I am wholeheartedly convinced in the importance of eschatology (popularly defined as the “study of the last things,” or more commonly “end times”). I believe that, from the moment of the Fall, everyone in Scripture looked forward to that final day when everything would again be made right. If you have gazed across the Evangelical landscape ever, at all, surely you know that eschatology holds a looming presence. We live on the Late, Great Planet Earth and we certainly don’t want to be Left Behind.
While I am glad that people are studying Scripture and prophecy in particular, and I am glad that people are looking for Jesus to come again, I worry that what many people are looking for is actually unbiblical:
Did you catch some of the phrases in the video?:
“We come again to the temple mount ‘to meet our God.”“The temple mount is the seat of God.”
“May it be Your will that the temple be speedily rebuilt in our own time.”
“resumption of service in the holy temple”
“a new generation of Levite priests”
“stones for the house of God”
“the third temple will be when the Messiah comes and both Jews and Christians are waiting for him”
“are we supposed to build the temple and then the Messiah will come or are we supposed to wait and then the Messiah will build the temple?”
I’m not here to try to convince you of my own eschatological position (others are more capable of that), but what I do want to do is provide you with three questions that I think should drive all theological study and which point us in the direction of understanding why Christians should not be watching for the rebuilt temple:
1) What position makes the most of the most Scriptures?
2) What position makes the most of the Glory of God?
3) What position makes the most of the Cross?
Based on these questions, can you see why Christians might not actually think the rebuilding of the temple is a good thing? Or are you one to adamantly say: “That’s literally what the text says, so that’s literally what we should look for?” (ahh, but God owns the cattle on the 1,001 hill, doesn’t He?!)
But what was the point of the temple? What happened in the temple and what was the point? The temple was the “meeting place” between God and man and sacrifice happened inside the temple, to remind of the consequence of sin that that God Himself ultimately could not be appeased by the blood of bulls and goats (Hebrews 10:4).
But we need to back up a bit and remind ourselves how God reveals Himself to His people. He does so progressively, in unfolding and related pieces. For example, in Genesis 3:15, we find the hope that there will be a Seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent (He will set things right). Later, we learn that He will be a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Judah, from the line of David, He will fulfill the roles of Prophet, Priest, King, He will be born in Bethlehem, of a virgin, etc. There is a forward trajectory to God unfolding Himself and His plan. The tabernacle and then the temple were part of this forward-looking trajectory, but it does not look forward indefinitely. Each piece of God’s revelation was pointing to The Revelation of Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment. Everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus.
This is absolutely of the utmost importance, because, each prior piece points to Jesus. This means that we do not go backwards in the process. Paul says in Colossians 2:16-18 that the former things were “shadows” and that Jesus is the “substance.”
If this is the case, then the rebuilding of the temple is actually a step (more than one actually) backwards in God’s revelation because the temple pointed us to Jesus. If Jesus has come, then the temple is no longer necessary and neither, of course are the animal sacrifices that took place in the temple.
Jesus, of course, understood this and that’s why so many of the “religious” people of His day were so mad. They understood that He was saying the temple itself would no longer play a central part in Israel’s religious life (Matthew 26:59-65, John 4:7-26, etc.). Jesus is the fulfillment of both the animal sacrifices and the temple where they took place. I’m not looking for the rebuilding of the temple because Jesus fulfilled its purpose.
Brent, good thoughts. I’ve always argued that if a temple ever was literally built again it would be a monument of idolatry and probably thousands of Christians would flock to it.
“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?” Acts 7:49
To re-institute the animal sacrifices is the ultimate blasphemy to Christ and His Work.
Good post. Rebuilding the temple is foolish since it points to the mystery of Christ coming and becoming the one sacrifice - that we might be built up all together in one temple both Jew and Gentile in the household of God (cf. Eph. 2). In point of fact, what Christ has done is become the eternal sacrifice and all the ceremony attached to that is now ultimately fulfilled in Him. We merely look back at what He has gloriously done and then go forward in proclaiming the good news of a salvation that is already ours and should be available to others by way of repentance and trust in Him.
One day the Jews will return to their Messiah and I pray that is sooner than later, but this return will not be found in a temple made with hands and to work toward that is to waste the precious gifts God has given us in privileging us with the role of helping to reconcile all things to Himself.
I knew this already since I read the book of Revelation, but good post.
[...] Brent Thomas (Holiday at the Sea) shares his thoughts. [...]
This is the first I’ve heard of your blog–excellent thoughts. I’ll be stopping by again!
hey Brent,
Good post, and I agree with most everything you said. But my comment has to do with the video (and I admit that I didn’t watch it all so I could be misspeaking). While I see the point you’re making about eschatology I’m not sure how it is a (Christian) response to the video, weren’t they all Jewish, and therefore would disagree with the claim that now Jesus, and not Torah or temple, is the focal point of God’s purposes?
Josh, could point. I should have mentioned the original context of the video a bit more: it was, of course, a hyper-Dispensational television show, so though most people featured in the video itself are Jewish, it was a “news piece” in a “Christian” program, followed by commentary about how great it is that we’re so close to the third temple.
I agree. And I’m Historic Premill. Part of the reason other premillennial positions focus on this is because of a fascination with ethnic Jews as ethnic Jews and a faulty biblical hermeneutic. Jesus said “destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days.” What did he mean? John is clear “He was speaking about the temple of his body.” (John 2:21) In the New Covenant, we are the temple and Jesus is the cornerstone (1 Pt 2). To look for a physical building in Jerusalem is redemptive historical retrograde.
Tim, thank you so much for speaking from the Pre-mill side of things.
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