Thanks Sandra. Actually, the so-called third temple is not being built but Zionists have been preparing for it for many years. Before I comment further on that issue I want to answer your question regarding the Israelite temple history. I am going to try to keep this brief because it is a very detailed story. Suffice it to say that God was not originally in favor of any temple being built and states this clearly in Scripture. For example, in the following passage Stephen tells the truth of the matter and quotes Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 66:1) to prove it:

“David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:
‘Heaven is My throne,
And earth is the footstool of My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My repose?
‘Was it not My hand which made all these things?’” [Acts 7:46-50]

The apostle Paul agrees with this and states the following:

The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; [Acts 17:24-25]

I delve into this topic in my book Real Christianity in which I reveal the truth of the matter through much research and Scripture. Several years ago, my research and writing was confirmed by every student of a Christian college class given the task of writing papers for grade. My book was assigned reading. Suffice it to say that the accurate OT Biblical prophecy of a temple being built was misunderstood and misapplied by Solomon and this incorrect rendering was later adopted by much of Christianity.

However, God never actually said that Solomon would build the temple in question but another one of David’s descendants far into the future. That other one is the Lord Jesus. The prophecy was pointing directly at Him. In reality, since the first century AD, the Lord certainly has been building a temple but a different kind of temple—a spiritual temple. And rather than building with lifeless stone blocks it is composed of Himself as the chief Cornerstone and of His followers, as Paul wrote here:

For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” [2Corinthians 6:16] (Quoting Jeremiah 31:33)

Paul also wrote:

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. [Ephesians 2:19-22]

You may ask then, what about the Israelite temples built and utilized in the past? The answer to that is found in the construction of the original tabernacle of God built initially in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. This tabernacle made of animal skins was actually a mobile tent continually constructed and deconstructed and moved from place to place during the forty year wandering of the Israelites (1446-1406BC). It contained the Ark of the Covenant and other furnishings. It was also carried into the Promised Land and was set up in various locations there over time.

According to 1Chronicles 16:39, the mobile tabernacle existed from then all the way to the time of David four centuries later when it at that time was located in Gibeon. David was the second king (after Saul) and reigned from 1010 to 970BC. You may recall the account when King David brought the Ark into Jerusalem for the first time when he danced before the Lord. Scripture is not clear on how much of the original tent and its furnishings remained at that time but it appears that it was not fully intact having obviously aged and was possibly missing some components.

The point here is that the original tabernacle was constructed as it was and meant to be mobile because it represented the place of God’s dwelling. King Solomon (David’s son and the third king) had incorrectly decided to make a static permanent temple of worked stone designed and built by non-Israelites in the manner of pagan temples. It must be assumed that God allowed this because of the condition of the people’s hearts just as He allowed there to be Israelite kings when He was their actual and only King though rejected by them.

Solomon supervised the building of the first Temple from 966-958BC. This original temple lasted until 586BC when it was completely destroyed by the Babylonians at the outset of the Babylonian Captivity. Afterwards a second replacement temple was built from 521-516BC but this one was of lesser quality. It apparently lasted for five full centuries, however. In about 19BC King Herod began building the third Temple. He had to be very careful though because the existing old temple was considered greatly sacrosanct. However, the fact is that he actually had to deconstruct the Second Temple and then build a completely new Temple—the third one. It was an edifice of extremely high quality and likely much better even than the original of Solomon. Nevertheless, the rulers and priests insisted it was only a remodeling job and also insisted it must continue to be referred to as the Second Temple. This magnificent temple did not last very long, however, as it was destroyed by God’s Judgment in 70AD as per the Lord’s prophecy of almost forty years before:

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]

According to the Lord Jesus that was end of Israelite temples forever. There was no longer any need for one after He gave His life to become the only and final sacrifice for all sin. The previous temples were based on a sacrificial system killing animals as a type of substitution but to also foreshadow the Lord’s death. Whoever then advocates for a new temple gets it wrong by calling it a third temple because it would actually be the fourth. Such people are also egregiously violating the New Testament writings and the Lord’s teachings. The Lord never said we would know of His second coming by the building of a new stone temple.

Nevertheless, an entire industry has sprung up over the last few decades advocating for and demanding a new “third” temple. The main holdup is that the place they want to build it—the so-called “Temple Mount” in Jerusalem—is currently occupied by two centuries-old Muslim mosques one of which is especially highly, highly revered and protected and provokes extremely high emotion by Muslims worldwide. Yet, ironically, the original temples were never actually located on this “Temple Mount” which adds yet another very strange aspect to the “third temple” agenda.

Regardless of such, however, the determined temple advocates will likely eventually set off WWIII by taking the site and this could happen relatively soon. They also believe erroneously that they are doing God’s will and fulfilling prophecy. They simply either do not know the truth of the New Covenant writings and teachings of the Lord Jesus, which includes the errant Zionist Christians involved in this effort, or they don’t care.

We would all be wise to understand and acknowledge the powerful truthful words of Stephen right before they killed him. Not only did he refute the idea of God dwelling in stone temples built by mere men, he also gives us a powerful clue about those advocating for such. I encourage you to read the entire passage of Stephen, his last words, to gain an excellent understanding of this topic. The passage is found in Acts 6:8-7:60.

Blessings

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Amen. I will certainly continue to do my best to answer your questions, Sandra. Teaching is my spiritual gifting (Romans 12:6-8). Blessings 🙂

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