Eschatology - Rebuild the Third Temple or Renounce Christ?

Christians in support of the rebuilding of the "Third Temple" in Jerusalem face a dilemma. As time progresses, the vanity of looking for signs of the end increases. Many have found the rebuilding of the temple in Israeli Palestine a key sign of the times. According to Thomas Ice and Randall Price, Ready to Rebuild, The Imminent Plan to Rebuild the Last Days Temple, p. 21, many Zionist leaders are making unprecedented claims that we are about to see the fulfillment of the Bible's prophetic promises.  To them it is preparation for the coming of the Messiah.

The dilemma for Christian Zionists and for non-Premillennial Dispensationalists who support these ideas is that the New Testament affirms that the Messiah came in 4 B.C. He began his ministry at about age 30. The apostles called this period the 'fullness of the times' when God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. (Gal. 4:4). Jesus referred to it as the "time is fulfilled"of which the prophets spoke, (Mark 1:14-15).

Where Would The Temple Be Rebuilt?

A primary work of Jesus, as Messiah involved building the temple of God. This he  proclaimed when as yet, the second (Herod's) temple yet stood. However, Christ made two very notable statements about temple building during his ministry. One, He made while conversing with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well; the other during the last week of his ministry when he spoke of the destruction of Herod's temple.

First, in a friendly exchange, the Samaritan woman argued that "our fathers worshiped in this mountain and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." By 'this mountain' she meant Mt. Gerizim, located in Samaria. The Lord's response calls into question not only worship in Mt. Gerizim but also in the then current temple in Jerusalem. The implications therefore for a third geo-centric temple raises questions.

He said, the hour was coming and indeed had come (now is) that the true worshipers would neither worship the Father in Mt. Gerizim of Samaria nor even in Jerusalem. He then affirmed the proper place of worship, i.e. the true location of the temple of God. True worship, He said, is not geo-centric.

True worship is located in spirit and in truth. It resides within God himself. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship "in Spirit and in truth." (John 4:20-24) 'In Spirit and in truth' are locatives in Greek denoting location. To deny this would invalidate every Christian church in the world outside of the Temple Mount in Palestine.

The Type and Shadow Destroyed

According to Hebrews, the earthly temple served as a type and shadow of the true heavenly temple. God never intended it to be permanent. It served only until the spiritual realities came through Christ. See Hebrews 9:8-11, 23-24.

Next, in the Olivet discourse, after his disciples admired the beautifully adorned stones of Herod's temple, Jesus stated that not one stone standing upon another would escape being thrown down, Matt. 24:1-2. In other words, he demonstrated that the age of the Messiah involved the destruction of the geo-centric Jewish temple, not the building of it, --all before His generation (contemporaries living in the first century) passed, Matt. 24:3, 34.

In 70 A.D., and as a direct result of the Jewish nation's rejection of Jesus Christ as their Messiah, through the hands of the Roman General Titus, He destroyed that temple, ending their chosen Covenant status as Moses had prophesied. (Deut. 18:15-18; 28: 49-68; 32:1-43). The Apostles, Peter and Paul make it clear that the events of their day, fulfilled the words of Moses, (Acts 3:22-26; 13:32-41).

Rebuilding By Force Expressly Forbidden

Today, Jews United Against Zionism who refer themselves as "True Torah Jews" say they are in exile as a direct result of those prophecies and the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Their stated position is as follows:

• They were not to seek to rebuild the temple while under the chastisement of God.
• They were not to return to the land by force unless God brings them back.
• They were to seek the peace, not the destruction of the nations in which they were exiled, (e.g. Jer. 29:4–7)
• They were not to allow themselves to be self-deceived or by false prophets who lied in the name of Jehovah to do otherwise. (v. 8–9)
• They were not to start wars.

http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/zionism/history.cfm

Price and Ice's book add that many Christians who expect an imminent return of the Lord see evidence of that nearness in the current events that surround the state of Israel. They regard the rebuilding of the third [geo-centric] temple as a scriptural condition. How can this be when the very idea behind it is a denial of Jesus' claims regarding the temple?

The prophets and the apostles taught that God does not dwell in man-made temples. "Thus says the Lord, 'Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool, Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My Rest? (Isa. 66:1). Stephen who denounced the nation for killing their prophets and their Messiah quotes the text adding: "But Solomon built Him a house. However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says." (Acts 7:47-50)

While he yet spoke they stoned Stephen to death charging him that Jesus' words of destroying Herod's temple and changing the covenant (Heb. 7:11-14), were blasphemous and against the Law (Acts 6:13-14).

The Prophets Fulfilled During the Apostolic Ministry

Ezekiel prophesied that God would build the temple during the times and under the terms of the New Covenant. (37:24-26). Isaiah 49:5-12, prophesied this new temple would be rebuilt when God gathers the remnant of Israel, (those of the nation who accepted Christ) along with the Gentiles in the days of the apostles. In verse 8, he says Christ was given as a Covenant to the people to restore the land and to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages."  Paul affirmed the remnant of which he was part, were already receiving those covenant promises as Christians in the first century. (Rom. 11:7)

Both Isaiah and Ezekiel's prophecies quoted in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, 16-18), demonstrate that God was at that very time restoring both the "land" and "the temple" to Israel and the Gentiles in Christ. However, as seen above with the Samaritan woman, it was not geo-centric in that Corinth was not located in Jerusalem but in Greece. This confirms that neither the temple promise nor the land promise is geo-centric. They are Christo-centric.

Last Days Temple Composed of Divine and Living Stones

Finally, Peter said that believers were the "living stones" which were being built up as a spiritual house --temple of the Lord, (1 Peter 2:6). Paul taught that the church was the temple of God being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone, (Eph. 2:19-22).

Ironically, in preparation for the rebuilding of the "Third Temple" in Jerusalem a three-ton cornerstone awaits placement on the Temple Mount under threat of force! To the contrary and according to the New Testament Peter said of Jesus Christ: "This [One] is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief corner stone.' Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved," (Acs 4:11-12). 

This accords with Revelation 21:22, that God and Christ are the temple of the heavenly Jerusalem. That holy city has descended out of heaven from God and in which is found the tabernacle of God which is now with men, (Rev. 21:2-3)

Consequences of Christian Zionists

So Christian Zionists must choose between the Iraeli "three-ton rock," or Jesus, the "Spiritual Rock of Salvation" for the true temple in their last days paradigm. Shamefully, millions choose the "three ton-rock." This choice comes with a dear price. To choose the Israeli third temple rock means that:

• Christ lied when he said the temple would not be geo-centric in location, i.e. in Jerusalem
• Christ is not the exclusive cornerstone, foundation and temple.
• Messiah and His age did not come in the first century
• a new Messiah must be ushered in by the Israeli geo-centric temple
• the church is not the everlasting spiritual temple of God
• a "three-ton rock" displaces Jesus Christ
• the kingdom of God must be taken by force
• supporting the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians (some of whom are Christians) from their land in the name of Christianity
• Israeli apartheid, ethnic cleansing, land theft and human rights violations are supported by Christian Zionism

1. Thomas Ice & Randall Price, Ready to Rebuild, The Imminent Plan to Rebuild the Last Days Temple, p. 21
    
2. http://www.cc-vw.org/articles/temple.htm
    
3. http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com/eschatology/premillennialism/dispensationalism/antichrist/flaws-in-rebuilding-the-temple-theory
    
4. http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/zionism/history.cfm
    
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU4_R2lZcPk
    
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfW8yv_FGMc&feature=related