Bible News Prophecy with Dr Bob Thiel
Can the Jews Build a Holy Temple? Christians as God's Temple with Dr. Bob Thiel
Dr. Bob Thiel joins host Steve Dupuis to examine a Temple Institute newsletter calling for a rebuilt Jewish temple, then walks through Old and New Testament scripture to argue that Christians, not a physical building, are now God's holy temple.
Temple Institute Calls For A New Temple
Steve Dupuis opens the Bible News Prophecy program by asking Dr. Bob Thiel whether any Jewish groups actively want to build a temple today. Thiel answers that several do, singling out the Temple Institute, whose newsletter went out the day before under the heading 'The Place Hashem Your God Will Choose.' He reads the newsletter's quotation of Deuteronomy 12:5-7, instructing Israel to bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, and freewill offerings to the place God chooses, and its claim that Moses is introducing 'the future Holy Temple' that would replace the tabernacle. Thiel notes that sacrifices in that passage were carried out for centuries without any temple standing. He adds that the newsletter closes with an appeal for donations to 'rebuild the Holy Temple in our time,' framing the modern push for a temple as both a religious conviction and a fundraising cause among certain observant Jewish organizations.
A History Of Israel's Two Temples
Thiel traces the history behind that appeal. About four hundred years after Deuteronomy, King David wanted to build God a great temple in Jerusalem, but God told him no and promised the honor to his son instead, and Solomon built what is called the First Temple, destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. A new temple began under King Cyrus's decree around 538 BC and was finished by 516 BC, and roughly five hundred years later Herod the Great expanded it into an impressive structure. Thiel reads Matthew 24, where Jesus's disciples show him the temple buildings and Jesus responds that not one stone will be left upon another. That destruction came at the hands of General Titus in 70 AD, an event the Jewish historian Josephus witnessed and described as complete. Early second-century Jews discussed rebuilding, Thiel notes, but nothing came of it, leaving Jerusalem without a temple for nearly two thousand years.
Christians As The True Temple Of God
Asked directly whether Jews can build a holy temple in this age, Thiel answers simply, 'No.' Dupuis recalls that Christians are called the temple of God and asks whether they represent that temple in the end times. Thiel says yes, first pointing to Daniel 12:7, where a heavenly figure swears the end will come after 'a time, times, and half a time,' the three-and-a-half-year period Thiel identifies with the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, insisting the holy people described there are not unconverted Jews. He then introduces a word study, explaining that the New Testament uses two different Greek words translated 'temple' in English: naos and hieron. Thiel says naos is the word the apostle Paul used after Jesus's resurrection to describe something other than a physical Jewish building, setting up scripture showing that the naos, God's true temple, now refers to Christians rather than to Jewish people or any Jewish structure.
Paul's Letters On The Body As Temple
Thiel reads a string of Pauline passages to build his case. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul asks believers whether they know their body is 'the temple of the Holy Ghost,' and in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 he warns that anyone who defiles 'the temple of God,' which believers themselves are, will be destroyed by God. In 2 Corinthians 6:16, Paul contrasts the naos of God with idols, quoting God's promise to 'dwell with them and walk among them.' Thiel then turns to John 2:19-21, where Jesus tells the Jews, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,' and the Gospel clarifies that Jesus 'spoke of the temple of his body,' the first New Testament use of naos for something other than a physical Jewish building. Thiel adds Ephesians 2:19-22, where Paul describes Christians as fellow citizens 'built together for a habitation of God,' and cites an old Church of God publication using the same imagery of believers 'growing unto a holy temple in the Lord.'
Sacrifices Are Possible Without A Temple
Dupuis asks whether Daniel's prophesied animal sacrifices before the Great Tribulation require a temple. Thiel says no, explaining that Jews only need an altar, a high priest, sacrificial implements, and willingness, all of which certain groups already have. He notes that before Solomon built the First Temple, Jews sacrificed for centuries on altars alone, citing David in 2 Samuel 24, Aaron's descendants in Exodus and Leviticus, and earlier still Abel, Noah, and Abraham in Genesis. Thiel reads Ezra 3:6, showing that returning exiles resumed burnt offerings 'from the first day of the seventh month' even though 'the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.' He reports speaking directly with leaders of the Temple Institute and the Reconstituted Sanhedrin, both of whom told him no temple is required to sacrifice, only government permission, which they are simply waiting to receive. Thiel concludes that while Jews may eventually build some sacrificial structure, they remain incapable of building a temple God would consider holy.
The Abomination Of Desolation Reconsidered
Finally, Dupuis asks whether the abomination of desolation Jesus described takes place in a Jewish temple. Thiel says no, reading Matthew 24:15, where Jesus warns of 'the abomination of desolation... standing in the holy place' and adds, 'whoever reads, let him understand.' Thiel argues Jesus never called that holy place a Jewish temple; it could be the first Christian building in Jerusalem or another site entirely. He points to Acts 7:33 and 21:28, which use the same Greek terms, topos and hagios, for a location rather than a structure, and says many Protestants and members of the Churches of God, including his former one, miss this distinction and wrongly expect a rebuilt Jewish temple. Thiel closes by insisting Christians, not any Jewish building, are God's holy people and holy place in this age. Dupuis thanks Thiel and directs listeners to biblenewsprophecy.net for more interviews and articles, closing out the Bible News Prophecy program.
