Isaiah 2 (Temple?)

Post by **_John Hunter** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 7:46 pm

Isaiah 2:
"2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore. 5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

What is the temple referring to in this passage (is it a literal temple or symbolic of something else)? Also is this prophecy fulfilled or will it be fulfilled in the future?

Post by **_Damon** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:39 pm

It's both literal and symbolic. It's both present and future.

Does that answer your question?

Seriously, though, there's often no one single right way to interpret a passage. Literally, this passage is talking about a physical Temple being established as a focal point for all of the world's worship as well as its government. Spiritually, it's referring to the people of God as where people turn to to learn how to get their needs met through love, and without being insensitive. (The ultimate manifestation of insensitivity to one another is physical violence or war.) The spiritual aspect is supposed to be valid now - although the Body of Christ doesn't always measure up to this role. Both aspects will be true in the future, when Christ returns.

Damon

Post by **_Sean** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 2:23 am

The temple is the body of Christ, the Church. Also known as the house of God. We Christians are that house. It will be physical at the consummation spoken of in Revelation 21.

Post by **_Psalmist** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:16 pm

It is sometimes hard to interpret what you read in a posting, but I am hoping that the references you are all making to a future physical temple are not to an actual building.

"I saw no temple in it (the New Jerusalem), for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple" (Revelation 21:22).

Blessings,
-larry

Post by **_Damon** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:27 pm

New Jerusalem is not the same as Jerusalem, just as New York in America is not the same as York in England. Jerusalem after Christ's return and New Jerusalem are described in quite different terms in the bible.

Besides, New Jerusalem comes after the Millenium.

Damon

Post by **_Psalmist** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:52 pm

"After the Millenium" is a discussion in itself. You still leave me wondering if you are referring to an actual, physical building. There could be one, of course, but it will not honor Yahweh and I don't find anything in Scripture that would indicate one has been prophesied.

Blessings,
-larry

Post by **_Damon** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:14 pm

Well, you and I look at the Scriptures in different ways, then. I find every reason to believe that there will be a literal Temple built before the return of Christ. It represents the spiritual house of God, that's true, but God's promises aren't just spiritual, they're also physical.

Think of it this way. Was God's Creation only spiritual, or was it also physical?

I hope you can see my point.

Damon

Post by **_John Hunter** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:29 pm

Thank you for your answer. I appreciate your opinions, but I would appreciate it if you could elaborate more, show your proof that the temple here is physical or not.

Post by **_Damon** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:50 pm

Well, the difficulty with "proving" that is that the Scriptures can often be interpreted in more than one way. So, what you usually end up with is different Christian groups taking different positions on which interpretation is the correct one. I've yet to run into a group that allows for multiple correct interpretations, though, and I think that's the way the bible should be understood. In other words, passages that refer to a physical Temple can also often be interpreted and applied to a spiritual Temple, and vice versa.

The main reason that I contend that this is the right way to understand the Scriptures is because this mindset was not only universal throughout the Ancient Near East (the area from Egypt to Mesopotamia) - which by default would have included ancient Israel - it's also implicit in the language of biblical Hebrew itself. Hebrew is poetic and is deliberately intended to be interpreted in multiple ways, both literal and figurative. Do a few word studies with a concordance sometime if you aren't already familiar with this facet of Hebrew.

Anyway, aside from all of that, the best I can do to show that a physical Temple is positively indicated by the Scriptures is to point to Malachi 3. According to this chapter, the Lord will "suddenly come to His Temple." Before this happens, the "messenger of the covenant" will "purify the sons of Levi" for Temple service. The time setting of all of this is "the day of the Lord" that "will burn like an oven" - that is, the "great and terrible day of the Lord" (all quoted from Malachi 4). That can't be a reference to Christ's first coming, so it has to be a reference to His second coming.

Having 'spiritual' Levites being purified for Temple service doesn't really make sense, in the context of this passage.

Does that make sense?

Damon

Post by **_Sean** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:42 am

Damon wrote:Well, you and I look at the Scriptures in different ways, then. I find every reason to believe that there will be a literal Temple built before the return of Christ. It represents the spiritual house of God, that's true, but God's promises aren't just spiritual, they're also physical.

Think of it this way. Was God's Creation only spiritual, or was it also physical?

I hope you can see my point.

Damon

Although I am Amil I understand how you could interpret there being a future temple. What I don't understand is how you think it could be God honoring. I mean, in ignorance the Jews will rebuild a temple if they get the chance but this would be an abomination to God. Since Paul said that to those who reject the truth nothing is pure. And Jesus said that whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. And They didn't believe Jesus because they didn't believe Moses in the first place. Also Jesus was the sacrifice that fulfilled the "types" found in the sacrificial system.

Another problem is how to identify who is of what blood line. Who is from the Aronic line, etc. How will this be determined? These records are lost and no one knows for sure who has Jewish blood in their viens.

How can sacrifices be honorable to God? Isn't this the reason the temple was destroyed in 70AD, because it was no longer needed? Just as the exodus went on for 40 years before entering the promised land while the unbelievers died in the deasert, there was a 40 year gap from Jesus grumblers wandering until Jerusalem's destruction in 70AD were we "rest" from our works in Christ (Hebrews 4).

Psalmist,
What I am referfing to is this:
Heb 3:6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

What I was referring to is the new heavens and new earth are the "land" that is inherited, aka salvation. We are being built up into a spiritual house right now (1 Peter 2)