One will be taken, and the other will be left.

 

One will be taken, and the other will be left.

 

Matthew 24:40-42『Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.』

There are three cases when the Bible speaks of the temple. First, it refers to Jesus himself. In John 2:19-21, “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.” It refers to his own body as the temple. This means that it must be destroyed like a stone temple. That is why it is expressed as the old temple.

Jesus' flesh died a substitutionary death on the cross. After Jesus died on the cross, he continued to act as a spirit, regardless of his dead body. 1 Peter 3:18-19『For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;』

The second refers to the temple of Jerusalem, which is a stone temple. Matthew 24:1-2 says, "And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here a stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

The disciples were surprised by Jesus' words that the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed and asked him quietly. In chapter 24, verse 3, "As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?'" Although it was unimaginable that the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed, they thought it might be related to God's judgment.

In Luke 21:21-22, it says, "Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." This means that the Roman army will attack the temple in Jerusalem, and they should flee to another place in advance. This actually happened around A.D. 70.

The Temple of Jerusalem has collapsed, and now the Western Wall, the outer wall of the Temple, remains on the western side where the Temple used to be, and the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic temple, has been standing on the Temple site since the late 7th century, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque also stands on the site of the Temple courtyard. Today, there are voices calling for the rebuilding of the Third Temple, but this is futile. Some even say that the Church today is the Temple because it inherited it, but these are only those who are in the Law.

The third temple is the word about the resurrected body of Christ, and likewise, the resurrected body of the saints. This is the word about the new man (new temple) established in the soul. The old temple symbolized the body of Jesus, and since he died on the cross, the old temple symbolizing the physical body also disappeared. And Christ was resurrected as a spiritual body. The body of Jesus that died on the cross corresponds to the old temple, and it has already been destroyed and disappeared. And the resurrected body of Christ is the new temple, and the saints inherit that body in Christ. Romans 6:5 『For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection:』

In chapter 24, verse 3, the disciples asked Jesus, “What will be the sign of your coming (parousias παρουσίας) and of the end of the age (synteleias tuaiónos συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος)?” Parousia does not mean the second coming, but God’s presence in the hearts of the saints. Synteleias tuaiónos means the completion of the age. Salvation is completed when Parousia (Immanuel) becomes.

There are two meanings here. It attempts to connect the destruction of the temple with the coming into the hearts of the saints. The temple is the actual temple of Israel, but here it refers to the religiousness of the Jews. It is the religiousness that one can only be saved by keeping the law. This is what God destroys. The reason religiousness arises is because of false prophets (the Pharisees and scribes). Now, it is saying that the temple should not be a temple in the law, but a temple in the heart.

The temple in the heart is the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:19 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?." Here, the body is the spiritual body received from heaven, meaning the new temple. Where is the spiritual body? Colossians 3:3-4 "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."

The kingdom of God in the soul (spiritual body) is not in the body received from parents. The spirit imprisoned in the body is a dead spirit. However, God raised from the dead those who were united with the death of Jesus (spirit of the saints) with the resurrection of Christ, and gave them a spiritual body. The spirit that was resurrected with Christ is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit in Christ.

There are many parables about the new temple in the soul. Like the parable of the ten virgins, the wise virgins enter the wedding feast, while the five foolish virgins do not. "Then two men will be in the field; the one will be taken, and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding at the grindstone; the one will be taken, and the other will be left." The one who is taken becomes a spirit raised from the dead. God takes the spirit with the resurrection life to the kingdom of God. In the two women grinding at the grindstone, the grindstone is the work of making bread. The woman symbolizes those who have left God. The woman who receives the bread of eternal life, the resurrection life, goes to the kingdom of God, while the woman who receives the bread of the world remains in the world.

False prophets have been deceiving believers since the time of Jesus and preventing them from hearing the gospel of the kingdom of God. How do false prophets distort the gospel? They say it is because of Satan, but it is not because of Satan, but because their spiritual eyes are closed. Those who are obsessed with legalism, humanism, and mysticism (gnosticism) are false prophets. Those who place their heart’s identity in the spirit become saints who are guided by the Holy Spirit, but those who place their heart in the flesh become those who live according to legalism. Therefore, they look at the words of the Bible according to rationalism and reason, and thus deviate from the gospel.