Rebuilding the Temple

[Bob_Crowley]

I’m not sure if this is the right place for this thread or not, but every now and again I hear about plans to rebuild the Jewish Temple, always from Protestants. I don’t normally take much notice, but while I was looking for some other stuff, I located the following information on another Catholic site.

I’m curious about the references to the destruction of the attempt by Julian the Apostate to rebuild the temple, first by an earthquake and then by balls of blue fire.

Has anybody else read this before? The passage follows…

The Rebuilding of the Temple

In this day we find many sects and denominations looking for the re-building of a temple in Jerusalem with great anticipation. Why any Christian would welcome such a thing is beyond me. If animals are again sacrificed in a temple in Jerusalem, would not the blood of every calf, lamb or goat sacrificed be a denial of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross? (Hebrews 10:10) Is not the denial of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus the very spirit of the antichrist?

In Matthew 24:2, Jesus prophesies about the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Jesus says nothing about the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is true that Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19) However, Jesus was speaking of His Body, which is the Temple of the Holy Ghost. (John 2:21)

The prophesy of the destruction of the Temple came about in 70 AD with the siege of Vespasian. There were a few stones left of the foundation left. Later, Emperor Julian the Apostate attempted to discredit the prophesy of Our Divine Lord Jesus Christ by ordering the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews from all over the Roman Empire supported the task with great zeal and huge amounts of gold and silver. The task was accompanied by great scorn for the Christians in the empire, who believed that the Temple was not to be rebuilt. In order to provide a foundation for the “new temple” the final stones left of the old foundation were cleared away, completing the prophecy of Jesus.

As they began the re-building, earthquakes broke out all over the temple mount, halting the effort. When the earthquakes subsided, they attempted to begin again. As they approached the foundations, balls of blue fire exploded from the ground burning many of the workmen. Finally the effort was abandoned without laying a single stone of the new temple.

 

[Garyjohn2]

Where does this passage come from? I’ve never heard of it before…

I’ve heard someone say that the temple has to be rebuilt before the end times arrive. The reasoning is that in the book of Revelation, it says the anti-christ will stop the temple sacrifices. The temple sacrifices can’t be stopped unless they are started again. Therefore, the temple will have to be rebuilt again in order for the end times to be properly fufilled.

I’ve heard that said…I don’t know how accurate it is or if it is an improper reading of Revelation, but that is the reason some christians want the temple rebuilt.

 

[GEddie]

I’m not sure if this is the right place for this thread or not, but every now and again I hear about plans to rebuild the Jewish Temple, always from Protestants. I don’t normally take much notice, but while I was looking for some other stuff, I located the following information on another Catholic site.

I’m curious about the references to the destruction of the attempt by Julian the Apostate to rebuild the temple, first by an earthquake and then by balls of blue fire.

Has anybody else read this before?

I’ve seen this before, in an older commentary on the life of our LORD. The title escapes me at the moment.

Canadian “apocalypsist” Grant Jeffrey has made reference to this event. He is not a Temple seeker per se, although he believes rebuilding is necessary.

ICXC NIKA

 

[aicirt]

Doesn’t the Temple consist of an area known as the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept? Hasn’t the Ark gone missing? Wouldn’t the Ark have to be returned to Israel before a Temple was built?

Aren’t the Cohens the name of the priestly group of Jews? Will they automatically become the ones to sacrifice animals? Will today’s Jews accept the sacrifice of so many different types of animals? On a daily basis? Are all Jews going to accept that?

 

[GEddie]

Doesn’t the Temple consist of an area known as the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept? Hasn’t the Ark gone missing? Wouldn’t the Ark have to be returned to Israel before a Temple was built?

The Holy of Holies did once contain the ark; which was, however, lost when they were exiled in Babylon (587BC) and has never been recovered. They rebuilt once without it; they can do so again. The Temple our LORD knew did not contain the ark.

Aren’t the Cohens the name of the priestly group of Jews? Will they automatically become the ones to sacrifice animals?

As far as I know, yes, if they can prove their lineage.

Will today’s Jews accept the sacrifice of so many different types of animals? On a daily basis? Are all Jews going to accept that?

If they are religiously observant, they will have to. Rebuilding the Temple is sure to cause a crisis in Judaism just as severe as losing it did. Many modernist Jews,especially in the Atlantic countries, will reject the ritual killing of animals. Many others, however, will fully understand what the prayer of “next year in Jerusalem” was all about.

ICXC NIKA!

 

[brb3]

Has anybody else read this before? The passage follows…

**

NO … but, it is interesting. Where did you come by this ?

 

[brb3]

The Protestants don’t think its right to do animal sacrifices … but, they see the temple sacrifice in OT prophesy, and believe it must come to pass for the Jews, in order for them to accept Jesus as King.

Since the Jews don’t believe Jesus is Christ … God could conceivably allow the Jews to restart the sacrifices, in order to judge them and cause them to re-read the OT with ‘fresh eyes’. If their sacrifices were bringing God’s judgment, they would surely realize that 1.) Jesus is the Christ and 2). the 3rd Temple in prophesy is not ‘their workproduct’, but the Catholic Church.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

NO … but, it is interesting. Where did you come by this ?

This is the link. It also deals briefly with a few other Protestant end-times theories eg. Millenarianism, Rapture etc.

en.allexperts.com/q/Catholics-955/Catholic-views-End-Times.htm

 

[brb3]

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Catholics-955/Catholic-views-End-Times.htm

From Sal, the expert. Who is Sal & where did he get this ? No citations given.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

From Sal, the expert. Who is Sal & where did he get this ? No citations given.

No idea. That’s why I asked if anybody else had read the alleged episode.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

From Sal, the expert. Who is Sal & where did he get this ? No citations given.

As above. However I copied and pasted this line from the “Original Catholic Encyclopedia” (OCE) from the article on “Julian the Apostate”. The OCE can be accessed from Catholic Answers.

“His attempt to defy the Gospel and rebuild the temple at Jerusalem was brought to nothing by fire and earthquake.”

So I assume there’s some verified truth in it.

 

[scriabin]

There’s no rebuilding of the temple.

Here’s your “third” temple, which the catechism defines and St. Paul himself identified in 3 different letters—

From the Catechism:

Quote:
CCC 797 “The Holy Spirit makes the Church "the temple of the living God”

These verses refer not to individuals but to we Christians collectively as one body:

From Scripture:

Quote:
2 Cor 6:16 “For we are **the temple **of the living God…”

1 Cor 3:16 “…you are God’s temple…”

Eph 2:21 “…the household of God…the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple…”

—in which Pope Paul VI declared lawlessness as already having entered:

Quote:
Pope Paul VI stunned the world with the words: “We have the impression that through some cracks in the wall the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God: it is doubt, uncertainty, questioning, dissatisfaction, confrontation… We thought that after the Council a day of sunshine would have dawned for the history of the Church. What dawned, instead, was a day of clouds and storms, of darkness, of searching and uncertainties.” [Pope Paul VI, June 29, 1972, Homily during the Mass for Sts. Peter & Paul, on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of his coronation]

The sacrifice in **the Temple **is being obscured, ridiculed, and denied by some of her very priests. The man of authority in the Church, the Pope, is holding back the man of lawlessness for now; but as Paul VI said, “the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.”

This physical rebuilding of the “third temple” is distinctly Protestant. For them there has to be another physical building for a sacrifice, because for Protestants the sacrifice was ended 2000 years ago.

Can you find just one interpretation from any saint in the Catholic Church that confirms such an interpretation?

 

[Bob_Crowley]

There’s no rebuilding of the temple.

Here’s your “third” temple, which the catechism defines and St. Paul himself identified in 3 different letters—

From the Catechism:

Quote:
CCC 797 “The Holy Spirit makes the Church "the temple of the living God”

These verses refer not to individuals but to we Christians collectively as one body:

From Scripture:

Quote:
2 Cor 6:16 “For we are **the temple **of the living God…”

1 Cor 3:16 “…you are God’s temple…”

Eph 2:21 “…the household of God…the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple…”

—in which Pope Paul VI declared lawlessness as already having entered:

Quote:
Pope Paul VI stunned the world with the words: “We have the impression that through some cracks in the wall the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God: it is doubt, uncertainty, questioning, dissatisfaction, confrontation… We thought that after the Council a day of sunshine would have dawned for the history of the Church. What dawned, instead, was a day of clouds and storms, of darkness, of searching and uncertainties.” [Pope Paul VI, June 29, 1972, Homily during the Mass for Sts. Peter & Paul, on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of his coronation]

The sacrifice in **the Temple **is being obscured, ridiculed, and denied by some of her very priests. The man of authority in the Church, the Pope, is holding back the man of lawlessness for now; but as Paul VI said, “the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God.”

This physical rebuilding of the “third temple” is distinctly Protestant. For them there has to be another physical building for a sacrifice, because for Protestants the sacrifice was ended 2000 years ago.

Can you find just one interpretation from any saint in the Catholic Church that confirms such an interpretation?

I don’t think that Protestants want a third temple for a sacrifice. I’ve heard them complain that we “re-sacrifice” Christ in every mass with the Eucharist, which is rubbish of course.

What I think their fundamentalists are hoping for is that the rebuilding of third temple will be one of the signs of the return of Christ, even though He made no such comment. I’m not even sure where they get the idea from, but it didn’t come from any of Christ’s words. He predicted the total destruction of the temple, and said absolute nothing about rebuilding it.

I sometimes wonder in fact what influence fundamentalism had on American policy in enforcing the creation of modern Israel in 1948 against Palestinian tenants, Arab sentiment, and British and French policy makers. Since one of Christ’s predictions was the “the gentiles would trample across the Holy Land until their time is up”, I sometimes wonder if the fundamentalists saw the recreation of Israel as a presaging of Christ’s return, or if you like, an attempt to force God’s hand.

Of course it led to more trouble than they bargained for.

 

[Zenas]

What I think their fundamentalists are hoping for is that the rebuilding of third temple will be one of the signs of the return of Christ, even though He made no such comment. I’m not even sure where they get the idea from, but it didn’t come from any of Christ’s words. He predicted the total destruction of the temple, and said absolute nothing about rebuilding it.

Grayjohn2 almost got it right up in Post #2. While there is no mention in the Bible about temple sacrifices, there is a reference to the temple in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-4:

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

So . . . in order for there to be a temple in which this desecration will occur, someone must first rebuild it. Of course this is a literalistic approach to scripture. If scriabin is correct in Post #12, them Paul’s reference to the temple is actually a reference to the church. But then how do you reconcile that with Matthew 16:18 where Christ tells Peter that the gates of hell will not overpower His church?

You are absolutely correct that fundamentalists look forward to the rebuilding of the temple as one of the signs of Christ’s imminent return. It is discussed very extensively in fundamentalist circles.

I sometimes wonder in fact what influence fundamentalism had on American policy in enforcing the creation of modern Israel in 1948 against Palestinian tenants, Arab sentiment, and British and French policy makers. Since one of Christ’s predictions was the “the gentiles would trample across the Holy Land until their time is up”, I sometimes wonder if the fundamentalists saw the recreation of Israel as a presaging of Christ’s return, or if you like, an attempt to force God’s hand.

You are absolutely correct in your assessment here also, although I’m not prepared to say the fundamentalists are wrong about the restoration of the nation of Israel.

 

[brb3]

I don’t think that Protestants want a third temple for a sacrifice. I’ve heard them complain that we “re-sacrifice” Christ in every mass with the Eucharist, which is rubbish of course.

What I think their fundamentalists are hoping for is that the rebuilding of third temple will be one of the signs of the return of Christ,

You’ve got this right. An animal sacrifice would be abhorrent to them … yet Protestants read in the OT prophets that a 3rd Temple will be rebuilt, and they take this LITERALLY.

I too saw all the OT prophets speaking of the 3rd Temple … built in the Later Days. Until 2 weeks ago, I believed it could ONLY be meant for the End Time Jews. That we were on 2 tracks. Much of NT prophesy directed for Christians … but, still with much OT prophesy still applying to the Jews.

Ryanoneil has shown me that both NT & OT prophesy has its complete meaning for the Church. I really think the Protestants have got it wrong.

 

[brb3]

You are absolutely correct that fundamentalists look forward to the rebuilding of the temple as one of the signs of Christ’s imminent return.

And, we know from NT scriptures that the early Church believed Christ would return in their life. They believed in imminency. The Book of Acts describes their communal type living. All things being keep in common. Studying the scriptures daily, expecting Christ at any time.

And, this was BEFORE the Temple was destroyed in 70AD. This proves they believed Christ had ALREADY ushered in his 3rd Temple, the Church Universal. They were the NEW ISRAEL, founded on the 12, the Apostles, with Peter as their JOSHUA.

When I now read all the OT prophets, with Catholic understandings, its all so clear. The Protestants need to reread and see that much in OT scripture has been fulfilled already.

 

[Zenas]

I too saw all the OT prophets speaking of the 3rd Temple … built in the Later Days. Until 2 weeks ago, I believed it could ONLY be meant for the End Time Jews. That we were on 2 tracks. Much of NT prophesy directed for Christians … but, still with much OT prophesy still applying to the Jews.

All right, you’ve aroused my curiosity. Where in the O.T. is there a reference to any temple we could infer is the third temple? I’m not saying it isn’t there, but I don’t know where it is.

 

[GEddie]

I don’t think that Protestants want a third temple for a sacrifice. I’ve heard them complain that we “re-sacrifice” Christ in every mass with the Eucharist, which is rubbish of course.

What I think their fundamentalists are hoping for is that the rebuilding of third temple will be one of the signs of the return of Christ, even though He made no such comment. I’m not even sure where they get the idea from, but it didn’t come from any of Christ’s words. He predicted the total destruction of the temple, and said absolute nothing about rebuilding it.

ISTM that it came from the Jewish longings for the temple. Next year in Jerusalem, etc. Since Saint Paul suggests the Jews would one day be converted to Christ, and this cannot happen while they are longing for the temple, the temple must rise again for them to understand that it is not enough.

I sometimes wonder in fact what influence fundamentalism had on American policy in enforcing the creation of modern Israel in 1948 against Palestinian tenants, Arab sentiment, and British and French policy makers. Since one of Christ’s predictions was the “the gentiles would trample across the Holy Land until their time is up”, I sometimes wonder if the fundamentalists saw the recreation of Israel as a presaging of Christ’s return, or if you like, an attempt to force God’s hand.

Of course it led to more trouble than they bargained for.

I doubt that Fundamentalist faith had much sway in our country’s circles of power. Our support of Israel was probably motivated more by collective shock and shame over the European Holocaust; although at street level, Fundamentalism has certainly, since 1949, added hugely to our popular support for the Israeli cause.

ICXC NIKA

 

[brb3]

I doubt that Fundamentalist faith had much sway in our country’s circles of power. Our support of Israel was probably motivated more by collective shock and shame over the European Holocaust; although at street level, Fundamentalism has certainly, since 1949, added hugely to our popular support for the Israeli cause.

England played the Key role, since early 1900’s times … in the establishment of Israel Nation.

Currently, given the large # of Jews in the USA … their stout political influence in Congress has a massive influence on our Jewish aid/support.

 

[brb3]

Where in the O.T. is there a reference to any temple we could infer is the third temple?

Malachi 1:10-11 … I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting [Church Universal] my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name[Catholic church], and a pure offering [Eucharist]; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 3:1-3 “Behold, I send my messenger [Elijah/John the Baptist] to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple [that moment when Christ read from scripture of Isaiah speaking of the Savior, and Jesus told the scribes “this day it is fulfilled”]; the messenger of the covenant [Gospel] in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi [via Baptism of H.S.] and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the Lord. [the Todah, the Eucharist]”

Malachi 4:5-6 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet [John ] before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers [John’s Gospel of Repentance and Baptism ]…”

And this is just a start. All the OT prophesy can be viewed as depicting Christ as the NEW TEMPLE & Covenant for Israel.