Many ministers in the modern-day church are currently advocating for the Temple of God to be rebuilt. Their call is correct in one aspect but is very far off base in the application of it. Their appeal calls for a physical building in Jerusalem. That is unlikely to occur, and if it did, God would probably destroy it, just as he did with the previous one in the first century, and for the same reason, since it would be a deliberate rejection of Jesus and his atonement for humankind. Rebuilding a physical temple would indicate that Jesus’ sacrifice was insufficient and that God still requires a visible, material temple with old covenant rituals to atone for our sin.

The Bible makes it quite clear that the temple where God's spirit currently dwells is within us—in our hearts, our innermost being. That’s the only temple where he resides on earth now. (1 Corinthians 3:16)

We do indeed have a pressing need to establish that temple among as many people on earth as possible. When we get a much larger segment of the world’s population saved and His spirit, the Holy Spirit, living inside of them, this evil world will turn toward Him, and he can return for his bride. We do need to establish the temple of God, not on the earth, but in earth, in these bodies of clay. If we can understand and implement that, we will begin to see a true awakening and revival both in and on God's creation.

Ray Cleghorn is a retired pastor with several books listed on Amazon.com and elsewhere. His books and articles topics range from theological and eschatological to contemporary issues facing Christians today.