A Foundational Piece of Intel

     John now begins to prophesy again, recording the vision he is seeing. Chapter 11 picks up where the overview left off—the wrath of that Day. This term refers specifically to the first 3½ years of the last 1,000-year Day. The bulk of this second part of the Revelation contains the supplemental visions of the events introduced in the overview. We shall see the events from different camera angles and in more detail.
       To recap, we’ve seen that the heavenly immortal government of Christ and His Body has been seated in Heaven. Its ruling declarations have released the first six trumpet judgments, the indictments against evil. Despite all that was unleashed, the nations still refuse to repent. Their hearts are hardened.
        As the vision continues, John is given an unusual task. It has to do with the flashpoint of the 3½-year war for Jerusalem. He is given a reed to measure the temple, the altar, and those who worship there. But he is to leave out the courtyard outside the temple for it has been given over to the Gentiles. What we are seeing is the Temple Mount.
       But wait, wasn’t the Temple destroyed in 70 AD during the Roman siege? Wasn’t that when Israel was scattered across the nations, in what is known as the Diaspora and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble? Yes, indeed. Which confirms the Old Testament prophecies that another deed has to be done first. That is, rebuilding the Jewish Temple on the Mount of Olives.
         As you may know, this isn’t as easy as it sounds because currently there is a flat plaza surrounded by retaining walls, which were originally built by King Herod in the first century BC as an expansion of the Second Jewish Temple.  The plaza now holds two structures built by Islamic caliphates after Jerusalem was captured under the successive Islamic empires. One is the main praying hall of al-Aqsa Mosque and the other is the Dome of the Rock, near the center of the hill.
       End-Time Lesson: We know from many Old Covenant prophecies, particularly Daniel 8, that somehow the Jews will be able to rebuild their Temple. For some time now, that has seemed unlikely given the hostilities between Israel and its Islamic neighbors. But as we saw in a recent blog, God’s Word always comes to pass. We know that one of the signs of the end of this age is a rebuilt Jewish temple.
        Lo and behold, a new president is elected in the United States, and he is who working on a gesture of peace to bring together the “Abrahamic family.” It will be like a Kum-Ba-Yah moment, where we seek to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony! (Okay, so I’m aging myself here, but you get my drift).
          The Apostle Paul alerted us that at the time of the end, Israel will be saying, “Peace and safety!” But then sudden destruction shall come upon them like a pregnant woman. (Keep this birth pains image tucked in the back of your mind because it will come in handy shortly. Paul’s fateful announcement as to this sudden invasion is: “And they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 5:3).
         Paul’s warning is preceded by a critical statement to believers: “For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (v.2). It concludes with an equally critical statement to believers. “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief” (v. 4). In short, if you understand the times and seasons of God’s prophetic Days, none of this should throw you. That’s what this blog and this ministry is all about.
      If you’ve been following along, you’ve seen how the New Testament has shown us why we can see that Day approaching. We’ve covered Daniel’s prophetic visions concerning the time of the end, particularly warning of a sudden and swift Gentile invasion bent on destroying Israel (Dan. 8:1-14). In case you’re wondering, the time frame mentioned there is the same 3½ years that is the wrath of that Day and the war for Jerusalem.
          But why do they invade if they have agreed to the rebuilding of a Temple? Daniel 8:13 gives the answer. It is one thing to rebuild a temple-like structure to highlight the Jewish culture in much the same way as the Dome of the Rock does for Muslims. It is another thing to allow the animal sacrifices to be resumed. This bloody practice has repulsed many over the centuries.
            As for God, He considers this an abomination because it counts the blood sacrifice of God’s Son as useless (Heb. 10:11-14; Heb. 9:11-15). No wonder Daniel prophesies that because of this transgression, “an army was given over to the horn [the Antichrist] to oppose the daily sacrifices” (Dan. 8:12).