Page 23 - Satan in the Sanctuary

The Stage Is Set 25

will the rebuilding of the Temple be accomplished in our
lifetime!"
The Time article goes on to review the nineteen centuries
of hope that have passed among the scattered Jews, and
says, "Although Zionism was largely a secular movement,
one of its sources was the prayers of Jews for a return to
4
Palestine so that they could rebuild a new Temple."
Looking at the 1967 situation, Time went on to say,
Such is Israel's euphoria today that some Jews see plaus-
ible theological grounds for discussing reconstruction.
They base their argument on the contention that Israel has
already entered its "Messianic Era" (the time of the com-
ing of the Jewish Messiah, as expected in Jewish theol-
ogy.) In 1948, they note, Israel's chief rabbis ruled that
with the establishment of the Jewish state and the in-
gathering of the exiles, the age of redemption had begun.
Today many of Israel's religious leaders are convinced
that the Jews' victory over the Arabs has taken Judaism
well beyond that point. Says historian Israel Eldad: "We
are at the stage where David was when he liberated Jeru-
salem. From that time until the construction of the Temple
by Solomon, only one generation passes. So will it be with
us." And what about that Moslem shrine? [standing di-
rectly on the Temple site?] Answers Eldad: "It is of
course an open question. Who knows? Perhaps there will
5
be an earthquake."
Fascinating. Our time is compared to that of David and
Solomon, when all Israel focused on the construction of
the splendid first Temple. And perhaps God will act to
clear the site. This has been the generation of liberation
comparable to the coming of David's armies. The next
generation, as the Jewish scholar sees it, will be like that
of Solomon—the actual building.