The prophet Isaiah declared: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of all the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Ya'aqov; and he will teach us of his ways, and we shall walk in his paths: for out of Ziyyon shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord from Yerushalayim.' (2:3)
This vision places the future Temple as a place for instruction and bringing forth God's word. The grand aim of the Temple is to be a house of blessing for all humankind.
Messianic groups among many Jews and among some sects of Christianity are calling for the destruction of Masjid al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and replacing them with a modern-day replica of the First and Second Temples. While this subject has eluded media and political debate, it is a subject of real concern. Old Testament accounts of the future coming of the Messiah allude to the presence of the Temple. And, in fact, the Temple was said to be in place at the time of the arrival of Jesus. However, not accepting him as the Messiah, Jews still believe that the Messiah has yet to come. With this erroneous belief, there are many among them calling for the reconstruction of the Temple in an effort to welcome the Messiah.
Jesus is accepted by Muslims and Christians as the true Messiah. And it is accepted by both that he will come again in the End of Time. When he arrives he will fight an Anti-Christ, al-Masih ad-Dajjal. In Arabic this indivdual is often referred to as the Imposter Messiah - imposter because people will accept him as the Messiah. Christians believe that the establishment of the Third Temple will welcome this False Messiah. This is where things get twisted. Despite the fact that Christians believe that the Third Temple will herald the coming of the Anti-Christ, and despite the fact that Israel is not only killing Muslims but Christians as well in attempts to build it, there are right wing Christians and evangelicals who openly support the Israeli attempts to build the Third Temple.
The hope to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple has been a dream of the Jewish people for the last two thousand years. Millions of evangelic Christians pray for it, as well as "Free Masons" and other people. In the Jewish tradition the Temple represents the heart of God, Israel, and the heart in each of us where the Divine dwells. Ironically Israelis recoil from the idea of rebuilding the Temple. Some because it is not relevant to their lives, some out of fear that it will lead to confrontation with the Islamic world, and some from a religious belief that the Third Temple will not be built by human hands but will descend ready-made from heaven.
