THIRD TEMPLE?

THIRD TEMPLE?

                Some people strongly disagree that there will be a literal third temple built in Israel. They site as their reasoning that we are the third temple, a living temple made up of living stones and I must heartedly agree. This is God’s intention and it is true.

                However, the Jews have not yet accepted Yeshua as their Messiah and some of them believe that they must build a third temple as an indication of their returning to the worship of Yahweh. Their intentions may be good, but in fact, the very rebuilding of the temple represents a rejecting of Yeshua as the Messiah.

                This building of the third temple, which I believe will be facilitated by the antichrist, will cause the Jews to accept the antichrist at first as their Messiah. But when he stands up in the temple and declares himself to be God, they will flee the city as the armies of the antichrist pursue them into Jordon. This is when God will open up the earth to swallow the pursuing armies.              Mt. 24:15-22, Rev. 12:14-17.

                This is all spelled out in scripture quite plainly but has been lost because of allegorical method instituted by Catholicism to conceal these very truths. (See the above two texts.)

                This possible building of the third temple is certainly not something to be argued over or divided over and only time will tell how it actually plays out. But at this point we see these things being played out literally in Jerusalem. The third temple has already been prefabricated and all of its furniture and implements, and clothing along with the raising of the red heifer and the training of the Levitical priests has all been done. Give the go ahead, then could have the whole thing up and running in 6 months.

                 And speaking of Catholicism, we need to be aware that we are not much better than Israel in our perception of truth. The Catholic religion and therefore the church, and its constructs were largely a product of Mithraicism, a pagan hierarchy of institutionalism in which there was a ruling class that lorded it over the laiety. This system known in the Bible as the doctrine of the Nicolaitans was hated by Jesus and yet it has largely been carried down throughout the church age. Protestants did now come far enough out of the old pagan systems and so they still observe pagan calendars, holy days and Sabbaths.

                Jesus intended, as I mentioned in my last article, for the church to become a kingdom of priests, but instead we have assigned our authority over to what we call the 5-fold ministry. This 5-fold ministry listed in Ephesians 4:8-13 as Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers, was intended to equip the church, not to rule over it. And so we end up with a crowd of spectators waiting for one or two anointed person to feed them.

                Let’s take a close look at what this 5-fold ministry was intended to do.

                “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some; evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Eph. 4:11-13.

                WOW! Here we do not see one priest or pope lording it over the laiety or dictating terms of membership, or burning heretics or any such thing. Here we see the equipping of the saints until we all come into unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

                This implies our making sure that every member is anointed with the Spirit and power of Christ in order to carry on His work in the world. It also implies our taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, not serving the Nicolaitans, but serving Christ Himself as disciples who follow in His footsteps, share in His suffering and do His works in the world.

                The church has become a pagan circus of sorts and in fact the word “church” is implicated in that frame of reference where the performers perform and the people watch.

                What the church then needs to become in these last days is a living entity, vibrant and made alive by the Spirit of God and the blood of the Lamb. No hungry and lost soul should ever walk into a church looking for answers and then walk out afterwards not having met people, and been prayed with and fed, and blessed and invited back.

                This last Shabbat I met a lady whom I didn’t recognize, so I went up and greeted her. I invited her to our potluck (Oneg) but she couldn’t because her husband was waiting in the car for her and was having back pain.  I asked her if this was her first visit and she said now. She had been there 3 times but had never been spoken to. I asked her if I could pray with her and she said Yes. I took her hand and began to pray for her when the Spirit of god came upon me. I began to weep and pray for her husband, her marriage and her home situation. I don’t even remember what all I prayed, but it wasn’t long. When I was done, she told me that is just what she had needed. She said to me. “You did just what the Lord told you to do and I thank you.” She got blessed, but I got blessed even more because I felt the presence of God surging through me to her and that is an experience not to be forgotten.

                Churches have become cold. Visitors come and go unnoticed because the members are waiting for the leaders to do it. People come and go and even members come and go without spiritual care because it is all left to the guy up front who can only get around to so many. Why is it that we are not praying for people at the drop of a hat and inviting them and blessing them and learning their names…not as a plastic sort of system, but as genuine priests of the Most High God?

                We have forgotten that we are a kingdom of priests. We have relinquished and handed our honorable titles as priests over to a couple of leaders who are usually much too busy keeping the program going to say more than a couple of words to anybody.

                Not only that but we have then scripted our programs so that the show must go on whether the Holy Spirit shows up or not. We give Him a quick nod and then we go on with our plans leaving Him no time to work in our midst.

                As I live and breathe, I believe that God is about to shake up our whole agenda in order to put us back on His agenda. And those who refuse to get on it will see the Shekinah glory leave them to go where He is welcomed. Yeshua will have a kingdom of priests and He will do whatever it takes to get it and the longer we resist, the more persecution and judgment we will have to face.

                Jesus is looking for a Bride without spot or wrinkle, who is passionately in love with Him and passionately in love with His people and His potential people to the point where they finally come out of their own shell to become wells of living water to those whom they encounter.

                All of this blends in with my last article; when I asked if you are anointed. Out of our bellies must flow, rivers of living water and these rivers must water the thirsty souls that are around us. If we are bound up in a hard shell of self and we keep to ourselves; then self is still in control and not the Spirit.

                We must pray that as temples of the living God, we will allow Him to open up our spirits to let the living water flow. We think we are being oh so conservative and pleasing to God with our strictness, when in fact we are dried up cisterns from which no one can drink. May God’s holy anointing fill us and baptize us once again and this time with the 7-fold Spirit of God. Selah.