22    The Bible and the Future of the World 

death. But some of the stones of that original temple are still standing and 

are referred to as the  Wailing Wall.  Therefore, this prophecy by Jesus is 

not yet fulfilled. The Wailing Wall will be destroyed. 

    Jesus is also predicting the complete destruction of the Third Temple of 

Jerusalem. A Third Temple of Jerusalem shall be built.  In  A.D. 2009, the 

Jewish people will decide to build the Third Temple. Work on the Third 

Temple will begin and it will perhaps take about seven years to complete the 

work (1 Kings 6:37 38). The Third Temple will not be destroyed until about 

the year A.D. 2430, (Dan 9:26; 11:25) during or just after the war when the 

Antichrist, as the king of the North (Europe), defeats the Christian king of 

the South (Israel, the Middle East, northern Africa). 

    As with many passages from Holy Scripture, this passage has more than 

one true meaning intended by God for more than one time period. Jesus' 

words also mean that the Church's  Temple of Jerusalem  will be 

completely destroyed. The Christian Church is the new Israel. Often, 

passages in Holy Scripture which refer to Israel and Jerusalem are 

symbolically referring to the Church in the future. So, when Jesus talked 

about the buildings of the temple, he was also referring to the buildings of 

the center of the Catholic faith, Vatican City. 

    Vatican City will be completely destroyed. The Apostolic Palace will be 

completely destroyed. The Sistine Chapel will be completely destroyed. 

Saint Peter's Basilica will be completely destroyed. Not one stone will be left 

standing on another. It is God's will. 

    The chief priests and scribes of Jesus' day were outraged that Jesus would 

say that the temple of God, the center of worship and authority in the 

Jewish faith, would be destroyed. This was one of the accusations brought 

against Jesus by the chief priests and the council (Mt 26:61). They did not 

understand Jesus' prophecy, nor did they understand God's will. 

      `Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands 

next to me,' says the L

ORD

 of hosts. `Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may 

be scattered .'   (Zech 13:7). 

    Rome and Vatican City will be destroyed in July of A.D. 2013, the 13th 

year and the 7th month. This  will occur during the war when the Arab 

nations attack Europe. (Formerly, I thought that the war between the Arab 

nations and Europe would occur sooner, so I also thought that Rome and 

Vatican City would be destroyed sooner.) Even though the buildings of the 

Vatican will be lost, the Holy See will continue. The Catholic Church will 

grow and flourish in the midst of suffering and defeat. 

    New York City will be destroyed sometime between A.D. 2010 and 2013, 

probably earlier within that time period, in 2010. This attack on New York 

is one of the first events at the start of World War III. The Arab nations first