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“The fact that John is told to “rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who are worshipping in it” (11:1), is prima facie evidence that the temple was still standing when John received the revelation. “Worshipping” is in the present tense; it’s what the people were doing as John measured the temple. How could John have measured a temple that did not exist in his day? Ice and Price insist the temple that John is told to measure is the literal temple, not a “spiritual temple.” “For example, in Matthew 24 Jesus is speaking about a literal Temple, since in the context of the passage he is standing and looking directly at the second Temple.” Following Ice and Price’s argument, how could the temple John was told to measure be a literal temple if it hadn’t been built yet? On the contrary, John was told to measure the literal Temple that still had worshipers in it, the same temple that Jesus stood in and Titus destroyed in A.D. 70. There is no indication that Revelation 11 is describing a future rebuilt temple. Here’s how Ice tries to explain away what Revelation 11:1–2 clearly states about the temple:

”[I]t must be remembered that in the Book of Revelation John is receiving a vision about future things. He is transported in some way to that future time in order to view events as they will unfold. The word “saw” is used 49 times in 46 verses in Revelation because John is witnessing future events through a vision. It does not matter at all whether the Temple is thought to be standing in Jerusalem at the time that John sees the vision since that would not have any bearing upon a vision. John is told by an angel to “measure the temple” (Rev. 11:1). Measure what Temple? He is to measure the Temple in the vision. Even if there were a temple still standing in Jerusalem, John was on the Island of Patmos and would not have been allowed to go and measure that Temple. Ezekiel, during a similar vision of a Temple (Ezek. 40–43) was told to measure that Temple. When Ezekiel saw and was told to measure a Temple there was not one standing in Jerusalem (Preterists agree). Thus, there is no compulsion whatsoever to conclude that just because a temple is referenced in Revelation 11 that it implies that there had to be a physical Temple standing in Jerusalem at the same time.

“Let’s deal with the obvious mistake in Ice’s analysis. Ezekiel was not told to measure the temple. Ezekiel saw “a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze . . . who measured the thickness of the wall” (Ezek. 40:3, 5). Ezekiel sees this man doing the measuring. Ezekiel is a bystander. Being a visionary temple, Ezekiel did not have access to it because it existed only in a vision, and there is no indication that it was ever designed to be built.”

Reformed Eschatology Ping List (REPL)
Biblically Optimistic and Gospel-Based

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

No third temple?

Remember when there was no Israel?

THE ANTICHRIST DEMANDS A THIRD TEMPLE!

... or not. Put Your Prophetic Views to the Test.

God has ha tendency to foreshadow prophetic events and to fulfill things MANY times, like a parent repeating himself to a child.

To that end, remember Jesus’ saying, “Destroy this temple, and I will build it up again in three days”.?

Could the temple have literally been destroyed (70AD) and it be God’s plan to restore it also? Will be a LONG TIME (maybe 2 - 3000 years) before it is built back up?

Question: It was 3 days, but how many hours (approximately) from Jesus’ death to the morning of the resurrection? I think (just a guess) around 34 -40 hours??? Note that there are 72 hours in a full 3 days. The Jews reckoned time Sundown to Sundown. So for us, God’s three “days” could be 1600 to 2500 years or so AD, before the temple gets “rebuilt”.

“Being a visionary temple, Ezekiel did not have access to it because it existed only in a vision, and there is no indication that it was ever designed to be built.”

Let me get this straight... both John and Ezekiel saw a temple in a vision from God, but John’s temple must be the real, currently existing temple, while Ezekiel’s is assumed to only exist in a vision? I’m not following the logic there...

Don’t Be Afraid to Put Your Prophetic Views to the Test

Well, let's see how that advice pans out! When I was a ditzy dispie pre-mil, I lived whole-heartedly in terms of that paradigm -- eschewed further education, long-term relationships, and real-world career development. After all Jesus was due to show up "any day now," and the only sane thing to do, in view of that fact, was to drop everything and do full-time Christian service, full-time preaching of some variety. The result? I became so weird that I alienated my family for decades. After five years of living the consistent pre-mil life, I missed the window of opportunity most normal folks use for launching their careers. 35 years later, I'm still playing catch-up.

I seriously doubt that many who still stubbornly and foolishly claim to believe in the immanent parousia have the integrity to do as I did. Or, if they do, the shabby ugliness of their lives continues to repel people from the Gospel: "If that's a Christian, I hope I never become one!"

When God kindly opened my eyes to a more comprehensive view of His eternal purposes, my family life, marriage, and vocation got a quantum leap boost.

Today? Well -- my eschatology holds that Jesus will demolish every proud construct reared up against His glory. Acting on that conviction has led me to do the following:

Study Turkish
Acquire a PhD, with a dissertation couched as an evangelistic invitation to Turks.

The down side: as I approach my 60th birthday, I have college loans that exceed my home mortgage. I have once again attempted to act in terms of my prophetic views -- and am eager to see how said actions fit into God's glorious plans for His Kingdom, and for my life.

Once again, I've put my views to the test.

Stay tuned -- it's going to be an interesting ride!

One thing that confuses me about the dispensationalists who hold to the Pre-trib/Futurist/New Temple, etc. view is why so many of those people think "we are living in the end times". If by "end times", they mean The Great Tribulation, then we cannot be living in the end times now.

For this new temple to be erected, the Dome of the Rock will have to be destroyed so that the Temple can take its rightful place on the Temple Mount. We are living in a time in which the entire Islamic World seems poised for a world war against the non-Muslim world. So, basically, the west has to completely defeat the Muslims and destroy the Dome of the Rock before the "Great Tribulation" can even begin. How long is it going to take to brush aside the entire Islamic World and build that Temple?