We have another prophecy about the Messiah in Zech 6.9-13. We read about a “crown” but in Hebrew it is “crowns” and Joshua is mentioned again. We know that “Branch” is the Messiah and he will build the Temple in the Second Redemption. He will “rule on his throne” and he will be a “priest on his throne.” This means there are two offices. This Joshua is also “Yeshua” in Ezra 3.2 and a clear allusion that the Messiah will have the name Yeshua. He will “branch out” from where he is at and he will build the Temple (v 12).
Most of Orthodox Judaism does not believe that we should rebuild the Temple. As a rebuttal to that, some rabbis believe that we should. Christianity has a concept that the “New Jerusalem” will “come down from heaven”, based on how it is described in Revelation. The segment in Orthodox Judaism that doesn’t believe that the Temple should be built believes that when the Messiah comes, the Temple will “come down out of heaven.” There is a video teaching called “The Holy Temple: Man-made or Heaven sent” by Rabbi Chaim Richman where he establishes that there is a standing commandment to rebuild the Temple. You can see this video on the Internet.
In Ezek 40 through 48, we have two characters that are not present: the King and the High Priest. We do have the Prince mentioned. In Ezek 37.24-25 we have several terms. It says “David my servant” will be “king” and there will be “one shepherd” and it also mentions that “David my servant shall be their prince forever.” This tells us that king, shepherd and prince are all synonymous terms. In Zech 6.14 it says that the crowns (king and high priest) will be a reminder for Helem, Tobiah, Jedaih and Josiah (Hen). That is why there are four windows above the entrance to the Heichal in the Temple with crowns above them. The Messiah will build the Temple, and so will those who are far away. That will be the sign that God has sent Zechariah as a shaliach (v 15). The Temple will not “come down” out of heaven.
So, the question is, why are people today planning to build the Temple according to the plan of the last Temple and not according to Ezekiel’s floor plan? There are several reasons. Exo 25.8 says they were to build a Mikdash (Sanctuary) so that the Lord can “dwell within them” (literal Hebrew). Exo 25.9 says it was to be built according to the “tavnit” or pattern that God will show them of the Mishkan. In Hebrew, there is a “vav” meaning “and” in the verse. But in most English translations the “and” is not there. It is included in the Stone Chumash and the verse says “and so you shall do.” Yeshua said every letter in the Word of God means something. Many interpreters say the “vav” (and” means that this command not only applied to that generation, but to every generation after it. The King James Version says, “even so shall ye make it.” The New American Standard says “just so shall you construct.” The “vav” in the Hebrew was not translated into English in these versions. However, in the Stone edition of the Chumash it is translated “and.”
Moses had the “tavnit” of the Mishkan. David had the “tavnit” of the First Temple. David gives it to Solomon, and Solomon builds it according to that tavnit (pattern). They not only had Scripture, but they had the very blueprint. When Ezra and Nehemiah come back with Zerubbabel and Joshua (Yeshua, they didn’t have the problem of not having the tavnit. They also had people who had seen the First Temple and knew exactly where everything was. Now, they were after Ezekiel, so why didn’t they build the Temple according to what is seen in the book of Ezekiel? There are ten chapters describing it, so why didn’t they build it? It is because even though they had the Scriptures, they did not have the “tavnit” (pattern, blueprint). As a result, they built the Second Temple according to the tavnit of Solomon’s Temple. They knew where the foundations were. We are told by Josephus that when they came back from captivity they stripped away the rubble and got down to the foundations that were there. They cannot build the coming Temple for the same reason. They do not have the tavnit (pattern, blueprint).
When the Messiah Yeshua comes, will there be a tavnit? Yes, but how do we know that? Because it says in Zech 6.12-13 that the “tzemach” (branch=Messiah) will build the Temple, and so we know there will be a tavnit. Right now, the next Temple cannot be built according to Ezekiel’s Temple. But, there is a continuity from the Mishkan, to the Mishkan in the land, to Solomon’s Temple, to Zerubbabel’s Temple, to the Hasmonean Temple (which expanded under Herod), to the coming Temple, then to finally Ezekiel’s Temple. There are three requirements when working on the Temple. It cannot contradict Scripture, it has to agree with the halakah (rules), and it has to be functional. So, right now, people are working to discover the floor plan of the last Temple. Why? It was built according to the tavnit of God.
We know that when the Messiah arrives there will be a Temple. The false messiah will take away the korbanot (offerings) and the only place you can offer korbanot is the Temple. The false messiah will sit in the Temple, set up the Abomination of Desolation in the Heichal (Holy Place) and possibly in the Sacrifice Gate on the north. (Ezek 8.3. For those who believe that the Temple will come with Messiah, how can there be a Temple already standing when Messiah comes?
Now we are going to talk about the redemption in regards to Aaron and Elijah. Everyone knows about the prophecy of the coming of Elijah before the great and terrible Day of the Lord (Mal 4.5). Yochanon Ha Matvil fulfilled that role in Yeshua’s first coming. We have been talking about the parallels between the First Redemption and the Second Redemption. The shaliach in the First Redemption was Moses, and comparing that with the Second Redemption, we see the shaliach was Yeshua. But we have an “Elijah” in the Second Redemption that will precede Yeshua, so we should have his counter-part in the First Redemption with Moses.
Exo 3.1-22 we learn about Moses and he is being sent from Midian back to Egypt. He is to bring the people out of the land to Mount Sinai. He is given two messages to deliver. The first one is to Pharaoh and the other is to the elders of the people. In Exo 4.1, Moses asks “What if they do not believe me, or listen, to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.'” He has already had a bad experience with this back in Exo 2.11-14. He had the “call” when he killed the Egyptian, but he wasn’t “sent” yet (Acts 7.25). They did not recognize him as the “deliverer” or with any “authority” over them. So he has this apprehension about whether or not he will be accepted. So, God gives him a sign in Exo 4.8-9. In Exo 4.10 Moses says he is not “eloquent” and is “slow of speech and slow of tongue.” This is because he did not know Hebrew well enough. He was not an “insider” when it came to idioms, customs, language and tradition of the Hebrews. He has been raised as an Egyptian and has been in Midian for the last 80 years.
Some say this means he had a speech impediment, but there is no evidence of that. In Acts 7.22 it says that he was a man “educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.” Josephus says the same thing. However, Aaron was fluent in Hebrew (4.14) and he will be like “Elijah” in the First Redemption (4.14-16). We see in Exo 5.1 that Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh, and in Exo 5.3 it says, “Then they (both of them) said” and it goes on. Pharaoh did not listen to them, and increased the work load of the Israelites. Moses thinks it is because he is “unkilled in speech” (Exo 6.12,30). The Stone Chumash says “sealed lips.” The word means “uncircumcised” and it carries the idea of not being prepared to deliver the message of Exo 6.11. This metaphor is used in Lev 26.41 speaking of the heart, and of the ear in Jer 6.10. It also means to be “unfruitful” or forbidden in Lev 19.23-25. Moses forgot that the power of the message wasn’t dependent on his oratorical skills because he has been out of Egypt 40 years. But Aaron will be acting in the role of “Elijah” as a prophet (Exo 7.1), with Moses (Messiah), putting God’s words in his mouth (Exo 4.15). He will “prepare the way” before Moses to Pharaoh (a type of the false messiah) and the people. Once we get to Exo 9, we see Moses talking to Israel and to Pharaoh, and everything begins to change.
In Part 16, we begin to develop out further the role of “Elijah” in the Second Redemption, with Aaron being a picture of him in the First Redemption.
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