For many years since the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, biblical scholars have been looking and praying for the physical rebuilding of the third temple in Jerusalem as a sign of the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus. The siege of Jerusalem on 14 April AD 70, was three days before the beginning of the Passover in that year. It lasted for four months and ended in August of that same year. The Romans, led by General Titus (during the second year of Emperor Vespasian), who later became Emperor Titus, completely sacked and destroyed Jerusalem approximately by 8th September AD 70. This major event, predicted by our Lord Jesus lead to the dispersion of the Jewish people from their homeland for nearly two thousand years (Matthew 23:37-39; 24:1-2; Mark 13:1-2). The judgment and destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was caused by their rejection of Jesus when He manifest to Israel (from roughly 4 BC to AD 30). Jesus pronounced the total destruction of both the city of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, crying and weeping over it on His last and final journey into Jerusalem for His crucifixion and later resurrection (Luke 19:41-44). Israel and Jerusalem DID NOT KNOW the time of their visitation (Luke 19:44). The Word dwelt amongst them and He came to His own, and His own DID NOT receive Him (John 1:11, 14). This rejection by God and judgment upon Israel and the Jewish people was also prophesied by Hosea, with the two days of rejection representing approximately 2000 years (Hosea 6:1-2). Although the Jews had various periods of dispersion took place, including that which occurred in the conquest by the Assyrians of Northern Israel, representing the ten tribes of Israel given to Jeroboam after Solomon’s death, the final and total destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 brought about the largest Diaspora of the Jews in human history. When the Jews returned to Israel in 1948, fulfilling several prophecies of the return of the Jews to their homeland, they had even lost their mother tongue, Hebrew, and most were speaking in Yiddish. The revival of modern Hebrew, a dead language by that time, was itself another miracle of God.
According to Josephus, a Jewish historian, General Titus had originally wanted to spare the temple but the Jewish rebels against the Roman Empire started a fire in the temple against the approaching soldiers and the ultimately the combination of the fury against the rebellion plus the use of fire by the Jewish people, resulted in the order from Caesar to demolish the entire city and the Temple. Josephus claims that nearly 1.1 million people were killed and 97,000 enslaved during the Jewish-Roman war. This first Jewish-Roman war ended in AD 73 with the fall of Masada. The present site of the former Temple was discovered to have once been the site of an elaborate Byzantine church, whose remains were discovered in the 1930s by the British Mandate-Antiquities Department. Around AD 682, the site was designated as a holy site by the Muslims and the construction of the mosque, Dome of the Rock was completed in early 690s. The al-Aqsa mosque was built at the southern end of the mount around the 8th century. The present site is venerated as a holy site by Jews, Muslims and Christians. The First Temple was built by Solomon around 1000 BC and was destroyed in 586 BC. The Second Temple was built around 516 BC by Zerubbabel after the re-establishment of Jerusalem under Cyrus the Great around 559 BC. A massive expansion of the Temple Mount and re-construction of the Temple was done under Herod around 20 B to 10 BC. Throughout the history of the Second Temple, which is the same one that Jesus visited, the Ark of the Covenant made under Moses for the Tabernacle of Moses, was missing, being buried by Jeremiah the prophet in a secret place.
Ever since these historical events, a number of classical Christian theology interpretation of Daniel, Ezekiel and Haggai looked forward to the rebuilding of the Third Temple which would herald the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. Haggai himself prophesied during the time of the rebuilding of the Second Temple around 520 BC. When he prophesied of the glory of the latter temple and its glory surpassing the former temple, the prophecy can refer to the glory of Christ manifested as He preached and ministered in the Second Temple or to the final Third Temple which will be existing at the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus (Haggai 2:6-9).
Some Bible Scriptures that predict the Third Temple are:
Ezekiel 40:1-48:35 The glory of God entering through the way of the East. The voice of the Lord sounded like mighty waters and the earth shone with His glory (Ezekiel 43:1-3). The Lord declared it as a place the place of His throne and the place of the soles of His feet, where He dwells in the midst of the children of Israel forever (Ezekiel 43:7). In Ezekiel’s temple, there is no dividing line or wall between Jew and Gentile of men and women. Neither is there a laver, table of shewbread, lampstand or Menorah, golden altar of incense nor any ark of covenant. There is only one sacrificial altar approached by a ramp from the East where previous altars were all approached from the South. Ezekiel’s temple is also massive compared to all previous temples.
Additionally, Ezekiel’s temple has a great stream of water which issues from beneath the Southern wall of the Temple and divides into two branches and flows westward and eastward refreshing all the land and is plentiful with fishes (Ezekiel 47:1-12). The circumference of the city where the temple is will be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be called ‘The Lord is There’ (Ezekiel 48:35).
Daniel 9:24-27; 11:31; 12:11 Seventy weeks are decreed for Israel and the holy city to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity and to bring everlasting righteousness and anoint a most holy place. From the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of the anointed one, will be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again in troubled times and after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one will be cut off. A people of the prince will come to destroy the city and the sanctuary and its end shall come with a flood. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half a week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress and shall take away the regular burnt offering and shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
Amos 9:11 God will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old.
Haggai 2:6-9 Yet once more, the Lord will shake the heavens and the earth. God will shake all nations and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations (Jesus) and He will fill the temple with glory. All silver is the Lord’s and all gold is the Lord’s and the glory of the latter temple will be greater than the former. In this place the Lord will give peace.
Zechariah 6:12-13 Behold the man whose name is the Branch (Jesus) shall branch out from His place and shall build the temple of the Lord. It is He who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honour and sit and rule on His throne.
Matthew 24:15 The abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel will stand in the holy place.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 The day will not come first until the apostasy takes place and then the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes God and exalts himself against every god and object of worship, as he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
Revelation 11:1-19 John was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told to measure the temple of God and the altar but not to measure the court outside the temple which is given over to the nations. They will trample the holy city for forty-two months and the two witnesses will prophesy for 1,260 days in sackcloth.
From the sample of Scriptures above, we can see that the Third temple is very different from the first and the second. Today many scholars keep looking for a physical third temple to be built but the true and real Third Temple is the Body of Christ. Jesus’ own physical body was considered a temple in which He laid it down and rebuilt in three days (John 2:19). We, today, are the Body of Christ. We are the living stones which are being built into a holy temple, a spiritual house of God (1 Peter 2:4-11). Jesus is our Chief Cornerstone, with the apostles and prophets as the foundation, the whole church is like a building, fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22). There is no mistake, we the church are the Third Temple of God!! Moreover, God has also shown in visions that in the year 2055, AntiChrist will be invited into Israel and he will commence to build a temple at the Temple Mount, and the building will be called the Twin Domes of Peace, completed in 2060. This physical third building will NOT be the Third Temple. The church of Jesus Christ, the body and the Bride of Christ, is the true Third Temple filled with the glory and the presence of God!! Amen.