The Temple Needs to be Rebuilt

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the subject of great controversy between the Jews and Muslims.  Many Jews want to see a temple to replace the one that was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70.  However, there is a big obstacle in their way, and that is the Muslim Dome of the Rock that sits on that site.  The Muslims are not prepared to give it back to the Jews at any price.  Millions of Christians (futurists) believe that a temple will be rebuilt because it is a prerequisite for the rise of antichrist, the great tribulation, and the final battle of Armageddon.

Modern-day prophecy writers (prophecy speculators) insist that there will be a rapture of the church first.  After the pretribulational rapture their next prophetic event in their dispensational system is where Israel takes center stage.  This they say will set off a series of prophetic events leading up to the millennial reign of Christ, including the rebuilding of another temple in Jerusalem after the destruction of the "tribulation temple."  But it is in the future post-rapture "tribulation temple" that the antichrist is to take his seat (2 Thess. 2:4), place a statue of himself for people to worship (Matt. 24:15), and proclaim himself to be god (2 Thess. 2:4).

The futurists have failed to supply one verse from scripture that states that there will be another rebuilt temple.  The Old Testament clearly mentions that there was a decree to rebuild the post-exilic temple (2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4; 5:6-17).  The foundation stone was laid (Ezra 3:10-12) and the temple was completed (6:13-18). 

Rebuilt temple advocates are forced to admit that "There are no Bible verses that say, "There is going to be a third temple."

In Randall Price's updated 700-page book on The Temple and Bible Prophecy still can't produce a verse from the New Testament that actually states that another temple is prophetically required to be rebuilt. 

Considering that there are two books (Ezra and Nehemiah) from the Old Testament devoted to the details of rebuilding the temple when the Jews returned from the Babylonian capitivity, one would think there would be at least one verse in the New Testament that says something about the rebuilding of a distant post-rapture temple.

If the temple is such a crucial piece of the end-time puzzle, why doesn't the New Testament say something about it?  The silence is deafening.

(From Gary DeMar - 10 Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed and Answered)