The Temple - Past and Future

Taught by Toby G.
Notes by Linda G.

Today Toby taught from Ezra 6:13-21. She began her teaching by refreshing our memory of the events that had occurred in the building process to date. The Israelites had been given permission to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple. They began building and encountered much opposition. The opposition was overcome and the Temple was completed. She detailed that there were three waves of exiles that had returned from Babylon. The first group is covered in Ezra 1-6, under Zerurbbababel, the second group returned in Ezra 7-10. We will see the return of the third group in Nehemiah 1:1-&:3.

There was a progression of events that were shared by all three groups of the returning exiles. 1) God stirred those in authority to act on behalf of His people, 2) the people faced almost constant opposition, 3) with the Lord’s help they overcame the opposition and were given the aid that was needed. This progression can also be seen in Exodus.

The next portion of scripture Toby covered was Ezra 6:13-15. This tells us that the Temple was rebuilt. Toby noted that to get to this point in the history of the nation of Israel it took many years and was fraught with tests and trials but that the actual completion is recorded in only three verses. This event had been prophesied in Jeremiah 29:10 ‘This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place”.

Toby noted how important it was to the priests and Levites that the construction was done properly. There could only be one Temple. Although the Israelites could pray and worship at synagogues, the only place that the blood sacrifice for sin could be made was on the Temple Mount. For the preceding 70 years there had been no sacrifice for sin. How thankful we should be that because of the shed blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, we can freely go to the Father to receive forgiveness for our sins!

In Ezra 6:19-22, Toby spoke of the Passover celebration that followed the completion of the temple. This was the first time this festival of the Lord would have taken place in 70 years because the sacrifice could not be made according to the law without the physical temple. Even though the reconstructed temple was much smaller when compared with Solomon’s temple there was still much rejoicing. The remnant that had returned had witnessed the faithfulness of the Lord. This was a purified remnant. They had been chastised by the Lord for their sin yet they had received God’s mercy. The celebration of the Passover marked a new era for the nation.

Toby now fast-forwarded in history to give us a more complete understanding of the Temple – its past and its prophesied future. As recorded in the scriptures, the second temple – the one we have just seen rebuilt, is destroyed. To date, it has not been rebuilt. In it’s place on the Temple Mount now stands the Dome of the Rock. This is one of the oldest Islamic structures in the world. Over the course of history Israel had ceased to be a country. In our not so distant past, it had been ruled under Britain, referred to as the Palestinian Mandate. The Jewish people had been treated very badly. Britain desired to placate the Arab nations, as both Jews and Muslims felt they had a claim to the land.

Around 1948, Toby pointed out, that once again we see the three-fold progression of events that we saw in the Exodus and the return of the Babylonian exiles: 1) the Israeli people began to return to their homeland, 2) they faced opposition, 3) by the divine hand of the Lord they overcame the obstacles. In the history of the world, no other ethnic group that has lost its homeland has survived to once again become a country. This could only happen through the hand of the Lord!!

At this point in the class, Annie stepped in to give us insight into the prophetic aspects of the Temple. Right now, the Temple Mount site is off-limits to any Jewish or Christian people who would want to have any type of religious service there. You will be asked to leave even if you are simply praying. The Muslims believe that this is the site where Muhammad ascended to heaven. According to scripture the Temple will be rebuilt (see Ezekiel 38). In both Daniel 9 and Matthew 24 there are references to the fact that in the end times sacrifices in the temple would be forbidden. In order for this to occur there would have to be a temple in which the sacrifices could be made. She made it clear that the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock will come with divine intervention.

Next Toby covered the controversy surrounding the rebuilding of the third Temple that is occurring in present day. There are three different movements that are currently involved in this undertaking. One of these organizations is called the Temple Mount Institute. They are currently compiling the physical effects that would be needed in the Temple. One thing that has proven to be a change is the acquirement of the Red Heifer. The ashes of the red heifer are necessary for purification prior to entering the sanctuary of the Temple proper. The heifer has yet to be located as it is very rare.

The Jewish people themselves are divided on this issue. The Reformed Jews are against the rebuilding. They do not want to go back to the time of physical sacrifices nor do they want to return to the times of the levitical priesthood. Religious Jews are awaiting this. Of major importance is the reestablishment of the Levitical Priesthood through the descendants of Aaron. With the scientific use of DNA, now approximately 50% of those claiming to be from the line of Aaron have been verified.

The class ended with a short discussion of how we felt about the issue. It was noted that the Jewish people quote the same scriptures that we do regarding the Messiah – but they are still awaiting His first appearance while we as Christians await his second coming. It was mentioned that this is in God’s timing, not ours. Christians throughout generations have believed that they were entering into the end times, yet it does seem that we are closer than ever before.