This Will Drive the Bible Prophecy Pundits Wild
In 2018, when Pete Hegseth was still a reporter for FoxNews, he made several provocative comments about the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Now he is Trump’s Defense Secretary. But the internet never forgets.
According to Qatar-backed London based media site Middle East Eye,
Donald Trump's choice as the next United States defense secretary has called for the building of a third Jewish temple on the site of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Hegseth has previously touted his avowedly pro-Israel credentials, which derive in part from his fundamentalist Christian beliefs.
Speaking at an event in Jerusalem in 2018 he said there was "no reason why the miracle of re-establishing the temple on the Temple Mount isn’t possible", using the Israeli name for the raised plateau in occupied East Jerusalem where Al-Aqsa Mosque stands.
"I don't how it would happen, you don't know how it would happen, but I know that it could happen - and a step in that process is the recognition that facts and activities on the ground truly matter," he said at the event, which took place at Jerusalem's King David Hotel.
He also told attendees that Israel should take advantage of Trump being in office to do what they needed to do in the region, because there were "true believers" in Washington who would back them.
Any discussion of the future of the Jerusalem Temple and its environs is provocative to say the least. The news article spells out the reasons why this subject is so fraught with religious and political tension.
For religious Jews, the Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. It is believed to be the site of two temples that were once the centre of the Jewish kingdoms that existed in ancient times, according to both scripture and archaeological studies.
The only remaining part of the Second Temple - begun by Herod the Great and destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE in retaliation for a Jewish rebellion - is the Western Wall, which is the holiest site for Jewish prayer in the city.
Atop the hill is the vast Al-Aqsa Mosque, a complex of courtyards, prayer halls and shrines, including the golden-roofed Dome of the Rock. The mosque is one of the holiest sites in Islam.
Restrictions on non-Muslims entering the mosque have been in place since the Ottoman status quo designating Jerusalem's holy sites to its sects was established in 1757.
The Chief Rabbinate of Jerusalem has also, since 1921, officially banned Jews from entering the Temple Mount.
However in recent years far-right Jewish activists have regularly stormed the mosque complex accompanied by ministers in the government, and Palestinians' access to the mosque and courtyards has been routinely restricted by Israeli security forces.
Far-right Jewish activists want to build a third Jewish temple on the site where Al-Aqsa Mosques structures and courtyards stand today.
Some, including Christian Evangelicals, believe this will herald the arrival of the messiah and possibly even the end of the world.
So, if you are one of the prophecy devotees (usually a dispensationalist) who is laser-focused upon any event in Israel, Jerusalem, and especially the temple, Hegseth’s comments surely raise a number of questions, possibilities, and unintended bad consequences.
The most obvious question is “will the Jerusalem temple be rebuilt?” That could lead to the Rapture and the Tribulation.
But an ugly possibility also rears its head. There must be a re-built temple in Jerusalem for the Antichrist to make a deal with and then betray Israel. But if it is the United States which facilitates the rebuild of temple (or at least the clearing of Muslim holy places from the Temple Mount) then does this come from benign intentions? Does it stem from the desire to see biblical prophecy fulfilled (as Hegseth implies)? Or does this originate from a less than benign source? And since Trump has vowed to support Israel (and there is no indication he’ll do otherwise) does this set the stage for the ultimate betrayal of Israel and rise of the Antichrist as the pundits have long predicted?
So many juicy possibilities . . . So many topics for punditry podcasts and YouTube videos . . . But if you operate from an unsound eschatology like the pundits do, grounded in current events and wild speculation, this is where you end up.
Thankfully, a biblically sound eschatology avoids this sort of speculative nonsense.
A Rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem? A Look at Ezekiel's Vision in Chapters 40-48