During the Babylonian captivity, God gave the prophet Ezekiel a vision of a cleansed and restored temple with specific dimensions and detailed instructions. See Ezekiel chapters 40–46. The exiled Jews later returned and rebuilt their temple, but it was not this temple. This has led dispensationalists to believe that Ezekiel’s temple will be literally built sometime in the future. It would be easy to accept this belief if we did not have the New Testament to guide our thinking and reveal the problems with this interpretation.
The biggest problem with constructing a Third Temple is that this would include sacrificial offerings. Dispensationalists are quick to say that these sacrifices would only commemorate the death of Christ. However, Ezekiel said the offerings in this temple would “make atonement for the house of Israel.” Ezek. 45:17. Thus, the sacrifices are presented as an atonement for sin, not as a memorial. The book of
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