The Temple Mount is on fire – what is going on? Well Israel was celebrating Jerusalem Day when it erupted in violence by Palestinian Hamas firing rockets into Jerusalem and attacking Israeli Police on the Temple Mount. Israel365 News reports –

“Arab violence continued through Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) and culminated on Monday night in what can only be described as a pitched battle on the Temple Mount. At one point, fireworks thrown by Arabs ignited a large tree standing adjacent to the Aqsa Mosque, presenting the answer to Jewish prayers based on a prophecy by Zechariah that the Temple which was destroyed by fire will be rebuilt in fire.” – Israel365 News

Tisha B’Av (a ninth of av) is a fast day remembering the destruction of the former Jewish Temples, both of which happened on the 9th of Av. The last paragraph of the prayers includes this prayer –

“For thou, O LORD, hast kindled a fire. And in the fire thou shalt build it. As it is said: “And I will be to her, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about, and in my honor, I will be in it,” (Zechariah 2:5) Blessed are you, O Lord the comfort of Zion and builder of Jerusalem”

The Rabbis are interpreting this fire on the Temple Mount as a harbinger of Zechariah’s prophesy. Rabbi Yosef Berger, rabbi of King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion weighed in saying: “The Arabs may have seen this as a victory but the fire last night will continue until it consumes them,” Rabbi Berger said. “The last time there was a fire like this on the Temple Mount was the destruction of the Second Temple. The Arabs thought they were repeating that but what they failed to understand was that according to the prophecy, it is precisely this fire which signals the return of the Temple.”

The last Arab terrorist attacks on the Temple Mount, several years ago, resulted in Israel declaring sovereignty over the Temple Mount and placing metal detectors on all the Arab entrances to the Mount. It also resulted in a relaxing of Israeli law and allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount. So, what will be the result of this terrorist attack?

While political pressure is against Israel, that has not stopped the Temple proponents from continuing their work for the restoration of the Temple. The Temple Institute, has produced all the ritual vessels necessary for the function of the Temple and works to train priests for this future work. In fact several schools have been established in Israel to train priests for the ministry of the Temple.

“Archaeologists discovered in decades-old research that the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque, which Muslims believe was built by Abraham, was once a place for Jewish ritual preparation for entering the Temple. The evidence for this came from a report filed by British archaeologist Robert Hamilton who had documented excavations of the mosque’s foundations after it was destroyed in an earthquake in 1927.” (Quote taken from Update on the Building of the Third Temple, Jewish Voice). The Biblical Red Heifer is now available in Israel. It’s ashes mixed with water are needed to purify the priests who minister. Another recent rediscovery of the Temple Institute has been the revival of the science of producing biblical crimson. This dye was used in the garments of the High Priest, the parochet (the massive curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place in the Temple), and was an ingredient used in the mixture combined with ashes of the Red Heifer. The Temple Altar has also been constructed. The planting of the Biblical Temple forest which will serve the agricultural needs of the Third Temple has also been accomplished.

The time for the Third Temple and it’s ministry is fast approaching. Some believe it will come about through a 7 year covenant made with the Antichrist but, I think the Temple may be rebuilt before that time. President Trump set in motion a new momentum for building it, that has not slowed down. The stealing of the U.S. election by Biden has slowed down the process some and Israel no longer has the U.S. support it had under Trump, but a sudden reversal in U.S. politics could turn that around. Israel’s government is also floundering with no Prime Minister named but, the issue of the Third Temple could also be the turning point. Arab terrorism is promoting an attitude in Israel that says, “so the Arabs don’t like it, so what! If it brings another Arab war, we have that anyway in this so-called peace!”  It is just such an attitude that will encourage the rebuilding of the Third Temple.

It was said of Trump –

“What he did … was an enormous step in bringing the Temple,” said Asaf Fried, official spokesman for the United Temple Movement, an association of organizations working towards making the Third Temple a reality.