The Tribulation Period Series

NOTE: This Bible study on the end times comes from the perspective of a pre-tribulation Rapture.

Now that we’ve finished covering the 21 plagues, such as the Seven Seals, the Seven Trumpets, and the Seven Bowls, we can go back and begin looking at some of the narrative sections of Revelation. These sections provide us with some details about The Tribulation Period; including the work of the Antichrist, the role of Israel and the remaining Christians of this time period.

Tonight, we will cover Revelation chapters eleven and twelve, in which we will encounter the Third Temple, the Two Witnesses, a Woman, a Child, and a Great Dragon; and as we go along, please be filling out the provided handout.

(Refer to Handout: “The Symbolism of Chapters 11 and 12”)

The Third Temple

Turn with me in your Bibles, and let’s read Revelation 11:1-2:

1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.”

• Why do you think John was commanded to measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there?

He was commanded to do so in preparation, because another temple was about to be built; a third Jewish temple.

The first temple was built in 950 B.C. by King Solomon, and then it was destroyed by Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. The second temple was built in 515 B.C. by Zerubbabel after the Israelites returned from the Babylonian Captivity, and then it was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70.

“It has been nearly two thousand years since there has been a Jewish temple on Mt. Moriah. Since A.D. 691 the Muslim shrine, the Dome of the Rock, has stood on the site of the ancient Jewish temple. Ever since the Jewish people began returning to the Promised Land, there has been talk of building a third temple. There is presently a Temple Institute in Jerusalem that is dedicated to reconstructing the instruments of worship for the new temple” (Hindson).

“Several passages of Scripture refer to the Temple of the end time. In Matthew 24:15, the Lord Jesus referred to the ‘abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel,’ indicating that at the end time, in the middle of the Tribulation period as Daniel predicated, a temple will be desecrated by the Antichrist. In order for this to be fulfilled, it must first be rebuilt. Likewise, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-13, the Apostle Paul predicted that the Antichrist, in the middle of the Tribulation, would defy God by sitting in the Temple of God and presenting himself to the world as God. In order for him to do this, that temple has to be rebuilt” (LaHaye).

As long as the Dome of the Rock stands on Mt. Moriah, the new temple will not be built. Edward Hindson tells us that the only way the Dome of the Rock could be removed from its present location is if it were “destroyed by warfare, terrorism, or a natural disaster, like an earthquake.” In an MSNBC NEWS article, it has been stated that there is the potential for a large earthquake to occur in Jerusalem. I am going to read for you the first three paragraphs of that article:

A geological survey says the heart of biblical narrative, Jerusalem’s walled Old City, would be among the worst hit parts of the city in the event of another earthquake because it rests on layers of debris, not solid rock. A natural disaster in the Old City could also bring devastating political aftershocks because it is the fiery heart of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

“The three-year study, conducted by the Geological Survey of Israel and released this week, found that the Old City is more at risk than modern neighborhoods because of its ancient construction and the underground layers of shifting debris left behind by ransacking armies,” said Amos Bein, the center’s director.

“The layer below is not made of solid rock, but rather a kind of rubble,” Bein said. Those weak foundations could magnify an earthquake’s seismic wave . . . Most at risk, the report says, is the Old City and the eleven-acre elevated plaza housing two major mosques, including the gold-capped Dome of the Rock.

So, the potential exists for a massive earthquake that could destroy the Dome of the Rock and make way for a third Jewish temple to be built. LaHaye says the Temple will be rebuilt at the beginning of the Tribulation, for in the middle of that period, the Antichrist will set up his idol in the Temple. So, if you ever hear a news announcement that the construction of the new Temple will soon commence, then get ready for the rapture!