141 The Revelation of Jesus Christ him about the nations, with which the book of Revelation has to do. This further information is given in the following chapters. May I remind you again of the fact that, in order to under stand clearly the latter portion of Revelation, we must bear in mind that these chapters which we are now studying por tray to us the events which will take place after the translation of the church; that God will then be dealing once more with Israel as a nation; that the age of grace will have ended with the taking away of the church; and that the Jew, not the Gen tile, will occupy the center of the stage. THE MEASURING Roo AND THE TEMPLE OP Goo "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein" ( 11 :1 ). When a man is contemplating the purchase of a piece of land, he usually has it measured. That measuring takes place before he buys it. In the verse quoted, there is a command given to John to "rise, and measure the temple of God." There have been three temples in Jerusal_em. First, there was the temple which was planned by David, built by his son, Solomon, and later destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (II Kings, 24, 25). Then there was the temple built by Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel, which was destroyed by Antiochus Epiph anes. The third was Herod's, which was standing when Jesus came. It was destroyed by Titus, A. D. 70. Upon the temple site stands today the Mosque of Omar, a place sacred to every Mohammedan. But one day that Mohammedan mosque will be swept away. How this is to be accomplished we do not know, but neither did we know how the grip of the Turk upon the land of Palestine was to be broken. Yet that it was, is now a matter of history. God's ways are "past finding out," but that His plan will be carried out to completion we know; and the day will come when a Jewish temple,will stand upon the site now occupied by the Mosque of Omar. That temple will be erected by Jews still wearing the "veil of blindness." Even now they are re turning to their homeland, their hearts burning with a desire once again to live under a flag of their own. They are going
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