"The establishment of the nation of Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy and the very essence of its fulfillment." -- Former US president Jimmy Carter
"The Bible tells us that in the End Times the Jews will have renewed their animal sacrifice." (Common belief of dispensationalists/evangelicals/fundamentalists, etc.)
As the world teeters forward on the rocky track of time, it appears that one small nation manages to consume an inordinate amount of global attention, and exert a disproportionate amount of influence over world affairs. It's indicative that most erudite readers already know what I'm referring to-- the nation of Israel. How has that situation come to be? And what is its significance?
The view that has become entrenched in so-called Christian circles (at least, among a number of 'evangelical' and fundamentalist churches) is that expressed by ex-president Carter, that the Bible predicts the re-establishment of Israel, and as others assert, that a third temple will be built so that animal sacrifices (as described in Leviticus) can resume. There was great furor among those sects after WW-II when a new Jewish homeland was proclaimed in Palestine, and called itself Israel. So, it appears that the first part of 'Biblical prophecy' has been fulfilled, leaving two pieces left (the temple, and animal sacrifices). But the question must be asked: are the fundamentalist claims correct? Are we seeing the fulfillment of Biblical prophecies? My answer (to give you immediate gratification) is 'yes... and no!' Now I will explain this conundrum.
First, we have to go to the scriptures and see if the re-establishment of Israel is, in fact, predicted. By way of background (and to repeat what I've written in numerous other essays) you have to be aware that the people who were the biological descendents of a man called Jacob-- later, renamed Israel-- became a very large 'nation,' divided into twelve tribes, named after Jacob's 12 sons. They split into two separate entities almost 1000 years before Jesus came along, one called Israel (composed of ten tribes), and the other called Judah (two tribes). Around 722 BC, the Assyrians conquered Israel, and carried away the populace, who became dispersed among the nations, and disappeared from history. Centuries went by, until the time when Jesus was born in the land of Judah. He predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the 'desolation' of the temple that Herod had (re)built, and that had become a symbol of the Jewish religion, and rallying point for national cohesion. Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled within the lifespan of many of his contemporaries, in 70 AD, when the Roman general, Titus, took the city, and the temple was destroyed. The Jews who survived the terrible siege and war, were dispersed. This time, they were careful to retain their religio-cultural identity, via their scriptures and customs. But Judah, the nation, disappeared into the abyss of history.
Yet, the prophets of the 'Tenach' (what Christians call the Old Testament) made some predictions that apparently indicate that 'Israel' would one day be restored. (Refer to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, etc.). There are a couple of problems with these prophecies, however. First, most were uttered before the Babylonian captivity of the Jews (ca. 587 BC); thus, the verses actually refer to the restoration of the Jewish nation of Judah, and of its temple, that followed, 70 years later. Second, the promises of God to the children of Israel were phrased in conditional terms; ie. they would gain certain blessings IF they fulfilled the terms specified in their covenant with God, and conversely, would receive great punishments if they failed to live up to the conditions. (See Lev 26, and Deut 28). The fate of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC demonstrated the consequences of disloyalty to God, while the restoration from Babylon might be seen as due to Daniel's fervent confession on behalf of his people's failures (see ch. 9).
So, that is the 'no' part of my response above. If you examine the prophecies that supposedly proclaim the restoration of Israel, you will find that the conditions described by the prophets do not, in fact, prevail. That is, the establishment of 'Israel' in 1948 does not fulfill the prophecies in the Old Testament of a (then) future restoration of Israel. Bear with me-- there is much more to the saga!
And what about the re-institution of animal sacrifices... where do the fundamentalists get this picture? As far as I can determine, there is only one scripture in the Bible's many pages where they draw this inference, and that is from the much-maligned prophecy of Daniel 9, specifically verse 27, which states:
"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."
This is the verse that the 'premillennialists' build their whole theology upon, and that I can, I believe, demonstrate clearly to be completely erroneous. However, before I get into exegesis, the thing for the reader to notice is that the 'he' that is referred to in the verse will put a stop to sacrifice. The 'rapturists' speculate that this is 'Antichrist' who will stop sacrifices, and therefore, they reason, there must be a temple in place for these sacrifices to be conducted before 'Mr. A' terminates them! Marvellous logic, this; and the legacy inherited from John Darby and the Scofield Reference Bible built around Darby's novel but unsustainable ideas.
What should be definitive for any true Christian is what Jesus has to say. Jesus clearly predicted the destruction of the great temple... and said absolutely NOTHING concerning a restoration of either Jerusalem or the temple, despite providing a lengthy description of the 'end of the age' (in Matthew 24). Yet the American evangelicals are quite happy to apply reverse logic to one, single, OT prophecy, and build an elaborate (and damaging) far-reaching eschatology around it! What kind of sense does that make?
What I've done is put the exegetical arguments into an appendix, so that the interested reader with some Biblical background can study it, and realize that the evangelicals are completely befuddled in their end-times speculations. To those who are willing to accept my prima facie evidence that the rebuilt temple theory is nonsense, we can proceed with the original enquiry.
Having answered 'no' to the question does the Bible predict a restoration of the temple in Jerusalem, we now have to deal with the reality that (brace yourself) the Bible does predict the restoration of Israel... but not at all in the manner most people blithely assume. Here's where the homework comes in, and where you'll really need to keep an open, unbiased mind. You see, we are finally going to delve into that 'mysterious' book of Revelation, the one that is so abused by the evangelicals and the cheap purveyors of 'dispen-sensational' end-times scenarios replete with 'Antichrist,' '666,' the 'tribulation,' the rapture, and so on. Almost all of that is rubbish! However, your first assignment is to read the book of Revelation, and then to study chapters 13 and 17, in particular. [You can bookmark this essay, do your homework, and then return to this point.]
I'm now advising that after reading the book of Revelation, that you read my 'Revelation Revisited' (Part 1) on chapters 13 and 17, here in this website. After receiving a great deal of rather bizarre imagery, John (the 'Revelator') is finally told in chapter 17 the meanings of the various symbolic characters that populate his visions. You too, cher lecteur, should understand the supplied meanings after you've read (and re-read) the two chapters analyzed in the cited essay. By way of summarizing that article, the two chapters (Rev 13 & 17) describe a nation ('beast') that received a fatal blow at a point in history prior to the supplied revelation (given ca. 90 AD, according to reputable scholars) and that, at some time close to the end of the age, seems to miraculously revive. The text cautions that the restored nation is really in some 'new' form, and exercises the authority of 'the Dragon' (a satanic spirit). My essay demonstrates how this nation that 'once was, is not, and will come again' is none other than modern 'Israel,' since it perfectly fits all the clues encoded in the biblical text.
Conclusions:
So, you can see-- clearly, if you diligently did your homework-- that Israel is, indeed, prophesied to reappear out of the abyss of history onto the end-times, world scene. But, again clearly, not the way that the evangelicals expect! Far from it; modern Israel is a key player in the final rebellion of fallen humanity against the God of creation. This is the 'yes' portion of my bipolar reply to the original question about Israel's re-establishment.
Just as predicted in the book of Daniel (ch. 2) written some 600 years before Christ, the 'Biblical nations' have reappeared on the world political scene, in time for the momentous events of the 'end of the age.' Thus, we have Egypt, Greece, Persia (Iran), Babylon (Iraq), Assyria (Syria), Rome (the European Union), and 'Israel'... all ready to be crushed by the rock cut without hands (vs. 45). Truly, we are living in interesting times!
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Appendix:
Does the Bible support the notion of animal sacrifices in a rebuilt temple?
The first thing the evangelicals must do to fabricate this bizarre theory is find scriptures that state that the temple exists in the 'latter days.' If they can do this, they assume that the sacrificial system will be re-instituted because their Jewish counterparts are busy trying to obtain 'red heifers' as kosher sacrifices... and plotting to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque presently sitting on the 'temple mount.' The problem is that there is no such text in the Bible. Darby (and many others) misread Daniel's famous verses, 9:24-27, and came to a conclusion they seem to have had in mind before their exegesis. Here's how they blow it.
Text (from NASB) | |
| 24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. | 70 'sevens' (symbolic years) = 490 yrs are prophesied for the Jews & Jerusalem until the spiritual goals listed are achieved... & the given prophetic vision is fulfilled. (And once fulfilled, the vision is 'sealed,' completed.) |
| 25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. | 'So you are to understand that from the decree to restore & rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah, God's Prince, there will be 7 sevens and (another) 62 sevens; it (Jerusalem) will be rebuilt during a period of trouble.' |
| 26 "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. | 'Then, after the 62 sevens, the Messiah will be killed leaving nothing tangible, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city & the sanctuary [of the temple]. Its end will come swiftly; right up to the end there will be war, and bleak outcomes are predicted.' |
| 27 "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate." | 'He (Messiah) will make a firm (ultimate) covenant with humanity for 7 years, but in the middle of that time he (Messiah) will put a stop to sacrifices & grain offering. Then (another) one will come who is pagan, and who desecrates (the temple), until a complete destruction that is inevitable, is dispensed on the person who brought this desolation. |
Now look, it's not a big mystery: the text is clearly talking about two people, two 'princes' here-- Jesus, the Messiah, versus 'the prince who is to come.' The Darby camp argues that the verse is just referring to one person, the Antichrist. All we have to do is check the record of history, because Daniel's vision was to last for 490 years. (The 'sevens' are translated as 'weeks' but are understood by all scholars to stand for periods of years. Thus, 'seventy sevens' equal 490 years). Jerusalem was, indeed, rebuilt over a reported 49 years ('seven weeks', per vs 25) and with much resistance from the surrounding nations, as described in the book of Ezra. It is well known that Jesus appeared right on schedule, at the start of his ministry, 483 years after Daniel's prophetic starting mark. In fact, Jesus began his ministry with the words 'The time is fulfilled' (Mark 1:15). He knew he was fulfilling Daniel's messianic prophecy!
It is widely agreed that the 'issuing of a decree' occurred in 457BC. Now, 49 yrs + [62 X 7 = 434] yrs, giving us 483 years; and - 457 + 483 brings us to the year 27 AD, considered the start of Jesus' ministry. Three and a half years after the completion of the 69 weeks, Jesus was executed, having apparently nothing, not even disciples.
Now, it's in verse 27 that the neo-Darbyites make their fatal error. All Christians should know that Jesus con-firm-ed the 'eternal covenant' which is available to all mankind, and that he was crucified after 3 and a half years of ministry. The book of Acts describes how Stephen was stoned, 3 and a half years after Jesus' death, marking the end of the final (70th) seven year 'week' of verse 27, and the end of the full 490 years. Note that it's Jesus who put a stop to sacrifices, for he provided the perfect sacrifice 'once and for all' (Heb 10:10). A reading of Hebrews (chapters 7-10, especially) demonstrates conclusively that there is no longer any need for any kind of humanly devised sacrifices. It's the other prince, the pagan Roman, who first 'desolated' the temple by barging into the Holy Place, and particularly, the 'Most Holy Place,' where not even Jews, but only their High Priest was allowed to go (and only once per year). Then his troops destroyed the building itself, although as prophesied, he himself later ended up defeated and killed, after becoming Roman emperor. Note that the Roman legions often used a 'wing' symbol on their military 'standards' or flags. And note, too, that Titus was the son of the Emperor Vespasian, thus, a prince. Daniel 9:24 assures us that the vision was going to be fulfilled and sealed within the purview of the three prophetic verses. For anyone to arbitrarily decide to insert a parenthetic interval of some 2,000 years between week 69 and week 70 of the prophecy makes absolutely no sense, especially since all aspects of the verses are fulfilled precisely as recorded!
Not only has a straightforward analysis of the text demolished the notion of renewed sacrifices in a rebuilt temple, but it also does away with the whole fantastic movie plot of a certain 'Antichrist' making an agreement with the Jews, a subsequent rebuilding of the temple, and then his reneging and stopping the renewed sacrifices in the middle of a seven-year period. The seven year period came and went, about 2,000 years ago! Millions of naive church-goers are going to be completely open to confusion and disappointment, and manipulation, when their long-sought scenario never unfolds..
