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"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part 122
MEASURING THE TEMPLE
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying,
Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the
altar, and them that worship therein. But the
court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the
Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months (Rev.
11:1-2).
The eleventh chapter of the book of Revelation is one of the most important
chapters in the entire book. Once we
understand this chapter not only in its intrinsic spiritual revelation, but also in its
relation to those things which follow in the subsequent chapters, we have less difficulty
in grasping the significance of the rest of the book.
As we enter into the scenes in this portion of the Revelation there need be no
misunderstanding whatsoever! John is called in
the vision to do something. A reed, a
measuring rod, is placed in his hand; and the commission is given him that with this reed
he must proceed to the holy city, Jerusalem, and measure the temple of God.
Before proceeding with this thought of measuring the temple I would point out that
the scenes in chapter eleven are the result and outgrowth of the events in chapter ten. Chapter ten concludes with John eating
a little book. And the voice which I heard from heaven spake
unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book, which is open in the hand of the
angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but
it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I
took the little book out of the angels hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey:
and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter (Rev. 10:8-10).
John was not merely an observer of something that happened at a distance. He was not looking, as it were, at a motion
picture projected on a screen. Nor was he
seeing a stage play. This vision had such
depth in dimension that John himself was caught up into it and made part of it
perhaps a little like the interactivity of a dream, or in the holodeck of a starship in
the Star Trek series. John went to the angel
and said, Give me the little book. This
signifies that the reality of the revelation of Christ must be received from Him, at His word and by His Spirit! And this reality must in like manner be sought from Him!
The humble disciple says, Give me, I pray Thee, the little book! The angel replied, Take it, and eat it
up, that is, digest it, make it a part of yourself.
This signifies the Christ saying to each of Gods seeking elect, Take
it. Yes, Take it and eat it
up!
Thy word was found, said the prophet, and I did eat it. The angel also told John how the little scroll
would taste (spiritually) and what the effects of eating it would be. It shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall
be in thy mouth sweet as honey. He ends
on the more appealing note, perhaps, to persuade John to follow his directions, which must
have sounded strange, indeed! Spiritually it
means that Christ wants to impart everything to us both the glory and the
suffering! We are joint-heirs with Him,
partakers in His suffering, and sharers of His glory, wisdom, majesty and power
that is the meaning of this strange command that John receives. Many revel in the proclamation of truth, but how
many are just as anxious for it to be wrought out into reality in their lives? To love your enemies, and pray for those that
despitefully use you is wonderful to talk about, but it is often a bitter experience
when it actually happens and we have to put it into practice. And so it is with all truth
it has to be lived, walked out!
Then comes the word, It was in my mouth
sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and
nations, and tongues, and kings (Rev. 10:10-11). This brought the revelation home to John that HE
AND HIS MESSAGE MUST BE ONE! He must
assimilate it, making the message life and substance within himself. It must be delivered to the people, not as a mere
spoken word, not just as a teaching out of what he knew and understood, but out of what he is out of his inner state of being. The
message was to become so a part of the man that it would be impossible to separate the
prophet from his prophecy. His very life would
BE the prophecy a living word! He would prophesy out of a new and higher
realm, as he had never prophesied before; not merely as a prophet, but as the very
MANIFESTATION OF GOD IN THE FLESH! He himself
would be the sample of the message he proclaimed! Now he would prophesy again in a new and living way!
Can we not see by this that eating the book, taking the word in, digesting and
assimilating it, becoming the revelation, is what makes
us the temple of God! That is how God gets
on the inside, that is how Christ is formed in us, dwelling, living, walking, speaking,
acting out of us! This precious truth is the
simplicity of moving from chapter ten of the Revelation to chapter eleven. In chapter ten we become the habitation of God by
eating the book, whereas in chapter eleven the command is given to measure (examine,
inspect, appraise, survey, explore) the temple of God.
It should be clear to every discerning heart that eating the book and
measuring the temple are not separate visions about different things, but the
latter is the divine result of the former! That
is the mystery.
THE
TEMPLE
The angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure
the temple of God (Rev. 11:1).
The Lord dwells not in temples made with hands!
They are but shadowy figures of the true. What
temple will ye build me? saith the Lord. So
wherever we see a reference to a temple of the present or the future, it must refer to the true sanctuary, and the
true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man (Heb. 8:2). Furthermore, there is only one such tabernacle, or temple. The scripture nowhere tells of two, or three, or
one hundred; one away off somewhere in space where Jesus is ministering, another in
Jerusalem built by the Jews, and another spiritual one composed of living stones. Oh, no! There
is but ONE temple, ONE great High Priest, and
ONE royal priesthood. So when the priests of
old served unto the example and shadow of heavenly (spiritual) things, those
heavenly things were the same that Moses saw in the mount, and the same heavenly and spiritual things to which we,
Gods spiritual and heavenly people, have now come, for, we are come
unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22). None of
these are a future reality to be entered into after we die, or after Jesus returns. We ARE COME! Let
us never forget that fact.
Would God that all the saints might see that Gods purpose from the foundation
of the world has been the building of a spiritual house, a holy temple, an eternal abiding
place in which He can be at home, and in which place He and His creation can meet. As Ray Prinzing has pointed out, The
ultimate goal of Gods purpose being wrought out through the ages, is to have a
people with whom, in whom to dwell, a place where He can PRESENCE HIMSELF without
controversy, and say, This is my rest forever:
here will I dwell; for I have desired it (Ps. 132:14). So He is preparing man, both individually and
corporately, to be partakers of His divine nature, to be IN HIS OWN IMAGE, so that He
might have communion with them.
God said to Moses, Let them make
me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them (Ex. 25:8). Sanctuary literally, a place set apart. It was necessary for them to set apart a little
area of earth with a tent on it, for His place of dwelling.
But this was only an interim thing, for He yet planned to SET APART A PEOPLE for
Himself. But for the time being, Israel had
too much of Egypts god in them, along with all their own self-will and rebellion, so
God said, I will not go up in the midst of
thee; for thou art a stiff-necked people: lest I consume thee in the way. So Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and
called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And
it came to pass, that everyone that sought the Lord went
out unto the Tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp (Ex.
33:3,7).
What
a commentary on the state of the people, that even though God had brought them up out of
Egypt, so that I might dwell among them,
yet there was so much controversy in them, they had to set apart a place outside the
camp for Him, where they might go and find Him. Had
He stayed in the camp He would have consumed them, for, our God is a consuming fire, consuming
all that is not one in His holiness. And so we
read, Wherefore Jesus also, that He might
sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered
without the gate. Let us go forth therefore
unto Him without the camp
(Heb. 13:12-13). And so there has been a going without the camp
beyond the forms of religion, beyond symbol and ceremony, to be joined with Him in
one spirit. We leave all else behind, that He
might become First and Foremost in our life. And
in this union with Him, we find that we are BECOMING HIS TEMPLE, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. In whom ye also are builded together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:20,22) end quote.
More than three thousand years ago Solomon built a magnificent temple of stone and
precious materials. He overlaid it with gold
and adorned it with silver. Silently it seemed
to grow out of the top of mount Moriah, as if drawn from the very mountain by some huge
hand. There was no sound of hammer or chisel
or saw, but only the soft blowing of the wind, for all of the stones and every part had
been carefully made and cut far away, down in Solomons quarry. And now this magnificent temple with its mammoth
stones was rising into the sky. The pillars
reflected the light of the Judean hills; the great Corinthian brass door shone in the
sunlight. Inside was the huge thick blue,
crimson, and purple veil which separated the holy place from the Holy of holies. And within the Holy of holies was the gold covered
mercy seat with the cherubim facing each other on either side. In the center over that mercy seat, when the temple
was completed and prayer was offered, suddenly there appeared right there in the presence
of men the visible evidence of Gods presence: the Shekinah Glory
and God dwelt
among His people in His temple. The brilliant
blinding light of His Shekinah Glory dwelt in the most holy place. So wonderful was it that the Queen of Sheba stood
transfixed at the sight. But the temple built
by Solomon was only a fleeting foreshadow of the living temple which Christ would build by
the Spirit a temple not made with hands!
When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 587 B.C., the great temple of Solomon,
along with the rest of the city, was destroyed and its valuable contents carried away to
Babylon. Seventy years later a remnant of
Israel returned from the Babylonian exile and soon thereafter the community began to
rebuild the temple under the leadership of Zerubbabel.
When the foundation was laid, the old men, who had seen the first house
(Solomons temple), wept for sorrow (Hag. 2:3). Like
most of the reconstruction in that era immediately following the exile, the temple of
Zerubbabel must have been modest indeed. Five
long centuries further down the spectrum of time king Herod the Great, who was a usurper,
an Idumean prince who had usurped the throne in Jerusalem, announced to the people
assembled at the Passover, just twenty years before the birth of Jesus, his intention of
restoring the temple which was quite dilapidated by that time. Herod was an indefatigable builder. Many cities and heathen temples had been rebuilt by
him and it was natural that he should wish to show his own grandeur by making the modest
restoration temple larger, more complex, and much more beautiful. Other motives also moved him, especially his desire
to ingratiate himself with the more religious Jews, who resented his Idumean origin and
friendliness with the Romans. Herods
temple in some respects exceeded both the temple of Solomon and the temple of Zerubbabel
in beauty and glory. It is minutely described
by the historian Josephus, and the New Testament has made us familiar with the pride of
the Jews in its magnificence during the days of Jesus and His apostles.
The tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness and the temples of Solomon and Herod upon
mount Moriah, were merely shadows of better things to
come; merely the natural type of the spiritual reality which Moses saw by the
Spirit in the mount. These never did
constitute the TRUE TEMPLE of God! How
absolutely clear are the inspired words of the apostle, Now of the things which we
have spoken this is the sum: we have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary and of the TRUE
TABERNACLE, which the Lord pitched, and not
man. Jesus is now a minister in the true
tabernacle or temple! Concerning the old
tabernacle and temple with its priestly ministry the writer to the Hebrews continues,
Who serve unto the example and shadow of
heavenly
things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle:
for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed thee in the mount. The tabernacle of old was made as a physical,
material copy or representation of the true heavenly and
spiritual tabernacle which Moses beheld in the spiritual realm of the heavens of
Gods Spirit. What Moses saw in the mount
was not physical, material, or earthly; it was heavenly and spiritual! And that which is heavenly and spiritual is the true tabernacle which
the Lord pitched, and not man!
We are now come to the true! The true
temple is the body of Christ! The temple of
the Lord is that vast company of Gods sons who are coming to maturity in the image
of Christ. It distresses me to hear preachers
constantly proclaiming as fact the old wives fable that the temple of God must be
rebuilt by the Jews in Israel! May I say in
the strongest terms possible that I do not hold any such view! My conviction is the exact opposite that
there never again will be a Jewish temple upon mount Moriah, and never again will men
sacrifice the blood of animals either in an effort to cover their sins or as a
commemoration. All of the sacrifices of
animals in the Old Testament dispensation were to cover the sins of the penitent until
such time as the true and eternal Lamb of God should come and once for all manifest
Gods forgiveness for every sin of every man and once for all make an end of sin.
I fail to see how anybody could have even a rudimentary understanding of the
epistle to the Hebrews and the high-priestly ministry of Jesus Christ, and still believe
that animal sacrifice will again be enacted upon the face of the earth! I know that some teachers have said that animal
sacrifices will be reinstituted in the land of Israel during the millennium as
a commemoration of Calvary, but Calvary needs no
old covenant commemoration, as the apostle makes
plain: For the law, having a shadow of good
things to come, and not the very image (reality) of the things, can never with those
sacrifices they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would
they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have
no more conscience of sins. But in those
sacrifices there is a remembrance (commemoration)
again made of sins every year. Wherefore
when HE cometh into the world, He saith,
Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a
body Thou hast prepared me: in burnt offerings and
sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure. Wherefore
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that He had said before, Their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, THERE IS NO MORE
OFFERING FOR SIN (Heb. 10:1-3, 5-6, 15, 17-18).
In
the light of those plain statements, and many more throughout the book of Hebrews, how
could anyone even imagine that God would re-establish
animal sacrifices to remember or commemorate the sacrifice that
ENDS ALL SACRIFICES! What a contradiction!
Perish the thought! It is abomination of the
worst sort! It is my conviction that it was
the continuation of the animal sacrifices in the old temple, which continued on for many
years after the one, true sacrifice had been made, that brought about the desolation of
the temple by the Romans in A.D. 70 as foretold by Daniel, and later by Jesus. The ninth chapter of
Hebrews especially deals with the work of Jesus Christ as our great High Priest, and the
eleventh verse says that Christ being come an
high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
with hands
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Then the argument is developed that if the
blood of sacrificial animals could sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, how much more
should the blood of Christ purge our conscience from dead works external works of
the law, sacrifices, offerings, rituals, feast days, and ceremonies. The blood of Christ purges our conscience from these dead works; that is, we no
longer sense that they are necessary to please God or to receive anything from Him
our conscience does not condemn us for never doing any of those things! God no longer desires it or requires it! Christ has established a New Covenant built upon
better promises and the old is forever abolished! Arent you glad!
Listen to the words of Peter as he presses this golden truth home to the
understanding hearts of the saints. If
so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To
whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed
indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye
also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the
scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that
believeth in Him shall not be confounded (I Pet. 2:3-6).
Our Lord Jesus Christ is remarkable as the cornerstone of this human heavenly
temple because not only is Christ the sure foundation in the midst of a world where the
pillars are trembling and the foundations are shaken, but He remains ever sure and ever
stable and gives His stability to the entire structure.
More than that, He is the living stone that communicates that stability to all the
other stones that are joined to Him. Praise
God that in the midst of all the pressures and testings there is that INNER STABILITY of
the Christ! So, we see painted before our eyes
a magnificent structure, the living cathedral of Christ rising into the sky, made of
living stones. This is the true tabernacle
which the Lord pitched and not man! Not a
temple of dead stones, but of living stones, each stone a spiritually living person
indwelt by the glory of God, whose temple we are. Not
covered by glittering gold, but overshadowed by divinity.
Not adorned with silver, but displaying the beauty of redemption. Not fashioned with glittering, precious stones, but
with the eternal jewels of His own nature, glory, and power!
God will never vacate this heavenly,
spiritual temple to return to a temple made with hands!
No temple of God, formed from stones and ornamented with cedar and silver and gold,
will ever be rebuilt in Jerusalem! The notion
of a rebuilt temple is a lie that would be humorous, were it not so ridiculous and absurd. The very thought is a horrible blasphemy! God never goes backward in His purposes, nor does He reinstate the
type once the reality has come!
The temple that God builds is the temple of which Jesus spoke to the poor,
sinful woman at the well of Sychar. She was
quibbling about the place to worship God, and He
said, Neither in this mountain, NOR IN JERUSALEM, shall ye worship the
Father
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit (in their own spirits) and in truth
(spiritual reality) (Jn. 4:21-24). And
our brother Paul adds this testimony, Now therefore
ye are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto
an HOLY TEMPLE in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an HABITATION OF GOD
through the Spirit (Eph. 2:19-22).
Almost two thousand years ago the Lord Jesus spoke to the house of Judah, saying,
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate (Mat. 23:38). This was a pronouncement of doom upon a city and a
nation that had not received its King. He is
saying that the presence and the glory and the purpose
of God had departed from Judah. God took His
presence from the Holy of holies in the temple, leaving their house desolate unto them. Finally, in A.D. 70, He came and destroyed that
vacant shell of a building so that not one stone of it was left upon another. He scattered the people of Judah throughout all the
earth, abolished their law and their priesthood, ended their sacrifices and offerings,
which to this day have never been restored, nor can they be.
It seems to me that when the firstborn Son of God was anointed with the
fullness of the Holy Spirit the presence and glory of God left the dwelling place in the
Holy of holies and came into the firstborn Son of God, taking up His abiding place in
human flesh, the first stone of Gods new and eternal temple. All of those years the priests had been offering
sacrifices to God who was not in His accustomed dwelling place, though they did not know
it. He had left His centuries-old habitation
and had moved into a body of flesh, the body of His Son, the true temple of God! All of the world was ignorant of this for we read,
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not
(Jn. 1:10). And again, standing before
Herods temple, beholding the stones and the glory thereof, He said, Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
The Jews were furious, demanding, Forty and six years was this temple in
building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
But the record states, They wist not that He spake of the temple of His body (Jn. 2:19-21).
At the crucifying of Jesus, God drew a curtain of darkness over the earth and
blotted out everything from sight. Beneath the
cover of that dense darkness God tore the temple veil from top to bottom so that any carnal, earthly priest of Aarons
passing order could peer into the Holy of holies, the former abode of God, and plainly see
and know that God
was not there! This Holy of holies was
empty! Ah, what must have been the thoughts of
the priesthood as they returned to the temple! What
must have been the feelings of the priests who had remained in the temple! When the darkness was lifted and the desolation
seen and they discovered that they could come into the Holy of holies and not suffer
death! Then they must have known that
something catastrophic had taken place. They
would not dare breathe a hint of this to the people! They
must hide the facts and continue on with the form of the sacrifices as though nothing had
happened. And yet, in spite of this, only
shortly thereafter we read, And the word of God increased; and the number of the
disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a
great company of the priests were obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7).
God was establishing something entirely new and different! Beneath the cover of darkness God ripped open that
veil and let the whole world see that He had departed, leaving that room empty. It was desolate, and now this was the beginning of
the end for Jerusalem, the temple, and its priesthood.
And I want to say again, in spite of what many tell us, WE WILL NEVER SEE ANOTHER
TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM! Are we so foolish even to
entertain the impious thought that God would allow the still unbelieving Jews to construct
in Jerusalem another desolate temple? To again institute a priesthood offering the blood
of goats and calves after Christ has been offered once for all? The very idea is ludicrous!
Those who espouse such error, apart from contradicting the scriptures, have also
not thought very clearly about the issues involved. Unless
Islam was totally obliterated from off the earth, the very first result of any effort to
rebuild a temple would be World War III! Randall
Price has explained the Arab mindset in regard to Jerusalem and the temple mount. He writes, Because the Islamic worldview
recognizes the only relevant history of the region as that which began with Muhammad, any
statement that a Jewish temple once occupied the Haram
(noble enclosure, an Islamic term for the site) is considered
provocation to the Islamic mind. The
Palestinian Authority fabricated a revisionist history based on Islamic supercessionism
that maintains that nothing other than Islams sacred structures have ever occupied
the site. The present Palestinian mufti of
Jerusalem illustrated this core belief when he declared, There is not the smallest
indication of the existence of a Jewish temple on this place in the past; in the whole
city there is not even a single stone indicating Jewish history.
When I interviewed him Sabri told me a Jewish temple could never have been on
the site, or Allah would never have permitted a mosque to be built there. He said the first mosque was built there by Adam
and consecrated by Abraham and Ishmael, the progenitors of the Arab people and
worshippers of Allah. With this
belief enshrined in sermons and inculcated throughout the Palestinian school system, it is
not surprising a sincerely bewildered Palestinian merchant asked me (knowing I am an
archaeologist) why the Jews were digging around the Haram:
Whats there that concerns them anyway?
Explaining that the ancient remains surrounding the site are important for Jewish
history only brought the further statement, These are pre-Islamic, and nobody knows
what they are! To minds that have been
conditioned against critical thinking regarding their religion, no explanation is
reasonable or welcome end
quote.
The fact is that any effort to restore the temple in Jerusalem would be on the part
of a very small minority of Jewish people. A
large percent of Jews in Israel and worldwide are secular, non-religious, and many of
these are actually agnostic or atheist. The
government of Israel has no interest whatever in building a temple, and few religious Jews
have any desire for one. Any such attempt
would very likely spark a civil war within Israel itself!
The Jewish people are so hopelessly divided both religiously and politically. The issues would be: Who would appoint the high
priest? Would he be Sephardi or Ashkenazi? Who would appoint the Sanhedrin? Would it be run by this rabbi or that rabbi, or by
a committee, representing the various factions within religious Judaism? Would the Sanhedrin appoint the government? Would the temple be consecrated as Solomon did with
the sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep? On
and on and on the questions go and there is no consensus anywhere in Israel! It would be a nightmare of unimaginable
proportions! The Holy Spirit tells us
that the Old Covenant with its priesthood, sacrifices, and temple is abolished and has passed away forever (read the book of Hebrews); now
consider, precious friend of mine, with what divine genius God has also ordained the
structure of society, religion, culture, and military might and posturing in the middle
east so as to absolutely preclude that old covenant from ever being
established in Israel again! Ever! Almighty Father, HOW GREAT THOU ART!
We read in Matthew 24:1-2, And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple:
and His disciples came to Him for to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these
things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that
shall not be thrown down. In A.D. 70 the
Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple just as the Lord Jesus said, and
not one stone was left upon another. History
records (see Jewish Talmud and Maimonides) that Terentius Rufus, who was left to command
the army at Jerusalem, did with a ploughshare tear up the foundations of the temple. Josephus, the Jewish historian of New Testament
times, states that all the rest of the city was so demolished and leveled with the ground
until it appeared as a plowed field, and they who came to see it, could scarcely believe
that it was ever inhabited. If you doubt that,
look at the wailing wall in Jerusalem today. A
brother who has made numerous trips to Jerusalem states that the thing that amazes him
about the wailing wall is THE KIND OF STONES THAT ARE IN IT.
There are stones from Solomons temple, from the temple of the days of Ezra
and Haggai, from the temple of Herod, and from every other period. The wall existing today is not the remains of any one temple, just a re-laying of rubble from them
all. One stone was literally not left upon
another, and the prophecy of Jesus was meticulously fulfilled!
Many years ago I read an account about plans that were under way to rebuild the
temple in Jerusalem, that stones had already been cut in a quarry in Indiana and shipped
to Israel! Im sure a number of those
reading these lines will remember that report. Ralph
Woodrow, who researched this matter at the time, wrote: Here is the story as it
appeared in one magazine in August, 1967. Israeli
government representatives have ordered 60,000 tons of the finest Bedford stone from
Bedford, Indiana to be used in the erection of the Jerusalem temple. Five hundred railcar loads of stone from Bedford,
considered to be among the finest building stone in the world, is being freighted pre-cut
to exact specifications, and one consignment has already been dispatched to Israel. Shipments are being handled by Pier 26 in New York. This report, received from authoritative sources in
Sellersburg, Indiana said that cornerstones for the Third Temple are already in Israel. Materials for this temple have been in secret
preparation for seven years, and it is believed American Jews are mainly responsible for
financially undergirding the whole project
Those who hold the rapture-seven-year-tribulation theory became quite
excited! The story was carried in religious
papers and magazines. A few weeks later,
however, it was discovered that the story had no basis in fact. It was a hoax!
A minister in New York inquired at the New York harbor about the matter. He found there was no such pier as that named, no
such shipment of stone, that there was not a word of truth in the whole fabrication! The paper from which the above was taken was honest
enough to admit the error and included the following letter from the Jewish Ambassador in
London: Allow me to refer to a story in a recent issue of your publication
concerning the shipping of stones from the U.S.A. for the alleged purpose of rebuilding
the Temple in Jerusalem. I would like to point
out that this story is an absolute and complete fabrication in all its aspects. There are no such plans for the rebuilding of the
Temple, no shipments for such a purpose have been made from the U.S.A. or elsewhere, and
the matter has not been considered either in secrecy (as the report alleges) or openly. In view of the fact that the Temple area is now
occupied by shrines of other faiths, both Christian and Moslem, and we would never touch
these, the entire story must be considered an invention end quote.
God is not looking for a temple of stone in which to dwell. GOD HAS A TEMPLE!
A temple that the hands of men did not build or plan.
He not only will dwell in this temple,
but HE IS NOW IN IT! Every stone of this
temple is living. Every stone is speaking. Every stone is breathing the breath of eternal,
incorruptible life. The living stones in this
temple are the members of the body of Christ! They
are sons of God and members of HIS CELESTIAL FAMILY. By
adding them to Himself God is increasing and expanding Himself, as a man by fathering many
sons expands his family and himself. By
Gods family of sons the holy temple of the Lord will fill the universe with HIMSELF,
for the saints are the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. From this temple of sons God will bless all the
peoples and nations of the earth, reconcile all things everywhere to Himself, and rule the
unbounded universe in righteousness for evermore. Isnt
it wonderful!
For two thousand years it has been rising on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets and the flaming words of the prophet Malachi are even now being fulfilled:
THE LORD, WHOM YE SEEK, SHALL SUDDENLY COME TO HIS TEMPLE. Behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? and who
shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiners fire, and like
fullers soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi (the spiritual priesthood),
and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer
unto the Lord an offering in righteousness (Mal. 3:1-3). Praise God! He
is reigning within His own, to dethrone the man of sin (self-ego, Adamic mind, carnal
nature) which sits in the very temple of God, proclaiming himself as god (the ruler), and striving for his
own will and way in all things, even the things of God.
That self is being dethroned is evident
as more and more of Gods elect come to that place where we pray, in spirit and in
truth, not my will, but Thine be
done.
THE
ANGEL
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the
temple of God
(Rev. 11:1).
Since there were no chapter divisions in the original Greek text, this verse
naturally connects with the preceding one, connecting chapter ten with chapter eleven by
the conjunction and. I make a special point of this because this
knowledge clearly shows that the angel who gives John the measuring rod is the
same mighty angel who had just been talking to him! We must be very clear about the identification of
each symbol or we become confused and miss the full import of the message. John himself represents the ministry within the body of Christ. The temple signifies the body of Christ itself, the
habitation of God through the Spirit. And the
mighty angel who commissions the ministry to measure the temple of
God, or the body of Christ, is none other than our glorious Head, the Lord Jesus Christ! He is the One who walks in the midst of the
churches having eyes of fire and feet like burnished brass, and His voice is truly the voice of the Son of God! Let us not rob Him of His supremacy by trying to
make every majestic symbol in the Revelation apply only to the many-membered
body or the corporate Christ. Truly
this is the revelation of JESUS CHRIST! Let us never lose sight of that.
Yet, the angel is not the Christ in some far-off heaven somewhere, but
the Christ within.
When the book of Revelation speaks of an angel it always symbolically
denotes a messenger and his message a fresh word or revelation from the Lord! God brings a word to us out of Himself giving
enlightenment, counsel, or instruction. All
truth is revealed by the Living Word of God! The living Christ, as the Spirit, is the very Word
of God! Therefore, when John sees or hears an
angel, he is seeing and hearing in the symbols of vision a revelation of the Lord Himself. By the symbol of an angel the Lord Himself has
appeared in a new and fresh and further manifestation of Himself to reveal, teach,
instruct, and deal in the lives of His called and chosen ones. John heard a word from the Lord in his spirit
that, my beloved, is the angel, and that is the mystery! And the message is just this the temple of
God must be measured! In our next Study we will consider the meaning and
work of that measuring of those called unto sonship to God.
To be continued
J. PRESTON EBY
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