The Sanhedrin admits the present-tense mix of despair and elation within the Jewish populace of Israel. However, they will proceed without hesitation. They believe that it is the command of deity that presses them upon their mission. Also, it is the spiritual dimension of their nation that must come more prominently to the fore. Therefore, the temple will be. No matter the obstacles.

All of this is particularly interesting to biblical Christians. They scour the Bible for the latest detail concerning prophecies regarding the Second Coming of Christ. With like ardor, they scour the news for any specific related to Israel, the temple reconstruction plans, the Temple Mount, and military conflicts increasing or decreasing in the Middle East.

Christians research such primary passages as Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 for Jesus’ clear, literal statements regarding signs which will precede His rule upon the Earth. Then they research the symbolic passages in the Book of Revelation, the vision given by Jesus to John the Beloved Apostle when the latter was on the Isle of Patmos off of Greece.

There are Old Testament passages as well, specifically Ezekiel 36-39, which sets forth the return of Jews to their homeland in the "latter times." Such took place on May 14, 1948, when the UN established Israel as a nation.

Last Saturday I, a Gentile Christian, decided to attend the city’s most popular Conservative synagogue. The service began at 9:30. It closed at noontime. The female cantor conducted the proceedings. There were about 50 gathered in the chapel, not the main sanctuary. There were two youths present. The rest were adults of varying ages, some couples attending together.

I listened to the worshipers recite Hebrew from their Service Books. The main accent of course is studying and worshiping from The Torah — the first five books of the Old Testament. These are the Books of Law provided by divine inspiration to Moses.

It was an enriching experience for me. The Jews were most cordial to me, knowing I was a guest from a village church outside the city. They were more than willing to explain various details concerning worship to me. Afterward, there was a brief fellowship sharing alongside the chapel.

As I sat there in the synagogue, I thought of these Jews’ counterparts there in the Holy Land, the Sanhedrin especially. There was like ardor half way across the world, those Jews in the old country preparing for the next temple, its rituals returned, its prayers offered.

One of these days, because God has declared it, the temple will be reconstructed in Jerusalem. I once visited there. I recall seeing the Wailing Wall. Our guides told us that that was the last supporting wall of Solomon’s Original Temple. From what I read today, there are various Jewish scholars who debate present-tense the exact dimensions and location of the original temple. In fact, that was the theme of the last meeting recently of the Sanhedrin. Where really was the original temple in today’s Old Jerusalem

So the research continues. The anticipation builds. The Jews are excited. The Christians are excited. Prophesy is renewed as a live study. Prayers go upward to the heavenly throne. Where will it all end?

Christians believe that the temple will be built sometime prior to the Tribulation’s mid-point, that is, three and a half years into the about-seven year "times of vengeance," to use Jesus’ phrasing. At the mid-point, the devil’s political ruler AntiChrist will leave his city-of-seven-hills, Rome, to thrust himself into the Holy of Holies, desecrating it just as Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated it in the 2^nd century BC. Epiphanes slaughtered a pig in the 30-foot square holy room. It was the Maccabees who then revolted against that pagan move, finally winning out, all such celebrated in Hanukkah.

Next? What’s next?

The present Sanhedrin is determined to find out, indeed to help form it. The Christians sit on the edge of their seats wondering what’s next according to scriptural prophecy. Day by day. Week by week. Only the Father knows the day and hour of the Son’s return. Yet the Son has left believers plenty of material for study.

And so the reading goes on and on. With delight, I might add.