As each year passes, it seems that many Jews are growing increasingly excited at the prospect of constructing a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The trouble is, most Jews believe that the exposed bedrock on which the Ark of the Covenant needs to rest is currently located where the Muslim Dome of the Rock now sits.
The piece of bedrock in question is known in Hebrew as “Even ha-Shetiyah” – the Foundation Stone. It is called the Foundation Stone because Jews believe the world was founded upon it. To support this conclusion, they refer to the passage in Isaiah 28:16: “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily.”
In fact, so central to Jewish teaching is the Foundation Stone that the Midrash Tanchuma, Kedoshim states: “As the navel is set in the center of the human body, so is the land of Israel the navel of the world; as Jerusalem is the center of the land of Israel, so is the sanctuary in the center of Jerusalem; as the holy place is in the center of the sanctuary, and the ark is in the center of the holy place, and the foundation stone is before the holy place, so from it the world was founded.”
Since the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70AD, it has been the heartfelt desire of the Jewish people to rebuild the Temple. This was a precedent set much earlier by Daniel while he was in exile. Daniel 9:17 reads: “Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.”
In fact, to this day, many Orthodox Jews recite these words three times a day: “May it be Thy will that the Temple be speedily rebuilt in our own time.” Orthodox Jews not only believe a new Jewish Temple will benefit Israel, but also the rest of the world. A Statement of Principle from the Temple Institute website states this: “Every prophet of Israel, without exception, prophesied that the Temple would be rebuilt, ushering in a new era of universal harmony and peace unparalleled in the history of man. Thus, the ‘movement’ to rebuild the Holy Temple is not new. It was born almost 2,000 years ago, at the moment of the Second Temple’s destruction. For when the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, it was the soul of Jewish people… and the entire world… as we believe it will be once again.”
Amongst Orthodox Jews, the predominant school of thought is that since the Torah obligates the Jewish nation to rebuild the Temple whenever it becomes possible to do so, Israel has been in national sin since 1967 when they regained sovereignty over the Temple Mount but then allowed administration of it to continue under the direction of the Islamic Waqf. Therefore, in their view, Israel has continually experienced national problems because it has failed to rebuild. However, as we are all aware, until Israeli experts are permitted unrestricted access to the Temple Mount and its associated cave systems, Temple builders are unable to make any definitive plans for construction of the Temple. This is even more important due to the fact that there are various theories on the placement of the Temple within the Temple Mount precinct. Most favour a Temple which includes the Foundation Stone within the Holy of Holies, but other credible locations have been theorised and until they are ruled out, a degree of uncertainty remains.
Of course, remnant believers who are looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, are keenly aware that although there are no signs for the rapture, there is at least one major indicator it is close at hand. That indicator is the status of preparations for the next Jewish Temple to be built on the Temple Mount. That is because the end-times scenario in God’s prophetic Word calls for a Jewish Temple to be standing when the Antichrist rules the world. Therefore, it is no surprise that many of the preparations for the Third Temple have been completed. Aside from the geopolitical and religious ramifications stemming from the Temple’s location, all that remains is for the Ark of the Covenant to be revealed, which many within the Temple movement believe is hidden in the caves beneath the Temple Mount.
With all of that said, it is interesting that the Jewish people connect their chastening to the sin of not building the Temple. Hence, their view on correcting that sin is to focus on the Foundation Stone. But there is another Stone which they should be focusing on – the Stone which the builders rejected. It is their continued rejection of Messiah which is the true reason for their chastening.
Note what 1 Peter 2:6-8 says: “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.”
Did you notice that Peter quotes from Isaiah 28:16 but now confirms it has been fulfilled in the Man Christ Jesus? Because the religious leaders rejected Jesus as a fitting foundation upon which to build, their attention is focused on the bedrock which is located on the Temple Mount. So even though excitement is building in Israel about this rock, I will look forward to the day when the remnant of Israel come to know the Rock – Jesus the Messiah. After all, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:11: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
Let’s continue to pray that the Jewish people will come to realise this truth!
