For what may be the first time in 1900 years, a group of Rabbis have ascended the Temple Mount and recited the priestly blessing. The group consisted of around 25 Jewish people, including one Rabbi who took part in the capturing of the Temple Mount during the Six Day War. The tour was conducted by Rabbi Chaim Richman, head of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. The Temple Institute is presently manufacturing many of the implements which will be used in the event of the rebuilding of the Temple, including the priestly garments, the laver, menorah, among other things.

Quote: "Rabbi Chaim Richman, one of the organizers of the trip, said, "This was probably the first time since the destruction of the Temple [1,928 years ago] that the Priestly Blessing was delivered on our holiest site. At times like these, when there is talk of giving away our precious places, and when despair is sometimes in the air, events of this nature serve to remind us that G-d has not forgotten about us, and that He still has big plans for both us and the Holy Temple - and that the Temple will yet become the focal point of the world once again."

Just a couple of months ago, the first public gathering of the tribe of Levi in over 1900 years took place. Genetic research carried out over the last few decades has shown that all members of the tribe of Levi share a common DNA signature. Because of this fact, in the event that the Temple is rebuilt, it will be relatively simple to prove who is a true Levite through DNA analysis rather than having to rely on questionable genealogies. And in May of this year, the recently established Sanhedrin sent a letter to the governments of every nation on earth, calling on them to work towards the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and warning of terrible calamities mankind would face if this did not happen. 

Quote: "In the letter, the rabbis of the self-proclaimed Sanhedrin warn that the world is nearing a catastrophe, and write that the only way to bring peace among nations, states, and religions is by building a house for God, where Jews will worship, pray and offer up sacrifice, according to the vision of the prophets. The rabbis also call on the non-Jews to help the people of Israel fulfil their destiny and build the Temple, in order to prevent bloodshed across the globe. The letter will initially be translated into English, Spanish, Arabic, French and Farsi, and later also into Russian, Chinese and Japanese, and will include an invitation to world leaders to attend a conference dedicated to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem five months from now, during Succot.

I believe the Temple must soon be rebuilt, for according to Scripture a Jewish Temple will be defiled by the Antichrist during the tribulation period (2nd Thessalonians 2:4, Mark 13:14). The Temple is central to the Jewish religion. Without the Temple, Judaism is just an empty shell. For if there is no Temple, there can be no sacrifices for sins. This present situation, in which the Jewish people would have no Temple and no sacrificial system, was prophesied in the Scriptures...

Hosea 3
Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Of course the reason why Israel has abided many days without a sacrifice is because they rejected their Messiah and His sacrifice for their sins. The book of Hebrews states, "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God", Hebrews 10:12. That Man is Yeshua HaMashiach - Jesus Christ. The scapegoat mentioned in Leviticus 16 is a picture of the Messiah's sacrifice for sin. The High Priest was to place his hands on the heads of two goats, symbolically laying the sins of the people upon them. One of the goats was then sacrificed by the priest. The blood of the sacrificial goat was placed on a white cord and tied around the horns of the scapegoat. The scapegoat was then led out into the wilderness and left in an uninhabited place. Both animals were a foreshadowing of the Messiah's sacrifice for our sins, how an innocent life would be taken in the place of the guilty - the first goat (1st Peter 1:19), and how the Lord would bare away the sins of the world - the second goat (Psalm 103:12, John 1:29). Jewish sages recall how the blood-stained cord tied to the horns of the scapegoat would miraculously turn white, declaring to all Israel that God had accepted the sacrifice for the sins of the people.

Isaiah 1:18 
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

But following the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, this miraculous event no longer occurred. This anomaly is recorded in the Jewish Talmud, along with other strange phenomena that occurred forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple.

Quote: "Forty years before the Temple was destroyed (30 A.D.) the chosen lot was not picked with the right hand, nor did the crimson stripe turn white, nor did the westernmost light burn; and the doors of the Temple’s Holy Place swung open by themselves, until Rabbi Yochanon ben Zakkai spoke saying: 'O most Holy Place, why have you become disturbed? I know full well that your destiny will be destruction, for the prophet Zechariah ben Iddo has already spoken regarding you saying: 'Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour the cedars' (Zech. 11:1).' Talmud Bavli, Yoma 39b

Why did this miracle no longer take place? God was declaring to all that He had accepted the sacrifice of His Son upon the cross as the final payment for sin, and that no more sin offering was required (Hebrews 10:18). Praise God that Jesus Christ made that one sacrifice for sins forever, and that through His precious blood our sins can be washed away. John the Baptist could say of Jesus Christ, He is "the barer away of the sins of the world". But in order for you to benefit from that, you need to accept it by faith. Trust in Jesus Christ for salvation today.

Isaiah 53:11
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.  

Source Hebrew4Christians,  YNet News, Bible History

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