What Will Be the Location

of the Third Temple?

All scholars agree that the third Temple will be built somewhere on the Temple Mount, but one of the most controversial questions today is to find the exact location of the original Temple.  Although archaeological research is forbidden on the Temple Mount, there have been widespread excavations along the external boundaries of the area.  As a result of those excavations, three possibilities have been offered as the location of the Temple area.  The three sites that have received the most attention as possible locations of the Temple are:  the Northern site, the Southern site, and the Traditional site.

The Southern Location

Father Bellarmino Bagatti, a Franciscan scholar, published Recherches sur le Site du Temple de Jerusalem in 1979.  This publication was the result of his research of works of antiquity and personal excavations.  Bagatti’s contention was that the Temple must have been located at a southern location someplace between the Al Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock.  Bagatti’s conclusions were not original, but his research (as given below) was supported by novel thoughts and new information.

First, he argued that the ancient documents suggested that the topography of the Temple Mount was at a lower elevation than at the supposed highest point, the Dome of the Rock.  Furthermore, Bagatti asserted that the original boundary was located further south than its present location; he believed that either the Romans or Arabs had reduced the current boundary line.  Second, Bagatti’s measurements of the southern Herodian wall led him to conclude that a junction within in the wall was south of the Eastern Gate, which would be excluded from the area of the Temple.  Third, he referred to an account of a Jewish pilgrimage in A.D. 438 to mean prayers were given at the Huldah Gate, which was located at the southern location.  Fourth, he argued that the Dome of the Rock served no basis for determining the original Temple location.

Additionally, Bagatti argued that the location of many underground reservoirs so near to the Al Aqsa Mosque also demonstrated a southern location for the Temple.  He also found architectural layouts of Hadrian’s temple complex, which was in the proximity of the Temple, to be located nearby the Al Aqsa Mosque.

Although Bagatti’s work did introduce new research in Temple studies, the identification of the southern site for the location of the Temple is not free of errors.  For instance, Bagatti’s interpretation of the A.D. 438 pilgrimage did not take into account the fact that due to ceremonial impurity the Jews would not have approached the site of the Temple.  Since the site was desecrated, the Jews would not have prayed at the location of the Temple either.

The most inaccurate assumption of Bagatti is not regarding the Dome of the Rock as a basis for determining the location of the Temple.  Another misleading statement is in regard to the underground reservoirs since they were also located in the proximity of the Dome of the Rock.  It is for these reasons that the southern site is the least likely location of the Temple.

The Northern Location

In the late 1970s, Dr. Asher Kaufman proposed the Temple was located at the northeastern corner of the Temple Mount.  Kaufman’s research of some structural remnants on the Temple Mount caused him to believe that a small Muslim cupola (“Dome of the Spirits”) was originally the northwest corner of the Temple of Priests.  The east-west line paralleled the Eastern Gate and Temple with the Mount of Olives.  The line also bisected the Muslim cupola, which Kaufman believed was the location of the Holy of Holies.  According to Kaufman, this point would have been the highest elevation on the Temple Mount, and therefore, would indicate a northern location of the Temple.

Coupled with an unusual interpretation of Revelation 11:2, some Bible prophecy teachers have been fond of using Kaufman’s research to argue that the Temple could be rebuilt today without the Dome of the Rock being destroyed.  In Revelation 11:2, the apostle John is instructed “the court which is without the temple leave out” in the measurements of the Tribulation Temple “for it is given unto the Gentiles.”  Since Kaufman believed that the “Dome of the Spirits” is the location of the Holy of Holies, the Dome of the Rock would not be included in the measurements of the rebuilt Temple since it is within the outer court area.

The problem with interpreting Revelation 11:2 to allow the existence of the Dome of the Rock in the outer court of the rebuilt Temple is that the very existence of the Muslim holy place defiles the Temple Mount.  The organizations that are interested in rebuilding the Temple are quite dogmatic that both the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque must be destroyed before the Temple is rebuilt.  Therefore, “the court which is without the temple” is not allowing the existence of the Dome of the Rock, but may be a possible reference to God’s hindrance of the rebuilt Temple being destroyed when the “holy city” is “tread under foot forty and two months” by the Gentiles (Rev. 11:2).

Although Kaufman’s research is remarkable, Israeli archaeologists have discounted its validity as the location of the Temple.  Archaeologist Dan Bahat rejected the northern location due to a noteworthy topographical problem.  Ready to Rebuild authors quoted Dr. Bahat as follows:

If we take Asher Kaufman’s theory of the location of the Holy of Holies, it will force the entire Temple to be built beyond the northern valley of the Temple Mount, and this is an impossibility because of the great depth of the valley below.  Moreover, Charles Warren discovered an enormous moat in this northern area, and if we accept Kaufman’s theory, half the Temple would have to be built within this moat [Thomas Ice and Randall Price, Ready to Rebuild (Eugene, OR:  Harvest House, 1992), 162.].

Kaufman was aware of the archaeological objection, but he believed that there is evidence for the massive structural foundation that the northern location would demand.  However, even if he could produce such evidence, the northern location would still be objected due to Jewish tradition and the fact that the existence of Islamic holy sites defiles the Temple Mount.

The Traditional Location

The traditional view, and majority opinion amongst religious Jews today, is that the current site of the Dome of the Rock is the location of the Temple.  Whereas Jewish religious leaders are emphatic that the Muslim holy sites must be destroyed to build the next Temple, there is disagreement as to whether the Altar of Sacrifice or Holy of Holies would have been located on the Rock.  If the Rock is the location of the Holy of Holies, then the Temple would be built somewhat to the east to provide proper space in the back of the Temple.  However, if the Rock is the location of the Altar of Sacrifice, then the Holy of Holies would be located to the west.  Although there is not agreement if the Altar or Holy of Holies was located on the rock, there is unison agreement that the Dome of the Rock is the location of the Temple.

Religious Jews agree as to the location for the rebuilt Temple, and since the Dome of the Rock is identified as the location this raises questions as to what will take place in the future for the Islamic shrine.  There is the possibility of moving the Muslim shrines, but according to Islamic law this would not be possible since the Arab conviction is that holy sites can never be given up and control transferred into the hands of infidels.  Technically, as a result of Six-Day War, the Temple Mount is in the control of Israel.  However, in light of political and religious issues, the Jews have delayed rebuilding of the Temple.

There is the possibility that climatic changes could take place in the Middle East, which would allow Israel to exercise control over the Temple Mount.  The Antichrist may very well be the individual that institutes radical transformation in the Arab-Israeli conflict.  His resolution to the conflict would certainly be cause for the world to worship the Antichrist.