Posted on 10/15/2014 7:58:19 PM PDT by imardmd1
Q. Does the Jewish temple need to be rebuilt before Jesus returns?
A. With the constant turmoil always threatening stability in the Middle East, many Bible commentators are speculating louder than ever about whether the Jewish temple will be rebuilt in the months and years to come. Entire Christian ministries are established to assist in the building of the temple to hasten the return of Jesus. For many, such an event will signal the start of the final events of earth’s history.
However, in the same way many Christians misplace the focus from spiritual Israel to the literal Jewish nation, they are also confused on the subject of the temple. Most of the speculation for a rebuilt temple springs from a vague reference in 2 Thessalonians 2 dealing with the Antichrist power: "That day shall not come … [until] that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 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" (vs. 3, 4).
Many say that for the Antichrist to sit in the temple, it will obviously have to be rebuilt.
Those who support this belief are known as Christian Zionists, and they include such popular writers as Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, and John Hagee. Their published book sales exceed 70 million copies—including the popular Left Behind series. Their beliefs are endorsed by some of the largest theological colleges and institutions.
But are they correct? To begin, let’s go to 1 Chronicles 17:11, 12: “It shall come to pass ... that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.” This prophecy given to King David says his offspring will build the temple. Later, in 1 Chronicles 28:6, God reaffirms, "Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts."
But this text is also one of the clearest examples of a dual prophecy found in Scripture. Dual prophecies have both a physical and spiritual fulfillment. Indeed, Solomon, the son of David, built the physical temple. But this prophecy also applies spiritually to Jesus, the true “Son of David,” who is to build a temple and kingdom that will last forever.
Jesus’ prophecy that the pride of the Jewish nation, the temple, would be destroyed inspired the most intense rejection of His teachings. (See Matthew 24:1, 2.) In Mark 14:58, Jesus says, "I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands." Of course, Jesus is speaking of rebuilding a temple--not of stone and nails, but of living stones (1 Peter 2:5). Yet many refused to grasp this teaching (John 2:20, 21). They even mocked Jesus on the cross regarding His prophecy (Matthew 27:40).
Yet when Jesus died, the veil in the earthly temple ripped in two from the top to bottom, signifying that the temple no longer held meaning. A temple for sacrifice today would be as useless as it was then, and it would not be the house of God.
The New Testament is replete with the idea that the temple is the body of Jesus. Ephesians 2:19–22 says, "Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God: And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (See also 1 Peter 2:5.)
Even after God provides all this clear evidence that His temple is a spiritual one, many Christians are waiting for the Jews to receive a construction permit to rebuild a physical temple on the site where a Muslim mosque now sits. However, there is no prophecy, promise, or commandment in the Bible that says the physical temple would ever be rebuilt after the Romans razed it nearly 2,000 years ago.
Ahh, very good! But I think that if you study Ezekiel, you will find blood offerings, and sin offerings... But then, Passover is a blood offering, and Paul is seen hurrying toward Jerusalem, in order to keep Passover, many years beyond the Cross.
Understand that I do not mean to diminish Yeshua, or His sacrifice. But since every word of YHWH must be accounted for, this conundrum remains. Often one must step outside of the common Christian paradigm to ponder such things.
What about other sacrifices for those who want to stay alive, but as yet have not completely committed trust to Messiach?
Speculation, beyond what I can find in prophecy, but a noble effort.
Unbelievers will be present throughout the Millenium Reign, many to rise up against Yeshua/Iesous/Jesus LORD at the end, but how are their sins covered when they are not (yet) converted nor regenerated?
I see something somewhat more bucolic - The restoration of all things - The very Creation groans, awaiting His coming...
(Noting that David vice regent to The Christ will be ruling.)
I see Messiah Himself ruling in the midst - That's the whole point of the last 6 aeons. This passage ties things together (study tense and ownership):
Zec 12:8 In that day shall the LORD [YHWH] defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them.
Zec 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Zec 12:11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
(e-Sword:KJV)
Study the relationship here - YHWH, David, the Angel of the Lord, and 'me whom they have pierced'... If you understand the mysterious 'Angel of the Lord', this is a very interesting passage. Notice:
[...] the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them [...]
Not 'like unto', but 'AS'.
Because the Great Tribulation has not yet occurred, for one reason.
It's a matter of studying the bible and BELIEVING it...We who believe in the literal, millennial reign of Jesus Christ on earth do so because that's what the bible says...
Joh_18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
The OT scriptures are full of talk about the coming Kingdom but it certainly is NOT a spiritual kingdom...It's a physical kingdom...And the physical kingdom may not be here yet, it's on the way...
Act_1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
You don't really think these guys are talking about a spiritual kingdom, do you???
LOL!
Sorry, that's not how it works.
You don’t really think these guys are talking about a spiritual kingdom, do you???
You don’t really think these guys are talking about a spiritual kingdom, do you???
Maybe Ezekiel’s sacrifices and offerings are for us to be educated on how they pointed to the Messiah.
A lesson in Israel 101 so to speak.
A lesson that will take 1000 years to learn and we all graduate and none get left behind, especially the least of us. Who will he first into eternity.
Israel today doesn’t realize why they do what they do, and Christians say they are not important anymore.
Why do Jewish boys get circumcised on the 8th day?
Well, because the Messiah was circumcised on the 8th day should be a believers answer.. we can know all of it...
Why is the day of atonement on the 10th day of the 7th month?
Because the Messiah was born on the 1st day of the 6th month and Miriam was to be unclean 40 days before Messiah could be dedicated in the temple- and He was dedictaed on the day the temple was to be cleansed!
We can ask those questions and know the answers..
Not sure if the church really cares-
But it was all fulfilled spiriutally AND literally by the Messiah of Israel..they are important to YHWH.
New Moons, Sabbaths and Feasts were holy appointment times given to Israel because they were shadows and rehearsals and days to be fulfilled by their King and in His Kingdom.
Scripture and study can prove the Messiah of Israel was born on a New Moon Day ( a specific one) and circumcised on a weekly Sabbath.
He was dedicated in the temple 40 days after His birth on a specific annual Sabbath.
He was baptized on His 30th birthday on a specific New Moon Day.
He laid His life down for us on a specific Feast, buried and rested in the tomb on a specific High Sabbath and Feast and Raised from the grave on a specific Feast.
All of that is in scripture and can be known by His bride.
It takes a little rejection of the world’s system and His
But maybe His 1000 year reign will be a further sanctification and then ultimately glorification of His somewhat ignorant, but faithful Bride. We will all grow to be perfect 100fold priests.
Nobody sneaks into eternity although church tends to teach some of that. And we have the coming Millennial Reign as 30folds, 60folds or 100folds.
And scripture can even give us hints of what each of those folds will be doing in the Millennium .. a sort of outer court, inner court(Holy Place) and Holy of Holies..
From Ezekiel, we are just getting started. And if we didn’t have a parable of the unwise virgins to warn us, we could continue to be unprepared.
That would make sense. There are plenty of spoilers out there or people who want to make a buck. The source was supposedly Josephus and Titus (not the Titus of the bible I doubt). What casts doubt on it is they, Israel archeologists, have found artificats from the temple under the site we all are so familiar with.
The Titus in the New Testament is a different person, recipient of St. Paul's letter, who was sent to convert the people of Crete. There is a church in Herakleion (Iraklion), Crete, which claims to have the skull of St. Titus. Titus was a common first name for Roman males.
No, He said, “The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you . . ." (imardmd1)
I happen to believe within you makes more sense. (ravenwolf)
Well, your understanding of Jesus' use of the preposition "entos" rather than just "en" (which would have yielded your sense) does not make sense contextually because He was specifically addressing a group of Pharisees, using the second person plural "you"; and for sure, all these "yous" had--both individually and as a group policy--rejected the Kingdom of Heaven as well as the Kingdom of God, of which the Messiach was both King and Ambassador. Therefore, the Kingdom was not within any of the Pharisees in this context. They were in the presence of both the King and the Kingdom which He embodied, so the Kingdom of God was in their midst.
Since this point bears upon the discussion of the thread, I must ask you to give credit to the above, and to that which appears in Vincent's "Word Studies" (a set of 3 volumes discussing the Greek meanings of words as used in particular passages of the NT):
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Luke 17:21
Within
Better, in the midst of. Meyer acutely remarks that "you" refers to the Pharisees, in whose hearts nothing certainly found a place less than did the ethical kingdom of God.” Moreover, Jesus is not speaking of the inwardness of the kingdom, but of its presence. “The whole language of the kingdom of heaven being within men, rather than men being within the kingdom, is modern” (Trench, after Meyer).
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The Kingdom of God is present amongst worldlings only inasmuch as a regenerated follower and ambassador of Christ is in their presence, be it in a secular setting or a religious one. IMHO
I hope you will find yourself able to modify your belief on this point, through application of the grammar and context of the Scripture.
It doesn’t matter of it ‘needs’ to be rebuilt.
It will be rebuilt. At one level, assuming the continued existence of Israel, that is only logical. Eventually it is a project that some Jewish people will get around to.
I hope you will find yourself able to modify your belief on this point, through application of the grammar and context of the Scripture
The most popular older translations has it within you but one word would not change it any way.
Luke 17
20
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
John 3
5
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Meaning any one who is born of the spirit can see it including the Pharisees.
They would have to try and change more than one word to change the meaning.
Jesus also said The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Meaning it has to be within you, you have to be born of the spirit to see it.
Jesus is also explaining this to his disciples, not just the Pharisees.
23
And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
Jesus then goes on to explain the destruction of Jerusalem and compares it to the destruction in Noah`s day and also Sodom.
Luke 17
24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
Meaning there will be no body.
Mathew 16
28
Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
The kingdom either came at that time or there are some of them still standing there waiting for it.
People today are doing exactly what Jesus told them not to do, they are following the people who tell them it is going to be here or there at a specific time .
Luke 17:23
See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
The Kingdom of God either came or there are some two thousand year old men still standing around waiting for it.
That’s what I believe. I posted this article to allow opinions to surface.
Excellent! I believe it, too.
2 Thessalonians 2 demands it, but if you think about it, the notion that there aren’t any Jews out there desiring a temple is like saying there aren’t any kings out there desiring a castle.
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