A. The Greek word naos, used in 2 thes. 2:4, is used 46 times in the New Testament.  45 times it’s translated temple, and once it refers to a pagan shrine (Acts 19:24). It can also be used metaphorically as the physical body of a believer, like it is in 1 Cor. 3:16: “Don’t you know that you are God’s Temple and God’s Spirit lives in you?” But the metaphorical use is by no means exclusive.  The word most often refers to the physical temple building.  (You can tell by the context which is meaning is intended.)

2 Thes. 2:4 is a description of the Abomination of Desolation, the kick off event of the Great Tribulation, and the signal for Jews to flee into the mountains.  I find it hard to believe that Paul intended the metaphorical use of the word in describing such a watershed event.  How would the anti-Christ stand within the body of a believer (setting aside the fact that all believers to whom 1 Cor. 3:16 refers will have already disappeared) and how would that cause the Abomination of Desolation, which is the defilement of a physical Temple in Israel, as foretold in Daniel 9:27 and Matt. 24:15?

I think your source is misreading the context of the passage.

A. From what the the Bible says, it appears that when the Church ends and the world goes back to the last 7 years of the Old covenant, the requirement for animal sacrifice will be reinstated.  That’s why a Temple will be built in Israel.  The Temple is only necessary for the performance of sacrifices.  According to Ezekiel 40-48 this will continue through out the Millennium, and here’s why.

Remember, even in the Old Testament animal sacrifice didn’t save anyone.  It was necessary as evidence of their belief that God would someday send His son to make the once-for-all-time ultimate sacrifice for sin.  During the Church age we need only believe to be saved, but after the Rapture the world will once again be required to offer evidence of their belief.  In the Millennium it will be their belief that Jesus already has made the sacrifice that saves them, but the sacrifice will be required as evidence of their belief.

A. According to Ezekiel the Shekinah Glory will next appear following the 2nd Coming when His presence will once more fill the Temple, never to leave again.

The glory of the LORD entered the temple through the gate facing east. Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.  While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple.  He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever.” (Ezekiel 43:4-7)

Also, the article said that a leading journal of the religious law in Israel envisioned a situation where an “authentic prophet” receives a “holy revelation” to build the temple in peaceful proximity to the Al-Aqsa mosque and nearby Christian shrines.  This, of course, could be the antichrist or the false prophet.  For some reason, this struck me hard.  For the first time, I can see how soon the temple could be rebuilt and how it could be built under peaceful conditions.  I didn’t realize the Temple Institute’s intentions to allow other religions to worship and pray in the temple.  What are your thoughts on this?

A. Don’t hold your breath on this one.  This article is chock full of hypotheses, what if’s, and politically correct musings that are a long way from becoming fact.  The so-called Interfaith Encounter Association is a group of liberals who actually expect the God of Israel to share to share His glory with another, when historically He has  refused to do such a thing in no uncertain terms (Isaiah 42:8).  We don’t even need to mention what the leaders of Islam would say to this.  Share is not part of their vocabulary either.   Once God has revealed Himself to Israel again and brought them back into their covenant relationship, all this ecumenical talk will be seen for what it is … the wishful thinking of naive unbelievers.

A. The worshipers at the Temple in Rev. 11:1-2 are primarily Jews who are still part of the Old Covenant.  While there will no doubt be those who have come to the Lord because of the rapture, Zechariah 12:10, where the Messiah is revealed to Israel, happens near the end of the Great Tribulation.

The outer court has always been called the Court of the Gentiles, and that may be the reason it’s not being measured.  The 42 months is the period of the Great Tribulation when because of the anti-Christ’s claim of deity, the Temple will be made desolate.

Notice how in Rev. 11:2 John identified the place being trampled on by the Gentiles as the Holy City.  But in verse 8 he says the bodies of the two witnesses will lie in the street of a place he called the great city, which he further  clarified as being the location of the crucifixion, Jerusalem.  By saying it was figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, which are anything but holy, I think the holy city and the great city are two different places, which means the Temple he was referring to won’t be located in Jerusalem.

A. I believe it’s the anti-Christ that some people think has to be Jewish, saying that otherwise he couldn’t be accepted as their messiah.  And there is a Jewish tradition that he will come from the tribe of Dan.  Dan is the tribe through which idolatry came into the Land at the time of the divided Kingdom (1 Kings 12:28-30), and Dan is the only tribe not represented among the 144,000 of Rev. 7: 4-8.

This doesn’t make identifying the anti-Christ any simpler.  What makes a man Jewish? Is it religion?  There are many gentiles who converted to Judaism down through the centuries.  The descendants of European converts are perhaps the biggest ethnic group in Israel today.  Or is it biology?  We recently learned that President Ahmadinejad of Iran is biologically Jewish.  His father had the entire family converted to Islam when he was 8 years old.   I guess one thing that tells us is the anti-Christ could be both a biological Jew and a religious Moslem.

Then there’s Ezekiel 44:7-9 where, upon returning to dwell among them, the first thing God will do is accuse the Jews of letting uncircumcised foreigners officiate in His Temple during the Great Tribulation.   So, while all this makes for interesting speculation, it’s not really helpful in identifying the anti-Christ.

A. I have no idea where the Ark is hidden and, from what I read, neither does anyone else.  The main thing delaying the rebuilding of the Temple is that the Jewish people haven’t returned to their covenant relationship with God, so no temple is necessary.  The Ark’s absence is not preventing them from beginning.  It was never present in the 2nd Temple, having disappeared shortly before the 1st Temple was destroyed, and in Ezekiel’s description of the 3rd (Millennial) Temple no ark is mentioned.

A. Yes, I think the rapture will precede Ezekiel’s battle.  The 70th Week will begin when Israel officially acknowledges God again and the Old Covenant is reinstated.  For reasons of his own the anti-Christ will assist in this, but it’s the reinstatement of the covenant that begins the 70th week. This could happen either before or after the Temple is rebuilt, but I don’t think it will happen before Ezekiel’s battle.

For example, there’s a current news story about an 18th  century rabbinical prophecy predicting that when the Hurva synagogue in Jerusalem has been rebuilt for the 3rd time, work on the Temple will begin.  The third rebuilding of the Hurva synagogue is underway now, with a scheduled completion date of March 15, 2010.  Some have taken this as a sign that work on the Temple will begin the very next day.  Even if that happens, which I doubt, it won’t herald the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week unless Israel also announces a national return to the Mosaic covenant and reinstatement of Levitical worship.

A. The Bible doesn’t explain it in so many words, but there are several justifications for this.  The most obvious would be the human desire to avoid the enormous problem having a Temple on the current Temple Mount would cause for the Islamic world.  But even more convincing is that the Hebrew Scriptures tell them to do this.  The only justification for building on the current Temple Mount is to comply with history.  If instead of looking back into the past they look forward into the future, the prophecies of Ezekiel will pinpoint the proper location for them.  Remember, the Old Testament only mentions 3 Temples, two of which have been built and destroyed.  The only one left to build is the one Jews call Ezekiel’s Temple and its location is specified in Ezekiel 48.

A. When God says He’ll do something, it usually means He’ll raise up men to do it for Him.  When He intervenes in the coming Battle of Ezekiel 38 and reveals Himself to Israel again, He’ll put it into their hearts to build a Temple.  Later the anti-Christ will defile it, but at the 2nd Coming the Lord will cause it to be cleansed and made fit for use again.