A region of the world called Israel became an official state of the world nearly 60 years ago in 1948. Many Christians today see this as a fulfillment of prophecy and say that it is only a matter of time before the third temple is constructed and the daily sacrifices once again are restored into practice. This, of course, is the prelude to the abomination which causes desolation as spoken of by the prophet Daniel and is brought about by the antichrist. Just concerning the construction of a third temple has its own set of problems and enormous impossible problems they are. All of this which is to occur, they say, is predicated upon the idea that God truly has foreordained that this must happen and cannot be stopped. However, here is the simple reality which in themselves are the reasons a third temple cannot come into existence aside from the fact that God has not said it will happen.
Even when Israel was last a "nation," it was under domestic rule of the Roman Empire. Prior to that the Greeks. Then the Medes and the Persians. Then the Babylonians. It hasn't been an entirely "independent nation" since... before the Babylonian Exile, circa 600 BC.
Even though Israel today is an "independent nation," it's hardly comparable to what it was before the Exile. For one, just because it's an "independent nation," it's not a Jewish nation. For it to be a Jewish nation it would need the temple, a Levitical priesthood, all of the ceremonial laws to be fulfilled , all of the civil laws put in place, God's approval.
About the temple... there is no chance of a third temple existing. Why? Well, aside from the fact that people spontaneously threw in a 2000-year gap in the Bible's prophecies, the Bible doesn't ever mention a third temple (all prophecies about the temple regarding the "end-times" were made in reference to the second temple). The Muslims have had the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque sitting in place of where the temple should be for hundreds and hundreds of years. The fact that their two monuments have been sitting there for that long, along with the fact half of the world wants peace not war, if the Jews were to ever attempt destroying these Muslim monuments, every Muslim would be called to jihad to fight in Jerusalem, and half of the world would see that as a wrongfully offensive move on the Jew's part and fight alonside the Muslims against the Jews. Even if the Jews were able to destroy the Rock and the Mosque, they wouldn't have the chance to build a third temple before half of the world declared war on them.
For there to be a Levitical priesthood means the priests must be descendants of the tribe of Levi. The problem is, no Jews know of which tribe they come from, so it's literally impossible for any Jew to become a Levitical priest unless they ignore that requirement. But if they ignored it, that would mean they're being illegitimate to making their third temple. And if they lied about it... then what's the point if they had to break the ten commandments just to follow them?
Some ceremonial laws are going to be incredibly hard to fulfill. For example, one of the more notable ones is the ceremonial law about how to cleanse someone who came into contact with dead people. The Jews would need a red heifer for that. The problem? No one has found one since the temple was destroyed in the first-century. Oh, I think two had been found in the last so many years (when people were actually looking), but those red heifers' fur each started to turn white. That's not red.
As for the civil laws... once all of the previous requirements are in place, the entire country would have to take on the civil laws as described in the opening books of the Old Testament. One thing about these laws is that everyone, including foreigners, must live by them. But I doubt the 16% of the population that is Muslim is going to be happy about Jewish law being put over them.
Also, read the Old Testament. God is conditional with His covenant about the holy land. It basically runs down as, "If you are obedient to My will, I will make you prosperous. If you are not obedient, I will take away your prosperity." When the wandering Hebrews were disobedient, God wouldn't let them enter the holy land. When the Jews turned from God's way, He sent the Babylonians, who destroyed the first temple and left the city in ruins, and they took many Jews away from the land. They failed to recognize their Messiah? He sent the Romans, who destroyed the second temple and left the city in ruins, and they took many Jews away from the land. If the Jews were to "wise up" and become obedient to God again... that would constitute following Jesus, but if they followed Jesus, they would realize that there is no need for a temple or holy land, as Jesus is the Temple, and His Kingdom covers the whole earth, not just one remote area in the Middle East.
