THE TEMPLE IN THE NEW ORDER

“Which Temple was Anointed”?

Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy”

Talking of Daniel 9, we know it wasn’t making reference to anything Physical such as that of the Temple of Moses, neither that of Solomon nor Herod’s, not even the proposed theological-expert Temple that is yet to be built in a place called Jerusalem, which is in bondage with her children (Galatians 4:25).

In John Chapter 2, from verses 13-21, we have the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple by driving away those who were buying and selling in the then Temple of God. But in verses 18 – 21 the word says;

“So the Jews answered and said to Him: ‘What sign do you show to us since you do these things?’ Jesus answered and said to them. ‘Destroy this TEMPLE and in three days I will raise it up’. Then the Jews said ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple (Herod’s Temple) and will you raise it in three days?’ But He was speaking of the Temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead His disciples remembered that He had said this to them…” NKJV.

Evidently, Jesus was then pointing to the Temple of God made without hands. So, Jesus was the first temple of God made without hands.

INAUGURATING THE NEW TEMPLE WITHOUT HANDS

Now, going by the pattern, by which Moses inaugurated the First Temple and the Priesthood thereof with oil. This new order of Temple and the Priesthood as well, cannot go into active operation without inauguration. So we found that, Jesus could not go into Ministry until He was thirty years old, the qualification for Priesthood in the old order.

And of course, this Temple, which He now was, also had to be anointed. Therefore, Jesus did not go into Ministry, until He was baptized by John in the River Jordan (Matthew 3:13–16). Now, something significant happened. We are told,

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. Then heaven opened, and he saw God’s Spirit coming down on Him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said ‘This is my son, whom I love, and I am very pleased with Him” (Matthew 3:16-17) NCV

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Here the voice validated the Ministry of Jesus, as it was with the Jewish custom, of Public adoption of sons by a Father. This happened in the year 33 AD. So we see the anointing of the Temple symbolized by the dove and the consecration into office by the Father Himself of Jesus, now as the “Christ” “the anointed one”, “the Messiah”. And this is precisely what Daniel was talking about.

UNDERSTANDING HIS BODY

Again note this: In John 2, He said,

“Destroy this Body and I will raise it up in three days, but He was talking of the Temple of His BODY” What then is His Body?”

“God put everything under His power and made Him (Christ) the head over everything for the Church, which is Christ’s Body. The Church is filled with Christ, and Christ fills everything in every way”. Ephesians 1:22-23_NCV (Compare Eph 2:20–22)

But don’t forget this, if the consecration was that of Aaron and his sons, then of course, if the head, which is Christ, has and was anointed, then His body the Church must also be anointed as a corporate Temple.

In Acts 2:1-4, we are told, as the infant church, the believers were waiting in the upper room, the Holy Ghost came on them like a “tongue of fire” and sat on their Temples and they began to speak with other tongues. The outcome of this…

“…Do you not know that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have from God, and you are not your own?”

For “you (corporately) are the temple of the Living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them, I will be their God and they shall be my people (2 Corinthians 6:16 NKJV)

In other words, by reason of what happened on the day of Pentecost, God now consecrated a corporate holy Temple for Him to dwell in like it was in the Temple of Moses with the Ark of Glory. This time, in the spirit of man (“The Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit…” 2 Timothy 4:22).

This is the anointing of the Most Holy Place, which truly extended to the Gentiles, first in the person of Cornelius and his household in Acts 10. And this took place at the close of the 70 weeks.

Next, will be the sealing of the vision.

To be continued…