Introduction:

The Temple of the Jews will be rebuilt according to these scripture. Every year attempts are made by the Temple Mount Faithful to place a three ton stone on the Temple Mount near the Dung Gate adjacent to the Western Wall. These Jews marched to this site on Tisha B’Av the day the Jews mourn the destruction of the first and second Temples. Tisha B’Av (literally, “the ninth day of the month of Av” it falls in July or August, depending on the year. Some very colossal events happened on that date, changing the history of the Jewish people forever

On the ninth of Av in 586 B.C., Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by Babylonians, and the Jewish people were carried into captivity. On the ninth of Av 168 BC; Zerubabbel’s Temple was desecrated by Antiochus Ephiphanes. Again on the ninth of Av in 70 A.D., the Temple modified by Herod the Great, and visited by Jesus was sacked and destroyed by the Romans under the command of Titus…

The Temple Mount Faithful association called on the Israeli government to build His Holy Temple. We know this as the Tribulation Temple. Muslims see this as an indication that Zionists are attempting to take the Temple Mount area by force, destroy the Dome of the Rock and rebuild the Jewish Temple on the site. The day will come when this temple will be rebuilt and God will send His two witnesses, these two prophets will proclaim the truth from the walls of this temple.

REVIEW: — At the sounding of the sixth trumpet (9:14), four angels were loosed, who through the army of 200 million were given the power to kill one-third of the world’s population. Coupled with the one-fourth killed at the opening of the fourth seal (6:7-8), at least one-half of the world’s population has now been killed. Chapter ten was an interlude chapter, a parentheses’ if you will; describing the angel and the bittersweet book that contained the rest of the message John was to deliver (10:11). Chapter 11 continues this interlude section through verse 14, and you can see for yourself in verse 15 of chapter 11 the seventh angel sounds. We begin one of the most interesting chapters to interpret with the measuring of the future temple.

I. The Measuring of the Future Temple Site (11:1)

1. In this chapter John is no longer just a witness he is instructed to measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein (verse 1). The measuring rod, like a staff, was just that. It was a rod used in ancient times for measuring.

The word rod is “kalamos” it refers to a reed that grew in the Jordan Valley, it’s the name of a reed. These reeds grew down in the lowlands of the Jordan Valley and they grew to be somewhere between ten and fifteen feet high. They were a hallow stalk, like a bamboo stalk and because they were so very light they were cut down and cut into proper lengths and used as measuring instruments like a yardstick.

2. The events described in this chapter make the location of the events unmistakable-the temple site in Jerusalem. The Antichrist will allow the Jews to rebuild their temple. It is clear in the NT that during the Great Tribulation there will be a literal Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. For it to be rebuilt in its original place, some folks believe that the Dome of the Rock, which now stands there would have to be destroyed, this would incite over 400 million Moslems upon the nation of Israel. Some believe this is what brings about the alignment of Arabs against Israel in Ez. 38. (To take a spoil, and to take a prey)

3. Now remember, at the time John wrote this there was no temple. It had been extinct for twenty-five years. Jesus predicted in Matthew 24:2, “Not one stone would be left on top of another,” and that’s exactly the way it was. John is told that God is measuring for a future temple for His people. As mentioned in chapter seven, God is not finished with the Jews. Now mind you that the temple which John is measuring is the temple during the Tribulation which is different than the one during the Millennial Kingdom as per Isaiah and Zechariah.

4. The pact made with the Antichrist will give the Jews the freedom to worship in their own temple, only in the midweek or mid-trib he will stop that worship and he will do what is called the abomination of desolations and he will move into the temple, desecrate it, throw the Jews out and he will slaughter animals offered to himself as a false god. He will slaughter animals, I should say, offered to himself as a false god in the temple, desecrate their worship.

II. The Reduction of the Future Temple Site (11:2)

1. John’s measurement of the temple seems to be a symbolic action for claiming or staking out a possession. The outer court was not to be measured, so John only measured the holy place and the holy of holies. Remember the Temple precincts were divided into 4 courts: #1. -the Court of the Women, # 2. – The Court of the Israelites, #3. – The Court of the Priests and #4. – The Outer Court or the “Court of Gentiles”.

2. The Gentiles had access only to the outer court and this is referred to frequently in ancient writings. They were not allowed any further into the Temple then the Outer Court. This court was separated by low walls. Josephus the Jewish historian of the first century A.D. wrote about the warning signs in Greek and Latin that were placed on the barrier wall that separated the court of the Gentiles from the other courts in the Temple. In the year 1871 archaeologists actually discover one written in Greek. Its seven lines script reads as follows: No foreigner is to go beyond the balustrade and the plaza of the temple zone; whoever is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his death which will follow.

3. The outer court need not be measured because it has been given to the Gentiles. Perhaps this is because the outer courts of this rebuilt temple includes the Islamic Dome of the Rock shrine, which currently stands on the temple mount and is a point of great contention between Jews and Muslims.

When the Romans conquered Jerusalem in 70 A.D. they destroyed the city so completely that the foundations of the old temple are not easily found. Most have long assumed that the Dome of the Rock shrine stands on the place of the old temple. But new research gives some evidence that the temple may have stood to the north where the Dome of the Rock shrine is today, and that if the temple were to be rebuilt at its old place, the Dome of the Rock shrine would be in its outer courts. If this is the case (and the research is by no means settled), then it would explain why the angel told John leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles.

Dr. David Kaufman a longtime Jewish history professor, and speaker, has degrees from Columbia College as well as the Jewish Theological Seminary. He claims that based on his calculations the Jewish Temple was built on the north-western corner of the Temple platform about 330 feet away from the Dome of the Rock. This northern site theory is increasingly favored by Christian Zionists as it does not require the destruction of the Dome of the Rock. Hal Lindsey in 1994 measured the distances on the Temple platform and realized that God had left out the outer court according to scripture about 330 feet away it allows for the Gentile temple to remain alongside the rebuilt Jewish Temple during the Tribulation.

The outer court, which includes the area where the Dome of the Rock is situated, is given to the Gentiles. The explanation is given that this would be under the control of … the gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months – 30 days per month a prophetic year. So this prophecy accurately reflects the situation that is present today… All of these things are tremendously exciting to those who know Bible prophecy. We are literally in the very last days of the Church Age. The Temple will be rebuilt soon!

4. (11:2). It appears at the end of this 42-month, or 3 ½ year, period the sacrifices will stop, and the temple will be desecrated by the world ruler putting an idol there and setting himself up as a god to be worshipped. The reference to the Gentiles treading upon the city of Jerusalem seems to imply not only the desecration of the temple but also the severe persecution of the Jews. This we will discuss at a greater degree in Revelation 13.

5. Today, the old city of Jerusalem is entirely in the hands of the Israelis, and they will never give it up, but the temple has yet to be dedicated and build. They are on there way. Last September, five red heifers arrived in Israel amid great fanfare, because some Jews believe red heifers are a key element leading to the building of the Third Jewish Temple. The heifers are now in a secure, undisclosed location in Israel. The book of Numbers explains that ashes of the red heifer are used to purify priests for their service in the Temple.

Rabbi Mamo stated in September of 2022, “And we hope that in a year and a half from today, we can the ceremony of the red heifer that actually will be the first step to the Temple.”   The ceremony needs priests who have not been defiled by touching anything dead. “The Temple Institute actually have nine pure priests. So, we have the priest, we have the red heifer, we have the land.  Everything is ready. We just need to wait another one and a half year.”  

Conclusion
History is the commentary on the folly of the futility of all who would seek to live with an absence of God He has it all under control. Chapter 11 is evidence of that. —Gospel