In the year 70 CE a Roman general (Titus) destroyed the Second Temple. The date was the 9th of Av on the lunar Jewish calendar (August 2 of the year 70 if my CodeFinder calendar is correct). It was the same day on the Jewish calendar as the destruction of the First Temple. Jews still fast for about 25 hours each 9th of Av in mourning for the loss of both Temples.
The odd thing is that Israel could have rebuilt the Temple in 1967. But on Saturday June 17, 1967, shortly after the end of the Six-Day War, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan elected to defile the Jewish Sabbath and his faith. He entered the Al-Aksa Mosque, and as a goodwill gesture, offered five leaders of the Supreme Muslim Council (the Waqf) the focal point of all Jewish hopes - Temple Mount. The rabbinical community didn’t significantly oppose this treasonous act because they didn’t want the Temple rebuilt before the Messiah appeared. In fact, most rabbis expect that the Temple’s restoration will, indeed, establish the Messiah’s identity. By contrast, fundamentalist Christians tend to believe that Jews will first restore the Temple, possibly with the help of an Antichrist; then Jesus will return. Who’s right? The facts will speak for themselves when the events play out.
How do we know that Titus didn’t take the Ark back to Rome? To view the answer, take a trip to Rome. There, on the Arch of Titus, the Romans proudly display treasure taken from the Temple (see picture below). Nowhere on the Arch is the Ark displayed. Nor, as the Ark wasn’t even in the Second Temple, should the Romans have found it there. Indeed, the Ark was missing for at least 656 years before Titus wrought such destruction. Is the Ark under the Vatican? If it is, and we’ll look at that next at (http://arkcode.com/whats_new_15.html), it didn’t get there by the hand of Titus.
