The Bible mentions three temples. The temple built by Solomon is called the First Temple. The Second Temple refers to the temple that Zerubbabel laid the foundation and rebuilt when returned. It was later expanded by Herod the Great, and there is the temple that Ezekiel prophesied but has not yet been built, and finally in the new heaven and new earth, “…the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, …” (Revelation 21:1-2) “…no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”(Revelation 21:22) Here, we first talk about the prophecy of the destruction of the Second Temple, in which we briefly introduced the history of the first two temples, and then we spent most of the time discussing Ezekiel’s future temple prophesied in the book of Ezekiel. We see that all the prophecies in the Bible are fulfilled, so Ezekiel’s temple will definitely be built. This is why he even explained its construction in such detail. Because it is very difficult to explain clearly what the Bible says in the outline, we will not introduce it in the outline. Please go directly to Part 2 for details.
1. Prophecy of the destruction of the Temple and brief history of the Temple
“And while some were talking about the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts, He said, “As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.””(Luke 21:5-6)
What is being spoken of here is the prophecy of the destruction of the Second Temple, which we have previously discussed in “1067 Narrow Gate, Jerusalem, Healing Dropsy, and Self Exalted – Jesus (20),” where we mentioned how this prophecy was fulfilled in history, and I won’t go into detail here. Let us now briefly discuss the history of the Temple.
The first temple was built by Solomon, and the location is clear: “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”(2 Chronicles 3:1). ““All this,” said David, “the LORD made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, all the details of this pattern.””(1 Chronicles 28:19) The time when the work began is also clearly recorded, “He began to build on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.” (2 Chronicles 3:2) That is, “In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of Ziv.”(1 Kings 6:37) It was finished as the scripture says, “In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.”(1 Kings 6:38) This temple is splendid, just as Solomon said, “The house which I am about to build will be great, for greater is our God than all the gods.”(2 Chronicles 2:5)
The destruction of this first temple occurred when “Zedekiah …reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.”(2 Chronicles 36:11) The Chaldeans “burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.”(2 Chronicles 36:19) The Ark of the Covenant was brought in when the First Temple was dedicated, and the process is recorded in detail in 2 Chronicles 5:2-7:10. So the Ark of the Covenant was still there at that time. The Bible does not tell when the Ark of the Covenant disappeared. The last time it mentioned the Ark of the Covenant is in heaven, “And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”(Revelation 11:19) Please note that at that time, “The priests could not enter into the house of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’S house.”(2 Chronicles 7:2) Therefore, there was the glory of the Lord when Solomon’s temple was dedicated. This is similar to the situation when Moses finished building the tabernacle, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”(Exodus 40:34-35) The same was true in the temple prophesied by Ezekiel, “…I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I fell on my face.”(Ezekiel 44:4) These all clearly saw the presence of the Lord. But when it was rebuilt as the Second Temple, the glory of the LORD was not seen.
The Second Temple refers to the Temple of Solomon that was rebuilt when King Cyrus of Persia was in the first year of his reign. The altar was first built on the original foundation, and then Zerubbabel laid the foundation of the Temple of the Lord. (See Ezra 3:1-11) The foundation of the temple at this time was probably not the same, because “Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy.”(Ezra 3:12) The reason for shouting loudly for joy is that the temple will be rebuilt.
Much later, “This temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.”(Ezra 6:15) The construction of the temple took so long because it was forced to stop. Although the Bible does not clearly explain the process of stopping, it does mention that “Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.”(Ezra 4:6) “Then work on the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”(Ezra 4:24) So finally, “Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people showed reverence for the LORD. …So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of Darius the king.”(Haggai 1:12-15) Although the Bible does not explicitly mention the process of stopping the construction of the temple, in Ezra 4:7-23, a paragraph is inserted about the construction of the city when “…they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force of arms.”(Ezra 23). If you are interested in this, please read that period of history.
At that time, “…the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.”(Ezra 6:16) Please note that there is no record of the glory of Jehovah appearing in the Second Temple at this time. Then Herod the Great repaired and expanded the temple, as the scripture says, “…It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”(John 2:20) “But He (Jesus) was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.”(John 2:21-22) The disciples followed Him for more than three years, but they did not truly believe what He said until they actually saw His resurrection. Having faith is not easy.
Here we also see that Christians need to think back before they can understand why the Holy Spirit did what they did. We must obey even if we don’t understand. We must know that the Holy Spirit does this for our benefit. ““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater.”(Isaiah 55:8-10)
Finally, history tells us that in about 70 AD, the Romans destroyed the second temple as predicted by this prophecy! There is also a temple that Ezekiel prophesied but has not yet built. Eventually, in the new heaven and new earth, “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, …”(Revelation 21:1-2) We will see later that although Ezekiel’s temple was large, it could still be built with human hands, but the new city Jerusalem cannot be built with human hands. At that time, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”(Revelation 21:22) In the tabernacle of the meeting and in the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s temple, there was the ark of the covenant, which represented the presence of the Lord. In the new city, “…the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, …”(Revelation 22:3-4) They are already with us, so why do we still need a temple?
2. The temple prophesied by Ezekiel
The temple that Ezekiel prophesied but had not yet built was built by the Israelites and for the Israelites. If we truly believe that the Bible is inspired by God and do not discount its words, we can see this. Below we will slowly explain why we say this. First, the scripture says, “The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and give attention to all that I am going to show you; for you have been brought here in order to show it to you. Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.””(Ezekiel 40:4) If we do not discount the words of the Bible, the Bible clearly says that Ezekiel should tell it to the house of Israel. Some people say that all Christians in the New Testament era are the house of Israel. The Bible has never said this and has not seen this concept in verses. We can only say that this is a forced interpretation of the Bible using human opinions! Let’s see what the Bible actually says.
Ezekiel also says, ““As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the plan.”(Ezekiel 43:10) Then he said, “As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the plan.”(Ezekiel 43:11) They were ashamed first, not because they looked at the size and so on! This is like Job. He was repented first and prayed for his friends, and then Jehovah allowed him to turn around in his plight. Don’t put the cart before the horse! (See Job 42:1-10) So why is it so detailed? Because it will eventually be built. All prophecies in the Bible will eventually come true. The prophecy about Ezekiel’s temple will be the same, since God is faithful.
According to what God tells us through the Bible is consistent, this situation should be the same as the time when Moses built the tabernacle. How detailed the instructions that the Lord told Moses were at that time! He also made it very clear that these items should be made carefully, for He said many times, “…you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.”(Exodus 25:40) There is the reality in heaven, and the shadow of it on the earth. The shadow must reflect reality, and this must be the case. How could it be built like this without detailed explanation?
Again, “and behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory.”(Ezekiel 43:2) This God refers to Jehovah, because the scriptures make it clear, “…and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘The LORD (H3068) is there (H4725).’” (Ezekiel 48:35) Please note that the word in Ezekiel 3:12, “…Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place (H4725).” Strong’s Concordance uses one word, and this word does mean the place of the Lord. To confirm this, we looked at another original text version. In the other original text version, “there (H8033) the Lord (H3068)” is used, which is consistent with saying that it is Jehovah, not the Trinity God. Why is this so important? Because Judaism only believes in Jehovah and not the Trinity, so we would say that the temple in this prophecy was built for the Israelites who believed in Judaism.
The book of Ezekiel also talks about the allotment of land. We see that the temple is in the allotment of land, because the scripture says, “And when you divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an allotment to the LORD, a holy portion of the land; …From this area you shall measure a length of 25,000 cubits and a width of 10,000 cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place.”(Ezekiel 45:1-3) Let’s look at the land around the temple that was also divided for Israel. There were thirteen portions in total, including the tribe of Dan, the tribe of Manasseh, the tribe of Ephraim, and the remaining ten tribes. All the tribes of Israel have a share (see Ezekiel 48:1-34) In addition, this temple has the Holy of Holies, as the scripture says, “He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits, before the nave; and he said to me, “This is the most holy place.””(Ezekiel 41:4) From the consistency of the Bible, this should be the same proportion as the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple. Concerning Solomon’s temple, “The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the altar with cedar.”(1 Kings 6:20) Please also note that the Holy of Holies was cube-shaped.
Looking at the size of the tabernacle, it is thirty cubits long, ten cubits wide, and ten cubits high (see Exodus 26:15-22). Although the Bible only says, “You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies.”(Exodus 26:33) Although the size of the Holy of Holies is not mentioned here, the width and height have been determined, and only the length is not mentioned. From the consistency of the Bible, the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle should also be the cube, that is, ten cubits long, ten cubits wide, and ten cubits high, which was half the measure of the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple. This division into the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place is very reasonable even from a human perspective. Let’s take a look at the utensils in it. “You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the holy of holies. You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and you shall put the table on the north side.”(Exodus 26:34-35) In addition, “You shall put this altar (of gold incense) in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you.”(Exodus 30:6) Therefore, the Holy Place has more utensils than the Holy of Holies and should occupy a larger space.
If we refer roughly to Ezekiel 40-42 which tells the size of the temple, it says in Ezekiel 40:5, “And behold, there was a wall on the outside of the temple all around, and in the man’s hand was a measuring rod of six cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one rod; and the height, one rod.” So the basic unit is rod. We saw that despite the size of the temple, it could still be built. Because Judaism does not believe that Jesus is God, but only believes in Jehovah, this temple is where Jehovah is and was built for the Jewish Israelites. At this time, the Gentiles in Israel will be like, “Thus says the Lord GOD, “No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.” (Ezekiel 44:9) No wonder there are Jewish-like sacrifices in this temple, as the scripture says, “And He said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘These are the statutes for the altar on the day it is built, to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it.”(Ezekiel 43:18) This is very reasonable, because Ezekiel at that time saw only Judaism. On the other hand, there were no sacrifices anymore in the New Covenant, but there are sacrifices in the temple. From the fact that what God tells us through the Bible is consistent, we know that the people of Israel does not refer to the Christians of the New Testament era, but truly refers to the Israelites in Judaism.
As for the location of the temple, we see that “In the visions of God He brought me (Ezekiel) into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, and on it to the south there was a structure like a city. …The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and give attention to all that I am going to show you; for you have been brought here in order to show it to you. Declare to the house of Israel all that you see.””(Ezekiel 40:2-4) First, here it is clearly stated that you will tell it to the house of Israel. Second, from the consistency of Scripture, we know that Ezekiel’s temple was built on Mount Moriah, and by the way, “This is the law of the house: its entire area on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.”(Ezekiel 43:12)
Some people estimated the size of Ezekiel’s temple based on what is written in the Bible and found that such a temple could not be built on the existing Mount Moriah. Therefore, they concluded that it was not actually built but could only interpret the Bible spiritually. But you must know that Ezekiel’s temple will be built in the future. You cannot limit yourself with what you see now and forget the power of God. Let’s not look at the spiritual meaning today, but just look at what the Bible says about what will happen in the future.
Let’s first look at these verses, “Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. …Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded.”(Ezekiel 47:1-5) There is no river on Mount Moriah now, but there will be one when the temple is built. This shows that the terrain will change in the future. Let’s now look at this verse, “Now it will come about that In the last daysThe mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.”(Isaiah 2:2) According to the information on the Internet, Mount Moriah is now about 744 meters high, while the Mount of Olives is 811 meters high. At that time, the mountain of the Temple of the Lord was higher than the other mountains. Obviously, there will be changes in the terrain in the future.
The Bible is very clear on this point, “In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. …And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.”(Zechariah 14:4-8) Wherever there is a low place, there will be a high place in that large earthquake. At that time, Mount Moriah will be higher than all the mountains. It is obviously going to be high and the top of the mountain will become bigger, so that it will be large enough to build the temple Ezekiel prophesied. Note that the temple is on the north and the city is on the south, with the Levitical district separated in between (see Ezekiel 45:1-5, 48:15). According to the Psalms, then “…God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. …There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.”(Psalm 46:1-4) There was a river in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 2:10-14). There was also a river here at that time whose streams make glad the city of God. Thus, the river flowed from the temple to the back of the city and branched.
As for when this yet-to-be-built temple will be built? We first see in Revelation regarding what happened before the sixth seal was opened and before the seventh seal was opened: “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.”(Revelation 7:1-4) Among those who were sealed, there was no one from the tribe of Dan. (See Revelation 7:5-8) The temple and its portions mentioned in Ezekiel include the tribe of Dan, so they are talking about two different things. The unbuilt temple that Ezekiel spoke of should be built after the changes in the terrain when Jesus returns, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, …”(2 Peter 3:10) Therefore, we can only get a large unknown interval from the words of the Bible, and we cannot know the exact time. However, because this is two different things from what will happen in the new heaven and new earth, this once again confirms that the temple was built by Judaism in Israel as mentioned before, and it is something that will happen to Judaism in the future.
Finally, let’s look at the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth in the Book of Revelation, “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. …The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.”(Revelation 21:10-17) We see that this city is cube-shaped and cannot be built by human hands! And “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”(Revelation 21:22-23) Although the Bible does not say it clearly, the cube-shaped city itself should be the Holy of Holies, because it is the place where the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are present. There is no reason to have a temple.
I recently learned that someone saw this, “…the city was pure gold, like clear glass.”(Revelation 21:18) The city that does not shine with the sun or moon also gives some light to those outside the city. In other words, those outside the city can only see some light, but cannot enter the city. This is clearly stated in the Bible. Some people “…may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”(Revelation 22:14-15) This is not like the second death, which is clearly stated in the Bible, “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”(Revelation 21:8) This includes those who do not believe, and it is clearly stated that those who do not believe are in the lake of fire and brimstone. In Revelation 22:15, it does not include those who do not believe. God will not enlighten the unbelievers. Those outside the city are examples of Satan’s success because Peter made it very clear, “…Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8) If Satan had known that he was doomed to fail every time, Peter would not have said, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. …”(1 Peter 5:8) In addition, even if you follow the viewpoint of men, it is impossible for God to enlighten unbelievers at that time, so there were such Christians outside the city who had once believed. Although this viewpoint is different from what some people think, the Bible does say this. The important thing is that we should be like those Christians who can enter the city.
(Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)
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