From ancient Persia to Hitler�s Germany to modern Iran, Purim reminds us of God�s love for & protection of the Jewish people from those who seek to �annihilate� them.
Israel and the Jewish people face many threats these days -- from a nuclear Iran, from terrorist rocket fire out of Gaza, from Syrian chemical weapons, and from rising anti-Semitism and a global movement to isolate and delegitimize Israel, especially pernicious in Europe, to name just a few.
Sometimes Jews wonder, "Why are we the Chosen People? How has that worked out well for us? The Pharoah chose us. Hitler chose us. Stalin chose us. The ayatollahs chose us. Choose someone else, Lord, please!" It's a sad but understandable sentiment.
As we see current threats -- and as we remember the horrors of the Holocaust and the Nazi regime's determination to annihilate all the Jews of Europe -- we need to remember that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has never forgotten or forsaken the people He sovereignly chosen. We have, all too often, forgotten Him. But He has never forgotten us.
Indeed, that is why His Word commanded us to celebrate Purim, which takes place this weekend.
Purim is the Jewish holiday that celebrates the remarkable story of how the God of Israel used two faithful believers � Esther and Mordechai � and a movement of prayer and fasting to rescue the Jewish people from an evil Persian regime determine to annihilate them.
Remember: the evil Persian leader Haman literally used the language of annihilation all those years ago. As we read in Esther 3:13, "Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day...."
The Bible tells believers throughout the ages to celebrate this important holiday. This weekend, I will be teaching at a Baptist church in Tampa about the Jewish holiday of Purim, and why it is so important, and how from ancient Persia to Hitler's Germany to modern Iran, Purim reminds us of God's faithful love for and sovereign protection of the Jewish people from those who seek to destroy them.
May the Lord bless you, and all of Israel, and all of the Persian people this Purim season.
DOES A JEWISH TEMPLE WITH BIBLICAL SPECIFICATIONS HAVE TO BE REBUILT??
������� Some End-Time Groups who wrongly interpret Daniel 9:27a, and who believe in a 7-year Tribulation, {Starting with a New Jewish Temple} are now spreading false rumors that religious Jews are now building a Temple or are planning to tear down the Muslim Dome of the Rock in order to rebuild a Jewish Temple to Biblical specifications and will then REINSTITUTE animal sacrifices??? However there are several big problems with this scenario:
All 21 Arab Muslim nations including Pakistan which has many nuclear bombs would then immediately declare an all-out Holy War on Israel, and the Israeli government fully understands this. I know this for I was a missionary in Israel.� A Jewish Temple built to Biblical specifications would then take at least 7 years to build during this continuous war with the 21 Muslim nations. Most of these same End-Time Groups also teach that a pre-trib rapture could occur TODAY {Not at least 7 years from today} which of course makes the ridiculous *IMMINENT* pre-trib belief {That Jesus could come TODAY} a big joke.
Now all those who believe in a 7-year Tribulation only because of the wrong interpretation of Daniel 9:27a also believe that immediately following a CONCEALED pre-trib rapture of the Church saints that the Anti-Christ will make a Covenant with Israel; allowing the Jews to make animal sacrifices in a Jewish Temple built to Biblical specifications. They believe that at the end of 3 1/2 years in the middle of the 7 years the antichrist will put an end to all animal sacrifices in this Jewish Temple.
However, for over 1,000 years religious Jews have believed that when their Messiah comes He will bring with him the New Jewish Temple and the required Ark of the Covenant. And then the Messiah will re-establish the Levitical priesthood; who will then offer animal sacrifices according to OT Law.
For according to OT Law {See Numbers 3:5-10} all Jewish Priests must prove that they are direct descendants of Levi and these Levitical genealogies were completely destroyed when the last Jewish Temple was destroyed in AD 70. Therefore, no Scriptural OT animal sacrifices could possibly occur before then; since no Jew can now prove that he is a Levite!! And so if you are waiting for this Jewish Temple to be built to Biblical specifications by Jews who will then offer animal sacrifices; you are going to have to wait until this bogus Jewish messiah comes.� Please do not hold your breath until this time!
������ Did Herod the Great completely destroy the 2nd Temple including its foundations around 17 BC?? The following is a quote from "Antiquities of the Jews" by Josephus, Page 334, Para 1 & 3:� "And now Herod, in the 18th year of his reign undertook a very great work, that is, to build of himself the temple of God and make it LARGER in compass, and to raise it to a most significant altitude, as esteeming it to be the most glorious of all his actions and this would be sufficient for an everlasting memorial to him....so Herod TOOK AWAY THE OLD FOUNDATIONS AND LAID OTHERS, and erected the temple upon them. Herod's 3rd Temple was 100 cubits {150 feet} long." {The first two Jewish temples were both 60 cubits {90 feet} long as per 2 Chronicles 3:3 & Ezra 6:3.}� So then Herod's Temple was the 3RD TEMPLE which according to John 2:20 took "46 years to build".�
There are some who believe that a {4th} Jewish Temple built to Biblical specifications will appear during the End-Times and is suggested in Revelation 11:1.� The TEMPLE IN HEAVEN is mentioned 12 times in Revelation where worshipers are present: Rev 3:12;7:15;11:19(2X);14:15,17;15:5,6,8(2x); & Rev 16:1,17.
The only other time that a temple is mentioned is in Rev 11:1; where worshipers are present; so this could also be a reference to the TEMPLE IN HEAVEN. Let us compare Rev 11:1 with Rev 7:15 and Rev 8:3-5:�
Revelation 11:1: I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the TEMPLE OF GOD and the ALTAR, and count the worshipers there."
Rev 7:15:"They {martyrs as per Rev 7:9-14} are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in HIS TEMPLE."
Rev 8:3-5: Another angel, who had a golden censor, came and stood at the ALTAR. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden ALTAR before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand.�
Ephesians 2:19b-22:� "You are members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself as the Chief Cornerstone {Of the 4th and LAST TEMPLE}.� In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a HOLY TEMPLE in the Lord.� And in Him you too are being built {Living Stones-1 Pet 2:5} together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.� 2 Cor 6:16 "For *WE are the TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD!"{See Revelation 11:1 above!!}
Acts 17:24: The God who made the world and everything in it ...does not live in temples built by hands. The �outer court� of the TEMPLE OF GOD in Rev 11:2 would be the saints on earth who are also the TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD.
Hebrews 7:27: Unlike the other high priests, He {Jesus} does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people. HE SACRIFICED FOR THEIR SINS *ONCE FOR ALL* WHEN HE OFFERED HIMSELF!!
Hebrews 9:15,26b-28: Christ is the mediator of a NEW COVENANT so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant...But now He has APPEARED ONCE FOR ALL at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the **SACRIFICE** of Himself... so Christ was **SACRIFICED ONCE** TO TAKE AWAY THE SINS OF MANY PEOPLE, and He will *APPEAR* a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.
Hebrews 10:10: �We have been made holy through the **SACRIFICE** of the body of Jesus **ONCE FOR ALL**!!�
Hebrews 10:11,12,14,17,18: Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can **NEVER** take away sins! But when this **PRIEST** {Jesus} had offered *ONE SACRIFICE* for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God...By *ONE SACRICE* He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy...God says, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." And where these have been forgiven, THERE IS NO LONGER ANY *SACRIFICE* FOR SINS !!
Isaiah 53:5,6: He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all!!
Yes, I know Richard, that you do not believe that the Third Temple will be constructed soon.
But I do NOT base my faith on any speculation, as you know. I base it on the WORDS of God.
And He said in His prophecies that HE is going to RESTORE this Temple.
Let's read what God said:
The THIRD Jewish Holy Temple was architecturally described and prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel, a house of prayer for all people with a sacrificial service. It is noted by Ezekiel as an eternal edifice and permanent dwelling place of the God of Israel on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Who is this God? Of course He is Jesus.
The architecture of the Temple is described in detail in chapters 40 to 42 of Ezekiel.
My faith is bases on the WORDS of God about this Temple in these chapters.
My faith is based on the WORDS of God about this Temple in these chapters.
Throw these chapters away from the Bible and I will NOT believe that the Temple will exist....Or EXPLAIN me what did God mean when He said that He is gong to construct this Temple and establish sacrifices....
But God gave us these revelations that is why I believe.....
"The only other time that a temple is mentioned is in Rev 11:1; where worshipers are present; so this could also be a reference to the TEMPLE IN HEAVEN. Let us compare Rev 11:1 with Rev 7:15 and Rev 8:3-5�.
Revelation 11:1: I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the TEMPLE OF GOD and the ALTAR, and count the worshipers there."
Acts 17:24: The God who made the world and everything in it ...does not live in temples built by hands. The �outer court� of the TEMPLE OF GOD in Rev 11:2 would be the saints on earth who are also the TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD."
Let's read the context:
Revelation 11
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
We need to understand WHERE is located this Temple. In Heaven or on earth?
What is the court which is outside the Temple (v.2)?
As we see Gentiles will control this part of the Temple. Can gentiles control what is in the Heavenly Temple and TREAD the Holy City (Jerusalem)? No. That is why this is NOT in heaven. This Temple is definitely NOT in Heaven. This is on earth. Now NOTE: that there is an angel in Ezekiel 40-42 too and they also MEASURE the Temple! Is this Temple the same as in prophecies of Ezekiel ? I am sure that yes.
But as we see in Ezekiel this Temple is on earth and there are animal sacrifices!
Let me offer you my speculation about thiis Temple:...
