The Temple of God

[PeteWaldo]

The veil of the temple was ripped in two at Jesus' death:

Mat 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Jesus had prophesied the temple's later destruction in perfect detail:

Matthew 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Obviously to make way for the true tabernacle that the Lord built and not man. Illuminating the one path to God through Jesus' one sacrifice for sin forever.

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.  20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

Mark 14:58 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands

Jesus rebuilt the temple in three days, just as He indicated He could.

Matthew 26:61 And said, This [fellow] said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.

Here is how He did it:

Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

That temple is Jesus' body, rebuilt as the corporate body of Christ, through His crucifixion, death and resurrection.

The following also suggests that the temple of God is the corporate body of Christ:

Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

"Builded together" "through the Spirit" we understand:

1Corinthians 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

So the "temple of God" is the corporate body of Christ, composed of born again individuals, assembled together through the Holy Spirit.

Following are all of the verses that include the term "temple of God":

Matthew 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

The above verse is a reference to the literal temple that Jesus prophesied would be torn down - every stone - just as it was less than 40 years later.
 
Strong's for the Greek term "hieron" translated as "temple" in the above and similar verses that refer to a physical temple.
the temple
New Testament Greek Definition:
2411 hieron {hee-er-on'}
from 2413; TDNT - 3:230,349; n n
AV - temple 71; 71
1) a sacred place, temple
1a) used of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus
1b) used of the temple at Jerusalem
The temple of Jerusalem consisted of the whole of the sacred
enclosure, embracing the entire aggregate of buildings, balconies,
porticos, courts...

The following verses from Corinthians and Revelation use the Greek term "naos", translated as "temple", which can indicate a temple's inner sanctuary or metaphorically the body of Christ.

Strong's for the Greek term "naos" translated as "temple" in this and similar verses that refer to the body of Christ.
the temple
New Testament Greek Definition:
3485 naos {nah-os'}
from a primary naio (to dwell); TDNT - 4:880,625; n m
AV - temple 45, a shrine 1; 46
1) 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 (in classical Greek it is used of the sanctuary or cell
of the temple, where the image of gold was placed which is
distinguished from the whole enclosure)
2) any heathen temple or shrine
3) metaph. the spiritual temple consisting of the saints of all ages
joined together by and in Christ

1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.

2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

So the corporate body of Christ is the temple of God. The above is literal and apparent and not open to interpretation. 

In the figurative language of John's vision in Revelation we find the final two verses that use the term "temple of God":

Revelation 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

John had his vision while banished to the penal colony on the Isle of Patmos additionally precluding any suggestion that he was physically measuring a temple as some preterists actually suggest.

Finally, in that same chapter:

Revelation 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

That's it.  The above are all the verses that use the term "temple of God". 

This final use of the term locates the temple of God of that verse in the heavenlies, which would be consistent with Ezekiel's account.

Ezekiel 43:7 And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, [neither] they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.

Do people really believe that the Lord would render the temple Jesus built irrelevant, by not only dwelling in a temple made with hands, but dwell there for ever?
We have assurance that God does not dwell in temples made with hands: 

Acts 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

Any future rebuilt temple would be desolate before it was ever built, by God's design.

Hebrews 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

We can now well understand where we should be on guard for that "man of sin":

2Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Once again the Greek term naos {nah-os'} is used rather than hieron {hee-er-on'} for the "temple of God" in this verse, excluding suggestion that a literal physical temple is indicated, but rather the body of Christ.
3) metaph. the spiritual temple consisting of the saints of all ages
joined together by and in Christ.

So what can happen to a church that believes that "man of sin" has nothing to do not with them or their congregation today, but instead has to do with some future someday, that takes place after they have been removed from the world? Do we have to look very far to help us understand these verses from 2Thessalonians? Christians were traveling from all over the world to receive a special "anointing" by this man. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbNy_CmAoB0

"...above all that is called God...":

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

So it would seem we are left with no choice but to understand that the "man of sin" may be revealed in the corporate body of Christ, and perhaps even in an individual temple of the Holy Ghost. A excellent book regarding this subject is "The Bondage Breaker" by Neil Anderson.

For a Christian to suggest that a future "temple of God" is scriptural, would require believing that Jesus' finished work on the Cross, is incomplete and unfinished. Jesus warned the Pharisees of such:

Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Hebrews 8:13 In that he saith, A new [covenant], he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old [is] ready to vanish away.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Once we understand the location of the "temple of God", John Nelson Darby's mid-19th century futurist invention collapses. Thus any rebuilt temple could hardly be desolated, since the shed blood of Jesus Christ would have already rendered it desolate, before the first stone could be laid.

That some Jews that may remain sovereignly blinded, and could have an interest in building a temple should not be a surprise. But as Christians we can readily see that the only "temple of God", ever since the Cross, is the one that Jesus Himself rebuilt in three days.

Anecdotally I happened to notice this in Wikipedia:

"In 363, Emperor Julian II, on his way to engage Persia, stopped at the ruins of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. In keeping with his effort to foster religions other than Christianity, Julian ordered the Temple rebuilt. Sozomen (c. 400–450) in his Historia Ecclesiastica wrote this about the effort as did a personal friend of his, Ammianus Marcellinus:

    "Julian thought to rebuild at an extravagant expense the proud Temple once at Jerusalem, and committed this task to Alypius of Antioch. Alypius set vigorously to work, and was seconded by the governor of the province; when fearful balls of fire, breaking out near the foundations, continued their attacks, till the workmen, after repeated scorchings, could approach no more: and he gave up the attempt."

The failure to rebuild the Temple has been ascribed to the Galilee earthquake of 363, and to the Jews' ambivalence about the project. Sabotage is a possibility, as is an accidental fire. Divine intervention was the common view among Christian historians of the time.[11]"

Are we to believe that the Lord has any more interest in a rebuilt temple today then He did then?