What if, all these years, we have been looking in the wrong place for the Temple of Jesus’ day and the temple still to come?
Going to Israel lit a fire in me that I had no idea was there, so much so that I could not wait to go back and eventually, started hosting tours. This has fueled my fascination with Bible prophecy and the study of the end times, or eschatology. That, and I happen to have an uncle that really loves the subject and Israel, as well.
Over the many trips with Dr. Rob Lindsted, we have been to many places and sites that are not on the radar of most tour guides and hosts. We have been to a second location thought to be the birthplace of Christ, where you can even see the Church of the Nativity on a hilltop not far away. Visiting one of the gilgals overlooking the footprint made of stone was a highlight, too.
Of course, we visit many of the common sites and archaeological digs that most tour groups visit. There are sites that must be included even if you are returning for a second, third and fourth visit to the Promised Land. You don’t want to miss Shiloh, where there are new discoveries every year, thanks to the efforts of the team working there. The red heifers – that were flown in from the United States in September of 2022 – are housed at Shiloh.
You should always see the Israel Museum, with the Dead Sea Scrolls, and a one-acre model of Jerusalem from the time of Christ. The model includes the City of David, the pool of Siloam and many other key locations from the time of Christ.
This model shows the Temple Mount as it was in the first century. Amazing to view!
I must admit it took me three or four visits before I began to understand the geography of Jerusalem. This model has been an enormous help to me with the layout of the old city and how we can still see remnants of its history today.
Being intrigued by Bible prophecy, the Temple Mount is of extreme importance and has been a pleasure to study. Though, from the model city in the Israel Museum, I had some questions that seemed to bring doubt to long-held assumptions or norms.
The model clearly shows the East Gate and the Second Temple, built by Zerubbabel, commonly referred to as Herod’s Temple. It shows these two as in perfect alignment. In its heyday, you could see directly through the East Gate into the Holy of Holies (if the veil was open).
When we think about where the Third Temple will be built, the standard answer is: “Where the Dome of the Rock stands.” But is this truth or tradition?
You can clearly see from the Mount of Olives that the Dome of the Rock does not line up with the East Gate.
We all know that tradition can’t be wrong. Right? It is common knowledge that if you swallow your gum, it will stay in your stomach for seven years. I can tell you as a parent this in not true. My eldest son, at age 3, took an entire bag of gum and hid it in his room, promptly eating as much as he could. From the aftermath of that day, I can boldly claim gum does in fact not stay in the stomach or bowel for seven years.
Tradition can be helpful, but it is not 100 percent accurate all the time.
What if the tradition that the temples built by Solomon and Zerubbabel stood once where the Dome of the Rock stands now is incorrect? That would be a bit of a game-changer where end-times Bible prophecy is concerned! Perhaps we need to rethink some assumptions about the timing of God’s plan for the end times.
Don’t get me wrong: The Temple Mount is in fact the Temple Mount, and both the first and second temples stood there. I am not making an argument as some do for the City of David location. I believe that is impossible as a location. It is not big enough and definitely not elevated enough to be the Temple Mount. There are many things that disqualify the City of David theory.
But what if the Temple stood at a different location on what we know is the Temple Mount?
One of the main factors, I believe, is the fact that the East Gate does not line up with the Holy of Holies as described in the Mishnah:
“One may not act irreverently or conduct himself flippantly opposite the Eastern Gate of the Temple Mount, which is opposite the Holy of Holies,” Berakhot 9:5 explains.
But wait – the Dome of the Rock does not sit opposite the East Gate, so how could it be the location of the Holy of Holies? When I asked this question, I was told: “Well, the Temple Mount has been destroyed many times and the gate simply is not in the location from the first and second temple times.”
This was stated as fact, but what if it is wrong? What if, in fact, the gate stands where it should?
We clearly read in Scripture that the East Gate will be shut until the Second Coming of Christ, when He will place His feet on the Mount of Olives and it will break in two. The East Gate will be opened, and the glory of God will return to the Temple Mount as Christ once again enters the Temple Mount through the East Gate (Ezekiel 44:2, Zechariah 14).
God says in the Bible the East Gate will be closed until the return of Christ at the Second Coming. Do you think that the location of something of such importance to the Lord would be allowed to be lost?
From the studies of people like Sir Charles Warren and Leen Ritmeyer, we have uncovered amazing evidence that the East Gate stands today exactly where it stood in the time of Christ.
The East Gate is also mentioned in The Wars of the Jews by Flavius Josephus, in which he names the two gates they did not burn – the South and the East. Josephus goes on to mention that the Romans had an award ceremony for Titus, hanging their ensigns, or flags, at the East Gate.
This shows us that the East Gate location was never lost!
Another key factor is that the location of the Temple and the Holy of Holies goes all the way back to Abraham, King David and on through Solomon. King David had sinned against God by numbering the people and chose what he thought would be the lesser of the punishments or judgments given – a plague in which 70,000 people died.
Through the prophet Gad the Lord told David to purchase the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, build an altar and make a sacrifice for the transgression. David purchased not only the threshing floor, but the oxen and items needed for the sacrifice. Later, David purchases the entire mount where the threshing floor was on Mount Moriah, what we know as today’s Temple Mount.
Notice the altar was built on the threshing floor. Threshing floors are unique in their construction and design. They are flat and oftentimes they are bedrock. They must also be at an elevation that allows the chaff to be easily separated from the wheat.
When you look inside the Dome of the Rock, what do you see? A flat threshing floor? Not at all. So, is there a flat place on the Temple Mount that could have been a threshing floor during the time of King David?
Let me introduce you to the Dome of the Spirits, a flat just north of the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount. The surface under this dome looks identical to those of first-century threshing floors in the area, with the same pitting from threshing sledges made of wood and stone that are dragged over the harvest to separate the chaff from the grain.
What do we know: Ezekiel 42:20 says to measure off from the “profane” place to build the sanctuary of God, can you think of anything more “profane” than the Dome of the Rock? Could God be using the boldness and arrogance of man to show us where the next temple should be built?
However, it goes further than that. Ezekiel 43 says, “they seek to defile My holy places by placing their thresholds by My thresholds, and their posts by My posts.”
We are seeing that there is a structure on God’s holy mount that those who would defile the place have built there. Could this be referring to the current Temple Mount complex with the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque?
I believe that Dome of the Spirits could very well be the location of the Holy of Holies and this changes many things in light of Bible prophecy for us – not that the events themselves change, but how close we are to seeing the end times begin.
You see, if the Dome of the Spirits is the location for the temple, then the Dome of the Rock does not have to be destroyed before the Jewish people build on the Temple Mount. Politically it would be almost impossible for the Dome of the Rock to be removed, but if it can remain and the new Jewish Temple be built elsewhere on the mount. That changes everything.
I believe that the Temple Mount will look much like the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, where a mosque, a synagogue and a cathedral all sit next to each other on the same ground. Is this a trial run for what the Antichrist and the False Prophet hope to do to the Temple Mount during the tribulation? You can see this would be a great way to launch the one-world religion described in Revelation 17!
We are closer than ever to the return of Christ, the Rapture of the church and the tribulation’s beginning!
I am not looking for a temple. Christ made the sacrifice once and for all (Hebrews 9:11-12). There is no need for a temple. The debt is paid. We as believers are the temple of God on Earth (Ephesians 2:22).
I am looking for the signs that show we are getting closer and closer to the tribulation. I am looking for the soon return of Christ at a time when we know Israel will be looking to return to sacrifice. We know this from Daniel 9, when the Antichrist will stop the sacrifices of the Jewish nation and demand they worship him.
For sacrifice to stop it has to start, and for Israel to begin sacrificing they want a temple.
The “signs” of the tribulation are converging – wars and rumors of wars, kingdom against kingdom, nation against nation, famine, pestilence and earthquakes in diverse places. The red heifers are in Israel ready for the ashes to cleanse the Temple Mount for construction. The temple instruments, priests and vestments are ready.
We know we are not long for this world!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (2 Peter 3:11-12)
