It's The End of the World As We Know It: The Third Temple

Many have argued that the Third Temple will not occur until Jesus returns and creates a new heaven and new earth (see Ezekiel 40-48), or that any reference to another temple is purely spiritual.  So let's look at what the Bible actually says, and go from there:

I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there.  But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles.  They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.  And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth" (Revelation 11:1-3). 

Weird stuff, guys.  Really weird.  However, it's not really difficult to break down and interpret once you start paying attention to what John is writing.  He provides (rather, he sees) lots of details and layers of meanings that really give a much clearer picture of these events than most people believe.  So let's get to it.

Now, as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, some have argued that since believers are called "the temple of God" by Paul, and since Jesus often used the word "temple" as a metaphor, we can safely conclude that this does not refer to an actual temple.  But the very first verse negates that, for how can John effectively measure a metaphor?  Metaphors do not have dimensions, nor would a purely "spiritual temple" have an "outer court . . . given to the Gentiles" (2).  There are two very clear statements, and to attempt to interpret this as some sort of "spiritual" or metaphorical temple is to ignore the majority of those verses.  So we can safely conclude that John is measuring a physical temple in Jerusalem.

Now, some argue that John is measuring the old temple, the one destroyed by the Romans in 72 A.D.  However, since John was writing this in 90 A.D., eighteen years after the Second Temple was destroyed, that's highly unlikely.  Others have argued that John is writing about the coming temple that will descend from heaven at the recreation of earth (see Revelation 21:1-2).  Let's keep reading, though:

Now when they have finished their testimony, the Beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.  Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified (11:7-8).

In this passage, the Beast is very much alive and active, whereas he has already been thrown into the lake of fire by Revelation 21.  This is clearly not the temple that descends from heaven and comes to rest on the New Earth.  Were that the case, then the Beast would be ruling and reigning after his judgment and damnation - an utter impossibility.  So we have a physical temple, in a physical Jerusalem, in front of which two witnesses testify to people - an event unnecessary in the New Earth.  In addition, the Beast is alive and ruling on earth during this time.  Therefore, there is only one logical conclusion:  the temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt.

Still not on board?  Well, both Daniel and Jesus speak of something called "The Abomination that Causes Desolation":

So when you see standing in the Holy Place the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains (Matthew 24:15-16).

Jesus tells His disciples this, but, without a knowledge of what Daniel says, it's cryptic.  So let's turn to Daniel:

[The Beast] will confirm a covenant with many for one "seven."  In the middle of the one "seven" he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.  And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. . . .

His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice.  Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.  With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him. . . .

"From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.  Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days (9:27; 11:31-32; 12:11-12).

According to Daniel, a man will stop the daily sacrifices, and three years later, set up an idol in the temple (physical temple!).  Now, many will say, "Yes, but this was fulfilled with Antiochus IV Epiphanes!"  Well . . . sort of.  Antiochus IV did desecrate the temple in 168 B.C. by erecting an idol on the Altar of Burnt Offerings, effectively bringing an end to Jewish sacrificial worship. But there are two reasons we know that these actions were not the same thing that Daniel saw.

First, Antiochus set up the idol at the same time that he abolished the sacrifices.  In Daniel 12:11, we're specifically told that the time period between the two events will be 1,290 days (or 3 1/2 years):  "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days."  This falls in line with what John sees in Revelation 13, where the false prophet sets up an idol of The Beast and, through Satanic powers, gives it the ability to speak and kill any and all who refuse to worship it (see Revelation 13:11-15).

The second thing to note is that Jesus Himself, knowing the Book of Daniel and the history of Israel, referred to the abomination that causes desolation as a future event.  Let's look at Matthew 24 again:

So when you see standing in the Holy Place [a reference to the Inner Sanctuary of the Temple] the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains (Matthew 24:15-16).

Clearly, therefore, the abomination that causes desolation has not happened yet - at least, not the true one.  Jesus, living some five hundred years after Daniel, tells us that the idol has not yet been set up in the temple.  Jesus did tell us, however, that Herod's Temple (the second temple, existing during the days of Jesus), would be completely destroyed (Matthew 24:2), and by the time John is told to "measure the temple of God" in Revelation 11:1, Herod's Temple was long gone.  If Jesus, therefore, was not referring to Herod's temple, but was referring to a real, physical temple, there is clearly, therefore, going to be a third temple.


Current political situations over there seem to render this unlikely, but notice verse 2 of Revelation 11:  "Exclude the outer court, do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles.  They will trample on the holy city for 42 months."  Now, the outer court of both Solomon's and Herod's temple was the court reserved for Gentile converts to Judaism.  But that court, as best we can tell, was still considered part of the temple complex, and belonged to the Jews, though it was reserved for Gentile use.  Here, the outer court isn't considered part of the temple, but is, instead, given to the Gentiles.  We also see that Gentiles will "trample" the city for 42 months (three and a half years).  That verb is a deliberately destructive and violent word, indicating, not a mere presence, but a controlling and - from the Jewish point of view, desecrating - presence.  So here's what we have: we have a temple whose outer court belongs to "Gentiles," and we have a city that is controlled by "Gentiles."

Now, let's look at what we have today.  We have a group of Jews who desperately want to rebuild the Temple, but cannot because of the Palestinian presence, and the latter group's worship of the Dome of the Rock (yes, I understand that, officially, Muslims worship "no god but Allah," but let's call a spade a spade:  when millions flock to a place every year in order to simply be allowed the honor of being in its presence, that's a form of worship).  We also have a region that is war-torn, in constant conflict, and has very little room for negotiation.

But what if they did negotiate?  What might that look like?  If a moderate Muslim, willing to listen to reason, came to power in that region, what sort of concessions might he grant?  If a moderate Jew, willing to listen to reason, came to power in that region, what sort of concessions might he grant?  Several Jewish leaders have already confessed that the only thing they truly want is to rebuild the temple, going so far as to claim that its presence will usher in world peace.  Would leaders such as these be willing to grant the Palestinians control of the city, in return for "ushering in world peace," as they see it?  Possibly.  Would leaders such as these be willing to grant the Palestinians continued access to the Foundation Stone - the heart of the Dome of the Rock, in return for "ushering in world peace"?  Possibly.  It's difficult to say with certainty, but with the right concessions, it is possible that Israel will be able to build the temple in the not-too-distant future.


And Israel is preparing to build it.  They have blueprints, they have a 3-D rendering of the Inner Sanctuary, they have even fashioned and prepared the articles used in the temple worship. It seems, therefore, that all we are waiting on is an agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, an agreement that will give Palestine complete control of Jerusalem, as well as the outer court of the temple complex.  And while the agreement doesn't appear to be anywhere on the horizon, only time will tell.