Behold, He Who Keeps Israel Shall neither Slumber nor Sleep! ~ Ps. 121

...and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. ~ Psalm 23

Rebuilding The Jewish Temple On The Horizon? ~Prophecy News Watch

"See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes." (Malachi 4:5)

The world is suddenly awash with talk of rebuilding the Jewish Temple. This is one of the last pieces of the jigsaw that yet needs to fall into place. It is another significant indication that we are right at the gates of the Tribulation period itself.

 BY MATT WARD

 The second Temple of Jesus' time was constructed over a period of thirty to forty years. If the Temple were to be constructed today, it would be built in a fraction of that time. The Temple Institute in Israel has already made many of the sacred artifacts needed for use in the Temple itself.

The Temple Institute has prefabricated large sections of the Temple structure, as well as having drawn up comprehensive and complete architectural plans, so that when the right time comes these pre-made sections can simply be taken to the site and built into the superstructure of the Temple itself. It is even possible to visit their website and view an in-depth three dimensional computer tour of what the newly-built Temple will look like after its completion.

Other crucial pieces of the Temple, much more difficult to construct than the building itself, has also been completed and are now ready for use. Based in the Old City area of Jerusalem, the Temple Institute has completed the reconstruction of the sacred Temple altar, to the specific and exacting standards prescribed in the Pentateuch. This absolutely essential piece of the puzzle means that the Jewish nation now has the holy altar necessary once again to begin offering sacrifices. It is the altar itself which would make the sacrifices offered on it holy before God. Aside from the Holy of Holies, it is the lynchpin of the entire Temple. It is now ready for use.

The significance of this development should not be underestimated. Building this altar has been quite an undertaking; approximately 5 meters (16 feet) tall and 16 meters (52.5 feet) wide, with four "horns" or raised corners, and a ramp. It is unique. Nothing like this altar has been seen on this earth in two thousand years.

To complete the preparations, the Temple Institute has also made all the priestly garments necessary for the priesthood to minister, even going so far as to train priestly families in the conduct and expectations of a Priest who ministers inside a newly built Temple.

Passover sacrifices have been reenacted and practiced so that the mechanics of the process are understood and closely adhere to the standards laid out by the Law of Moses. They have, in effect, carried out historically accurate trial runs in preparation for the real thing.

Understanding the various processes is, in itself, is also no small undertaking. The roots of sacrifice are found in the Book of Exodus. In preparation for the 10 plagues on Egypt, the death of the firstborn, God tells Moses to speak to the people of Israel and instruct each household to obtain a lamb on the 10th of Nisan. The lambs should be kept until the 14th, when the people of Israel should slaughter them at dusk. 

Next, they should take its blood and put it on the doorposts and on the lintel of the house in which they were eating. The fire-roasted lamb should then all be consumed that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. This Feast of Passover has been observed ever since, with one exception.  Ever since Jesus Christ died on Calvary as the spotless Lamb of God, the sacrificial lamb has been missing from the Passover celebration. See also: Revelation 5.6

Pure olive oil, fit for use in the Menorah of the Temple, has been produced in the last few months, the only time this has happened since the fall of the Second Temple. The production of four and a half litres of the precious olive oil this year was an extremely complex process due to the necessity of keeping it pure according to Jewish law. In addition, ceramic flasks to hold the oil also had to be made to conform to the standards of religious purity required for use in the Temple itself. The production of the olive oil required precise knowledge of an extremely specialized and complex area of Jewish law.

Oil of this quality has not been produced since the beginning of the Diaspora of the Jews in 70AD. Literally nothing like this has been seen in Israel for almost two millennia.

The Temple Institute is well-advanced in its efforts to produce a Red Heifer of such purity that it satisfies the exacting standards set forth in the book of Leviticus as being suitable to purify and re-dedicate the Temple itself, thus making it fit for worship and sacrifice once again.

A perfect Red Heifer or Para Adumah, a three-year-old female cow with totally red hair that is supposed to be able to restore a state of purity after ritual slaughter is exceptionally rare. Indeed, so rare are perfect Red Heifers that none have been seen for over two thousand years. They just have not been born. Jewish sages and Rabbi s through the ages believed that perfect Red Heifers now being born is, itself, a signal from God that the rebuilding of the Temple should begin in earnest.

Red Heifers are being born right now in 2015-16, and many believe they will meet the exacting standards of perfection as stipulated in the Mishnah. Rabbis within Israel therefore believe that the rebuilding of the Third Temple is an imminent event.

The Temple will ultimately be rebuilt in Jerusalem as it is crucial to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Beginning with Daniel, who had a vision of the Temple in Daniel 9:27, Jesus Himself echoed Daniel s warning about an abomination standing in the holy place in the Last Days in Matthew 24:15. Paul also mentioned it in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. The Temple Institute is making fulfillment of this Biblical prophecy a near reality through their work and dedication.

The only thing that seems to be missing is the political will, the 'go ahead', to move this process forward. All things humanly possible are being done to prepare for the rebuilding of the Third Temple.

However, hugely significant problems remain which must be overcome before even a stone can be put down.

For political and safety reasons, rebuilding a Temple would seem almost an impossibility at present. This is because Islam currently controls the Temple Mount and for Jews to destroy the Dome on the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque so as to build the Jewish Temple would likely provoke an immediate world war.

Amazingly, these political and safety impediments on rebuilding the Temple are not the most significant problems.

The current raging debate within Judaism is exactly who has the authority to begin the rebuilding process of the Temple itself? Is it God, the Messiah or someone else? Nobody really knows and there is no consensus on this absolutely vital issue within Judaism.

Without resolution of who has the authority to rebuild there can be no Temple, and these are the reasons why.

The question of who has the authority to begin the rebuilding process exists because nobody today really knows exactly where the Holy of Holies from the Second Temple was located on the Temple Mount. This is the reason why Jews are forbidden from entering the precise area where the second Temple was built, lest they inadvertently stand on the sacred and consecrated area which housed the Holy of Holies. To do so, even inadvertently, is punishable by death under Mosaic Law.

The second major stumbling block is that all Jews are currently ritually impure, which also prevents any Jews from entering the precise area where the Temple used to stand. In order to become ritually pure Jews would need the ashes of a Red Heifer, administered by a priest who could trace his family and ancestral lineage back far enough to validate his claim to priesthood. No such priest exists who can trace his lineage to this exacting standard. The reason is that when Israel and Judah were dispersed to the four corners of the world, all lineage records were lost.

This therefore means that under Mosaic Law there are no priests eligible to administer the ashes of a Red Heifer and therefore able to make Jews ritually pure enough to enter the Temple complex area. It is a terrible Catch-22 situation.

The next major problem concerns the Altar of the Temple itself, specifically the location of the Altar. The Law of Moses is very precise about exactly where the Altar must be located. It cannot go just anywhere; it needs to be in exactly the right place. When they built the Second Temple the Jews used reliable witnesses who could testify to the correct spot. In fact, the prophets Haggai, Zephaniah and Malachi are believed within Judaism to have been the three witnesses used to verify the Altar s correct location.

No such witnesses exist today. Even if a Temple could be built, they could never offer sacrifice as they simply do not know where to locate the Altar. They have absolutely no idea where it should go; no idea whatsoever.

Assuming that they were able to rebuild the Temple in exactly the right spot and then locate the Altar allowing for sacrifice, also in exactly the right spot, the Temple would still need Priests whose genealogy can be absolutely determined and verified. No such verification exists anymore. It would be a Temple with no priests.

The next major issue is the High Priest. There can be no functioning Temple without a functioning High Priest. To appoint a High Priest there needs to be a Sanhedrin, 70 - 71 ordained Rabbis acting as the Supreme Council of all Israel. There can currently be no Sanhedrin that satisfies Mosaic Law because each Rabbi must satisfy Mosaic Ordination, which was transmitted from Rabbi to Rabbi since the time of Moses. Mosaic Ordination ceased in 358 AD because of persecution. Although a re-established Sanhedrin was set up in 2004 it still lacks the religious and governmental authority needed to take the process forward. There can be no legitimate Sanhedrin and therefore no legitimate High Priest.

[Note: the priesthood was a familial thing, i.e. you were born into it; not ordained to it. All the priests were Levites; of the Tribe (family) of Levi.  This problem of identifying legitimate priests is now being simplified through the use of DNA]

These problems would seem insurmountable. There is no human solution to them.  On the face of things then, there can be no Temple.

Jewish tradition does provide an answer though, as does scripture. Scripture strongly suggests that the person who may well provide the necessary authority to begin the rebuilding process of the Third Temple will be the Prophet Elijah himself.

Jesus, in Matthew's Gospel revealed that at the end Elijah, "...will restore all things..." (Matthew 17:11). According to Jewish tradition it will be Elijah who will reveal himself to the Jews before the advent of Messiah. In revealing himself he will also answer all questions and resolve all doubts. He will be the necessary authority to reveal the exact location of the Holy of Holies and the precise location of the Altar. 

It will be Elijah who will be able to reveal to the Priesthood their exact genealogies, it will be Elijah himself who will be able to reinstitute Mosaic Ordination for Rabbis, thus finally enabling the reestablishment of a legitimate Sanhedrin and High Priest.

And further to satisfy Mosaic Law, which prescribes the presence of Two Witnesses as being necessary for legal satisfaction (Deuteronomy 19:15) Elijah will also likely return with another great prophet of old, Moses, through whom the Law was delivered.

This is exactly the picture we see revealed in Revelation during the first half of the Tribulation period,

"And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner." (Revelation 11: 4-6)

In the book of Jude, we come across the strange passage detailing Michael, the Archangel, disputing with Satan over the body of Moses,

But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, the Lord rebuke you (Jude 1:9)

There is clearly something unique about the body of Moses and although he did die, perhaps God has a miraculous purpose for him in the last days.  The only other person besides Elijah to not die was Enoch, who was taken up to heaven, and as such many scholars also suggest he could yet be this 2nd witness who accompanies Elijah.  

These two men appear to be the only exception to the scripture in Hebrews that tells us man is "appointed once to die" (Hebrews 9:27) and perhaps it is because of this role in the last days in which their death and miraculous resurrection on the streets of Jerusalem would yet fulfill this scripture and baffle the world.

When these men are put to death (temporarily) in Jerusalem, we are told in Revelation 11 the whole world sees it and celebrates. Interestingly enough, there is great controversy today among Israel, Jordan, the United States and the Palestinian Authority over a proposal to install security cameras in the Temple Mount area - which would capture such events for the whole world to see.

The testimony of these two witnesses would be during the first 42 months of the Tribulation Period and it would be a testimony for Jesus Christ against Antichrist.

Is it also incidental that 1,260 days is 42 months exactly, the amount of time God gives for the first half of the Tribulation period? Is it also merely coincidental that the amount of time the Jewish priesthood would need to perform all the necessary purification rites and rituals as prescribed in the Torah to purify and inaugurate the new Temple would also last exactly 42 months, from the initial ritual of purification to the final one?

42 months of testimony, 42 months to compete purification, 42 months designated for the first half of the Tribulation.

Scripture tells us that at the midpoint of the Tribulation, after 42 months, the Temple will be desecrated by the Antichrist.

Scripture suggests that Elijah will return soon to the Jewish people at the very beginning of the Tribulation period. He will then restore all things, (Matthew 17:11), appoint the reconstruction of the Temple, reinstitute the Rabbinical priesthood according to the Law of Moses defining who is eligible for priesthood and who is not. He will also re-form the Sanhedrin which will then oversee the appointment of a new High Priest. Elijah will guide the building of this Temple once it has been started until it reaches its conclusion at the Tribulation s mid-point.

Scripture also tells us, ominously, one other important thing concerning the Two Witnesses,

"If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die." (Revelation 11:5)

Elijah and his companion will actively defend the Temple and its rebuilding process until the 42-month process is complete. They would have to, because if the Temple were to be rebuilt today, the whole Muslim world would come against them.

The growing excitement and speculation over the potential rebuilding of the Temple is a huge indicator that the very end of this age is at hand.

  

Why Women Live Longer Than Men ~ #19

25 Photos That Show Reasons Why Women Live Longer Than Men.  

#19.

If I Encounter Resistance, Am I Out of God's Will? ~ Daniel Kolenda

We've all heard clichés such as, "Where God guides He provides" or "What God ordains He sustains."

And while there is an element of truth in trite adages such as these, they can often give a false impression that if someone is in God's will, everything will be easy. This misunderstanding can cause a person to constantly question God's call and His will.

What happens when the bank account is empty and challenges arise on every side? Do we then conclude that God is not with us? Should we turn back or quit when the going gets rough?

If you continually trust in God, you will eventually emerge from your wilderness. 

Following the call of God does not guarantee that we will not encounter difficulties and hardships. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite. Jesus told His disciples in John 16:33, "In this world you will have trouble" (NIV). Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12 that everyone who lives a godly life will suffer. But in the midst of the suffering there is peace, and every difficulty we encounter shapes our character and brings us closer to God.

Many people are familiar with the verse "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom.8:28). But many do not realize that when the apostle Paul penned those words, he was actually talking about suffering and hardships. He was saying that even these difficulties work together for our good if we love God and are called according to His purpose. Being in God's will does not guarantee that we will evade trouble and adversity, but it does guarantee that every trial we face will be an agent of God's love, actively working for our good in the end.

The Scriptures are full of stories about "wilderness" experiences great men and women of God endured. The accounts of their hardships and difficulties are not simply incidental digressions. They are central elements of their stories because God used the wilderness to transform these ordinary people into heroes of the faith.

Jesus in the Wilderness of Temptation 

In Luke 4 we read about the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Verse 1 says, "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." As I have already pointed out, Jesus was not led into the wilderness by the devil. The verse says He was led into the wilderness by the Spirit!

Many times when we find ourselves in a wilderness experience, we immediately begin rebuking the devil. But it may actually be God leading us into the wilderness. Why would God do this to us? Why would He do this to Jesus? It is because of the next thing I would like to point out in Luke's rendition of the temptation story.

Luke 4:1 says that when Jesus went into the wilderness, he went in "full of the Holy Ghost." But at the end of the story, when Jesus came out of the wilderness, it says, He "returned in the power of the Spirit" (v. 14, emphasis added). There is something about the wilderness that produces powerful men and women of God. The wilderness is God's training ground, and it is often a prerequisite for promotion. Even Jesus had to go through it.

It is one thing to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have the potential to do great things for God. It is another thing altogether to have walked through the valley of the shadow of death and to emerge victorious on the other side.

There is a big difference between an army cadet in basic training and a battle-hardened veteran, between a new recruit and a war hero who has been tested and tried and has earned his stripes and scars with valor. When you have been through the crisis of faith and experienced God's provision and power, when He has brought you up out of the miry pit and set your feet on the rock, when He has proven His faithfulness to you over and over again, you will emerge from the wilderness knowing and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit that is within you.

This Bible study has been taken from Chapter 16 of Daniel Kolenda's book, Live Before You Die. 

Daniel Kolenda is a missionary evangelist who has led more than 10 million people to Christ face to face through massive, open-air evangelistic campaigns in some of the most dangerous, difficult and remote locations on earth. He is president and CEO of Christ for All Nations and hosts an internationally syndicated television program.

James 4 ~ The WORLD; The FLESH and the DEVIL

James 4: ~ The WORLD; The FLESH & the DEVIL!
James 4 ~ New International Version Submit Yourselves to God 1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4You adulterous people,a don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in usb ? 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”c 7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 11Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sisterd or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? Boasting About Tomorrow 13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.		Chapter 4 ~ James addressed some problems he experienced in his Jerusalem church. Desires and divisions 4:1-10 ·         This passage is talking about fighting within a church body; 1).People at war with each other; 2).People at war with themselves and 3).at war with God. ·         People need to be taken into account for their actions, but it often doesn’t happen within fellowships ·         (Selfishness; Self-centeredness is the root problem) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; ~ Isaiah 53:6 (V.4) “friendship with the WORLD means enmity against God” ·         Lot was a friend of the world; he separated from Abraham & camped ever closer to Sodom and his family suffered the consequences. ·         If I asked for a show of hands as to who here in this room has committed adultery, I’d get some dirty looks from you all.  But the bible says, that if you have “Friendship with the world”, that makes you an adulterer! ;  As Christians we are “married” (figuratively) with Christ; ·         Romans 7:4 “4Likewise, (as in marriage) my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.  ·         This idea (concept) of the believer being married to Christ is found throughout the bible: Jeremiah 3:1-5; Ezekiel 23; and in the first several chapters of Hosea. ·         We need to be faithful to Christ! …not to the world and the world systems. ·         Another enemy of God is “the FLESH” Not the body, but the old nature that keeps coming back and needs to be dealt with frequently. ·         “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”~ Romans 8:6 &7 (V.6)“God opposes the proud; but shows favor to the humble.” ·         The antidote to pride is humility ·         We get humility through God’s grace. (V.7b) ~ “Resist the DEVIL, and he will flee from you.” ·         Devil introduced PRIDE; and it caused him to fall; He is the father of lies & deceit ·         Isaiah 14 & Ezekiel 28 chronicle the history of Satan & we find that sin starts in the heart “I will ascend into heaven; I will be like the Most High; I will, I will, I will …” Satan's use of "I" is sickening! -Sometimes we come under satanic attack and it perhaps is sometimes hard to identify; Recognize who is attacking You and …RESIST!   ·         Sometimes satan will continually accuse us; deceive us …these are his trademarks! ·         Recognize/Resist/Rejoice through victory in Jesus Christ (V.8) ~Come near to God and he will come near to you. ·         How do you program your minds? ·         Psalm 22:3 “He inhabits the praise of His people” ; Praise is his address.  You can change your situation by praising and inviting His prescence. ·         Technology brings filth into our homes & minds….be careful with access to all kinds of media. (V.10) ~ Humble YOURSELVES before the Lord, and he will lift you up. You don't really need to pray for Humility; ...James says to just "HUMBLE Yourself!" · How Spiritual are YOU?    Hmmm …perhaps a better question is …how much do you hate sin?   (Psst...That’s how spiritual you REALLY are!) Speaking evil and *judging 4:11-12 (V.11) 11Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. ~ Romans 8:1 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Planning without God 4:13-17 (v.15) ~"15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that." (v.17) If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. ·        Be Aware of your sins of omission & Sins of commission (The things you DO and the things you DON'T DO!)