Hi 4given,
Do you mean that Damascus will not be destroyed until well into the last 3 1/2 years.
Yes. The language used appears to me to be as SetApart describes also. This day when men shall look to their Maker is the same day that occurs after the Gog war. In fact nearly every prophet describes a day when Israel turns back to their God. I always try to timestamp scripture when possible. The recurrent theme throughout the OT prophets is that there will be a day when God Himself steps in to save Israel. After that day Israel returns to the Lord and the Lord accepts Israel again. If all these stories have a common ending then it makes sense that they are the same story. That is why they all seem so similar when describing "the day of the Lord". I believe we are basically looking at the same story told from different perspectives. Every word of the bible is truth. Therefore all the differing accounts of the day of the Lord must be true in all their details. The only way I see that as possible is if they all describe the same series of events but just from different angles; each adding to our total knowledge of the events.
I believe as you do that the temple will be in place before the AOD. I do not think they will be worshipping God there though. Israel must accept Jesus to reach the Father. There is only one way to the Father and that is through His Son Jesus. They will practice their old ways until they accept their Messiah Jesus. They will think they are honoring the Father by building the temple. The temple needs to be there for the AC to place the abomination that causes the desolation. The Jews will trust in their temple worship when they should really be turning to Christ. They are blinded though by the Father so that us Gentiles can be saved during this age of grace. When the time of the Gentiles ends God will deal again with Israel, see Romans 11 it explains it very well. Here is where I see Israel accepting Christ/The Father.
Zec 12:8 In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
Zec 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Israel doesn't accept Jesus until after Jesus defeats the armies attacking Israel; after they have lost all hope. This is the time I mean when I say Israel accepting the Father. It will be after the AC has set up the AOD and began the great tribulation in Israel that Jesus speaks of in Matt 24.
Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. This is a warning specifically toward Israel and the Jews because the sabbath day is mentioned. So the AC/Gog/Assyrian/4th kingdom/8th king/beast begins the worst tribulation Israel will have or will ever see. I see the same story everywhere I look in the bible from Isaiah to Revelation. When I look at it like that it is simple for me to understand. There is only one time when God returns to rescue Israel so everytime that is discussed we are talking about the same timeframe thus the same story. The AC/temple worship fits into the peace before the Gog war. Daniel 9 talks about a covenant which I think is a peace treaty. If middle-eastern peace were established the conditions neccessary for the Gog war would be in place. It just all fits very neatly together.
In the future I will try to explain some of these things in greater detail showing the scripture references fully. There is so much once we connect it all together that it takes a long time just to look at it all. There are some general themes that stand out after we zoom out and look at the whole story. Long story short though is that it all points to the middle-east. Joel and I have very similar and yet very different views of events. But we both arrive at the same conclusion through varied paths. That is what I find very often when talking to others who see Turkey as a contender. We all arrived from different directions but reached a common point of agreement. Quite interesting in itself...Anyway my time is running short so I must go but will try to spend some time over here reading and getting to know everyone from their posts.
Peace,
Seeker