“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” (Revelation 11:1-2)

These opening verses of Revelation chapter eleven are all about measuring up. A reed used for a measuring rod was once known as a canon. The canon of Scripture is the books comprising our modern-day Bible. These books alone have measured up as divinely inspired. Furthermore, they alone are the true standard by which we measure faith and practice. In other words, the only way to measure whether our beliefs and actions are right or wrong is by whether or not they measure up to what the Bible says. If they do, they’re right; if they don’t,  they’re wrong. It’s really that plain and simple.

John is commanded in these verses to measure “the temple of God” (the true sanctuary), “the altar” (true salvation) and “them that worship there” (the true saints). Notice, John is told to measure, not count, the worshippers, showing that God, unlike most contemporary congregations, is more concerned with quality than quantity. The only accurate standard to take such spiritual measurements by is the canon of Scripture—the Bible.

In our next few issues of Piecing Together Bible Prophecy we will take up the Bible as our measuring rod. With it we will measure what is the temple of God in the world today, what is the only way to salvation, and who are the true worshipers of God? Let’s begin in this issue with the biblical measurements for the true temple of God within the world today.

The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible. What the Bible says in one place it explains in other places. Throughout our study of Bible prophecy we will look to the Bible to explain itself. We will not, as so many do today, look to popular schools of eschatology for molds to fit the Bible into. Instead of attempting to fit what the Bible says into beliefs based upon popular schools of eschatology, we will fit our beliefs about eschatology into what the Bible says.

The  Bible plainly teaches that the temple of God in the world today is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Stephen, the first Christian martyr, explained to fellow-Jews at the cost of his own life, “The most High  dwelleth not in temples made with hands” (Acts 7:48). Ever since the Incarnation, the temple of God has been the body of Christ, not any man-made building.  Whereas it was Christ’s physical body during His earthly sojourn, it is His spiritual body—the church—today!

During our Lord’s earthly life, God was alive in a man, the man Christ Jesus. It was Christ’s physical body that served as the temple of God. This explains our Lord’s response to sign-seeking Jews demanding confirmation  of His claims—“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Although the Jews mistook our Lord’s promised bodily resurrection for a three day rebuilding of their cherished temple, John clearly points out that Jesus was speaking “of the temple of His body” (John 2:20-21). 

Like the Jews of Jesus’ day, many today mistake a temple in Jerusalem for the true temple of God, which is the body of Christ. Of course, those who do so today are referring to a predicted rebuilt Jewish temple, which they insist will be the temple of God, despite the fact that it will be rebuilt by the Jews in absolute rejection of  Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the world.

Rather than being alive in a man, God is alive today in men. The temple of God is still the body of Christ. It is no longer His physical body; however, it is now His spiritual body. Christ lives within Christians today in the  person of the indwelling Holy Spirit, making our bodies the temples of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:16). All of us together comprise the church, which is the spiritual body of Christ, as well as God’s “holy temple” and spiritual habitation within the world today (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 2:19-22).

With the Word of God in our hand, we can clearly measure out the true sanctuary of God within the world today. It is not some impressive edifice like St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome or some future rebuilt temple on Jerusalem’s temple mound. Instead, it is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is comprised of all born again believers; that is, of all who are indwelt by the Spirit of God as a temple of God.

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