Can you explain why the rebuilding of the Temple is so important? Why, when Jesus died to take away our sins and we are able to worship God without a temple?
And why is a Temple necessary during the Millennium? If Jesus is here with us, why does the Temple need to be rebuilt? It seems to be so vital to the Israelis. Forgive my ignorance on this matter.
Only the Church can worship God without a Temple, and that’s because during the Age of Grace the Church is the Temple (1 Cor. 3:16). There was a Temple in Israel before the Church and there will be a Temple in Israel after the Church. Daniel 9:27, Matt. 24:15, 2 Thes. 2:4 and Rev. 11:1-2 all make reference to a Temple during the time between the rapture and the 2nd Coming.
In the New Jerusalem, where the Church will live during the Millennium, there will be no Temple because just as we are the Lord’s Temple now, He will be our temple then (Rev. 21:22). But Ezekiel 40-48 are devoted primarily to a detailed description of a Temple in Israel during the Millennium.
Put it all together and you can see that for Israel, having a Temple has always been and will always be the norm. It’s the Church that is the exception. Why? Because God chose to set us apart from Israel.