World Peace and the Third Temple?

A Day of Mourning

For most of the world, today is August 5th.  In Israel, though, it’s Tisha b’Av, or the 9th of Av.  It’s a day of deep mourning as the nation remembers multiple tragedies that have befallen them on this date.

There are numerous links to events taking place on the 9th of Av, but some of the historically better known ones include:

• God’s judgment against Israel, decreeing that none of the generation coming out of Egypt would enter the Promised Land because of the sin of the ten spies (Numbers 13-14)
• Destruction of the First Temple (586 B.C.)
• Destruction of the Second Temple (70 A.D.)
• Expulsion of the Jews from England (1290)
• Expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492)

The most notable calamity that the Jews recall on this date is the repeated destruction of the First and Second Temples.  These disasters stand out because the Temple is central to Jewish life.

• The Temple houses the presence of God
• The Temple is the place where sacrificial ordinances are carried out
• The Temple is the focal point for gathering to celebrate three of the Biblical feasts
• The Temple is to be in place for Messiah to reign

To the Jew, the Temple is crucial.  Without it, life is not complete.

Solution for World Peace?

In Jerusalem, there’s a group that believes it has the answer to Israel’s woes.  In an article published last week by The Times of Israel, the Temple Institute’s Indiegogo campaign to rebuild the Third Temple was announced.  And according to the campaign statement, the building of the Third Temple will “usher in a new era of universal harmony and peace.”

The Temple Institute has been dedicated to preparing for the Third Temple for some time now; this is not a newly devised concept.  It is, however, the first time I have read a statement purporting it to be the solution for world peace, and it’s alarming to imagine how many read that article without the full knowledge and understanding of Biblical truth.  The construction of the Third Temple is an end-time reality; however, the harmony and peace that it ushers in will be nothing but deceptive and short-lived, and it will not be God’s Messiah who is seated on the throne.

Israel mourns today that the Temple no longer exists.  They long to fulfill their purpose as God’s people.  However, the Temple described in “Want World Peace? ‘Build the 3rd Temple'” is not the answer.

Israel is a mission field that needs our fervent prayers.  God longs for the salvation of the Jewish people more than they long for a Temple, and there are missionaries in Israel devoted to showing them the true way to lasting peace through Jesus.  Remember Israel and remember the missionaries toiling for their salvation.

• Pray that the eyes of the Jewish people’s hearts will be open, that they recognize that reconciliation to God does not come through a building, but through the Person Yeshua.

• Pray for the missionaries in Israel and throughout the world who are working to bring the gospel to the Jewish people.  Pray for an anointing on their words and ways, wisdom and strength to persevere, protection and help in time of need.

But if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?  (Romans 11:15)