Journal: Bible and Spade (Second Run)
Volume: BSPADE 07:2 (Spring 1994)
Article: Temple of the Lost Ark
Author: Mart DeHaan

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BSP 7:2 (Spring 1994) p. 33

Temple of the Lost Ark

Mart DeHaan

and

Jimmy DeYoung

Preparations for a Temple

Micha and Shoshana Harrari are harpmakers credited with making the first harps in Jerusalem in almost 2, 000 years. When a local rabbi saw their work, he said he knew the coming of the Messiah was near. The Harraris believe it could be their destiny to make as many as 4,000 harps for a future temple orchestra.

Shoshana says, “This is important (that harps are being made) because these were instruments of a very expressive kind of joy, a divine joy. And they’ve been missing. They’ve been silent since our ancestors hung their harps upon the willow trees and went into exile.”

The making of harps is only one example of the preparations being made for a future temple. For such a worship center to operate, it will need thousands of qualified men to perform temple duties. In anticipation of this need, one rabbi in the Old City has developed a computer database with the names of Jewish men descended from priestly families. Many have been contacted and are studying in training centers all over Jerusalem.

The Temple Institute located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem has a group of scholars and artisans who are now making priestly garments and implements, which they hope will be needed in temple services. Many garments and utensils, including a “mizrack” used to transport the blood for the sacrificial ceremony and a 24-carat gold crown for the high priest, are already made and in storage.

The Vision

One of the most visible and outspoken advocates for a future temple is Gershon Salomon, leader of the “Temple Mount Faithful.” Salomon was among the Israeli defense forces who went onto the Temple Mount in June of 1967 when Israel unified Jerusalem for the first time in almost 2, 000 years. Salomon was given a tour of the Temple Mount by a Jordanian guide who told Salomon that he thought the Jews had come to start construction of the Jewish temple.

Several days later, however, Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan gave control of the Temple Mount back to the

BSP 7:2 (Spring 1994) p. 34

Muslims. This gesture of peace blocked construction of the temple but not the vision that had been born in Salomon. When asked today about the Temple Mount, Salomon makes it clear that he sees beyond the site as it now exists. Instead he says, “I see the first temple, I see the second temple, and more than that, I see the third temple, which will be rebuilt in this place. Very soon—maybe tomorrow—you and I and all our generation will have the privilege to come to this place. Then all the nations from all the worl...

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