Building the Temple

The progression the Lord has taken with me since He called me has been absolutely astounding. The very first thing he ever said to me was "Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you." - Ex 25:9 So who is the tabernacle or temple now? The temple now is the church. He dwells and reigns within us. So the first thing he begins to talk about is the foundation. Isaiah 54: 2-3 - Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Then He says don't be afraid. And He start talking in Jeremiah 31:28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant," declares the LORD. He says we have lies and strongholds embedded in us from Satan and we have to do some reconstruction. We have to uproot the lies, and tear down the walls, overthrow the strongholds, destroy the destroyer, and bring disaster to the road he has built into the church. Then we can build the tabernacle or temple new and plant new seeds for the harvest. He used the example of this battle compared to the one Jeremiah fought in Jeremiah 30 - 32. Then He sends Jonathan to Nehemiah 5. Where the people are actually building the wall with a sword in one hand a trowel in the other. And despite that they are actually succeeding building the wall. They get half the wall built and satan says this isn't working so he changes the attack to come from within. Incidentally, that doesn't work either because God is all powerful and He always wins but there was much heart ache getting that wall built. Then He takes me to Haggai where what are they doing again? They are called to build the House of the Lord. He says give careful thought to your ways. you have planted much but harvested little. Again He says give careful thought to your ways. He says go get the materials and build my house so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored. He says His house is in ruin because the people are more concerned with their own houses, or their own affairs. So He says he is going to bring a drought on the land. And then the people feared the Lord. He said I am with you. So then the people began to work on the house of their God.

So he asks who even saw my house in its former glory. How does it look to you now? Does it seem to you like nothing? Be strong all you people of the land and work for I am with you. This what I covenanted with you and my spirit remains among you. Do not fear. The glory of this present house will be greater than glory of the former house. and in this place I will grant peace.

Then he goes on to talk about the priests and ask them about their rules. He says if you are carrying something Holy and you accidentally touch something does it make it Holy? and the priests said no. So he says if you touch accidentally touch a dead body does that make you unclean. and they said yes. So what he was saying is we can not touch someone and make them Holy but we can let "the world" get in us and make us unholy. I am the gatekeeper of me. What I see, what I hear.

So then he says one stone is laid on top of the other. step by step by step. When we turn to the Lord and abide in Him and do His will. This is our foundation. Hag 2:18 - give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid.

He ends chapter 2 with from this day on I will bless you.
(a secret: verses 20 - 23 are about the tribulation and Israel)