Question:  

Robert, from your study of the Scripture do you think the temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem?Regards,

Response:

It's a short question - I will try to keep the answer short! This is something that I am dealing with in depth in the series I am currently working on (The Coming Tribulation - estimate part two out sometime in the winter/spring). Yes, the temple will be rebuilt. While Zech.6:12-13 implies that the Messiah will build it, it is likely that yibneh there means "build up" (cf. Ps.147:2 et al.), and so refers not the construction of the central edifice, but to the cleansing, repair, and expansion of the whole temple complex (cf. Ezek.40-44; and consider what Herod did to turn the small second temple into a massive structure). Revelation 11:1-3 clearly puts a temple (a naos = the building with its altar and inner court) in Jerusalem at the time of the Tribulation, and 2nd Thessalonians 2:4 has the antichrist actually enthroning himself in the naos (the inner shrine where ark of the covenant resided). The latter passage calls the place "the temple of God", i.e., a real and in some sense "authorized" temple. Also, the events of Daniel 9:27 clearly assume a temple. For this reason (and others that space and time do not permit full exposition here) I believe Moses and Elijah (the two witnesses - another lengthy topic to be covered in the upcoming series) will be the ones who initiate and complete the rebuilding of the temple (Elijah "restores all things" = not only true worshipers but also true worship including that of the temple), and that this will happen at the outset of the Tribulation. So I don't think that secular efforts before the fact are going to be successful, but I do believe scripture clearly assumes another temple during the Tribulation, requiring a rebuilding.

Thanks for your question - it provided a helpful stimulus to my research on this!

Yours in Christ,

Bob Luginbill

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