Can the Jews Build the Holy Temple?

Bible News Prophecy

Are the Jews getting close to building a third temple in this age?   Is a third temple prophesied to be built in this age? Are you sure? Does the abomination of desolation spoken of in the book of Daniel take place in a holy temple built in Jerusalem? The book of Daniel calls for animal sacrifices to be stopped. Must they begin in a newly built holy temple? What about you? Are you a Christian? Aren’t you God’s holy temple? What about Jesus Christ? Wasn’t He a more perfect tabernacle?   Do you know the answers to these questions? Do you want to know the answers?   I mean do you know the answers to these questions from the Bible? Can you quote chapter and verse? Do you want to quote chapter and verse? Watch this video as Dr. Thiel quotes chapter and verse from the Bible to shine the light of the Word of God on the truth about building a new temple in this age. Read the full article to this video titled “Can the Jews build the ‘Holy Temple’ many have called for?” at URL https://www.cogwriter.com/news/prophecy/can-the-jews-build-the-holy-temple-many-have-called-for/

Transcript

00:04Greetings, friends. This is Steve Dupuy for the Bible News Prophecy Program with Dr. Bob Thiel,

00:10bringing you news and analysis of world events in light of Bible prophecy. Dr. Thiel, in our

00:16pre-show interview, we discussed Jewish temples. Are there Jews that wish to build a temple now?

00:22Oh, yes. There's actually several Jewish groups that want to do it. One of them is called the

00:27Temple Institute. It set its newsletter out yesterday. The title has to do with the place

00:33your God will choose. Then they quoted Deuteronomy 12, 5 through 7. So let me read what they provided

00:41on this. Look only to the place Hashem your God will choose amongst all your tribes is God's

00:48habitation to establish the divine name there. You are to go and there you to bring your burnt

00:53offerings and your other sacrifices, your tithes, your contributions, your votive and freewill

00:58offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks. Together with your households, you shall

01:03feast there before Hashem your God, happy in all the undertakings which Hashem your God has blessed

01:10you, end quote. Then it says, Moses introduces the future holy temple, the central place of worship

01:16and community which will replace the tabernacle. Well, sacrifices were mentioned in that part of

01:22Deuteronomy. And those were done for centuries without a temple. Now, although those passages

01:28do not actually mention that a temple, over 400 years later, King David of Judah wanted to build a

01:37great temple as God's house in Jerusalem. But God said no. But he declared that one of his sons would

01:43do so in 2 Samuel 7. And his son Solomon actually built what's called the first Jewish temple. That temple

01:51was destroyed in 586 by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Now, a new temple was begun to be rebuilt after

02:00King Cyrus' decree and provided some funding around 538 BC, according to Ezra chapter 1. And that was

02:09finished around 516 BC. Now, about 500 years later, the one called Herod the Great, he expanded it.

02:16It was very large and impressive. But Jesus in Matthew 24 prophesied its destruction.

02:25So let's go there, starting with verse 1. So then Jesus went out and departed from the temple.

02:31And his disciples came up to him, showed him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them,

02:37do you see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon

02:43another that shall not be thrown down. And that temple was destroyed by General Titus in 70 AD,

02:51consistent with what Jesus said. Now, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, who saw the

02:58destruction, it was complete. Now, there were some discussions of rebuilding a temple in the early

03:04second century, but that didn't happen. So there's not been what you'd call a Jewish temple in Jerusalem

03:11for nearly 2,000 years since. But a lot of religious Jews want one. Now, going back to the

03:18Temple Institute newsletter, it also had the following, quote, help build the holy temple in

03:24our time. Donate generously to help the sacred work of the Temple Institute. Every contribution helps to

03:30rebuild the holy temple in our time, end quote. Can they do it? Can the Jews build a holy temple

03:38in this age? No. But I think I recall reading that Christians are the temple of God. Could they

03:47represent God's temple in the end times? Yes. But first, let's look at an Old Testament

03:53prophecy. This is in Daniel chapter 12, verse 7.

03:59Then I heard a man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, and he held up

04:06his right

04:07hand and his left hand to heaven. It's for by him who lives forever, that it shall be for a

04:12time,

04:13times, and half a time, when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered,

04:18all these things shall be finished. Well, those people being referred to are not unconverted Jews.

04:25And we know this is an end time prophecy, because a time, time, and half a time is a three

04:29and a half

04:30year time period that encompasses the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.

04:36How are Christians, whether Jews or Gentiles, or even non-Christian Jews, connected with the

04:42temple of God? Well, to determine that, we need to realize that there are two words translated from

04:49the Greek as temple in English in the New Testament. We're going to look at some that use the term

04:56nalos for the temple of God, that were used after Jesus was resurrected. For example, Apostle Paul,

05:041 Corinthians 6, starting, excuse me, 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19 said,

05:10What? Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you,

05:13which you have of God, you're not of your own. And in 1 Corinthians 3, 16 and 17,

05:19he wrote, Do you not know that you are the temple of God? That's the nalos of God. And if

05:25the Spirit

05:25of God dwells in you, and if anyone defiles the temple of God, the nalos of God, God will destroy

05:30him. For the temple of God, the nalos of God is holy, which temple you are. And in 2 Corinthians

05:386,

05:3816, Paul wrote, And what agreement has the nalos of God with idols? For you are the temple of the

05:46living God. And as God has said, I will dwell with them and walk among them. I will be their

05:52God,

05:52and they shall be my people. Those inspired writings of the Apostle Paul demonstrate the

05:57view that the nalos temple of God now has to do with Christians and not Jewish people, except those

06:04who are Christians have the Holy Spirit. Now, despite these passages, some today who claim to

06:10be Christians believe God would consider a Jewish temple built in defiance of the sacrifice of Jesus

06:16to somehow be holy. It's God's people in the church who are the holy temple in the church era,

06:22not some Jewish building. Now, I mentioned that there's another Jewish word used for temple.

06:28It's the word heron. And it almost always, it looks like it always actually refers to a physical

06:35temple, sometimes a Jewish one, but even a pagan one in Acts 19 27. But nalos, it's not the same

06:42way.

06:43Now, because the word heron is used more frequently in the New Testament than now, sometimes people seem

06:50to get confused. But Jesus, we're going to go to John chapter 2, was the first in the New Testament

06:58to use the word naus to refer to something other than a Jewish temple. John 2 19, Jesus answered and

07:06said to them, destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up. Then the Jews said, 40 and six

07:12years

07:12was this temple in building, and will you rear it up in three days? Verse 21, but he, that's Jesus,

07:20spoke of the temple of his body. So while the Jews were thinking that the naus was referring

07:27to a physical Jewish temple, scripture is clear that Jesus was referring for it to mean something

07:33else. Those verses make it pretty clear. Are there more scriptures that point to Christians

07:41being the temple of God? Yeah, if you go to Ephesians chapter 2, starting in verse 19, Paul writes,

07:48Now, therefore, you're no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints

07:54in a household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus

08:00Christ himself being the chief cornerstones, kind of using an analogy for a building, in whom all the

08:07building fitly framed together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you're built together

08:14for a habitation of God through the Spirit. So while I think scripture normally should be interpreted

08:22literally, the apostle Paul, just like Jesus, was metaphorically using naus to mean something else.

08:30Paul's case, true Christians, Jesus' case himself.

08:35This is not a new idea. The Church of God last century, for example, published, quote,

08:41And the Church of God of the present day shall be a building fitly framed together,

08:45growing unto a holy temple in the Lord.

08:49Look, the Hebrew scriptures state that the Jews were God's holy people in Deuteronomy 7.

08:54Yet the New Testament shows that God's holy people are now Christians.

08:59The Apostle Peter wrote about this. I'm going to go to 1 Peter chapter 1,

09:05starting in verse 13. So it talks about Jesus Christ. Verse 15 says,

09:12He who called you is holy. You also be holy in all your conduct, because it's written,

09:18Be holy, for I am holy. And then 1 Peter 2, 9.

09:24But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people.

09:31Now, the New Testament also makes it clear that the sacrifices that the Jews wish to make

09:37aren't needed in Hebrews 9, 12 through 13. Hence, it's improper for Christians to believe

09:43that Jews can make a holy temple in this age. And I want to read something that Paul wrote,

09:49Hebrews 9, verse 11. But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come

09:55with the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands. Not talking about a physical

10:01building. That is not of this creation. End quote. Anyway, there's no possible way that Jews can

10:08build a holy temple in this age. Non-believing Jews are not holy in the New Testament biblical sense.

10:15Yes. But doesn't the Bible tell of animal sacrifices in Daniel prior to the Great Tribulation?

10:22Wouldn't that require a temple?

10:24Well, yes, Daniel, the book of Daniel contains prophecies, Daniel chapter 9, 11, 12,

10:33about animal sacrifices before the Great Tribulation. But no, that does not require a temple.

10:40While the Jews would prefer to have a temple, all they actually need is an altar, a high priest

10:46implements, and a willingness to sacrifice. And they've got all that. Plus, understand that until

10:52Solomon built the first temple, 1 Kings 6, 14, over in Jerusalem, the Bible shows that Jews sacrificed

10:59on altars. David, Solomon's father, 2 Samuel 24, as did Aaron and his descendants, Exodus chapter 20,

11:0924, and Leviticus chapter 1. And prior to all that, Abel, Genesis 4, 4, Noah, Genesis 8, 20, and Abraham,

11:19Genesis 29, 9 to 13, and others sacrificed animals to God. So for over 3,000 years, animal sacrifices were

11:27offered without a Jewish temple. Even after the first Jewish temple was destroyed and left in ruins,

11:34by the way, the Bible itself specifically shows that sacrifices were made in the time of Ezra

11:42before the second temple was ready. If you've got a Bible, you can follow along too, Ezra 3, verse 6.

11:50From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord.

11:57But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. Now, you know, someone can argue

12:03that that doesn't, it's a moot point because unless Jews are willing to sacrifice without

12:09the temple, it won't happen. Well, that would be true, except Jews are willing to it. I spoke to

12:15leaders, both in the Temple Institute and got, there was emails through the reconstituted Sanhedrin.

12:22And they both said, no, we don't need a temple to sacrifice. Basically, all we need is government

12:28permission. And once we get that, we'll do it. Now, while the Jews may or may not build some type

12:36of a structure to sacrifice, they are not capable of building a holy temple of God in this age.

12:44What about the abomination of desolation? Didn't Jesus say that takes place in the holy temple?

12:52No, but that's something a lot of people don't understand. Let's go to Matthew 24,

12:57starting in verse 15. Jesus warned,

13:00Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing

13:05in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand. Let those who are Judea flee the

13:12mountain. Now, note, he said, whoever reads, let him understand. Well, many people misunderstood this.

13:18Jesus did not say the holy place was a Jewish temple. Now, this place could be the first Christian

13:25building in Jerusalem or some other location. And Jesus did not say that the Jewish temple

13:31in the end times was a holy place. In New Testament, in Acts chapter 733, in Acts 21, 28,

13:40they specifically use the term, Greek terms, topos for place and hagios for holy, which is the same

13:48terms Jesus used. And that was referring to not a building or a structure, but just a location.

13:57Yet, many Protestants, as well as many in the churches of God, including my previous one,

14:03don't fully grasp that and are looking for something that cannot be. While the Jews can build

14:08religious buildings, the Jews cannot build a holy place now. In this age, Christians are God's holy

14:16people and Christians should live like that. Don't look for the Jews to build a temple that God will

14:22consider to be holy in this age. Thank you, Dr. Thiel. For more interviews with Dr. Thiel,

14:27in addition to written, as well as audio articles, visit our website at biblenewsprophecy.net.

14:32This is Steve Dupuis for the Bible News Prophecy Program.

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