Jewish people praying at the Kotel, 2023
(All Scriptures are from NKJV)
Hi. I’m Art Wolinsky. For those of you who don’t know, I’m Jewish, the son of two Jewish parents whose families immigrated to America from Russia, Poland, and Hungary, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Toward the end of His time on this earth in the famous Olivet Discourse Yeshua, Jesus, gave a prophetic talk to His apostles about the future and what he said in Mt 24:15 is relevant to the Temple:
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
The abomination of desolation refers to something from before the time of Jesus and to something that is yet future to the time we’re in right now. And in both cases the Temple is intimately involved. We’ll talk about this more in a moment.
But first, just a short review of the history of the Temple. Not long after the Israelites were delivered from bondage in Egypt, God gave Moses instructions for constructing a Tabernacle so that He could dwell in the midst of His people:
“And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain.”
The pattern on the mountain refers to the tabernacle in heaven. Yeshua ascended to that heavenly tabernacle to present His own blood as a sacrifice right after the cross and resurrection. We know this from His conversation with Mary Magdalene:
“Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ””
So we know about the heavenly tabernacle and the earthly tabernacle that Moses built for the Lord. That tabernacle was filled with the Shechina Glory, the Glory of the Lord.
After the Israelites were settled in their Land, Solomon built the original Temple, the first Temple. He was directed to do so by the Lord through his father David: The design plans for the First Temple were given by direct divine revelation, the same manner in which Moses had received the plans for the Tabernacle on Mount Sinai. King David received the divine design and communicated the details of the plans for the Temple and all its furnishings to his son Solomon as recorded in 1 Chronicles 28:11-19. We, the readers of these Scriptures, are just given a bare summary of the details of this temple. David was given all the details by the Spirit and David wrote them down for his son Solomon (David gave his son Solomon the plans). The description of what Solomon did in following these plans, i.e., building the Temple and its furnishings and setting everything up, is to be found in 2 Chronicles 3:1- 5:11.
The Glory of the Lord was most definitely in this Temple. This is described in 1 Kings 8:10–11:
And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
But as the prophet Ezekiel tells us the Glory of the Lord departed from this Temple before it was destroyed by Babylon. The departure is described beginning in Ezekiel 10:3–4:
Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory.
And the Glory of the Lord continues to depart:
Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
And the departure continues:
So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.
And subsequently the Shechinah Glory was no longer seen in Israel.
The Temple was destroyed and the final exile of the people of Israel occurred in 586 BC.
After 70 years of exile about 50,000 Israelites returned to the Land and Zerubbabel (Zechariah 4:8-9), the governor of Judah and grandson of one of the last kings of Judah, built the Second Temple.
8 Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the LORD.
This Second Temple built by Zerubbabel was Temple 2A. It wasn’t as grand as Solomon’s Temple and the Glory of the Lord did not inhabit it. The Ark disappeared with the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BC. Therefore, in the Second Temple during the Day of Atonement the high priest could only pour the blood on the barren stone within the Holy of Holies. This temple was badly damaged by Antiochus IV, a Syrian king who ruled from 175-164 BC and who ordered that the Jewish customs and religion be essentially annihilated. Although his name was Antiochus IV, he added the name “Epiphanes,” which means “the manifest God,” because he believed himself to be God. Antiochus issued a decree forbidding the practice of Judaism including circumcision and the practice of the reading of the Law. He ordered all of the scrolls of the Law to be confiscated and burned. He instituted a policy of persecution for those who disobeyed his decree including the murder of a great many Jews. He was also guilty of the Abomination of Desolation: a statue was erected to Jupiter in the Temple Precincts, and a pig was offered on the altar of burnt offering.
This is described in 1 Maccabees an apocryphal book of historical value found in some of our Bibles.
(NRSV): 54 Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-fifth year, they erected a desolating sacrilege on the altar of burnt offering.
(NRSV): 60 According to the decree of Antiochus, they put to death the women who had their children circumcised, 61 and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mothers’ necks.
This desecration of the second temple (2A) was the first abomination of desolation and a type of the one yet to come. This is described in Daniel chapter 8.
“And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but not with its power. “And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the transgressors have reached their fullness, A king shall arise, Having fierce features, Who understands sinister schemes.”
This king with fierce features is Antiochus Epiphanes who was a foreshadowing of the ultimate end times Antichrist. I think that you can see that Antiochus desired to eradicate the Jewish religion and the Jewish people and that is what the end times Antichrist will attempt to do.
The desecration of Temple 2A led to the Maccabean revolt which was successful and the rededication of this Temple is memorialized in the Jewish festival of Chanukah. You can read about this in detail in the book of First Maccabees.
This festival of Chanukah is mentioned once in the Bible in John 10:22–23, NKJV:
Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
Temple 2A was left in poor condition after what Antiochus did to it and the ravages of time also contributed. This temple stood for about 400 years.
Let’s talk about Temple 2B. Herod the Great decided to restore and enlarge the Second Temple and you could call the resulting very grand Temple, Temple 2B. That’s the Temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, as prophesied by Yeshua, ending the Jewish form of worship handed down to the Jewish people through Moses and resulting in the Rabbinic Judaism that we have today.
This was a fulfillment of Matthew 23:37-39:
““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ””
and this was also a fulfillment of Hebrews 8:13: In that He says, "A NEW COVENANT," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
The significance of these prophecies being fulfilled was incalculable to the Jewish people and their religion of Judaism !
Rabbinic Judaism represents an attempt at continuing the religion that the Pharisees practiced in the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth without the Temple. You could say that modern orthodox rabbis are the descendants of the Pharisees. Please remember that not all the Pharisees were bad.
Today you can stand on the Southern steps of Temple 2B, steps that led up to that very Temple, Herod’s Temple. The Western Wall of that Temple is also known as the Kotel which means wall in Hebrew. Does the fact that the Western Wall is still standing contradict what Jesus said ?
Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
No. The Southern steps and the Western Wall were not part of the Temple proper.
Before we leave the Second Temple I want to again read Hebrews 8:13:
In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
I believe that what the author of Hebrews was referring to was the Jewish religion that required the Temple and all the sacrifices. That all ended in 70 AD when the Second Temple, 2B, was destroyed. That destroyed the Judaism that was practiced then and the religion has never recovered.
This was a fulfillment of Matthew 9:16-17:
“No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.””
Religious Jews living in the Second Temple Era (2B) knew of a warning about what was coming, written down later in the Talmud:
Quote from Yoma 39 B: (The William Davidson Talmud on Sefaria.org)
The Sages taught: During the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God on Yom Kippur always arose in the High Priest’s right hand; after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, the lot for God did not arise in the High Priest’s right hand at all. So too, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the scapegoat that was sent to Azazel did not turn white, and the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually.
What about the Third Temple? This is what The Temple Institute is concerned with (this Temple will be present during the Tribulation, definitely during the second half of the Tribulation). It is an attempt to return to the religion practiced before 70 AD. This Temple is going to play a major role in the fulfillment of prophecy and God will use it . But from the point of view of religious worship, is God pleased about this Temple? No. For God to be pleased with the Third Temple He’d be contradicting Himself. The Shekinah Glory will not be in this Temple.
How do we know that there will be a third temple and how do we know that it will be present during the 7 year Tribulation? We know it because of what our Bible tells us. Let me read a few verses to you from Daniel and from 2 Thessalonians and from Revelation.
“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.””
“And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.
“Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.”
“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
That is the future Abomination of Desolation.
So from these verses we can deduce that there will be a Third Temple, and we are told of a future Abomination of Desolation and of the Antichrist.
This Third Temple will be used as part of God’s plan to bring to pass the six things that must be completed for the Jewish Nation to enter the Millennial Kingdom:
““Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To 1. finish the transgression, To 2. make an end of sins, To 3. make reconciliation for iniquity, To 4. bring in everlasting righteousness, To 5. seal up vision and prophecy, And to 6. anoint the Most Holy.”
This Third Temple will play a role in breaking the power of the Jewish people who worship in this Temple because as we read in Daniel 12:7:
“Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.”
These things, described in the verses below, will be completed in the second half of the Tribulation:
““Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),”
“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.””
This great Tribulation which begins in the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week - after the first half or 1260 days - is going to cause the Remnant of Israel - those who do not accept Antichrist as Messiah and God - to cry out for deliverance and that’s when this will happen:
““And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”
The Jewish people, the Remnant, as a nation, will repent of their rejection of Yeshua as Messiah. They will know what they must do:
““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ””
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.”
In Hebrew that’s Baruch Ha Ba B’Shem Adonai. The Jewish people will say that at the end of the 7 year Tribulation.
There will be a Fourth Temple, the Millennial Temple, that God will build on His return. It is described in Ezekiel chapters 40-47 and you can read about it there. It will be a Temple like nothing that has ever been seen before.
Jesus will be Lord of this Temple and the Shekinah Glory will be there most powerfully.
Now what does all of this mean for us, for me and you?
If you’re born again, whether you are Jewish or Gentile, a follower of Yeshua, you won’t be present during the time of the Antichrist because you’ll be caught up to meet Yeshua in the air, you’ll be raptured. You won’t be present on this earth when God’s wrath is poured out on it.
But what about our Jewish brothers and sisters?
One day soon “all Israel will be saved”:
“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”” That Deliverer is Yeshua, Jesus.
This will happen at the end of the Tribulation. But what about now?
God’s program today is still for the gospel to go “to the Jew first”. God’s pattern from
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
This has never been abolished. There is no statute of limitations on it. So seek to share the good news with Jewish people that you meet and those you know. Let the Holy Spirit lead you to just say a word or perhaps to say more. All Israel won’t be saved until the end of the Tribulation but individual Jews can be saved now and that is happening more and more. God desires that. He loves the Jewish people. Most Jewish people outside of Israel today are led to the Lord by Gentile believers. Maybe that will be you. In Israel today there are already 30,000 Jewish believers.
I want to close in prayer:
“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.”
Brothers and Sisters, that is the Millennial Kingdom which will last for a thousand years and then Eternity. Let’s all look forward to that together, yes? Praise Him! Hallelujah!
I have no doubt that your writing is guided by The Holy Spirit, Art! Another beautifully crafted work! I thank God for your friendship and for working through you! You touch so many hearts and plant so many seeds of faith!
Gratitude towards you today ,Doc.
This explanation of The Temples’ timeline and each building’s significance is vital to every Believer as we anticipate His Return .
So much blah , blah has been passed off as knowledge on the net & in books .. a din of opinions .
I feel the wise calmness of The Spirit in your delivery . Please never retire from sharing with us .