Ingrained in popular Christianity is the thought that Israel will rebuild its temple that was destroyed in 70 A.D. This will come to pass, it’s said, in order to fulfill the following scripture.

II Thess. 2: 3, 4—“Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

The man of sin, the son of perdition is, of course, a reference to the Antichrist (“Anti” meaning both against and in place of). In order for him to sit in the temple as God, the temple will have to be rebuilt.

That makes sense only if the temple referred to is a physical temple. However, it’s not. The scripture is speaking of a spiritual temple—Jesus Himself.

I know this to be true because of other passages of scripture. The Bible explains itself. Throughout the New Testament, the body of Christ is referred to as the temple of God.

For example: “I’ll raise this temple in three days”…He spoke of His body (John 2: 19-21); “Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone…in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2: 19-22); “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house.” (I Peter 2: 5).

The temple referred to in II Thess. is Christ’s body of believers. It is among the household of God – the church – that the Antichrist sits, wearing a Christian face. I use the present tense, for the Antichrist is alive and well right now. Today!

And because he is who he is, he cannot help but boast, not realizing that he is revealing himself. He has made public statements that are in opposition to God. He has let it be known that he exalts himself above God and His Word. And to top it all off, he has said these things while seated among believers.

I reveal who he is, and the church in which he presides, in my book The Three Angels’ Message: God’s End-Time Warning. Check out my shameless plug. It’ll set you free.

So to answer this post’s title, I say “so what” if the Jerusalem temple is rebuilt? It wouldn’t have any meaning for Christianity at all. When Jesus died, the last temple’s veil was torn from top to bottom. The significance of that was that the shadow of the ceremonial, earthly temple had served its purpose—pointing to the substance of which is Christ Himself.

On the cross, Jesus said “It is finished.” So a rebuilt temple, with the resumption of animal sacrifices, wouldn’t have any connection to and for the Christian believer.