Rebuilding The Temple

 

Rumors abound that the temple will be rebuilt on its original site. Temple furnishings and vessels have been re-crafted, on display at the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. And there are reports that Jewish priests are in training to resume temple worship. There is even hearsay that the ark of the covenant is in hiding and safekeeping in Ethiopia. All of these hopes and dreams swirl around faulty interpretation of two key Biblical passages. The fact is, the temple will not be rebuilt prior to Christ’s second coming.

The single biggest hindrance to rebuilding the Jewish temple on the Temple Mount, obviously, is the fact that there are currently two very revered Muslim buildings on that site – the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is highly unlikely that those holy buildings will be removed and the site repossessed by the Jews.

When King Jesus returns and reigns in Jerusalem, His rebuilding program will include a Jewish temple for the Millennial Kingdom. It is described at length in Ezekiel 40-44. It will be rebuilt by Messiah to allow for the Jews to worship Him within the framework of their historic covenant, feasts, festivals, and liturgies.

But that is not the temple rebuilding timeline envisioned by Orthodox Jews and American Christians. The Jews believe that the temple must be rebuilt before the coming of Messiah. Christians insist that it must be rebuilt leading up to the Great Tribulation, so that Antichrist can abominate it and destroy it at the mid-point of the great Tribulation.

Daniel’s vision of seventy weeks (Dan 9:24-27) is cited as the Biblical basis for the rebuilding and destruction of the temple. Problem is, this incredible Messianic prophecy has audaciously been transformed into a prophecy about Antichrist and the Great Tribulation. It is Messiah who would make a covenant for one week, referring to the New Covenant, not Antichrist making a covenant with the Jews. It is Messiah who would put an end to sacrifice in the middle of the seventieth week, by His crucifixion. Not Antichrist destroying the temple. Then, in the last half of verse 27, the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem is anticipated. That was fulfilled by Titus in 70 AD. And Jesus confirmed that (Matt 24:15). Neither Daniel or Jesus gives any hint that Titus is a prototype of a future Antichrist who will once again destroy the temple and the city of Jerusalem. That is poppycock. You cannot find it anywhere in Revelation, either.

One other Biblical passage is used to support the rebuilding of the temple in anticipation of the Great Tribulation. Paul wrote that the man of lawlessness will “set himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thes 2:4). The Greek word that Paul uses for temple is naos, not ieron. He is referring to a spiritual temple, like the temple of God in heaven (Rev 7:15), not the brick-and-mortar temple in Jerusalem. What Paul was saying, somewhat prophetically, is that the man of lawlessness (the Islamic Mahdi, aka antichrist) will claim to be God. His rise to power and the grand rebellion that he will lead (building up to Armageddon) will happen before the return of Christ, before the rapture (2 Thes 2:1-3)

We need to focus on the signs that are recorded in Revelation to warn us that the coming of Christ is right at the door, rather than looking for the temple to be rebuilt. The first five trumpet warnings have already occurred. History is interpreting prophecy before our very eyes.