In spite of the destruction, Christ words, "that no stone will be left upon another in the whole temple" did not come true, for a lot of stones were left standing upon each other in what remained of the walls and the foundations of the temple. And to see the full fulfillment of Christ words, we read history books and hear:
That in 361 AD the roman emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus, a converted Christian who abandoned his faith in Christianity and wanted to prove that Christ words regarding the temple were wrong, he issued a command to rebuild the temple again, so he gathered the Jews to rebuild the temple again, and made available to them all the money and building materials needed for the job. When they started the work, they found that the walls were weakened because of the time elapse and the burning that had taken place previously, so they dismantle the stones of the remaining walls, and to their surprise they found that the foundation were also weak, so they dismantled their stones also, (at this point no two stones were left upon each other). When they began to rebuild the foundations, balls of fire were issued from the foundations and red crosses appeared on the cloths of the workers, so the Jews were scared away and the emperor was forced to abandon the rebuilding process and he died in 363 AD after he had dismantled the last stone of Zerubbabel�s temple and fulfilled Christ words in full.
The Islamic resources, and the encyclopedia Britannica say that, "Big fires took place in the woods that were gathered for the rebuilding process, which scared away the Jews workers and made them think that it was a plaque from God. What is important here is the very fact that, "No two stones of the temple of Zerubbabel were left standing upon each other in full fulfillment with Christ words, he who said, "Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate" ." as in:
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Matthew (23 � 37):
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a
hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!
38 Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate.
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, "
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
Here we say: no two stones of the temple were left upon each other. So where does the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel take place? And what is this desolating sacrilege?? So to understand what Christ is talking about, we read:
First in history books, and we see that in 638 AD the Islamic state invaded and occupied Jerusalem in the days of caliph Umer, who refused to
pray in the church of the Holy Sepulcher because he was afraid that his fellow Moslems might destroy it and turn it into a Moslem shrine, and thus
violate his very peace covenant that he had made with the Christians. So he held his prayer out side upon the very rock which was the only thing left
pin pointing the place of the temple.
In this very spot the ummayyad caliph Muawiyah erected later a mosque to which the Moslems of his state were to visit as pilgrims alternative shrine
to Mecca, as the members of Mohamad�s household in Mecca used to agitate them against him because he had seized their rightful leadership of Islamic
state and kept it to himself. Later on and in its place, the Ummayyed caliph Abid al-Malik ibn Marwan errected the Dome of the Rock in 691 AD. He had sent
and threatened the king of Constantinople to send him the skilled workers and the engineers needed to build a great mosque otherwise he would destroy
all the Christian shrines in Jerusalem! So Constantinople had no alternative but to obey the order of the caliph, who in turn had appointed two men
representing him to supervise the works.
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The building of the Dome of the Rock was completed in 691 AD It did cost all the money which the caliph had gathered as a tribute from Egypt for several years. It surrounded the big rock which stood in the wing of Zerubabbel�s temple, the very place which God had pin pointed to Abraham and king David.
The Islamic rule over the Eastern Jerusalem continued till June 1967 AD, when the Jews returned and occupied and governed it, and with that ending the times of the Gentiles which Jesus Christ had spoken about.
The temple was a place for worship and a place where burnt sin offerings were offered, which without the shedding of their blood no sin could be forgiven in accordance and in conformity with the Law that was given to Moses on top of the mount Sinai in the desert. And as Islam has denied and omitted these sacrifices and what they pointed to, that is, the redeeming cross sacrifice for the forgiveness of men�s sins, and it said that, men thought that they have seen Christ crucified because God had made Jodas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus Christ look like him, and that it was he who was crucified in Christ place as a reward for his betraying action, and as if God wanted to take revenge from all men by making fun of them by deceiving them and making them believe that they have seen with their own eyes the crucifixion of Christ while in fact it was but an illusion.
And instead of the free salvation and redemption of Christ�s crucifixion or through the offerings that pointed to it, Islam gave its followers A Balance" to weigh their good and bad deeds, that is, he whose good deeds out number his bad deeds gets into heaven, and this is the reverse of what the actual Law says , because if it was true, then Adam and Eve who committed only one sin would not have been driven out of paradise as the balance of their good deeds in paradise would have out numbered this very one sin.
With this omission, Islam has denied men the free salvation which the crucifixion of Christ offers them, and instead they became responsible and required to work in accordance with the Law and the commandments and here only one sin takes and balances away the good deeds of a full life time, and hence they will never be able to see the face of the Holy God, as holiness and sin can never go together, don�t forget it was only one sin which caused Adam and Eve�s expulsion out of Paradise.
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So Islam claimed deliberately that the old and new testaments were tampered with, forgetting that, what it had omitted was the whole basis and foundation of the salvation and religion, and this was the recoiling step reversing the Law and the salvation plan of God.
So we go back to Daniel again to see what shall happen in the present and the future:
Daniel ( 7 � 19):
Then I wanted to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly dreadful and whose teeth were of iron, and his
claws of copper, and which devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet,
20 and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up and before which three of them fell, the horn which had eyes
and a mouth that spoke great things, and which seemed greater than his fellows.
21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them.
22 until the ancient of days came, and the judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints received the kingdom.
23 Thus he said, " As for the fourth beast, it shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall
devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces."
24 As for the ten horns out of this kingdom, ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them, he shall be different from the former ones,
and shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to
change the times and laws, and they shall be given into his hands for a time, two times and half a time.
26 But the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end.
Dragon's Plan against God's
We read also in:
The Revelation (13 � 11):
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon.
12 He exercises all the power of the beast, which came before him, and makes the inhabitants of the earth worship the beast whose mortal
wound was healed.
13 he works great wonders, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of men.
14 And he deceives the inhabitants of the earth by means of the miracles which he has the power to do in the sight of the beast,
telling them to make an image of the beast which had the mortal wound of the sword and yet lived.
15 And he had power to give life to the image of the beast, to make it speak and to give the order to slain any one who does not
worship the image of the beast.
16 And he makes all whether small or great, rich or poor, free or slaves to put a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads.
17 So that no one can buy or sell except he who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.
18 This calls for wisdom, let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred and
sixty six.
So who is it? Who can make miracles and yet speak like a dragon and a Devil? So we ask Saint Paul, "Who is it?"
2 Thessalonians (2 - 3):
Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day shall not come, unless the rebellion comes first (the fading and annulment of faith),
and the man of sin, the son of perdition is revealed.
4 who opposes and exalts himself above any God, who is worshipped, he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. �.
7 For the mystery of iniquity is already at work, but something stops and hinders it now (faith), till it is removed out of the way.
8 And the lawless man will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth, and shall destroy
him with the brightness of his coming.
9 The lawless one will come by the works of the Devil, and with every
power and sign and with lies and false miracles.
10 and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish,
because they did not accept the love of the truth, that they may be
saved.
Does anyone have a doubt who he is? Yes, he is the "Anti-Christ" Who shall appear in the little horn, he shall be in Jerusalem when he kills the two witnesses of God. Saint Paul says, "He takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God." This means that he will pretend to be "Jesus Christ" while he is Satan himself. This proclamation takes place in the temple of God. (Which means the desolation in the place and also in the essence of the faith).
The Anti-Christ will bring the terrible persecutions and tribulations on believers in the Son of God, which the prophecies mentioned , and martyrs will fall one after the other, there will be a great tribulation in a fourth of the earth surface, where Anti-Christ will rule, and wars against the rest of the world.
With so much wickedness and suffering, the love and faith of most believers will grow cold, men shall think that he is God himself. His miracles and wonders will lead people astray. He will try to deceive even the elect if possible.
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The Jews who have rejected Jesus Christ and did not believe in the Son of God because he was a humble man, who mounted the back of an ass, and who did not break a bruised reed or quench a dimly burning wick. So they are still waiting for a strong Christ with whom they think they can rule the world. They will love this powerful and strong so-called Christ, who can fulfill their dream. But after a while, their dream will disintegrate and vanish specially when they see his deeds and know his hidden intentions and what he has in store for them. So they will break away from him. And this shall spark and ignite the old hatred and bring back alive old memories between them and Islam, which will have a devastating result for them , they shall become his first and main target. They will become targets for killing and looting, their despoils will be taken away. Then they shall come to know that The Humble Christ whom they have rejected was none but the Christ for whom they have waited all these years, then they will join in worship in the church of, "The Brotherhood of Love", "The Church of Philadelphia". Which shall live and suffer the persecutions and go through the great tribulation.
Here we would like to say a word of truth, "When Jesus the Son of God came he took and accepted the tribulation, and he suffered it on the cross in our place." But," This devilish Christ, the Anti-Christ shall bring great tribulation on all people, yet exalts and dignifies himself."
Now we will consider the meaning of the story of the Temple:
God wanted to make Abraham and mankind understand that he shall offer his
son Jesus Christ, that is why he replaced Isaac whom he had asked Abraham to
offer as a burnt offering on the top of mount Moriah with the ram which
symbolized and pointed to Christ. And as Christ carried the cross on his
back to be crucified with it, here also Abraham placed the wood of the burnt
offering which represented the cross on Isaac�s back.
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The same very place where Abraham offered the ram in place of Isaac, became later on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, which king David bought to build the temple, and from which Christ crucifixion procession started and he completed the redemption of mankind on the cross in Golgotha.
We notice that the builders, the stones cutters and the workers who prepared the materials in king David�s times and to built the temple in king Solomon�s times were from the Gentiles, but were supervised by the Jews, and the Jews worshipped God in the temple when it was completed.
The same thing also happened with the Christ�s church, he himself laid its foundation and planed the salvation to build a new temple in the heavenly Jerusalem, and then he said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come." And this is exactly what happened and took place. The church of God on earth was built by a majority of Gentiles but under the supervision of a few Jewish disciples, and when the building is complete, the Jews will worship God in it and to be exact in God�s church Philadelphia.
We see that God did not ask Jeremiah to take the candlestick and the table to put them in a cave in mount Nebo together with the tent, the ark and the altar of incense, because they represent the seven churches of God and the table that is offered in them, and they will be with the people of earth for all ages and till their times end. These churches will spread the word of God "The Gospel" and gather together all the believers to become but living stones of the heavenly temple that is built in the heavenly Jerusalem, and after whose completion, time ends.
As events passed by till Antiochus Epiphanes defiled the sanctuary and
offered pagan sacrifices to Zeus in 168 BC and caused a great tribulation
for the Jews, here also the desolating sacrilege takes place
when the Anti-Christ enters the temple of God claiming that he is the
Lamb that is the true Christ, he will prosecute the Jews and the
Christians, claming that he is the son of Merry and not the son of God,
and he will deny the redemption saying that he was never crucified,
exactly as Islam had done earlier, he will order the killing of all those
who believe in the true Christ or his salvation, anyone who is found with
a copy of the Old or the New testament will be killed because he will
claim that they are false and tampered with, he will accuse Christians of
having more than one God, and will prevent Christians and Jews from selling
or buying anything unless they bear his sign on their foreheads or their
hands. This will continue for a time, two times, and half a time, that is,
for three and half years, till the real true living Christ
comes on the clouds of the sky with great glory and like sun which
comes from the east and goes down in the west, that all people may
see him together with the sign of his crucifixion as
a final answer to silence those who said that he was not crucified.
At this point we see in:
The Revelation (3 � 12):
12 He who wins, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name.
13 He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
And in:
1 Corinthians (3 � 16):
16 Do you not know that, you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is you.
And in: 1 Peter (2 � 5):
And like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 .. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God�s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
So there will be no more need to build a new temple of stones again, as the building of the living temple will be completed, and whose living stones and pillars are the believers who received Christ peace and were included in his redemption and salvation, and where all will shout and say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
And in: Isaiah (35 � 10):
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Yes, the ransomed of the Lord are his Real Chosen People, who shall come to Zion, that is, The heavenly Jerusalem., which no one can enter, except the actual chosen people of God, those who are saved and redeemed by him, without bombs or fighter airplanes, but only in peace and through its twelve gates.
