Sacrifices could resume on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount before a third Temple is built, according to Rabbi Tovia Singer, who says an altar, priestly garments and silver trumpets have already been prepared.
Speaking with Rabbi Aron Sokol on the Parsha Inspired podcast during Sukkot, Singer pointed to a biblical precedent for restoring offerings before constructing a Temple.
“You technically do not need a Temple in order for an altar to be placed there and sacrifices to be offered,” Singer said, according to Israel365 News.
“We have an altar that’s ready to go,” he said. “It’s built. It’s here. It’s ready to go on the Temple Mount.”
Sacrifices Before the Third Temple
Singer’s argument centers on Ezra 3, which records the Jewish exiles’ return from Babylon to a devastated Jerusalem.
Before the Second Temple’s foundation was laid, the returnees rebuilt the altar and began offering morning and evening sacrifices. They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, with the prescribed offerings.
Ezra records that they acted despite their fear of surrounding peoples. Worship at the altar resumed while the work of rebuilding the Temple still lay ahead.
The Temple Institute likewise says offerings can begin before the Temple building is constructed, once the altar stands in its proper location on the Mount.
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What Has Been Prepared
Singer said he watched the altar being assembled, describing how its stones were prepared to meet biblical restrictions on contact with metal tools.
“The stones have to be stones that no metal has ever touched,” he said. “Everything in the Temple is about a place of peace. They were cut with lasers. So it’s ready.”
The Temple Institute independently describes a transportable stone altar as ready for use on the Temple Mount. It also displays sacred vessels and priestly garments prepared for future Temple service.
Singer said stones for the Temple building itself remain unavailable to his knowledge. The Israel365 report provides no installation or construction timetable.
The Biblical Prophecy Connection
For Christians who anticipate a future Temple, preparations for renewed sacrifices carry particular significance.
Daniel 9:27 describes sacrifices and offerings being stopped. In 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Paul describes the man of lawlessness taking his seat in the temple of God and proclaiming himself to be God.
Those passages give us a biblical reason to follow developments involving Temple worship. Singer views the preparations through his own prophetic understanding of Israel’s restoration.
“We have the altar. We have the trumpets. We have the priestly vestments,” Singer said. “Everything is spinning now very quickly, so fast that none of us can keep track of it.”
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
