Another conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis involuntarily reminds us of the prophecies of the restoration of the “Third Temple” and the last days of this world.
The military conflict between Jews and Palestinians continues in Israel. Yes, there are clashes between warring parties all over the world. But we are primarily interested in the consequences of this conflict for Christians, and whether it has anything to do with biblical prophecies about the end of the world.
In front of www.pravoslavie.bg Andrey Vlasov follows the chronicle of the conflict.
The new escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli opposition began in early May 2021, after the Supreme Court of Israel upheld the lower court’s decision to evict Palestinian families from their homes in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Arabs staged protests on Temple Mount against the forced evictions, and on May 8, 2021, clashes with police ensued near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, injuring more than 200 Palestinians. The Islamic movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, issued an ultimatum to the Israeli authorities, demanded the recall of the Temple Mount police, and, after receiving no response, began firing rockets into Israeli territory.
In ten days of active hostilities, about 4,000 missiles were fired from Gaza into Israel. The Israeli side said 11 people were killed and more than 500 injured. For its part, the Israeli IDF’s response resulted in the deaths of more than 230 Palestinians (about 40 of them children), and many buildings were destroyed. The IDF also reported that several leaders of the group had been killed and more than 100km of underground tunnels used by Hamas for military purposes destroyed.
Leading world powers and international organizations have called on the countries to cease fire. Egypt and Russia have offered their capitals as a place for talks between the leaders of Israel and Palestine.
Why is all this happening?
To answer this question, we need to see what all the previous Arab-Israeli conflicts have been about, and more specifically the periodic escalation of the main ongoing conflict between Israel and the entire Muslim world, starting in 1948, when a UN decision in Palestine was a rebuilt Jewish state that had not existed for two thousand years.
Historians list six serious escalations of the Arab-Israeli conflict, referred to as “war,” and several more as “military operation.” In all of them, Israel faces adversaries many times superior to the Jewish state in manpower and military equipment.
And of all, Israel emerges victorious, each time expanding its territory, its influence, and strengthening its position both in the Middle East and in the world at large.
In fact, this can be explained by nothing but God’s providence, despite the attempts of many people to offer other explanations. But let us not forget that God’s providence can represent both God’s will and God’s permission.
The third temple
The Arab-Israeli conflict would have long ago been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of all parties in it, if they were guided only by political, economic, financial and other vital interests.
But the main interest of the parties in this conflict is religious. The Jews want to restore the temple to the place where once, in biblical times, the First and Second temples were built – today only the Wailing Wall remains. But Muslims will never agree, because today is the third most important shrine in the Muslim world, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Kubat al-Sahra (Dome of the Rock). The dome of the rock is a Muslim sanctuary, erected above the Stone of the foundation – the place where the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem temple was.
It is for these saints that a war is being waged between the Jews and the Muslims, and this war cannot be stopped by any negotiations and diplomatic efforts. It can only end with a final military victory for one of the countries.
So far, the Israeli state has not officially raised the issue of building the Third Temple; but this theme is kept active by various Jewish public organizations, such as Neemanei Har Ha-Bayt (Zealots on the Temple Mount) or the Temple-Building Movement. There is also the Mahon ha-Mikdash (Temple Institute), whose staff is working to restore the temple utensils and priests’ garments needed for temple worship.
Everything has been restored – from the huge golden seven-candlestick to the smallest objects of the temple cult, described in the Old Testament. The descendants of the ancient priests (koeni) and Levites are also wanted, who will be able to perform services in the Third Temple in the future, if it is built.
Many rabbis, both ancient and modern, believe that nothing can free the Jewish people from the obligation to restore the temple. Their opinions differ only in the details: should the Jews rebuild the temple before the coming of the Messiah expected by the Jews or will the Messiah himself build the temple when he appears on earth? Proponents of the latter view argue that it was the construction of the temple that would be evidence of the Messiah’s messianic mission.
In any case, with each new escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, talks on the prospects for the construction of the Third Temple resume with renewed vigor. Analysts have repeatedly speculated whether it will be built or not, and if so, when. In 2000, Vyacheslav Matuzov, a prominent Russian diplomat and president of the Society for Friendship and Business Cooperation with Arab Countries, said that during talks between US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat in Camp-David, the Jews offered Arafat to finally resolve the Palestinian question in the most favorable way for the Palestinians. In return, Arafat was only asked to agree to the following actions: to lay a powerful reinforced concrete foundation under the Muslim shrines on the Temple Mount, to raise them to a certain height above the ground. This would allow the construction of the “Third Temple” without destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Arafat flatly refused, after which the so-called “Second Palestinian Intifada” began.
In which temple will the Antichrist reign?
There is a widespread belief among Christians that the restoration of the Jerusalem temple is one of the signs of the coming of the Antichrist, because he will reign in it. Proponents of this view believe that the words of the Apostle Paul speak of this: “Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day shall not come, till the firstfruits come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who resisteth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or holy, to sit as God in the temple of God. showing himself to be a god ”(2 Thess. 2: 3-4).
Is this the Jerusalem temple, or someone else?
Many holy fathers believe that the apostle was referring to the Jerusalem temple.
“In God’s temple – not ours, but the ancient, Jewish” (Rev. John of Damascus).
“To sit in the temple of God.” In which temple? In the ruined Jewish temple, not in the one we are in now… He will come to the Jews in the name of Christ and ask the Jews to worship him; and in order to seduce them even more, he will take special care of the temple, showing them that, being of the line of David, he wants to build a temple similar to Solomon’s ”(St. Cyril of Jerusalem).
But this is not the only point of view. For example, Rev. Ephraim Sirin believes that here we mean the Church of Christ, ie. Orthodox church: “In this way he will appear and enter God’s temple to sit in it, namely in the church of God.” Bl. Augustine thinks that it is impossible at all to determine which temple will become the place where the Antichrist will reign: : 3 Kings 6: 1-38) or in a church. For the apostle would not call the temple of some idol or demon a temple of God.
In connection with the current escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Greek news agency Vimaorthodoxias posted on its website a quote from the recently canonized Rev. Paisius of Mount Athos: It will be demolished to restore Solomon’s temple, which is said to have been in its place. In the restored temple, the Zionists will eventually proclaim the Antichrist as the Messiah. I have heard that they are preparing to rebuild Solomon’s temple.
These words are confirmed by the overall course of events in the Middle East, beginning with the restoration of Israel as a state in 1948. And indeed, everything is slowly but surely moving towards the fact that the “Third Temple” will still be built despite the resistance of all Muslim world. However, given that there is no complete agreement between the holy fathers on this issue, we should not rely entirely on the point of view of Rev. Paisius and the other fathers who had the same opinion as him, because this can be dangerous. Because while we are waiting for the restoration of the Jerusalem temple and we believe that without this the Antichrist will not appear, in the meantime he can come and reign elsewhere. In other words, we can simply miss its appearance.
That is why it is necessary to pay attention not only to which temple the Antichrist will reign in, but also to the whole complex of prophecies related to the coming of the last times. And most importantly, we must remember that the apostle Paul, who wrote to the Thessalonians that the Antichrist would “sit as a god in the temple of God,” also wrote that every Christian is a temple of God: “Or do you not know that the body? Is it your temple of the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in you, and whom ye have of God, and ye belong not to yourselves? And to let or not let the Antichrist in this temple – depends only on each of us.
