The story goes: A pre-tribber asked this question and
another pre-tribber answered it:
I'm going to prove to you that this is wrong
and why it will throw you right off the track of the
Timeline we are now in. Since the subject is up for
discussion again, I am sending it for those who never read
it the first time, or have forgotten about it.
Here
are the reasons I don't believe a temple will be
rebuilt:
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 body of Believers; and on that fact, I do
not see the "abomination" to be yet another
desecration of another 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" 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 the 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
unrecognized) antichrist will confirm (strengthen,
acknowledge) THE (Abrahamic Covenant tied to the
LAND which God promised Israel) and this, I
believe, could come at any time, especially if
there is an outbreak of war (Iran or
whatever.) But as I mentioned in the
previous email, the revelation of the antichrist
opens with the First Seal and he goes
forth conquering - THIS is at the time of the
abomination, 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. With Obama already in power as the most
powerful man among the Nations even now, he
could certainly make a claim to have the
solution to the Middle East at any time, and
probably will. (*
With the recent U.S. troop movement
to Israel in preparation of "war games"
against the possibility/probability of Iran
attacking Israel, we see that even now he
is beginning to fulfill Daniel 11:45
> "And he shall
plant the tabernacles of his palace between
the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he
shall come to his end, and none shall help
him." What are "tabernacles" but
TENTS! - military tents!!!)
That's why I mentioned perhaps he got
his Nobel Peace Prize a bit
prematurely. In the midst of THE
70th WEEK (which
is this 4th year of the 70th Week, 2012) he
will break with the Covenant (obviously) 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 going after the saints, to persecute &
kill those who hold the testimony of
Christ, as well as God's Chosen People,
the Jews.
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 of say, a 7 year
Tribulation will begin this fall of 2010, 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.
Until......Sherry Vance