BEHOLD THE BEAST
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The False Prophet
5 - THE WRONG ROCKCHAPTER 5
Behold ye among the heathen,
and regard, and wonder marvelously:
for I will work a work in your days,
which ye will not believe,
though it be told you.
HABAKKUK 1:5
FROM our position in the opening days of the 21st century, we
can just begin to see a little of God's exquisite plan. The
Abomination that maketh Desolate is not an antichrist in our
future. It is an Islamic building that has stood on Mount Moriah
for over 1300 years. But like the Lord said to Habakkuk, we
wouldn't have believed Him if He had told us in advance, and now
that we can see it, we can still hardly believe it.
LOCATING SOLOMON'S TEMPLE
The 1290 days of Daniel, when interpreted as years, fitting
one incident in history is not sufficient evidence to prove that all
prophetic "days" should be understood as years - even when the
1290 days hit an event as remarkable as the construction of the
Dome of the Rock on Mount Moriah, right to the year. However,
in Daniel's 70 Weeks, we saw that 69 of those weeks were really
69 weeks of years that were fulfilled at the cross. Since that is the
prophetic time system the Lord used in one part of Scripture,
wouldn't we need scriptural authorization to change it if we ran
into prophetic days somewhere else? Wouldn't it be poor theology
to leave a divinely ordained system that we can show works and
try to interpret "days" in some other way, particularly since that
would go against God's declaration, 'I give you a day for a year'?
Of course. So to stay in line with Scripture, we should at least look
at the possibility of historic day=year fits for other prophetic
"days" in Scripture.
Let's begin by imagining ourselves on the Isle of Patmos at the
end of the 1st century, looking at the world about us through the
eyes of the Apostle John as he writes Revelation. It is now about
70 years after Calvary and the Jews were in a state of revolt
against their Roman rulers. That wasn't anything new. They had
been in rebellion against Rome ever since their occupation began
(65BC). Army after Roman army had been sent to the Holy Land
to quell the continual uprisings, but they just kept happening.
Losing all patience, Rome finally sent her best general against
Jerusalem itself and the city was almost totally destroyed. An
estimated 1,000,000 Jews fell to sword and famine and the
beautiful Second Temple was torn down to bedrock. It had taken
45 years to build, but stone by stone the Romans threw it into the
valleys of Tyropoeon and Kidron just as Jesus had prophesied 37
years earlier: "not one stone will be left standing upon another."
His prophecy of the coming devastation is recorded in three
places, Mat 24:2, Mar 13:2, and Luk 21:6.
The Christians in the city were aware of Jesus' prophecy, so
just prior to that city's destruction they fled Jerusalem in haste.
Early church records assert that no Christians were left in the city,
and that no Christian lives were lost during the ensuing massacre.1
The demolition of the temple was so complete that even the
memory of its exact location was lost. Then, except for a short-
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1 Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD. According to Tacitus, the city was crowded
with 600,000 visitors. After five months the walls were battered down, the Temple
burned, and the city was put to the sword. Josephus states that over 1,000,000
Jews were killed and 95,000 taken captive. Henry Halley, Halley's Bible Handbook
(Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 1965) pp. 655-656. However, Eusebius writes, "On
the other hand, the people of the church in Jerusalem, were commanded by oracle
given by revelation to those in the city who were worthy of it, to depart and dwell
in one of the cities of Perea, which they called Pella." Ecclesiastical History, Book
3, v. 5, ln. 3-4.
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lived temple of Jupiter, God's temple site remained in rubble for
over 600 years.
However, in 685, the Moslem governor of Jerusalem, one
Kalifah Abd el Malik ibd Marwan, began clearing the temple
mount. He used the local people to do so, including the Christians
and Jews still living in the city. When the bedrock was exposed,
they found two solid rock promontories within 300 feet of each
other. The one to the south they named "as-Sakhra," and over as-
Sakhra they built the memorial to Muhammad, the Dome of the
Rock, the actual construction of which began in 688. You
remember the numbers from the last chapter:
1290 Hebrew years (1271.5 Solar years) after 583BC is
688AD! 583 + 1271.34 = 688.66.
Over the other promontory - an unusually flat stone to the north
and slightly west of as-Sakhra - a little, unimposing cupola was
constructed they aptly named "The Dome of the Spirits," or "The
Dome of the Tablets." Having no science of archaeology during
those days, guess what?
The Moslems built the Dome of the Rock on the wrong rock!1
Now I have no idea how you feel as you read that line, but I
remember how I felt twenty two years ago when I first understood
it. I sat at my desk, stunned for a moment, and then just leaned
back and roared with laughter. I read the scriptural and
archeological data again and again, praising God. The rock they
built that dome on, As-Sakhra, has no historic or spiritual signifi-
cance whatsoever. The Dome of the Rock is right in the middle of
what was once the court of the Gentiles. Even ceremonially
unwashed Canaanite slaves were allowed into the court of the
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1 According to Moslem tradition, As Sakhra is the rock from which Muhammad
supposedly ascended into heaven. How spiritually appropriate it is that they built
on the wrong rock. Muhammad is not just a little minor false prophet; he is
probably THE false prophet of Rev 19:20! If he isn't, then what does it take to
qualify?
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Gentiles. You didn't have to be a priest, or a Levite, or even a Jew
to be there.
The House of the Lord, which only the sons of Aaron could
enter, stood over that little flat rock some 300+ feet north of
where the Dome now stands. We know exactly where the temple
stood because of holes drilled in the bedrock that are spaced on
the sacred cubit. The sacred cubit could be used only in the
temple itself, and these holes pinpoint the exact location of the
House of the Lord.1
The Kodesh Ha-Kodeshim, the Holy of Holies, was directly over
that little flat rock marked [X] on the drawing. Bathed in
Shekinah Glory, that flat rock was the resting place of the Ark of
the Covenant: "God's dwelling place, and the footstool of His feet,
forever." It was exactly on an East-West line with the Golden
Gate.2 The very gate through which Jesus walked on His way to
teach in the temple. Now, for the first time ever, we can discern
the meaning of a baffling allegorical verse in Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 42:20 He measured it by the four sides: it had a wall
round about, five hundred reeds long, and five hundred
broad, to make a separation between the sanctuary and the
profane place.
That spiritual wall of separation, probably guarded by holy
angels, has stood on the temple mount for over 1300 years, and
we haven't seen it. The Dome of the Rock is 300 feet to the South
of the temple. That Moslem edifice is not now, and never has
been, over the old temple site. The dome was, is, and shall be (as
long as it stands) right in the middle of the Court of the Gentiles.
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1 The Hebrews had two units of measure for the cubit: the ordinary cubit of about
18 in., and a sacred cubit, "a cubit and a span" of about 21½ in. The sacred cubit
was used only in temple construction.
2 Temple Foundation Located, Biblical Archaeology Review, Mar. 1983.
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THE 42 MONTHS
Isn't it wonderful to know that by permitting the temple's total
destruction, God protected His Holy of Holies from the
desecration of having a memorial to a false god, and the false
prophet, built over it? Of more importance, if the Moslems had not
built on the wrong rock, it would be impossible for this next quote
to be fulfilled. Now look carefully at the language and see how
perfectly it fits the situation on the temple mount today:
Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave
out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and
the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two
months.
"Leave out the court ... it has been given to the Gentiles!" The
Dome of the Rock is in the court, and it is a Gentile structure. So
we now have the location. Then we read that the city of Jerusalem
itself would be under Gentile control for 42 months. Farfetched as
it may sound, could those 42 months be months of days that
should be looked at as years? It was day=years in the Old
Testament, and there is no Scripture anywhere that does away
with that interpretation, so let's at least try for a historic fit using
day=years. When do they begin and when do they end? We need
a historic setting.
On the 6th day of June, 1967, at the end of the Six-Day War,
General Moshe Dayan and a tough, battle-hardened contingent of
Israeli commandos stood before a wall of ancient stones. Their
shoulders were shaking, and tears were streaming down their
faces. They were at the Wailing Wall in East Jerusalem, that Holy
Place from which they had been exiled so many centuries before.
They were crying thanks unto God for restoring their ancient city
to them. There they solemnly swore: "Never again shall we be
driven from this place." For the first time in 2573 years the Jews
were again in control of their Holy City. Could that touching
moment be the historic end of, "and they [the Gentiles] will tread
under foot the Holy City for 42 months?" 42 months x 30.44 gives
us roughly 1278.5 days:1
1967AD - 1278.5 = 688.5AD ... the Dome of the Rock!
Bulls eye! In the 1290 days of Dan 12, the Lord took us from
583BC, and the abolition of sacrifices in Daniel's time, to 688AD
and the Abomination that makes Desolate, the Dome of the Rock.
Then in the 42 months, the Lord shows us the accuracy of that
interpretation. He takes us from the restoration of Jerusalem in
1967, right back to 688, and the Dome of the Rock.
Note: Please study Rev 11:2 carefully. This interpretation fits Scripture and history
too well to be ignored. "And the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two
months." Forty-two months is 1278.34 days , and it is exactly 1278 years from the
beginning of the construction of the Dome of the Rock until Jerusalem was again
under Jewish control. Then, "Leave out the court ..." The Dome of the Rock is in
the Court of the Gentiles, 300 feet south of the temple.
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1 A Solar year is 365.24 days. Dividing those days by the12 months in a year gives
us a monthly duration of 30.44 days.
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We come to 688, and that dome from both directions, right to
the year. As a result, from the Lord's view, the central event to
take place in Jerusalem during the time of the Gentiles was the
building of the Abomination of Desolation on the footstool of His
feet. And it is not just the numbers that work. Look at how this fits
the very words of Scripture:
(1) "Sacrifices abolished."
(2) "Abomination set up."
(3) "Leave out the court."
(4) "Holy city tread under foot for 42 months."
This many factors coming together can't be just a numerical or
verbal fluke, can they? Writing it off as coincidence is statistically
unreasonable, and there are other fulfillments using the same
yardstick still to come.
THE TIME OF JACOB'S TROUBLE
When God unlocks a book and opens our eyes, He does so in
such a way that it cannot be reasonably refuted. Using the
day=year principle again, God gives us proof upon proof:
Revelation 12:1-5 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven;
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being
with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be
delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven;
and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew
the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the
earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was
ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it
was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to
rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught
up unto God, and to his throne.
Who is this woman, and who is the man child? When we read His
description, there is only one Person in all eternity who matches
that portrait. Who will rule all nations with a rod of iron?1 Who
descended from Heaven, and who ascended up into it again?2
Who now sits at the right hand of the throne of God?3 None other
than Jesus Christ the Righteous. That makes the woman Israel,
and the 12 stars the 12 tribes. The dragon would then be Satan,
who tried to defeat the Lord at the cross, and the fallen stars
would be the fallen angels.4
Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where
she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her
there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
During the Christian Era the Jews were dispersed into the
nations.5 For centuries the Jews have been hounded from country
to country, made slaves of: were robbed, beaten, and murdered
wholesale, as in Nazi Germany ... but never again. God has
promised that never again would the Jews suffer anything like
that holocaust in which 6,000,000 of the physical seed of Abraham
were murdered:
Jeremiah 30:3-8 And these are the words that the LORD spake
concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the
LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not
of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail
with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on
his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into
paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it:
it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved
out of it.
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1 Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should
smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.
2 Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all
heavens, that he might fill all things.
3 Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
4 Rev 1:20 tells us that the stars are the "aggelos" or messengers (Strong's No.
G32). That same Greek word is also used in Rev 12:4. Aggelos, pronounced
"anglos" is usually translated angels.
5 The wilderness is the Gentile world, Eze 20:35.
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A more moving account of the atrocities of the Nazi gas cham-
bers would be hard to imagine. There, in the winter snow, stood
line after line of Jewish men, naked, their hands in front of them
to cover their nudity. Shivering bodies, numb with cold, beatings
and starvation. Faces pale, they shuffled slowly into oblivion. As
Your Son hung naked on the cross so long ago, so now it has
happened unto Your people, Oh God.
But that is all in the past now. The time of Jacob's trouble is
long over. The Lord has broken Satan's yoke from off their neck,
and the Jews will never be in bondage again.
Jeremiah 30:7 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the
LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck,
and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve
themselves [make slaves] of him.
As of 1948, the Jews are no longer dispersed in the nations.
On May 15th of that year, Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-
Gurion, stood on the floor of the Knesset and declared the nation
of Israel to be a sovereign state. That is a historic fact nobody can
dispute. As of 1948, the woman, Israel, is no longer in the
wilderness, and since she isn't, Rev 12:6 is fulfilled.
According to Rev 12:6, the woman, Israel, would be in the
wilderness 1260 days. Could this be years again? In this instance,
the Lord gave us prophetic days straight out with no complicated
mathematics.1 Even a 2nd grader can figure this one out:
1948 - 1260 = 688 ... and the Dome of the Rock!
How come we couldn't see it sooner? God planned it that way,
and even told us so. Remember in Dan 12:9, when the Lord stated
that this book was sealed until the time of the end? Until the new
nation of Israel and a freed Jerusalem became historic realities
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1 It is correct use the 365.24 solar year to interpret NT prophecies. In New
Testament times, the Jews were under Roman rule and the 365.24 day Roman year
was in common usage.
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(which BEGAN the time of the end) it was impossible to prove that
Daniel's 1290 days were fulfilled by the Dome of the Rock.
Now you realize "days" are supposed to be about either the first or
the last half of the Great Seven-Year Tribulation, but obviously,
that is not what they are about at all. They are about the Moslems,
the Jews, Jerusalem, and the Holy Land. They are about the
restoration of the people to whom God gave the land in the first
place: the PHYSICAL descendants of Israel.
How can we deny the evidence of our own eyes? An Israeli
flag, complete with the star of David, began to fly over the
battlements of Jerusalem on the exact year the Lord predicted it
would, and Jews by the millions have returned to the land. That's
not guesswork theology, folks; it's reality.
Photo courtesy Biblical Archeology Review
We are filled with reverence when we realize that surrounding the now exposed
bedrock under this little cupola, was the Holy of Holies of the temple of Solomon.
On this rock once stood the Ark of the Covenant. When Solomon erected the
temple in 966BC, this very space was filled with the Shekinah glory of God. The
Ark was "lost" during Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem. Jewish tradition states
that the prophet Jeremiah took the Ark and the original tabernacle through a secret
tunnel under Jerusalem and buried them on Mount Nebo. However, it now appears
that the Table of Showbread, Altar of Incense and the Ark of the Covenant were
buried in a cave under Golgotha.
If you arrived at this spot through a link, it would be better if you
started this book from the beginning rather than clicking "next
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