Gates of the City

…

The Destruction of

the Temple,

Will There Really

Be A Third?

I start this chapter with what I had previously stated in Chapter 7 – 

“…after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans under Titus, both Israel as a nation and their religion of Judaism as defined and practiced under the stringent guidelines of the Levitical Law ceased and ‘was not.’ From that time forward it was impossible for the Jews to lawfully offer sacrifices, for the priests were killed or dispersed and the priesthood record of genealogy forever lost, and the sanctuary, the altar and the Holy of holies with all its furniture were lost or destroyed.”

I believe that even though all this was indeed the righteous judgment of God upon the Jews, that there was also an extension of His mercy in this judgment towards the Jews by destroying what was now a dead system – which sole purpose was to point them to Jesus Christ, and by no means could have ever saved them.

Hebrews 10:1 – For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect, ⁴ For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

Consequently, the destruction of the Temple, along with all that was mandatory under the Levitical Law pertaining to the performance of its prescribed sin offerings, sacrifices, and oblations, has left the Jews obligated to look elsewhere for their salvation to be wrought by God.

Therefore, because of these things I am persuaded the words “He shall make it desolate” refers to what Jesus’ prophesied regarding the destruction of the Temple. However, this destruction of the Temple was said to be “even until the consummation,” which is a most interesting word for the translators to have elected to use. For “consummation” can literally mean two different things, as its definition can imply either the act of completing, as in fulfilling something, or the bringing it to conclusion to be no more, which are polar opposites. This is why this Hebrew word that was so translated “consummation,” has been translated in other parts of scripture to signify “a full end.” 

Jeremiah 46:28 – Fear not, O Jacob my servant, says the LORD: for I am with you, and I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure and will not leave you wholly unpunished.

 Ezekiel 11:13 – And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! will You make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

Clearly, we can see that this word can be used to imply “to utterly destroy so as never to arise again.” This is verified by Nahum’s use of the word below where it was translated “an utter end.”

Nahum 1:2, God is jealous, and the LORD will revenge; for the LORD will revenge and is furious. For the LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. ³ The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and He will not at all acquit the wicked: For the LORD has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. ⁴ He rebukes the sea, and makes it dry, and He dries up all the rivers: Bashan languishes, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languishes. ⁵ The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world and all that dwell therein. ⁶ For who can stand before His indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. ⁷ The LORD is good, and a strong hold in the day of trouble; for He knows them that trust in Him. ⁸ But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue His enemies. ⁹ What do you imagine against the LORD? He will make an utter end: and affliction shall not rise up the second time.

Since the Hebrew word in Daniel’s vision which was translated “consummation” has elsewhere been translated a “full end” and “an utter end” to imply never to rise again, then what are we to believe regarding the destruction of the Temple which was obviously brought to “a full” and “utter end?” Ignoring all the religious chatter of religious zealots out there, the question of whether the temple will or will not be rebuilt can only be truly answered by the scriptures and not popular opinion or the goal of men.

There are two main reasons why many people believe a third temple will be built again. One reason would be because of Ezekiel’s Temple which many believers holding to the popular theology insist must be a “Third Temple.” Many of these believers confidently state that there has been no temple ever built with its descriptive size. However, Adam Clarke writes, “This is the measurement of the sanctuary, or holy of holies, which was also the exact measurement of Solomon’s Temple, see I Kings 6:20. This, and the other resemblances here, sufficiently prove that Ezekiel’s temple and that of Solomon were on the same plan; and that the latter temple was intended to be an exact resemblance of the former.”

Likewise, the commentaries of both Jamieson-Fausset-Brown and that of Patrick-Lowth-Whitby-Lowman, each acknowledge the dimensions of Ezekiel’s temple are comparable with those of Solomon’s Temple which was destroyed fourteen years prior to Ezekiel’s vision. Regarding this issue of the temple’s size, I personally cannot speak authoritatively. Nevertheless, there is much discord among believers who have clearly given exhaustive time endeavoring to substantiate their positions on whether Ezekiel’s temple was intended to be literally rebuilt, or if its presence in Ezekiel was intended to spiritually represent the Body of Christ of which the believers are said to be its “lively stones.”

Ephesians 2:21 – In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord: ²² In whom you also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. 

I Peter 2:5 – You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, and a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 3:6 – But Christ as a son over His own house; whose house [or temple] we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Since Ezekiel speaks of animal sacrifices occurring in this temple, I fail to see how that could be acceptable to God in the present or future Millennial Age, for scripture clearly reveals to us such sacrifices were but prophetic types and shadows of Christ’s sacrificial death pointing to that which was “to come.”

Colossians 2:17 – Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Hebrew 10:1 – For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they continually offered year by year make the comers thereunto perfect. ² For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because the worshippers once purged should then have had no more conscience of sins. ³ But in performing those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. ⁴ Nor is it possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. ⁵ Wherefore when He comes into the world, He said, Sacrifice and offering You desired not, rather a body have You prepared Me: ⁶ For in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have had no pleasure.

Remember 1st Peter 2:5 mentioned earlier how it is the believers who are now that “holy priesthood… [who] offer up spiritual sacrifices, [which are] acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” Which would seem to be in disparity with Ezekiel’s reference to “the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, which come near to the LORD to minister unto Him.” 

So when considering whether God would permit animal sacrifices to be reinstated and offered routinely again as holy offerings unto Him, the concept seems to be a radical change of direction; a going backwards towards death and not forward towards life, especially since we know God had “no pleasure in them.” Such a reversal would appear only to detract from the present glory that has been wonderfully revealed through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 9:28 – So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Hebrews 10:10 – By the which we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Christ was offered up to bear the sins of many once and for all, for all sin, and for all mankind, as well as for all eternity. Thereby providing atonement and redemption for all that would confess their sins and repent, by turning from all their wicked ways, and in broken surrender and humility call upon the Lord. But for those who refuse, the Lord is coming “To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him,” (Jude 1:15). This is the sure promise, as well as the sure judgment of the New Covenant; for scripture clearly states regarding the Old Covenant which was adjoined to the last temple with all its sacrifices, oblations, and priests of men, “For He said, A new covenant, He has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away.” Yet there are still those who adamantly insist a third temple must be constructed, even if it is later in the millennium, though that too disagrees with scripture.

Revelation 21:22 – And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

Regretfully, I cannot speak with any more certainty or conviction about it except to say I do not believe it will ever literally be built as the anticipated “third temple” for the reasons mentioned, together with others to be addressed shortly. However, when examining the amount of disagreement among believers that exists regarding the subject, I get the sense it is a winding mystery which the Lord has not yet chosen to reveal unto me, nor calling me to solve or untangle. So, at this point I believe it is best I wait on the Lord till He chooses to shed the further light necessary to make apparent the things He presently has concealed to me.

However, the other reason why people believe the Temple must be built again is because of the temple reference regarding “the man of sin… the son of perdition,” which we discussed in Chapter 2.

2^nd Thessalonians 2:3 – Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there comes a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴ Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that as God he sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

As was noted in Chapter 2, this temple which Paul speaks of appears to be a reference to God’s people and not a structural building, as presented in an opinion which was succinctly stated by Commentator Adam Clarke below.

“After the death of Christ, the temple of Jerusalem is never called by the apostles the temple of God; and if at any time they make mention of the house or temple of God, they mean the Church in general, or every particular believer. Whoever will consult 1Co 3:16, 17; 2Co 6:16; 1Ti 3:15; Re 3:12; will lack no examples to prove that, for under the Gospel dispensation, the temple of God is the Church of Christ; and the man of sin sitting implies his ruling and presiding there; and sitting there as God implies his claiming Divine authority in things spiritual as well as temporal; and showing himself that he is God, implies his doing it with ostentation.”

Although there is admittedly much discussion and planning in the works regarding rebuilding a third temple, I remain persuaded it will never be allowed by God. I could have more confidence that another attempt at rebuilding the Tower of Babel again would be permitted than God permitting another Jewish Temple to be built. For the force of scripture and history both testifies to God’s making a full and utter end of the Temple made with hands, and therefore it is my strong belief that together they serve as credible witnesses that He will never again allow it to be rebuilt. In fact, I have become strongly persuaded that this very belief now embraced by so many, that a third temple must be built, is actually being used by the adversary to cause many Christians to stumble through its serving as a false prophetic milestone, an erroneous eschatological marker of the end times which will never come, though many are foolishly believing in and looking for.

I am convinced that it is because of such erroneous assumptions that many foolish and procrastinating Christians are looking for the fulfillment of such “prophetic signs” as indicators for when they are really going to have to “get serious with God.” The fact that there is indeed so much planning and preparations occurring these last days to rebuild a temple, only speaks to me of the shortness of time till the Lord returns to smite the nations and rule them with a rod of iron, and to tread them as in the winepress with the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. For surely if the adversary of God is promoting erroneous doctrines in these last days to which “believers” are looking and believe, he will surely endeavor to confirm them with rumors and the futile plans of fallen men, as well as through lying signs and wonders, but that does not mean they will come to pass.

I must admit I get so tired of hearing what the lost are planning and  going to do, when we ought to be praying and sticking to the sure word of prophecy alone. For even Peter, who was with the Lord and had with his own eyes and ears witnessed so many marvelous and glorious things, stated that even more credible than his witness, as well as that of our own eyes and ears, that more trustworthy is the word of God, and that we ought always to let it be our final witness and guide. Especially in these last days.

 2^nd Peter 1:16 – For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. ¹⁷ For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, saying, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. ¹⁸ And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount. ¹⁹ Yet we have a more certain word of prophecy, which you do well in taking heed to, as it shines as a light in a dark place, even until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts.

But now, I believe it would be prudent to return our focus on the translators use of the word “consummation” in Daniel 9:27, where it stated one would “confirm the covenant with many for one week,” and then “in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,” and yet, “for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation.” Now we know that the sacrifice and the oblation was offered in the temple, and therefore that being made desolate would in fact be the temple. Therefore the temple would be made “desolate, even until the consummation.” But remember I stated how “consummation” can literally mean two different things, as its can imply either the act of completing, as in fulfilling something, or the bringing it to conclusion to be no more. I find the choice of the translators to the word consummation interesting, and even its use to be of the Holy Spirit guidance. Hopefully, you will be able to follow my reasoning.

1st Corinthians 13:12, For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Now Daniel 9:27 spoke of confirming a covenant, and doubtless we would all agree that  marriage is indeed a covenant. In fact, I believe it is the greatest of all forms of covenants that exist among humanity, and is prophetic in its very nature with its foundation going all the way back to Adam and Eve. For by marriage a husband and wife were to literally adorn the Doctrine of God our Savior.

Ephesians 5:30 – For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. And for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh… ³² This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Titus 2:4 – That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands… ¹⁰ …that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.

We see in Titus where Paul speaks of the many roles in life where this “doctrine of God our Savior” can be adorned, within the role of the husbands and wives’ relationship, as well as with masters and servants, and by the young with their elders. We can especially see the adorning of this doctrine in the Fifth Commandment where the instruction of righteousness is given for children to honor their parents, the only commandment with the attached promise of being awarded a long life; so likewise, as God’s children who honor Him through our faithfulness, we too have the surety of His promise of eternal life. 

But in marriage we witness the adorning of the doctrine of God our savior in as much as it was the male who was created first, and that in the image of God, and was placed in a position of dominion on earth similar to God’s own in heaven. Therefore, the man, when in a right relationship with God, will faithfully exemplify God in all his ways, whether in his own household, or with his neighbors, or with the use of earthly things.

Since true love and commitment must be given of one’s free will, God designed His covenant so that all who have ears to hear will have the ability to choose whether to continue in their fallen shame, or by God’s grace to be reborn and restored as that intended light of God’s glory on earth. Consequently, when a man humbles himself and yields himself to the holy precepts of God, by God’s grace he truly becomes the glory of God in the earth; his life is made new and increasingly begins affirming and reflecting both the righteous judgments and holy attributes of his God.

Similarly, the scriptures reveal that the substance for the woman was taken from man and perfectly made into a soulmate for the man. This all was so done with the intention that it might reveal to us, that the woman by God’s royal design should be to the man from which she was created, even that for which man himself was created and intended to be for God, His glory. 

1st Corinthians 11:7 – For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. ⁸ For the man is not of the woman; but the woman is of the man. ⁹ Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman was created for the man.

Since woman was created for the man, when she chooses to align her life with those principles God established to guide her role as a wife, she becomes the glory of her husband. On the other hand, if she rejects God’s word and defies her husband’s authority as established by God, she will instead become a shame, grievance, and a hindrance unto him. 

Proverbs 12:4 – A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that makes ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

Accordingly, through a divine principle empowering this prophetic action, a woman when resolved in her heart to serve God by faithfully honoring her husband as a godly wife, will rightly represent that part of humanity, the true church, who have settled it in their hearts and are resolved to fear God and keep His commandments. Her proper and godly relationship with her husband will literally reveal that personal relationship God desires every one of us to have with Him; for her life will literally preach the Gospel of God, revealing an acknowledgment of His love for us which is made evident through a reciprocated love for Him, proven by trust and submission, and the result of such love being an enduring, true, and intimate communion with God and His Son Jesus Christ.

Concerning the man, although he was created in the image of God, even in the midst of a creation full of other living creatures, it was still acknowledged by God that man was “alone.” Yet it ought to be obvious that God being omniscient clearly foreknew this, and therefore likewise it should be equally evident with His having foreseen all of Adam’s needs, that God could have created man and woman together at the same time. And yet even though God clearly declares before the heavenly host that “It’s not good for man to be alone,” He nevertheless waited to meet Adam’s need until after He has Adam go and do the time-consuming task of naming all the animals. For then, and only then would Adam realized just how alone he was. Then, at this point with Adam’s realization, did God create the woman, taking the substance for her creation not from the dust of the ground as He did for the creation of man, rather the substance for the woman’s creation was taken from the man’s own flesh, and of it did God make for him a living soulmate. It was then when God caused a sleep to fall upon Adam and created Eve for him, and from that which was close to his heart. For it was man’s heart and not his strength that was incomplete. Through all this we learn the glorious truth, through the creation of male and female, and through the covenant of marriage, how the man’s role was intended to imitate that of God’s, and the woman’s imitate that of the church, the Bride of Christ.

All this was done in the wisdom of God, so that Adam, and us too, that all mankind might have a means to begin to understand God’s own heart. And so, in His infinite wisdom God intentionally created the man first, and placed him in a position that was similar and parallel to His own; with authority over his earthly kingdom with dominion over all the animals, as God was in His heavenly one, with the arc angels, the seraphims, and cherubims, and with a whole diversity of angelic beings; and yet, there was Adam alone with no suitable mate. All this because God wanted Adam to be able to fully identify with Him, both positionally and emotionally; for even amongst all the angelic beings, God’s desire in the making of man was for something even grandeur than that which He had with the angels, something, and someone with which He would share both His image and glory for all eternity.

1^st Corinthians 11:7, For a man indeed should not cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man.

In all this we can see that the creation of humanity was the result of a yearning of God’s heart for what we in our frailty and limited understanding might best appreciate as a bride, a suitable helper magnificently designed so as to be able to share His glory with Him throughout all eternity. This is why the greatest commandment God has ever given, is for us to love Him with all our heart, soul, strength, even the entire essence of our being. “Therefore” as both Adam prophesied and Paul wrote, “for this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

This becoming “one flesh” reflects the merging of two hearts and minds in an endeavor to live as one through the covenant of marriage. This covenant is consummated, sealed and confirmed by the intimate joining of a man and woman together through sexual intimacy. By Royal design the male and female bodies fit together as one, with the male (representing God) entering into the female (who represents humanity), face to face and heart to heart, as the man then imparts his seed into the woman and life springs forth. And so it is that God causes us to be “born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever.”

And so it is more than thought-provoking, that in this vision the Angel Gabriel reveals to Daniel one who comes confirming a covenant and was then cut off. These points, each in their own measure, lend foundation to my conviction that this last “seventieth week of Daniel,” begins the period of time in which this one was none other than God tabernacling with men via the man Jesus Christ to “confirm the covenant with many.” 

Summary

Two undisputable events transpire during this seventieth week according to the vision: first, is the beginning Messiah Jesus Christ comes and He is then “cut off, but not for Himself.”

John 12:27 – Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

John 18:37 – …To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth and every one that is of the truth hears My voice.

Ephesians 5:25 – for Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; ²⁶ That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ So that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The second event, and most likely a consequence of the first, is that the seventieth week is divided in half by a specific event that demands clarification, which we will look into in the next chapter, for in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.

We also saw that the events which transpired within the Seventieth Week led to the destruction of the Temple, bringing it to a full and utter end. However, that is not how the Holy Spirit led the translators to write it; rather they wrote it would be destroyed and left so “even until the consummation.” And so, wondrously, this phrase in the prophecy can actually have two layers of meanings that point to undeniable truths:

First point being, the last historical temple which was but prophetic and made with men’s hands, was decaying, waxing old, and about to vanished away through its destruction, and therefore just as the sacrifices and oblations, the Temple too, having fulfilled their purpose was brought to a full and utter end.

Hebrews 8:13 – In that He said, A new covenant, He has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away.

The second point being, when at the glorious consummation of the marriage of the Lamb, “then face to face” the Bride of Christ will intimately know her lover even as she is known. 

1st Corinthians 13:12 – For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Hebrews 9:5 – And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, [or covenant], that by means of death [being cut off], for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise, [even the confirmation] of eternal inheritance.

And so we ought to see why Jesus Christ made the temple desolate, because they rejected His sacrifice whereby they might be saved from the now dead works of the law. For though by their previously doing that which was once lawful, prophetic, and served to proclaim Jesus Christ own sacrifice to come, by the Jews continuing in them they were now instead a witness of their rejection of Him. For by continuing therein they were now committing abominations in the temple and were literally now prophetically crucifying Christ afresh, and for this cause did God bring it to a full and utter end, and made the Temple “desolate even until the consummation.” Such is why in Hebrews the believers are warned not to fear the Jews and compromise their faith in the sacrifice of Christ, and warned not to sin by returning to the dead practice of the Law in hopes of escaping their persecution, for such would be a frustrating of the grace of God.

Hebrews 6:6 – For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, ⁵ And who have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ⁶ That if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame.”

And the reason God will not have any more temples built –

Revelation 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying Come hither and I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife. ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and there he showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, ¹¹ Having the glory of God upon it, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, and was as clear as crystal … ²² And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.