Has the final Temple already been built?

5th Semester / Week 3

This had been predicted in Amos 9:11-12:

“On that day I will raise up

The TABERNACLE OF DAVID, which has fallen down,

And repair its damages;

I will raise up its ruins,

And rebuild it as in the days of old;

That they may possess the remnant of Edom,

And all the Gentiles who are called by My name.”

We then see the fulfillment of that prophecy spelled out for us in Acts 15:14–17,

“Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

‘After this I will return

And will rebuild the TABERNACLE OF DAVID, which has fallen down;

I will rebuild its ruins,

And I will set it up;

So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,

Even ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME.”

The whole point of that prophecy being quoted in Acts was to show the fulfillment of “Gentiles” being “called” (and grafted into Israel). Gentiles have been added to the “called out ones” = Ekklesia = Israel= Jesus = Church. Acts 15 is showing us that the calling of Gentiles takes place at the rebuilding of the tabernacle/ tent/ temple of David and is proof that it’s being rebuilt. It’s a shame that many believers can’t see that the construction of “THE” Temple has already begun.

A concept that we’ve looked into is that Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of the tent/ tabernacle/ temple of David, and Jesus and His body (the Church) is the ultimate and final 3rd Temple:

“And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual TEMPLE. What’s more, you are His holy priests. Through the mediation of Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God,” (1 Peter 2:5).

As just revealed in that passage, we now see that the Old Testament prophecies concerning the rebuilt temple are fulfilled in the spiritual Temple where we as priests offer spiritual sacrifices. Remember the Biblical teaching that first comes the natural/physical, followed by the ultimate fulfillment found in the spiritual, according to 1 Corinthians 15:46, therefore, consider the significance of these verses:

“Do you not know that you are THE TEMPLE of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

“Do you not know that your body is a TEMPLE of the Holy Spirit who is in you,” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

“We are THE TEMPLE of the living God,” (2 Corinthians 6:16).

“Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy TEMPLE in the Lord, in whom YOU ALSO ARE BEING BUILT together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit,” (Ephesians 2:20-22).

It should be clear to us in those five passages that Scripture doesn’t use a simile or metaphor, as if to say we are merely just “like” a temple, but rather, it clearly says we are “THE” Temple, which is the actual fulfillment of the prophesied tabernacle of David.

For those who think they take the Bible more literally than anyone else (dispensationalists), they should also take this teaching literally. Scripture quite clearly and literally says we are “THE” Temple. Also keep in mind that Scripture also specifically and literally tells us that in the future “new heaven and earth” there will NOT be a literal physical temple anymore, per Revelation 21:22. Therefore, we are already the prophesied final, eschatological 3rd Temple.

The Old Testament had prophesied that the Messiah would be the one who would build the ultimate, final 3rd Temple. But how do we know for sure when this Temple began to be built? Jesus gives us the answer in John 2:

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!!!” (John 2:19).

Oh the power of what Jesus has done!!! He began the building of His Temple when He rose from the grave, and as the True King of Israel, He is now still fulfilling those prophecies by possessing “the rest of mankind” even “all the Gentiles who are called by My name.”

To answer the original question, the construction of the Temple began at the 1st advent of Christ, and will be finished at the 2nd advent of Christ, when “all Israel will be saved,” (Romans 11:26), and all Israel will have been saved when the very last believer has been added to our “tabernacle of David.”