August 10: JUDGMENT IN THE TEMPLE
Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.” Revelation 11:1
Beloved, I hope you have a “sweet taste” as you study God’s words! Recall that in chapter 10, John changed from being a passive observer to an active participant in the vision (vv.8-11). The Jordan valley was known for its long, strong, hollow reeds that proliferate along the river. The straight stalk could reach ten feet in height. Its lightness made it an ideal ‘portable’ measuring rod and a fit symbol for the measuring that leads to the last trumpet.
The concept of measuring also means evaluating or judging according to a standard. The earthly temple and its furnishings had been made to exact specifications (Exodus 25:40, Hebrews 8:5) to proportionately replicate the heavenly temple. However, if we cultivate an awareness that the purpose of building the temple was to make a dwelling place for God (see Exodus 25:8), then the leap to the doctrine of our bodies as His temple is a logical one. The Master Teacher has conveyed the spiritual truth that each of us is to become a hospitable dwelling place for His Holy Spirit. We are living stones… being built up into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5). The process of sanctification can be compared with building. It is He who does this work of sanctification (Exodus 31:13), but He accomplishes only what we permit Him to accomplish. He requires a ‘building permit’. To the Lord, “I will” is infinitely greater than I.Q.
There are three other instances in the New Testament where the same Greek word, metron, for measure is used. Matthew chapter seven shows the danger of jumping to conclusions or prejudging, balanced by the exercise of wise discernment. Mark 4:24-29 illustrates the positive direction of a life of obedience alongside the risk of eternal loss that disobedience brings. 2 Corinthians 10:12 humorously illustrates the folly of judging ourselves by human standards. In all three of these, we are to make certain that the words of God—all of them—are held in highest esteem. I must ask myself: is my own life moving steadily and solidly, by the grace of God, into alignment with the Bible?
John is receiving the vision over twenty years after the temple in Jerusalem was utterly destroyed by the Romans in AD70. The Lord Jesus predicted its destruction approximately 39 years before it happened. Therefore, we must conclude that the only temple measuring that there is to be done is that of measuring our willingness to come into alignment with Biblical precepts, heavenly principles.
The yearly Day of Atonement parallels our opening verse above as described in Leviticus 16. In this chapter, atonement is made for the priest, the temple, the altar, and the general assembly of Israelites. The omission of the priest in Revelation 11:1 is logical, for Jesus our High Priest is sinless and needs no atonement. The Greek word for temple in this verse is naos and refers only to the innermost part, the most holy place, pointing to the mind and heart of the individual. The altar referred to here is the altar of incense, whence prayers are generated and received at the heavenly counterpart. Those who worship there references the assembly. The church of God, as a whole, must be united in truth. The derailment of the church in early centuries was due to a humanistic, group-think, turning that systematically trampled the precepts of God (Daniel 8:10,13). Daniel included himself when he prayed for wayward, captive Israel… “Oh Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments…” Daniel 9:4-5 (see also Matthew 7:23; 24:12)