At the most recent LDS General Conference (Spring of 2024), President Russel M. Nelson said, “The Temple is the gateway to the greatest blessings God has for each of us. The Temple is the only place on earth where we may receive all of the blessings promised to Abraham.” The LDS church places an incredible amount of emphasis on earthly temples. In fact, during this same speech President Nelson also promised the construction of fifteen new temples in various places throughout that world. I’m sure that the price tag for this project will be in the billions. But what if I told you that according to the clear Biblical account that the temple isn’t a place, it’s a person? And that in the person of Jesus Christ, all of the promises to Abraham are fulfilled?
A Better Temple
In the Old Testament, the LORD sent Nathan the prophet unto David in order to deliver an extremely important prophecy. Nathan told David that, “it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne forever.” (I Chronicles 17:11-12). This is known as the Davidic Covenant.
There are two major promises made in this Davidic covenant. First, that a son of David would raise a temple unto the LORD, and that this son’s throne would last forever. As with so many other prophecies in the Bible, there was a near and far fulfillment to these promises. In the short term, David’s son Solomon raised the first temple when he took the throne of Israel. However, Solomon could not have been the ultimate fulfillment of Nathan’s prophecy because his throne didn’t last forever. Neither did the temple for that matter. It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in 586 B.C.
The ultimate fulfillment would come through a greater son of David, Jesus Christ. There are two genealogical records of Christ in the New Testament gospels. The genealogy found in Luke’s gospel follows the line of Mary (Luke 3:23-38). Matthew’s gospel follows the line of Joseph (Matthew 1:1-17). Both of these genealogies make it a point to link Christ to the line of David, one by adoption (Joseph) and one by birth (Mary). It’s also interesting to note that when the second temple was destroyed in AD 70 that all of the Jewish genealogical records were destroyed as well. This means that the only messianic genealogical records in existence point to Christ.
Christ fulfilled Nathan’s prophecy because He raised up an everlasting temple unto God, and His throne is an everlasting throne. In John chapter two, just after Jesus had cleansed the temple for the first time he told the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.” (John 2:19-21). Christ is the better temple! He rose from the dead three days after His crucifixion, fulfilling the promises of the Davidic covenant. This is why believers have direct access to God through Christ no matter where we may be. Hebrews refers to Christ as "a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands." (Hebrews 9:11)
This raises a natural question, if Christ is the temple, then what’s the point of earthly temples? The answer is that there is no point, and that’s the point. In the gospels there is a clear replacement theme from the way that things were (this is especially seen in John’s gospel). Jesus was ushering in a new time and doing a new thing. Part of that new thing was to replace the earthly temple and all of its ordinances.
There are two other key events in the New Testament that prove that Christ has permanently replaced the earthly temple. First, when Christ died on the cross, there was a great earthquake and the temple veil was torn in half from the top to the bottom (Mark 15:37-38). The temple veil covered the entrance to what was known as the Holy of Holies. This was said to be the place where the presence of God dwelt. Only the High Priest was allowed to go in there once a year to atone for the sins of the people (more on this in the next blog). The major point to be made here is that Christ is the true and better temple and through His death and resurrection, we have direct access to God the Father. Therefore, there is no need for an earthly temple or priest.
The second major historical event that proves the replacement of the earthly temple is the destruction of the temple itself. Christ prophesied in Matthew 24 that the temple would be destroyed and that not one stone would not be left upon another. (Matthew 24:1-2). This came to pass in AD 70 when Titus and the Romans invaded Jerusalem. Just as Christ said, they didn’t leave one stone upon another.
What’s amazing about this is that almost 2,000 years later the Jews still have not been able to rebuild their temple even though they were given much of their land back in 1948. Not only do the Jews no longer have a temple, but Christians have NEVER had a temple. There is no such thing as a Christian temple. It can’t be found within the pages of the New Testament, nor within the annals of church history. The Kirtland temple in 1836 was the very first of its kind.
The Only Temple
Elder James E. Talmage wrote, “In both ancient and modern times the covenant people have regarded the building of temples as a labor specifically required at their hands.” This is a claim that simply cannot be substantiated, neither by Christian Scripture, nor church history. Notice that Talmage speaks of “temples” plural. This is a concept that would have been foreign to the Jews. He goes on to explain;
“From the destruction of that great edifice onward to the time of the reestablishment of the Church of Jesus Christ in the 19th century, our only record of temple building is such mention as is found in the Book of Mormon, which affirms that temples were erected on what is now known as the American continent, but we have few details of construction and fewer facts as to administrative ordinances pertaining to these western temples.” Talmage admits that the only record of any kind of temple since the destruction of the Jewish temple is found in the book of Mormon. However, not only does this completely contradict the finished work of Christ, there is absolutely no archaeological or historical evidence to back up his claim.
Something else that has to be considered here is that the Jews only had one sacred temple location. Ever since David purchased the threshing floor of Ornan on Mt. Moriah (I Chronicles 21:18-27) this was to be the only site of the Jewish temple. This is one reason that the Jews hated the Samaritans so much, because they built their own temple in another location and claimed that it was legitimate. We get a glimpse of this conflict in the conversation between Christ and the Samaritan woman at the well. “The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” (John 4:19-20). The Jews would have lost their minds over the idea of some of their own people traveling across the ocean and building other temples. To be frank, we have absolutely no objective reason to believe that it happened. Christ isn't just the true temple, He is the only true temple.
When considering these facts, the honest reader must ask themselves why. Why did the Lord do away with the Jewish temple and never allow it to be rebuilt. Why didn’t Christ or the Apostles say anything about Christian temples? Why weren’t there any Christian temples in the first 1800 years of church history? Why is there zero objective evidence to prove the existence of Jewish/Christian temples in the ancient Americas? Why did Joseph Smith “restore” something that never existed in the first place? What’s the point of earthly temples if Christ is our temple? And perhaps the most sobering question of all, what if the LDS church is wrong and are neglecting the one true temple in Jesus Christ? Wouldn’t that make Mormon temples, pagan temples?
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