“Had Your Torah not been my preoccupation, I would have perished in my suffering. I will never forget Your precepts, for through them You have preserved me. I am Yours, save me! For I have sought Your precepts. The wicked hoped to destroy me, but I contemplate Your testimonies.” Psalms 119:92-95
How many times have we been told the Temple of HaShem in Jerusalem is null and void, something to be shunned, rejected and spit on and will one day be rebuilt solely so the False Messiah can inhabit it in the End of Days?
Or how many times have we been told that we are now the Temple, therefore any support for or attempts at rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem is the fullest expression of blasphemy and rejected of HaShem? How utterly wrong those sentiments are and further proof the Replacement Theology they are derived from!
Always remember the following characteristics and attributes of HaShem as He has revealed them in His Word as they are critical to understanding Who He is and recognizing the real Messiah and not fall for the subtle, sly, seducing doctrines of the False Messiah:
– HaShem never changes per Num 23:19/Mal 3:6/Hebrews 13:8/James 1:17
– His Word is firmly established per Psalm 119:89
– He reveals the end out of the beginning per Is 46:10
– He does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets per Amos 3:7
– He says there is nothing new under the sun per Ecclesiastes 1:9
– He says His Torah is eternal per Proverbs 3:19 and Psalm 119:160
– He says His Torah is perfect and restores the soul per Psalm 19:7
– He says His Torah makes the simple one wise per Psalm 19:7
– He says His Torah Is freedom and liberty per Psalm Ps 119:45 and James 1:25
– He says His Torah is the only good doctrine there is Proverbs 4:2
– He says His Torah will add length of days and years of life and peace per Proverbs 3:2
– He says all of the ways of His Torah are ways of pleasantness and peace per Proverbs 3:17
– He says His Torah is for our good and well-being per Deuteronomy 6:24
– He says His Torah is health for our lives per Proverbs 3:8
– He says His Torah is life to our soul and a graceful ornament for our neck per Prov 3:22
– He says His Torah is better than pearls and all desires cannot compare to it per Prov 8:11
– He says those who walk with His Torah are praiseworthy per Psalms 119:1
– He says observing His Torah is how we purify our path per Psalms 119:9
– He says His Torah is better than thousands in gold and silver per Psalms 119:72
– He says His Torah brings abundant peace to those who love Him and His Torah per Psalms 119:165
– He says there is one Torah for all per Exodus 12:49/Leviticus 24:22
– He says those who hate His Torah love death per Proverbs 8:36
Why is the Temple so important to HaShem? Why is it so critical to His plans? The Temple is so critical to Him because it has always been His desire from the beginning to dwell among His people and His Temple is the only way to facilitate that dwelling!
How do we know this? Because HaShem commands it in Shemot (Exodus) 25:8-9 when He commands the building of the Mishkan/Mikdash (Tabernacle/Temple): “They shall make a Sanctuary for Me, SO THAT I MAY DWELL AMONG THEM, like everything I show you, the form (Tavnit = Blueprint) of the Mishkan and the form of all its vessels; AND SO SHALL YOU DO.”
It should be noted the phrase ‘And so shall you do’ in Hebrew has the Hebrew letter ‘Vav’ in it, which changes the tense of the phrase from applying only to that generation, to applying to EVERY generation in history, to include you and I today! It is a continuing tense command! Remember HaShem never changes! I digress.
Its very interesting here in these verses we discussed in Shemot 25, as HaShem brings Moshe up to Mount Sinai and the very first command He gives him is to build Him a Mishkan/Mikdash so that He may dwell among us. Then He tells Moshe that He will give him the tavnit (Blueprint) and just so shall he make it or in other words build it exactly according to the tavnit, do not add too or take away from it! Moshe obeys and the Mishkan is erected and is mobile for hundreds and hundreds of years. Then Israel is settled into the Land and then Jerusalem is established.
Because HaShem is unchanging and reveals the end out of the beginning, He then, many years later, tells King David, that David will build for Him a Mikdash on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. HaShem reveals in Ezekiel 43:4-7 that Mount Morah is the place of His Throne and the place for the Soles of His Feet and always has been from the very beginning!
Jeremiah 17:12 says “Like the Throne of Glory, primevally exalted, is the place of our Sanctuary.” In other words, the place of the Temple in Jerusalem is the location of His Throne on earth. Likewise, He says in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 12:4-5 “You shall not do this to HaShem your Elohim. Rather, only at the place that HaShem, Your Elohim, will choose among all your tribes to place His Name there, shall you seek out His Presence and come there.” In other words, we can only bring our korbonot (Offerings) to the place where His Name is and where is that place? The Temple Mount in Jerusalem in a fully functioning Temple! Offering up korbonot outside of that place is breaking Torah i.e. sin and thus is the reason why we do not do so today! I digress.
King David received the tavnit (Blueprints) for the Mikdash in Jerusalem as is recorded in I Chronicles 28:10-21, however, HaShem prohibits David from actually constructing the House because he has shed human blood, therefore it falls to his son Solomon who builds the Mikdash precisely as HaShem desired per the tavnit He gave to his father, David in I Chronicles.
This Mikdash is later destroyed by Babylon after Israel fell away from HaShem. 70 years later, Israel is released and allowed to return. Where in His Word is the command given to rebuild the Second Mikdash? It is found in Haggai 1:1-15 which starts off with “In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of HaShem came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the Kohen Gadol (High Priest), saying: ‘Thus said HaShem, Master of Legions, saying: This people has said, the time has not yet come! But I say, it is the time for the Mikdash of HaShem to be rebuilt!'”
So which tavnit (Blueprint) was used to rebuild the Mikdash in Jerusalem? The only one there was at that time, the one HaShem gave to David per I Chronicles 28! It is interesting to note that the first thing they rebuilt was the Mizbe’ach (Altar) and it was considered to be fully functioning Mikdash at that point, while they continued to build the rest of the Mikdash! Keep this in mind!
We know what happens many years later when Rome invades and later destroys the Mikdash where it lies in ruins even today as I write this Op. Over two thousand years have passed without a functioning Mizbe’ach or Mikdash. Sadly many false doctrines coming out of Christendom have arisen citing the destruction of the Mikdash by Rome as proof HaShem wanted rid of the Mikdash and the services to include the korbonot…nothing could be further from the truth!
I have heard many people say over the years that there is no command to rebuild the Mikdash found in the Tanakh (Scriptures), but that would again be a false statement! The command by HaShem to rebuild the Mikdash in our day and time is found in Zechariah 6:9-15. Verse 12 says “You shall speak to him, saying, ‘So said HaShem, Master of Legions, saying: Behold, there is a man, his name is Zemach (Branch = A Name for the Messiah), and he will flourish in his place; HE WILL BUILD THE SANCTUARY OF HASHEM.'”
What this means is the Mizbe’ach (Altar) WILL be built, placed, dedicated, sanctified and fully operational, just like with the 2nd Mikdash, while the rest of the Mikdash is built around it. Then the Zemach (Mashiach Yeshua) will show up and will oversee the construction of the rest of the Mikdash according to the tavnit we read about in Ezekiel 40-48, it will still be called the Third Mikdash!
Zechariah 6:13 says “He (Messiah Yeshua) will build the Sanctuary of HaShem; he will bear majesty and he will sit and rule upon his throne. The Kohen (High Priest) will be upon his own throne and there will be a disposition of peace between the two of them.” Meaning Yeshua will be both King and Kohen HaGadol (High Priest) in the order of Melchizedek.
Zechariah 6:15 says “People will come from far away and build the Sanctuary of HaShem and then you will know that HaShem, Master of Legions, has sent me to you. This will happen if you will truly listen to the voice of HaShem your Elohim.” People will come from all over the world to help build! Doesn’t sound like something HaShem shuns, rejects, finds to be blasphemous or something that will only be used to serve the False Messiah does it?
Rabbi Ariel who heads up the Temple Institute in Jerusalem said when he was a paratrooper with the IDF in the 1967 Six Day War, when Israel captured all of Jerusalem to include the Temple Mount, that he knew HaShem was telling him the rebuilding of the 3rd Mikdash began that day in 1967! Point is, the efforts to rebuild have been slow, but they are progressing steadily. We have a Sanhedrin now, Baruch HaShem! Levites and Kohanim are being trained. The vessels to be used in the Temple Services (Avodot) are made and ready for use. The efforts to obtain a Torah acceptable Parah Adumah (Red Heifer for sanctification and purification) are well on their way. We are getting closer literally by the day. Now with PM Netanyahu expected to select an Israeli politician who is pro building the Mikdash into a senior position within the Knesset, along with the expectation of the political party who is pro building the Mikdash taking several positions within the Knesset for the very first time, is also an indicator we are getting much closer!
With all this said, no wonder HaShem commands in Ezekiel 43:10-11 we all are to learn every single facet, entrance, service, korbonot, etc about His House! Knowing His House means we will know Him! Likewise, no wonder the world and the systems of religion hate the topic of HaShem’s House being rebuilt in Jerusalem! They know the second the Mizbe’ach is placed, the jig is up and their doctrines become fully exposed. May it be so VERY soon in our days!
Much to consider!
Shalom!
SOURCE MATERIALS:
- The Tanakh
- Zechariah
- Haggai
- I Chronicles
- Exodus
- Deuteronomy
- Jeremiah
- Psalms