TEMPLE SACRIFICES
We like every week to bring what we call a Prophecy Update. We show how news and trends in the world are corroborating centuries-old prophecies found in the Bible.
Ever since the Romans sacked Jerusalem in the first century the Jews have been without their Temple. According to prophecies in the Book of Daniel and in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we expect a Temple to be standing during the seven-year Great Tribulation. Thus news relating to this future rebuilt Temple and its functions always fascinates us as students of prophecy.
Of course, the thing that the Jews need the Temple for is to offer sacrifices.
Or do they?
A project called Korban Pesach has launched a website. ((http://korbanpesach.org/))
Korban Pesach is Hebrew for Sacrifice of Passover. They argue that sacrifices, the Passover Lamb in particular, can be made on the Temple Mount with or without a Temple.
Excerpts:
Obviously, the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash (Temple in Jerusalem) and the restrictions imposed by conquerors on Jewish access to Jerusalem and to the Temple Mount, resulted in the cessation of the Korban Pesach.
Yet the fact that there was no longer any Temple did not mean that one could not offer sacrifices, including the Korban Pesach.
According to the Rambam, the sanctity of the Temple Mount remains. Not only is it possible to sacrifice the Korban Pesach, there remains an obligation to do so on the Temple Mount.
We have proof that the commandment of the Korban Pesach was observed, even after the destruction of the Temple. Rabbi Gamliel who lived a hundred years after the destruction commanded his servant to roast the Korban Pesach (Pesachim 87b). Also, the Byzantine Caesar Yostaninos issued an edict forbidding the Jews from sacrificing the Korban Pesach as late as the Sixth Century of the Common Era, long after the destruction of The Temple. This shows the Jews were still offering the Korban Pesach long after the destruction.
There have been at least two recent attempts to offer the Passover Lamb. ((http://www.thesanhedrin.org/en/index.php/Committee_concerning_the_Korban_Pesach))
The committee organized a delegation of a Shochet (ritual slaughterer), a Cohen [priest] of documented lineage, an animal, and a portable stone altar. On the 10th Nissan 5767 (29 Mar 2007), legal documents were sent to the Prime Minister, the Supreme Court and the Chief of Police. The Prime Minister did not respond. The Supreme Court appeared to uphold the right to perform the sacrifice, but denied it on grounds of security. This answer was also echoed by the Chief of Police.
[In 2008] the committee organized a “demonstration sacrifice” as a joint project of the Sanhedrin, the Temple Institute, and the King David Museum. The demonstration of the Paschal sacrifice [was] part of a study day scheduled to take place on Sunday, the First of Nissan (April 6), at the Kotel Yeshiva in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City… The study day [was] to include a public sacrifice which is being termed a “general rehearsal” for the actual Pesach sacrifice on the Temple Mount.
In addition the committee sent a formal requests to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Minister of Public Security Avi Dichter, to allow them to conduct the sacrifice on the Temple Mount, basing their legal argument on “Making the Paschal sacrifice is part of the religious freedom which is a basic human right and a cornerstone of democracy.”
What’s new in 2010?
The new Sanhedrin Initiative is in the forefront of the drive to renew the Korban Pesach. It assumes responsibility for ensuring that the commandments are performed in conformity with Jewish religious law, and will also coordinate the practical details with the appropriate Israeli governmental authorities.
This year in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin Initiative is calling upon the Jewish people in Israel and throughout the world to participate in the Korban Pesach. The Sanhedrin Initiative will choose sheep to be offered in the Korban Pesach, and all preparations will be made in the expectation that we can renew this ancient, traditional offering. ((http://www.korbanpesach.org/en/korban/pesach_now.htm))
The existence of, and the regathering of, Jews to their ancient homeland, Israel, is by itself the greatest fulfillment of biblical prophecy we’ve seen in our lifetime. Efforts like this to reestablish worship and sacrifice on the Temple Mount are the precursor to the man called the antichrist stepping forward and entering into a peace treaty with the Jews by which he guarantees them the right to offer sacrifices and build their Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
We are not looking for the antichrist, but for Jesus Christ. He could return to resurrect and rapture the church at any moment. No prophecy needs to be fulfilled for the Lord to come get us and take us to the place He’s been preparing for the past two thousand years.
Get ready, stay ready, keep looking up.
Ready or not, Jesus is coming!
