Israel’s Future and Muslim Abhorrence of Israel
by Alan Olender

  What does the future hold for Israel?  Will Iran and/or other Islamic nations acquire nuclear weapons and wipe Israel and Jerusalem off the map, driving the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea, as they have repeatedly threatened?

     The Qur’an, in the first sura, says that Allah leads the Muslim people in the way of justice, not in the way of those with whom he is angry.  According to widely accepted interpretation, those with whom Allah is angry refers to the Jews.  Jewish history, both secular and that recorded in the Bible, is a history of them losing their own country, as the Bible explains, due to their unfaithfulness to God.

     Ezekiel 38-39 describes an attack on Israel and an “evil plan” (Ezek 38:10) to “capture” and “plunder” Israel.  Ezekiel prophecies that God will defeat this enemy and “restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel” (39:25).  Then chapters 40-48 describe in great detail a temple and Levitical sacrifices in “a structure like a city” (40:2).

     For centuries, scholarly Bible students, both Jewish and Christian, have struggled to interpret the vision described in these chapters, but they have by no means reached a satisfactory agreement. At least four views have emerged from these studies, and all of them have their strengths and weaknesses.  Warren Wiersbe gives a synopsis.

     VIEW 1: Ezekiel described “ideal worship” for God’s people. Rejecting the idea that a literal temple will be built in Israel, this view spiritualizes the vision God gave Ezekiel and seeks to apply it to the church today. The temple is understood to be a symbol of the glorious presence of God among His people, and the gates stand for the open access the people have to the Lord. The arguments for this view center on the finished work of Christ and the end of the Old Covenant. This interpretation sees no future for Israel as a nation, in the “Promised land.”

     But this approach has its problems, not the least of which is the presence of so much detail in these chapters. If this is about the church now, do we ignore these details or seek to understand and apply them? If so, what do they mean for spiritual worship today, for the church? Furthermore, why would Ezekiel leave out so many important elements from the Old Testament pattern of worship? Ezekiel’s temple has no ark, golden altar of incense, lampstand, table of bread, veil, or high priest. He includes only three of the five levitical sacrifices, and two of the seven annual Jewish feasts. None of these omissions is explained and the absence of these parts would indicate that the temple described was not the one that had stood in Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s lifetime used as a symbol.

     Spiritualizing Scripture results in a variety of interpretations and confusion as to which “spiritual truth” is God’s meaning. The temple is used as an image of both the church universal (Eph. 2:19–22) and the local church (1 Cor. 3:9ff), but similarity of image is no proof that what the Bible says about a never-having-existed Jewish temple should be applied to the church. 

     However, the “spiritual” approach does emphasize an important point. The Jewish people had defiled their temple and the glory of the Lord had departed, and Israel needed to return to holy worship and abandon their routine of empty religious activity. In fact, it’s a lesson the church needs to recover today. Too much so-called worship is only a demonstration of man-centered religious activity that fails to bring glory to the Lord.

     VIEW 2: Ezekiel gave the plans for the post-captivity temple. If this is true, then the Jewish remnant didn’t know it when they returned to their land, because they built the second temple according to the plans Moses gave in Exodus. The old men in the group wept, not because the second temple wasn’t like Ezekiel’s vision but because it was so unlike the magnificent temple Solomon built (Ezra 3:10–13). Perhaps the vision of the new temple may have encouraged the Jewish remnant in their difficult work, but the “second temple” interpretation falls short of dealing honestly with the biblical text.

     VIEW 3: Ezekiel’s vision anticipated John’s vision in Revelation 21. There are some similarities. Both men were taken to high mountains (Ezek. 40:10) and both saw the glorious city of God. In both visions, a man was measuring the city (vv. 15–17), and both visions describe a life-giving river (Rev. 22:1). Ezekiel and John both emphasized the exclusion of defilement from the city (21:27). However, John’s vision says nothing about worship; in fact, he states clearly that there will be no temple in the city he described (v. 22). The heavenly city will be comprised of believers from the whole world (vv. 24–27), while Ezekiel’s temple is emphatically Jewish, including the offering of levitical sacrifices. While this doesn’t exclude believing Gentiles, it does mark the worship as Jewish. It doesn’t appear that God had John’s vision in mind when He showed Ezekiel the temple.

     VIEW 4: Ezekiel described a temple to be used during the millennial reign of Christ. This interpretation takes the prophetic Scriptures plainly, no “spiritual” or veiled meaning.  Ezekiel described the design of a literal temple that will be the center for worship during the kingdom of Christ, a worship based on the levitical order in the Mosaic Law. According to Ezekiel 43:6–12, the Lord gave all the details in order to focus the Jews’ attention on God’s holiness and thus bring them to repentance.  

    God described expanded boundaries for Israel’s land during this time of restoration and establishment of His kingdom (Ezek 47-48), including a square area for priests of this kingdom temple in the “middle” of this land area (Ezek 48:8).  In the context of these very detailed descriptions, God declares that he “swore” to give this land to the “forefathers” of the Jews – Abraham, Isaac & Jacob (Deut 1:8) – and to their descendants after them.  All these details about the land and the temple accompanied by God’s oath make any understanding other than the literal one highly non-contextual, i.e. creating a meaning that is decidedly not in these chapters, but must be inserted from elsewhere.

    If the literal view is correct, there are two temples in Israel’s future: the Tribulation temple, which will be taken over by the Antichrist (Dan. 9:24, 26–27; Matt. 24:15; 2 Thes. 2:1–4; Rev. 11:1; 15:5), and the millennial temple that Ezekiel described in these chapters. But Ezekiel isn’t the only prophet who said there would be a holy temple during the Kingdom Age. You find a kingdom temple and kingdom worship mentioned in Isaiah 2:1–5, 60:7, 13; Jeremiah 33:18; Joel 3:18; Micah 4:2; Haggai 2:7–9; and Zechariah 6:12–15, 14:16, 20–21. Ezekiel 37:24–28 records God’s promise to His people that He would put His sanctuary among them. “My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed, I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (v. 27, NKJV).

     The temple plans and measurements Ezekiel described had a direct bearing on the people to whom he was speaking – discouraged Jews who in the Babylonian siege had lost their land, their holy city, their temple, and many of their loved ones. Ezekiel assured them that God would keep His covenant promises and one day dwell again with His chosen people.  The temple description was basis for God’s call to Jewish leaders living then to hear Ezekiel’s message and to “put away violence and destruction and practice justice and righteousness” (45:9).

     Muhammad spoke of God’s anger against Israel in the first sura of the Qur’an, but he left out God’s promises of grace and restoration.  Thus, when the state of Israel came into existence, in 1948, a dilemma for Islam arose.  The existence of the Israeli state challenged Islam in the most sensitive point it has – the truthfulness of the Qur’an.  The Qur’an foresaw only God’s anger toward Israel, not restoration in their land, with a temple and restored worship.

     One Jewish commentator writes: “Palestinian Muslims pray to Allah to lead them in the right way of justice. Only a few meters away the Jews have their summer resorts, hotels and supermarkets.  But most importantly they have their state, for which the Palestinians still only wait.  Do you notice the paradox?  Not any more can God’s anger be identified by the measure of having or not have a state.  Therefore it is not a conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian people.  It is a conflict between Israel and Islam. If the Muslims accepted its existence (the state of Israel) they would betray their own identity based on Qur’an.  It may be said that these are the reasons which lead directly to the hostile foreign policy of most of the Arabic countries to the state of Israel.” (Karel Sykora, jewishmag.com)

     Does the existence of the state of Israel play a part in God’s future plans?  I believe the literal interpretation of Ezekiel’s vision yields the best understanding and application of the Word that God gave Ezekiel (and other prophets who mention a future temple and land).  Mention of proper names (e.g. Zadok) as well as details, as previously mentioned, of priest’s service in this temple (e.g. wearing garments in which they would not sweat, not eating any animal that died a natural death), point to a literal interpretation.  Taking these chapters literally answers questions regarding Israel’s future.  Israel, as a nation-state, in the land God gave to Abraham and his descendants, will not be destroyed, but God will intervene to rescue Israel from her enemies and restore Jews to the land He promised repeatedly to them in the Bible.  Jewish worship will be restored, including sacrifices, which can only be memorials of Christ’s finished work on the cross (similar to our “Lord’s Supper” memorial).

     The situation in the Middle East is dismal.  Closer to home, Islam’s gradual offensive into Europe and America, thought by some to encompass the planned mosque near the site of the 911 terrorist attacks, has escalated alarm.  Israel is more alone in 2010 than in recent years.  None of the Arab countries have yet been willing to fight for an independent Palestinian state, but they have fought to eliminate Israel as a state.

     Does Ezekiel’s vision of a military offensive against Israel foretell an Islamic attack?  Such an event seems possible, maybe likely, yet God’s Word gives hope for the future of national Israel and Christ’s church.  Christ will come back as King of Kings to restore peace and righteousness to this sin-broken world, join national Israel and Gentile believers into one faith-community and ultimately a new earth and a new Jerusalem.  We must proclaim the gospel with urgency until that day.  Ought we not to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps 122:6)?  Christ alone is that peace and He will bring peace… Maranatha Lord!