- Apr 18, 2020
- 2,972
- 913
- Country
- South Africa
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up. And it was sweet as honey in my mouth, and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.
And he said to me, You must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. And when they complete their testimony, the beast coming up out of the abyss will make war against them and will overcome them and kill them.
And a mouth speaking great things was given to the beast, and blasphemies. And authority was given to it to continue forty-two months. And it opened its mouth in blasphemy toward God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle (Greek: naos), and those dwelling in Heaven. And it was given to it to war with the saints and to overcome them.
And a reed like a rod was given to me. And the angel stood, saying, Rise up and measure the temple (Greek: naos) of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court which is outside the temple (naos), and do not measure it, for it was given to the nations. And they will trample the holy city forty-two months.
who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple (naos) of God, setting himself forth, that he is God.
---------------------------------------------------------------
* Every reference to the temple in heaven in the Revelation uses the Greek word naos (English: temple). * References in the New Testament to the bodies of individual Christians as the temple of God, and to the church as the temple, use the Greek word naos (temple).
* The references in the gospels to the tearing of the temple veil between the holy place and the most holy place in the Jerusalem temple, all use the Greek word naos.
* In the gospels, the Greek uses the word hieron (English: temple) in all references to the temple buildings and precincts of the temple in Jerusalem, including the outer courts (see the screen-shot image of the Strong's Greek Dictionary above).
* The gospels use the Greek word naos in references to the holy place and most holy place of the temple in Jerusalem - but only up until the verses describing the tearing of the veil at the time of Christ's death on the cross.
* All other New Testament references to the Jerusalem temple (from the book of Acts onward), use the word hieron.
If the verse talking about the man of sin in the temple and the verses talking about John being told to measure the temple are exceptions, they are the only exceptions. However, where John is told in the Revelation to measure the temple, he is told not to measure the outer court because it has been given to the nations who will trample the holy city underfoot - and elsewhere the Revelation describes the heavenly Jerusalem as "the holy city", but the Jerusalem on earth it describes as "Sodom and Egypt".
Therefore the temple John is told to measure could hardly be referring to an earthly temple - and this is confirmed by the fact that the Greek word naos (temple of God) is used in that verse.
SECOND POINT AND SIDE-NOTE
* When John received the Revelation, he had been banished by Rome to the island of Patmos. He did not "prophesy before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings", and there is no record in Christian history of him ever having done so.
Yet he was told, "You must prophesy again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings", and these words precede the words where he is told to measure the temple, and where he is told about the two witnesses who will prophesy in the last days.
* In the Revelation, these are the last days events that result in the resurrection of the martyred, the return of Christ, and the sounding of the seventh trumpet. (Just saying - I have no established belief about who the two witnesses are. I just notice how what we read in Revelation 11's opening verses seem to flow from Revelation 10's closing verses - and there were no chapter and verse divisions inserted into the Bible when the Revelation was first recorded).
References to quoted texts: 2 Thesss 2:4, Revelation 10 and 11, and Revelation 13:1-7.
Comments?