Answers · Shadows & Substance
What is the third temple in Bible prophecy?
The "third temple" is a future temple in Jerusalem that many prophecy readers expect to be rebuilt before Christ returns — following Solomon’s temple (the first) and the rebuilt Second Temple destroyed in A.D. 70. Shadows & Substance makes a four-pillar case that several prophecies (Daniel, Jesus in Matthew 24, Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2, and Revelation 11) assume a standing temple still future to us, while affirming that the ultimate temple is God dwelling with his people.
First, second, third
Solomon built the first temple; it was destroyed in 586 B.C. The Second Temple (Zerubbabel’s, later expanded by Herod) was destroyed by Rome in A.D. 70. A "third temple" would be a future rebuilding — the setting several end-times prophecies seem to assume.
The four-pillar case
The framework points to four passages that read most naturally with a future temple standing: Daniel’s prophecies of sacrifice interrupted; Jesus’ warning about "the abomination of desolation… standing in the holy place" (Matthew 24:15); Paul’s "man of lawlessness" who "takes his seat in the temple of God" (2 Thessalonians 2:4); and the measured temple of Revelation 11. This is a careful assembly of standard futurist material rather than a novel claim.
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed… who… takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (ESV)
The temple’s true substance
Even granting a literal future temple, Shadows & Substance keeps the bigger point: every temple was a shadow of the real dwelling of God with man — fulfilled in Christ and consummated when "the dwelling place of God is with man" (Revelation 21:3).
Frequently asked
Does the Bible explicitly predict a third temple?
Not by that name. The case is cumulative: several prophecies read most naturally if a temple is standing in the last days. The framework presents this as a reasoned position, not a certainty.
Is the third temple the main point?
No. The framework treats it as a likely literal detail, while stressing that the ultimate temple is God himself dwelling with his people.
Is this idea original to Aaron Smith?
No — it is a solid assembly of widely-held futurist arguments, and is presented that way.