Israel and the Future Temple
Isaiah 66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.
12 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.15 For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.
21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord.
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.
24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Zephaniah 2:
1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord‘s anger come upon you.
3 Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord‘s anger.
Then we read in Zechariah 13:
Zechariah 13:
8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.
Two thirds of Israel is going to die. One third is then going “through the fire.” Somehow, this doesn’t sound like the lovie-dovie “Israel” gathered together by the Messiah, wherein “peace shall flow like a river.” No. This Israel gathered itself together (via the Rothschilds, Zionists and United Nations). There’s one coming that will be gathered together by the Messiah Himself AFTER the carnage spoken of above has taken place. I’m waiting for that one.
As for the Temple…I’m often asked my opinion regarding the potential for the so-called “third Temple” to be built in Jerusalem soon. Yes, it is true: most (if not all) of it has already been built. The robes, utensils and other stuff have already been created. Coins have even been minted. Every other year or so a “red heifer” is heralded as being without blemish. It often seems like everything is ready to go and can be set up at a moment’s notice.
Usually the assumption that this 3rd Temple is needed is based on the prophecies of Daniel 8 and 9 and thoughts of the Antichrist polluting it in the Last Days. Here are my thoughts on that – take ’em or leave ’em.
A) I believe most of us are victims of faulty teaching (usually from the Dispensation Theology, Pre-Trib. Rapture camp) concerning Daniel’s prophecies. Personally, although I CAN see a slight possibility for doing so, I no longer see the NEED to necessarily push the prophecies of Daniel 8 and 9 off to the future. Contextually speaking, I think most of that can easily be reconciled by the events of 1 Maccabees, through to the death and resurrection of Christ (with possible additional fulfillment occurring in 70 AD).
B) While I DO accept Yeshua statements about the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by Daniel as BOTH a past (read 1 Macc. 4) AND future (yet to be fulfilled) prophecy, I see NO mention of any future Temple in Matthew 24. The narrative begins by describing the current (at the time of Christ) Temple being destroyed.
Matthew 24:
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
The destruction He spoke of was for THAT Temple. The fulfillment of this happened in 70 AD. All we see afterward is:
Matthew 24:
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Again, a VERY reasonable argument can be made that this ALREADY happened in 70 AD as a SECOND fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy.
That said, I do STILL believe in a future – yet to be fulfilled – THIRD, and amped up version of this event. Both the first fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy (1 Macc. 4) and the second (70 AD) took place within the physical 2nd Temple of Israel. But that 2nd Temple was destroyed exactly as Yeshua said it would be.
Then, after the Resurrection of Christ and that second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, we are told our bodies are now the “temple of the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 6:19). This MAY shed some interesting light on what’s to come. That said, IF we are to assume an as yet to be fulfilled version of Yeshua’s prophecy (and one apart from the reference to our BODIES as the temple), then the “holy PLACE” can simply be a location – with or without a building standing over it.
As stated above, I personally see 1948 “Israel” as a counterfeit. It fits NONE of the prophetic prophecies most try to attach to it (e.g. Jer. 23, 30 – 33; the entire book of Hosea; Ezekiel 36-40 and most especially Isaiah 66:8, which, again, as we’ve just seen is clearly in a POST Tribulation, MILLENNIAL REIGN context). I also do not believe the so-called “Temple Mount” is the Temple Mount. I believe there is more than compelling evidence that it is the Fortress Antonia and that the REAL location was in the City of David.
So, in my opinion, any structure set up by the counterfeit nation, with a priesthood not appointed by YHWH Himself, in a counterfeit location won’t fit any description of a “holy place.”
Isaiah 66:21 I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord.
Again is in a FUTURE MILLENNIAL REIGN context, and we see it is YHWH who appoints the Levites of this Temple – not Rothschilds, Freemasons and/or political Zionists.
So, in short, while I remain open to correction on this, I also remain extremely skeptical about anything to do with a man-made 3rd Temple being constructed in the soon coming days ahead. The Temple I’m waiting for will be built AFTER the Tribulation, during the MILLENNIAL REIGN, with Levites appointed by YHWH Himself. The Scriptures cannot possibly be any more clear on this. So, that’s the one I care about and am looking forward to seeing.
Zechariah 6:
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.Jeremiah 33:
14 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.
17 For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
But wait! What about 2 Thess. 2:4?
2 Thessalonians 2:
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
I confess I struggle with what this could mean – especially given that Paul has elsewhere stated that WE are now the “Temple of the Holy Ghost” (i.e. the temple of God – 1 Cor. 6:19). It doesn’t have to be a physical building – although it COULD be. Regardless, even if we were to accept the potential third Temple as a legitimate building that the “man of sin” sits in, it’s doomed to destruction – and thus, again, it’s nothing about which I should get too excited or attached. I’m waiting for the one that’s going to be built by Messiah Himself and last forever – undefiled and pure.
- Rob Skiba
Hello Mr Skiba,
This is a very well expressed argument and study. The honest reader will come to this type of conclusion on his own as i have pondered also on some of the points on Israel. Israel of toda seems forced and man made altjough it is also trying to.live up to the expectations. Alas most jews don’t seem.very interested in God let alone Jesus. I consider the people and the land to each have their own promises and that where lies in a few nuances that can lead people in the direction.
The people were rebellious and they got dispered for the sake of the land.
Now i don’t know if the people in israel are on a leas of time with God because some of the activities they do might just bring judgement in some.of their cities. Difficult to understand that the gayparade was started in Tellaviv. Basicly much can.be said about behavior.
But maybe 1948 is more about preparing the land for the ephraim people that will join.