Bill Riley
Olive Tree Ministries
ot.waxahachie@yahoo.com
From time to time people will ask questions about Bible prophecy. Here are a few grouped together on a variety of subjects that will be discussed over the next few weeks.
Q: How important is a Jerusalem Temple to Bible prophecy?
A: There are several things to understand if you are going to have a decent handle on understanding prophecy. You must know the Torah and the Prophets, including the Biblical Festivals and the time of year they are appointed, the Two Calendars used in Scripture and other things. If you don’t know these things you will misunderstand prophecy. There are three things to watch specifically. One needs to watch the Land of Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. The Scriptures have specific things to say about these areas and how it relates to prophecy, including the altar site, the Red Heifer and so on. The altar will be put up first before a temple for instance. A temple building is not required to begin services at the altar, so one needs to know the Scriptures on what is required for the altar to be put up more than watching for a temple building. Once the the altar site has been determined, a seven day cleansing prior to its usage will begin and it is quite possible that before the seven year birth pains (Great Tribulation) begin, believers will actually see the altar site, the priests and vessels undergo the ritual cleansing process prescribed in Scripture before the Natzal (rapture) of the truth believers occurs on Rosh Ha Shanah of the year 6,001 from the creation. There is no question that there will be a temple, but there are other things that will happen first in relation to the temple that we need to watch first. If you want more information, send in another question and we can deal with it more in detail.
Q: Do you have an idea about how much time is left before the Tribulation?
A: I have an estimation based on the genealogies listed in Scripture, current events, history and other sources and the best I can say is we are three to 10 years away from the Tribulation. This is just an estimation and given with an open mind to what God is doing. But we are very close. I believe when you see some significant movement on re-establishing services on the Temple Mount, you better get ready, especially by the following Rosh Ha Shanah. This will be preceded by a kosher red heifer and the cleansing of the priests and the actual site on the Temple Mount.
Q: I’ve heard that the Antichrist will be Jewish. Is this true?
A: I believe he will be Jewish and so did many rabbis going back to before the first century. This is not a new subject. There is a lot of information on this subject. If you go to the Jewish Encyclopedia (jewishencyclopedia.com) on our Web site, otwaxahachie.net, and type “antichrist,” there is more information on him there than you will find in most places. That subject is discussed there and by the estimation of some will come from the tribe of Dan. Some of the reasons are a serpent was the symbol for the tribe based on Gen. 49:16-17; Dan led the people into idolatry by replacing the priesthood, the festivals and the services with man-made ones which is exactly what Christianity and other religions have done. The spirit of the false messiah (antichrist) is to do away with the Torah and to persecute those who believe in Yeshua and keep the commandments (Rev. 12:17). There have been many movies on the false messiah over the years like the Omen in the 1970s and its recent remake but there is little biblical fact in these movies so don’t base your idea of who the false messiah
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