CHAPTER VII
There cannot, and will not be a literal resuming of animal sacrifices until after the Lord has returned, Who is both King and Priest after the order of Melchizedek34. First of all, because in Him all sacrifices have been fulfilled when He offered Himself up as a sacrifice once and for all, sufficient for all time to cleanse our consciences from sin35. And secondly, because the pattern given in the Tenach nullifies all claims to a rebuilding of the Temple (would be the 3rd) before Yeshua’s Return.
Let us go back in time and hear what king David says to his son Solomon: “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the L-RD my G-d: But the word of the L-RD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood, and waged great wars: you shall NOT build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood upon the earth in my sight. Behold, a SON shall be born to you; he shall be a man of peace; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. HE shall build an house for my name. And HE shall be my SON, and I [will be] his FATHER; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel FOREVER...’”36.
Now let us move forward in time a little and hear what Solomon says at the time of the dedication of the temple: “The L-RD said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart: nevertheless you shall not build the house, but the SON who shall be born to you, HE shall build the house for my name” 37.
We are told that the Holy One of Israel is the
G-d Who was, Who is, and Who is to come, with Whom there is not even a
shadow of change38. And His Son,
Yeshua HaMashiach, is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore39.
I.e., He is not liable to change, even though our ideas, or ways of communication,
transport, style, culture, working, building, etc., have changed. If G-d
did not allow David to build the Temple because David had waged many wars,
as a result of which much blood was shed, then why would G-d accept in
our days a Temple, built by Israel who was forced to wage many wars, as
a result of which much blood was shed? If G-d did not want a Temple built
during days of war and bloodshed then, neither does He want
a Temple built to His Name during days of war and bloodshed now.
Because while they say “Peace”, “Peace” in connection with the “Peace-
Process”, there actually is no “peace” but rather increased bloodshed.
Terrorists shed the innocent blood of defenseless civilians within Israel’s
borders and cities, and Israel, in the course of defending her borders
and citizens, also has shed blood.
However, G-d’s Temple is built during a time
of
true peace 
,
both then and now. G-d’s House will not be established
upon bloodshed, nor built by Israel who had to wage many wars. According
to the pattern given,
it will be the Son
of David, the Prince of Peace,
priest AND king after the order of Melchizedek, Messiah Yeshua, Who will
build the third Temple. After His Second Coming, at
the beginning of His Reign, He will cause the Temple to be rebuilt.
This
is confirmed in Zechariah 6:12-13, where we read: “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 L-RD:
Even
HE shall build the temple of the L-RD;
and he shall bear the glory, 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.”40
Yeshua HaMashiach is this Servant41
of G-d called The Branch42.
The argument, based upon Revelation 11:1, that obviously a temple is standing in order for John to measure it, is faulty. Again, the word translated as “temple” is “naõs” (denotes the central sanctuary itself [of the temple] at Jerusalem or elsewhere) and the word for “altar” is a place of sacrifice, which may specifically or generally, literally or figuratively, be an altar. Moreover, we are not specifically told where this temple is which John is to measure. Instead we are given the same as mentioned before, with the addition of worshippers. Seeing that the court is outside of the sanctuary, and given over to the nations together with all of Jerusalem, the image of international forces emerges as we have seen frequently already on TV during the Gulf “war” and the Bosnian/Serbian conflict: They are patrolling the Old City and all [of the Eastern part?] of Jerusalem, and eventually, during the last 3 ½ years, they will also control the plaza in front of the Kotel, not allowing any Jew or ingrafted Gentile to pray there. But during the first 3 ½ years, which begin with the two Witnesses prophesying43, worshippers will still be allowed in that place of sacrifice.
Of course, there is yet more meaning to this Scripture than referenced here. However, our subject matter is whether or not the third Jewish Temple will be built before Yeshua’s Return.
The pattern says, “most unlikely”, for the reasons already given, and following.
The “time-travelling” prophet Ezekiel was transported into the distant future (which is as yet to come), and there was shown the Third Temple, its pattern, its form, and all its ordinances. This is what he saw:
“And, behold, the glory of the G-d of Israel
came from the way of the east: and the sound of His coming was like the
sound of many waters: and the earth shone with his glory....As the glory
of the L-RD entered the house by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted
me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the
glory of the L-RD filled The House.
And I heard [him] speaking to me out of the house..., and He said to me, ‘Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name...’
‘And you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel The House, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, portray to them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write [it] in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.’
‘This [is] the law of the house; Upon
the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about [shall be]
most
holy. Behold, this [is] the law of The house’.”
44
| 44 2 Ezekiel 43:2, 4-7, 10-12, using both the KJAV, and RSV. |
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XXX
1. Background by "Dannah"
2. The Lord upon the throne by Pat Marvenko Smith,
from her web site "Revelation Illustrated".
3. Image of Ezekiel's vision of G-d's glory by "MessianicArt.com"