Daniel 8:9-14 “And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land. (10) And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. (11) He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. (12) Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered. (13) Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, "How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?" (14) And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed."
God gave the prophet Ezekiel a very detailed description of the layout of the Third Temple, which at the time of the writing of this series is yet to be built (Ezekiel 40-48). In fact the layout of the temple is so detailed that Jewish architects have already drawn up its blueprints, and all that is needed is the final go ahead for construction to begin. As we have already mentioned, once Jerusalem is no longer trampled by the Gentiles then the Third Temple will finally be built. And so that brings us to the above quoted passage of scripture. The context of this passage is that the prophet Daniel was shown a vision of events that will take place at the end of the age. One of the events shown to Daniel was the anti-Christ bringing an end to the daily sacrifices, for this passage declares that by him (anti-Christ) the daily sacrifices were taken away. The daily sacrifices mentioned in this passage refer to the sacrifices that the Jews will offer before the Lord in the Third Temple. The apostle Paul taught us that it is from that temple that the anti-Christ will set up his reign in the earth (2 Thessalonians 2:4). Jesus referred to that event as the “abomination of desolation standing in the holy place” (Matthew 24:15). And so we see that the moment the anti-Christ begins to reign from the temple the temple will be defiled. Daniel then goes on in this passage to recount a conversation between two of the Lord’s angels regarding the defiling of the temple and its subsequent cleansing. In this conversation the first angel asked the second angel how long the sanctuary (temple) would be trampled underfoot (by the anti-Christ)? The second angel answers, by saying that a period of two thousand three hundred days will elapse and then the sanctuary (temple) will be cleansed. And so we can see that from the time the temple is defiled until it is cleansed once again, a period of just short of six-and-a-half years will elapse. Of those six-and-a-half years, we have already seen that the anti-Christ will reign for three-and-a-half years. At the end of his reign we therefore have a period of just short of three years when the wrath of God will be poured out in the earth. After God’s wrath has been completed, the second coming of the Lord Jesus will take place; and as per the angel’s comment, the temple will then be cleansed. The reason that the Lord will cleanse the temple is because it is from that temple that He will set up His millennial reign in the earth.
Psalms 68:24-29 “They have seen Your procession, O God, The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary. (25) The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the maidens playing timbrels. (26) Bless God in the congregations, The Lord, from the fountain of Israel. (27) There is little Benjamin, their leader, the princes of Judah and their company, the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali. (28) Your God has commanded your strength; Strengthen, O God, what You have done for us. (29) Because of Your temple at Jerusalem, Kings will bring presents to You.”
The above quoted passage of scripture describes the inauguration of the temple once it has been cleansed. This passage describes the procession of the saints accompanying the Lord Jesus with joyful celebration of singing and playing of musical instruments as the Lord Jesus enters the temple to begin His reign on the earth. Notice from this passage that once the Lord Jesus is seated in the temple, the various heads of state of the unbelieving nations will begin to bring their tribute to the Lord.
Ezekiel 47:1-5 “Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. … (5) Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the prophet Ezekiel was shown a vision of the same temple that the prophet Daniel was shown, i.e. the temple that will be cleansed by the Lord Jesus. If you read the full passage in the book of Ezekiel you will see a very detailed description of this temple and its operation in the period leading up to the reign of the anti-Christ, i.e. the period prior to the Lord’s millennial reign (Ezekiel 40-48). In the middle of that passage however, the Lord inserts a small section where He showed Ezekiel what that temple would be like during His millennial reign (Ezekiel 47:1-12). In this passage we see that there will be water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, which eventually becomes a river. The river flowing from the temple during our Lord’s reign will be the same river of life that flows from the throne of God in the heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 22:1). Nevertheless I want you to notice that during the Lord’s millennial reign that this river flows from the right side of the temple. The reason for that is because this river will flow from the Son of God, who is seated at the right hand of God.
Zechariah 14:8-9 “And in that day it shall be-- That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. (9) And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be "The Lord is one," And His name one.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the prophet Zechariah describes the same river that the prophet Ezekiel was shown. The only difference being that Zechariah describes the river of living water flowing from Jerusalem both to the east and the west. Obviously this is the same river of living water that will flow from the Lord Jesus’ throne in the temple. We know that this vision is referring to our Lord’s millennial reign, for Zechariah describes the rivers as flowing into the sea, and we know that when God creates the new earth it will not have a sea (Revelation 21:1). It is also interesting to note from this passage that the earth’s seasons will remain the same during our Lord’s millennial reign, for this passage mentions both summer and winter.
Michael E.B. Maher
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