Most of us are familiar with the Church being called a temple, because that is what is emphasized in the New Testament.  And they were not idly using home spun metaphors.  They were speaking to us as the oracles of God.

Consider the reference to the Temple in Acts 7:47-48.  “Solomon built Him an house.  Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” By contrast, the New Testament Church was “builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 1:22-23; 2:15-22).  God came and went from the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s temple, and when the Church was built, God began to come and go from the Church (Acts chapters. 4-6; Heb. 10:1).

The Shadow: In 1 Kings 6:37-38, we are told, “In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, and in the eleventh year, was the house finished.  So was he seven years in building it.”

The Fulfillment: By the middle of the fourth year of Jesus’ ministry He had laid the foundation of the Church, ordaining twelve apostles and seventy prophets (Eph. 2:19-20).  In the next seven years Peter finished building it, and God filled it with His glory (Acts 4:23-5:17).

After His resurrection, Jesus made Peter “ruler over His Household, to give them meat in due season” (Matt. 24:45-47).  Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?  Feed my lambs; Feed my sheep.”  Peter thought the office would have been given to John, “that disciple whom Jesus loved.”  That is why he responded to Jesus, saying, “What shall this man do?”  Apparently Jesus had other plans for John (John 21:15-21).

Peter obeyed the Lord, and by the end of seven years he had led the Church to perfection, fulfilling the “seventieth week” of Daniel 9. With the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, he had built the spiritual Temple upon the foundation which Jesus had laid. And soon after that, he opened the way of salvation to the Gentiles.

When Peter finished that job, God confirmed his work with mighty signs and wonders, and filled that house with His glory.  God’s glory was so great upon them that when Ananias and Sapphira defiled that holy sanctuary, they fell dead at the feet of Peter and The Twelve.  The Holy Scriptures show that The Twelve Apostles are the altar of the Spiritual Temple, and they defiled it, and died (Heb. 13:10; Num. 7:2-11; Exodus 20:24-25).

When Peter had fulfilled his commission, Jesus made another appearance to him in fulfillment of 1 Kings 9:1-3.  At that time, Jesus also appeared to James, and above 500 brethren at one time, then to Paul. ^[1]

Unsung Prophecies

The writers of the New Testament did not always tell us that the events they were writing about were the fulfillment of prophecy.  Acts 6:1-8 is a prominent example of this.  At a glance it may seem to be more an account of secular events than spiritual.  Actually it is an account of the fulfillment of the prophecy in Proverbs 9:1-2.  “Wisdom hath builded her house.  She hath hewn out her seven pillars.  She hath also furnished her table.” These “seven men, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,” were a lot greater than what most of us think of “deacons” being.  They were the seven pillars in the House of God, hewn out after “wisdom (had) builded her house.” They were also the direct fulfillment of Job’s first seven sons.

The allegory of Job prophesies of the abundance of the good things of God in the early Church; the loss of it all in the “dark ages,” and the restoration of that abundance in these latter days.

The three phases of the Church under Peter, James and Jude, are typified by Job’s first three daughters.  Peter brought it to perfection.  Jesus then appeared unto James and gave him the job of preserving the Church until his death.  Then Jude was given the oversight of the Church, to sustain it in its final years.

The death of Job’s family prophesied of the demise of The Church. It foreshadowed the loss of the Seven Men of Wisdom in Acts 6; hence the loss of the function of the Seven Spirits of God (Rev. 2:5).  He said, “there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the (seven) young men and they are dead.”

Samson’s “seven locks” prophesied of the same thing in a different precept.  “Delilah called for a man to shave off the seven locks of his head; and his strength went from him” (Judges. 16:19).  Later, when his hair was grown again, Samson destroyed the temple of idolatrous worship.

Those “seven men, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,” were the flames of fire on the spiritual candlestick, the Church (Rev. 1:20).   Those flames were snuffed out, but later, Job had seven more sons, and Samson’s seven locks grew again.  And these two events prophesied of the reviving of the Church in the last days of the Grace Age.  Therefore, we know that God will raise up another seven men shortly before the return of our Lord. Then shall the flames of the Seven Spirits of God burn brightly in God’s Elect once more.