Will the temple be rebuilt before the Lord returns? As I read this passage I wonder if it might be.
59:1-8 seems to be an accusation against the people. Sin has cut them off from God. This is the effect of sin, all sin…it separates us from God. I suppose that small sins create “small separations” but those in turn lead to larger sins, greater errors. Before you know it, you no longer hear God’s voice. I don’t mean to say that small sins aren’t still sins, they are…and they need to be forgiven or they will eventually keep us out of heaven.
Beginning in verse 9 until verse 15 Isaiah begins to confess the sins of the people. Now, what really amazes me is that while Isaiah is saying this, Jerusalem is still secure…they haven’t been overrun the first time. The temple still stands, and it is probable that people are still engaging in trade, and making money and developing plans for the future. Yet Isaiah has been transported to a different time when the temple is gone and the land has been desolate for years. He rejoices to see people coming back to Israel from all the corners of the earth, and apparently the temple is rebuilt.
Now, this really puzzles me. On one hand the temple was rebuilt when the people returned from exile, but this prophecy doesn’t fit that time period, because it says the land had been desolate for generations. And, when the Israelites returned home, they weren’t brought from all corners of the globe, no kings from the west came, and the nations around them didn’t all bring them wealth….although Cyrus did ensure that some wealth was distributed to them to build the temple. And then there’s the description of the Lord “treading the winepress alone” which sounds like the battle of Armageddon. So the battle of Armageddon is discussed after the description of people returning and offering sacrifices. Maybe they don’t happen in that order, but that’s how they are revealed. That would mean the temple is rebuilt by the time of Armageddon. What I struggle with is “why rebuild the temple at all?” It’s no longer necessary for sacrifice, since Jesus fulfilled that requirement for all time. And since that’s true, why the mention of flocks and rams to be used for sacrifice? Any discussion of sacrifice should have ended with Jesus. Hmmmm. I have lots of questions.
It appears I have wandered off topic here….getting back to it..
59:16 to the end of the chapter is the Lord stepping in and making things right. So we have three “movements” in 59. Accusation, Confession and Restoration. There you go, a perfectly good sermon outline for someone. God accuses, we confess, God restores.
I mention this “restoration” because it seems to be the final restoration, not the intermediate one when the Jew returned from Iran, or when Jesus came in the first century. That’s what makes the temple discussion puzzling..since there is no temple now, and there appears to be one when these things are happening….when does it get built, and could we use the construction of the new temple as a sign that the end of the age approaches?
Chapter 60 verse 6-7 is where the temple/flocks verse is found.
60:10 King Herod was a foreigner and he rebuilt the towns, the Romans rebuilt as well, but neither of them came as servants. This verse says the kings come as captives. In both those cases, the kings came as victors. This must be speaking of a future time as well. Therefore, there are towns in Israel that will be rebuilt at some point in the future that may be vacant today. I wonder which ones?
Chapter 60 is clearly end times related, as most of what it describes hasn’t happened yet.
Jerusalem is going to be the most beautiful place on the face of the earth, and the most prosperous, and the place where God resides. There simply is no arguing about it, it is the land that God loves, and we should keep that in mind. He loves us, of course…but Jerusalem is “home” to Him for some reason.
Which brings me to Chapter 61, which you would think would be end times, but it was fulfilled by Jesus in the first century. Huh! It’s a great blessing to have all this insight at our fingertips, but making sense out of it, and knowing what it means as it relates to end times is somewhat confusing for me.
The bottom line: (I guess). In the end, Jerusalem (and all who love the Lord) will be restored and the enemies of God will be defeated. Isaiah is clearing writing so that those in bondage can be encouraged and emboldened and continue in their faith. This is where the text finds me today. As a nation, and as people we are largely in bondage to the devil, caught in the web of our many sins. The earth remains a fallen place and people around us (outside the church) have no problem indulging themselves, even at the expense of others. I know something of the bondage of sin, and so as I read this, I am encouraged.
Keep pressing on, continue to remain steadfast in your faith because you know (since God has told us right here) that He wins the final battle, and you will reign with Him at that time. You aren’t losing, you’re winning!
Faithfully,
PR