Why are people trying to build the Third Temple in Jerusalem?

By Matthew Rennels

For centuries, many orthodox Jews have hoped and prayed to build a third temple, and the idea has just as long been a debated topic, worrying many believers that its construction would signify the end of the world.

Since the destruction of the second Temple in 70 A.D., destroyed when Jerusalem was besieged and conquered by the Romans, religious Jews have prayed that God will allow for the building of a third Temple, and the prayer is said daily in traditional Jewish prayer services, and the prayer is sacred as it is considered to be an unrealized place of worship.

The place where it gets sticky amongst the Jewish faith, though, is the resumption of sacrificial worship. Whereas every Orthodox prayer service contains prayers for the Temple's restoration and for sacrificial worship's resumption, Conservative Judaism believes in a Messiah and in a rebuilt Temple but does not believe in the restoration of sacrifices.

It is also disagreed when it should be reconstructed. Orthodox authorities generally believe that rebuilding should occur in the era of the Jewish Messiah under God’s sovereignty, although a smaller sect believes Jews should endeavor to rebuild the temple themselves, whenever possible.

Two important Muslim structures are currently located where the Temple last stood, the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and the State of Israel has committed to preserve the buildings as part of international obligations. But groups like the Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement and Revava have both set goals to build on the Temple Mount.

Various Bible scripture has been pointed to as proof that construction of the Third Temple will bring the world’s end, including Isaiah 2:2: “In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains. It will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it.”

Christ’s followers, though, are not taught to build temples, because God does not live in temples made by hands any more, but in the believer's body through the Holy Spirit.