The Temple in the Tribulation | Revelation 11:1-2 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Thank you, Preece. Can we come together now to the Book of Revelation chapter 11? Meet me there in your own copy of God's Word. Revelation chapter 11. As useful as chapter breaks and verse numbers are in our Bibles, they occasionally can be unhelpful to the untrained eye.

And Revelation 11 exemplifies this because the chapter heading may give the impression that the vision John described in chapter 10 has come to a close, and we are now being introduced to an entirely new scene. But that is not the case. Revelation 11 is a continuation of the vivid experience that we explored together last week in chapter 10. Now, keep in mind that in Revelation 10, the vision there, it served as a pause between the sixth and the seventh trumpet blast. And that pause is extended.

That vision goes on. The interlude remains in effect. Evidently, the Lord wants to say more to us before we advance in the unfolding of his final judgments on the earth. And we are today going to look at the first two verses of this new chapter to see exactly what this extended break entails. So if you're there with me, let's read Revelation 11 verse one down to verse two.

Then, I was given a measuring rod like a staff. And I was told, rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple. Leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty two months. Let's read verse three. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth.

Let's pray together. Lord, only you can make these verses come alive, and we pray that you would captivate us with every single observation, every cross reference, every application. Move us deeply. We pray for something greater than just the satisfaction of our curiosity or our intellect. We pray that you would satisfy our souls, that we would leave here more content in Christ, that we would leave here longing to worship you as we are beholding your brilliance and your beauty in this very passage.

So, Lord, assist the delivery of this message and assist our hearts in receiving it with humility and with anticipation. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Hopefully, you remember how Revelation 10 ended. John was explained to us something incredible, but at the end of that chapter, he was handed something.

He was handed a little scroll, and he was told to take it and to eat it. And this, as it were, served as a symbolic recommissioning for John because immediately after he digested the written word of God, he was told that he must still prophesy to many peoples and nations and kingdoms. But that little scroll is not the only thing that John received. We just read that he also was handed a measuring rod. Now pause for a moment.

Hopefully, you remember also that John eating the scroll strongly alludes to Ezekiel's experience when he was called into the ministry early in his book. He too was given a scroll of a book written on it with limitations and woes and and really prophecies of judgment, but it was sweet to his mouth. So there's a resemblance there, but it doesn't end there. It actually continues because Ezekiel when you fast forward in his book beginning in chapter 40, he also is taken up in a vision, he's placed on a very high mountain and he sees a man with a measuring reed. And this heavenly messenger will from that chapter on to the end of the book of Ezekiel, measure the temple complex.

And he will explain how this temple will at one point host again the glory of the Lord. Do you see the parallel? John eats a scroll. Well, Ezekiel ate a scroll. John now has a vision with a measuring rod.

Well, Ezekiel had the same thing. Though he didn't measure it, it was there. And they're measuring a very similar object. There are many things that we can say about this connection, but I wanna simply leave you with this. It's clear that John here is following the steps of the role of a traditional prophet.

And understanding that is gonna help us interpret the verses that we read, specifically the first two verses. And the way we are going to approach this is by answering two simple questions. What is John supposed to measure? Number one. Number two, why is he measuring it?

If anyone were to ask you those questions leaving this place, my goal, my prayer, Yes, we want our hearts moved. Yes, we wanna worship. Yes, we must be sanctified. But I also want all of us to be able to answer with biblical confidence. Now, I'll tell you from now, these answers will be lengthy, but we have to do the work because we want to confirm our conclusions are grounded here in scripture.

And so hold tightly to your bibles because we will be looking at different passages, but let's now seek by the grace of God to answer question number one. What is John supposed to measure? Look back again at verse one. There are actually three things. He's told rise and measure, number one, the temple of God.

Number two, the altar. And number three, those who worship there. This is what you're supposed to measure and count, John. And though there are three distinct things, it seems like the temple as a whole is what is in view. Now this seems seems pretty straightforward.

Does it not? Well, like many parts of Revelation, there are debates around what exactly this temple refers to. And I think it's helpful for us to consider alternative views and understandings of this temple in order for us again to be able to understand why we espouse a particular interpretation. So be aware that what I'm about to explain are just the general points of different explanations for what this temple is. If we look at every single idea and point under every category, we'll be here for a very long time.

So this is just really an overview, an overview that we have seen before with the the four main ways people frame the book of Revelation. So this will be this will just compound what we've been hearing throughout the weeks. Well, number one, you have those again who view the book of Revelation as what? A chronology of history at large, and it's filled with symbols about the different empires and leaders and movements and features of history spelled out here for us ahead of time. And these individuals who interpret the book in such a way are known as historicists.

This is history told to us in advance. And this is how they would teach this part of Revelation. They would say, the temple here is a symbol. It is a symbol of the people of God. Not just the people of God, the people of God preserved and protected.

But we also saw that there there was a part of the temple, the outside court, that was not measured. And these individuals will say, well, those speak about not the people of God, but those who think they're the people of God. The apostate Christians. Those who are empty professors in Christ. And what they would also say is, this is richly symbolic.

Sure. But it points to a particular moment in history. And some, not all, would say this actually would speak to the Reformation's purification of the church. The the spiritual revolution led by Martin Luther in the early fifteen hundreds. And they would go on to explain that the measuring rod is actually a symbol of the rediscovery of true doctrine.

And the trampling that we saw here explained in the first verses actually speaks about the persecution of the people of God by the papal powers, the Catholic church. Interesting. But this is not the only group that views this snapshot of prophecy allegorically. You have the idealist. The idealist also look at the book of Revelation as hyper spiritualized, but here's the difference between them and the historicists.

They don't pin any description, any prophecy, any picture to any moment in history. None. What they would say is, this is just a creative and poetic and apocalyptic way of kind of explaining the recurring pattern of the struggle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness, good and evil. And so, it's very simple for them how they would look at the temple of God here in Revelation 11. This is a picture again of the people of God, the the part that's measured at least, the part that's unmeasured like the historicists would say, these are the fake Christians.

And we read there at the end of verse two how they would be trampled, the holy city for forty two months. Well, the forty two months isn't a literal time period. It just speaks about an unspecific, though limited time of persecution. Now I say I I said I wouldn't go too deep into this, but you may encounter some who see the book of Revelation as spiritual, purely spiritual, that would say, no. It's not really about the people of God and those who are not really the people of God.

They would say that the part that's measured, the temple complex, that actually speaks about the believers in heaven. Why? Because you see this consistency in the book of Revelation that wherever the temple is described, it's it's mainly found in heaven. So these are the protected people of God in heaven and the ones that are being trampled on are actually those who remain on earth and are still being persecuted. So let me just say this immediately, there are clear issues with looking at this temple as a symbol.

For one simple reason, John very clearly distinguishes between the temple and the people. Did you see that? Look again, rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there. So here's my response, at least right away. If the temple speaks about the people of God, then what about the worshipers in the temple?

Who do they symbolize? Who do they speak about? Are they one in the same? Are they different? And this is just one of many interpretive obstacles for viewing the temple of God here as just symbolism.

But then we see something else because there are those who actually see this as literal. And the first group are the preterist. Those who view the book of Revelation not not as something to come, but something that's already been, at least most of it, especially the first century, especially events surrounding the fall of Jerusalem in seventy AD. So actually for the preterists, this is a rich proof text. They would argue, you see, this is dealing with exactly with the main theme that we've been proposing, the temple falling.

That era coming to an end. Christ prophecy of this judgment is here, and they would say this is a text that shows it, that this temple is being measured for judgment. But there is a part of it that's preserved because there was a faithful in Jerusalem at the time of seventy AD, and the part that's not measured speaks about the Roman Empire trampling upon the Jews for their denial of the Messiah. This is quite interesting as you can imagine because they, from their perspective, do not see this as a spiritual symbol, especially the outside court, but as the historical Herodian temple that existed but was later destroyed by the Romans. Finally, you have the futurist.

And as the name suggests, the book of Revelation is primarily about the days to come, especially after chapter four. And for those who hold to this frame of interpretation, the futurist make the case that when you consider the dating of the book of Revelation, when John compiled it, the majority view is that it was put together in ninety five, ninety six AD. Is that before or after the temple fell? After. It was composed in the nineties.

When you when you keep that in mind and consider the wider biblical data of the events of the last days, this temple speaks about a literal structure found in a literal city called Jerusalem. And this is what I believe to be the clearest and the most consistent understanding of this passage. Allow me to explain further. Let's begin by examining the term temple of God or temple of the living God or temple of the Holy Spirit or God's temple in the New Testament. Apart from Jesus claiming that his own body was a temple in John two, three main places, notable occasions where it is spoken about figuratively are in the books of Corinthians.

The first two books. The only two books that we have at least. You have first Corinthians six nineteen where Paul says your body individually is a temple of the Holy Spirit. But then he goes on to say in first Corinthians three sixteen and second Corinthians six sixteen that the temple of God is the corporate body of Christ. But when you look at those contexts, what do you discover?

That the plain reading is obvious. Paul is speaking about spiritual realities. There's nothing of an actual building in view in his teaching. So the context supports the idea that yes, we are indeed indwelled by the Holy Spirit. We are to see this as a an awesome privilege, and it should spur us on to greater holiness.

But the temple of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit, God's temple, that kind of terminology is not strictly for the believers sanctified relationship with God. You actually find the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul teaching about a temple related to a key event in the last days. They don't just bring it up. They teach how it's an integral part of the final experiences and episodes leading to the culmination of the age. You know these passages well, but let's remind ourselves.

In the Olivet Discourse, what did Jesus say in Matthew 24? When he described the events of the last days, he presents a turning point in verse 15. He says, so when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, underline that. Standing in the holy place, let the reader understand then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the house top not go down and take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.

And alas, for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days, Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then, there will be great tribulations such as not been from the beginning of the world until now. No. And never will be. If you read Jesus' teaching on the Olivet Discourse very carefully, carefully, before this, he speaks about worldwide events.

And then he zooms into a specific geography, a specific area. He's talking about the Jews here. And he highlights the holy place. He highlights somebody standing in there. And Paul builds on this teaching when he reminds the Thessalonians about the last days.

Here's another important reference in second Thessalonians two, three and four. Paul says, let no one deceive you in any way for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself against every so called God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. So, in contrast to the symbolic use of imagery regarding the temple in first and second Corinthians, the surrounding passages clearly indicates, and what we just read, that the temple or the holy place is an actual structure. It's an actual edifice. It's spoken about in literal terms with physical activity.

Holy place? He mentioned homes. He mentioned house tops. He mentioned fields. He mentioned pregnant woman, nursing infants, winter, and the Sabbath.

And when Paul speaks about the man of lawlessness, who is an actual human being, he says that he will take his seat in the temple of God. It's very difficult to try to spiritualize these verses when you just read it plainly. It's so crystal clear, is it not? And once we are willing to acknowledge that, then we can move on and say, well, it seems as though the temple in Jerusalem and the events that will occur within it at some point play a very important role in the drama of the last days. Now, I'm aware that there might be hesitation by some to accept that what we read in Revelation 11 is a tangible thing.

So I want us to return to the immediate context of Revelation 11. We just read the first three verses, we're focusing on the first two, but this whole thing about the temple is just setting the stage for the main point of this passage. We're going to read about in the coming weeks the two witnesses, these mysterious figures who will play an awesome role in preaching to the generation before the return of Christ. And when you read, though we're not gonna get into a detail now, when you read about the destiny of their ministry, it only confirms that what we're dealing with here is as with the temple is literal. Okay.

Are you there in Revelation 11? Look at verse seven. And when they had finished their testimony, that is the two witnesses. The beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

Where was the Lord crucified? Jerusalem. Here we have this mention of the great city, and more than that, these bodies lying down on a street in the great city. This is the same context as the temple early on. It only confirms more in the following verse.

Look at verse 13 of Revelation 11. In that hour, there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. So this is even more, hopefully, persuasive to the one that is reluctant to accept this interpretation. Surrounding this, just like Jesus' teaching and Paul's teaching surrounding this mention of a temple, we have a real city, real people, a real earthquake.

To say otherwise can leave an endless list of opportunities and interpretation of what this could mean. Now, one of the main objections you'll encounter if you hold to the literal view is that there is no way that God would acknowledge or accept a revival of this temple and the sacrificial system? How can you even entertain the thought that after the temple was destroyed in seventy AD, that there's a future time where it will resurrect in some way, and that God somehow is approving of this. Have you not read the book of Hebrews? And passages in Hebrews will often be quoted to to defend this objection.

Here's how I respond. And what I just explained, did you hear anything of God approving of the temple? The honest answer is no. In fact, look back again at verse seven and verse eight. Look at verse eight specifically, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt.

Does that sound like approval to you? For this great city, this holy city to be called symbolically Sodom and Egypt? So here's what we're trying to establish, that the Bible teaches about a literal temple that will exist during the tribulation period and will serve as the setting for major events signaling the return of Christ. And the temple here clearly doesn't exist. There hasn't been one for a very long time, but apparently, it's gonna reappear.

Somehow, someway, it's actually going to reappear. And this now leads us to our second question. Why is John measuring it? Why is John measuring it? So we've established that this temple is literal.

And though there's so much more we can say, we have to move on. This act of measuring it is highly symbolic. It has many implications that if you remember that John is imitating a traditional prophet, makes more sense. So let me give you at least two reasons why we can say that when John is told to measure the temple, it carries more symbolism than him actually determining the dimensions and the heights of the different elements of the temple. This is not the only thing that is measured in the book of Revelation.

In fact, when the new Jerusalem will come down from heaven, after John is told that there's gonna be a new heaven and a new earth, it's going to be measured. But notice the difference now. Are you in Revelation? Fast forward to chapter 21 and look at verse 16. Revelation 21 verse 16.

The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width, and he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall a 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. What's the main difference between the city of Jerusalem being measured here, the new heaven and new earth, and what we find in Revelation 11? Revelation 11 omits actual measurements.

We don't have any numbers here. We don't have specifics. Those specifics are preserved for this new city, which leads us to our second reason why there aren't any measurements. Because we find here that John is actually doing something that is frequent in the Old Testament. John is imitating the actions of some prophets who also explain certain prophecies with this act of measuring.

And this, remember, confirms how we open the very beginning of our study in Revelation that this book is absolutely saturated with old testament themes, and measuring is one of them. See, if you just read revelation on your own, or you just stuck with the new testament, you might be led to different ideas. But if you have the the backing of the old testament, then you go, I've seen this more than once. I've seen this many times, actually. Let me give you a couple of examples.

So Amos. Amos was given a prophetic word for his people. And in Amos seven verse seven, listen to what he said. This is what he showed me. Behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line.

Do you know what a plumb line is? It's a cord. I don't have one to show you, so just use your imagination. It's a cord with a weight on it. And it was used in construction or in evaluation to determine if a wall or structure was was straight.

So Amos sees a plumb line. And then, in verse eight, it says, and the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, a plumb line. And the Lord said, behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will never again pass by them.

The high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. So a plumb line, an actual instrument used in construction, in measuring, is now symbolized as God looking at his people and seeing if they line up with his righteousness, if his with his holiness, with his commands. And the conclusion, they're crooked. They're not in alignment with me, my will, my mind, my desires. And so, a sword is coming to my people.

A sword is coming to Israel because the plumb line shows I've measured, they are not where I want them to be. You see this again in another part of the bible that's rarely visited, in Lamentations. Just listen to these references. Lamentations two verse eight. Jeremiah is reflecting on the judgment that eventually came to Judah, and here's one of the things that he says.

The Lord determined to lay in ruins the wall of the daughter of Zion. He stretched out the measuring line. He did not restrain his hand from destroying. He caused rampant and wall to lament. They languished together.

So another tool is brought up. God has a big tool belt, by the way. And now, a measuring line is described. Why? Because Jeremiah, in his book, wants to tell the people that the judgment that came at the hands of Babylon was not accidental.

It was not coincidental. It was not random. It was measured by God. And not only was it decreed by God, it was calculated. It was just.

It was fair. I looked at your sins and I met it with its appropriate response. Here is the verdict. My measuring line shows that you are found wanting and this is why you were judged. So, So, we see it.

Right? And we can we can go on and on with examples, but here's the final one, because this concept of measuring is not limited to judgment. It's not limited just to evaluating where one stands with God, though that is a prominent idea. There's actually a positive side to this, and you're only gonna see it with the prophets. So now listen to this.

I know it's a lot of scripture. I know it's a lot of scripture. But listen, we gotta know why we believe what we believe, and we have to base it on the Bible. And so this is why we're doing this. It's heavy lifting, but it's important.

So you must write down these references and you must be a good brayan and examine the scriptures for yourself. Zechariah was given a vision. And in chapter two, he sees this amazing thing. Listen to this in verse one of Zechariah. And I lifted my eyes and saw and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.

God loves to measure things. Verse two. Then I said, where are you going? And he said to me, to measure Jerusalem, to see what it's width and what it's length. And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, run.

Say to that young man, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls because the because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst. That's good news. So Zechariah sees this man and he goes, what are you doing with the measuring rod? He says, well, I'm actually gonna measure the parameters here.

Why? To show you that there's gonna be so many of the Jews coming back. They're gonna have so many possessions that there won't be room for walls. So God's gonna determine to actually be their wall, and and he's gonna be a wall of fire around them. This is very similar to Revelation 11, in what sense?

You have this actual city, Jerusalem, but a symbolic act of measuring it. Right? The temple, literal. Rod, yeah, it's in the vision. Measuring it, why?

This is what we're trying to answer. And for God to measure the city in Zechariah in this way, says something about his relationship with the city. I own it. This is mine. I I determine its boundaries.

I determine its renovations. I determine its adjustments. This belongs to me. And Zechariah, I wanna tell you about an update that's coming. So you have this now in your mind, you come to the new testament and you see something strangely mirroring it in John's vision.

He's told to measure it, the temple, the altar, the worshipers in it, and it's the Lord essentially saying, it's all mine. These belong to me. And not only do they belong to me, I will preserve them, I will protect them. Here's the answer to our second and final question. Why is John measuring the temple?

God will mark out a Jewish remnant in the last days that he will preserve and protect. That's the answer. Why will he do that? Because God has promised over and over and the exclamation mark is in Revelation, rather Romans 11, that these people who have rejected the Messiah will one day be saved as a nation. They will remember, they will reflect, they will repent, and they will be reconciled to the truth.

And they, as a nation, will declare Jesus Christ of Nazareth is our Messiah. And here's the point of the vision, and none of the calamities in the tribulation period, and none of the maniacal attempts of the Antichrist will prevent it. We'll stop it. Nothing will stop that promise being fulfilled. This is fascinating because it seems to be a very important point in the book of Revelation.

Let me remind you something. We're looking at the pause between the sixth and the seventh trumpet blast. Do you remember that there was a pause with the seals? With the sixth and the seventh seal, there is also an interlude. What was that interlude?

The 144,000 from Israel who were sealed and set apart during the tribulation. So what was God saying back there with the seals? Up to this point in my program of judgment, I'm still keeping my hand on the Jewish people. Now you come to the second set of judgment with the trumpets, and between the sixth and the seventh, what do you realize? I'm still keeping my hand on the Jewish people.

Just different imagery. Do you see this? That being said, the Jewish people will not be totally spared from the challenges of the tribulation period And that is clearly indicated by what we read in verse two. Look back at Revelation 11 verse two. The Lord tells John, do not measure the court outside the temple, leave that out for it is given over to the nations and they will trample the holy city for forty two months.

For thousands of years, the city of Jerusalem has been oppressed and controlled by various gentile nations. I mean, just read the old testament, what do you find? Siege after siege after siege until it was finally brought to the point where Babylon ransacked Jerusalem. And after some time, Jerusalem passed through the middle Persian empire, then Greece, then Rome, and the pattern continued right up today when the when the Jews in the city of Jerusalem cannot enjoy full autonomy. Do you think a Jew can go to the Temple Mount today and worship the way they want to worship?

No, they can't. It's occupied. There are issues, even at this very moment, that although they have been restored as a nation and they have a lot of improvement made, they do not have full sovereignty. And whatever harassment the Jewish people have known in the past, it will pale in comparison with the level of persecution they will know in the world under the control of the antichrist, especially for 42. Forty two months.

That equates to three and a half years. Now, there's debate. Is this speaking about the three and a half years in the beginning of the tribulation or in the latter portion of the tribulation? One thing is certain, that for three and a half years, they will indeed know a suffering that is unthinkable. There will be a trampling.

And I find it interesting that John is led by the spirit to use similar language that Jesus employed when he spoke about the future of Jerusalem. If there's a reference that you must put in your margin if you write in your bibles, it's this one, Luke twenty one twenty four. Listen to what Jesus said about Jerusalem. Luke twenty one twenty four. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles.

Does that sound familiar? For how long? Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. That's important. So what's Christ teaching here?

Well, he's prophesying the fall of Jerusalem in seventy AD. The verses preceding this clearly explain that. It happened. But notice that after the fall of Jerusalem, Jerusalem would come under gentile control for a long period of time, and we're seeing it even to this day. Are we not?

But there's an expiration date. Yes. They will come under gentile control until the times of the gentiles are fulfilled. Implying what? That one day Jerusalem will shake free from Gentile control.

And it makes you wonder whether part of the times of the Gentiles includes the forty two months of their peak persecution against Jerusalem, which if you believe is the latter part of the tribulation, shows that at the end of that three and a half years, Jesus Christ comes back. And when he comes back, what does he do? He sets up his rule and reign where? Not New Jersey. In Jerusalem.

Could that be it? Could that be what Christ is saying here? Gentile control over Jerusalem until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. You go to Revelation 11, you realize that it will be trampled by the nations. That word nations in Revelation eleven two is Gentiles.

Same thing. Same idea. The nations. Trampling underfoot the outer court of the temple for forty two months. This is why you have a strong case.

This is speaking about the last three and a half years, because at the end of the last three and a half years, Christ cracks open the skies, and he descends, and he plants his feet on the Mount Of Olives, and he claims Jerusalem for himself. This is mine. This is mine. That harmonizes quite well. You can imagine how encouraging this must have been for John personally when he received this vision.

Because if he did write it in the nineties, which most scholars believe he did, then it was only twenty something years prior where he heard the horrific news that Jerusalem was surrounded and destroyed. The temple was laid waste. A million Jews, over a million Jews were slaughtered. Countless were exiled and dispersed. Israel's future was utterly bleak.

And John is in this trance. He's in the island called Patmos and at this point in his vision, he sees a temple with an altar and people in it. And where is it? Well according to the context, it's in the city. The same city that was destroyed just a couple of decades ago.

And he realizes that not only does he see a vision, but he sees this measure rod handed to him. And he understands what this means because it signifies God's possession and his preservation and his protection. So, oh, you have a future for this people. And this lines up with the rest of the scriptures, if you have a literal understanding of it. Now, I understand some who might be hearing this, Hopefully, you're convinced, but are trying to understand how it's even possible.

You're you're telling me that in this kind of climate politically, and it's not projected to get any better, there's gonna be an actual temple there again? What are your answers for that, preacher? I don't have to give you one. I can't figure it out. And and it made me think, what if somebody who knew these prophecies a hundred years ago was asked, hey, I I looked at these prophecies about God bringing back the Jewish people to their land.

How how is that gonna happen? And I'm sure he had a similar response to this dilemma. I don't know how he's gonna do it. But it wasn't too long ago that he did. And if he brought these people back to their nation, how much is it gonna take for him to build a building again?

It's an interesting series of thoughts and meditations. If his word is true, and if we interpret it, I believe the way it should be, then what is being foretold here will come to pass. We're not given the mechanics, we're not given the blueprint, all we're told is that it's gonna happen. Let me end on a different note here. One of the things that struck me when I was meditating on this very thing was something that I already said earlier.

When you look at all these prophecies and cross references, you realize God measures things. You know where my mind went? How Jesus, in his first coming, measured the temple at one point in his ministry, actually, more than once. The temple before it was destroyed. Did you know that Jesus evaluated it?

Let me remind you. He enters into Jerusalem triumphantly. And in the gospel of Mark chapter 11 verse 11, there's this interesting detail that he gives us. Listen to what Mark says about Jesus after he comes into Jerusalem in Mark eleven eleven. And he being Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple, and when he had looked around at everything, As it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the 12.

Why are we being told that Jesus entered into the temple and looked around at everything? Why do we even need to know that? Well, just a few verses later, what happens? Jesus comes back to the temple, and he cleanses it. Do you know why he cleansed it?

Because Jesus here is imitating one of the laws in Leviticus that if there was some disease in a home, a priest was supposed to go in and evaluate the situation. And he was supposed to go through all this protocol. And if he returned to the house and it was still disease and contaminated, the final solution was what? Destroy it. So Jesus, he fulfills that law.

He he imitates that practice. He he comes into the temple, and I I I love to meditate and actually envision what that looked like. Here he is, the background noise of all the praises and all the leaves being waved, all all of that now quiets down, and Jesus, without saying a word, walks into the temple. And with those piercing eyes, discerns, and he walks away. And this is not the only time he evaluated, as I said earlier.

You remember John two, early in Jesus' ministry. Let me read to you what he did in the beginning. John two fourteen. In the temple, he found those who were selling oxen, and sheep, and pigeons, and the money changers sitting there. Do you remember what he did then?

Right? Yeah. He cleansed it. You know the word found there in the Greek? It doesn't denote accidental discovery.

Like he came in like, oh, what is this? It actually speaks about scrutinizing. He examined intensely. And so in the beginning of his ministry, he goes, my house is contaminated. It's time to cleanse it.

So he cleanses it. And then in Mark 11, by the end of the the story, he goes back to the temple because again, that's what the priest would have done to see, is it still clean? And it wasn't. What was the final solution in Leviticus? If it's still is unclean, if it's still polluted, bring it down.

What did Jesus say? Not one stone will remain. Not one stone will remain. God loves to measure things. And here's the here's the thing that moved my heart.

If he was interested in measuring that temple, if he's measuring the future temple in the tribulation period, what about the temple today? Where is that? You and me, us. Do you think he has a measuring line for us? He does.

And he measures a lot more than you and I think. Let me give you one thing. You remember what Jesus said in Matthew seven one and two? Judge not, lest you too be judged. With the judgment that you pronounce, with that measure, it will be measured to you.

Also, so Jesus actually measures how we judge others. How generous are you and I with our love and forgiveness? How patient are we with others? And here's what he does. When he when he examines the measure we use, he takes it into account when we need something from him.

This is fascinating. What else does he measure? Well, look through the New Testament. I realized that he actually measures my motives, not just my actions, not just what you do, but why you do it. Oh, Lord.

He is very committed and invested in his temple today. And here's how I found myself praying in light of our study in Revelation, relearning that God loves to measure things, more spiritual realities than anything else. Search me, examine me, and see if there'd be any wicked way in me. And Lord, I pray that you cleanse me. Cleanse me.

I I want you to find everything in me that is pleasing to you, and he is so gracious if we are but honest and we invite him to do that work in us. Let's end here. Two questions were answered today. What is John measuring? A literal temple to come.

Why is he measuring it? Because God wants to tell us in this vision that in the last days, he is going to preserve a remnant of Jewish people because he promised the Jewish people that they would be saved. And with all the chaos in Revelation and all the schemes of the Antichrist and all the evil that will erupt, nothing will be able to prevent that plan. What does that mean for you? He's a faithful God.

Another layer, I just learned, I guess, that God likes to measure things. So what does he find in me? That's what we're leaving with today, and this is how we're ending today. So let's pray and ask the Lord to measure our hearts. Father, we ask you with many verses that were shared and many thoughts and observations that were made that you would not allow us to lose touch with how this speaks to us personally.

And so we pray, Lord, that you would receive glory and honor for helping us understand these verses. And, Lord, thank you for leading us and guiding us to the truth of how you who evaluate and assess should be mindful of your omniscience in our own lives. So Lord, even now, we pray that from head to toe, if there's anything that we know that we've been harboring, justifying, trying to hide in the walls of our hearts, behind certain closed doors, things that nobody else may know about, but you see. We pray, Lord, today use it. Use this service.

Use this time to cleanse us and to purge us and to renew us. Lord, only you can do that by the power of the Holy Spirit. Man can only go so far. So, Lord, we surrender our hearts to you and we pray that your power would be made known in the sanctuary. We give you praise and glory and honor.

In Jesus' name, amen. If you need to do business with God and you prefer sitting down to speak to him, remain seated. You don't have to stand up with everybody else. I wanna give you this time to actually commune with the Lord. If you wanna stand and you wanna sing, you can do that as well, whenever you're ready.

But I just really wanna take this time to respond to him and to seek him. And so let's just do that for these next few moments. We're in his house and we've heard from him, so let's give the time to speak to him now. Again, Again, if you wanna stand, you can do that. If you wanna remain seated, you're free to do that as well.

But let's just at least seek the Lord before we close this service officially.