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REBUILDING THE TEMPLE

I. QUAR., LESSON II., JAN. 8, EZRA 3:1-13

Golden Text—”They praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.”—Ezra 3:11

The narratives of the building and the rebuilding of the temple, as mere matters of history, would be of little importance or interest to us were it not also for the fact of its typical character. Viewing it thus, there is still in the history of that temple and in its prophetic teachings that which should enkindle in our hearts greater enthusiasm, zeal and joy than was ever expressed by those who saw its material glory.

In the light of the teachings of the apostles we see that the antitype of that temple was the one true Church of the living God, whose names are written in heaven (1 Cor. 3:16,17; Luke 10:20)—that it is a spiritual temple built up with living stones, of which Jesus Christ is himself the chief corner stone, the sure foundation. He became the foundation of this spiritual house when he gave his life a ransom for many, and thus made possible the building up of other living stones upon this foundation until the wonderful structure shall reach its glorious completeness.—1 Pet. 2:4-7.

When this foundation of the spiritual temple was laid, all who came to a realization of the importance of the great work thereby accomplished rejoiced and praised the Lord. And this rejoicing in the strength and security of the foundation of our hopes never ceases. Praise the Lord! wells up from every heart that realizes the redemption accomplished by the precious blood of Christ, shed for many for the remission of sins. Upon this sure foundation the temple structure has been gradually and steadily progressing. The living stones are taken out of the quarry (the world), and, by the experiences and discipline of the present life, they are shaped and chiseled and polished

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and thus fitted for their places in the temple which, during the time of the presence of the Lord—viz., since 1878, when he took his great power as king—is being noiselessly put together, as in the type, without the sound of a hammer—by the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the change of the living in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye; for “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth [from 1878]; … they rest from their labors [from the toil and weariness of labor], but their works follow with them.” They shall not sleep, but they shall be changed instantaneously from the human to a glorious spiritual body.—Rev. 14:13; 1 Cor. 15:51,52.

But, while the Church glorified with Christ the Head will be the temple complete and glorious, it is in a less complete sense regarded as the temple of God now, and the various members as its builders, all having something to do in building each other up in the most holy faith, and thus contributing to the structure of the temple or Church as a whole. This work of building up the Church is very clearly set forth in the building of the typical temple; and the rebuilding of the temple after the captivity in Babylon is very suggestive of the rebuilding of the Church after the long captivity in Babylon the Great—which is generally known as the Great Reformation. And truly there has been a great Re-formation of the Church since the dark ages of bondage under the papal yoke.

The work of re-formation has gone steadily forward and, like that of the typical temple, in the midst of great opposition. (See Ezra 4:11-24; 5:3-5; Neh. 4:7-23, and compare MILLENNIAL DAWN, Vol. II., Chapter ix, and Vol. III., Chapter iv.) From the multitudes who had been enslaved under the papal rule some of the living stones of the true temple were gathered out and the work of setting them in order for the rebuilding of the New Jerusalem and its temple began. History records the opposition which these re-formers or builders, encountered; and truly, as in the type, “the builders, every one had his sword [the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God] girded by his side, and so builded.” (Neh. 4:18.) Nor may this attitude ever be relinquished until the work is all complete and the glory of the Lord has filled his temple. The enemies of the Lord’s people and the Lord’s work are always active in opposition, and none the less so when their methods are subtle and their course not easily discernible. Hence the necessity for continued vigilance against every encroachment of the adversary, whether he come as a roaring lion or as a wily serpent.

To all who are laboring in the great work of building up the true temple and city of God, the success of Ezra and Nehemiah and their co-workers should be regarded as an encouraging prediction of the final completeness and glory of the Church built upon the one true and only foundation, Jesus Christ our Redeemer and Lord.—1 Cor. 3:11.

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— December 15, 1892 —