to Philip and all burned to death.”[16]

This defilement of the temple in Jerusalem was an earlier fulfillment from Daniel’s prophecy of the final seven years, when the antichrist will also erect a statue of himself in the newly rebuilt—third temple at Jerusalem and command all the world to worship him as God.[17] In 167 B.C., the Jews rose up in rebellion against Antiochus Epiphanes and the Seleucid rule, with Mattathias and his five sons, winning the freedom of the Jews. Judas Maccabeus—the son of Mattathias—called The Hammer, rededicated the temple in 165 B.C.[18] The Jews began the celebration of Hanukkah as a result of this victory, and continue this celebration to the present day.

In 54 B.C., the temple was again desecrated by Crassus.[19]

In 20 B.C., Herod the Great renovated the temple, which was known at the time of Jesus as “Herod’s Temple.”[20]

It is this second Temple that the Messiah would come, in fulfillment of this 150th Prophecy, from Psalms 118:26.

After Jesus was rejected by Israel as the Messiah, He predicted the total destruction of the second Temple, within one generation. Only 38 years later, in 70 B.C., Jesus’ prediction was fulfilled.[21]

In 70 A.D., the Roman army under Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple, fulfilling the 12th prophecy of Jesus that not one stone will be left upon another.[22]

One of the amazing facts concerning both the first and second Temples: both were destroyed on the exact same day of the month.

1. The first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians on August 9th of 586 B.C.
2. The second Temple was also destroyed on August 9th of 70 A.D (called Tisha B’Av)

The Bible reveals that there are still two remaining Temples that will be built on the Temple Mount site at Jerusalem:

The Third Temple will be built by the antichrist in the first three years of the seven-year Tribulation, the exact amount of time that it took to build the second temple.[23]

The Fourth Temple, the Millennial Temple, will be built by Jesus during His one thousand-year reign over the earth. It is this temple that is the subject of Prophecy 326 and Prophecy 332.

Prophecy 332 is an incredible and detailed description of how the Tabernacle in the desert and the Temple are illustrations of the work and ministry of Jesus as the Messiah.

Psalm 118 was unmistakably written in expectation of the coming Messiah. Contained within this Psalm is the language that is predictive of the Messiah’s arrival. The very expression described in this Psalm—Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord—were the actual words spoken by the people in response to Jesus’ arrival at Jerusalem. When Jesus was rejected a Jerusalem as the Messiah, He told the people that they would not see Him again until they said these words to Him again:

…you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ”

Jesus is saying that He will not return the second time until the Jews are ready to receive Him as their Messiah, and recognize Him as Jehovah, the eternal God. Their understanding of who He is, at His second coming, is observed by their statement: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

This will take place upon Jesus return to the earth, at the end of the seven year Tribulation.[24]

The Messiah’s first arrival, occurred on Nissan 10, the first Palm Sunday before His crucifixion on Nissan 14, 32 A.D.

There is a second possible meaning of Psalms 118 verse 26: those who will receive the Messiah at His first arrival—will be blessed, because the Messiah is coming as their God, to be the Savior of all who will believe. When Jesus returns the second time, at the end of the seven year Tribulation, Israel will finally understand who Jesus is and “mourn for Him, whom they had pierced.”

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. —Zechariah 12:10

The final detail of Psalm 118, verse 26: this blessing at the time of the Messiah’s second arrival will come from the third Temple at Jerusalem.

Malachi’s prediction that the Messiah will come suddenly to His Temple, also appears to have an earlier fulfillment by Jesus, at his first appearance on the earth as the Messiah, and will be fulfilled a second time: at His appearance on the earth—at the end of the seven year Tribulation.

Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts. —Malachi 3:1

This second Temple—where Jesus appeared during His first coming to earth, was destroyed 32 years after His Crucifixion and Resurrection, in 70 A.D., by Titus and the Roman army.

This second temple was not rebuilt until the Jews returned from their 70 years of exile in Babylon. The laying of the foundation for the second temple took place on the original site of the first temple, in the seventh month of Tishri (September), which was the second year of the Jews’ return to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.

And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. —Ezra 3:1-2

Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the LORD. —Ezra 3:8

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. —Ezra 3:10-11

The temple was completed in the month of Adar (February-March), the last month of the year in the Jewish calendar. This happened in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, the king of the Medes, in 517 B.C., twenty-two years after the foundation was laid (See the chart in Prophecy 309).

And may the God who causes His name to dwell there destroy any king or people who put their hand to alter it, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius issue a decree; let it be done diligently. Then Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-boznai, and their companions diligently did according to what King Darius had sent. So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. Now the temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. —Ezra 6:12-15

Recap:

537 B.C., Command to rebuild the second temple.
32 A.D., Jesus predicts the destruction of the second temple.

537 B.C
32 A.D.
+1 for the change from B.C., to A.D.
70 Years

70 years after the command to rebuild the second temple, Jesus predicts the destruction of the second temple. The second temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.

It was 70 years that God ordered Israel to go into captivity in Babylon. See the charts and details of Prophecy 309.

And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. —Jeremiah 25:11

A Remarkable Prophecy, A Remarkable Messiah

Jesus came to Jerusalem as the promised Messiah and is proclaimed the King of the Jews during the time when the second Temple was standing, in direct fulfillment of Psalms 118:26. The fact that Jesus completed the complex requirements of this stunning prophecy is truly incredible. The likelihood that He could have done these things unaided by advanced knowledge of the events and the sovereign control of God, is mathematically impossible.

We are likely living in the days of the third temple. The Dead in Christ are about to be raised; the living, transported to meet the Lord in the air. The seven year tribulation will begin and the construction of the third temple will take place. These are, perhaps, the most exciting times of human history. We will be the generation that sees the coming of Jesus for His church and the completion of all things which God has determined.

NOTES:

[1] Encyclopedia Britannica, 1990 Edition.
[2] R. Schmitt. of Iran “Art”axerxes. Encyclopædia Iranica. 15 December 1986. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
[3] 1.Iran-e-Bastan/Pirnia Book, 1 page 873, 2. Dandamayev 3. History of Persian Empire-Olmstead pages 289-90
[4] From Judaism 101, http://www.jewfaq.org/calendar.htm
[5] From a letter sent to Sir Robert Anderson: To the Royal Obseervatory, Greewich, June 26th, I877. “SIR, – I have had the moon’s place calculated from Largeteau’s Tables in Additions to the Connaisance des Tems 1846, by one of my assistants, and have no doubt of its correctness. The place being calculated for – 444, March 12d. 20h., French reckoning, or March 12d. 8h. P. M., it appears that the said time was short of New Moon by about 8h. 47m., and therefore the New Moon occurred at 4h. 47m. A. M., March 13th, Paris time.” I am, etc (the 13th day of March at 7:09 a.m)., ” (Signed,) G. B. AIRY.” Anderson, Sir Robert (2010-05-27). The Coming Prince (Kindle Locations 1737-1748). . Kindle Edition.
[6] 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
“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
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), Matthew 24:15
“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Mark 13:14
[7] 2 Kings 24:1, Jeremiah 25:1, Daniel 1:1-2
[8] 2 Kings 24:12, 2 Chronicles 36:18-19
[9] The Desolations End: George Pytlik, Author of Daniel, God’s Messenger to our times. http://www.pytlik.com/observe/daniel/timeline.html
[10] 1. The definition of “time, times, and a half time,” is understood by the book of Daniel where king Nebuchadnezzar was driven mad for “seven times,” a period of seven years. A time therefore, is a year. Daniel 4:25 They shall drive you from men, your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall wet you with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.
2.“In the excavation of Qumran Cave 4 in 1952, an Aramaic fragment of a prayer of thanksgiving attributed to Nabonidus was discovered. The translation by Milik into French is approximately as follows: “The words of the prayer which Nabunai (d), king of Assyria and Babylon, the great king, prayed when he was smitten with an unpleasant skin- disease by the ordinance of God Most High in the city of Teima: I was smitten with an unpleasant skin- disease for seven years… But when I confessed my sins and my faults, he granted me a (favorable) verdict. And there was a Jew from…, and he wrote and told (me) to give honor… to the name of God Most High ‘” (this conjectural translation, dependent on several restorations of missing letters, was published by J. T. Milik in Revue Biblique, 63 (1956): 408; cf. Saggs, Babylon, p. 154, for the English version above). When this fragment was first published, many critics assumed that it represented an earlier form of the story of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4, which by a later tradition mistakenly attributed the experience to the most famous of the Chaldean kings rather than the last of them. On the contrary a careful examination of the Nabonidus fragment shows that it is far more likely to have been a late, garbled tradition of the illness of Nebuchadnezzar himself.” From The Expositor’s Bible Commentary on The Book of Daniel, chapter 7.
[11] 1. New American Heritage Dictionary, entry: ‘Temple’
2”. Temple, the.” Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005.
[12] 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Ezra 5:13. 536.4 B.C., see the chart at Prophecy 309 for details.
[13] Encyclopedia Britannica Online: Antiochus IV Epiphanes
[14] Josephus, Wars of the Jews 1:1:1–2
[15] 2 Maccabees 5:11–14
[16] 2 Maccabees 6:1–11
[17] Daniel 11:31, 12:11, Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14, Luke 16:15
[18] “Temple, the.” Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
[19] 1. Josephus, The New Complete Works, translated by William Whiston, Kregel Publications, 1999, “Antiquites” Book 14:7, p.463
2. Michael Grant, The Jews in the Roman World, Barnes & Noble, 1973, p.58
[20] Secrets of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, Leen Ritmeyer, Kathleen Ritmeyer, 1998
[21] 1.This verse of scripture has erroneously applied to the days prior to the Rapture and the beginning of the seven year Tribulation. It appears from the context of this verse, and by the eventual fulfillment of Jesus words in 70 A.D., that He was predicting the generation immediately before the total destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, in 70 A.D
2.Matthew 24:34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
[22] Josephus, The War of the Jews VI.4.3, Josephus, The Wars of the Jews VI.4.5
[23] Although Cyrus ordered the temple in Jerusalem rebuilt, in 536 B.C., this order was not carried out for 17 years, until the 24th day of December, 520 B.C. The Lord would not allow the foundation of the second temple to be laid until He had completed the 70 years of “The Desolation’s of Israel”, as He had spoken.
[24] Revelation chapter 19

Categories: Building the Third Temple, Dead or Alive, Introduction of the antichrist, Robert Clifton Robinson, The Prophecy of Daniel 9, The Seven Year Tribulation

Tags: 1 Thessalonians 2:3-4, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Daniel 9:25, Mahmoud Abbas, Revelation 11:2, Seven year peace plan, U.N. Resolution 2178