The importance of adhering to the meaning of words in the Bible in respect of to whom or to what the scripture is applying those words to can never be emphasized enough, because:
IT'S NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SAY IT IS
BUT IT'S ALWAYS WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS IT IS
The Greek New Testament uses two different words for (a) the Jerusalem temple structure (hieron); and (b) the sanctuary of God (naos).
Hierón: The entire temple complex in Jerusalem (always in Jerusalem). It includes the naós (the sanctuary of God) because it enclosed/housed the naos.
Naós: The Sanctuary: Once in the New Testament it's referring to shrines for the goddess Diana (Acts 19:24). In every other verse the word is used, it's referring to the sanctuary of God.
Jesus was not a priest in terms of Moses' law and hence in accordance with Moses' law was not allowed into the naós (the holy place, where only the priests were allowed). So it makes sense that without exception, whenever you read of Jesus entering the temple in Jerusalem, the Greek word employed for "temple", is hierón.
The Jerusalem temple continued to be referred to as the hierón following the death and resurrection of Christ (multiple times in Acts).
The last time that the New Testament uses the word naós (referring to the actual sanctuary) in reference to the 2nd temple in Jerusalem, is in the verses in the Gospels which tell about the tearing of the veil between that holy place / holy of holies, which occurred when Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45).
THE PATTERN:
Old Covenant atonement for sin, performed in the naos.
WHAT THE PATTERN WAS A SHADOW OF:
The New Covenant in Christ's blood:
"For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." -- Matthew 26:28.
"Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this the temple [naos], and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and will you rear it up in three days? But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said." -- John 2:19-22.
"And for this cause He is the Mediator of the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-32; Matthew 26:28), so that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, those who are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." -- Hebrews 9:15
PAUL WRITING ABOUT THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM
(the Greek word used)
* When Paul wrote his letters to the churches at Corinth, Ephesus and Thessaloniki, he used the word hierón in reference to the temple in Jerusalem, which at the time of Paul's writing, was still standing (1 Corinthians 9:13).
* When speaking about the bodies of individual Christians, and the congregations of Christians as the tabernacle (temple) of God, Paul consistently used the word naós (1 Corinthians 3:16-17 & 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; and Ephesians 2:21-22):
* When writing about the man of sin seating himself up in the sanctuary of God (2 Thessalonians 2:4), Paul used the word naós.
"Let not anyone deceive you by any means. For the Day of Christ shall not come unless there first comes the apostasy, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple [naós] of God, setting himself forth, that he is God." -- 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.
"And what agreement does a temple [naós] of God have with idols? For you are the temple [naós] of the living God, as God has said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." -- 2 Corinthians 6:16.
"Do you not know that you are a temple [naós] of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple [naós] of God, God shall destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are." -- 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.
Paul said there will be an apostasy before the coming of Christ, and there is already an apostasy from this:
"The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and earth, does not dwell in temple sanctuaries [naós] made with (human) hands." (Acts 17:24).
"God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (Jesus the Messiah, John 4:24).
THE HOLY CITY OF THE REVELATION
The "cities" mentioned in the Revelation are:-
- 1. "Babylon the Great".
- 2. The city "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt".
- 3. The cities of the nations which fell when the 7th bowl of wrath was poured out.
- 4. "New Jerusalem".
There are no verses in the Revelation where "Babylon the Great", or the city "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt", or the cities of the nations which fell when the 7th bowl of wrath was poured out, are called "the holy city",
but the Revelation calls New Jerusalem "the holy city" three times:
Revelation 21:2; Revelation 21:10; and Revelation 22:19.
- Revelation 11:2 is talking about the holy city.
The Romans did not "violate" the holy city of the New Testament by attacking Jerusalem in 70 AD - they violated it before 70 AD by the Roman Emperor, Nero, putting many thousands of Christians to death, and burning them like human torches on a stake.
"For Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem from above is free, who is the mother of us all." (Galatians 4:25-26).
"For Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem from above is free, who is the mother of us all." (Galatians 4:25-26).
But you have come to Mount Zion
and to the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels,
to the general assembly and church of the first-born
who are written in Heaven,
and to God the judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
(Hebrews 12:22-24)
- Revelation 11:2 is talking about the holy city.
- The other city referred to in Revelation chapter 11, is referred to as a city that is "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." (Revelation 11:8).
In Hebrews we are taught:
"For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the Holy of Holies by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, so that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." -- Hebrews 13:11-14.
In Revelation 11:1-3 we read,
"And a reed like a rod was given to me. And the angel stood, saying, Rise up and measure the sanctuary (naós) of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it.
But leave out the court which is outside the sanctuary (naós), and do not measure it, for it was given to the Gentiles. And they will trample the holy city forty-two months. And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."
"Let not anyone deceive you by any means. For that Day shall not come unless there first comes a falling away, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple (naós) of God, setting himself forth, that he is God." -- 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.
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Among Christians there are those who claim to believe in the authority of biblical scripture over the authority of man when it comes to the doctrine and theology of the church, but when it comes to the push, context and the actual meanings of the words used in a particular context mean nothing to them whenever man-made theology or eschatology based on faulty interpretations of scripture (which they have been believing) must be adhered to, rather than scripture.
Only if our appreciation of biblical scripture and its authority is complete will we ensure that our interpretation of scripture remains true, both to the context of a passage or verse, and the meaning of the words used in that context.
Jesus taught us that His words will only be heard by those who have ears to hear: Among many others, those who adhere to Preterism and Partial-Preterism, as well as probably most of those who adhere to Dispensationalism, will never be able to accept which "temple" 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and Revelation 11:1-2 are actually talking about, according to the meaning of the Greek word used for that "temple" and the consistency with which it applies the word only to the congregation/s of the saints after the tearing of the veil in the hieron.
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