Rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem, with Al-Aqsa Mosque in the background.

Although it does not exist today, the Jewish Temple is undoubtedly an important part of end times Bible prophecy, and we can easily point to relatively recent events to see how it is shaping up to become a major event. 



No praying. No kneeling. No bowing. No prostrating. No dancing. No singing. No ripping clothes.
These are the rules that Jews must abide by when visiting the Temple Mount, the site where the First and Second Holy Temples once stood, located above and behind the Western Wall in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Although the area is under Israeli sovereignty, the mount — known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif — is controlled by the Islamic Wakf, a joint Palestinian-Jordanian religious body. As the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, whose golden dome overlooks the city, the Temple Mount attracts daily crowds of Muslim worshipers.

Under Wakf regulations, Jews may only access the mount for 4 1/2 hours per day and are forbidden from praying there.

So most Israelis has no aspirations of rebuilding the Temple. Even among those who would like to see the Temple restored, most do not believe Israel can undertake something so controversial absent a direct act of God. Many Israelis also view the goal as a danger to the status quo that has kept this site holy to Muslims and Jews from turning into a tinderbox.


 In spite of all these, an Israeli cabinet minister last week publicly stated that perhaps the time has come to rebuild the biblical Temple on Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

But that didn't stop Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) from stating that "we need to build a real Temple on the Temple Mount."

Ariel was speaking at a press event in the Samarian community of Shilo, where archaeologists have uncovered remains of the biblical Tabernacle that was located there for hundreds of years before King David's conquest of Jerusalem.

Abbas is held aloft as a "moderate" leader by most in the West. His predecessor, Yasser Arafat, was not. In fact, one of the things that most convinced former US President Bill Clinton of Arafat's extremism was his open refusal to accept that the Temple Mount had once been home to the biblical Temple, and was therefore important to Jews.

One must wonder why Abbas is treated any differently when he holds the same extreme position?
This is because it has to happen according to the prophesy of the Bible.


Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15, II Thessalonians 2:4, and Revelation 11:1 all explicitly state that the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt in these end-times. Can you imagine the effect on the people of the world when construction on the Israeli Temple begins?!

The rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem will probably be the next step in the near future. This can occur before the rapture of the church or after. One thing is certain, it will be rebuilt in the near future.


“Our goal is to fulfill the commandment of ‘They shall make a Temple for me and I will dwell among them,’ ” Richman says, quoting Exodus. “The basis of a Torah life is action.”

Following the Second Temple’s destruction in 70 C.E., most rabbis adopted the position that Jewish law prohibits reconstructing the Holy Temple prior to the age of messianic redemption, or that the law is too ambiguous and that the messiah must come first.

This is all a part of God’s plan. From 70 A.D. until 1948, the Jewish people had no homeland. In 1948 the nation of Israel was reborn. However, the Temple Mount was still held by the nation of Jordan. When the temple area was recaptured in 1967, the Jews wept. The joy of the Jewish people was quickly dashed to pieces. A few hours after the recapture, Moshe Dayan, the Defense Minister of Israel, announced that the Temple Mount would remain under Arab control. The rejoicing of the Jews was turned to sorrow, This action to religious Jews was absolutely beyond comprehension. Jews still cannot go to the Temple Mount area to pray, to offer sacrifices, and, above all, to build their Third Temple. This temple will be rebuilt very soon.

In 1984, Israel’s security services stopped a group of Jewish terrorists conspiring to blow up the mosque at the mount who reportedly got very close to achieving their goal. Ever since, authorities say they have kept a close watch on any attempts to disturb the peace on the mount.

There are many organizations right now who have almost all the temple instruments and materials pre-made for the day when they will rebuild the temple. The Temple Institute is dedicated to all aspects of the Divine commandment for Israel to build a house for G-d’s presence, the Holy Temple, on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. The range of the Institute's involvement with this concept includes education, research, activism, and actual preparation. Our goal is firstly, to restore Temple consciousness and reactivate these “forgotten” commandments. We hope that by doing our part, we can participate in the process that will lead to the Holy Temple becoming a reality once more.

Something else that is quite startling. Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute stated that, according to the revered Jewish teacher Mammonides, various treasures from the First Temple are buried beneath the Temple Mount. Rabbi Getz, the 82 year old chief rabbi of the Western Wall, said that they know for sure the location of the ark of the covenant, the candle-sticks made by Moses, and the stone tablets containing the ten commandments.

Rabbi Shlomo Goren, the former chief rabbi of Israel, said that they were digging towards these items. The Arabs, fearing what would happen if the ark of the covenant and the ten commandments should be recovered, rioted. The Israeli government became fearful and ordered the digging to be stopped.

A 200-pound. gold menorah, built for use in a future Third Temple by the Temple Institute, stands in a case overlooking the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Chaim Richman, international director of the Temple Institute, standing next to a replica of the holy ark at an exhibit of Third Temple vessels in the institute’s offices in Jerusalem.

But when Rabbi Chaim Richman stands only feet from the Dome of the Rock, surrounded by Muslim visitors, he whispers a chapter of Psalms.

“God will answer you on your day of trouble,” he mutters on a recent visit. “The name of the God of Jacob will protect you.”

On previous visits to the mount, Richman says he’s sung the entire Hallel prayer under his breath.
A frequent presence on the mount who knows the guards by name, Richman is the international director of the Temple Institute, an organization based in the Old City with a singular goal: to rebuild the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. This is the aspiration of all the Jews.

A model of the Second Temple at an exhibit of Third Temple vessels in the Temple Institute’s offices in Jerusalem.

The high priest’s diadem, created for use in a future third temple by the Temple Institute, at an exhibit of Third Temple vessels in the institute’s offices in Jerusalem.

Though observant Jews pray thrice daily in the Amidah prayer for the Temple to be rebuilt, few do anything about it. That’s as it should be, says Michael Melchior, an Orthodox rabbi and former Knesset member who is considered a religious moderate.

“We pray for holiness, but we also need to be careful of others’ desire for holiness,” Melchior said. “The moment you want to translate that into building a Temple, you upset the sensitive balance we’ve created here, by which we exist here.” He called Temple construction advocates “irresponsible.”

Given the obstacles to breaking ground on a Holy Temple, the institute also has taken up a more modest cause: expanding Jewish rights on the Temple Mount to allow unrestricted access and prayer. In that endeavor, Richman is joined by several right-wing Knesset members and a group of archaeologists who say the Wakf is reckless with archaeological remains at the site.