The Temple and the Lost Tribes of Israel

Excerpts from The Temple and the Lost Tribes of Israel

~ On the one hand, how definitive are the prophecies of the coming Messiah? Can we know for sure—or are they as obscure as Greek oracles? Can we read into them anything we choose? Are Bible prophecies any different from pagan prophecies? On the other hand, perhaps we have never heard that the Old Testament specifically predicted the name of the coming Messiah and even His last name. (Did you know He has a last name?)

~ “In 1880, the Reverend Alexander McCaul, professor of Divinity, King’s College, London, expressed it this way:

“The Jews do not believe, because they are so engrossed with the temporal deliverance of the nation. …We do not, by any means, wish to deny that Israel is to be restored to the land of promise, … we fully believe that the Messiah, who visited this earth, for a short season, will return and re-establish the Theocracy … but we cannot help remembering that Messiah has another and more important office than that of restoring the kingdom of Israel, and that is the redemption of the human race. (McCaul 1880, 394)

… The kingdom is still to come. Though many Christians seem to think we are in the kingdom now, Jesus told His disciples that the kingdom of God would be close at hand when they would begin to see the events of the tribulation unfolding (Luke 21:28–31).”

~ “To return to the theme of rebuilding the Temple, what does the prediction of the name of the Messiah have to do with Christians rebuilding the Temple? Note how Zechariah ends his monumental prophecy of the Messiah’s name:

Those who are far away will come and help build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the LORD your God. (Zechariah 6:15)”

~ “As far back as 1979 … I found references to the lost ten tribes, … the Afghans call themselves ‘Sons of Israel’ and claim to be the tribes that went into Assyrian exile 2600 years ago. We can identify from their tribal names nine out of ten of these tribes.

The Afghans not only call themselves Sons of Israel (bani Israil), but they also look up to the tribe of Joseph as the most blue-blooded ... The Yusufzai (sons of Joseph) take the place of honor in Afghan society. The closest tribe to the Yusufzai by blood is the Durânis … they are sons of Benjamin. Interesting. This is the same biblical relationship … of Joseph and his brother Benjamin—they shared the same mother.”

~ “Scripture declares this future Temple as God’s Temple four times: (1) Daniel 8:11, “…it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low; (2) Matthew 24:15, of the Antichrist Jesus said, “So when you see standing in the holy place…”; (3) 2 Thessalonians 2:4, and Paul said, “…and even sets himself up in God’s temple…”; and (4) John said, Revelation 11:1, “…‘Go and measure the temple of God and the altar…’”

With these, there is no doubt that there will be a Temple in the future, and it must be built on its original site (Ezra 2:68; 5:15; 6:7). … At the dedication of the Temple, Solomon declared, “… a place for you to dwell forever” (2 Chronicles 6:2). For this reason, Israel was not allowed to build it anywhere else. It was to be built in Jerusalem (Zechariah 1:16) and in the place where Ornan had had his threshing floor …”

~ “One last item to cover is the famous stone discovered outside the southwest corner of the traditional Temple Mount ... It bears a Hebrew inscription, “To the place (or house) of Trumpeting.” It is said, therefore, that the trumpet was blown from the corner of the traditional Mount on the wall above and that the stone fell during the Roman destruction of the Temple and its platform walls. … this discovery was thought to be major evidence in favor of the traditional Temple Mount … archaeologists said that the finding of this stone proved exactly what Josephus had talked about. Case closed—the traditional Temple Mount was the right place where the Temple had stood.

Surprisingly, … —this was not … what Josephus wrote. He described four towers … at the actual Temple platform … the first was on the … northeast corner, the second was above the Xystus (… the northwest corner), the third was on its southwest corner (where the famous stone now rests below), and the fourth was above the ‘pastophoria’ where the trumpet was blown … ‘Pastophoria’ is a Greek word used … for the priests’ chambers next to the Temple, and many times specifically used of the treasury chamber on the north side of the Temple … Josephus said clearly that the trumpet was not blown on the southwest corner where the stone with the inscription … now sits. … ”

~ “ Armed with these maps, my daughter and I visited Jerusalem in 2017 to locate Nehemiah’s Valley Gate … , the Tower of the Ovens … , the Gate of Ephraim, the Corner Gate and 600 feet of wall between the Corner Gate and the Gate of Ephraim (2 Chronicles 25:23).

Bliss and Dickie’s map clearly shows an escarpment that forms a “corner” as the cliff descends to the south and then veers sharply to the northeast ... Bliss and Dickie found a gate … uncovered the tower above the gate … At the end of this 600-foot line of escarpment is a funny acute angle in the wall ... Attached to this angle on their map is another tower that they uncovered. The sharp corner and the 600 feet … resonated with 2 Chronicles 25:23, and … “the angle in the wall” (2 Chronicles 26:9).”