This is an updated version of the article I posted on December 4, 2023. More thoughts and verses are added below the original article.

A rebuilt third temple of Solomon is a popular Endtime doctrine today among evangelicals who hold John Nelson Darby’s doctrines of Dispensationalism and Futurism.

Would a third rebuilt temple in Jerusalem be of God? This is what Rick Wiles of TruNews.com has to say about it:

An article on christinprophecy dot org talks about a Third Temple. It’s ironic the name of the website is Christ in Prophecy even though a rebuilt temple has nothing to do with Christ! The website states:

The Bible clearly teaches that a new temple — which will be called The Third Temple — will be built in the future.

Oh yeah? Does the Bible really teach that? Based on what Scriptures? The website states:

The Third Temple will exist during the Great Tribulation. Daniel refers to this temple when he says that “the prince who is to come” (the Antichrist) will enter it and stop the sacrifices in the middle of the Tribulation (Daniel 9:27). The Apostle Paul mentions it when he declares that the “man of lawlessness” will profane the temple by entering it and declaring himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Do these Bible verses actually prophesy there will be a third temple? Or is the author reading into these Scriptures his own bias based on false teaching? What do these Scriptures actually say?

Daniel 9:26  And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
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.

What was the “city and the sanctuary” of Daniel 9:26? Jerusalem and the Temple. When was it destroyed? History tells me it was destroyed in 70 AD. By whom? History tells me it was destroyed by the Roman army led by General Titus, the son of Roman Emperor Vespasian. Titus, the son of the emperor, was therefore a prince and the very prince who led the army that destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple 40 years after the Messiah was “cut off”, meaning crucified as a common criminal to take our place for our sins (crimes) against God.

Matthew 24 calls the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple a time of “great tribulation.”

Matthew 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

The parallel passage of Jesus’ prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple is in the Gospel of Mark chapter 13. Mark calls that time “affliction”.

Mark 13:19  For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

Tribulation and affliction on whom? On the unbelieving Jesus Christ-rejecting Jews! By whom? The armies of Rome! When? In 70 AD. Will this happen again in the future? Both Matthew and Mark quote Jesus saying, “nor ever shall be.” “neither shall be.”

Related to Dispensationalism and Futurism is the doctrine of the “pre-tribulation rapture” which says Jesus will return just before the rise of the Antichrist and save us from tribulation. Ask yourself, has there been tribulation of Christians by those who hate Christ throughout history? Roman emperors up to Constantine fed Christians to the lions during the first two centuries of Christianity. It’s been estimated that the Church of Rome, the Roman Catholic Church killed 50,000,000 Bible believers over a period of 1260 years from 538 AD to 1798 AD when the Popes had temporal power over governments up to the time Napoleon exiled the Pope!

Other Scriptures christinprophecy dot org give to support the rebuilding of the temple doctrine are:

Daniel 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,…

They combine that with:

2 Thessalonians 2:1  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3  ¶Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Dispensational Endtime doctrines interpret the “he” of Daniel 9:27 to be the Endtime Antichrist who shall rule the entire earth during the last 7 years of the governments of man. The “covenant” of Daniel 9:27 is supposed to be a pact or treaty the Antichrist makes with the Jews so they can rebuild their temple. The prophecy “he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease” is interpreted as the Antichrist breaking the Covenant of peace with the Jews which starts 3 and 1/2 years of persecution of the Jews. The Antichrist stands in the Temple and tells the world he is God. This is what most American evangelicals believe today with some variation. Some believe there will be 7 years of tribulation, not just 3 and 1/2 years.

IT’S ALL FALSE DOCTRINE!!! These teachings are not yet 200 years old! None of the early Protestant Reformation leaders believed or followed these doctrines. And why not? During the first 300 years after Martin Luther started the Reformation, true Protestant and Baptist Christians to a man all KNEW exactly WHO the Antichrist, the “man of sin, the son of perdition” of II Thess 2:3 is: The Popes of Rome! He was the one claiming to be God on earth sitting in the midst of the Temple, the Church of God!

1 Corinthians 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

The early Protestants knew II Thess 2:3 could not be talking about a physical temple because the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. Nor did they expect that the Temple had to be rebuilt in the last days in order for this prophecy to be fulfilled. They had first-hand knowledge of the Pope’s hatred for them and they were risking death to disobey the Pope and cling to the doctrine of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. They knew the Popes of Rome persecuted and killed Bible-following Christians over the centuries before the Reformation started in 1517. The Waldensians and Anabaptists suffered years of massacre, rape, and pillaging during the Catholic Church’s attempt to stomp it out. And even after the Reformation began, tens of thousands of French Protestant Huguenots were murdered by the Pope in a single day in 1572 on St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre. Even Wikipedia talks about it.

When the doctrines of Dispensationalism and Futurism were introduced in the 19th century, not everyone bought it. Charles Spurgeon continued to hold the traditional Protestant doctrine of the Antichrist.

You may ask, “What happened? Why did Protestant and Baptist Christians stop looking at the Popes of Rome as the fulfillment of the prophecy of II Thessalonians chapter 2, and start thinking the Antichrist is yet to come and who will make a pact with the Jews to rebuild their Temple?” Good question. The answer is very simple: It was the work of the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation which was promoted by Jesuit priests who infiltrated Protestant schools and seminaries to teach their false doctrines of Dispensationalism and Futurism in order to get Protestant and Baptist Christians’ eyes OFF the POPE as the Antichrist! Did it work? You know it did. How many today still think of the Pope as Antichrist, the man of sin of II Thessalonians chapter 2? Not many. Only a tiny minority still do. The leader of Northern Ireland, Ian Paisley, believed the Pope was an antichrist. He was the only world statesman I know of in the 20th century who publically denounced the Pope as an antichrist! Just listen to him in this 1.5-minute video!

The Bible says the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Revelation 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

What has a rebuilt Jewish temple in Jerusalem to do with Jesus Christ? It represents further REJECTION of Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and the true Christ by rebuilding the temple to resume animal sacrifices. It represents further REJECTION of the Blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ in favor of the blood of animals which can never permanently take away sins.

The Bible says the day of animal sacrifices are OVER!

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.
2  For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3  But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

Would therefore a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem be therefore considered a “holy place” in the eyes of God? What do you think? I believe it would be an abomination in the eyes of God and further rejection of the Son of God, the Word Who became flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ!

My wife Tess and I were impressed by some verses in Jeremiah chapter 7 which we read together this morning, February 13, 2024.

Jeremiah 7:4  Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, …

Jeremiah 7:9  Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
10  And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
11  Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
12  But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

In the Book of Joshua, Shiloh was the first place the children of Israel set up the tabernacle of the Lord, the tent that contained the Ark of the Covenant.

Joshua 18:1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.

Judges 18:31 And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

It’s interesting the remnant of the tribe of Benjamin that was nearly wiped out by a war with the other tribes of Israel got their wives from Shiloh, the place of the tabernacle of the Lord, so that the tribe of Benjamin would not die out among the other tribes! I never made that connection before.

Judges 21:20 Therefore they commanded the children of Benjamin, saying, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards; 21 And see, and, behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in dances, then come ye out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife of the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.

Because the Tabernacle of the Lord was in Shiloh, of course Eli the priests, his sons, and the prophet Samuel also lived there.

1 Samuel 1:3  And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.

What did the Lord do to His Tabernacle at Shiloh in reference to Jeremiah 7:12? He let the enemies of Israel take from it the Ark of the Covenant!

1 Samuel 4:10  And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
11  And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

And what did the Lord say He would do to the first Temple of Solomon?

Jeremiah 7:13  And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
14  Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
15  And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

The Temple of the Lord was only called the House of God when the Ark of the Covenant was in it. Where is the Ark now? Not in Jerusalem! The Book of Revelation says it’s in Heaven!

Revelation 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament:

It’s interesting that the Ark of the Covenant or Testament is only mentioned twice in the entire New Testament! Beside Rev. 11:19, it’s mentioned in Hebrews:9:4

Hebrews 9:4  Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

Was the Ark of the Covenant in Herod’s Temple at the time of Jesus? The Bible doesn’t say, but it does say the veil of the Temple was ripped open so that people could see inside the Holy of Holies where the Ark was supposed to be.

Mark 15:38  And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

Hebrews 9:3  And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

Could it be the Lord ripped the veil in two in order to show the children of Israel the Ark of the Covenant was no longer inside it? John saw it in Heaven!

The Temple with no Tabernacle with the Ark of the Covenant meant that God was no longer with the Jews. He gave them 40 more years to repent and then destroyed the Temple through the Romans in 70 AD.

And Christian Zionists want to see the Temple rebuilt?! What about the Ark of the Covenant? It’s not on earth if we take Revelation 11:19 literally. Years ago I read the Jews may claim they have found the the Ark, but it will be a fake, an imitation.

The prophet Jeremiah prophesied that the Ark would not be remembered anymore.

Jeremiah 3:16  And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

And why? Because those who believe on the Name of Jesus as the Son of God have God’s presence with them continually! Praise the Lord!

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