Your question:

Sir, they're cannot be a rapture of the church until the temple is rebuilt. The Islamic world will not stand for The Dome of the Rock to be torn down yet this is the very spot that the temple must occupy. How do we know we are in the end times if the temple cannot be rebuilt? Thank you, L.

 My answer:

Hi L.,
Thanks for the e-mail.

You said: Sir, they're cannot be a rapture of the church until the temple is rebuilt.

My response: Absolutely right, the church will not be resurrected until the temple is prepared for the reign of the Messiah.

You said: The Islamic world will not stand for The Dome of the Rock to be torn down yet this is the very spot that the temple must occupy.

My response: Right again. We are talking about the will of Almighty God. At some point the Islamic shrines would have to come down. Biblically I don't know how that is to happen, but can we rule out an earthquake or other intervention by God? There have been reports that the temple mount walls have received extensive damage caused by shoddy construction and excavation by the Islamists. The southern expanse of wall has a major bulge that is buckling outward. The Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque both have major structural cracks due to their foundations being undermined. A small quake or even leaving it to itself may be all that will be necessary to present an opportunity to Israel. One can never rule out Jewish espionage either.

You said: How do we know we are in the end times if the temple cannot be rebuilt?

My response: Specifically we are not "in" the end-times as they are defined by prophetic events. Rather we are on the precipice of the final days. Israel's bid for peace will cause her rebellion against God's covenant by giving away covenant lands. This will launch the infamous prophetic seven years. Three and a half years of so-called peace followed by three and a half years of desolation. The first half can be defined as the "birth pains" period. We are about to enter this period of time. It is probable that during that time the third temple will be constructed.

I hope this helps if not let me know.

In the service of LORD Jesus,

Randy