Will the temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt?

Herod's Temple was completely destroyed, agreeing with prophecy of our Lord in Luke 21:5 and 6. In A.D.70, Titus, the Roman general, endeavoured to save from destruction such a wonderful building, but the divine word had decreed its destruction. The Lord's word was completely fulfilled—not one stone remained upon another.

It is clear from Scripture that the Jews will rebuild their temple in unbelief. How terrible the situation when that building, speaking of Christ, and its service, typical of His atoning death in so many ways, shall be erected by a people who, with all the energy of burning fanaticism, refuse Him of whom it speaks, and apart from whom it would never have existed. It is said that large sums of money and materials have already been provided in view of the rebuilding of the temple; we know not how much the rumour is worth that the temple will be rebuilt on the Mount of Olives, as the present site has been desecrated by the presence of the Mosque of Omar, and moreover to remove that mosque to make way for the temple would arouse the bitter hatred of the whole Mohammedan world.

Based on the belief that all prophecies were fulfilled around the year 70, the reconstructionists deny what we already see in our day, that the messianic Jews will return to the old shadows. Nevertheless, the temple will be rebuilt, and the services re-instituted by a remnant who will be recognised by God, and He will consider this temple as His temple (2 Thess. 2:4). The majority of the nation will be apostates, together with the masses of the Christian profession left here after the rapture. These Jews will act according to the light they will have and will not be part of the church.

As to the future of Jerusalem, scripture teaches that a portion of the Jews will return in unbelief (and indeed many have now returned), occupy Jerusalem, rebuild the temple, and have a political existence. Isa. 6:13; Isa. 17:10-11; Isa. 18; Isa. 66:1-3. After being under the protection of the future Roman Empire, and having received Antichrist, they will be brought through great tribulation. The city will be taken and the temple destroyed. Isa. 10:5-6; Zech. 14:1-2. But this will not be the final destiny of Jerusalem. We read "it shall not be plucked up nor thrown down any more for ever." Jer. 31:38-40. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.'' Zech. 8:4. 5. The temple will also be rebuilt, the particulars of which are given in the prophet Ezekiel. See TEMPLE.

Such is the final revelation of the Church as God's dwelling-place. But during the thousand years, after the Church has been caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, God will once more dwell upon the earth. The temple will first be rebuilt in unbelief, and not be owned by the Lord (see Isa. 66:1-6); but this will be superseded by one built by divine directions, and according to divine measurements. (See Ezek. 40 - 42) To this God returns, as seen in vision by the prophet: "And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and His voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with His glory. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the Lord came into the house, by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house." (Compare Ex. 40:35; 2 Chr. 5:14; Acts 2:2.) "And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me. And He said unto me, Son of man, 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 my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile," etc. (Ezek. 43:2-7; see also Ezek. 44, 45)

We know that in a day to come men will rebuild the temple; but the godly, guided by the Spirit of God, will realize that all the labours of men will be in vain. The Jewish nation, returning to the land in unbelief, will neither be able to maintain their temple or keep their city. However great the energy they may put forth, in rising up early and sitting up late, and eating the bread of sorrows — human efforts will be in vain.

A FUTURE TEMPLE. Scripture speaks in many places of the return of the Jews to their own land, but in unbelief as to the Lord Jesus being their Messiah. They will apparently build a temple, but this must not be confounded with the one described by Ezekiel, though the Jews may attempt to build it as there described. God cannot bless them until His anointed One is owned, and therefore this temple will be destroyed. Ps. 74; Isa. 66:1-6.

Part 2. enters more into details. In verse 15 we read, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation." This is a very plain mark, leaving no doubt as to the scene of the sorrows described. This will be set up in "the holy place." Where in all the earth does God own such a place, save in Jerusalem? When in the past was an idol (abomination) set up there? Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed a few years after the Lord's words were spoken, and the temple has never been restored since. But plainly it will be set up again, and the Lord's words mean nothing less than a serious attempt to introduce idolatry into it.

Julian set himself to uproot Christianity and reform paganism. He attempted the impossible task of destroying Christian principles, and yet maintaining Christian practice. So great was his hatred of the Christian religion that he tried to make the words which the Lord Jesus uttered concerning Jerusalem false, "And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Julian determined to rebuild it. He had three objects to live for: the restoration of idolatry the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the conquest of Persia. After a short reign of one year and eight months he lay dying on the sands of Persia with all his schemes unaccomplished. As his life ebbed away through the wound inflicted by a Persian lance, he filled his hand with the blood and casting it into the air, exclaimed, "O GALILEAN, THOU HAST CONQUERED." The temple is still unbuilt; the cause of God still survives. Julian died a solemn illustration of Isa. 45:9, "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker."

Four centuries later, Herod, to win the support of the Jews and foster his own vanity, built a new temple which took 46 years to erect. The building did not follow the pattern of the original. It was sought to eclipse its grandeur and magnitude. The front, composed of white polished marble, was specially beautiful. The enclosure, over 200 yards square, was surrounded by a wall of huge stones on the verge of a precipice over the valley 600 ft. deep. At the top of the precipice were wonderful galleries supported by marble pillars. Solomon's porch, called "Beautiful," was at the East Gate. The gates were 50 ft, by 25 ft. The roof, covered with gold, had a glorious appearance in the sunshine. That was the temple when the Lord came in lowly grace. It existed less than 70 years, serving as a fort in the famous siege by the Romans, when to the great sorrow of Titus, the Roman General and contrary to his command, it was accidentally burned by one of his own soldiers. Two subsequent attempts to rebuild the temple ended disastrously. These were in defiance of the words of the One greater than the Temple Who said, "there shall not be left here one stone upon another." Could anyone gainsay that dictum? A Moslem mosque now occupies the position of the former Holy Place!

This will be seen more clearly if we turn to the teaching of the Scriptures. The woman of Samaria questioned our Lord concerning this subject, or rather as to the place of worship; and in His reply, He vouchsafed to go far beyond the limits of her question. "Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:21-24). In the first place, our Lord here plainly teaches that there would be henceforward no special place of worship on earth. Jerusalem had been the sacred place where the temple of God had stood — the place to which His people wended year by year from all parts of the land. (See Psalm 122.) But together with the rejection of Christ, their house, hitherto the house of God, was left unto them desolate (Matt. 23:37-39) ; and never since that time has there been a material house of God upon earth. The Church is now the habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:22); and our place of worship (as seen in the last letter) is now inside the rent veil, in the immediate presence of God.