Daniel’s Amazing Prophecies About Our Day/Program 3

By: Dr. Jimmy DeYoung; ©2010

Daniel predicted the nation of Israel would regather and reform – a prophecy fulfilled in 1948. Plans to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem are currently underway.

Contents

Introduction

Announcer: Today, one out of every four Christian adults believes Jesus could return in their lifetime. The Old Testament prophet Daniel gives us the skeletal outline of all future Bible prophecy and is the key to understanding the book of Revelation. Jesus Christ himself quoted from Daniel, assuring us of its truths. This book contains Daniel’s predictions of four world empires that will rise and fall, his predictions of a final world empire that will be led by a new and powerful global leader, and his warning of an alignment of nations that will come against the nation of Israel in the last days.

Where do we find ourselves in the events Daniel describes? How do Daniel’s prophecies fit into such events as the rapture, the tribulation, the battle of Armageddon, and the second coming of Christ? Today we will take you step-by-step through the book of Daniel to help you understand its message and the events God foretells are up ahead. My guest is journalist and prophecy scholar Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, who has lived and reported from Jerusalem since 1991 and has interviewed every Israeli prime minister over the last 15 years. Join us for this special edition of The John Ankerberg Show.

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Ankerberg: Welcome to our program. We’re talking about the amazing prophecies, the predictions that Daniel, the prophet in the Old Testament who wrote in the sixth century in Babylon, wrote about our day. Our guest is Dr. Jimmy DeYoung. And, Jimmy, part of the thing that we’re talking about is the fact that God, all through Scripture, made promises that the Jewish people would be brought out of the countries around the world, be brought back into the land of Jerusalem, and that area, and then when they got there, He would make them a nation, okay. But that’s not all He said.

DeYoung: No, that is not all, and we’ll get to that in a moment. But I’ve got to just remind everybody what Prime Minister Netanyahu said recently when he was in Moscow, Russia. He made the statement, “Ezekiel 37 has been fulfilled.” Wow, what an interesting statement! When you talk about Ezekiel 37, he was referring to the valley of dry bones. In verse 7 it talks about the bones coming together; and verse 8 talks about the flesh covering the bones; and verses 9 and 10 talks about the breath of life being breathed into those bones, and they stand up like a mighty army.

Well, the bones coming back together would be the re-gathering of the Jewish people. And out of 108 nations of the world that has been happening. And then the flesh on those bones that had connected, that would be the restoration of a Jewish state. And you know, every year in May, Israel celebrates another anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel. And then, of course, the breath of life being breathed into those bones, that would be the regeneration of the Jewish people, which will happen when Jesus Christ comes back.

Now, that’s apocalyptic literature; it’s using a symbol to communicate an absolute truth. Verse 11 of chapter 37 says those bones are the whole house of Israel, and they are in the land today. But I think there’s an even more exciting prophecy that’s about to be fulfilled, and that is the preparations to build the next temple.

The Bible tells us in Zechariah chapter 6 and verse 12, Jesus Christ will build His temple in the city of Jerusalem, verse 13, and rule and reign from that temple. In chapter 1 of Zechariah, verse 16, he says, I will return to Jerusalem and build that temple. But that’s the millennial temple, that’s during the 1000 year period of time after the return of Christ.

There’s going to be another temple prior to that. The Bible talks about it in Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24 through 27, how all of this is going to unfold. In verse 27, it says there will be a temple in the city of Jerusalem. Jesus Christ confirmed that over in Matthew chapter 24 verse 15, when he said, “When you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, flee for the wilderness.” The apostle Paul confirmed it, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 4. The Antichrist will walk in at the midway point of the Tribulation, into the temple and sit down and claim to be God. And, of course, in the book of Revelation chapter 11 verse 1, John is told to take his reed and measure the location for the temple. Preparations for the temple have been made; that temple is about to be built in the city of Jerusalem. I think that’s an exciting prophecy that’s about to be fulfilled.

Ankerberg: Alright, before we go on, put the temple in perspective of the outline of Daniel. These four brown posts represent your major prophetic chapters in the book of Daniel. And take us through that and bring us up to the temple, and then we’re going to jump to some footage for the folks of what we’re actually talking about.

DeYoung: This would be the second chapter of the book of Daniel. This is the prophecy about the Revived Roman Empire – the ten toes of iron and clay. This would be representing the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel, the second of the four prophetic passages in this great prophecy. This is talking about the little horn that comes out of the ten horns – the ten horns, the same as those ten toes of iron and clay – that’s the Revived Roman Empire. The little horn – that’s one of 27 names for the Antichrist – a world dictator that will confirm a peace treaty; that’s talked about here in Daniel chapter 9 and verse 27. The tyrant, the Antichrist, will confirm a treaty, and that’s going to be done at the beginning of the Tribulation period. There’ll be a time after the rapture before the clock actually starts ticking on the Tribulation. When the Antichrist confirms that treaty, that starts the clock ticking. And, by the way, that’s when the temple comes into existence. That temple is going to be a result of the Antichrist telling the Jewish people, after the alignment of nations has been defeated, which we look at in chapter 11 of the book of Daniel, after those nations have been defeated, the Antichrist says, “Build your temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.” So this is how Daniel plays into that seven year period of time called the Tribulation there on our roadmap through eschatology in the book of Revelation.

Ankerberg: Alright, now folks, what we want to show you, we want to take you to the reality of the fact of there’s preparation being made to build the Jewish temple, okay. So, to show you how close we are to this third pillar that Daniel said is going to come about here in the future, the terrible time of Tribulation. And, we actually went into Jerusalem, and we walked the streets. And we saw where the utensils are being displayed that have already been made for the temple. We’re going to introduce you to some of the people; we’re going to tell you some of the Scripture. I want you to watch this. This is fascinating. And then when we come back off of this clip here, then we’re going to take a break and we’ll come right back to the set here, and we’ll explain a little bit further. So, let’s go to it right now.

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VIDEO CLIP

Ankerberg: The Bible indicates that the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt on the Temple Mount, after the rapture and during the first part of the 7 year tribulation period. Are there any signs this temple is close to being rebuilt today? In our research in Israel, we discovered that the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple is not just talk, but an extremely well-organized plan that is already being implemented by Jews in Israel today.

DeYoung: This is the Jewish Quarter, we were in the Arab Quarter. This is another of the four quarters, this is the Jewish Quarter. I want you to notice Treasures of the Temple here. This is the location where Rabbi Israel Ariel and Rabbi Chaim Richman and all of their staff are putting together the implements that they are going to use in the next Temple that will stand on the Temple Mount. They have, for example, the harps. And we will see in the harp factory how Micah and Shoshanna Harrari build the harps. But they have all the items that they need, the Mizrak, which is the pitcher shaped item made out of pure gold and pure silver, they put the sacrificial blood in. All of the items there and the garments that have been made, everything in preparation for the erection of the Temple itself.

Ankerberg: Yeah, I want folks that are listening to us right now to realize that you are seeing a prime example in back of us of the messianic expectation right here in the Old City in Jerusalem, where you have Jews that have come from around the world. You have got folks that are right here studying for the priesthood. Not only are they studying for the priesthood, but they are actually making the utensils that they plan to use in the temple; preceding or before the Messiah gets here. There’s two thoughts of that: one is that there are some that want to build this so the Messiah then will come; others think the Messiah has got to come and then it will make that possible.

DeYoung: Well this particular group believes the Messiah’s gonna come in His own time when He’s ready. But they must be preparing and they are not necessarily believing that if they have these implements and everything is all ready, it’s gonna make Him come. But if He should come at any moment, they want to have everything ready so when the temple is up they will be able to go in…

Ankerberg: Yeah, and I can’t say it enough. The fact is this is happening in our lifetime while we are living. We are seeing this!

DeYoung: That’s thrilling! Let’s go along.

Ankerberg: Jimmy, we know from Scripture, there’s gotta be another temple built before Jesus Christ comes back. And when you’re in Israel and talking with the Jewish leaders, it’s just amazing to see the urgency that they have to rebuild that Temple.

DeYoung: And especially in the Jewish Quarter, where we just were, because that’s where the Temple Institute is. They’re making all the preparation, they’re training the people to serve in this temple – the urgency is there, the expectancy of a temple standing soon on the Temple Mount – it’s just evident wherever you may go in the city of Jerusalem, even among the leaders of the nation. But, before I think we get into the preparations and all that’s going on to build that temple, we need to consider the previous 2 temples that stood there on the Temple Mount.

Ankerberg: As we visited the Temple Mount area, we recognized that King David, the author of many of the biblical Psalms and one of Israel’s greatest kings, had planned the very site where we stood. David’s plans for the Temple were implemented by his son Solomon. And, according to Scripture, this very location holds great significance in the end times. Walking along the top of the Temple Mount, we talked about past events that have led to our present moment.

DeYoung: John, this is the Temple Mount area. Now, during the times of King David and King Solomon, this was simply Mount Moriah. And actually the city of David here was the location, this 10 acres down here below, was the location of where the original City of Jerusalem was, the Jebusite stronghold that King David captured. But he came here then to Mount Moriah, he purchased from Ornan the Jebusite this threshing floor which would ultimately then end up being the Holy of Holies for the temple that his son Solomon would build.

And so as we think about the rebuilding of the temple from this particular location, we have to go back in history, we have to understand the First Temple. Solomon built the First Temple; 400 years later Nebuchadnezzar would make his way off the slopes off the Mount of Olives here to the city. They destroyed that First Temple, Solomon’s Temple. Seventy years later Zerubbabel, because of a proclamation by Cyrus the Medo-Persian king, was allowed to bring about 50,000 Jews back here to this location. It took him about 25 years, a little bit slow, that is when Zechariah and Haggai the two prophets were encouraging the Jews, Build the temple! Quit building your own homes, build the temple. They built the temple, it was a simple temple. But then along comes Herod, and for about 46 years he actually refurbished the temple, that is why they refer to it as Herod’s Temple.

Herod’s Temple then would have been behind these walls. This was a retaining wall, the southern retaining wall that Herod would have built, the Western Wall that that’s so famous around the world, that was another retaining wall, they have the eastern retaining wall and they even have a short portion, a small portion of the northern retaining wall.

That temple was, of course, destroyed in 70 AD. It is an interesting thought. In 586 BC, on Tish B’Av, the 9^th day of the Jewish month of Av, the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. In 70 AD on that same calendar day of the year, Tish B’Av, the 9^th day of the Jewish month of Av, the Roman army came off of the Mount of Olives, came across the Kidron Valley, came onto the Temple Mount. They devastated the temple, they destroyed the City of Jerusalem, they dispersed the Jews to the four corners of the earth.

Ankerberg: According to the Old Testament prophets, the Jewish Temple will one day be rebuilt according, part of this plan includes the highly-discussed Ark of the Covenant.

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Ankerberg: Jimmy, people want to know where is the Ark of the Covenant, and have there been eyewitnesses about the Ark?

DeYoung: Well, it is very interesting; many people think the Ark of the Covenant was taken into Ethiopia many years ago. And there have been specials on television explaining that is where the Ark is located. But when you go to the Bible 2 Chronicles 35:3 it talks about King Josiah, at the time before the Babylonians would come in and capture Israel, take all the Jewish people into the Babylonian captivity. King Josiah had an idea that this was going to take place, so he knew he needed to protect the Ark of the Covenant. He told the Levites in verse 3 to take the Ark and put it in the house. Immediately you think that that’s referring to the temple, it was already in the temple. About 400 years earlier King Solomon, when he built the temple took the Ark and put it in the Holy of Holies and the Bible says in 1 Kings 8, ‘The glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord so much so that they couldn’t stand it.’ King Josiah then gave the order to take it and put it in the house. And that word in Hebrew is bayith, which also can be translated “secret secluded hiding place.” And that was a place that was prepared by Solomon the King when he built that temple underneath the Holy of Holies.

Ankerberg: Right back here where the Dome of the Rock’s at.

DeYoung: Where the Dome of the Rock is. The foundation stone underneath that dome is where the Ark would have set. If I could take you in there now, I could show you the rectangular spot where the Ark would have set.

Well, they picked the ark up, you have to have the Levites to move the Ark, four Levites, and they picked it up and they took it under and put it in a secret secluded hiding place. Now, if anybody wants to debate that, I wish I could present the two men who saw it. They have now passed from this world. But there were two very prestigious rabbis, Shlomo Goren who was the rabbi at the Western Wall June 7, 1967 who sounded the shofar and put the first prayer in the Western Wall after the Jews had re-united the City of Jerusalem. And Rabbi Yehuda Getz, he was the chief rabbi of the Western Wall. These two men in 1982 went in at Warren’s Gate underneath the Temple Mount area and they both told me, I have it recorded on video, they saw the Ark of the Covenant under there. I asked them both, I said, Why did you not bring the Ark out? And they said, “We don’t have a place to put it, as soon as we have a temple we will bring it out and put it in the Holy of Holies.”

A Rabbi who is actually the one who started all of this study to prepare to build the temple. Nachman Kahana, he has a synagogue right in the midst of the Arab Quarter. And there Israel Ariel, who heads up the Temple Institute and Chaim Richman, these two rabbis studied under Nachman Kahana how to make these implements, how to prepare the priestly garments. Priestly garments, for example, have to be made out of one piece of cloth. Well, they have all of the priestly garments.

One day I was sitting with the rabbi. He was on his computer, and I said, “What are you doing with a computer, rabbi?” He said, “I am studying the Torah”, first five books of the Old Testament. I said, “Rabbi, do you anything else you use that computer for?” He said, “I do.” And I said, “What?” He said, “I have a data base on this computer.” I said, “A data base of what?” He said, “Of every single Jewish man in the world who is qualified to be a priest.” And they have called them into Jerusalem to study those priestly duties.

Ankerberg: Jimmy, it’s fascinating to realize the Jewish people not only have plans to rebuild that temple, but they are doing the detailed work in putting the implements together, right now for that temple.

DeYoung: And they’re doing it all to the pattern dictated by the Word of God, John. These people have prepared the implements. For example, the mizrach, which is a pitcher-shaped item made out of pure gold and pure silver; (they put the sacrificial blood in the mizrach); they have the table of showbread made, it’s is storage; the altar of incense – its ready to be placed in the Holy Place; and the altar itself – they have that all figured out and how to go about building that. They even the menorah – this is one of the most recent implements made – the menorah, which is on display, overlooking the Western Wall plaza, ready to go up into the temple – all the implements are being made. But I remember talking to Rabbi Kahanah, when I met him there in his yeshiva, and he told me about the priests studying the priestly duties, I asked him about the harps that King David called for. He told me about Micah and Shoshani Harrari, and their harp factory.

Ankerberg: Approximately how many of these harps have you made in the back room back here?

Micah: Well, we have been doing this since about 1984 and we’ve made, you know, maybe 3,000 or 4000.

Ankerberg: 3,000 harps.

Micah: Now we make them slower. We have less people out here in the country. So we make about three a month.

Ankerberg: Your quality is fantastic.

Micah: Thank you. Well, we want to build… we build our harps as if King David ordered them; if he said that we need harps for the temple, and this is what we are doing.

DeYoung: Micah, do you believe that this is something that God has given you and Shoshanna to do for the times in which we are living?

Micah: Yeah. These are the end days. And it says that we will return to the land at the end of days, and that everybody should bring something that was lost. So we returned harp making to the land. And as we know, the harp is the national instrument of Israel. And it has been silent for thousands of years when we went into exile and hung our harps upon the willows. But we return now and we have built a beautiful land. And the harps have… God called a harp maker to make harps, I guess, in the Holy Land. And we came and started to make them. And we are making them,… we are making them for the next temple. This is really our focus. And when King David shows up again, we will give him the place. We will just go to work for him.

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Ankerberg: Jimmy, as people have listened to all of this information, how should it impact their lives?

DeYoung: Well, when you stop to think through what we’ve been talking about: The Jewish people re-gathered to a land that God has given them, and a re-born state; a conflict between their brothers, the Israelis and the Palestinians; an alignment of nations; of the anticipation for peace; and then the arrangements for the temple. We’ve talked about it – on this particular segment, how all the implements have been made; 28,000 men studying the priestly duties; even 4,000 harps ready to be played in the harp orchestra, when the temple stands erect in the city of Jerusalem. But none of this happens until the rapture of the church takes place – when we that are Christians, are taken out of here to be with Him. And what that means, John, people need to be prepared for that event – the rapture of the church – knowing that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior. And if there are those who are already prepared, know Christ as Savior, we need to live pure and be productive until He does come. All of this information just helps explain to us the urgency of the moment – the rapture could happen at any moment, and we need to be prepared.

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Ankerberg: Alright, we’re back. We’re back in the studio and we’re talking with Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, who’s a journalist who’s lived in Jerusalem since 1991; covered all the major news stories there. And, Jimmy, as we were looking at that footage, I can’t think of any topic that is more controversial across the world than this topic of the rebuilding of the Jewish temple. I mean, sparks can fly every which way on this topic. Now, Daniel talks about this; Jesus talked about this; the apostle Paul talked about this; the book of Revelation talks about this. Explain how close we are to this event.

DeYoung: Well, do you remember exactly what Micah Harrari said to us when we were there in the harp factory, in the harp studio, with Shoshanna, his wife? He said, “We’re working until the Messiah comes and then we’re going to turn this all over to Jesus.” Well, he didn’t say Jesus, he said the Messiah; I would say Jesus. That’s how close we are to these events unfolding, being fulfilled. I mean this is the most significant indicator of the Lord about to shout to call us up to be with Him.

When we talk about Daniel chapter 9, when it says there will be a temple. Listen, Daniel 11, which is talking about the alignment of the nations, but earlier on it talks about Antiochus Epiphanes, who went in and caused the abomination of desolation to take place. In 168 BC, when the temple was desecrated, that was a prototype of what the book of Revelation talks about – the abomination of desolation. Jesus referred to it in Matthew 24:15, “When you see that, flee out of town.” Well, that temple has to be up before that takes place.

Actually, Daniel chapter 11 and verse 45 says that after that alignment of nations has taken place, and they have been wiped out, then Antichrist will say to the Jewish people – because they’ll believe he’s the Messiah; he will have played a role, in fact, he tries to usurp the victory from Jesus Christ himself when those nations are wiped out – and he says in verse 45, “Go to the Holy Mountain of God, between the seas, between the Sea of Galilee in the north; the red sea in the south; in the east, the Dead Sea; in the west, the Mediterranean Sea.” That Holy Mountain of God is the Temple Mount itself. And he says, “Go plant the palace of your tabernacles on the Holy Mountain of God.” So the Antichrist plays into putting that temple up that will stand in the city of Jerusalem during that time of Jacob’s trouble. The Jewish people will restore their sacrificial system, the temple will be operating.

The only problem is, the temple that the Jewish people are preparing to build today would not be the temple described in the book of Ezekiel chapters 40-46; 202 detailed, information fact-filled verses that help us know the temple is going to stand, the one that Jesus Christ builds in the millennial kingdom. But, there will be a temple in the Tribulation period. All of those preparations have been made. Daniel and Ezekiel both point to this. I think it’s the greatest indicator that Christ is about to come.

Ankerberg: Alright, what happens when Jesus does come back?

DeYoung: Jesus Christ steps back on the Mount of Olives, and that false Tribulation temple will be destroyed; because when He steps down on the Mount of Olives, that mountain is going to divide in the middle. It’s going to start from the west, which would be the Temple Mount and go to the east. And so the Temple Mount will be wiped out, the temple will be destroyed. Then Jesus Christ is going to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. He’s going to lift it up. It’s about eight and a half square miles now, it’ll be 2500 square miles. He’ll put the Temple Mount up and it’ll be one square mile. And then on top of that He’ll build a 21 story high temple, the one that He will rule and reign from in that millennial kingdom, and in fact, into the future as well. After that, He goes to the Jezreel Valley, the Battle of Armageddon takes place. He walks from there over to Petra, which is in southern Jordan today. And He gathers in the Jews that He has protected in that place provided by Him for the last three and a half years of the Tribulation period; comes across the Jordan Valley, comes up behind the eastern mountain of the Temple Mount – that would be the Mount of Olives – crosses the Kidron Valley, goes through that Eastern Gate, walks into the temple, goes into the Holy of Holies, and sits down, in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant. God told David, “I will let one of your sons build a temple in Jerusalem and he will rule and reign from that temple.” Jesus Christ is that Son of David that will do that. That’s all in the future, but all of these things must happen before that is fulfilled.

Ankerberg: What’s the good news that we want people,… as we close this program, people need to come into a relationship with the Son of God, with Jesus Christ Himself. He came and He died for their sins. How can they come into that relationship?

DeYoung: The urgent news is this, John, that Jesus Christ is coming. The rapture is about to happen. All the evidence indicates that. The good news is, Jesus Christ is coming to gather those who know Him as Lord and Savior. If they don’t know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior today, I would not hesitate; it is too close to hesitate. Consider the facts of God’s word; admit that you’re a sinner. The Bible tells us that, we know it by our own lives; believe in the death, the burial and the resurrection of Christ. A pure, sinless life, Jesus lived, but then He became the sacrifice, was buried and resurrected. He died on the cross to take away our sin, He resurrected to prove He was the one qualified to do it. And then in childlike faith, reach out and call upon Him to come into your heart and life. That’s Romans chapter 10 verse 13, where like a child, we simply reach out by faith and trust Christ as Lord and Savior. And once you’ve done that, start telling everybody you know and warning them of where we are in God’s time and what they need to do to be prepared for what’s going to happen next.

Ankerberg: Alright, next week, we’re talking about these amazing prophecies of Daniel. We want to talk about one that just is a mind-blowing one. Did you know that Daniel actually gave us a countdown to when the Messiah would show up in Jerusalem? Do you know that he actually narrowed it down to the year in which He would come? Do you know that it’s spelled out in Daniel chapter 9? We’re going to talk about that and much more next week. I hope that you’ll join us.

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