The Devil's Temple

Biblical prophecy reveals that a third Jewish Temple is going to be built in Jerusalem. That seems impossible when you consider that the whole world literally has turned against Israel these days.

Israel's days seem numbered and many people who despise the Jewish nation hope those days are few. But Israel's not going anywhere. The Jewish nation is going to survive and rebuild her coveted Temple that vanished nearly 2,000 years ago.

But how's that going to happen? Currently, Islam's Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque occupy the Temple Mount that the Jewish Temple once occupied until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. The Al Aqsa Mosque is Islam's third holiest site, and if Israel tried to remove that structure, a violent war would break out in Jerusalem that would likely involve many nations.

And so, Islam's Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque will be removed by none other than the Antichrist when he assumes control of a world government. Before he authorizes the new Temple, he will have cleared Islam out of the Middle East and beyond.

How? By force. He will outlaw Islam and all other religions, and he will require everyone to swear allegiance to him and his government. The apostle John wrote: "He also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name." (Revelation 13:16-17)

Those who refuse to worship the Antichrist will be killed if they're caught. Those who are fortunate to elude capture will have to survive on their own instincts because they won't have the Antichrist's dreaded mark. But Islam will certainly no longer exist.

Why will the Antichrist want to protect Israel and allow that nation to rebuild her temple? Because at some point, he will enter that building with a specific purpose. The apostle Paul wrote: "He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God." (2 Thessalonians 2:4)

This man's purpose for the Temple is to establish a place where the world will be required to worship him. But Israel would never cede her sovereignty to him under such circumstances.

Therefore, in exchange for Israel's sovereignty, he will offer to protect the Jewish nation from her enemies (Daniel 9:27) and allow Israel to rebuild her Temple and resume its daily sacrifices as specified by the Mosaic Law. But he will later cancel those sacrifices and set himself up as God in the new Temple.

That seems almost too incredible to be believable. And those who are ignorant of the spiritual war that's been going on between God and Satan since the beginning of time certainly don't understand what this is all about. Satan wants to be God. He wants to be worshiped as God, a fact that the prophet Isaiah revealed nearly 2,800 years ago. (Isaiah 14:9-20)

Satan doesn't want to be worshiped as Allah, Krishna, Baal or Molech. He wants to be worshiped as Jesus Christ. And he wants to fool human beings into believing that his man the Antichrist is the genuine Christ when he appears. And tragically, millions of biblically illiterate people will fall for this counterfeit when he arrives.

Remember that this counterfeit won't be your run-of-the-mill false messiah. He'll be backed by satanic power. Paul wrote: "The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

This counterfeit will come from the Roman Catholic Church. (Revelation 17) The Catholic Church believes that Jerusalem belongs to her alone and to no one else. She also believes that she must build Christ a new temple so he can return and establish his earthly kingdom. Therefore, it's imperative to Rome that she acquire Jerusalem and build Christ's temple in preparation for his return.

In the final part, who Rome's "Christ" really is and what's going to happen when he defiles Israel's new temple.