At the end of each Passover meal for centuries, they have yearningly prayed, "Next year in Jerusalem!"

But what has happened there is only a prelude to the incredible events that will occur there in the future– events that will shake the entire world.

Revelation, Chapter 11, focuses on some of those important events that may soon begin to unfold in Jerusalem.

Revelation 11:1-2 , See Note Page 1010_1 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure . . ."

The Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation about the year A.D. 95. This means that the Temple which had been standing in Jerusalem in Christ's day-The so-called "second temple"-was non-existent for the twenty-five years preceding John's writing, since the Roman legions under Titus had leveled both the Temple and the Holy City in A.D. 70. What Temple, then, was John referring to? There can be only one answer– a yet-to-be-built structure!

In Daniel 9:27 , the Prophet Daniel predicts that the coming Antichrist will make, and later break a covenant with the Jewish people of the Tribulation period, allowing them to re-institute animal sacrifices.

Daniel 9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one `seven.' In the middle of the `seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." (NIV)

There is only one place where a God-fearing Jew would venture to offer a sacrifice – in the Temple in Jerusalem! You say you think the Jews aught to give-up their conquest to have ALL OF JERUSALEM. Forget it! God has a different idea. Why do you think they have been so successful over overwhelming odds over the past several years? They are headed for destiny – get on the band wagon, we are about to go for a ride!

To people familiar with the ancient Temple area on Mount Moriah in Old Jerusalem, the thought of building a new Jewish Temple must sound preposterous. This site is second only to Mecca in sacredness to the millions of Moslems in the world. It is believed by them that Mohammed ascended into heaven from a great rock that rests in the center of their Mosque. Significantly, this beautiful structure is what I identified earlier as "The Dome of the Rock" and was renovated to it's present glory by Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566). This rock is also believed to be the one on which Abraham offered Isaac to God and is also the site of the threshing-floor which David purchased and sanctified as the locale for the Jewish Temple. For 4,000 years it has therefore been one of the most sacred spots to Jews and the only place their Temple has ever stood.

The Dome of the Rock, or the Mosque of Omar, as it is sometimes erroneously called, sits squarely over the side of the front entrance to the ancient Jewish Temple. You recall that this Temple, known in Jesus' time as the Temple of Herod (because of his beautification of it), was pulled down stone by stone by the Roman legions in A.D. 70. Since that time there have been numerous structures built on the ruins, but never another Jewish Temple. The present Mosque is actually separated from the most of the Temple foundation of Jesus day by many feet of rubble. Only the tip of the huge rock which was on the summit of Mount Moriah juts up into the Mosque.

Before June of 1967, the Jews had not had sovereign control over the Old City of Jerusalem for over 2,600 years. For the past several hundred years they have only intermittently been allowed to live in the Old City and then only in a small, crowded sector. Most of those who did live in the Jewish sector of Old Jerusalem were the religious Jews who wanted to be close to the Wailing Wall (A Live Camera View of The Wall) and the Temple Mount.

The Wailing Wall is an exposed section of the ancient Western Wall of the Temple area. At its lowest viable part are Herodian stones that were in the wall at the time of Jesus. On the top of these stones are Byzantine and Crusader stones reaching up to the present ground level, on which the Arab Mosque sits. This Wall is all that the Jews have left of their ancient Temple, and it is therefore very sacred to them.

During the 1948 conflict with the Arabs, the Jewish section of the Old City was destroyed, and no Jews were allowed to live in the City for the next nineteen years. But in June of 1967 the Jews liberated their beloved Jerusalem and took over sovereign rule of the Old Walled city. Give it back! Not on your life! One of the most poignant scenes of the Six-Day-War was when the Jewish soldiers raced through the narrow, winding streets of the Old City and rushed up to kiss their Wailing Wall. Moshe Dayan, the then commander of the armed forces of Israel summed up the feelings of all Israel when he said, "We've returned to our holiest of holy places,NEVER to leave again."

There has been a frenzy of speculation in both the Jewish and Gentile world about the possibility of the Jews rebuilding their Temple. Temple bonds have been sold all around the world, and a lot of money has been left in wills to the new State of Israel in anticipation of a new Temple.

Since the Six-Day War the Jews have done extensive excavations all around the Temple Mount area and under the ground level along the face of the Wailing Wall. Because of the delicate political nature of this digging and because it comes so close to the Dome of the Rock, not much is known or said about it in Jerusalem.

In 1969, while serving in the U.S. Navy, I had the rare privilege to be taken to these excavation sites by an archaeologist from the Hebrew University. Dozens of cavernous rooms had already been discovered. Hundreds of years of debris and refuse had already been cleaned out at that early stage of the on-going excavation word being done there. As we made our way deeper and deeper under the City along the face of the Wailing Wall, my excitement grew as I knew we were in the exact vicinity of the Temple of Herod. Archaeologists have uncovered a pillar from Solomon's porch as the first major find from the Herodian Temple. From its location in relation to the Wailing Wall they have now ascertained where the ancient Holy of Holies in the Temple was located.

Imagine my emotions as I stood under a sign at the Wall which read in Hebrew: "Holy of Holies, 10 Meters," with an arrow pointing toward a spot thirty feet behind the existing Wall in the direction of the Dome of the Rock!

Naturally, every one is eager to know if there are any plans being made to continue excavating in the direction of the Holy of Holies, since this would involve breaking through the Western Wall and tunneling under the Mosque. The answer we get from Israel is an emphatic, "NO!" There is still opposition coming from two main quarters.

(1) The ultra-religious Jews who believe that only Messiah, when He comes, can rebuild the Temple, and that only a Jew from the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron could enter the Holy of Holies. Since no one can prove this descent, these religious leaders are adamant in their opposition to further explorations of the Temple area.

(2) The second, and perhaps the greatest, source of opposition is from the Moslem Arabs, who feel that any excavations under the Mosque itself could weaken the structure and cause its collapse. Also, they know that this kind of excavation could be performed for only one purpose – to gather information for a possible rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. This, of course, they would never permit. It could trigger a full-scale war between Israel and the Arab nations!

Immediately following the Six-Day-War, Israel Eldad, one of Israel's famous historians, was interviewed. When he asked about the possibility of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem, he replied:

"When the Jewish people took over Jerusalem the first time, under King David, only one generation passed before they built the Temple, and so shall it be with us!"

What Eldad said in jest may be just the thing that will happen.

When ask about the problem of the Dome of the Rock being on the Jewish Temple site, he replied:

"Who knows, perhaps there will be an earthquake!"

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