Will the Temple be rebuilt?
Let's make some considerations about the false prophet and what we should expect in the near future.
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| Will the Temple be rebuilt? |
As we have seen from previous articles, the false prophet evolved from the man of lawlessness, and the reason we had not correctly identified him thus far was due, at least in part, to the error concerning Babylon the Great.
Just compare without prejudice what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4 with what we find in Daniel 11:36-39 and, of course, Revelation 13:11-18.
Probably the two great errors that have jeopardized the understanding of most of the prophecies are to be attributed to Babylon the Great, to the role of Israel and to the seven times.
These subjects and the inability to re-discuss them have probably "paralyzed", as it were, any further progress in understanding the prophecies.
Whether or not we agree with this statement, being able to question ourselves is fundamental to understanding the biblical message.
What can we add about the false prophet that we have not yet examined?
We have seen that the last ruling king, the one who emerges victorious from the war, will be the real architect of this deception.
The false prophet is still a "king", as we saw when comparing Revelation chapter 17 with Daniel, in the sense that he is a symbol of authority and goes so far as to "rain fire and sulfur from heaven" towards anyone who is not willing to submit to his authority.
And as Revelation specifically says "he exercises all the authority of the first wild beast" - Revelation 13:12, 13
We have also seen that for this deception to succeed, it must be believable, and indeed, in addition to the great signs and wonders, it must include the "Beautiful Land," which is Israel.
Israel is a very strong religious symbol and is the point of reference for nearly three billion people.
Being able to involve Israel is a masterstroke because... where else on earth could "the one who takes the place of God and pretends to be god" be placed? - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
This would end years of religious warfare and Muslims, Jews and "Christians" could finally bury the hatchet.
At least in theory.
At least if the "great signs from heaven" turn out to be impressive and believable enough.
The vast majority of mankind walk by "seeing", certainly not by faith based on knowledge - 2 Corinthians 5:6, 7
In such a scenario the only killjoys would remain those who have true faith based on knowledge and not emotion – John 17:3; 2 Timothy 3:14; Romans 10:16, 17
Killjoys who, by the way, will have to preach until the last moment - Revelation 14:6, 7
The Apostle Paul, speaking precisely of the man of lawlessness, says that he "sits down in the temple of God, showing publicly that he is a god" - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
The expression "temple of God" is significant and is also quite strange if we think that he, just like the other apostles, knew very well that "the temple of God" would be destroyed shortly thereafter.
Their Lord had in fact explained very clearly that "not a stone should be left upon a stone" - Matthew 24:2
How could this man of lawlessness have sat in the temple of God?
Wouldn't this have been possible after 70 CE, and if we think that 2 Thessalonians was written in 50-51 CE, should we assume that the events he describes would have occurred and concluded in less than twenty years?
Would anyone practically be sitting in God's temple within the short period of time that they would remain?
The first objection that those who interpret anything as "symbolic" would make is..."He sits in the temple of God in the sense that ..."
In what sense?
In the sense that it passes itself off as the Truth.
In the sense that it is a false form of worship that claims to be approved by God.
In the sense that many people will worship these false prophets (read: Christendom) thinking they are worshiping God.
In the sense that etc etc.
Meanwhile, we saw that the man of lawlessness would have new life in the time of the end and evaluated the various reasons why this beast with two lamb horns cannot be the propaganda of the Anglo-American empire.
Apart from this, the reasons given to give a different meaning to what is simply written in 2 Thessalonians are also quite weak.
The temple was a point of reference (for some even an object of adoration) for Jews, not for Christians.
The Lord Jesus Christ had taught, and not only to his disciples, that the Temple would soon be destroyed – John 4:21-24; Matthew 23:37, 38
In addition to this, it is precisely the apostle Paul who reproaches the Judaizing Christians who had a sense of inferiority towards the Judaic religion and who probably observed the temple with admiration and above all envy.
Christians, at least in appearance, had nothing.
The apostle Paul and others also made a great effort to make these people understand that they had something better .
A zealous Christian attentive to Jehovah's will would not have given particular honor to a building which, in fact, by 70 CE would have become a pile of ruins.
With this in mind, how can we say that the man of lawlessness would have sat in the temple of God in the sense that he would have taken the place of true worship?
This statement would have made sense to Jewish people, not Christians.
Indeed, Paul has already explained in these verses that this "subject" would set himself up as an object of reverence, that he would exalt himself above all gods and that he would publicly show that he is a god.
In practice he has already specified, and very well, that this subject would take the place of true worship.
In fact, this is not at all in dispute.
Why, in addition to all these details that outline a clear and coherent scenario, does he add that he "sits down in the temple of God"?
The answer is clear.
In keeping with the scenario that has emerged when comparing Matthew 24:23, 24, Revelation 13:14 and also what we have seen at Daniel 11:45, we must conclude that the temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt.
This will complete the deception and encourage all peoples to unite under one false flag/religion.
When will it happen?
Obviously we don't have any dates but we know that at some point it will welcome the false prophet, but the construction will certainly start sooner.
As we will see in the study dedicated to the 70 weeks, we can say that it will be built in a very short time frame.
This action will greatly affect humanity in general.
Whether this temple will be identical to the original, whether it will be larger, whether it will have a mixed architectural structure to enclose Judaism, Christianity and Islam, we do not know for now.
Surely sobering is Ezekiel's description of the Temple in Jerusalem full of false worship and disgusting things.
So let us pay attention to the events around us, stay awake and do everything possible not to fall victim to the deceptions of the false prophet.
Deceptions that will be very convincing to be able to mislead, at least potentially, "even the elect" - Matthew 24:24
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