Rebuilding the Temple

Rebuilding the Temple

By

Gary Primo

Sept. 9, 2019

Ezra 6:1 - Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

2 - And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written:

3 - In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of Elohim at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;

4 - With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house:

5 - And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of Elohim, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of Elohim.

King Solomon was commissioned with the first building of a temple. It was a glorious sight indeed. The second temple did not match that of Solomon’s in glory but it did the job. My question is, “Why was there a need for a temple at all?” I mean, Yahuwah had no need of a temple; the whole universe is His temple; therefore, the temple was built for the people, not Yahuwah. What Yahuwah must have realized was that if the people wanted a religious system like all the other religions on earth that was exactly what he was going to give them. And so, He gave them what they wanted; a useless bunch of customs and traditions of their own. And they still messed things up. I think that no matter how many temples they built, the result would have been the same. Eventually they would revert back to a state of lawlessness. I believe they worshipped the Temple (and the law) itself more than they did Yahuwah. Seeing is believing; and since we cannot see Yahuwah, most refuse to believe in Him. They need something physical (that they can see and relate to) before they will worship it.

The problem as I see it was that most of the Israelites weren’t interested in developing a close, personal relationship with Yahuwah. They felt that they could achieve salvation by doing the bare minimum. You know; like many Christians today.

Doing the bare minimum has never worked in the past. Neither will it work today or in the future. Yahuwah expects 100% effort from us. Fifty, sixty or seventypercent just will not cut it.

Mt 12:6 - But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

Of course Yahushua was speaking of Himself. He was greater than the physical Temple as He was the embodiment of the spiritual temple, housing the spirit of Yahuwah. This is what we all are to become, the embodiment of the spiritual temple.

Man appeared on Earth approximately 5,800 years ago. . I have often wondered why Adam did not die immediately following the Garden of Eden fiasco. I believe that if Adam had not sinned, he likely would have grown in spiritual stature till he reach a point of perfecting and would have been changed in a flash from physical to spiritual. It may have even been an automatic reaction once that spiritual state was perfected. Since all men died just short of their 1,000^th birthday, I wonder if that is the point when they would have been changed. Perhaps Yahuwah was twisting the knife a little – snatching their lives away just when what should have been the prize was within sight.

Adam’s relationship with Yahuwah was similar to Yahushua’s. Both were created as empty vessels, waiting to be filled. Both had the opportunity to fill themselves with the spirit/nature of the Father. One succeeded and one failed horribly. If Adam had not of sinned, the story of man would have been much different. We would have never known death. We would have never known crime, war, deception or any kind of evil at all. The one book that teaches us how to overcome our handicap and succeed with Yahuwah’s plan is either ignored or misinterpreted. The problem – man does not believe Yahuwah. Most think the Bible is just a fairy tale. Yet, every fairy tale has some basis in truth. With the Scriptures, every word is truth; and I do not believe that anyone can gain the Kingdom without it.

Adam did not need a temple, because he WAS the temple – just as we are right now. But most Christians either do not believe that or don’t understand how to use it to their advantage.

John 2:21 - But he spoke of the temple of his body

There can be no doubt that the spiritual temple is greater than any physical temple built by men. Yahushua was the temple of Yahuwah before anything was created. Following baptism and the receiving of Yahuwah’s righteous spirit, we become a spiritual temple as well; and as such we are to treat that spiritual temple with all due respect.

The temple in Jerusalem was designed to give the people the sense of dwelling with Yahuwah in the Kingdom. We, who have Yahuwah’s spirit dwelling in us are dwelling with Yahuwah 24/7 – yet many live as if His spirit is separate from them, or their minister alone has the spirit and believe he can gain salvation for them. NO, we are one with the Creator, which is exactly what Yahushua prayed for in John 17. As one, we are to think, act and talk as one. This is why the ancient world believed they were dealing directly with the Father, when they were really dealing with the Son, who did the actual creating and interacted with man. Yahuwah and Yahushua were so perfectly intertwined, no one could tell the difference. If one thinks about it, Yahushua is the only person who ever walked the earth who was in perfect unison with the Father. We may think such a union impossible to achieve, but Yahushua wouldn’t have asked the Father for such a thing if it were not possible and entirely essential to gaining the Kingdom and eternal life. We must believe Yahushua when He tells us such things are possible and stop having such low opinions of ourselves. We should be confident that we are well on our way to becoming elohim. Yahuwah will not take the chance that we will follow Adam and sin after we achieve the Kingdom. We must do everything possible to keep the temple swept and cleaned of all that tempts us into sin.

Once the Temple was completed, the people dedicated it to Yahuwah. This is what we must do with our bodies also. Clean it daily of anything that remains corruptible. And rededicate ourselves to Yahuwah daily as well.

With life today being so chaotic and dishevelled, many cannot find the time to work with or even think about Yahuwah on a daily basis, but it should be the first thing we start the day off with – rededicating ourselves to become one with Yahuwah. No one says the journey is easy, but if we never start, or even worse, begin and later fall away, we will never see the glory of Elohim.

However, HaSatan has sowed the seeds of doubt in all men and we need to eradicate all doubt from our minds, when it comes to developing our relationship with Yahuwah. The seeds of doubt can be devastating in any human relationship. Perhaps one doubts that their marriage will work or have doubts if a job is going to work out, etc. Neither of these is likely to work as long as doubts persist.

1Co 3:16 - Know you not that you are the temple of Elohim, and that the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you?

The apostle Shaul recognized that some were indeed doubtful concerning the spirit dwelling in them; or at least, were living and acting as if they doubted it. Do not doubt it, brethren. The spirit of Elohim is dwelling in each of us, making us living temples. Everything we do from this point on is to be to the glory of Yahuwah. Our lives are no longer our own.

Most Christians feel that simply belonging to the “right” religion or the “right” church qualifies them for salvation. Nothing could be further from the truth. I asked a local man what his minister talked about at the Xmas eve service one year. He told me that the minister just talked about the history of that particular church. For what they believe is the celebration of Yahushua’s birthday, I thought that was pretty lame.

Out of all the Christian churches, the only one I respect is the Salvation Army. Even if their theology is off, they still exhibit more charity than all the rest put together. However, I personally know some people who worked for the SA, and if their report is true, they were treated horribly by certain individuals within that organization. So, not all are characterized by good, solid “Christian” behaviour.

And then, there are some who are not even religious who demonstrate more charity than any Christian. This is simply part of their nature, and it should be part of our nature as well. If one is lawful by nature, that person is one step ahead of the rest.

A common thread amongst all recognized Christian groups is their tax-free status. This is a special status granted by the government (of any given nation) where they do not have to pay taxes. Well, there are some stipulations in place where they must compromise their values to receive that exemption. Thus we have Gay and Lesbian ministers leading congregations and abortions being supported. Can anyone imagine Yahushua ever submitting to such a compromise? I think not!

When the True Faith began, they had no church building and were very loosely organized. They were simply individuals whose eyes were opened by the spirit of righteousness and were seeking that individual and personal relationship with Yahuwah. They met in groves and other places where they could find peace from the Romans. Even with that threat looming over them, they still managed to convert more in a single day than all the other religions put together. That fact, of course, infuriated the Romans and they pressed the persecutions even further.

We are not to seek compromise with any other religion or government. We are to stand for Yahuwah alone as His ambassadors. We are to preach the truth no matter what the consequences. We may not experience any reward in this life, but we certainly will in the next.

1Co 3:17 - If any man defile the temple of Elohim, him shall Elohim destroy; for the temple of Elohim is holy, which temple you are.

Along with baptism and the receiving of Yahuwah’s righteous spirit, we are being commissioned to “rebuild” our own personal temples – our bodies, so that we become a shrine to Yahuwah. From that point on we are to cleanse that temple and strengthen its pillars. We are not merely a collection of separate, individual temples but are all parts of a greater temple, where all the individual parts harmonize together to form one temple of total cohesion.

1Co 6:19 - What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the spirit of Elohim which is in you, which you have of Elohim, and you are not your own?

That is right, folks. We are no longer our own. We belong lock, stock and barrel to Yahuwah. We must submit fully to following where his spirit leads us.

2 Cor 6:16 - And what agreement has the temple of Elohim with idols? For you are the temple of the living Elohim; as Elohim has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people.

We are to have no agreement with idols – like most of the Christian churches. The purpose of idols is to give the people a god they can see and touch. Our faith must suffice for us.

Eph 2:21 - In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto an holy temple in Yahuwah:

The receiving of the spirit at baptism represents laying the cornerstone of our own, personal temple. From that point on were are to complete the construction by taking on more and more of the nature of Yahuwah.

Rev 3:12 - Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my Elohim and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my Elohim, and the name of the city of my Elohim, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my Elohim: and I will write upon him my new name.

A pillar is of significant importance to the construction of any building. If the pillars are weak, the whole building is weak and in danger of collapsing. A case in point would be the stories from Asia of buildings collapsing due to faulty construction. One high rise they built with no foundation (that’s right, no foundation) fell over on its side when they tried to remedy the situation. No, our temple must be built properly, starting with the foundation; and then built upon precept by precept until it is a perfect replication of the glory of Elohim.

There will be 3 new names we will learn after the plan of Yahuwah is complete.

1 – Writing ones name on someone else usually denotes ownership. Yahuwah will write His glorious name on each and every one of us.

2 – The city of Jerusalem will take on a new name; one which glorifies Yahuwah.

3 – We will each be given a new spiritual name. I am sure that such a name will identify with our great efforts to overcome all things.

Rev 21:22 - And I saw no temple therein: for Yahuwah Elohim Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

There will be no need of a physical temple in the Kingdom of Elohim. Yahuwah and Yahushua will be the temple. And, since theirs is the example we are to be emulating, we too will be part of that temple. This is the temple we are to be rebuilding. Rebuilding a physical temple is of no use to us whatsoever. Ours is a temple that cannot be destroyed.

Conclusion

The only temple we are to be rebuilding is the one housed by our own bodies. We are to sweep away all prior pagan influences and steer the straight course. Our biggest hurdle is overcoming our own human nature. It almost always comes to the forefront in extremely stressful situations.

If one cannot cleanse their own temple (body), then how are they to find such cleansing in a church? A church cannot gain our salvation for us. That is something we must do totally on our own. And, for anyone who believes that Yahushua did away with the law, such a cleansing is not even relevant. How sad! Because of the lying minister the person follows has led them away from salvation, rather than toward it. Anyone who influences a person so, is dammed and cursed. They will pay the ultimate price.

All have had the opportunity to read the Scriptures for themselves. The Scriptures have been available to just about everyone since the reformation. So we are without excuse. And I do not mean reading a verse here and there. To get the complete picture, one should read the Scriptures from beginning to end, just as they would any other book. That is the only way the complete picture will come together. And, if your experience is anything like mine, you will hear Yahuwah speak to you while reading. (not out loud, but in your mind).

We are a spiritual army, strutting forth on prised stallions, carrying the banner of Yahuwah. We have to do more than just look pretty. We are to be about conquering the world. Of course, I am talking about spiritual warfare. The Christian churches stand always ready to do the government’s bidding. This is a secret most church goers do not know. It must never be so with us. We are to do Yahuwah’s bidding alone. And if that bidding requires that we violate state government policies, then so be it. Stand up proudly for the truth at all times.

The temple is within us, for our correction and edification. We are stewards of this temple and must care for it as much as the ancient Israelites cared for their physical temple. If our personal temple is not in order, there is absolutely nothing any church or religion can do for us.

Yahuwah Bless

G.P.