Dear Roger,
I’ve seen questions about the Third Temple and current peace treaties happening with Israel all over social media. President Trump helped orchestrate the treaties too. Does that mean he could be the Antichrist? I know the book of Revelation mentions events like these in the End Times. What does all this mean?
Sincerely,
Asha
Dear Asha,
I was shocked by the recent peace treaties signed between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. I never imagined that Israel would be aligning itself with Mideast Gulf nations, did you? Peace in the Middle East has always seemed impossible. But that’s politics! We do need to recognize that these treaties certainly have implications for the Second Coming as described in the book of Revelation.
PEACE TREATIES: What Do They Signify?
The present-day United Arab Emirates is located on the biblical land of Dedan.
In the Hebrew Bible, the name Dedan is assigned to a son of Raamah (Genesis 10:7). His descendants are mentioned in Isaiah 21:13; Ezekiel 25:13; and Ezekiel 27:15. This people group probably settled among the sons of Cush, on the northwest coast of the present Persian Gulf.
Interestingly, archeologists have identified some characteristics that show the ties between Dedan and ancient Egypt. This land has a part to play in both the Battle of Armageddon in Revelation 16 and with the armies of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
The current treaties call for normalizing the relationships between Israel, UAE, Bahrain, Turkey and the United States. In a very real sense, these five nations have “ganged up” against Iran, who is still under United Nations sanctions because of their nuclear program.
However, Anwar Gargash, UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, declared, “This treaty is in no way meant to create some sort of grouping against Iran.” I want to say, “Who’s kidding whom? It’s obvious that’s exactly what this treaty accomplishes.
Behind the scenes, I believe that Iran will be involved in Second Coming and the Battle of Armageddon.
First, it’s obvious that Iran has nuclear weapons, or soon will, the results of which are described with the other plagues in Revelation 6-19. Consider Revelation 8:7, which says, “there came fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”
Second, Iran is most likely part of the armies of 200 million led by the kings from the East (see Revelation 18), which line up against the Antichrist at the Battle of Armageddon.
One other significant part of the treaty also deals with annexing the West Bank and securing land for a Palestinian state. The resolution of the West Bank issue is critical to Israel’s future, not just religious and for holy reasons, but as a military stronghold in case of another Israeli war with Arab nations and other Gulf states.
Will other Gulf nations take sides? Most likely. After all, the United States is the only nation in the world which gives any sort of tacit support to Israel. What makes us think that other nations will jump in to help Israel?!
This new treaty may well be a foreshadowing of the prophetic events soon to be fulfilled in the End Times.
PRESIDENT TRUMP
Asha, you asked the question, “Could Trump be the Antichrist?” People ask me that question about the presidential candidates every four years!
The answer is absolutely “no.” Trump is not the Antichrist.
Revelation tells us that during the final years of tribulation on earth, a man named the Antichrist will unite numerous nations to fight against Israel and ultimately against Jesus at the Battle of Armageddon. We are told to recognize him by the number of his name; “This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666” (Revelation 13:18).
Today, we utilize Arabic numbers. The Romans used Roman numerals. The Greeks assigned a number to each letter of the Greek alphabet.
You can see that none of Trump’s numbers come anywhere close to 666:
Trump: 300+100+400+40+80 equals 920
Donald: 4+70+50+1+30+4 equals 159
Donald Trump: 920+159 equals 1079
Note Joe Biden’s name: 9+70+5+2 10+4+5+50 equals 155
The number “six” is often identified in Scripture as the number of man. Man’s number is consistently one short of perfection; thus, the Antichrist is 666. Jesus’ number is 887.
He is consistently one better than perfection.
THE THIRD TEMPLE
Finally, Asha, you asked about the Third Jewish Temple and its implications for End Times events.
The third Temple will be rebuilt sometime before the Second Coming. We know this because the “Abomination of Desolation” is set up in the temple when the Antichrist and his minions invade the temple altar and begin to make sacrifices to themselves and proclaim great blasphemy against Jesus (see the end-times prophecy in Daniel 9:27).
The First Temple was built by Solomon in 957 BCE and destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE. Then, the Second Temple was built under the guidance of Ezra in 516 BCE. It lasted until the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 A.D.
When Jesus told his disciples that the Temple would be destroyed and not one stone left upon another (Matthew 24:38), He was referring to the Second Temple. Since 70 A.D. there hasn’t been a Temple in Israel. But a Third Temple is coming.
Although it remains unbuilt, the notion of and desire for a Third Temple is sacred in Judaism—particularly Orthodox Judaism—because it is anticipated as a place of worship. The prophets in the Hebrew Bible called for its construction to be fulfilled prior to, or in tandem with, the Messianic Age. The rebuilding of the Third Temple also plays a major role in the biblical understanding of the Second Coming of Christ.
In 2 Thessalonians, the apostle Paul taught that the Abomination of Desolation would be placed in the holy Temple in Jerusalem. The temple must exist in order for the image of the Antichrist to be worshipped there:
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. (2:3-4)
Daniel also teaches, “Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the Abomination of Desolation” (12:11).
It’s fair to ask whether or not there is enough space on the Temple Mount to build another Temple without infringing upon the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Both are Muslim holy places.
I’ve stood on the Temple Mount, and there’s plenty of land on the northern side of the plateau for another Temple. In fact, there already groups in Israel clamoring for the immediate construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem.
BIRTH PANGS
The day that the peace treaty was signed, I was inundated with questions about whether or not this was the beginning of the “birth pains” that Jesus mentioned, which would precede the Great Tribulation:
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
With all the hurricanes, typhoons, wars, volcanoes, earthquakes, forest fires, floods, melting ice packs, destruction of the permafrost, global warming, (California recently recorded possibly the hottest temperature ever measured on earth), and now these peace treaties, I’m wondering if these really are what Jesus called “the beginning of birth pains” which lead up to the Great Tribulation.
Let me encourage you to watch carefully and pray fervently for Jesus to come soon!
Well, Asha,
I hope that this addresses your questions in a simple and understanding way. If you have more questions, please let me know.
Love, Roger
