Rome tried to Rebuild 'Third Temple': It Didn't End Well

Today I'm going to show you something I've not heard a lot of people talking about online. In fact, ever, I don't think.

Here it is: There's already been an attempt to rebuild the third temple.

Now, that may surprise some readers, but the details surrounding this are very interesting indeed. And I'm going to show you over the next few moments some of the events that took place in Jerusalem when there was an attempt to build it.

The reason I bring this up, is partly to show that there really is nothing new under the sun, that the Bible is accurate and also that God is in control.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9

No matter what happens in this world, even if it seems chaotic, God is sovereign over everything.

Timeline

So when Jesus walked the earth, he prophesied that the second temple in all its grandiosity and all its splendour would be destroyed and not a single stone would be left upon another.

And of course, this seemed unbelievable to the religious leaders that were around Him. But as with all the prophecies of Jesus, it came to pass.

In 70 AD, the temple was surrounded by a mighty Roman army, and was brought down and destroyed along with most of Jerusalem.

Now, fast forward 80 years later, Rome rebuilt Jerusalem as a Roman colony in which they banned the Jews from entering the city.

They changed the cities name to Aelia Capitolina, which they dedicated to the cult of Jupiter. And as a result, on the Temple Mount, a temple was built in honour and worship of the false deity Jupiter, which was seen as a manifestation of Hadrian, who ruled at the time.

Fast forward a bit further, and the Roman Emperor Constantine comes onto the scene and he "Christianizes" the Roman Empire. And this brings an end to the persecution of Christians.

And this is where our story begins.

After Constantine, born in the year 331 AD, we have an emperor named Julian.

Emperor Julian was a nephew of Constantine and, although he'd been brought up and educated in that "Christian" environment, he rejected Christianity and wanted the Roman Empire (under his watch) to go back to paganism.

So what did he do?

He began to stop Christians being able to serve in key governmental positions.

He began to bring back persecution of Christians in a soft way to begin with and his primary goal was to reverse any Christian influence and wipe Christianity from the face of the earth.

This is the reason he's remembered as Julian the Apostate. Even some people who are anti-Christian today, like some of these heavy metal bands that are very satanic.. you'll see some portraying this in their music videos, Julian the apostate, this emperor, who to them is some kind of hero because he went against Christians and Christianity.

And, in fact, this emperor has been likened to a typology of an antichrist because if you look at the different aspects associated with him as a pattern you can see that a number of things he did showed a similar set of characteristics attributed to that type of antichrist-beast figure.

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. - 1 John 2:18

And I hope as we talk about this story, you'll see some more of those parallels.

Parallels of an Anti-Christ

Emperor Julian declared freedom of religion across the empire and began to rebuild the old pagan shrines and restore their priests.

He began to take away benefits that Christian had received.

And he also began to align himself with the Jews as he thought that would be an effective way to come against Christianity.

Not that he was really on the side of the Jewish religion, by the way, he was a pagan.

But historians have said this was likely because he wanted to use the Jewish religion as a means by which to destroy Christianity. And if he'd got his way, he may well have also come into conflict with the Jews themselves.

So then Julian decided he wanted to prove Jesus' prophecy about the destruction of the temple wrong. Because (in his mind) if he could prove to the Christians that the evidence of Jesus divinity was false, he would go a long way in destroying the faith of Christians at that time.

So what did Julian do?

He decided he wanted to build the Third Temple.

So in the spring of the year 363 AD, Julian hired a man called (Alypius of Anthioch) to oversee the building of the Third Temple.

The workers came onto the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and began trying to start building it.

Now, what happened next is very interesting.

Attempt to Build 'Third Temple'

They began to remove the ruins of a former building. They dug up the ground and cleared away its foundation. And according to one of the most reliable historical accounts, this is what happened next.

On the following day, when they were about to lay the first foundation of this third temple, a great earthquake occurred.

"Through the violent agitation of the earth, stones were thrown up from the depths by which those of the Jews who were engaged in the work were wounded, as were those who were merely looking on. The workmen who survived again returned to the task partly because such was the edict of the emperor and partly because they were themselves interested in the undertaking. They had scarcely returned to rebuilding the temple when fire burst suddenly from the foundations of the temple and consumed several of the workmen." 

- Ammianus Marcellinus, HISTORY (180AD)

Here's another one from Ammianus Marcellinus, a pagan historian who was a Roman.

"Terrifying balls of flame kept bursting forth near the foundations of the temple and made the place inaccessible to the workmen, some of whom were burned to death. And since in this way the element persistently repelled them, the enterprise halted." 

So, these guys were setting about rebuilding this temple on the Temple Mount under the instruction of this anti-Christian emperor.

And as the story goes, they clear out this former building that was there before and destroyed. And they begin to try and lay the foundations and work on a new one. And all these things were said to begin to happen.

And there was in fact an earthquake in Galilee, which was really severe in the year 363AD, which was the same year this unfolded.

"The Galilee earthquake of 363 was a pair of severe earthquakes that shook the Galilee and nearby regions on May 18th and 19th"

A very destructive earthquake took place.

The early Christian writers of the time interpreted this event as the "hand of God" or even the "pointing finger of God" descending to punish the arrogant emperor and suppress the hopes of the Jews to rebuild the temple.

There's even been archaeological findings which have shed light on the massive earthquake in 363 in Galilee. And that's something that they've found over there in Israel.

So there's various historical quotations about the incident in both Christian and non-Christian (pagan) sources.

Listen to this one:

"Julian who had made his soul a home of destroying demons went his corybantic way ever raging against true religion. He accordingly now armed the Jews too against the believers in Christ. He began by inquiring of some whom he got together why though their law imposed on them the duty of sacrifices they offered none wanting them to rebuild the temple. On their reply that their worship was limited to one particular spot, this enemy of God immediately gave directions for the reerection of the destroyed temple, supposing in his vanity that he could falsify the prediction of the Lord, of which in reality he exhibited the truth. The Jews heard his words with delight and made known his orders to their countrymen throughout the world. They came with haste from all directions, contributing alike money and enthusiasm for the work. And the emperor made all the provisions he could. And then they did this. They destroyed moreover the remains of the former construction with the intention of building everything up aresh. But when they had got together thousands of bushels of chalk and lime, of a sudden a violent gale blew, and storms, tempests, and whirlwinds scattered everything far and wide. They still went on in their madness, nor were they brought to their senses by the divine longsuffering. Then first came a great earthquake, fit to strike terror into the hearts of men, quite ignorant of God's dealings. And when still they were not awed, fire running from the excavated foundations burnt up most of the diggers and put the rest to flight. Moreover, when a large number of men were sleeping at night in an adjacent building, it suddenly fell down roof and all and crushed the whole of them. When God's enemies saw these things in terror at the heavens sent plagues, they fled and made their way home, confessing the godhead of him who had been crucified by their fathers. Julian heard of these events, for they were repeated by everyone. But like Pharaoh, he hardened his heart." 

- Theodoret (A.D. 397-451) "Ecclesiastical History" Book III, Chapter XV

So in terms of why this happened, we don't know for sure.

The Christians believed it was divine intervention that (at least) sent the earthquake and caused those things to happen, putting a stop to the Roman emperor deceiving the Jews and utilizing their religious inclinations for his purposes.

And Julian's reign as emperor was cut short when he perished in a battle in Persia (after reigning for less than 3 years).

Others speculate that sabotage is a possibility for what unfolded in Jerusalem that day, as is an accidental fire.

But the point is this. The attempt was thwarted. It didn't work.

Some researchers believe this inscription of Isaiah 66:14 found near the Western Wall could be evidence of the excitement caused by Roman Emperor Julian's decree Photo: Djampa

Conclusion

The key point for me to see is that you have another typology essentially of an antichrist figure who was against Christians, against Christ.

And this was the only other previous attempt to rebuild the third temple since the second was destroyed.

To be balanced, I hone in to the middle ground. Jewish sources barely mention it, but those that do downplay it - whilst Christian sources take a very strong view of divine intervention. The most unbiased evidence, in the opinion of many historians, is from the pagan Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (he would've been neutral to either side), who, as a matter of fact, noted the fire and earthquake halting the project. So, we can at least conclude, these particular events affected the ability of the Third Temple project to go ahead. Some people also take from this that the resulting tremors may have caused gas deposits under the Temple Mount to ignite and create the situation described in these accounts.

But ultimately, we can see everything happens on God's timing. God is sovereign. Only what he allows will come to pass, and judgment will arise when it's His will that it comes upon this Christ-rejecting world.

So we know that we're in good hands, strong hands, sovereign hands, and we can clearly see throughout these historical events that the Bible is correct.

Check out our recent video on this subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL4an_uc0Qk