God's Dwelling Places, Part 2

Well, a couple weeks ago, when I was here, you remember that we talked about God's dwelling places. And we talked about the Garden of Eden, if you will, and the temples of the Old Testament where God dwelt. And we went through what those temples were about, some of the things that God had talked to people about in building those temples. And He actually dwelt with people in those locations on earth, the Solomon's Temple, the Second Temple, as well as the Tabernacle in the wilderness. And you remember along with those temples that there was a way of life that God expected the people to live as well.

And as long as they lived that way of life, He would continue to dwell with them. But if they would depart from that, then God would take His blessing off that temple, and it would be no more. No one wanted to defile the temple. It was supposed to be clean. And as you remember, as we went into the fifth dwelling place of God, we talked about where God's dwelling place is today.

Acts 7, verse 48, you remember, says today God's dwelling place isn't in places made with hands. God's dwelling place is in us. It's where His Holy Spirit is. So let's go to 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16, and just begin there so we set the stage for today. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16. Paul was writing to the church then, the New Testament church, and he says, Don't you know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

You and me. That's where He's dwelling today. That's where He's building His temple. And we talked about how us, in us individually, but also as the church, the body that He is working with. Don't you know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.

For the temple of God is holy. Which temple? You are. Very sobering words when we realize what God is working in our lives and what He is doing with us. Thanks to remember as we go about our work, our play, our recreation of the things that we do, all seven days of the week, not just on the Sabbath.

Today, we got through five of the dwelling places. I mentioned that we had, or I had seven of them on a list. I'm not going to get to the sixth and seventh dwelling place of God today, but I want to talk about a couple other places in the Bible where people sometimes think there is another dwelling place, and that there is another temple that is going to be between now and the time of the return of Jesus Christ.

Two scriptures or two sets of scriptures I'm going to look at today to talk about that. Turn with me back to Matthew 24. Matthew 24, a chapter we're very familiar with, is the Olivet Prophecy where the disciples came and asked Christ a question that probably everyone living has had. What will be the sign of the end of time? What will happen near the end of the age? And of course, Christ goes through and He talks about the things that we know as the four seals and the wars and the rumors of wars and the famine and the pestilence.

And now in verse 15 of Matthew 24, He says this. He says, Therefore, when ye see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, and the parenthetical comment, Whoever reads, let him understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. He talks about a coming abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, spoken of by Daniel. And we know that that did occur before Christ was a man on earth and walking the earth. But let's go through the rest of these verses here just to see that He is clearly talking about the end time. He says, Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. There is a sense of urgency at this time when you see this happen, get ready, get ready, and leave. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath, for then, when you see these things happening, there will be great tribulation such as not been since the beginning of the world until this time, known or ever shall be.

And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved alive. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. Of an abomination of desolation, standing in the holy place, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, something coming and when we see it happen, be ready because the end is near. Some people think that that means there will be a temple standing, and there will be someone standing in that temple. An abomination of desolation will occur in that temple that's standing at that time. But let's go back to Daniel, because Christ says, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, and let those who read understand.

So let's go back, first of all, to Daniel 11 and see what the Bible says about the abomination of desolation that Christ refers to. Daniel 11, we're going to look at verse 31. Of course, you'll remember that Daniel 11 is a very detailed prophecy of what will occur. And you can go back through the pages of the Encyclopedia and see that everything that was prophesied in Daniel 11 occurred exactly as it says it would. And this, of course, was a prophecy. It hadn't occurred at that time.

If you want to take the time, the Middle East and Prophecy booklet goes in detail about the things that occurred that are prophesied in this chapter and how they perfectly match with what went on in history. And you'll remember there was Alexander the Great, who was king.

He died early, and his kingdom was split into four kingdoms. And there was a man, Antiochus Epiphanes, who was one of those kings who were split off from the four kingdoms. And then in verse 31, we read about something that he was going to do. It says, Enforces shall be mastered or mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress, and they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and they will place there the abomination of desolation. Something was going to happen to the temple.

Now, when Daniel was receiving this, this was several hundred years into the future. But what was prophesied there did occur. Antiochus Epiphanes did march into Jerusalem. Antiochus Epiphanes did perform, commit, whatever you want to call it, the abomination of desolation. We talked about that, and often when we talk about it, we talk about how he set up a statue of Zeus in the temple of God, because the temple was standing at that time. But as an oppressor, he came in and he put a pagan god in that temple. And he did offer unclean meat on the altar of God.

And he defiled the temple, and God allowed him to do that. And he did do exactly what is said here. As you read through commentaries and as you read through the encyclopedias about when on at that time, you learn a little bit more about what Antiochus Epiphanes did. Certainly it was an act against God to put a statue of Zeus in that temple, and it was certainly an act of God to go in and in affront to him to offer unclean meat on that altar.

The look from Maccabees, the book of Maccabees, a history of what went on during that time. So it's not long after this, the king sent an Athenian senator to force the Jews to abandon the customs of their ancestors and live no longer by the laws of God. Also, to profane the temple in Jerusalem and dedicate it to the Olympian Zeus. They also brought into the temple things that were forbidden so that the altar was covered with abominable offerings prohibited by the laws. You can see what he was doing here. It goes on, A man could not keep the Sabbath or celebrate the traditional feasts, nor even admit that he was a Jew.

Greeks were authorized to put to death those who would not consent to adopt the customs of the Greeks. Others who had assembled in nearby caves to observe the Sabbath and secret were betrayed and all burned to death. You see what Antiochus did? He did a lot more than just march into the temple and erect a pagan statue. He did a lot more than go in and on that altar offer unclean meats. He interrupted and he attacked the entire way of life of the Jewish people. He set up a time and an oppressive time and a reign of terror, if you will, that if you kept the law of God as the Jews were keeping it, he was against it.

He forbid them from keeping the Sabbath and the holy days. He forbid them from doing anything, not even admitting that they were Jews. He wanted to wipe it off of the face of the earth. The abomination of desolation, Christ said, spoken of by Daniel the prophet. A vision that when Daniel saw it, it says in the later chapter, he was sick when he heard the vision. Did he see the vision of the statue going up?

Sure. Did he see a vision of the unclean sacrifices on the altar? Yes. Did he see the suffering of his people that were going to come by this hand, by the hand of this man? Yes, he did. Yes, he did. And it made him sick and sorrowful to see that that was going to come upon his people, all part of the abomination of desolation that Antiochus Epiphanes wreaked on that people for just about three years. Now, as we read those words about what happened back in that time, and we read words about what is going to happen before the time of Christ and how there will be a beast power, and that beast power will be against all the things of God.

And knowing that Christ said, the abomination of desolation, when you see this set up, when you see this occurring, get ready to flee, there will come a time that is like that. Let's go back a couple chapters, Daniel 8, and look at another place in Daniel that the abomination of desolation is mentioned. Daniel 8, we're going to pick it up in verse 11.

I'm sorry, verse 8. Well, let's pick it up in verse 9. Daniel 8, verse 9, again speaking of this king, it says, And out of them, out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land, and it grew up to the host of heaven, and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. He even exalted himself as high as the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of his sanctuary, God's sanctuary, was cast down.

Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices, and he cast truth to the ground. He did all this and prospered. Verse 13. Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, How long will the vision be concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot? And he said to me, for two thousand three hundred days, then the sanctuary will be cleansed.

Two thousand three hundred days. Now, if you look in the margin of your Bible, there's probably a little letter by two thousand three hundred days, and it says the literal translation of two thousand three hundred days is two thousand three hundred evening mornings. Now, we know an evening in a morning is one day, just as it says in Genesis, just as we keep the Sabbath from sunset to sunset is a day, but two thousand three hundred evening mornings.

And you notice in conjunction with the abomination of desolation in the places we've read so far, there's this taking away the daily sacrifices. And that's the concept or the context of what is being spoken of here. Because the Jews, there were sacrifices that were going on every evening and every morning, two sacrifices a day. And so if we look at that literally, it could be that there are two thousand three hundred evening and morning sacrifices that are away, that are to be interrupted or that will be stopped.

If that was the case, then two thousand three hundred evening mornings would be one thousand one hundred fifty days. Now, whether they are two thousand three hundred literal days or two thousand three hundred evening and morning sacrifices, which are one thousand one hundred fifty days, I think only God knows for sure. But when we look at the context and we see the note that it's evening mornings and not the traditional word for day that is translated there, we might come to the conclusion that it's one thousand one hundred fifty days. Now, Antiochus, we know, he went into Jerusalem and he went in and he interrupted the life.

He interrupted the entire life of the Jewish people. Certainly what was going on at the temple was going on no more. He stopped the daily sacrifices. And remember, those sacrifices were the Jews, God's people at that time, communicating with God. They did that to be in his good graces. They did that in order for to be in contact with him. And so when those were taken away, it took away a very important part of their lives. I'm not going to take the time to go through, but in the same book of Maccabees, where it recounts this history of what went on during that time, it talks about the day that Antiochus came into Jerusalem and the day he left.

And you can go on the Internet and find the calculation and what you find is that from the time he came in to the time he left, using the months as God defines the months was exactly 1,150 days. 1,150 days that his reign of terror over the Jews of that time was taking place.

Prophesied to Daniel ahead of time, if that's indeed what this prophecy means, and it happened exactly the way that God had said it would happen. When that 1,150 days was done, the Maccabees came in and the temple was cleansed, and the daily sacrifices were reinstituted and life went on. But for that 1,150 days, there was the abomination of desolation and the daily sacrifices were stopped.

Jewish life, all of Jewish life, was stopped. No one was free to keep the Sabbath. No one was free to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had to worship who Antiochus wanted them to worship, or their life was at stake. Let's go on here in chapter 8, verse 15. It happened when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.

And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Uleh who called and said, Gabriel, make this man understand the vision. So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid, and I fell on my face. But he said to me, understand, son of man, the vision refers to the time of the end.

The vision refers to the time of the end. Well, it happened, but it also refers to the time of the end. Christ said, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, let him who reads understand. What happened to the Jews back then? A horrific time in their history. Let's go down to verse 23 of the same chapter, Daniel 8. And it speaks a little of the man, the king here, that's wreaking this havoc. In the latter time of their kingdom, speaking of the four that emit or come from the Greek, broken Greek kingdom, in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king will arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes.

His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power, driven by another force. He shall destroy fearfully, and he shall prosper and thrive. He shall destroy the mighty and also the holy people. Through his cunning, he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule, and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the prince of princes, but he shall be broken without human means.

Antiochus, Epithanes, didn't die in a war. He didn't die because someone killed him. He died from disease. And as you are probably thinking as we read these verses of the end-time man who will read about in the little time we know that he doesn't die by human hands. He, too, is taken by God. Verse 26, And the vision of the evenings and mornings, which was told, is true. Therefore seal up the vision, Daniel, for it refers to many days in the future. And when Daniel heard it, he fainted and was sick for days. An awful time, the abomination of desolation, and what occurred in the temple, but what occurred in Jewish life as well.

Let's go back over to chapter 11, down to Daniel. And let's read of the end-time king, and what he's like, and compare him to the man we just read about in Daniel 8. Let's pick it up in verse 36. Daniel 11, again, is the prophecy that takes us all through the time. You can document it in history, but in these verses here it moves to the end-time. It says in verse 36, Then the king shall do according to his own will.

He will exalt and magnify himself above every god. He will speak blasphemies against the god of gods. He will have no regard for him at all. And he shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished, for what has been determined shall be done. He will regard neither the god of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, for he shall exalt himself above them all. But in their place he will honor a god of fortresses, and a god which his fathers didn't know he will honor with gold and silver, precious stones, and pleasant things.

And he will act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge and advance its glory. And he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain. And then it says, At the time of the end the king of the south will attack him.

Here we see a man, full of himself, if you will, has no problem being an affront to God, no trouble at all, interrupting what God's will is. We read in Revelation, he will put to death the saints of God. He will hate the way of God's life. He will hate the laws. He will hate what people do, and he will want to eliminate that and have people do his own thing. That's at the time of the end this man will occur.

And if we go down to chapter 12 we see the continuation of the talk of what will occur at the end, chapter 12, verse 1. At that time Michael will stand up, the Grace Prince, who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that time. Just like the words Jesus Christ said, this is what's going to happen at the time of the end, and at that time your people, Daniel, will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake. The first resurrection at the seventh trump at the time of Christ's return, some the everlasting life, some the shame, and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise, those who have the fear of God, those who are led by His Holy Spirit, those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Verse 4, but you, Daniel, shut up the words. Seal the book until the time of the end. Verse 7, Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever, that this time will be for a time, times, and half a time.

1260 days, three and a half years, and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, just like the power of the Jews back in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, completely shattered, even if they were secretly keeping the Sabbath in the cave, they had those who would betray them and say, That's what they're doing.

It should remind you of Matthew 24, when it says, Father or children will betray their parents. Fathers will betray their children. A time coming when you keep the words of God, and when we keep them, it will be cause for people to say, They're over there. They're still doing what you have forbidden them to do. When the power of the people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. Verse 8, Daniel says, Although I heard, I didn't understand, and I said, My Lord, what shall be the end of these things?

And he said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many will be purified, made white, and refined. But the wicked will do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand. But the wise, those who fear God, those who are led by His Holy Spirit, but the wise shall understand. Christ said, Let him who reads understand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. So here we have, at the time of the end, daily sacrifices taken away, an abomination of desolation set up.

And from the time that that occurs, there's 1,290 days. Verse 12, Blessed is he who waits and comes to the 1,335 days. 45 days before the abomination of desolation. 75 days before the start of the Great Tribulation. There's a lot of speculation about what will occur at the 1,335 days before Christ returns. I'm not going to get into that speculation. God knows what it is. We will know when He wants us to know. But this prophecy that coincides with Daniel, that coincides with Revelation, that talks about the time of the end.

All those days end in the return of Jesus Christ. Verse 13, You Daniel, go your way till the end. You will rest, and you will rise to your inheritance at the end of the days. 1,335, 1,290, 1,260, they all culminate at the same time with the return of Jesus Christ. But before those days, as Christ said, as Daniel said, as has occurred before, there's daily sacrifices taken away, and there's an abomination of desolation set up.

What can that mean? Well, today we live in a world that's just a tremendously interesting time to live. We see what's going on around the world, and just this past week we've had the flare-up in Jerusalem over five people who ended up dead as the Palestinians came in and shot them as they prayed in the synagogue.

And the continuing tension is around the Temple Mount over there in Jerusalem, and that's going to be or has been a trigger point for generations and will continue to be a trigger point for generations. The Jews have controlled that area since 1967, but they have allowed the Palestinians to keep the Temple Mount exactly as is. But the tensions are growing.

You hear more and more talk than the Israeli news among people who want a temple built on that mount, just as Solomon did and just as the Second Temple was built. But the Jews know that if they were to go into that place, and there are many people who agree it would trigger, almost immediately trigger a world war. The tensions are that high over the Temple Mount. Let me read to you something I put a piece of in the letter yesterday. This is from Israel Today, a magazine over there in Jerusalem. It was written on November 19.

It says, the Israeli and Palestinian presses have in recent months been replete with talk of religious war in the Holy Land. In the foreign mainstream media, however, this reality is completely overlooked. The danger of a mounting religious war far overshadows the political aspects of the Israeli-Arab conflict and both peoples, Jews and Arabs, speak openly of it. This is especially true of the Muslims who view the current violence as the start of a great war that will break out in accordance with the Qur'an.

It goes on to say, Jews and Christians too see a coming storm foretold in the Bible, a confrontation that will bring all the nations against Israel, primarily over the issue of Jerusalem. But for the mainstream international media, all this is just too religious and is therefore dismissed as nonsense. Of the ongoing conflict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, we are in a battle for Jerusalem, our eternal capital.

In this struggle, we must stick together. So we have this Temple Mount that has become a litmus point for the world, if you will, and it will continue to be that place. Let me read continuing from the Times of Israel. This goes back a couple months to time when there was the incident in the Gaza Strip and Israel was closing up the tunnels into Israel. It says, Rabbi Kaim Richmond of the Temple Mount Foundation said the Temple Mount is overrun by terrorists. This is a tangible fact.

He said, rebuilding the Temple is the next step to Israel's current military operation in the Gaza Strip. We cannot be the people we're supposed to be without the Holy Temple, he said. So what if we rode out the Gaza tunnels and missiles? Then what are we doing with our lives? The redemption of humanity is dependent on the Jewish people.

And in some sources, you can go on and you can read and they say without that temple being built, without a third temple, there is no hope of world peace. After all, remember they don't believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They need a temple for him to return to. And so they say there's no hope of world peace without them building the temple. Now a year ago when I began looking at this, the opinion polls were not too high in Israel overall about a temple, but apparently that is changing.

This comes from the Israeli monitor of Israel. It says, according to a poll taken last year in a leading newspaper, Hireats, one-third of Israelis believe that Israel should erect the temple on the Temple Mount. Israel's housing minister has called publicly for the rebuilding of the temple. He says we've built many little temples.

Referring to synagogues, we need to build a real temple on the Temple Mount. Continuing escalation. The Palestinians, as they hear this, that place is very holy to them and they have had sole control over it. It's only been recently that they've allowed Jews to even go up onto the Temple Mount, and Jews are forbidden to pray. But they do allow some to go up there, but they seem to be going up with more frequency, and that is causing tensions in the area. The Palestinians believe, as they hear this talk, that the Jews have something in mind for that Temple Mount that they're not about to let happen. And the Jews do have something in mind.

They do have the Third Temple in mind. Listen to this, listen to this article that talks about preparations for the Third Temple. This is also from Rabbi Richman. He says, We have enough in place now to resume divine service and to build a temple. Now, he just said this a few weeks ago.

We have enough in place now to resume divine service and to build a temple. But obviously, he says, a lot of things have to happen in order for this to occur. The Institute, the Temple Mount Institute, already has developed and built the Holy Menorah at a cost of $2 million, a modular altar that could quickly be taken apart and reassembled at the temple, the bronze basin, the showbread table, and no less than 40 cents of kosher priestly garments, which will be the prototype for the thousands of sets to be sown in the future.

The rabbis detailed 93 different tools that were used in the temple, and the Temple Institute also deals with them. It's based on very in-depth research done at various places. Explains one of these spokesman there. For instance, the garments of the high priest, identifying the stones in the breastplate, the whole issue of blues, scarlet, and purple, and their recreation. It's an entire research project of the past 20 years. I think the temple's been on their mind for some time. I think that they're thinking that they need to do something. You think the sentiment is there as they watch a world unfolding around them, where they are in constant, constant fear for what is going to happen next.

Mr. Ariel, who said that we need to build the temple, the housing minister over there, talked about that it wasn't going to be done by private acts, it wasn't going to be done by force. They will raise the consciousness of the Israeli people to the point that they believe and know the temple must be built, and that they will move on it because they will see it as their duty to mankind, which he sees it as well.

And they're ready. They're ready. Mr. Siegel in this article says, quote, the location of the altar where sacrifices are allowed on the Temple Mount is not within the bounds of Al-Aqsa. So at least they, referring to the Muslims, should let us begin sacrificing on the Temple Mount. But things have to change. There's the quote we have, enough now in place to resume the divine service. But here you have a slide of what the Temple Mount looks like today.

In the center right there you have the Dome of the Rock. One of the most holy places, the internet says, is the third most holy place in Islam, the Dome of the Rock. Over here is the Al-Aqsa Mosque. You've probably heard of that in recent days. That's been in the news somewhat. Two separate structures, but this whole area here is the Temple Mount. Right back over in here is the Wailing Wall, the western wall they call it, where the Jews on the other side come to pray. So you see this whole area that the Jews say is the most holy place to them, that the Muslims say is the third most holy place to them.

They've had control of it, but when the rabbis say, there's plenty of room, there's plenty of room around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, we would have no problem going in there and setting up the altar and begin sacrificing.

Tomorrow, it's ready. They could disassemble it and set it up, and they could begin sacrificing whenever they feel the time is right. But if they did that today, it would trigger war. It would trigger war. The Palestinians and the Jews would be at it, and perhaps you would see armies surround Jerusalem, like Luke says will occur at the end of time. And they know they can't do that. They're not ready to trigger that. But they're ready to go. Now, knowing that the altar is ready, knowing that there is room on this Temple Mount that's there, should remind us of Ezra 3.6. If you remember a couple weeks ago, I talked about Ezra 3.6, and I talked about when the second building, the second Temple was being built, the first thing they did was build the altar, and they began sacrificing on it. It wasn't until after that that they laid the foundation for the Temple. So the Jews have a history of begin sacrificing first. Remember, that's a source of contact with God. That's a very important thing in the religion of sacrifice, to have that contact with God and to please Him and to show their willingness to sacrifice to Him. Christ said that somewhere in the future the abomination of desolation will be set up. The abomination of desolation will be set up. Let's turn back to Revelation 13. What that is, I don't know.

But in Revelation 13, we know there's a time coming when there is a beast power and then a beast, a smaller beast who rides the beast that will set up a system and an image that is to be worshipped and demand to be worshipped. Let's look at chapter 13 in verse 14.

Chapter 13 verse 14. He, the small beast, deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. Make an image to him. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. Worship who I want you to worship, the man says. Not who you want to worship, not the God, but worship who I want you to worship. That's one of the images or abominations that could find itself in a holy place, as Jesus Christ said. It could be a number of things that defile and that God would look at as an abomination to him. Let's talk about the daily sacrifices. Because along with the abomination of desolation, there's daily sacrifices that are attached to that. And certainly we've seen, in what the Jews already have set up, that those sacrifices could occur immediately. If they did, if they decided to go ahead and do that, it would trigger war.

But as time goes on, perhaps they will work out some arrangement. Who knows what it will be? And we could have a literal stopping of the daily sacrifices if the Jews begin to have that happen. We can see that happening because it's there. It's there. It's just a matter of time when it could happen.

But as we talk about the temple of God, remember we're talking about the temple dwelling in people.

God dwells in us today. He doesn't dwell in temples made by hands. Whatever goes on in Israel and on this Temple Mount before Jesus Christ returns, that's not a place that God's going to dwell in. He doesn't dwell in temples made by hands. He dwells in you and me.

We have a relationship with God that needs to be developed. We have a relationship with God that we need to pay attention to. And part of our relationship with God are the sacrifices that we make to Him. So if we look at the temple as a spiritual thing that God is working with today, it could be. And I'm not saying it is because we can see that there are. There's a mechanism to set up literal daily sacrifices. But we also know from the history of Antiochus that he came in and he totally disrupted Jewish life. They weren't able or free to do anything. And he would like to do, or the power that comes coming, would like to do the same with the people of God.

We give our lives as a living sacrifice to God. We offer the sacrifice of praise to Him.

When the abomination of desolation comes, could it be that those sacrifices will be interrupted or very, very difficult to do in the way that we are able to do them today?

So would those verses in Matthew 24 show that there is a temple, a third temple that's going to be built? No. I don't think it shows that there has to be a third temple that is there. It may be God's will that there is. I don't know. But let's go back to Matthew 24 verse 15 and look at one more thing. Verse 24 and verse 15.

Christ says, therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, things that happened before, as a type of what will happen in the future, whoever reads, let him understand, let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

When you see the abomination, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place.

Now, the Greek word for place that's there is topos. It has no special meaning other than the fact the word holy is in front of it. Christ doesn't say there when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the temple, whoever reads, let him understand. He says when you see them standing in the holy place. The Jews see the Temple Mount as the holy place. The Muslims see the Temple Mount as a holy place.

Perhaps the coming beast power will look at it as a holy place. Now, the world may look at it as a holy place. But he doesn't say when you see him standing in the temple and the Greek words that are used for temple. So does Matthew 24 verse 15 and that said, of verses, show for sure there will be a third temple built before Jesus Christ returns? Doesn't sow it for sure? Would I say it won't happen? No. Only God knows for sure. Let's go back to Revelation 11, though.

Let's look at another verse that raises questions sometimes.

Revelation 11 and verse 1.

John writing here, he says, I was given a read like a measuring rod, and the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple and don't measure it, for it's been given to the Gentiles, and they will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months. Very same words that Daniel used, that the city would be trampled underfoot. Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court and don't measure it. Does this show?

That there is a third temple that will be built and has to be standing at the time that Jesus Christ returned. What else could John be measuring or be told to measure? Well, we get into some Greek words that help shed some light on the subject. In chapter 11 here and verse 1, the word temple is from the Greek word naos, n-a-o-s. And you can see with the Greek word naos, is used for. It's used of the temple at Jerusalem, but only of the sacred edifice, or sanctuary itself, consisting of the holy place and the holy of holies. One dictionary says, it's that part of the temple where God Himself resides. Well, that's quite a distinction. That's quite a distinction. And Christ Himself says, measure the naos of the temple. Now, remember, we're in New Testament times. After you get out of the gospels, you don't see the other word we'll talk about in a minute that's translated temple, used anywhere. You see the word naos, n-a-o-s, the place where God resides. Remember, Paul said, you, you and I, are the temple of God. We're the place where God dwells now. The people who respond to Him, who His Holy Spirit dwells in, you are the temple of God, he says. And that's the spiritual temple that is spoken of.

And as we get back into 1 Corinthians 3, 16, that we read earlier, that's, this is the word that's translated temple there. You are the naos of God. If anyone defiles the naos, God will destroy Him, the inner sanctuary. Now, here's a picture of the second temple. You've all seen this before, and you see the entire courtyard that's here. Here's the Holy of Holies. Here's the place that is inside a wall. And then you have the outer courtyard that's here.

Remember who was able to go inside these inner walls where the altar is and where the Holy of Holies are? Only the priest, right? Here's a layout of what the temple functioned like.

And you can see there, the temple area is the Holy of Holies. A little red dot there is the altar, and that's the inner court. The common man, if you will, if I may use that term, was not allowed to go inside those gates. Only priests could go into the naos. Only priests could go in there. When Jesus Christ was on earth, He wasn't a priest. He was only able to go into the court, the outer courts. When you speak of Him going into the temple, He wasn't going into the naos. He was going into the other word we'll talk about in a minute for temple, because He wasn't a priest. Only priests could go into that naos. Only priests were authorized entrance, and only the high priest once a year could go into the Holy of Holies. That's where God resides.

That's where Paul says, God resides today in you and me and everyone who follows Him, who is led by His Holy Spirit, who yields to Him.

And in Revelation 11, verse 1, here in the New Testament, where Paul has set the standard, and when we don't see the other word for temple show up anywhere after the Gospels, we read that John is told, Rise and measure the temple or the naos of God, the place where God resides, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and don't measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. Only priests could go into the naos.

Now I ask, what is God preparing us to be?

Revelation 1, verse 5. He's preparing us to be priests and kings. Only priests can be in the naos. Only priests were allowed access into that. That should have some implications for us, especially as we look at the word measure when we come back to it in a little bit. Are we really allowing God to prepare us to be priests? That he would say, have entrance into that naos. Or would we only be allowed in the outer courts or relegated to the outer courts where non-priests are? I've given you some verses. Let's look at a few verses here for...

I think I gave you... I think we've gone over the verses today. Matthew 26, verse 61, speaks of Christ destroying the temple himself, and it would be resurrected or raised up again in three days.

That's what that verse is speaking of. That word, naos, is used there as he was talking about that.

Let's go back to Matthew 27, verse 51, and look at that.

Matthew 27 and verse 51.

2751.

Now, there's another word that's translated temple almost every place that it occurs in the Greek as well, and that's the word hyaron. H-I-E-R-O-N. Hyaron, you can see the difference between this word and naos. This word is a temple, and sometimes when you read about Paul at the temple of Diana, that's that word there. A temple, either the whole building or specifically the outer courts, open to worshipers.

So you can see the difference. While we may translate them, or they may be translated in our Bible as temple, they're two distinct things. Where we see this temple is talking about the physical temple and the place that is open to the court, where naos excludes it.

So when we read H-I-E-R-O-N, it's the whole complex here, or specifically excluding the inner sanctuary, where naos includes that.

Let's look at a free of the verses here that where Hyaron is used. Matthew 21 and verse 12.

Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And he said to them, it's written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you've made it a den of thieves. And then in verse 14 and then in verse 15, we see the word temple appear. It's the Greek word H-I-E-R-O-N. Remember, Jesus couldn't go into the naos. He could only go into the H-I-E-R-O-N temple.

He wasn't a priest. He could only go into the Hyaron. And that's where all the tables were set up. That's where all the people would assemble for Sabbath services. They would be out in this area here, where the priests would go in. So when we read in Matthew 21 about this temple, it's talking about the entire temple complex. Let's go over to Matthew 26.

Matthew 26, verse 55.

Let me find verse 55 here. Let's begin. Okay. In that hour, Jesus said to the multitudes, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the H-I-E-R-O-N. And you didn't see the devil. You didn't see the devil. You didn't see the devil. You didn't see the devil. You didn't see the devil. You were teaching in the H-I-E-R-O-N. And you didn't seize me.

Where was he? He couldn't go into the Neos. He could only go into the outer courts. That's where he was during that time. So when we read of temples, and again, after, well, I shouldn't say after the Gospels, Paul does use H-I-E-R-O-N when speaking a few of the physical temples there. We read of N-A-I-O-N-A-O-S. Most of the time, remembering it's a spiritual temple that God is building today. So knowing the difference between the words used as temple can help us understand the meaning of what God has said. So if we go back to Revelation 11, and we'll look at one other thing here before we close.

And we read verse 1 again.

John says, We know what the N-A-O-S is. We know where the priests are able to go into. We know who goes into that inner sanctuary. What is John told to do? He's told to measure them. Now, if I was going to measure this room, I could get my tape measure out, and I could give you the feet and inches that this room is lengthwise and widthwise. Is that what God is talking about here? I measure that N-A-O-S, and the people who worship there. Measure the people who are in N-A-O-S. John? Well, again, we can go back to the Greek word that's translated and measured there, and we see that it's the Greek word metreo. M-E-T-R-E-O. It means measure out, estimate, or ascertain by a fixed standard. Assertain by a fixed standard. John, look at the people that are there. Look at the N-A-O-S, and measure those people. Now, it's always helpful to see where the word is used in other places. Let's go back to 2 Corinthians. And the same word, Greek word metreo, is used in 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 12. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 12. For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves, metreo, but they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. Remember who's wise? Who are the wise? Well, they're not wise if what they're doing is measuring themselves by the actions of others. If I look at you and you're doing something and I say, ah, I'm doing okay because I'm doing better than him. Is that the measure, the fixed standard of measure that God would have us measure each other by, or that He measures us by? Now, what Paul is saying here, that's the false measure. You don't compare yourself to others. You don't commend yourself and say, ah, I'm better than them, therefore God is very pleased with me. If we do that, we're foolish. We're not wise. Verse 13, we, however, will not boast beyond measure, but with... Okay. Oh, no, I didn't want to do verse 13. Just wanted you to see what verse 12 is. That's not the measure that we stand by. That's not the fixed standard what each other do. That's not the standard we compare ourselves to. Let's look at Matthew 7. Matthew 7, verse 2.

Sermon on the Mount.

In verse 1 of this chapter, it sets the tone. Judge not. Verse 1, that you be not judged. Verse 2, for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it'll be measured back to you. With the measure you use, the matrao you use, which happens to be the noun form of the same Greek word, it'll be measured back to you. So if I hold you to a standard, and it's a rigorous standard, and I judge you and say, just not good enough. You're not meeting at all what God wants to. If we look at others and we decide we will analyze them, pick them apart, criticize them, God says, watch it. Whatever standard you use to measure others, the same measure is going to be used to measure you. What is the fixed standard that we would measure, that God would measure us by? We find it back in Ephesians 4, verse 13. Ephesians 4, verse 13, we know this is speaking of the church. God is working with the church. Individuals are temples of God. The church is the temple of God that he is building. Breaking into the middle of the sentence, but we don't lose the thought here. In verse 13, it says, Till we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure, matrao, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That's the fixed standard. That's the measure by which God judges us. When he calls us, when we respond, when we receive his Holy Spirit, and we commit to him, vice versa, in reverse order there, that's the measure that he measures us. How long or how well are we doing in comparison to that measure? As each year, as each decade passes, that we are led by God's Holy Spirit, are we becoming more and more like him? To the measure of a perfect man, just like Jesus Christ. To the measure that he will be measuring the naos. Back in Revelation 11, when he tells John to do that. That's the measure that we all adhere to. Not comparing ourselves to each other, not comparing ourselves to the world, comparing ourselves to Jesus Christ. That's the fixed measure. So in Revelation 11, well, let's turn to 1 John. As you turn to 1 John 3, I'll remind you of Matthew 5, verse 48, where Christ tells us to become perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect. We can only do that by yielding to His Holy Spirit, by allowing it to run through our veins and infiltrate every cell of our body. And in 1 John 3, verse 2, John tells us the same thing. He says in verse 2, Beloved, now we are children of God, it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Himself purifies Himself, just as He is pure. That's the standard. That's what He wants us to live by. That's what we should be adhering to. So when we read about temples, holy places, when Jesus talks about an abomination of desolation and daily sacrifices, should those get our attention? Yes, they should. Should we be watching what's going on in Jerusalem? Yes, we should. Prophecy takes place over there, and as time marches forward, it will be increasingly so. Will there be a third temple built? I'll let you make that conclusion only God knows the answer. But I think in Matthew 24 and Revelation 11, we see that it isn't necessary for a third temple to be built in order for Jesus Christ to return. And certainly in Revelation 11, speaking of the spiritual temple, what God is really interested in is not a building made by hands. What He's really interested in is how we are letting Him build Himself in us.

Are we letting Him build the temple? Are we letting Him create in us what He wants us to be? So that when He returns, we can be the kings and priests and enter into that naos that He has, that He would want us to be part of. That's the thing. So as we go through life, all these other things are very interesting to read about, a lot to think about. Keep your focus on letting God build in you the temple that will be measured by the standard of Jesus Christ.