Who Will Build the Third Temple?
- Pastor Jay Christianson
- 2 hours ago
- 9 min read
“Take silver and gold, make a crown, and place it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 You are to tell him: This is what the Lord of Armies says: Here is a man whose name is Branch; he will branch out from his place and build the Lord’s temple.” (Zechariah 6:11-12 CSB)
This piece is dedicated to my good friend, Dorothy Vincent Richter, who has been such a blessing to me and my wife for over thirty years. Dorothy encouraged us to tour Israel for the first time in 1996 and was the inspiration for this prophetic interpretation about the Third Temple. Throughout our friendship, she helped me with Hebrew, encouraged me and Jeanne in the faith, and stayed faithful to Yeshua (Jesus) to the very end—a true saint of God.
Ever since I first read The Late Great Planet Earth (Hal Lindsey) in the 70s, I’ve kept my eye on Jerusalem. Hal’s book helped stoke the nascent theological fires of the eschatological (End Times) bonfire. Since that time, many evangelical believers over the last three generations have accepted the premise that a Third Temple will be built on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount prior to Jesus’ return. Why? Because of what Paul wrote.
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him: We ask you, brothers and sisters, not to be easily upset or troubled, either by a prophecy or by a message or by a letter supposedly from us, alleging that the day of the Lord has come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s temple, proclaiming that he himself is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, italics author).
Well, everyone knows Super Antichrist Boogeyman has to defile the Temple to kick off the Great Tribulation that ends with Jesus’ return. Therefore, a Third Temple must be standing, right?
Maybe not.
Here is what we know for sure. Ezekiel was a prophet who was taken to Babylon in 597 B.C. Ezekiel’s vision in chapters 40-43 reveals the basic blueprints of a temple to be rebuilt sometime after King Solomon’s First Temple (c. 966) was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Afterwards, a remnant of Jewish captives returned from the Babylonian Exile, and a Second Temple was built during Nehemiah’s and Ezra’s days (520-516 B.C.).
While some scholars state that the Second Temple was Ezekiel’s prophesied Temple, the early architecture of this Second Temple did not match Ezekiel’s prophetic description. Furthermore, God’s physical glory, which left the First Temple just before its destruction (Ezekiel 10-11), did not return to fill the Second Temple. However, God’s glory will return and fill Ezekiel’s Temple according to Ezekiel 43:1-5, and the sacrificial service will begin once again with a sanctified house and priesthood (Ezekiel 43-46).
Oh, wow, can you hear the evangelicals scream at this point? “How dare you say that the sacrificial service will resume! Jesus is the embodiment of all the sacrifices, so no sacrifice is required ever again!” I’m not going to fight about this. The Bible says it will, and the objectors have to deal with that (although I may write a piece explaining why I believe sacrifices can and will be done during Jesus’ Millennial Reign).
So, because the Second Temple didn’t match Ezekiel’s design and God’s glory didn’t return, the Second Temple wasn’t Ezekiel’s future Temple. “Fine,” you say. “What about King Herod’s renovations? They were spectacular after all.” True. Under King Herod’s megalomaniacal supervision, the meager, basically functional Second Temple became a massive complex of brilliant white stone and gold. The Jewish historian, Josephus, describes the front of the Temple thus:
“Now the outward face of the temple in its front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either men’s minds or their eyes; for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun’s own rays. But this temple appeared to strangers, when they were coming to it at a distance, like a mountain covered with snow; for as to those parts of it that were not gilt, they were exceeding white” (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, chapter 5, paragraph 6, italics author).
Truly glorious. But with artificial glory, not God’s.
Except when Jesus showed up with God’s glory and presence infused within His human flesh. When He showed up, Malachi’s prophetic word was fulfilled. “‘(T)he Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the Messenger of the covenant you delight in—see, he is coming,’ says the Lord of Armies” (Malachi 3:1).
This Second Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, and no Temple that matches Ezekiel’s description has graced the Temple Mount for nearly 2,000 years. As far as many evangelicals and others understand prophecy, a Third Temple will have to be built for Super Antichrist Boogeyman to do his thing.
Again, I contend, maybe not.
First, Jesus (Remember Him? God?) told us that just before He returns at the very End (No, not A.D. 70. Sorry, preterists.), Super Antichrist Boogeyman will usurp the Temple Mount, God’s Throne, as his own, thus supplanting God. He will set up an Abomination that Desolates (defiles) the Holy Precinct (Matthew 24:15, referring to Daniel 9:27).
Second, Daniel also says the Abomination will be “on a wing of the temple” (Daniel 9:27). The word for side is kanaf, “bird wing” (lit.) or “side” (fig.). The Abomination will be somewhere on the Temple Mount, but not in a Temple.
According to Paul, Super Antichrist Boogeyman will also designate himself as a god in place of God “in God’s sanctuary” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). The word for sanctuary here is naos, which specifically refers to God’s Temple. It can also refer to “God’s dwelling place” (Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the NT). The Temple Mount is the place where God dwells, specifically, the Temple. So, Super Antichrist Boogeyman could make his proclamation anywhere on the Temple Mount.
Finally, a Temple is not needed to make a sacrifice. Only an altar is required. Currently, there is no Temple on the Temple Mount, and yet the Temple Mount Faithful have designed a build-it-quickly altar that could be assembled on the Mount for Levitical priests to conduct a Passover sacrifice (forward.com).
Therefore, assuming all the End Times prophecies of Jesus and Paul can be fulfilled without a Jewish Temple on the Mount, who will build Ezekiel’s Temple and when?
For those answers, let’s take a left turn in the Bible and dive into the Hebrew scriptures, specifically Zechariah 3 and 6.
Zechariah 3:8
“Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your colleagues sitting before you; indeed, these men are a sign that I am about to bring my servant, the Branch.” This verse takes place during the Second Temple’s rebuilding. The prophet Zechariah encourages God’s leaders to complete the task diligently. In this verse, Zechariah reveals prophetically that the High Priest Joshua is a prophetic picture, a sign, of “the Branch,” the coming Messiah (see also Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5). Notice in Zechariah 3 that the Branch will “both rule my house and take care of my courts” (Zechariah 3:7) and in that day God will “take away the iniquity of this land in a single day” (Zechariah 3:9). In other words, Messiah will serve as His Father’s High Priest and will remove Israel’s national sin in one day.
Jesus’ name, Yeshua, is a derivative of Joshua, Yehoshua. Zachariah talked to Joshua in real-time, but prophesied about Jesus, the Branch to come, who will serve His Father as the High Priest and through His ministry, Israel’s sin will be removed in one day. While Jesus created the conditions where our sin can be removed, Israel’s National Forgiveness Day didn’t happen at Jesus’ crucifixion. It will happen when Jesus returns, specifically “On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the residents of Jerusalem, to wash away sin and impurity” (Zechariah 13:1. See also Zechariah 12, esp. vss. 7-10).
Zechariah 6
Now comes the exciting part. I’ve left the numbers embedded for easier verse location.
9 The word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Take silver and gold, make a crown, and place it on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 You are to tell him: This is what the Lord of Armies says: Here is a man whose name is Branch; he will branch out from his place and build the Lord’s temple. 13 Yes, he will build the Lord’s temple; he will bear royal splendor and will sit on his throne and rule. There will be a priest on his throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two of them. 14 The crown will reside in the Lord’s temple as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen, son of Zephaniah. 15 People who are far off will come and build the Lord’s temple, and you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you. This will happen when you fully obey the Lord your God” (Zechariah 6:9-15, bold author).
Here are Zechariah’s main points:
1) Vs. 11, “Make a crown.” A crown designating Israel’s royal leader.
2) Vs. 11, “Joshua son of Jehozadak.” Yehoshua ben Yehozadak means Yehovah is salvation, the son of Yehovah, the righteous. The name and title perfectly describe Jesus (God’s salvation), the Son of the righteous God.
3) Vs. 11, “Crown the High Priest.” This action means the priesthood and kingship will be reunited. In the ancient times of Genesis, the father functioned as the priest and ruler of his family. In place of the father (usually at death), the father’s firstborn son became the family priest and ruler in training. Because Jacob’s firstborn son, Reuben, sinned against him, Jacob switched firstborn status to Joseph of Ephraim’s tribe, making Joseph the firstborn over the Israelites (1 Chronicles 5:1). Later, God chose the tribe of Levi to be His priesthood (Numbers 3:12-13), and through David, the tribe of Judah became Israel’s official family line of kings, thus dividing the functions. No king could serve as a priest as King Uzziah tried to do (2 Chronicles 3:16-19). Amazingly, in Jesus, the Firstborn Son of the Father reunites the priesthood and kingship.
4) Vs. 12, “A man whose name is the Branch.” Jesus is the Branch, the Father’s designated Messiah. High Priest Joshua was the sign, the template of the Messiah to come, and Jesus is the fulfillment.
And here we come to the kicker.
5) Vs. 12-13, “He will branch out from his place and build the Lord’s temple. Yes, he will build the Lord’s temple.” Indeed, Joshua and Zerubbabel, the High Priest and the Governor, built the Second Temple. But they are also prophetic signs of what the Father has planned. Jesus will build the Third Temple as a fulfillment of this prophecy. If this interpretation is correct, then the Third Temple’s rise won’t happen until Jesus returns after the Tribulation and at the beginning of His Millennial Kingdom.
6) Vs. 13, “There will be a priest on his throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two of them.” Jesus, the Firstborn Son of the Father’s human family, will function simultaneously as Israel’s High Priest and King.
And here’s a fun addendum.
7) Vs. 15, “People who are far off will come and build the Lord’s temple.” That’s right. People from around the world will stream to Jerusalem to assist in the Third Temple Construction Effort. And thus, under this interpretation, Ezekiel’s over 2,500-year-old prophecy will be fulfilled.
Quite a prophetic stroll, eh?
With Israel back in the land as a nation (May 1948) and Jerusalem as its capital (June 1967), I firmly believe we’re approaching the End Times. These two events are solid fulfillments of God’s End Time calendar. Is a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem a prerequisite for the End Times and Super Antichrist Boogeyman’s rise? I’m not so sure. But other sure signs will confirm our Heavenly Father’s prophetic timeline. Don’t worry.
Am I right about this Third Temple thing?
As I often say to my prophecy class students, “I’ll let you know when we get there.”
A special note to you, dear reader: What do you think of the Frothy Thoughts Blog? Please send a quick email to HighBeamMinistry@gmail.com with your comment about this post, or just to let me know you read it. Don’t worry. High Beam Ministry won’t use your email for spam. For notifications about new material, please use the subscribe button on the website. Thanks so much for reading and replying!
Sources:
What was Solomon’s temple / the first temple?, www.gotquestions.org/Solomon-first-temple.html
The Wars Of The Jews Or The History Of The Destruction Of Jerusalem Book V CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF NEAR SIX MONTHS. FROM THE COMING OF TITUS TO BESIEGE JERUSALEM, TO THE GREAT EXTREMITY TO WHICH THE JEWS WERE REDUCED, www.ccel.org/ccel/josephus/complete.iii.vi.v.html
Temple Mount Revival Movement Revels in Crowd-Funded Passover Sacrifice — but at What Cost?, forward.com/israel/339759/temple-mount-revival-movement-revels-in-crowd-funded-passover-sacrifice/
Shining the Light of God’s Truth on the Road Ahead
Pastor Jay Christianson
The Truth Barista, Frothy Thoughts