Mulling over Daryl Stout to STEVE ASHER 20 Sep 2005

Hi Daryl...

SA>The prophets foretell that once the temple is rebuilt, the Messiah
  >will descend and establish his throne on that holy hill. The Muslims
  >have sealed off the Mount's eastern gate (also known as the Golden
  >Gate) in an apparent attempt to deny him entry.

 DS>   I believe that the temple will be rebuilt during the tribulation
 DS> (prophecy demands it), as the Beast will enter it in the middle of
 DS> the Tribulation, desecrating it, and having images of himself set
 DS> up. The two witnesses (who I believe will be Enoch and Elijah) will
 DS> point out that this temple is nothing but a nationalistic,
 DS> religionistic sham...and that all prophecies were fulfilled in
 DS> Jesus Christ. With all the calamity prophesied during the
 DS> Tribulation, I'd be surprised if the Temple would survive to the
 DS> Second Coming.

Yes, even if the Temple is standing, then the splitting you note
below might be violent enough to bring it crashing down, perhaps
unblocking the Golden Gate at the same time. At the time that
Jesus died & yielded up his spirit, the Temple had finished its
function... the veil was torn in two & it no longer served its
purpose.

 DS>   Also, if I remember right, there is a huge earthquake fault
 DS> through the region...through the Mount Of Olives and possibly to
 DS> the Temple Mount. A hotel chain was planning to build property in
 DS> the area, but because of the fault, rejected it. The fault is
 DS> apparently so severe that it could split at any time. As Hal
 DS> Lindsey puts it, "it is awaiting The Foot Of Christ on His Return".

 DS>   It wouldn't surprise me if God would cause an earthquake in the
 DS> region, which would level the Mosque Of Omar, and yet cause no
 DS> damage to structures on either side of it. Or could it be that the
 DS> Beast, when he appears, does something to coincide with that, and
 DS> then claim that he engineered that?? If so, many Jews will be
 DS> deceived into thinking The Beast is The Messiah.

I have seen some opinions that contend that the Temple could be built
without demolishing the Dome & Al Aqsa Mosque, but they are basically
"on holy ground", & in my opinion will have to go before the Temple
is built. There are a number of ways this might happen... Western /
Israeli anger & retaliation at some future Islamic atrocity - destroyed
by military force; destroyed by Israeli or Islamic militants / terrorists;
destroyed by order of Antichrist; or by earthquake or collapse as above.

I'm just reading the Temple Mount Faithful web site - their view is that
the Dome of the Rock & Al Aqsa Mosque must be removed before the Temple
Mount can be consecrated to the "Name of G-d" ... they might be removed
& rebuilt at Mecca (I can imagine the "Islamists" agreeing to that. :)

Cheers, Steve..

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