THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION

[TLSITD]

There are many Christians who are anticipating the building of a/the third temple in Jerusalem, Israel (or Palestine)---either because they believe that it is going to be a good thing (that God will return to the Jewish people when the temple is rebuilt), or because they know that it is going to be built for the worship of the antichrist and see it as a sign of the Lord's imminent return.


Both are wrong.


The first camp is wrong because they believe that God wants the Jewish temple to be rebuilt (He doesn't; He is the one who destroyed the last one!) and is going to return to Judaism and to some temple that is going to be rebuilt in earthly Jerusalem, which He is not. Some of the Jews will return to God---through faith in Jesus Christ, whereby they will no longer be Jews by religion but Christians----but God is not going to return to either Judaism or to the Jewish temple if one is rebuilt in Jerusalem. If a temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem, it will be for the worship of the antichrist, not God. That's nothing to celebrate.


The second camp is wrong because they think that the rebuilding of the temple means that Jesus must be coming back soon, because they know that the temple will be rebuilt for the worship of the antichrist, and believe that Christians won't be here on the earth for that---when in fact, we will. Jesus is not coming back any minute; He is coming back on the last day of the great tribulation (which will be approximately three and a half years from when the antichrist's mark and worship are implemented and instituted----a period of testing and judgment of the saints, and of the judgment of the unsaved, which was "cut short"---that is, in half---by God from Daniel's original seven years), at which time He will destroy the antichrist. (But He won't take His seat in the temple in Jerusalem after doing so).


So, while camp two is correct about the temple being built for the antichrist and not for God, they are wrong about the timing of Christ's return. And they also misunderstand the meaning of 2 Thesssalonians 2:4, which speaks about the antichrist taking his seat in the temple of God and proclaiming himself to be God.


I am going to explain here for you, with the help of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus---who has given me understanding to prepare His people for the time soon to come---the meaning and significance of this Scripture, and its implications for us (Christians). I hope you will take what I share with you to the Lord (with clean hands and a pure and sincere heart) and ask Him to show you the truth about it, so that you will know it for yourself with certainty, and do whatever may be appropriate for you to do about it.


Here is what 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4 says (quoting the English Standard Version translation of the Bible):


Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.


The "rebellion" to which Paul is referring here is the rebellion of the saints (Christians), that is, apostasy, that will reach its peak in the last days. (See 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 4:3,4.) These same rebellious saints are the "transgressors" (of God's law, the law of Christ) referred to in Daniel 8:23. We are in the midst of those days now. It is only a matter of time before the antichrist is revealed and the tribulation begins.


(And if you are saying to yourselves, "'Apostasy'? What 'apostasy'?" or "Christianity is doing great! It has some problems, sure, but it's not as bad as all that", Jesus said that a wicked and adulterous generation does not recognize the signs of the times, and that is what the majority of Christians today are in God's sight: Wicked and adulterous---lovers of self and of the world, unholy, and rebellious against the commandments and teachings of the New Testament and the will of God, which so many believe they do not have to live by, because to do so is 'legalism'. It's actually the love of God; and you don't have it if you don't obey Him (according to God, not me).

What did Jesus have to say to the church at Ephesus? To Sardis? To Laodicea (who didn't realize how wretched they were in God's sight, by the way)? Did He tell them they weren't that bad and that they had nothing to worry about because He had paid it all for them and because He knew they couldn't do any better and He didn't expect them to? No, He did not. You know very well what He said to them, and what had happened and was about to happen to them.

Most Christians don't realize their own wretchedness in the sight of God and how far they have fallen short of His New Testament standard (which is still His standard), because they favor the teachings and opinions of men over the doctrine of Christ. You are the sign of the times, rebellious Christian; you are the "transgressor". You are fulfilling that Scripture, and the judgment of God is coming upon you---through the person of the antichrist.)


There is only one temple of God (on earth), and it will not be any temple that may be built in Jerusalem; nor will any temple built there be holy in any way. It will be a temple of Satan, for the worship of Satan, who will be indwelling the person of the antichrist and from whom all his power and 'wisdom' will come. That is not the temple of God. If such a temple is built, which I don't doubt one may be, it will be an utterly unholy place, where the antichrist and/or his image will most certainly belong---because it will be his temple!


(Continued.)

 

[TLSITD]

This is the temple of God, (where the abomination of desolation does not belong):


Do you not know that you (brothers) are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy and you (brothers) are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16,17)



...You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by His Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)



As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame." So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." (1 Peter 2:4-8)



The cornerstone of the true temple of God is Jesus Christ---the very stone which the builders of any new Jewish temple have rejected. They will receive the antichrist as their messiah and as their god, and will build a temple for him. God has nothing whatsoever to do with it. It will no more be His temple than Saint Peter's Basilica.



So why do the Scriptures say that the antichrist will 'take his seat in the temple of God' if the temple of God is the church of Christ? Because most of the saints will fall away from Christ during the tribulation and will worship the antichrist---the abomination that makes desolate. Why will they do this? Because they do not love God, as they have been proving to Him by their rebellion against His word and His will, and He is going to judge them by giving the impenitent rebels among His people into the hand of the antichrist to be conquered and destroyed (spiritually). They will not have the spiritual support from Jesus to withstand the temptation when it comes, and so will chose to save and preserve their earthly lives by taking the mark of the beast and worshiping his image, rather than preserving their eternal life at the cost of persecution and martyrdom.



"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another...And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:9-13)



And some of the host and (or 'that is') some of the stars it (the antichrist) threw down to the ground and trampled on them. It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was overthrown. And a host will be given over to it (the antichrist) together with the regular burnt offering because of transgression...Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, "For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?" And he said to me, "For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state." (Daniel 8:10-14)



The "host" mentioned here in Daniel is Christians (the people of Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of the host). The regular worship of God will be taken away from Him when the saints forsake Jesus Christ and worship the beast---the ultimate transgression, the abomination which makes desolate. Those who do this will be left desolate, just as the temple of the Jews was left desolate when they rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Only people who have God can be abandoned by Him and made desolate, and unsaved people are already empty and alone. They cannot be made desolate. (See also the Lord's warning to the church in Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2 related to this subject of saints being forsaken by God for apostasy.)


And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. (Daniel 9:27)
(This is translated differently in the KJV, and the events mentioned in Daniel 9:24-27 are events with more than one fulfillment, the first fulfillment being the destruction of the Jewish temple and the city of Jerusalem in 70 AD.)


What 'wing of abominations' (or 'overspreading of abominations' KJV)? The outer court of God's heavenly temple---His worshipers on earth---which is presently filled with all manner of uncleanness, due to the apostasy of the saints. This is the 'outer court' which is going to be trampled by the children of the devil during the tribulation, just as the temple of the Jews was razed and trampled underfoot by the Gentiles as God's judgment on them for rejecting Jesus. The temple was not destroyed in an act of persecution against the Jews, but as an act of God's judgment on the Jews for being disobedient to the gospel. And He is about to judge Christians in the same way.


As Jesus said: "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet." (Matthew 5:13)


"Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months."
(Revelation 11:1,2)


The holy city is represented by her citizens (also the case in Revelation 20:9). Christians are the citizens of heaven and of the heavenly Jerusalem to come, and God recognizes us as His city on earth, just as His church is His temple on earth.


"Go now to My place that was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house that is called by My name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight..."
(Jeremiah 7:12-15)



"I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My heritage; I have given the beloved of My soul into the hands of her enemies. My heritage has become to Me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against Me; therefore I hate her...Go assemble all the wild beasts; bring them to devour." (Jeremiah 12:7-9)



So do not become proud (Christians, Gentiles), but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches (the Jews), neither will He spare you (Christians, Gentiles). (Romans 11:21)


For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us (Christians), what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And "If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" (1 Peter 4:17,18)


So now you know what the abomination of desolation is, and what the "temple of God" in which the antichrist will take his seat will be. It won't be because Christians actually believe that the antichrist is God that they will take his mark and worship his image; they will not be deceived, just scared and jealous for themselves and their lives on earth rather than for their life in Christ, which they have already proven to God that they do not value. The non-elect will be deceived. Christians will not: Their taking of the mark will be an act of knowledgeable, willful sin---rebellion.


Whether the antichrist takes his seat in a Satanic third temple built in earthly Jerusalem or not, that is not the significance of 2 Thessalonians 2:4 for Christians.


If you are a transgressor of the law of Christ, a rebel who has been justifying his or her disobedience in this way or that, a Christian who does not have a good conscience toward God and who is fearful of death because your love for Him is imperfect (1 John 4:18), the time to repent is now. The saints who wash their robes will be delivered by God from the tribulation---whether by life or by death (mostly by the latter way). Those who do not repent will be overcome by the antichrist in the time of testing and will perish spiritually.


Desolations are decreed. (Daniel 9:26)


One way or the other---either by sinning saints washing their robes, or by the soiled saints who refuse to do so being cleaned out of His city and His sanctuary by means of His judgment during the tribulation---which He will carry out through the antichrist, as He carried out His judgment on His former people through Nebuchadnezzar in the time of Jeremiah, whose time is a spiritual parallel to ours---at the end of those days, God's sanctuary will be cleansed, and will be restored to its rightful state when Christ returns and brings all things to an end.

 

[TLSITD]

This is how earthly Jerusalem is described by God during the tribulation (during the reign of the antichrist): SODOM and EGYPT (Revelation 11:8).





Look out for dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh... (Philippians 3:2,3)



"Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship."

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father...The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth."
(John 4:20-24)



"But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me, says the Lord, or what is the place of My rest? Did not My hand make all these things?'

"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it." (Acts 7:47-53)


And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. (Revelation 21:22)

 

[for_his_glory]

Ezekiel 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
Isaiah 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

Satan was the one who claimed himself to be his own god and his kingdom (which is a lesser magnitude than Gods) is that of this world and who he works through in order to claim that he will sit in the seat of God (or rise above God and sit in His heavenly seat) and also sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north (Jerusalem).
Rev 13 the beast that rises from the sea gives power to the son of perdition that rises from the earth as being the false prophet. The son of perdition who is the false prophet will take his seat on the same ground where the Temple of God use to stand and his sanctuary as a government kingdom of nations on the sides of the north meaning taking over the seat of Jerusalem in that of a political, economic and religious power (NWO).

The Temple in the OT was the sanctuary of God here on earth as God from His heavenly throne (sanctuary) worked through those He chose to be His servants (priest) here on earth. In the NT Jesus spoke of the temple being his body and that he is the chief cornerstone, John 2:19-22. Eph 2:19-22; 1Peter 2:5. We who are in Christ indwelled with the Holy Spirit are now that temple of God not made of stone built by hand, but built of the foundation of Christ being our cornerstone, 1Cor 6:19; 2Cor 6:16. We are of the heavenly sanctuary where Gods seat is from above as we reign with Christ here on earth.

There is no purpose or reason why an actual Temple would have to be built for the veil has been torn from top to bottom, Matthew 27:51, and God is no longer in a Temple of stone built by hands.

Another rebuilt temple is required only if you are a dispensationalist as they take what Daniel said in 9:27 and 12:11 to be a third Temple, but nowhere in these two verses does it speak of a third Temple.

Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Daniel 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

The Book of Daniel was written after Solomon’s temple had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. (2 Kings 25:8–9; Dan. 1:1–2) and before the temple had been rebuilt by the returning exiles (Ezra 6:13–15). It was this post-exile rebuilt temple that was desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes around 170 B.C. After a period of misuse and disuse, the temple was in need of repair. Herod the Great restored and enlarged this rebuilt second temple, a project that started around 20 B.C. and was completed just a few years before it was destroyed in A.D. 70. It was this same temple that Zacharias served in (Luke 1:9), that Jesus was taken to as an infant (2:27), that had been under construction forty-six years (John 2:20), that Jesus cleansed of the money changers (Matt. 21:12), that He predicted would be left desolate (Matt. 23:38; 24:2), and that was finally destroyed by Titus in A.D. 70.

Third-temple advocates find support for their position in Revelation 11:1–2. They begin by assuming that Revelation was written nearly three decades after the temple was destroyed. From this unproven assumption, they conclude that John must be measuring a rebuilt temple. The passage says nothing about a rebuilt temple. The words "shortly" and "near" (Rev. 1:1, 3) are used to describe the time when the events outlined in Revelation were to take place. These words are meaningless if the events have not taken place. The fact that John is told to rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it (11:1), is not evidence that the temple was still standing when John received the revelation. How could John have measured a temple that did not exist in his day?

Matthew 24:1,2 Jesus is speaking about a literal Temple, since in the context of the passage he is standing and looking directly at the second Temple. The same was true of John. He was told to measure the Temple that still had worshipers in it. If the temple was no longer standing, then John was measuring a "spiritual temple."

Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand
(read this without the punctuation and the words spoken of by Daniel the prophet and run all the words that Jesus spoke in this chapter. you will see the events as they take place are that of a literal word.

When you therefore see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains.

Matthew 24:1-31 Jesus is speaking of a greater tribulation, not some 7 year "Great Tribulation" that is nowhere found in scripture, of that time when He walked the earth up until the time of His second coming for His Bride. The final abomination of desolation will be that of a one man (beast) rule of power given to him by the dragon Satan, Rev 13:11-18, that will be that of a one world government, economic and religious power that everyone will be forced to bow down to just as King Nebuchadnezzar tried to force Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3:13-30. This abomination of desolation takes place in the holy place of Christ temple, John 2:19-22. Eph 2:19-22; 1Peter 2:5, and just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego we need to stand in the faith of Christ to not bow down to this antichrist system as we need not fear that which has to take place before the day of the Lord, Rev 2:10; Matthew 10:28

 

[Jim Parker]

If a temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem, it will be for the worship of the antichrist, not God.

Everything necessary to rebuild the Temple and resume the sacrifices has been prepared by Orthodox Jews. They have no intention of worshiping any man.

http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=789

 

[TLSITD]

Everything necessary to rebuild the Temple and resume the sacrifices has been prepared by Orthodox Jews. They have no intention of worshiping any man.

http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=789

They may not have any intention of doing so (none of the non-elect unsaved have any intention of worshiping the antichrist), but they will.

And all who dwell on earth will worship it (or "him", that is, the antichrist aka the beast), everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. (Revelation 13:8 ESV)

...Because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 ESV)

If God sends a strong delusion on someone so that they will be deceived into doing a thing, and declares that they're going to do it, they're going to be deceived and will do it, regardless of whether they intend to be or to do whatever it is that He has determined they will do. The Scriptures will be fulfilled.

 

[Jim Parker]

They may not have any intention of doing so (none of the non-elect unsaved have any intention of worshiping the antichrist), but they will.

And all who dwell on earth will worship it (or "him", that is, the antichrist aka the beast), everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain. (Revelation 13:8 ESV)

...Because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 ESV)

If God sends a strong delusion on someone so that they will be deceived into doing a thing, and declares that they're going to do it, they're going to be deceived and will do it, regardless of whether they intend to be or to do whatever it is that He has determined they will do. The Scriptures will be fulfilled.

Not everyone is subject to the delusion. Only those who "...did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2Thes 2:10)

 

[TLSITD]

Not everyone is subject to the delusion. Only those who "...did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2Thes 2:10)

Yes, and those would be the unsaved non-elect during that time, as I said, which will include non-elect, unsaved Jews.

 

[Jim Parker]

Yes, and those would be the unsaved non-elect during that time, as I said, which will include non-elect, unsaved Jews.

OK