Hope of Israel Ministries (Church of YEHOVAH):

YEHOVAH’S Glory to Reappear in Jerusalem!

John D. Keyser

The Millennial Temple is described in the last nine chapters of the Book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament, and is to be built and engineered by Yeshua the Messiah at his Second Coming. Notice:

Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From his place he shall branch out, and he shall build the temple of the Lord [YEHOVAH]. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; so he shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both [YEHOVAH God AND the Messiah] (Zechariah 6:12-13).

Once again, as during both Solomon’s and Herod’s Temple -- the SHEKINAH GLORY of YEHOVAH God will be present in a new Temple in Jerusalem! Here is what the Bible records of YEHOVAH’s Shekinah Glory in Solomon’s Temple after it was dedicated --

Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’S house (2 Chronicles 7:1-2).

Just before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., a number of historians relate how YEHOVAH’s Shekinah Glory (which dwelt inside the Holy of Holies in Herod’s Temple) left the sanctuary, travelled through the East Gate and hovered over the Mount of Olives for three and a half years. Eusebius, early church historian of the third and fourth centuries, writes:

Believers in Christ congregate from all parts of the world, not as of old time because of the glory of Jerusalem, nor that they may worship in the ancient Temple at Jerusalem, but...that they may worship at the Mount of Olives opposite to the city, whither the glory [the Shekinah Glory] of the LORD migrated when it left the former city (Proof of the Gospel, Bk. VI, Chap.18).

Similarly Jerome (almost a hundred years after Eusebius) acknowledges that the Cherubim carried the Shekinah Glory from the Temple to a spot near the summit of the Mount of Olives --

Here also [the Mount of Olives] ...the Cherubim after leaving the Temple founded the Church of the Lord (Letter CVIII.12).

A Jewish rabbi by the name of Jonathan, who was an eyewitness to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., said the Shekinah Glory left the Temple and for three and a half years --

abode on the Mount of Olives hoping that Israel would repent, but they did not; while a Bet Kol [a supernatural voice from heaven] issued forth announcing, Return, O backsliding children [Jer. 3:14]. Return unto me, and I will return unto you [Mal. 3:7]. When they did not repent, it said, I will return to my place [in heaven] [Hosea 5:15] (Midrash, Rabbah Lamentations 2:11).

YEHOVAH’s Shekinah Glory returned to heaven where it now awaits the restoration of all things and the new Temple to be built in Jerusalem by the Messiah when he returns. Notice, now, the striking parallel to the Millennial Temple -- as Ezekiel was allowed to see it through a vision:

Behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory....And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house (Ezekiel 43:2-5).

The Jewish people called the glory that filled Solomon’s and Herod’s Temple the Shekinah, whose root word means “to dwell” or “to tabernacle.” This glory was manifested as a “supernatural light” that symbolized YEHOVAH God’s presence among men! This Divine light became visible as it shone between the Cherubim over the Mercy Seat and the Ark of the Covenant. It was this “light” that the Jewish historian Josephus mentions in War VI, 290. He states that a great light shone over the altar in the Holy of Holies for thirty minutes at 3 o’clock in the morning (a week before Passover in 66 A.D.) and then departed.

There is a remarkable prophecy in the New Testament that uses the Greek equivalent of Shekinah to show the symbolic meaning to the Messiah as dwelling among his people. This prophecy is found in John 1:14: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt [Gr. Shekinize] among us, (and we beheld his glory).”

The Kingdom of YEHOVAH God can only begin its rulership of the world when YEHOVAH God Himself returns to take up the reigns of His government. The Millennium will witness the reception of the Messiah by the nations of Israel, and will also witness the return of YEHOVAH’s Shekinah Glory to the Holy of Holies in the newly rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem!

Although there will be many similarities to both Solomon’s and Herod’s Temple -- there will also be vast differences in the Millennial Temple. For example, there is no reference to, or need for the Ark of the Covenant -- for the TRUE ARK will be in their midst! The same holds true for the High Priest -- Yeshua the Messiah will hold this esteemed office in the Millennium!

This glorious time in the affairs of mankind, when YEHOVAH God Almighty will dwell with the nation of Israel, is recorded by the prophet Ezekiel:

Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.

Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I [YEHOVAH God] will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.

My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I [YEHOVAH God] will be their God, and they shall be My people.

The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore (Ezekiel 37:25-28).

The regenerated nation of Israel will be a priestly nation, administering to the needs of the surrounding nations. Chapter 48 of Ezekiel describes the location of the twelve tribes as they surround the Millennial Temple in Jerusalem, and Yeshua the Messiah (the Prince) will have his portion of property -- see verse 21.

The healing of the nations will take place from the trees that grow alongside the river that issues from the Temple (Ezekiel 47:12; Revelation 22:2), and “the name of the city from that day shall be YEHOVAH (YEHOVAH-Shammah) IS THERE” (Ezekiel 48:35). The Hebrew name YEHOVAH-Shammah implies, YEHOVAH IS THERE!

We read of this time in Jeremiah 3:17, which says --

At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD [YEHOVAH God], and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD [YEHOVAH], to Jerusalem; they shall walk no more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

Also, in Jeremiah 23:5-6 --

“Behold the days are coming” says the LORD [YEHOVAH], “that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness [Yeshua the Messiah]; a King [YEHOVAH God] shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD [YEHOVAH GOD] OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

YEHOVAH’s presence in Jerusalem is clearly spelt out in Zechariah 8. Notice --

Thus says the LORD [YEHOVAH] of hosts: “Peoples shall yet come, inhabitants of many cities; the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us continue to go and pray before the LORD [YEHOVAH], and seek the LORD [YEHOVAH] of hosts. I myself will go also.’ Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD [YEHOVAH] of hosts IN JERUSALEM, and to pray before the LORD [YEHOVAH] (verses 20-22).

For more information about the return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah to Jerusalem, write for our free article entitled, The Return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah.