A Sample Letter to Pope Benedict XVI About Returning the Temple Treasures to Jerusalem

One's own address Current date


Pope-Benedict-XVI
Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano
I-00120 Citta del Vaticano
ITALY

Dear Pope Benedict XVI;

This letter is a request from me as a born again, evangelical or Bible believing Christian to honour God and return the Temple Menorah(or Candlestick or Lampstand) and other treasures from the 2nd or Herod's Jewish Temple that were taken by Roman soldiers from Jerusalem to Rome in about 70 AD. I heard one of the other Temple treasures might be a copy of the Law of Moses that was used in the official scripture readings in the Temple worship. This taking of the Temple treasures happened when Roman soldiers led by the Roman general Titus destroyed the 2nd Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and other places in Jerusalem in about 70 AD. Although I haven't personally seen it, I have seen pictures of it from various sources and the Arch of Titus, that I understand is still standing in Rome after almost 2000 years, shows etched in stone some Roman soldiers carrying off treasures from the 2nd or Herod's Jewish Temple in Jerusalem including very obviously the Temple Menorah or Candlestick.

Pope Benedict XVI, as I'm sure you are aware, Israel became a nation again in 1948 in fulfillment of God's Word and blessing such as in the prophecy of Jesus Christ about the reestablishment of the fig tree which symbolizes Israel in the Gospel of Matthew as follows:

Now learn a parable of the fig tree(Israel); When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Gospel of Matthew 24:32-35

Also Israel is called the natural branches of the Olive Tree representing God including the Lord Jesus Christ in Romans 11. God says through the Apostle Paul under divine inspiration that God will graft in Israel when the fullness of the Gentiles(nations) comes in. This has already happened in large part in this present Church Age or Age of the Holy Spirit or Age of Grace with the Great Commission although other Gentiles or people of the nations will be saved in the Great Tribulaton but not as part of the Church. Romans 11 says the following including that which sheds light on the reestablishment of the Jews and Israel:

And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou(you) wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come of Sion a Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant with them, when I shall take away their sins. Romans 11:23-27

Pope Benedict XVI, there are also many scripture passages in the Old Testament where God promises to restore the Jewish people to the land of Israel. Some passages such as the one below from Ezekiel say God will also spiritually restore them to Himself and this will require your help in restoring the Temple Menorah and other Temple treasures to the people of Israel so they can fully worship God in their soon to be rebuilt Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem:

Therefore say thus unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which ye profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. (the land of Israel was reestablished as the Jews' nation in 1948) Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave unto your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:22-28

Pope Benedict XVI, I urge you to be blessed of God and help sanctify His name by enabling the Jews or people of Israel to keep God's statutes and judgments including by God's enabling in their hearts soon by returning the Temple treasures now in the Vatican basement. These Temple treasures have been openly seen there including by Christians and Jews including members of The Temple Mount Faithful. The Temple Mount Faithful sense God's calling to rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem so the Jewish people can faithfully and scripturally worship God through the rebuilt 3rd Temple with its furniture and equipment. This needed furniture and equipment include the original Temple Menorah or Candlestick and Torah or Law of Moses scroll that I think is also among the looted and not yet returned objects taken by Roman soldiers from the Second Temple under Titus in about 70 AD. Pope Benedict XVI, you can have God's honour and blessing by being instrumental in having these and other Temple treasures promptly returned to their rightful owners - the people of Israel.

Pope Benedict XVI, God wants to bless you and your stated aim as part of your papacy to restore better relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish people or the nation of Israel. This could be done by your giving authorization to return these Temple treasures still in the Vatican basement after all these years and centuries to the people of Israel. This would enable them to more fully honour God and worship Him in the scripturally set out way in a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem with the Temple Menorah(Candlestick or Lampstand), Temple Torah or Law of Moses scrolls and other Temple treasures as in Genesis 12:

Now the LORD has said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 12:1-3.

I read in the web site of Temple Mount Faithful at www.templemountfaithful.org on a regular basis and, I am aware that God is moving including by a recent earthquake near the Dead Sea that caused further damage to the walls of the Temple Mount and exposure of the ancient gates there. This shows that this is the time he wants His Temple to be built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and that He doesn't want to wait much longer. There was also slight damage in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from this earthquake. I once received a letter back from Ariel Sharon in response to a letter I wrote. On the envelope and letter from Ariel Sharon there was the Presidential Seal of the Prime Minister of Israel which I see from my stamp album is also the coat of arms of Israel. It has a white Menorah and leaves and a purple background. Of course this original Temple Menorah and other Temple treasures are still in the Vatican basement which is an insult to the Jewish people and the God of Israel and the God we Christians worship and honour as the Menorah is a national symbol of Israel. I urge you Pope Benedict XVI to honour God and give authorization as soon and fully as possible to return the Temple Menorah and other Temple treasures to Israel. This is so their national symbol can again be in their possession and so it can be used in the Third Temple to give light in the holy place which otherwise would be dark and impractical for the priest to conduct worship of God there. It is much more satisfactory that they have the original Menorah or candlestick. It would be good for you, Pope Benedict XVI, to return the candlestick of Menorah and Temple Torah scroll so they can be used again as they were before by the Jews to worship God as in the following scriptures:

And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded; The tabernacle, his tent, and his covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets, The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering, The table, and his staves(carrying poles), and all his vessels, and the showbread, The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light, ... Exodus 35:10-14

And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD has commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law. ... So they read in the book in law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. Nehemiah 8:1-3, 8.

Finally one scripture about the Third Jewish Temple that you, Pope Benedict XVI, could help bring about to function properly and more fully with your giving prompt and full authorization of the return to the Jews and Israel of the Temple Menorah or Candlestick and other Temple treasures is found in Revelation 11 as follows:

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. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. Revelation 11:1-2. (I think the forty two months is the first half of the Great Tribulation or 70th week of Daniel. I have more about this and other such issues on my Christian website www.spiritandtruthministries.org.)

In conclusion this is a great opportunity for you Pope Benedict XVI and, I really hope you use it as an opportunity to bless the Jewish people and in return be blessed by the God of Israel and Israel's Messiah - Jesus Christ in this part of His program for the last days. I'm sure the Jewish people appreciate your already taking much more steps than your predecessors in bringing about reconciliation between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish people and nation of Israel but you have an opportunity to do a lot more now. This opportunity of course would be your authorizing the return of the Temple Menorah or Candlestick and other Temple treasures including I think the Temple Torah scroll promptly. This would be something of probably even more value and pleasure to the people and God of Israel and to many Bible-believing Christians such as myself. Your upbringing in Germany during the Nazi period and the Holocaust, I believe, has also made you more sympathetic to the Jewish people and their culture and religion. Anyway God bless you in your decision in this matter and I will be praying that God would persuade you, Pope Benedict XVI, to seize this opportunity for His blessing on you, your time in office as Pope, and on the Roman Catholic Church.

Sincerely a Bible believing Christian with love for the Jewish people,