It is time to build

  The book of Deuteronomy is the farewell sermon of Moses. The word Deuteronomy means second law. The previous generation had died in the wilderness (Num 14), and he was now restating the law to their children before they went into Canaan. He was not allowed to enter the promised land (Num 20:8-12). Moses prayed about this, and God told him to stop praying about it, but He would let him see it from the top of Mt. Pisgah (Deut 3:24-28), and He would make Joshua the next leader. In the book of Deuteronomy, God said eight times that He would choose a location to place His name

     1. Deuteronomy 12:5-26

     2. Deuteronomy 14:23-25

     3. Deuteronomy 15:20

     4. Deuteronomy 16:2-16

     5. Deuteronomy 17:10 & 15

     6. Deuteronomy 18:6

     7.Deuteronomy 26:2

     8. Deuteronomy 31:11

King David took the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusites and made it the capital (2Sam 5:7-8). He wanted to build a temple for the Lord but he was not allowed to (2Sam 7), but his son Solomon would do it. When David bought the threshingfloor or Ornah the Jebusite to offer a sacrifice to stop a plague, the Lord answered by fire (2Sam 24, 1Chr 21). David realized this would be the place of the temple, and he prepared for its building (1Chr 29). Jerusalem became the place spoken of in Deuteronomy (1Ki 8:44 & 48, 1Ki 11:13, 32, & 36, 2Ki 21:7, 2Ki 23:27, Neh 1:9, Zech 3:2).

     Israel kept falling into idolatry and other sins, and eventually the curses spoken of in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 came to pass. The Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel (2Ki 17), and about 100 years later the Babylonians conquered the southern kingdom of Judah (2Ki 25). Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. Jeremiah had prophesied that some of the people would be taken captive, but they would return after 70 years (Jer 25:11-12, Jer 29:9-13). They were supposed to let the land rest every 50 years, but they had failed to do so (Lev 25). Therefore, God gave the land rest for 70 years to make up for the 490 years they did not.

     In Babylon, the prophet Daniel had obtained a copy of the book of Jeremiah, read these prophecies, and prayed for the forgiveness and restoration of his people (Dan 9). God also said through the prophet Isaiah that He would raise up a king named Cyrus who would let the Jews return and rebuild their temple (Is 44:24-28). This came to pass (2Chr 36:15-23, Ezra 1:1-4). They got the foundation of the second temple laid (Ezra 3), but their enemies wrote a letter to a new king named Artaxerxes who ordered the building to stop (Ezra 4).

     The Jews became discouraged because they were forced to stop the construction. God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the people that it was time to build (Hag 1-2). To them, it did not look like that at all, but God turned the circumstances that were against them to their favor (Ezra 5-6). Not only were they allowed to build, they were given provisions for it and their enemies were ordered to stand down. The temple was finished faster than if they had not been resisted.

     Sometimes circumstances in our lives appear to be telling us that what we thought God had promised to us has been blocked from coming to pass. We get discouraged and accept that either we misunderstood what God had promised us, He changed His mind, or we have sinned too much and disqualified ourselves. These things can be true sometimes, but it can also be true that we need to refocus on His will and get our priorities straight (Hag 1). When God sees that we are wholly committed to do His will, He can bring His word to pass. Paul wrote a famous saying in Romans 11:29: “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance”. We apply this to ourselves to gain encouragement, and that is good. However, this statement is made much stronger when we consider the original context. Paul was talking about the nation of Israel. When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey in what is called the triumphal entry (Mt 21:1-11, Mk 11:1-11, Lk 19-28-44, Jn 12:12-19), He wept over the city because He knew their rejection of Him would lead to its destruction as well as the temple (Mt 24). This occurred in 70AD when the Romans conquered and destroyed it all.

     The land lay desolate and became a remote outpost for centuries. During the crusades, control of the city went back and forth between Catholics and Muslims, although there was a varying Jewish presence, particularly in the north. In the late 1800s, a wave of Jewish migration to their historical homeland added to the population of Jews that were already there. This wave has never fully stopped, and even now many Jews are making what is called their Aliyah, which means "ascension" or "to go up”. There is Biblical prophecy about a third temple being built (Dan 9:24-27, Eze 40-48, Mt 24:15, 2Thes 2:3-4, Rev 11:1-2). There are signs pointing toward this happening, although we cannot set a date for the second coming of Christ or the time of the fulfillment of these prophecies (Mt 24:36, Mt 25:13, Mk 13:32). Any attempt to do so makes one a false prophet, and that is very serious (Deut 13:1-5, Deut 18:18-22, Gal 1:6-9, Rev 22:18-19). What we can do is look for an increase in the intensity of signs and for multiple signs happening all at once. For example, the Lord said earthquakes would be one sign (Mt 24:7). There have been thousands of earthquakes since Jesus said that, but if there is a sudden significant uptick in them in conjunction with other signs, we can take note of it. As to the rebuilding of the temple in the last days, there are indications that it may be happening soon, although soon is a relative term. The miraculous existence of the State of Israel is a major sign in itself. The Temple Institute and the rebuilding of some temple artifacts are interesting indicators along with recent events on the temple mount. The time to build it may be very soon, or it may be a while off.

     What does all that have to do with us? “There is a time to break down and a time to build up…a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together (Ecc 3:3-5)”. There are about 8 billion people in the world, and God knows how many hairs are on each head (Mt 10:30). In His general plan, He wants everyone to be saved (Jn 1:9, Jn 3:16-21, 1Tim 2:4, Titus 2:11, 2Pet 3:9). Yet He also has a specific plan for each person and each congregation of believers. Sometimes it is not yet time to build, but we can be like David who drew the blueprints and gathered many materials for the temple, although it was not time yet. Sometimes when we are not sure about what to do next, the best thing to do is to keep doing what we already know to do. We can also be like the people that returned to their homeland in the days of Ezra, Zechariah, Haggai, and Nehemiah who thought it was not time to build, but God said it was. When God says it is time to build, we may experience opposition and setbacks, but when it is the will of God, nobody and nothing can stop it.