There are three “abominations of desolations,” regarding the three Jewish temples (two past and one future), mentioned in the Bible. The first one is found in Ezekiel 8-10. A date is even given in the Bible (somewhat of a rarity) for when this apostasy occurred. “And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me” (Ezekiel 8:1).
THE FIRST TEMPLE AND THE FIRST ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
This was the sixth year of the captivity of King Jehoiachin of Judah; the sixth month was Elul, which translates to part of August and September. The date on the proleptic Julian calendar would have been August 17, 592 BC (IME). As Ezekiel sat in his house in Jerusalem, an angel of the LORD appeared to him. In a vision, Ezekiel was transported into the inner court of Jerusalem’s Temple. Ezekiel saw statues and images representing false gods as he looked around the temple. In the sacred place where the LORD had previously revealed His Shekinah glory to them, the Jewish people were now committing horrific abominations and idolatry. These apostasies are recorded in Ezekiel 8:5-16.
“Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them” (Ezekiel 8:17-18).
The judgment of God against the idolatrous Jews (including princes and elders) is recorded in Ezekiel 9. The Jews who participated in these ritualistic abominations were killed on this day, for God had said, “But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God” (Ezekiel 11:21).
The Jews themselves were the perpetrators of the abomination/s of desolation that occurred in the First Temple (Solomon’s Temple). The Bible doesn’t mention what time Ezekiel witnessed the abominations in the Temple (or how long it lasted), only that it occurred on the 5th day of the 6th month of the 6th year (of Jehoiachin’s captivity). If it happened or lasted until the evening when the sun was going down, the date on the calendar would have changed to Elul 6 (6/6). So, the date would have been 6/6/6 (6th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity). A bad omen, indeed!
The Shekinah glory of the LORD departed from the Temple after the LORD’s judgment against the idolaters. God’s glory moved from the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the building, and then out of the temple and the city, never to return. “And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. Afterwards, the spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Then I told them of the captivity all the things that the Lord had shown me” (Ezekiel 11:23-25).
Jerusalem and the First Temple would fall to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians nearly six years later, on the 9th day of Av, which was July 16, 586 BC on the proleptic Julian calendar. Babylon, in turn, fell to the Medes and Persians in 539 BC. Shortly afterward, Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, issued a proclamation that the Jewish people could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. The Jewish governor, Sheshbazzar, led more than forty thousand exiles back to their homeland in 537 BC. The construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem began in 536 BC. It wasn’t completed until 516 BC, due to interference from the surrounding nations.
THE SECOND TEMPLE
Four years earlier, in 520 BC (in the second year of Darius), Haggai and Zechariah, two Jewish prophets, encouraged the Jewish people to complete the building project of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. It had been 66 years since the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s Temple. Haggai gave his second prophetic message on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.
His message is recorded in Haggai 2:6-9, “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.”
The words “shake the heavens and the earth” are a term Isaiah had used about 180 years earlier when he gave a prophecy concerning the “Day of the LORD” (aka Jacob’s Trouble, Daniel’s 70th Week, or the Tribulation). “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger” (Isaiah 13:13). Joel also mentioned this shaking of the heavens and the earth in Joel 3:16. Matthew 24:29 mentions a shaking of the heavens “immediately after the tribulation of those days.”
Haggai is prophesying about the two comings of Christ (a dual reference prophecy). In verses 6-8, Haggai is referring to events that will occur immediately before the second coming. In verse 9, Haggai tells the people that the Second Temple will be more glorious than Solomon’s Temple, even though it is not as wealthy or opulent. This is because the Lord Jesus Christ will visit this temple approximately five and a half centuries later. Remember, Haggai gave this message on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Tishri 21) in 520 BC. Approximately 551 years later, Jesus came to the Second Temple during Tabernacles and gave a prophetic message revealing His divine nature. This event occurred in the fall of the year before his spring crucifixion.
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this he spoke of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)” (John 7:37-39). This occurred on the last day of Tabernacles (Tishri 21) in 32 AD (IMO).
The scripture Jesus quotes is Jeremiah 17:13, “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.” Jesus is the fountain containing living waters (the Holy Spirit), which believers can drink freely of. The term “living waters” is mentioned several times in the Bible, including Song of Solomon 4:15, Jeremiah 2:13, Zechariah 14:8, and John 4:10-11. Revelation 7:17 mentions “living fountains of water.”
In the winter of 520 BC, on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev (December 16), in the second year of Darius, Haggai gave another prophetic message. The precise Jewish date, Kislev (or Chislev) 24, is mentioned (or referred to) four times in the second chapter, verses 10, 15, 18, and 20. Now that Israel was resuming the construction of the temple, God declared, “From this day forward I will bless you,” and twice Haggai gets a special word from Yahweh, on this very day. This blessing was fulfilled in the building of the Second Temple. We will examine the remainder of Haggai 2 later in this article.
The Jewish date of Kislev 24/25 was first made memorable in the history of the Jews during their struggles with the Seleucid dynasty (founded originally by Seleucus I Nicator, one of the generals of Alexander the Great), who won control of the area of Judah and Palestine. A descendant of Seleucus, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, is first mentioned in Daniel 8:9. “And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceedingly great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land” (Daniel 8:9). Israel, the pleasant land, was attacked by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (the little horn) in the second century BC.
THE SECOND ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
On Kislev 15 (December 5 on the proleptic Julian calendar), 167 BC, Antiochus IV erected a desolating sacrilege (an altar to Zeus) on top of the altar of burnt offering in the Jewish Temple. On Kislev 25 (December 15), 167 BC, Antiochus offered swine flesh to Zeus on the altar. This “second” abomination of desolation (that occurred in the second temple) is prophesied about in Daniel 11:31, “And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.“
The resistance of the Jews and the Maccabee clan to Antiochus’ tyranny is described in the following verse. “And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32). The Jews, under the leadership of the Maccabee clan, fought a three-year battle with the Greek Syrians. The Jews won control of the Temple in Jerusalem on Kislev 24 (December 11), 164 BC.
The following day, on Kislev 25 (December 12), 164 BC, Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus) and his followers cleansed and rededicated the Second Temple with “songs and harps and lutes, and cymbals” (1 Maccabees 4:54). The eight-day celebration was the beginning of Hanukkah, the Jewish Feast of Dedication, or Lights. It is described in the Book of 1 Maccabees.
Interestingly, the last convocation Jesus attended before his death on Passover was Hanukkah. Hanukkah is not one of the seven Feasts of the Lord, but is a religious holiday/observance that Jesus attended (at least once, according to the scriptures). “And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter (John 10:22). As soon as Jesus walked into the temple, the Jews surrounded him and asked him, “How long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness of me. But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. (Author’s note: Jesus told them earlier that He was the good shepherd.) My sheep hear My voice; I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and my Father are one” (John 10:25-30). In these verses, Jesus was telling the Jews that He was God. Nobody but God can give eternal life; if Jesus and the Father are one, then Jesus is God.
Of course, the stiff-necked Jews tried to seize him, but he escaped out of their midst. The Jews had asked Jesus if he was the Messiah whom they were looking for. Jesus said he was more than that, as He was the Son of God, and He and the Father God were one.
THE SECOND MEMORABLE AND HISTORICAL HANUKKAH
Three essential and historical events occurred in 2017. The United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917 (which incidentally was Nisan 15, the Jewish Passover), the Balfour Declaration was issued on November 2, 1917 (Heshvan 18), and the British captured Jerusalem and freed it from the Ottoman Turks after approximately 400 years of Ottoman rule. In total, Jerusalem underwent a period of almost-uninterrupted Muslim rule that lasted for seven centuries. The Ottoman Turks surrendered the city of Jerusalem to General Edmond Allenby and the British on December 9, 1917, which coincidentally (or not) was Kislev 24 on the Jewish calendar.
“That evening, the Jewish soldiers in the British army celebrated Hanukkah and went to the Western Wall (the remains of the Second Temple) in openness and freedom. Allenby’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem occurred two days later, on December 11th (the second day of Hanukkah). Despite frictions between the British occupying forces and Zionist pioneers, especially after the Holocaust, when Jewish immigration was restricted, Allenby was portrayed as a Maccabean-like liberator.” {1}
In the late 19th century, “the late Bible scholar, Dr H. Aldersmith, who had been studying the prophecies regarding Israel, explained in his book from 1898, The Fullness of the Nations, that he believed Jerusalem would be delivered by Great Britain in 1917. He had become convinced from Isaiah 31:4-5 that the U.K. would have a part to play in the restoration of Jerusalem, and that some flying machine would accomplish it. Aldersmith had arrived at this idea even before the Wright brothers took their first flight in 1903 – airplanes had not even been invented, but that is precisely what happened. Fourteen years later, in 1917, airplanes were used but not commonly, and most people had never seen one.
This man’s conviction about Isaiah 31 was Allenby’s inspiration. He would fly planes over Jerusalem and drop notes written in Arabic saying, “Surrender the city! Allenby.” The note in Arabic looks like: “Surrender the city! Al Nabi”, which means “The Prophet.” From the evening of December 8, 1917, and all through the night, Turkish troops were leaving Jerusalem. By early the following morning, all had gone, and the Mayor of Jerusalem with a small party came under a white flag to surrender the keys of the city.” {2}
2,080 years to the day (Kislev 24) had elapsed since the Jews and the Maccabees liberated Jerusalem from the Greeks/Syrians. It appears Haggai’s prophecy in 520 BC regarding Kislev 24/25 was fulfilled when he prophesied, “from this day will I bless you” (Haggai 2:19). Is there to be another blessing for the Jews on this date that will be fulfilled on the 1,335th day of Daniel 12:12? “Blessed is he that waits, and comes to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.”
THE THIRD TEMPLE AND THIRD ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
The third abomination of desolation will occur in the near future. The first mention of the end-times “Antichrist” of the Tribulation is found in Daniel 7:8. In this scripture, he is called by the same name Antiochus IV was called in Daniel 8:9, “the little horn.” In verse 11, he is called “the beast.” Daniel 8:23 refers to a “king of fierce countenance.” In Daniel 9:26, he is called “the prince who is to come.” In verse 27, he is referred to as a desolator. Daniel 11:36 refers to him as “the willful king.” In the New Testament, 2 Thessalonians 2 has three names or titles for the Antichrist, “the man of sin” (vs. 3), “the son of perdition (vs. 3), and “the lawless one (vs. 8).” 1 John 2:22 is the first time the name or title “Antichrist” is given to him. Revelation 11:7 comes full circle from Daniel 7:11, as the Antichrist is once again referred to as “the beast.”
Daniel 7:25 says, “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time” (3.5 years). Regarding changing times and laws, I think the Antichrist will change the calendar from its BC/AD dating system that began with the birth of Jesus Christ to some other anti-Christ date in history. He may even change the day of the Sabbath.
Daniel 8 is a prophecy concerning two “antichrists.” The first part of Daniel 8 concerns Antiochus Epiphanes, a Greek/Syrian who set himself up to be God and committed the first abomination of desolation in the second Jewish Temple in 167 BC. Daniel 8:23 begins the transition to the future Antichrist of the Tribulation (aka Jacob’s trouble), who comes from the revived Roman Empire (the fourth beast).
Daniel 9:27 prophesies about the “prince who is to come” (out of the old Roman Empire) and the final seven years before Christ’s second coming. In the approximate middle of the week (seven years), he will emulate Antiochus Epiphanes and commit another abomination of desolation in the newly built “third temple” in Jerusalem. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Daniel 9:27).
Daniel 11:21-35 records Antiochus Epiphanes’ rule in Syria and Palestine (the new name given to Judah). Beginning with verse 36, it records future events of the Tribulation and concerns the (second) Antichrist. Daniel 11:45 mentions the Antichrist coming to Judah with his army. Daniel 12:1 continues with Israel’s plight at this time. “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”
Daniel 12:11 records the “third” abomination of desolation (and the time when the daily sacrifice will be taken away) and the length of Jacob’s trouble (from the A.O.D. to the end of the Tribulation).” “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Jesus spoke of this abomination of desolation at the end of the age in Matthew 24:15 (and Mark 13:14), “Therefore, when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”
Paul also prophesied about the Antichrist and the (third) temple in Jerusalem during the end times. “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
This means a third temple must be built in Jerusalem in the future, otherwise these prophecies will not be fulfilled. And we know this is impossible, as God’s prophetic word is always fulfilled. Daniel 9:27 says this future abomination of desolation will occur “in the midst” of the (70th) week. As I mentioned in a previous article, this will transpire on a future Feast of Firstfruits (IMO).
Revelation 13:15 says, “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” As Jesus was brought back to life on the Feast of Firstfruits, the False Prophet, in the sight of the beast, will bring the image of the beast to life on a Feast of Firstfruits. From the abomination of desolation to the end of the 70th week of Daniel 9:24, 27, there will be 1,290 days, according to Daniel 12:11.
ON THAT DAY
Let’s now return to the prophecy in Haggai 2, regarding the Kislev 24 date and how it relates to the end times. The fourth mention of Kislev 24 is the prophetic message of the Day of the LORD regarding the shaking of the heavens and the earth. The LORD tells Haggai to give the message to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah. Zerubbabel is a descendant of David and Solomon and is found in the genealogy of 1 Chronicles 3 (verse 19). Zerubbabel is listed in the Bible as an ancestor of Jesus Christ, on his stepfather’s side (Matthew 1:12–13; Luke 3:27).
“And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother” (Haggai 2:22).
In the next verse, the LORD calls Zerubbabel His servant. “In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:23).
In a far future day (from Kislev 24, 520 BC), after the Day of the LORD (the 70th week of Daniel 9:24, 27), Zerubbabel will be a high-ranking official or prince in the LORD’s kingdom. He will be one of the wise ones mentioned in Daniel 12:2-3, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”
Here is how John F. Walvoord explains the last verse of Haggai 2. “The closing verse of Haggai was another confirmation of the restoration of Israel with a background of judgment of Gentile power in the world. God promised to honor Zerubbabel and make him like a signet ring, a token of royal authority. This was not to be fulfilled in Zerubbabel’s lifetime but was symbolic of the coming of the Messiah. At that time, Zerubbabel will be raised from the dead and share delegated authority with David in the millennial kingdom. In this revelation, God was reassuring His people of His ultimate blessing on them and the ultimate fulfillment of the promise to David concerning His kingdom and His people.” {3}
THE 1,335TH DAY
The future day Haggai is referring to will be the day after Kislev 24. Kislev 25 is the starting date for the eight-day convocation of Hanukkah. As I mentioned in my article, But as the Days of Noah were, I believe Kislev 25 will be the 1,335th day (after the abomination of desolation) of Daniel 12:12, “ Blessed is he that waits, and comes to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” On that day, when the date changes from Kislev 24 to Kislev 25, the LORD God will raise up Old Testament saints (and the Tribulation saints), including Zerubbabel, and they will enter Jesus’ millennial kingdom upon the renewed Earth and inherit their eternal reward.
THE REDEEMER SHALL COME TO ZION
Judah Maccabee and Sir Edmond Allenby were considered redeemers of Zion, albeit separated by millennia. Their respective redemptions of Zion occurred on the same Jewish date, Kislev 24. Haggai prophesied four times about “a blessing that would occur” on this day.
The first blessing was when the construction work of the Second Temple (in Jerusalem) resumed in 520 BC.
The second blessing was when Judah Maccabee liberated Jerusalem in 164 BC.
The third blessing was when Sir Edmond Allenby liberated Jerusalem in 1917 AD.
The fourth blessing will be when Jesus liberates Jerusalem (and the world) from the unholy Trinity (Satan, Antichrist, and the False Prophet) and their army. Jesus Christ is the ultimate redeemer (or deliverer) of Jerusalem and the Jews. He is mankind’s kinsman redeemer, who redeems us from sin, death, and the grave.
“And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon His head; and He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the islands He will repay recompense.
So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against Him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever” (Isaiah 59:16-21).
Paul quoted Isaiah 59:20 regarding the ultimate “Redeemer,” but in the KJV New Testament, it is translated as “Deliverer.” “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Romans 11:25-27).
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3).
THE FINAL TEMPLE
There are two theories on the destiny of the Third Temple. Some Bible scholars believe it will survive the cataclysmic upheaval caused by Jesus’ return to the Mount of Olives. Zechariah prophesied, “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee” (Zechariah 14:4-5).
If this is the case, the Third Temple is the one Ezekiel had visions of in Ezekiel 40-48. The date for this vision is recorded in Ezekiel 40:1, “In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me thither.” This vision would have occurred on Nisan 10, 573 BC. Six centuries later, Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey on this day as King of the Jews, but would ultimately be rejected as such by the Jews.
The surviving Third Temple must be cleansed from the abomination of desolation that the Antichrist and the false prophet perpetrated approximately 1335 days earlier. What better day for it to be cleansed and dedicated than Kislev 25, the first day of Hanukkah, on the very day that Judas Maccabee and the Jews began cleansing the Second Temple? The six goals of Daniel 9:27 will then be accomplished, including sealing up the vision and prophecy and anointing the most Holy place.
The second theory regarding the destiny of the Third Temple is that it will be destroyed by the cataclysmic events brought about by Jesus’ return to the Mount of Olives (as described in Zechariah 14:4-5). If that is the case, a Fourth Temple must be built. It will be the one mentioned in Ezekiel’s vision/prophecy. This Millennial Temple will never be desecrated, as the LORD Jesus will be the High Priest (after the order of Melchizedek) and the King of Israel (and the Earth). The Fourth Temple will be near the city of Jerusalem, which will be renamed “Yahweh is There” (Jehovah Shammah), according to Ezekiel 48:35, or “Yahweh is our righteousness” (Jehovah Tsidkenu), according to Jeremiah 33:16.
The temple referred to in Zechariah 6:12-15 is the physical Fourth Temple (IMO). Some scholars believe these prophetic verses are referring to the Church, as in believers in Christ are a spiritual temple of the LORD, but I don’t think the Church is in sight here, only Israel and the Jewish Temple:
“And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and He shall grow up out of his place, and He shall build the temple of the LORD: Even He shall build the temple of the LORD; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both” (Zechariah 6:12-13). The Branch is both King and High Priest, as was Melchizedek in the days of Abraham.
Of course, we know “the Branch” (Branch is capitalized in the KJV, indicating divinity) is Jesus Christ. “The Branch” (capitalized in the KJV, indicating divinity) is mentioned three times in Scripture: Zechariah 3:8, 6:12, and Jeremiah 33:15. Jeremiah 33 is about the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem in the millennium kingdom:
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD (Yahweh) our righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:14-16).
“For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually” (Jeremiah 33:17-22).
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Randy Nettles
Endnotes:
1: Hanukkah Tonight–and the Mysterious Date of Kislev 24 on the Hebrew Calendar – TaborBlog
2: Events in Jerusalem, 1917, as Foretold in the Bible – ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry
3: Every Prophecy of the Bible by John F. Walvoord, pg. 305.
The post The Redeemer Shall Come to Zion :: By Randy Nettles appeared first on Rapture Ready.
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