Romancing the Stone

 “We will rebuild.”

~Tom Daschle

~John Edwards

~Chris Christie

~Barack Obama

Much of the Christian world is looking for the Temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem before the Second Coming of the Messiah.  Jewish Orthodoxy also seeks to rebuild the Temple and there are several organizations in Israel devoted solely to this purpose.   

However, this doesn’t really make sense to me on an intellectual exegetical study of scripture as well as a theological spiritual level.  Here’s what Jesus said:

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

~John 2:19

Obviously He was talking about His eventual death and resurrection from the grave three days later.  If Jesus was referring to the restoration of a bodily Temple—why are we so obsessed today with a Temple made of “wood and stone?” 

“Wood and stone” in the Bible has very negative connotations.  Most every time “wood and stone” are mentioned, they are in reference to idols.  Or, in more common everyday vernacular…it refers to those things that we worship and exalt besides God.  Also, would not another Temple, will all the attendant sacrifices required, be a blasphemy to us in light of the “ultimate Sacrifice” which as already been given through Jesus Christ on the cross?

Moreover, if we are awaiting a Temple rebuilding prior to Jesus’ return, it would mean that Jesus could not come at any time—yet he talked of a sense of expectancy when “Signs of the Times” would become evident:

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

Luke 21:28

Today, we have lots of “wood and stone” idols.  Just listening to the clueless politicians tell us how “we will rebuild” after every disaster, confirms this wrong focus.  In fact, in The Harbinger, a best-selling apocalyptic book by Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, the author points out that stating these very words, “we will rebuild”, precedes serious judgment by God.  It is the equivalent of “raising a fist” in God’s face when He brings correction to sin.  So, based on man’s rebellious nature, it is not surprising that we continue to see some efforts or futile attempts to rebuild a Temple in Jerusalem.  Truly this is an attempt to create another Tower of Babel.

So, does the Bible say anything specifically about when there will be a Temple Restoration?  I predict that before the true Temple is rebuilt again in Jerusalem…Hell will have to freeze over…literally.  The Bible states that before the beginning of the Milennium, Satan will be bound and Hell sealed over for 1000 years.

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.

~Revelation 20: 1-3

It is during this time that there will be complete and total restoration of Jerusalem and The Temple Restoration which will be ruled by Jesus Christ Himself.  

One last thing we, as Christians, should be very aware of is the predicted “Abomination of Desolation”.  A False Christ will arise who will occupy the current Temple and declare himself as God.  Literally, that will be a time to “run for the hills”.

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Matthew 24: 15-16

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So clearly God is talking about a human temple.  Why would the Most High God revert back to inhabiting wood and stone after making a flesh and blood appearance?  As noted, the prophet Daniel says this is a move that we should expect of the ultimate “AntiChrist”. 

The Old Testament Ark of the Covenant was symbolic of our eventual relationship with the Lord where He not only would dwell AMONG us but WITHIN us.  I expectantly believe that we are on the crux of mass Messianic Revival, especially in Jerusalem (Israel).  I pray for this in the United States as well…a fourth “Great Awakening”.  When we have the Holy Spirit within, God’s laws are written on our hearts, not on tablets of stone:

written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

~2 Corinthians 3:3

Here in the United States, if we don’t put God back into His proper place…the center of our “Temples”…expect continued atrocities and disasters like Newtown Connecticut and Hurricane Sandy (and worse) to be the norm in 2013.  We’ve asked God to leave…now we are witnessing the horrific and terrifying results of a God-less society gone mad and under judgment. 

No amount of oblivious politicians declaring a remake of society or a “rebuilding” of our culture will fix this.  We will trip over ourselves in confusion and disarray.  Our society desperately needs “Temple Restoration”.  Let’s start by removing the stones in our hearts and minds, preparing the soil, and planting the Seed of Faith.

In America and worldwide, we truly need a major “Temple” overhaul…

a complete heart and soul restoration.

He [Jesus] is “the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone”.

Acts 4:11

The Bible is the cornerstone of Liberty.

~Thomas Jefferson

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