Unleashing the Beast

144 / U NLEASHING THE B EAST

3. How would Muslims throughout the world permit anyone to build a Temple near the Dome of the Rock? These three questions have birthed some wild speculation and, sometimes, some not-so-Biblical answers that have been accepted as fact in the Western Christian community. For many years I have heard the theory that a religious Jew must physically rebuild the Temple, because only a Jew would be permitted to rebuild a Temple. This theory is incorrect because Solomon's Temple was built by Gentiles, and Herod, who added onto the second Temple, used Gentiles to help do the physical labor. This theory has led to the teaching that if the future Antichrist rebuilds the Jewish Temple, the Antichrist must be a Jew. There is no indication in the Scripture this is fact. It is based on the speculation that the Jews will accept the Antichrist as their Messiah, therefore he must be Jewish to be a Messiah. The Antichrist does not control Jerusalem or the Temple Mount during the first 42 months of the Tribulation period. In fact, the Temple is built during the first 42 months because the Antichrist sets his image in a Temple that is already built (see Revelation 13:14, 15). The Antichrist invades the northern horn of Africa, then enters Israel; his forces capture half of Jerusalem, bringing it into captivity (Zechariah 14:2). At this point the Antichrist will sit in the Temple as though he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). Therefore, someone else has built the Temple on the Temple Mount and the Antichrist invades the city to "liberate" the sacred Islamic shrine from the hands of the "infidels."