The Millennial temple built by Jesus in Zech.6:12-13

[Quasar92]

Olivet Timing Revealed by Luke’s Gospel:

Compare Luke's Gospel to that of Matthew if you want to understand the timing.



Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple (These subtitles are found in e-Sword.)



Luk 21:5　 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said,　

Luk 21:6　 "These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."　

(Mat 24:2　 And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."　)





Luk 21:7　 So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"　

(Mat 24:3　 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?")

(　Mar 13:3　 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately,　

Mar 13:4　 "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?")　





Luk 21:8　 And He said: "Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.' Therefore do not go after them.　

(Mat 24:5　 For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.　)



Luk 21:9　 But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."

(Mat 24:6　 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.)　



Jesus Foretells Wars and Persecution



Luk 21:10　 Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.　

(Mat 24:7　 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.　)



Luk 21:11　 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.　

(Mat 24:7　 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.　)



Luk 21:12　 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.　

(Mat 24:9　 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.)　(Read Acts 22:19-20, where Paul reveals that he fulfilled this text.)



Luk 21:13　 But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.　

Luk 21:14　 Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer;　

Luk 21:15　 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.　

Luk 21:16　 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.　

Luk 21:17　 And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.　

(Mat 24:10　 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.　)



Luk 21:18　 But not a hair of your head shall be lost.　

Luk 21:19　 By your patience possess your souls.　

(Mat 24:13　 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.)　



Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem



Luk 21:20　 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.　

(Mat 24:15　 "Therefore when you see the 'ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand),　



Luk 21:21　 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.　

(Mat 24:16　 "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.)　



Luk 21:22　 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.　

Luk 21:23　 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.　

(Mat 24:19　 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!　)



Luk 21:24　 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.　
(Almost all Bible scholars agree that the first part of the verse above is about 70 AD. At the end of the verse we find a period of time known as “the times of the Gentiles”. In the verses that follow we find the future Second Coming of Christ, which occurs when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.)


The Coming of the Son of Man



Luk 21:25　 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;　

(Mat 24:29　 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.)　



Luk 21:26　 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.　

Luk 21:27　 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.　

(Mat 24:30　 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.)　



Luk 21:28　 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."　

(Mat 24:33　 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!)
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From "Antiquities of the Jews" by Josephus, Book 12, chapter 7

"6. When therefore the generals of Antiochus's armies had been beaten so often, Judas assembled the people together, and told them, that after these many victories which God had given them, they ought to go up to Jerusalem, and purify the temple, and offer the appointed sacrifices. But as soon as he, with the whole multitude, was come to Jerusalem, and found the temple deserted, and its gates burnt down, and plants growing in the temple of their own accord, on account of its desertion, he and those that were with him began to lament, and were quite confounded at the sight of the temple; so he chose out some of his soldiers, and gave them order to fight against those guards that were in the citadel, until he should have purified the temple. When therefore he had carefully purged it, and had brought in new vessels, the candlestick, the table [of shew-bread], and the altar [of incense], which were made of gold, he hung up the veils at the gates, and added doors to them. He also took down the altar [of burnt-offering], and built a new one of stones that he gathered together, and not of such as were hewn with iron tools. So on the five and twentieth day of the month Casleu, which the Macedonians call Apeliens, they lighted the lamps that were on the candlestick, and offered incense upon the altar [of incense], and laid the loaves upon the table [of shew-bread], and offered burnt-offerings upon the new altar [of burnt-offering]. Now it so fell out, that these things were done on the very same day on which their Divine worship had fallen off, and was reduced to a profane and common use, after three years' time; for so it was, that the temple was made desolate by Antiochus, and so continued for three years. This desolation happened to the temple in the hundred forty and fifth year, on the twenty-fifth day of the month Apeliens, and on the hundred fifty and third olympiad: but it was dedicated anew, on the same day, the twenty-fifth of the month Apeliens, on the hundred and forty-eighth year, and on the hundred and fifty-fourth olympiad. And this desolation came to pass according to the prophecy of Daniel, which was given four hundred and eight years before; for he declared that the Macedonians would dissolve that worship [for some time].

7. Now Judas celebrated the festival of the restoration of the sacrifices of the temple for eight days, and omitted no sort of pleasures thereon; but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices; and he honored God, and delighted them by hymns and psalms. Nay, they were so very glad at the revival of their customs, when, after a long time of intermission, they unexpectedly had regained the freedom of their worship, that they made it a law for their posterity, that they should keep a festival, on account of the restoration of their temple worship, for eight days. And from that time to this we celebrate this festival, and call it Lights. I suppose the reason was, because this liberty beyond our hopes appeared to us; and that thence was the name given to that festival. Judas also rebuilt the walls round about the city, and reared towers of great height against the incursions of enemies, and set guards therein. He also fortified the city Bethsura, that it might serve as a citadel against any distresses that might come from our enemies. "


Josephus confirms above the understanding of the Jews of his time, who knew that Daniel had predicted the events of 167 BC, by Antiochus Epiphanes.
Josephus confirms it as a historical fact.

John 10:22 is a reference to the celebration of Hanukkah each year by the Jews of Jesus time.



The Book of Matthew was addressed mainly to a Jewish audience. Jesus was telling the Jews of His time that something similar to 167 BC would happen during 70 AD. Not only did Antiochus desecrate the temple, but he also attacked the city killing thousands of Jews and stopped the temple sacrifices. The temple sacrifices would also stop in 70 AD, due to the destruction of the temple. Based on John 10:22, the Jews were well aware of this historical fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy. Luke’s Gospel was written to more of a Gentile audience, so he spelled it out for them. Matthew 24:15-16 and Luke 21:20-21 are clearly parallel accounts, because we have the same reference to flee in the second verse in each Gospel.

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.

Jesus Olivet Discourse was recorded in Mt.24; Mk,13 as well as in Lk.21, all at the very same time. The only difference was that it was viewed differently by three different men, of the very same event. You got that?


Quasar92

 

[Quasar92]

Hmm...looks like a case of it being your turn to "make Paul a liar."

The Scripture cannot be broken, and the evidence stands.

You're right about that; The Scriptures cannot be broken. What I posted from them are each and evert one, a real solid stone temple! What is your source that falsely claim those that Paul referred to are spiritual temples? That is a real fable, straight out of la la land!


Quasar92

 

[jgr]

You're right about that; The Scriptures cannot be broken. What I posted from them are each and evert one, a real solid stone temple! What is your source that falsely claim those that Paul referred to are spiritual temples? That is a real fable, straight out of la la land!


Quasar92

List all of the "naos" temples in Paul's epistles that are stone temples.

 

[Quasar92]

List all of the "naos" temples in Paul's epistles that are stone temples.

Where is your answer to the question I asked you in my post # 22? I have no need to go on a hunt for anything that would alter the proper and intended interpretation of the Scriptures. I gave you five Scriptural proofs for a third temple building in Jerusalem. If you are unable to accept those Scriptural facts, you need not look to me to perpetuate your arguments to the contrary any further!


Quasar92

 

[jgr]

Where is your answer to the question I asked you in my post # 22? I have no need to go on a hunt for anything that would alter the proper and intended interpretation of the Scriptures. I gave you five Scriptural proofs for a third temple building in Jerusalem. If you are unable to accept those Scriptural facts, you need not look to me to perpetuate your arguments to the contrary any further!


Quasar92

1 Corinthians 3:16 N-NMS
GRK: οἴδατε ὅτι ναὸς θεοῦ ἐστὲ
NAS: Do you not know that you are a temple of God
KJV: that ye are the temple of God, and
INT: Know you that temple of God you are

1 Corinthians 3:17 N-AMS
GRK: τις τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: destroys the temple of God,
KJV: defile the temple of God,
INT: anyone the temple of God

1 Corinthians 3:17 N-NMS
GRK: ὁ γὰρ ναὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: will destroy him, for the temple of God
KJV: destroy; for the temple of God is
INT: indeed [the] temple of God

1 Corinthians 6:19 N-NMS
GRK: σῶμα ὑμῶν ναὸς τοῦ ἐν
NAS: that your body is a temple of the Holy
KJV: body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
INT: body of you a temple of the in

2 Corinthians 6:16 N-DMS
GRK: δὲ συνκατάθεσις ναῷ θεοῦ μετὰ
NAS: agreement has the temple of God
KJV: agreement hath the temple of God
INT: moreover agreement a temple of God with

2 Corinthians 6:16 N-NMS
GRK: ἡμεῖς γὰρ ναὸς θεοῦ ἐσμὲν
NAS: with idols? For we are the temple of the living
KJV: ye are the temple of the living God;
INT: we indeed a temple of God are

Ephesians 2:21 N-AMS
GRK: αὔξει εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον ἐν
NAS: into a holy temple in the Lord,
KJV: unto an holy temple in the Lord:
INT: increases to a temple holy in

2 Thessalonians 2:4 N-AMS
GRK: εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
KJV: sitteth in the temple of God, shewing
INT: in the temple of God


Note also a correction in post #15 to the statement which reads:
Paul's temples in his epistles are consistently and exclusively "naos" spiritual temples...

The statement should read:
Paul's "naos" temples in his epistles are consistently and exclusively spiritual temples...

 

[victorinus]

In Rev.20:6.

that doesn't say Jesus will reign

 

[SeventyOne]

that doesn't say Jesus will reign

It says those who share the first resurrection will reign with Him. How do they reign with Him, if He's not reigning?

 

[victorinus]

It says those who share the first resurrection will reign with Him. How do they reign with Him, if He's not reigning?

if you drive with your mother to church, who is driving?

 

[SeventyOne]

if you drive with your mother to church, who is driving?

Nice word twist. Please answer the question.

 

[victorinus]

Nice word twist. Please answer the question.

Jesus said He would be with them when two or more are gathered in His name
-so-
if they happen to be reigning, they are reigning with Him

 

[SeventyOne]

Jesus said He would be with them when two or more are gathered in His name
-so-
if they happen to be reigning, they are reigning with Him

You are really going out of your way to try to keep the King of Kings from reigning. What's the point of His having a throne? To a soverign, it's a throne, to everyone else, it's just a chair.

I don't know what you would do with Zechariah 14:9, which states, "the LORD will be king over all the earth", or Zechariah 14:16-17 where both verses also declare the Lord as King on the earth.

There's also Micah 4:7-8, Zechariah 8:22 Luke 1:33, 2 Timothy 2:12, and probably a ton of others.

 

[Quasar92]

1 Corinthians 3:16 N-NMS
GRK: οἴδατε ὅτι ναὸς θεοῦ ἐστὲ
NAS: Do you not know that you are a temple of God
KJV: that ye are the temple of God, and
INT: Know you that temple of God you are

1 Corinthians 3:17 N-AMS
GRK: τις τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: destroys the temple of God,
KJV: defile the temple of God,
INT: anyone the temple of God

1 Corinthians 3:17 N-NMS
GRK: ὁ γὰρ ναὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: will destroy him, for the temple of God
KJV: destroy; for the temple of God is
INT: indeed [the] temple of God

1 Corinthians 6:19 N-NMS
GRK: σῶμα ὑμῶν ναὸς τοῦ ἐν
NAS: that your body is a temple of the Holy
KJV: body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
INT: body of you a temple of the in

2 Corinthians 6:16 N-DMS
GRK: δὲ συνκατάθεσις ναῷ θεοῦ μετὰ
NAS: agreement has the temple of God
KJV: agreement hath the temple of God
INT: moreover agreement a temple of God with

2 Corinthians 6:16 N-NMS
GRK: ἡμεῖς γὰρ ναὸς θεοῦ ἐσμὲν
NAS: with idols? For we are the temple of the living
KJV: ye are the temple of the living God;
INT: we indeed a temple of God are

Ephesians 2:21 N-AMS
GRK: αὔξει εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον ἐν
NAS: into a holy temple in the Lord,
KJV: unto an holy temple in the Lord:
INT: increases to a temple holy in

2 Thessalonians 2:4 N-AMS
GRK: εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ
NAS: that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
KJV: sitteth in the temple of God, shewing
INT: in the temple of God


Note also a correction in post #15 to the statement which reads:
Paul's temples in his epistles are consistently and exclusively "naos" spiritual temples...

The statement should read:
Paul's "naos" temples in his epistles are consistently and exclusively spiritual temples...

The fact of the matter is, The future temples in Jerusalem will be stone buildings, fulfilling the prophetic Scriptures documenting them.

Israel's third and fourth temples

The Old Testament devotes considerable attention to describing the portable tent, or tabernacle, of the Jewish people built under the leadership of Moses. After the conquest of Canaan the tabernacle and its contents remained at Shiloh throughout the time of Judges. After Shiloh was destroyed (about 1050 BC), the Ark traveled through various Philistine cities and finally was brought to David's palace south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and then into the holy of holies of the First Temple dedicated by Solomon about 952 BC.

The First Temple geometrically resembled the tabernacle though it was twice as large and built of immense quantities of stone, cedar wood and lined with gold. [See Exodus 25-31; 35-40, Numbers 3:25 ff, 4: ff, also Philo (II Mos. 91) and Josephus (Ant. 3:122 ff). Moses built everything according to a pattern revealed to him on Mt. Sinai, Hebrews 8:5.]

After the First Temple was completed (I Kings 5-8), the Tabernacle of Moses was dismantled. It may have been stored in a room under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There is some evidence that it may still lie there to this day.

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the First Temple on the 9th of Av 586 BC, the Jews were then taken captive to Babylon and the city had no center of worship until Zerubbabel and the returning exiles built the Second Temple, completing it in 516 BC.

The Second Temple, modest in comparison with its predecessor, was rebuilt and enlarged by Herod the Great beginning in 20 BC. Herod recruited 10,000 workman and set them to the task commencing in the 17th year of his reign. Josephus gives vivid descriptions of the Second Temple and its environs, and also records the terrible destruction by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD

I Kings 6 ff, I Chronicles 22 ff. 3, Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai describe the rebuilding of the temple after the Babylonian captivity. This is the so-called "Second Temple" which Herod the Great later greatly enlarged. Jesus was dedicated in the Second Temple, He cast out money chambers there on two occasions, and He taught frequently in the temple courts.

During the 70 year captivity of the Jews in Babylon and again in the diaspora, just ending in the last century, the Jewish people have centered their worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in synagogues around the world. Since the terrible destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in AD 70, temple sacrifices, offerings, instruction, and worship have ceased in accordance with an Old Testament prophecy of Hosea (about 746 BC):

"For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or terephim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days." (Hosea 3:4,5)

The regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland in our time (as predicted for example in Ezekiel 37) is being accompanied by a rapidly accelerating religious consciousness in Israel, the awakening of ancient longings and aspirations and the rediscovery of many immutable promises God has made to the chosen seed of Abraham. The fact that a Third Temple is to be built can be shown from the Tanach. But three passages in the New Testament also refer to such a building not now in existence as of this writing in 1996 AD. Many Christians have thus speculated in recent years about when the Third Temple would be built. This is considered by many to be an important milestone pointing to the end of the age.

The entire Temple Mount contains cisterns and passages most of which have been inaccessible since 70 AD. The Temple Mount proper was liberated from Jordanian control in the Six-Day War of 1967, but then returned by Israel to the custody of the Muslim Waqf (Jordan). The site is some 34 acres in extent with the prominent "Dome of the Rock" near the center and Al Aqsa mosque at the South end. Jews pray night and day at the Western Wall, which is below the Temple Mount, along a section of the great retaining wall of the Mount, in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. The Western Wall as close as Jews can get these days to the site of their ancient temples.

Dr. Asher Kaufman, formerly of the Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, has for many years made careful studies on Mount Moriah leading him to believe the Temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel were both located just north of the Dome of the Rock on the paved platform area. The Holy of Holies is believed to have been approximately on the bedrock covered by a small shrine, the Dome of the Spirits. The Muslim stewards of the site have systematically destroyed or covered over all evidence that the site was once important to the Jews or to Christians.

Others, including Dan Bahat the Dean of Jerusalem archaeologists today, have argued persuasively that the First and Second Temples were most certainly located where the present Dome of the Rock shrine now stands.

A third view is that of Architect Tuvia Sagiv who presents striking evidence that the Temple location was South of the Dome of the Rock, but North of Al Aqsa Mosque, under the present Muslim El Kas fountain.

The Temple Mount area is also the location of the birth of the Christian church at the feast of Pentecost which followed seven sabbaths plus one day after the death of Messiah. Neither Christians nor Jews are presently allowed to pray or worship on the site in spite of its historic importance to all of Abraham's children.

To go back even further in time the Temple Mount has great historical importance to the Jews. Abraham met a priest of the true God named Melchidezek at Mount Moriah about 4000 years ago (Genesis 14, Hebrews 5-7). A few years later, Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice there (Genesis 22), and King David purchased the site from a local resident named Ornan (I Chronicles 21), about 1015 BC.

Muslim claims to the Temple Mount date only from 638 AD. The Crusaders turned the Muslim buildings on the Mount into churches in 1099 until Saladin restored Arab rule of Jerusalem in 1187.

The New Testament makes only brief references to temples, in fact the Apostle Paul speaking to a crowd in Athens from Mars Hill said

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of Heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life, and breadth, and everything..." (Acts 17:24-25).


Instead, the emphasis of the New Covenant is the personal presence of Jesus as Messiah, Immanuel (which means "God with us") dwelling within and in the midst of his people whenever and wherever they gather in his name.

The New Testament opens with the four-gospel revelation of God's Son, Jesus. John in His gospel says that God in Christ "tabernacled" among men. Later in the First Century, both Paul and Peter call the true church "a living temple." Individual believers are "living stones" and Christ is Himself the foundation stone or the "chief cornerstone." For two thousand years of Biblical history the emphasis has been on assemblies or congregations of Christians or Jews, not on sacred buildings.

Yet there are at least three references in the New Testament to a temple building existing in Jerusalem in the future as noted above. From the context these references appear to refer to a new, or "Third Temple" yet to be built in the city. There has been growing interest since the rebirth of Israel in 1948 among the Jews for a central place of worship in their capital city. Although synagogues have served admirably as centers of worship and community for the Jews in their dispersion, a temple in Jerusalem on the exact site of the Second Temple is required by the Jews as a central house of prayer and focal point of the faith until Messiah comes.

Because of our sins we were exiled from our country and banished from our land. We cannot go up as pilgrims to worship Thee, to perform our duties in Thy chosen house, the great and Holy Temple which was called by Thy name, on account of the hand that was let loose on Thy sanctuary. May it be Thy will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, merciful King, in Thy abundant love again to have mercy on us and on Thy sanctuary; rebuild it speedily and magnify its glory. (The Jewish Prayer Book)

According to Maimonedes it is incumbent on the Jews to maintain the temple in Jerusalem if it is in existence and to rebuild it speedily if it does not. Many Jews acknowledge from the Tanach that shedding of blood is associated with the remission of sins. Thus the restoration of animal sacrifices in a properly consecrated temple is seen as very important to them.

The Third Temple must be placed on the same spot of ground as the First and Second Temples because of the Jewish concept of zones of holiness on Yahweh's sacred mountain.

Jesus spoke of the Third Temple building in Jerusalem when discussing with his disciples the chain of events that would bring the close of the present age and his return. He spoke of an event yet future predicted by Daniel the prophet when the temple in Jerusalem would suffer ultimate defilement by a false Messiah who claimed to be God:

"So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be." (Matthew 24:15-21)

Since only a properly consecrated temple can be defiled, this passage implies a functioning, dedicated Third Temple and priesthood in existence in the end time at the time Jesus said he would return.

The apostle Paul, writing a few years later, describes this same event:

"Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God," (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).

The coming false Jewish messiah, resembling his predecessor Antiochus Epiphanes (~175 BC), is the "worthless shepherd" spoken of by the prophet Zechariah - and the man Jesus spoke of when he said to the Jews, "I have come in my Father's name and you would not receive me. Another will come in his own name, him you will receive." (John 5:43) (See also Daniel 9:27, Revelation 13:18)

Finally, the existence of the Third Temple in Jerusalem at the close of the age is confirmed by the aged apostle John when he recorded the Book of the Revelation:

"Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told 'Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months."' (Revelation 11:1-2)

In contrast to the earthly city the Book of the Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, describes the heavenly city New Jerusalem, descending from space, as a city which contains no temple at all:

"And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb." (Revelation 21:22,23)

Evidently the Third Temple has a limited life time and use towards the close of the present age. Probably it will be destroyed in the "great earthquake" which is described by Ezekiel and in the Revelation as shaking Jerusalem just prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, at the time (all) "the cities of the nations will fall."

Most Bible scholars agree that the end time tribulation period, Daniel's "Seventieth Week,' encompasses just seven years. So it seems safe to say that the Third Temple may be built and destroyed within a decade or two, perhaps less. It will probably remain consecrated and undefiled for at least 3-1/2 years. [Concerning the violent events and the great earthquake during the tribulation period see Isaiah 29:1-8, Revelation 6:12, 8:5, 11:13, 16:18-21, Ezekiel 38:19, Daniel 9:24-27, Zechariah 12-14.]

No one knows whether the Third Temple will be built before of after what Christians call "the rapture of the true church." Possibly the Third Temple will be built when the western political leader known as the Antichrist makes a peace treaty between Arabs and Jews as predicted by Daniel the prophet. A rabbinical school (or yeshiva) for the training of the priests for this temple is presently in existence in the Old City. Sacred vessels and priestly garments have been prepared. Cedar from Lebanon captured in the north during the war there in 1982 has been placed in storage for the next temple, and so on. Thus there has been considerable preparation for the Third Temple by the religious Jews of modern Jerusalem. Both the Askenazi and Sephardic Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem agree that such a temple will be built as soon as circumstances permit.

There may yet be a fourth Temple built in Israel-the prophet Zechariah (ca. 500 BC) says that Messiah, whom he calls the "Branch" will yet build a temple in Israel:

"Take from them (the exiles) silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it upon the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall grow up in his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord, and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule upon his throne. And there shall be a priest by his throne, and peaceful understanding shall be between them both."' (Zechariah 6:13.)

Since orthodox Christians hold to a literal, physical return of Jesus, the construction of the Fourth Temple, they believe, would thus be the responsibility of their Lord, whom they believe to be Yeshua HaMaschiah. This temple may well be that seen by Ezekiel (ca. 570 BC) in a vision. A temple that matches his description has never yet been built. Moreover, the Fourth Temple will evidently not be built at Jerusalem but possibly at Shiloh, some 31 km to the North:

"When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty thousand cubits broad; it shall be holy throughout its whole extent. Of this a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. And in the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him; and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in."

"Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the possession of the city an area five thousand cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long it shall belong to the whole house of Israel."

"And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes." (Ezekiel 45:1-8.)

And also,

"Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. The portion which you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and twenty thousand in breadth." (Ezekiel 48.)

According to many Bible scholars, the fourth or "millennial temple" (Ezekiel 40-45), will be memorial, a teaching center to instruct men about the holiness of God and proper worship. As sinful men and women continue to be born into the world in the Millennium the temple is supposed to remind everyone of the substitionary death of Jesus on the cross, as the "Lamb of God," some two thousand years earlier.

Though the Biblical emphasis is never on temple buildings but on men and their character, scripture does not negate the use of shadows and symbols. Literal physical realities are said to be given in order to teach about the enduring, permanent spiritual realities they point to.

"Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest. All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."' (Isaiah 66:1, 2)


Source: http://www.templemount.org/TM34.html



Quasar92

 

[Quasar92]

that doesn't say Jesus will reign

Jesus doesn't have to say He will reign that other Scriptures document the fact that He will. Try Acts 2P:20-30 and 15-16 for example.

Rev.20:6 "Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.


Quasar92

 

[jgr]

The fact of the matter is, The future temples in Jerusalem will be stone buildings, fulfilling the prophetic Scriptures documenting them.

Israel's third and fourth temples

The Old Testament devotes considerable attention to describing the portable tent, or tabernacle, of the Jewish people built under the leadership of Moses. After the conquest of Canaan the tabernacle and its contents remained at Shiloh throughout the time of Judges. After Shiloh was destroyed (about 1050 BC), the Ark traveled through various Philistine cities and finally was brought to David's palace south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and then into the holy of holies of the First Temple dedicated by Solomon about 952 BC.

The First Temple geometrically resembled the tabernacle though it was twice as large and built of immense quantities of stone, cedar wood and lined with gold. [See Exodus 25-31; 35-40, Numbers 3:25 ff, 4: ff, also Philo (II Mos. 91) and Josephus (Ant. 3:122 ff). Moses built everything according to a pattern revealed to him on Mt. Sinai, Hebrews 8:5.]

After the First Temple was completed (I Kings 5-8), the Tabernacle of Moses was dismantled. It may have been stored in a room under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There is some evidence that it may still lie there to this day.

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the First Temple on the 9th of Av 586 BC, the Jews were then taken captive to Babylon and the city had no center of worship until Zerubbabel and the returning exiles built the Second Temple, completing it in 516 BC.

The Second Temple, modest in comparison with its predecessor, was rebuilt and enlarged by Herod the Great beginning in 20 BC. Herod recruited 10,000 workman and set them to the task commencing in the 17th year of his reign. Josephus gives vivid descriptions of the Second Temple and its environs, and also records the terrible destruction by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD

I Kings 6 ff, I Chronicles 22 ff. 3, Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai describe the rebuilding of the temple after the Babylonian captivity. This is the so-called "Second Temple" which Herod the Great later greatly enlarged. Jesus was dedicated in the Second Temple, He cast out money chambers there on two occasions, and He taught frequently in the temple courts.

During the 70 year captivity of the Jews in Babylon and again in the diaspora, just ending in the last century, the Jewish people have centered their worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in synagogues around the world. Since the terrible destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in AD 70, temple sacrifices, offerings, instruction, and worship have ceased in accordance with an Old Testament prophecy of Hosea (about 746 BC):

"For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or terephim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days." (Hosea 3:4,5)

The regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland in our time (as predicted for example in Ezekiel 37) is being accompanied by a rapidly accelerating religious consciousness in Israel, the awakening of ancient longings and aspirations and the rediscovery of many immutable promises God has made to the chosen seed of Abraham. The fact that a Third Temple is to be built can be shown from the Tanach. But three passages in the New Testament also refer to such a building not now in existence as of this writing in 1996 AD. Many Christians have thus speculated in recent years about when the Third Temple would be built. This is considered by many to be an important milestone pointing to the end of the age.

The entire Temple Mount contains cisterns and passages most of which have been inaccessible since 70 AD. The Temple Mount proper was liberated from Jordanian control in the Six-Day War of 1967, but then returned by Israel to the custody of the Muslim Waqf (Jordan). The site is some 34 acres in extent with the prominent "Dome of the Rock" near the center and Al Aqsa mosque at the South end. Jews pray night and day at the Western Wall, which is below the Temple Mount, along a section of the great retaining wall of the Mount, in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. The Western Wall as close as Jews can get these days to the site of their ancient temples.

Dr. Asher Kaufman, formerly of the Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, has for many years made careful studies on Mount Moriah leading him to believe the Temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel were both located just north of the Dome of the Rock on the paved platform area. The Holy of Holies is believed to have been approximately on the bedrock covered by a small shrine, the Dome of the Spirits. The Muslim stewards of the site have systematically destroyed or covered over all evidence that the site was once important to the Jews or to Christians.

Others, including Dan Bahat the Dean of Jerusalem archaeologists today, have argued persuasively that the First and Second Temples were most certainly located where the present Dome of the Rock shrine now stands.

A third view is that of Architect Tuvia Sagiv who presents striking evidence that the Temple location was South of the Dome of the Rock, but North of Al Aqsa Mosque, under the present Muslim El Kas fountain.

The Temple Mount area is also the location of the birth of the Christian church at the feast of Pentecost which followed seven sabbaths plus one day after the death of Messiah. Neither Christians nor Jews are presently allowed to pray or worship on the site in spite of its historic importance to all of Abraham's children.

To go back even further in time the Temple Mount has great historical importance to the Jews. Abraham met a priest of the true God named Melchidezek at Mount Moriah about 4000 years ago (Genesis 14, Hebrews 5-7). A few years later, Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice there (Genesis 22), and King David purchased the site from a local resident named Ornan (I Chronicles 21), about 1015 BC.

Muslim claims to the Temple Mount date only from 638 AD. The Crusaders turned the Muslim buildings on the Mount into churches in 1099 until Saladin restored Arab rule of Jerusalem in 1187.

The New Testament makes only brief references to temples, in fact the Apostle Paul speaking to a crowd in Athens from Mars Hill said

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of Heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life, and breadth, and everything..." (Acts 17:24-25).


Instead, the emphasis of the New Covenant is the personal presence of Jesus as Messiah, Immanuel (which means "God with us") dwelling within and in the midst of his people whenever and wherever they gather in his name.

The New Testament opens with the four-gospel revelation of God's Son, Jesus. John in His gospel says that God in Christ "tabernacled" among men. Later in the First Century, both Paul and Peter call the true church "a living temple." Individual believers are "living stones" and Christ is Himself the foundation stone or the "chief cornerstone." For two thousand years of Biblical history the emphasis has been on assemblies or congregations of Christians or Jews, not on sacred buildings.

Yet there are at least three references in the New Testament to a temple building existing in Jerusalem in the future as noted above. From the context these references appear to refer to a new, or "Third Temple" yet to be built in the city. There has been growing interest since the rebirth of Israel in 1948 among the Jews for a central place of worship in their capital city. Although synagogues have served admirably as centers of worship and community for the Jews in their dispersion, a temple in Jerusalem on the exact site of the Second Temple is required by the Jews as a central house of prayer and focal point of the faith until Messiah comes.

Because of our sins we were exiled from our country and banished from our land. We cannot go up as pilgrims to worship Thee, to perform our duties in Thy chosen house, the great and Holy Temple which was called by Thy name, on account of the hand that was let loose on Thy sanctuary. May it be Thy will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, merciful King, in Thy abundant love again to have mercy on us and on Thy sanctuary; rebuild it speedily and magnify its glory. (The Jewish Prayer Book)

According to Maimonedes it is incumbent on the Jews to maintain the temple in Jerusalem if it is in existence and to rebuild it speedily if it does not. Many Jews acknowledge from the Tanach that shedding of blood is associated with the remission of sins. Thus the restoration of animal sacrifices in a properly consecrated temple is seen as very important to them.

The Third Temple must be placed on the same spot of ground as the First and Second Temples because of the Jewish concept of zones of holiness on Yahweh's sacred mountain.

Jesus spoke of the Third Temple building in Jerusalem when discussing with his disciples the chain of events that would bring the close of the present age and his return. He spoke of an event yet future predicted by Daniel the prophet when the temple in Jerusalem would suffer ultimate defilement by a false Messiah who claimed to be God:

"So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be." (Matthew 24:15-21)

Since only a properly consecrated temple can be defiled, this passage implies a functioning, dedicated Third Temple and priesthood in existence in the end time at the time Jesus said he would return.

The apostle Paul, writing a few years later, describes this same event:

"Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God," (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).

The coming false Jewish messiah, resembling his predecessor Antiochus Epiphanes (~175 BC), is the "worthless shepherd" spoken of by the prophet Zechariah - and the man Jesus spoke of when he said to the Jews, "I have come in my Father's name and you would not receive me. Another will come in his own name, him you will receive." (John 5:43) (See also Daniel 9:27, Revelation 13:18)

Finally, the existence of the Third Temple in Jerusalem at the close of the age is confirmed by the aged apostle John when he recorded the Book of the Revelation:

"Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told 'Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months."' (Revelation 11:1-2)

In contrast to the earthly city the Book of the Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, describes the heavenly city New Jerusalem, descending from space, as a city which contains no temple at all:

"And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb." (Revelation 21:22,23)

Evidently the Third Temple has a limited life time and use towards the close of the present age. Probably it will be destroyed in the "great earthquake" which is described by Ezekiel and in the Revelation as shaking Jerusalem just prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, at the time (all) "the cities of the nations will fall."

Most Bible scholars agree that the end time tribulation period, Daniel's "Seventieth Week,' encompasses just seven years. So it seems safe to say that the Third Temple may be built and destroyed within a decade or two, perhaps less. It will probably remain consecrated and undefiled for at least 3-1/2 years. [Concerning the violent events and the great earthquake during the tribulation period see Isaiah 29:1-8, Revelation 6:12, 8:5, 11:13, 16:18-21, Ezekiel 38:19, Daniel 9:24-27, Zechariah 12-14.]

No one knows whether the Third Temple will be built before of after what Christians call "the rapture of the true church." Possibly the Third Temple will be built when the western political leader known as the Antichrist makes a peace treaty between Arabs and Jews as predicted by Daniel the prophet. A rabbinical school (or yeshiva) for the training of the priests for this temple is presently in existence in the Old City. Sacred vessels and priestly garments have been prepared. Cedar from Lebanon captured in the north during the war there in 1982 has been placed in storage for the next temple, and so on. Thus there has been considerable preparation for the Third Temple by the religious Jews of modern Jerusalem. Both the Askenazi and Sephardic Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem agree that such a temple will be built as soon as circumstances permit.

There may yet be a fourth Temple built in Israel-the prophet Zechariah (ca. 500 BC) says that Messiah, whom he calls the "Branch" will yet build a temple in Israel:

"Take from them (the exiles) silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it upon the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall grow up in his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord, and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule upon his throne. And there shall be a priest by his throne, and peaceful understanding shall be between them both."' (Zechariah 6:13.)

Since orthodox Christians hold to a literal, physical return of Jesus, the construction of the Fourth Temple, they believe, would thus be the responsibility of their Lord, whom they believe to be Yeshua HaMaschiah. This temple may well be that seen by Ezekiel (ca. 570 BC) in a vision. A temple that matches his description has never yet been built. Moreover, the Fourth Temple will evidently not be built at Jerusalem but possibly at Shiloh, some 31 km to the North:

"When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty thousand cubits broad; it shall be holy throughout its whole extent. Of this a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. And in the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him; and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in."

"Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the possession of the city an area five thousand cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long it shall belong to the whole house of Israel."

"And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes." (Ezekiel 45:1-8.)

And also,

"Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. The portion which you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and twenty thousand in breadth." (Ezekiel 48.)

According to many Bible scholars, the fourth or "millennial temple" (Ezekiel 40-45), will be memorial, a teaching center to instruct men about the holiness of God and proper worship. As sinful men and women continue to be born into the world in the Millennium the temple is supposed to remind everyone of the substitionary death of Jesus on the cross, as the "Lamb of God," some two thousand years earlier.

Though the Biblical emphasis is never on temple buildings but on men and their character, scripture does not negate the use of shadows and symbols. Literal physical realities are said to be given in order to teach about the enduring, permanent spiritual realities they point to.

"Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest. All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."' (Isaiah 66:1, 2)


Source: http://www.templemount.org/TM34.html



Quasar92

The fact of the matter is, The future temples in Jerusalem will be stone buildings, fulfilling the prophetic Scriptures documenting them.

Israel's third and fourth temples

The Old Testament devotes considerable attention to describing the portable tent, or tabernacle, of the Jewish people built under the leadership of Moses. After the conquest of Canaan the tabernacle and its contents remained at Shiloh throughout the time of Judges. After Shiloh was destroyed (about 1050 BC), the Ark traveled through various Philistine cities and finally was brought to David's palace south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and then into the holy of holies of the First Temple dedicated by Solomon about 952 BC.

The First Temple geometrically resembled the tabernacle though it was twice as large and built of immense quantities of stone, cedar wood and lined with gold. [See Exodus 25-31; 35-40, Numbers 3:25 ff, 4: ff, also Philo (II Mos. 91) and Josephus (Ant. 3:122 ff). Moses built everything according to a pattern revealed to him on Mt. Sinai, Hebrews 8:5.]

After the First Temple was completed (I Kings 5-8), the Tabernacle of Moses was dismantled. It may have been stored in a room under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There is some evidence that it may still lie there to this day.

Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the First Temple on the 9th of Av 586 BC, the Jews were then taken captive to Babylon and the city had no center of worship until Zerubbabel and the returning exiles built the Second Temple, completing it in 516 BC.

The Second Temple, modest in comparison with its predecessor, was rebuilt and enlarged by Herod the Great beginning in 20 BC. Herod recruited 10,000 workman and set them to the task commencing in the 17th year of his reign. Josephus gives vivid descriptions of the Second Temple and its environs, and also records the terrible destruction by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD

I Kings 6 ff, I Chronicles 22 ff. 3, Ezra, Nehemiah and Haggai describe the rebuilding of the temple after the Babylonian captivity. This is the so-called "Second Temple" which Herod the Great later greatly enlarged. Jesus was dedicated in the Second Temple, He cast out money chambers there on two occasions, and He taught frequently in the temple courts.

During the 70 year captivity of the Jews in Babylon and again in the diaspora, just ending in the last century, the Jewish people have centered their worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in synagogues around the world. Since the terrible destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in AD 70, temple sacrifices, offerings, instruction, and worship have ceased in accordance with an Old Testament prophecy of Hosea (about 746 BC):

"For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or terephim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days." (Hosea 3:4,5)

The regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland in our time (as predicted for example in Ezekiel 37) is being accompanied by a rapidly accelerating religious consciousness in Israel, the awakening of ancient longings and aspirations and the rediscovery of many immutable promises God has made to the chosen seed of Abraham. The fact that a Third Temple is to be built can be shown from the Tanach. But three passages in the New Testament also refer to such a building not now in existence as of this writing in 1996 AD. Many Christians have thus speculated in recent years about when the Third Temple would be built. This is considered by many to be an important milestone pointing to the end of the age.

The entire Temple Mount contains cisterns and passages most of which have been inaccessible since 70 AD. The Temple Mount proper was liberated from Jordanian control in the Six-Day War of 1967, but then returned by Israel to the custody of the Muslim Waqf (Jordan). The site is some 34 acres in extent with the prominent "Dome of the Rock" near the center and Al Aqsa mosque at the South end. Jews pray night and day at the Western Wall, which is below the Temple Mount, along a section of the great retaining wall of the Mount, in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. The Western Wall as close as Jews can get these days to the site of their ancient temples.

Dr. Asher Kaufman, formerly of the Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, has for many years made careful studies on Mount Moriah leading him to believe the Temples of Solomon and Zerubbabel were both located just north of the Dome of the Rock on the paved platform area. The Holy of Holies is believed to have been approximately on the bedrock covered by a small shrine, the Dome of the Spirits. The Muslim stewards of the site have systematically destroyed or covered over all evidence that the site was once important to the Jews or to Christians.

Others, including Dan Bahat the Dean of Jerusalem archaeologists today, have argued persuasively that the First and Second Temples were most certainly located where the present Dome of the Rock shrine now stands.

A third view is that of Architect Tuvia Sagiv who presents striking evidence that the Temple location was South of the Dome of the Rock, but North of Al Aqsa Mosque, under the present Muslim El Kas fountain.

The Temple Mount area is also the location of the birth of the Christian church at the feast of Pentecost which followed seven sabbaths plus one day after the death of Messiah. Neither Christians nor Jews are presently allowed to pray or worship on the site in spite of its historic importance to all of Abraham's children.

To go back even further in time the Temple Mount has great historical importance to the Jews. Abraham met a priest of the true God named Melchidezek at Mount Moriah about 4000 years ago (Genesis 14, Hebrews 5-7). A few years later, Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice there (Genesis 22), and King David purchased the site from a local resident named Ornan (I Chronicles 21), about 1015 BC.

Muslim claims to the Temple Mount date only from 638 AD. The Crusaders turned the Muslim buildings on the Mount into churches in 1099 until Saladin restored Arab rule of Jerusalem in 1187.

The New Testament makes only brief references to temples, in fact the Apostle Paul speaking to a crowd in Athens from Mars Hill said

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of Heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life, and breadth, and everything..." (Acts 17:24-25).


Instead, the emphasis of the New Covenant is the personal presence of Jesus as Messiah, Immanuel (which means "God with us") dwelling within and in the midst of his people whenever and wherever they gather in his name.

The New Testament opens with the four-gospel revelation of God's Son, Jesus. John in His gospel says that God in Christ "tabernacled" among men. Later in the First Century, both Paul and Peter call the true church "a living temple." Individual believers are "living stones" and Christ is Himself the foundation stone or the "chief cornerstone." For two thousand years of Biblical history the emphasis has been on assemblies or congregations of Christians or Jews, not on sacred buildings.

Yet there are at least three references in the New Testament to a temple building existing in Jerusalem in the future as noted above. From the context these references appear to refer to a new, or "Third Temple" yet to be built in the city. There has been growing interest since the rebirth of Israel in 1948 among the Jews for a central place of worship in their capital city. Although synagogues have served admirably as centers of worship and community for the Jews in their dispersion, a temple in Jerusalem on the exact site of the Second Temple is required by the Jews as a central house of prayer and focal point of the faith until Messiah comes.

Because of our sins we were exiled from our country and banished from our land. We cannot go up as pilgrims to worship Thee, to perform our duties in Thy chosen house, the great and Holy Temple which was called by Thy name, on account of the hand that was let loose on Thy sanctuary. May it be Thy will, Lord our God and God of our fathers, merciful King, in Thy abundant love again to have mercy on us and on Thy sanctuary; rebuild it speedily and magnify its glory. (The Jewish Prayer Book)

According to Maimonedes it is incumbent on the Jews to maintain the temple in Jerusalem if it is in existence and to rebuild it speedily if it does not. Many Jews acknowledge from the Tanach that shedding of blood is associated with the remission of sins. Thus the restoration of animal sacrifices in a properly consecrated temple is seen as very important to them.

The Third Temple must be placed on the same spot of ground as the First and Second Temples because of the Jewish concept of zones of holiness on Yahweh's sacred mountain.

Jesus spoke of the Third Temple building in Jerusalem when discussing with his disciples the chain of events that would bring the close of the present age and his return. He spoke of an event yet future predicted by Daniel the prophet when the temple in Jerusalem would suffer ultimate defilement by a false Messiah who claimed to be God:

"So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle. And alas for those who are with child and for those who give suck in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be." (Matthew 24:15-21)

Since only a properly consecrated temple can be defiled, this passage implies a functioning, dedicated Third Temple and priesthood in existence in the end time at the time Jesus said he would return.

The apostle Paul, writing a few years later, describes this same event:

"Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God," (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).

The coming false Jewish messiah, resembling his predecessor Antiochus Epiphanes (~175 BC), is the "worthless shepherd" spoken of by the prophet Zechariah - and the man Jesus spoke of when he said to the Jews, "I have come in my Father's name and you would not receive me. Another will come in his own name, him you will receive." (John 5:43) (See also Daniel 9:27, Revelation 13:18)

Finally, the existence of the Third Temple in Jerusalem at the close of the age is confirmed by the aged apostle John when he recorded the Book of the Revelation:

"Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told 'Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months."' (Revelation 11:1-2)

In contrast to the earthly city the Book of the Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, describes the heavenly city New Jerusalem, descending from space, as a city which contains no temple at all:

"And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb." (Revelation 21:22,23)

Evidently the Third Temple has a limited life time and use towards the close of the present age. Probably it will be destroyed in the "great earthquake" which is described by Ezekiel and in the Revelation as shaking Jerusalem just prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, at the time (all) "the cities of the nations will fall."

Most Bible scholars agree that the end time tribulation period, Daniel's "Seventieth Week,' encompasses just seven years. So it seems safe to say that the Third Temple may be built and destroyed within a decade or two, perhaps less. It will probably remain consecrated and undefiled for at least 3-1/2 years. [Concerning the violent events and the great earthquake during the tribulation period see Isaiah 29:1-8, Revelation 6:12, 8:5, 11:13, 16:18-21, Ezekiel 38:19, Daniel 9:24-27, Zechariah 12-14.]

No one knows whether the Third Temple will be built before of after what Christians call "the rapture of the true church." Possibly the Third Temple will be built when the western political leader known as the Antichrist makes a peace treaty between Arabs and Jews as predicted by Daniel the prophet. A rabbinical school (or yeshiva) for the training of the priests for this temple is presently in existence in the Old City. Sacred vessels and priestly garments have been prepared. Cedar from Lebanon captured in the north during the war there in 1982 has been placed in storage for the next temple, and so on. Thus there has been considerable preparation for the Third Temple by the religious Jews of modern Jerusalem. Both the Askenazi and Sephardic Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem agree that such a temple will be built as soon as circumstances permit.

There may yet be a fourth Temple built in Israel-the prophet Zechariah (ca. 500 BC) says that Messiah, whom he calls the "Branch" will yet build a temple in Israel:

"Take from them (the exiles) silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it upon the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall grow up in his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord, and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule upon his throne. And there shall be a priest by his throne, and peaceful understanding shall be between them both."' (Zechariah 6:13.)

Since orthodox Christians hold to a literal, physical return of Jesus, the construction of the Fourth Temple, they believe, would thus be the responsibility of their Lord, whom they believe to be Yeshua HaMaschiah. This temple may well be that seen by Ezekiel (ca. 570 BC) in a vision. A temple that matches his description has never yet been built. Moreover, the Fourth Temple will evidently not be built at Jerusalem but possibly at Shiloh, some 31 km to the North:

"When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty thousand cubits broad; it shall be holy throughout its whole extent. Of this a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. And in the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him; and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in."

"Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the possession of the city an area five thousand cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long it shall belong to the whole house of Israel."

"And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes." (Ezekiel 45:1-8.)

And also,

"Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. The portion which you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and twenty thousand in breadth." (Ezekiel 48.)

According to many Bible scholars, the fourth or "millennial temple" (Ezekiel 40-45), will be memorial, a teaching center to instruct men about the holiness of God and proper worship. As sinful men and women continue to be born into the world in the Millennium the temple is supposed to remind everyone of the substitionary death of Jesus on the cross, as the "Lamb of God," some two thousand years earlier.

Though the Biblical emphasis is never on temple buildings but on men and their character, scripture does not negate the use of shadows and symbols. Literal physical realities are said to be given in order to teach about the enduring, permanent spiritual realities they point to.

"Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest. All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."' (Isaiah 66:1, 2)


Source: http://www.templemount.org/TM34.html



Quasar92

Not according to the Scriptures I cited. Paul's use of "naos" in his epistles is not mentioned.

 

[victorinus]

You are really going out of your way to try to keep the King of Kings from reigning.

I am just pointing out what is clearly written

 

[victorinus]

Try Acts 2P:20-30 and 15-16 for example.

try what is clearly written in rev 20

 

[Quasar92]

Not according to the Scriptures I cited. Paul's use of "naos" in his epistles is not mentioned.

Yes, the tribulation and Millennial temples will be stone buildings as the Scriptures clearly reveal. And you can cut out the heresy of attempting to spiritualize them! Capiche?!


Quasar92

 

[Quasar92]

I am just pointing out what is clearly written

The following is what is clearly written. What is your problem you have in accepting it? Amillennialism?

Rev.20:6 "Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years."


Quasar92

 

[SeventyOne]

I am just pointing out what is clearly written

Me too, that's why I gave you a bunch of other verses where it is clearly written. You haven't addressed any of it "clearly" yet.

 

[jgr]

Yes, the tribulation and Millennial temples will be stone buildings as the Scriptures clearly reveal. And you can cut out the heresy of attempting to spiritualize them! Capiche?!


Quasar92

You really shouldn't accuse Paul of heresy; it looks very bad from someone of your putative erudition.

You'll have to be careful with Peter as well, since your case is an evident one of private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:20)