The preparation for the building of the Third Temple is reaching fever pitch. On December 10, the last evening of Hanukkah, the “nascent” Jewish Sanhedrin is planning to consecrate a stone sacrificial altar and perform the daily offering that occurred every morning and evening in the ancient temple. The sacrifice will be enacted by Kohanim (Levites) dressed in biblical priestly attire. It is not known whether the lamb will actually be sacrificed at the site, but meat will be roasted on the altar. The Temple Institute’s golden menorah will also be lit. The Sanhedrin was a council of rabbis who led the Israelites before and after the destruction of Herod’s Temple. It ceased to function in the fifth century AD, but in 2004 a group of orthodox Jewish groups announced that they were re-establishing it. The “nascent” Sanhedrin’s goal is to establish a “Bible-based organization to replace the United Nations.” The announcement by Rabbi Yoel Schwartz states, “We are very close to the time about which the prophets of Israel prophesied that the God of the world who created everything will be called by the world in the name of the God of Israel, for only the people of Israel remained attached to Him. ... God’s call to return his people to his land will show that the belief of some nations that Israel was in exile as a punishment was a mistaken belief. The exile was only in order for Israel to serve as an example to the nations for serving God. ... Now, it is time for the Creator’s people to return to their land, and from here light will come forth to the world. And when we merit it, and the Temple will be restored and built on its place, then even more will all the nations realize that the time has come to worship God” (“Sanhedrin Invites 70 Nations to Hanukkah Dedication of Altar for the Third Temple,” BreakingIsraelNews, Nov. 29, 2018). Israel abides in the same self-righteousness that caused her to reject her own Messiah 2,000 years ago. She doesn’t admit that her dispersal was a punishment. But just before His crucifixion, Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when he shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Luke 13:34-35). And the apostle Paul, trained as a rabbi at the feet of the famous Gamaliel, said of Israel, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:3-4). The “nascent” Sanhedrin who are re-enacting the daily sacrifice are blind to the meaning of that sacrifice, having rejected the testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). (Friday Church News Notes, December 7, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Comments are closed.
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