1. 1 | P a g e
Third Temple?
Disciples Global Network
(www.revelationanswers.org)
Jesus is the True and Final Habitation of God, and Revelation says nothing about a
rebuilt or third temple in Jerusalem in the thousand-year period.
In Revelation, nothing is said about a temple structure in the city of
Jerusalem during the “thousand years” when Satan is “bound” or the
restoration of the Levitical priesthood, feasts, or animal sacrifices. Based
mainly on chapters 40-48 of the book of Ezekiel, some interpretations
assume the Temple will be rebuilt during or shortly before the thousand
years.
There are several problems with this theory. First, only one scriptural passage refers to
the thousand-year period, and it makes no mention of any temple or temple rituals.
Second, Revelation locates Ezekiel’s ideal temple in the city of “New Jerusalem.” And
third, in the New Testament, Jesus is the true and final Temple foreshadowed by the
ancient structure.
SATAN IMPRISONED
During the “thousand years,” Satan is “bound” in the “Abyss” to prevent him from
“deceiving the nations” until his release after the end of the period. Saints martyred
“for the testimony of Jesus” are vindicated and reign with Christ during this time.
The “rest of the dead” do not live again until the period ends. And in the passage,
neither the Temple nor Jerusalem is mentioned - (Revelation 20:1-10).
When he is loosed, Satan deceives the nations and gathers them to the final battle
against the “camp of the saints.” This confrontation results in the destruction of the
attacking force by direct divine intervention, and the casting of the Devil and all those
whose names are “not written into the Lamb’s book of life” into the “lake of fire” at the
final judgment.
After the “thousand years” end, John is “carried in the spirit to a high mountain”
where he sees the “holy city, New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” to
the earth - (Revelation 21:1-9).
The description of the city’s descent alludes to Ezekiel’s vision when the hand of
Yahweh carries him “into the land of Israel to set him upon a very high mountain on
2. Third Temple?
2 | P a g e - (revelationanswers.org)
which was the frame of a city on the south” - (Ezekiel 40:1-5, Revelation 21:1-10). Note
the following parallels:
• In Revelation, an angel gave John “a golden reed to measure the city, its gates,
and its wall.”
• In Ezekiel, a man “with a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed stood in
the gate… And behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the
man’s hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each:
so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.”
• New Jerusalem had “a wall great and high; with twelve gates, and at the gates
twelve angels; and names written on it, which are of the twelve tribes of the
children of Israel: on the east were three gates; and on the north three gates;
and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.”
• In Ezekiel 48:30-35, “The gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes
of Israel, three gates northward…And at the east side three gates…And at the
south side three gates.”
• In Revelation 22:1-2, John saw “a river of water of life, bright as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” On either side was “the
tree of life, bearing twelve fruits yielding fruit every month: and the leaves of the
tree were for the healing of the nations.”
• The preceding passage alludes to Ezekiel 47:1-12 where the “waters proceeded out
from under the threshold of the house eastward.” On either bank grew “every tree
for food whose leaf shall not whither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail; it shall
bring forth new fruit every month because the waters thereof issue out of the
sanctuary, and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for
healing.”
The final verse of Ezekiel reads, “the name of the city from that day shall be Yahweh
is there.” In Revelation, this becomes, “the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be
there” - (Ezekiel 48:35, Revelation 22:3).
NEW JERUSALEM
John states that he “saw no temple” in the city. Instead, the “Lord God the Almighty
and the Lamb are its Temple,” just as the city has no more need of the light of the sun
or moon “for the glory of God illuminated and its lamp is the Lamb.”
The holy sanctuary encompasses the entire city which is also coterminous with the new
creation. Thus, God’s presence is everywhere, and therefore, all unclean things and
persons are excluded from “New Jerusalem.”
3. Third Temple?
3 | P a g e - (revelationanswers.org)
Consistently in the New Testament, Jesus is the true and greater Temple, the
habitation of God prefigured by the earlier Tabernacle. He is the true Bethel, the “house
of God,” the real mediator between heaven and earth, the temple MADE WITHOUT
HANDS that is destroyed by evil men but raised from the dead by His Father - (John
1:14, 1:51, 2:17-21, Colossians 1:19).
In the new messianic age, questions about the proper location of the Temple are no
longer relevant. With the first arrival of Jesus, “the hour is coming and now is when
the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth” - (John 4:20-24).
Collectively, disciples form the “temple of God” in which His Spirit now dwells. They
are:
“Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the chief cornerstone…in him, all the building fitly framed together grows into a holy
temple, a habitation of God through the Spirit” - (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, Ephesians
2:20-22).
With the victory of Jesus, the time of shadows and types has come to an end, and the
structures of the old system have reached their intended goal. Jesus is the true and
final temple, tabernacle and sacrifice, the substance to which the shadows and patterns
all pointed - (Romans 10:4, Colossians 2:9-17).
None of this means that the New Testament has abandoned the promises of a future
Temple. Instead, it has REINTERPRETED THEM IN JESUS CHRIST. In “New
Jerusalem,” he and his Father are the true and final sanctuary.
Distribution - This paper is not copyrighted. Please copy and distribute it at will.
Posted - 29 November 2022
Disciples Global Network
Written by David R. Maas
Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island, Washington
bear7755@gmail.com
david.maas@yandex.com
(www.disciplesglobal.org)
(www.revelationanswers.org)
