On the third day of the festival of Sukkoth this year (7th October 1998) at 9:30 AM, The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement will lay the cornerstone for the Third Temple. We trust that this time it will be on the Temple Mount on the location of the First and Second Temples.
This date was chosen because during the festival of Sukkoth King David brought the Ark of the Covenant from the city of David to the Temple Mount in a special exciting ceremony.
It will be a very special and exciting event. The cornerstone of 4.5 tonnes in weight is very similar to the stones of the First and Second Temples. It is a marble stone brought from the desert of Israel not far from the desert where the children of Israel walked in the time of Moses from Egypt to the Promised Land during the time of the first redemption of Israel. It also is not so far from the Mt.Sinai where G-d gave the Torah to the children of Israel. This stone was brought from this area because of the special significance of this place and the similarity to the stones of the First and Second Temples. The stone as found in this area as it is with no need to cut it with any metal or iron instrument as the G-d of Israel ordered the people of Israel not to beat a stone for His House with iron or any other metal and to respect the special significance and holiness of the Temple and its stones. In Biblical times the stones were cut with Shamir, a stronger stone brought from Lebanon. In this way they could cut and polish the stones for the Temple and keep G-d's law. It was so special that the stone was found as it is and we immediately felt that the Hand of G-d as in these special circumstances. The stone is currently located in the middle of a traffic circle which was especially built by the Municipality of Jerusalem for this stone. The circle is not far from the Damascus Gate of the Old City, near the third wall of the Second temple era, near to the special monument for the soldiers who died for the liberation of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War and near to the American Consulate.
The cornerstone will be transported on a big truck painted with Israeli flags and the Star of David and the stone will be covered with a Tallith (prayer shawl). The stone will be carried in a special ceremony. Levites will play from the Psalms of Ascent and a high priest will anoint the stone. He will be dressed in white priestly garments recreated in Jerusalem over the last years according to Biblical Law. Temple vessels which have been recreated in Jerusalem exactly according to the Torah will be carried by the members of the Movement who will march with the stone and shofars will be blown along the way. The stone will be taken to the City of David and in the place where King David anointed and blessed the ark of the Covenant, we shall say special blessings and prayers and read the prayers of King David and the special prayers when he dedicated the First Temple. It will be a very special and exciting moment. The stone will then be taken to the Pool of Shiloah where a special ceremony of Nisuch HaMaiim will be performed. This ceremony is a renewal of the ceremony which was performed in the First and Second Temple eras during the feast of Sukkoth when the high priest and all the other priests and the pilgrims who had come to celebrate the feast at the Temple marched to the Pool of Shiloh in a very exciting ceremony with the Levites playing music to draw the holy water of the Shiloah with special blessings and prayers and then carry the water back to the temple where it was poured out on the altar. The High priest prayed to the G-d of Israel for a blessed year with lots of rain. In the Mishna it is written that those who did not experience this exciting ceremony never saw a real special celebration with such joy and thankfulness to G-d. At Sukkoth we shall perform the same ceremony at the Pool of Shiloah. We want to renew everything which belongs to the Temple and Biblical tradition. The water that we draw from the Pool will be poured on the cornerstone with special blessings and prayers and, at the same time, we shall anoint it. When the Third Temple is built this water will again be poured on the altar. We know that this will be soon.
From the City of David, we shall march with the stone to the Temple Mount. The truck with the stone will circle the walls of the Temple Mount seven times exactly as Joshua ben Nun did at Jericho with shofars being blown. With the cornerstone there will be a very old Torah Scroll. The cornerstone will stand for a while before the Eastern Gate of the Temple Mount (the Golden Gate) for a special prayer that the gate will soon be opened and Mashiach ben David will enter through it to the Temple.
We pray and believe and do everything that we can that this time the gates of the Temple Mount will be open to the cornerstone this time and that it will be layed on the same location of the cornerstones of the First and Second Temples which were built by King Solomon and Zerubbabel. We trust in the G-d of Israel. We know that we are living in a special exciting time of the redemption of the people an the land of Israel, the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. We feel and live the special significance of this time. The members of the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement dedicated themselves to fulfill the wish of the G-d of Israel and the prophecies of the prophets of Israel for the end-times.
We are doing and shall continue to do everything that the Third Temple will soon be built in our lifetime for the honor of the G-d of Israel and to fulfill His prophetic wishes. For this goal we have completely dedicated our lives, we left everything and we are acting full-time for this godly prophetic purpose. We shall do everything to save the Temple Mount from the terrible abomination which is done today by foreigners and enemies and to purify the Temple Mount for the G-d of Israel and the universe exactly as our forefathers did when they liberated the Temple Mount from foreign occupation and abomination. We shall do everything to open the Eastern Gate for Mashiach ben David and he will be the king of Israel and of all the world. We want to see the fulfillment of the godly prophesy of Isaiah that many nations will come up to the House of G-d in Jerusalem to give Him glory and to thank Him and to learn His Laws and ways and to give Him thanks that He gave them the privilege to worship Him.
We trust in G-d that this godly end-time vision will soon be a reality in our lifetime and our activities will be accomplished. We feel the presence of G-d in our activities and He is with us. It is such a privilege to serve Him in these exciting times, to be a part of His army and his prophetic end-time plans and to live in such a generation. A lot of thanks to the G-d of Israel.
Everyone who is in Jerusalem at this time is invited to come and take part in this event. You can meet us at the Western Wall Plaza near to the western gate of the Temple Mount (Mugrabi Gate) at 9:30 AM.