In
Matthew 24:15, Jesus referenced Daniel and the
abomination of desolation by the hands of Antiochus
Epiphanes in 168 BC. The question
is.....was Jesus,
in prophesying of
the time of the Great Tribulation, saying
that the (physical act of) abomination of
desolation (in a physical temple) was going
to happen twice, or was He
telling us that what Antiochus did physically was
a prophetic forerunner of what was to come in
the spiritual?
I
believe it was a forerunner of what
was to come in the spiritual for this
reason:
The
supernatural aspects of the Temple (the eternal
flame, the presence of God in the Holy of Holies,
etc.) ceased at the time of the crucifixion, and
we know that the veil was torn the very hour of
Christ's death (Luke 23:45) as a way of the Father
saying that He was finished with a physical
structure as the temple. With the Risen Christ, we
now have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (we
being the "temple") and we have a High
Priest/Advocate On High to minister and intercede
on our behalf.
Acts
17:24 - "God, who made the world and
everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and
earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands."
1
Cor. 3:16 - Don't you know that you
yourselves are God's temple and that God's
Spirit lives in you?"
1
Cor. 6:19 - "Do you not know that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?"
Acts
7:48 - "The Most High does not dwell in houses
made by human hands."
God
now sees only one "temple" > the
"body of Christ." And even if a
physical temple were built as a "Tribulation
Temple," it would be an insult to the
completed work of Christ and God
would not consider it "the holy place." What
He considers "the holy place" - the temple -
is the individual bodies of Believers;
and on that fact, I do not see
the "abomination" to be yet another
desecration of a physcial rebuilt
temple.
I
see as what Antiochus did physically, the
antichrist will do spiritually
within the TRUE "temple" or "holy place" which is
the BODY of Believers. Indeed, the
antichrist will "cause the sacrifices and
oblations (prayers) to cease" when he begins
killing those who hold the testimony of Jesus
Christ.
Second
Thessalonians 2:3-4 says, "Let no man
deceive you by any means: for that
day shall not come, except for there come a
falling away first, and 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 sittith
in the temple of God, shewing
himself that he is God."
To
most Christians, the most important word in that
passage seems to be the word "sittith" and from
that they deduce & assume there is a rebuilt
temple. However, the rest of the
verse says, "...sittith in the temple
of God." Again, we know that
after Jesus was crucified, God sees the body
of Believers as the spiritual temple. From
this we MUST reason that if the antichrist "sits"
or "stands" anywhere in a "temple", it must
be that he is sitting or standing in
the midst of the body of Believers
who are also called "Living Sacrifices" and their
"oblations" which are their prayers. It
therefore stands to reason, as well, that when
these Believers reject and oppose the
antichrist, he will seek to put an END
TO THE SACRIFICES (the Living
Sacrifices-Believers) by killing them, which
will cause their oblations/prayers to
cease.
I
believe the future abomination is not going to be
committed in a physically rebuilt "temple"
(which would not be recognized as "God's
Temple" anyway) but will be committed within
"the Holy Place" of the temple" which is among Believers.
Dan 9:27 - "And he
shall confirm the covenant with many for one
week: and in the midst of the week he shall
cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease, and for the overspreading of
abominations he shall make it desolate, even
until the consummation, and that determined
shall be poured upon the desolate."
The
(as yet unrevealed) antichrist will confirm
(strengthen, acknowledge) THE (Abrahamic
Covenant tied to the LAND which God promised
Israel) and this, I believe, could
come when Obama, Head of the United
Nations SECURITY Council declares a
Palestinian State, yet tries to ease the mind
of Israel that they DO have a right to
exist in the Land as well.
This is the confirmation of the Covenant (tied
to the Land) that will be broken at the
revelation of the antichrist at mid-point of
the 70th Week.
The
revelation of the antichrist occurs with
the opening of the First Seal and he
goes forth conquering - THIS is at the
time of the abomination (mid-point),
when the antichrist is revealed for
who/what he is when he declares himself
god. There is no mention of
"the confirming of
the Covenant" within the First Seal
at all. But in the midst of
THE 70th WEEK when he is
revealed, he will break with the Covenant
as he goes forth to conquer - WHO? - the Jews;
and because God has limited him in preserving
a Remnant of His people, and the antichrist
knows they are "hands off" he is enraged and
then turns to go after the
saints/Believers, to persecute & kill
those who hold the testimony of Christ....who
are the Temple of God, not made with
hands.
God "no longer dwells in temples made of
stone." NOWHERE does it state a temple is
"rebuilt." It's the same assumptive
error that is made when saying "a
covenant is signed
and there is a 7 year tribulation.
WHERE??????
People assume there will be a
rebuilt temple also because they see a
reference to "measuring" of that
temple. However, though
John was given a "reed like unto a ROD" to measure "the Temple" but
no measurements were given or recorded,
WHY? Because you cannot measure PEOPLE!
Yet those PEOPLE, who become believers
in Christ, ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD and
when the antichrist SITS or STANDS "in the holy
place," or "temple," there is a spiritual
application in that he is sitting or
standing IN THE MIDST of the temple, OR amongst
the people. There is no
physical "holy place" that can be
called such for the
antichrist....neither any MEASUREMENTS
given for a temple to be built.... nor even a
scriptural description of a so-called
'Tribulation Temple' - which people ASSUME is
there because they fail to see the
spiritual application.
In
Rev. 11, regarding the so-called tribulation
temple, an angel stood and gave John "a reed like unto a rod", saying, "Rise, measure the temple
of God, and the altar, and them that worship
therein." A reed was also used to
measure the former temples....however, they
are said to be a "golden reed" or a "reed
like unto gold."
Why is the
reference of a REED LIKE UNTO A ROD
given for the temple mentioned in
Revelation? A rod suggests
punishment. The ROD speaks of
judgment, chastisement. It is a reed like
unto judgment that references the temple.
You can't punish a building. You can
punishment people. Why the punishment?
Because those who are going through the Great
Tribulation were left behind after the
Rapture. They must now go through
this chastisement for their previous
unbelief, although they are saved, although they
themselves are now the Temple of the Holy
Spirit, they will be martyred for their
testimony for Christ. The
Temple will be 'measured'with a ROD,
not a golden reed.
Ezekiel's
future Temple is that which the Lord
will build in His Millennial Kingdom. The
measurements that are given for that future Temple
exceed what could even be built on the existing
Temple Mount. But during the Great
Tribulation, the topography of Mt. Zion will
drastically be altered.
Theologians, churches, people
today are making the same mistake the Jews made at
Jesus' First Advent. The Jews looked for a physical
deliverance....today people
are expecting a physical "tribulation temple"
to be built, which would supposedly shed
light on God's Timeline regarding the
end-days. But at Jesus' First Advent He
offered Spiritual Deliverance,
and is STILL offering spiritual deliverance and
eternal life with Him to those who
will believe He paid the penalty for our sins
and has redeemed us.
In fact,
way back in Zechariah 6:12 it speaks about the
promise of the future true building of the
spiritual temple by Messiah....."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." This PROVES the "temple of the
Lord" is that of Living Believers!!!!!
At His First Coming, Jesus is The
BRANCH....not yet a 'whole tree'.....He
shall GROW up (out of Bethlehem, come of age,
and begin His 3 1/2 year ministry.....HE
SHALL BUILD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD by paying the
penalty for sins, by redeeming those who believe
on Him, and by giving them His Holy Spirit to
indwell them, forever sanctifying them. He
sure didn't build a literal physical
temple, did he? In fact, He
foretold the destruction of the one already
standing in His day.
Verse 13 begins by speaking
about the SPIRITUAL TEMPLE of LIVING BELIEVERS in
which He will be glorified...."Even he
shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall
bear the glory." He doesn't "bear the
glory" from a physical building! He
bears the glory from those who live and
have our being in Him!
And
then the verse continues as it
refers to the literal temple
which He will build when He returns the
Second Time - as evidenced saying,
"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." Again, there is a
distinction between the spiritual temple
which the Lord began building -and which He
is still doing- and the literal temple which
He will build when He returns. There
is a marked difference, indeed preference
and superiority, in that He bears the glory
of those who honor, obey, and worship Him IN
SPIRIT and IN TRUTH; as opposed to an
earthly, physical building. (The
reason for the Millennial Temple, anyway,
will be for a Memorial, in fact, for
commemorating many memorials through its
worship, rites, and sacrifices and all of it
will be centered on the Lamb of God who was
slain.
One of the things people have forgotten
about Daniel was that during his captivity in
Babylon, THERE WAS NO TEMPLE. It had been
destroyed and Daniel had been taken
captive. YET, Daniel believed and
worshipped the God of Israel. Daniel
himself, as far as God was concerned, was
the Temple of God. His heart, soul,
mind, and spirit were the Temple in
which he worshipped God. He was a LIVING SACRIFICE
in that he was captive in a foreign land yet
remained true to the Living God of Israel.
He also offered OBLATIONS (prayers)
to God several times daily. Yet there was
no physical temple for him to do this in.
Could
King Nebuchadnezzar have defiled the Temple
of God by stopping (killing) the (living)
sacrifices, thus causing the oblations
(prayers) to cease..... just as the
antichrist will? YES . In fact
he tried. When Nebuchadnezzar SET
UP AN IMAGE/IDOL (again, just as the
antichrist will) to be worshipped, he
threatened that whosoever refused "should be cast into the
midst of a burning fiery furnace."
"And there were
certain Jews whom thou has set over the
affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego....." who
refused...."O
king, we will not serve thy gods, nor
worship the golden image which thou has set
up."
And guess
what? They were bound and cast into the
burning fiery furnace. Yet they didn't
burn. In fact, Nebuchadnezzar commanded
the fire be notched up 7 times hotter.
But they were still safe for the Angel of the
Lord stood among them.
What I am trying to say is
this>>> it is going to be the same
during the Great Tribulation. There
doesn't have to be a physical temple built in
order to have sacrifices and oblations stopped
by the antichrist. When Jesus died,
the Veil in the Temple was torn in
two....representing the FINAL SACRIFICE, (Lamb
of God) had been made. There is no longer
a need for a Temple and sin &
guilt sacrifices. Jesus had begun
building His Spiritual Temple and has been
building it ever since. His Blood
Sacrifice was made once for all. The next
Temple that will be built will be the one
He will build in His Millennial
Kingdom.....which is The Third Temple/the
Millennial Temple, which is the Temple found in
Ezekiel 40, will be built
by Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. There you will find all the
measurements needed to SEE that a physical
Temple will be built!
The
conclusion as to why expecting a rebuilt
tribulation temple will throw you right off the
track of the Timeline is because if, as some say,
a 7 year Tribulation will begin this fall of 2011,
then WHERE IS THE TEMPLE? Answer: There
will be none. The True Temple is the living
breathing worshipping loving trusting body of the
Believer...they are the living
sacrifices who will not love their lives unto
death.
Lewis, the last
part of your concluding sentence shows you
don't believe we are in the 70th Week (mid tribulation which would be April
or May 2012 ???) because there are "no
temple or sacrifices, Obama cant be the AC if the
Covenant with many started the Tribulation in late
2008." Well, in consideration of the
explanations above, there does not have to be a
rebuilt physical temple, nor an implementation
of Old Testament animal sacrifices for us to be
in the 70th Week (with the mid-point around
Passover 2012.) And YES, the 70th
Week did begin at Rosh Hashanah 2008 - and with
it the election of Obama, despite nobody even
knowing anything about him.....he's a complete
enigma....a radical riddle. Yet God knows
exactly what He's doing in setting up the
players for the end days before Jesus
returns. Here is a summary of the
Timeline:
Rabbi's in Israel
celebrated the last Shmita (Sabbath) year
from Sept 22, 2007 to Oct 8, 2008. The
next Shmita (Sabbath) year occurs 7
yrs later from Oct. 4, 2014 to Sept. 22,
2015, the next day being Jubilee from Sept. 23,
2015 to Oct. 11, 2016.
The 7th
day is a sabbath rest day,
the 7th year (Shmita) is a sabbath
rest year, and the 7th Shmita is
the 49th year, with the
next 50th year being Jubilee...then
the cycle starts all over.
A Hebrew
year intersects 2 of our years. And so if you
add 49 yrs to 1967 you get 2016, or add 50 yrs
to 1967 you get 2017. But the last Jubilee
didn't start in '67, it began in '66 and ran
through to '67 (Sep. 24, 1966 to Oct. 13,
1967). Consider, If the Jubilee didn't begin
until Atonement of '67 (Oct 14, 1967), then
Israel would have captured Jerusalem before
Jubilee even began, which would be outside the
laws of Jubilee...since all land is
recaptured, debts cancelled, slaves set
free WITHIN the year of
Jubilee. But instead, if you add 49
yrs to Sept. 24, 1966 you come to Sept.
22, 2015, with the very next
day of Sept. 23, 2015 being the first
day of that 50th
year...Jubilee.
Israel
capturing Jerusalem did not start the Jubilee,
Jerusalem was recaptured by Israel WITHIN
the year of Jubilee which had already begun 8
months earlier on the Feast of Atonement/Yom
Kippur.
This
ultimately reinforces Daniel 9:25
and the 7 weeks (49 years). Because if you
take 49 Hebrew years (17,460 days) from Israel
capturing Jerusalem on June 7,
1967...you ALSO end up
at September 23, 2015 which is the Feast of
Atonement/Yom Kippur, and next Jubilee. Here
are the past Shmita years which have been
observed by rabbis since Israel became a
nation. They
confirm our Timeline.
1916-17
- Sabbath year belonging
to previous cycle (7th
shmita/49th year)
1917-18
- 1st year in cycle -
Jubilee - Gen. Allenby captures
Jerusalem from
Turks Dec. 1918
1919
- 2nd year in cycle
1920
-3rd year in cycle
1921
- 4th year in cycle
1922 -
5th year in cycle
1923 -
6th year in cycle
1923-24 - 7th year in cycle - Sabbath
year (1)
1925 -
1st year in cycle
1926 -
2nd year in cycle
1927 -
3rd year in cycle
1928 -
4th year in cycle
1929 -
5th year in cycle
1930 -
6th year in cycle
1930-31 - 7th year in cycle - Sabbath
year (2)
1932 -
1st year in cycle
1933 -
2nd year in cycle
1934 -
3rd year in cycle
1935 -
4th year in cycle
1936 -
5th year in cycle
1937 -
6th year in cycle
1937-38 - 7th year in cycle - Sabbath
year (3)
1939 -
1st year in cycle
1940
- 2nd year in cycle
1941 -
3rd year in cycle
1942 -
4th year in cycle
1943 -
5th year in cycle
1944 -
6th year in cycle
1944-45 - 7th year in cycle - Sabbath
year (4) - began
the 70 year count
1946 -
1st year in cycle
1947 -
2nd year in cycle
1948 -
3rd year in cycle
1949 -
4th year in cylce
1950
- 5th year in cycle
1951 -
6th year in cycle
1951-52 - 7th year in
cycle - Sabbath
year (5) - 7th
year of 70 years
1953
- 1st year in cycle
1954 -
2nd year in cycle
1955 -
3rd year in cycle
1956 -
4th year in cycle
1957-
5th year in cycle
1958 -
6th year in cycle
1958-59 - 7th year in
cycle - Sabbath
year (6) - 14th
year of 70 years
1960 -
1st year in cycle
1961 -
2nd year in cycle
1962 -
3rd year in cycle
1963 -
4th year in cycle
1964 -
5th year in cycle
1965
- 6th year in cycle
1965-66 - 7th year in
cycle - 7th
Sabbath year (7th Shmita/49th year)
- 21st year of 70 years
1966-67 - 1st year
in cycle - 50th
year - Jubilee
- Israel
captures Jerusalem
in Six Day War. (Notice:
Jerusalem was captured
in 1918 AND 1967:
both were Jubilee Years.)
1968 -
2nd year in cycle
1969 -
3rd year in cycle
1970 -
4th year in cycle
1971 -
5th year in cycle
1972 -
6th year in cycle
1972-73 - 7th year in cycle - Sabbath
year (1) - 28th
year of 70 years
1974 -
1st year in cycle
1975 -
2nd year in cycle
1976 -
3rd year in cycle
1977 -
4th year in cycle
1978 -
5th year in cycle
1979 -
6th year in cycle
1979-80
- 7th year inc cycle - Sabbath year
(2) - 35th year of
70 years
1981 -
1st year in cycle
1982 -
2nd year in cycle
1983 -
3rd year in cycle
1984 -
4th year in cycle
1985 -
5th year in cycle
1986 -
6th year in cycle
1986-87
- 7th year in cycle - Sabbath year
(3) - 42nd year of
70 years
1988 -
1st year in cycle
1989 -
2nd year in cycle
1990 -
3rd year in cycle
1991 -
4th year in cycle
1992 -
5th year in cycle
1993 -
6th year in cycle
1993-94
- 7th year in cycle - Sabbath year
(4) - 49th year of
70 years
1995 -
1st year in cycle
1996 -
2nd year in cycle
1997 -
3rd year in cycle
1998 -
4th year in cycle
1999 -
5th year in cycle
2000 -
6th year in cycle
2000-01
- 7th year in cycle - Sabbath year
(5) - 56th
year of 70 years
2002 -
1st year in cycle
2003 -
2nd year in cycle
2004 -
3rd year in cycle
2005 -
4th year in cycle
2006 -
5th year in cycle
2007 -
6th year in cycle
2007-08
- 7th year in cycle - Sabbath year
(6) - 63rd year of
70 years
2009 -
1st year in cycle
2010 -
2nd year in cycle
2011 -
3rd year in cycle
2012 -
4th year in cycle
2013 -
5th year in cycle
2014 -
6th year in cycle
2014-15 - 7th year in
cycle - 7th Sabbath year
(7th Shmita/49th
year)
*Jesus
Christ's Second Coming - 70th year of 70
years!
2015-2016 - 50th year -
Sabbath & The Year of Jubilee)