Is Ezekiel’s Temple literal or spiritual?

Interesting; if the scheme of revelation in Scripture is understood dispensationally, then the question is also: is the New Testament believer actually looking for events on earth such as at Jerusalem, with the temple, etc., or, rather, looking for the Lord coming for His church (1 Cor. 11.26) as we serve Him in the Gospel?

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" 1 Corinthians 3:16

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;" 1 Corinthians 6:19

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord" Ephesians 2:19-22

The Third Temple will be finished, when the last Christian comes to their salvation. Period. End of story. It's being built now, and this not with human hands. It is spiritual, as God is Spirit.

"However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says: "'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?' Acts of the Apostles 7:48-50

We can conclude from all this, that any temple made by man today would be an abomination, a refusal of and a rejection of what God has done. Not to mention how horrific a rejection of our Lord's sacrifice would animal sacrifices mean in that physical human-made temple. An utter and complete rejection of all that God has done!

I will say one thing. In history we see how revelation played out, with the exception of the return of Christ, so if these abominations occur, then expect God to come immediately in His wrath as I doubt He would long suffer that... but they are unnecessary to the fulfillment of Christ's return. He can come any day, or a 1,000 years from now.

Hazelelponi said:

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" 1 Corinthians 3:16

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;" 1 Corinthians 6:19

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord" Ephesians 2:19-22

The Third Temple will be finished, when the last Christian comes to their salvation. Period. End of story. It's being built now, and this not with human hands. It is spiritual, as God is Spirit.

"However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says: "'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?' Acts of the Apostles 7:48-50

We can conclude from all this, that any temple made by man today would be an abomination, a refusal of and a rejection of what God has done. Not to mention how horrific a rejection of our Lord's sacrifice would animal sacrifices mean in that physical human-made temple. An utter and complete rejection of all that God has done!

I will say one thing. In history we see how revelation played out, with the exception of the return of Christ, so if these abominations occur, then expect God to come immediately in His wrath as I doubt He would long suffer that... but they are unnecessary to the fulfillment of Christ's return. He can come any day, or a 1,000 years from now.

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Complete as we are in Christ - and as Hebrews especially most gloriously shows - we are not looking for the building of an earthly temple - even if some may interpret it to be relevant to a future remnant of Israel. 1 Cor. 11.26 contains what we are looking for: 'Till He come'.

Dave L said:

Many look for Ezekiel’s temple built of brick and mortar in Jerusalem in the coming days. One of the points for a spiritual understanding instead is that Ezekiel’s measurements are incomplete. The height measurements do not exist except for the two front pillars. Which means people would need to add to God’s word, which is a sin, to build it. So instead, if built according to Ezekiel’s given measurements, it would resemble a bar of soap with two chopsticks standing upright, representing the pillars in front of it.

Also with incomplete measurements, only God could build it to his plan. And the Temple would then represent Jesus, God’s temple made without hands. In whom God lives. So from the beginning we understand the Temple can only be a symbol of Christ, the Temple made without hands where God lives.[ii]

Also, a feature of the Temple runs opposite to the natural laws of entropy. Making it more symbolic than literal. The vision has a trickle of water beginning in the temple. And growing in size as it leaves the temple, then growing into a river.

This depicts Jesus’s miracles of multiplying the loaves and fishes. His creating seeing eyes from clay. And his raising people from the dead, including himself and believers on the last day. Also, Jesus spoke of inexhaustible living waters flowing from the bellies of those who believe in him. All pointing to the Temple being the temple in Christ made without hands.

A physical Temple would also reject his shed blood on the cross. And bring a return to animal sacrifices which would leave sin unatoned for. The animal sacrifices called for by Ezekiel literally atoned for sin as they once did. But found their fulfillment and end in Christ. And according to Hebrews, they remain eternally fulfilled in him.[iii] So this would place all who offered animal sacrifice under the warning passages in Hebrews 6.

Where did the physical third temple idea come from? Simply put, Jesus fulfilled Daniel’s 70th week as foretold. Daniel shows Christ stopped the sacrifices in the middle of the 70th week, with the sacrifice of himself. But the kingdom many expected remained hidden. They failed to discern it so to them it did not arrive. So they turned Jesus who fulfilled the prophecy in the middle of the 70th week, into Antichrist and inserted a gap of unlimited duration between Daniel’s 69th and 70th week. Pushing the 70th week thousands of years into the future. It is now over 2000 years long and counting. But it came not from scripture, but from their missing the spiritual nature of the kingdom.

And since the kingdom Daniel spoke of came in the days of the Roman Empire, these thought there must be another Roman Empire before this can happen. So today we have a false prophecy circulating about a restored Roman Empire. And since Antichrist must then sit in the Temple of God, it can only mean they must build a Third Temple. And since Antichrist must stop animal sacrifices in the middle of the week, it must mean animal sacrifices will resume. But Daniel shows Christ stopped the sacrifices in the middle of the 70th week, with the sacrifice of himself. And Ezekiel’s temple description and Hebrews does not allow for any of their guesses.



The size of Ezekiel’s temple is approximately the same size as the boundaries of ancient Jerusalem itself during the second temple era.143 The description by Ezekiel generally lists only lengths and widths, not heights, except for side pillars of 60 cubits (Ezek 40:14). Jonathan Menn. Biblical Eschatology. Ezekiel's temple incomplete measurements.

[ii] “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.” John 2:19–21 (KJV 1900)

[iii] “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.” Hebrews 7:26–28 (KJV 1900)

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Hello Dave!

I would believe the same as you if I hadn't studied God's plan for man that He put together before He created man.

How that God had a progressed path for mans knowledge of His salvation down through the ages. These ages in which God dealt with man in different ways to bring the knowledge of salvation in Jesus Christ, are called dispensations.

These dispensations are distinct time periods from Adam and Eve in the Garden to the New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven in the end.

It's evident that God dealt differently with man under law than He has under Grace, it is a progressive knowledge of His plan for man.

It's evident that God dealt differently with man before the law, and before the flood, etc. All these periods of time were steadily advancing the knowledge of God's plan of salvation for man.

This is the foundation of understanding God's plan, if it's not understood, then God' plan is not understood and the purpose that He has placed down through the ages for man to understand is lost.

We can see that through these periods of time in history, the dispensations, that God the Father's ultimate plan is to literally dwell in the presence of redeemed man.

Most of those who believe reformed theology don't even try to understand these periods of time and therefore cannot grasp a firm understanding of God's plan. Most have no idea what dispensationalism actually is, what it's based on, or what it represents.

To the reformed it's a nasty word that is false doctrine, and don't realize it's a picture of the entire scripture that represents God's plan for mankind.

Dispensations takes its own course in God's plan, based on facts from scripture. It's not something that man has added to on his own.

RT is just the opposite of dispensationalsim. Where the obvious plan of God is literal based on past dispensations, RT will spiritualize these events, and in my opinion, miss the ultimate plan of God.