The argument for a Third Temple by Professor John F. Walvoord is as follows:
On the basis of Matthew 24:15 with supporting Scriptures from Daniel, 2 Thessalonians 2, and Revelation 11:1, it may be concluded that Scriptures anticipate a future temple with a sacrificial system which will be under way at the time “the prince that shall come” exercises his authority, desecrates the temple, and establishes himself as the object of worship.- Walvoord, J. F. (1968). Will Israel Build a Temple in Jerusalem? Bibliotheca Sacra, 125, 99–106.
Scripture cited in the article:
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) (Matt. 24:15 KJV)
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 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. (Dan. 9:26-10:1 KJV)
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. (2 Thess. 2:3-4 KJV)
Most premillennial's interpret this text as did Prof. Walvoord.
I am not among them. I find it impossible Apostle Paul call a Christ rejecting future Temple "the temple of God".
Moreover, Christ didn't hint there would be a reversal of the Temple's destruction (Mt. 24:1ff) as part of the sign of His coming anywhere in the gospels..
Perhaps the strongest proof against the Professor's argument is in Daniel itself. The professor writes:
The abomination of desolation has reference to a future event paralleling to some extent “the abomination that maketh desolate” of Daniel 11:31 fulfilled in the desolation of the Temple in the second century B.C. by Antiochus Epiphanes which sparked the Maccabean revolt.- Walvoord, J. F. (1968). Will Israel Build a Temple in Jerusalem? Bibliotheca Sacra, 125, 103.
If Antiochus and his defiling of the Temple parallels the end time event, why didn't Daniel understand the prophecy as easily as do modern interpreters?
Why were the words "sealed" to Daniel whom God specially gifted to understand enigma and vision (Dan. 2:47; 4:8-9; 5:11-12 )? He and his fellow experts in scripture personally experienced the Temple's Destruction by a pagan, and knew all about previous defilements of the Temple; so why would end time defilement of the temple be beyond their understanding?
8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. (Dan. 12:8-10 KJV)
This is strong proof Antiochus and what he did does NOT parallel what the antichrist will do in the end time. If it did, Daniel would have easily understood it. Instead, these end time prophecies confused Daniel and his fellow experts in Scripture, the vision of destruction even made him physically sick:
And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it. (Dan. 8:27 KJV)
In the NT, Paul consistently refers to the Church as the Temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21). Therefore, in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 the "temple of God" is the church, and the "man of sin" "son of destruction" is the False Christ Antichrist, who leads the great apostasy of the church in the End Time:
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. (2 Thess. 2:3-4 KJV)
On the basis of Matthew 24:15 with supporting Scriptures from Daniel, 2 Thessalonians 2, and Revelation 11:1, it may be concluded that Scriptures anticipate a future temple with a sacrificial system which will be under way at the time “the prince that shall come” exercises his authority, desecrates the temple, and establishes himself as the object of worship.- Walvoord, J. F. (1968). Will Israel Build a Temple in Jerusalem? Bibliotheca Sacra, 125, 99–106.
Scripture cited in the article:
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) (Matt. 24:15 KJV)
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 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. (Dan. 9:26-10:1 KJV)
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. (2 Thess. 2:3-4 KJV)
Most premillennial's interpret this text as did Prof. Walvoord.
I am not among them. I find it impossible Apostle Paul call a Christ rejecting future Temple "the temple of God".
Moreover, Christ didn't hint there would be a reversal of the Temple's destruction (Mt. 24:1ff) as part of the sign of His coming anywhere in the gospels..
Perhaps the strongest proof against the Professor's argument is in Daniel itself. The professor writes:
The abomination of desolation has reference to a future event paralleling to some extent “the abomination that maketh desolate” of Daniel 11:31 fulfilled in the desolation of the Temple in the second century B.C. by Antiochus Epiphanes which sparked the Maccabean revolt.- Walvoord, J. F. (1968). Will Israel Build a Temple in Jerusalem? Bibliotheca Sacra, 125, 103.
If Antiochus and his defiling of the Temple parallels the end time event, why didn't Daniel understand the prophecy as easily as do modern interpreters?
Why were the words "sealed" to Daniel whom God specially gifted to understand enigma and vision (Dan. 2:47; 4:8-9; 5:11-12 )? He and his fellow experts in scripture personally experienced the Temple's Destruction by a pagan, and knew all about previous defilements of the Temple; so why would end time defilement of the temple be beyond their understanding?
8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. (Dan. 12:8-10 KJV)
This is strong proof Antiochus and what he did does NOT parallel what the antichrist will do in the end time. If it did, Daniel would have easily understood it. Instead, these end time prophecies confused Daniel and his fellow experts in Scripture, the vision of destruction even made him physically sick:
And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it. (Dan. 8:27 KJV)
In the NT, Paul consistently refers to the Church as the Temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21). Therefore, in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 the "temple of God" is the church, and the "man of sin" "son of destruction" is the False Christ Antichrist, who leads the great apostasy of the church in the End Time:
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. (2 Thess. 2:3-4 KJV)
The Two Phases of Antichrist: Man of Sin and Son of Destruction | End Time News, Today - Rapture Ready News
The Two Phases of The Antichrist: Man of Sin and Son of Destruction Give no belief to false words: because there will first be a falling away from the faith, and the revelation of the man of sin (266 ἁμαρτία hamartia), the son of destruction (684 ἀπώλεια apoleia), (2 Thess. 2:3 BBE) "Man of sin"
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