Friend of the show James Lloyd had some timely insights into the types and shadows in the account of the temple, as it connects with the 3 overturnings and the birthright holder, “he whose right it is”

Eze 21:27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

We have made clear connections to the overturnings 2 literal 1 spiritual and yet to come and or in process. For your edification:

Nehemiah the pre Messiah

Since Herod I rebuilt the Citadel, that wing of the temple which was prophesied to defile the house of the LORD in Daniel’s astonishing 70 Weeks prophecy (as articulated in Part XIV of the present work), we might notice that he fulfilled this New Testament prophecy concerning “the son of perdition” – even before it was written in the New Testament. However, this does not exhaust the prophecy, but simply provides yet another manifestation of that which is to come in our time. In fact, very few believers are aware that this thread of prophetic thought – the concept of an evil personage taking up residence in the temple of God – had already occurred long before the time of Herod.

This historical account is found in the book of Nehemiah, where we learn the Jewish figure was dispatched by the great King (symbolizing the Father) to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Amidst much opposition from the assorted peoples inhabiting Jerusalem, Nehemiah succeeds in rebuilding the wall, and the temple. An important character in the history of Judaea, his entire life choreographs the work of the Messiah, who will show up centuries later, to build the Spiritual temple of God.

Nehemiah’s primary obstacle to building the temple is because the non-Jews living in the area have become deeply engrained in the social structure of the ancient city and, threatened by the fact that a revival of the Old Covenant will impede their corrupt control of the city, they fight his every effort. While it is a complex and lengthy tale, the symbolism is straightforward, asNehemiah’s primary opponent is a powerful man named Sanballat, who symbolizes Satan himself. Sanballat’s “servant” is Tobiah the Ammonite, who prefigures “the son of perdition,” while the high priest (symbolizing the False Prophet) Eliashib, is related to Sanballat through marriage. Thus, in type and shadow, we see the Dragon (Sanballat), the Antichrist (Tobiah), and the False Prophet (Eliashib), versus Nehemiah, the Messianic figure.

The primary sin Nehemiah corrects is how the Judaeans living in the area have mingled their chosen seed with the non-Israelites. They are also routinely ignoring the Sabbath; however, the book makes it clear thatNehemiah succeeds because he refuses to allow the non-Israelites to take part in the project (Nehemiah 7:61, 64; 13:3). After re-building and dedicating the temple, Nehemiah leaves the city in trusted hands, and he returns to the throne power which dispatched him.

Before the final confrontation of the story, we see that Tobiah, at the direction of Sanballat, continually seeks to inject himself into a position of honour among the LORD’s chosen, in spite of the fact that he is not an Israelite. This results in a corruption of the LORD’s plan for a people who are to remain separate from the nations, and it is a central characteristic of the Esau Effect, as well as the Antichrist deception.

In Nehemiah’s ongoing project to rebuild the temple, the dynamic leader finds this mingling has corrupted the entire city:

“The princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the land, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.”

“For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass” (Ezra 9:1, 2).

We note the various Gentile peoples mentioned in this Scripture (as cross-bred with Israel), are the very same tribes which were gradually woven into the family line of Esau and the Edomites – the antecedents of the IdumaeanHerods.

“And Esau [aka Edom/Idum] seeing that the daughters ofCanaan pleased not Isaac his father; Then went Esau untoIshmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael…Esau took his wives of the daughters ofCanaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon theHivite….” (Genesis 28:8, 9; 36:2)

In fact, since the Canaanites preceded practically every group mentioned, and Ishmael was the father of all the Arabic peoples, by the time ofNehemiah, the Jews had clearly become mixed with anyone they desired. We also see the list is virtually identical with the list of “strange women” (i.e. foreign wives) which Solomon took to himself, many centuries earlier:

“But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites” (I Kings 11:1).

After a number of years, in yet another parallel of Christ returning after a long absence, upon his return, Nehemiah finds the wicked trio of Sanballat,Eliashib, and Tobiah have so corrupted the temple system, that Tobiah the Ammonite is actually residing in the temple.

“And before this, Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chanber of the house of our god, was allied unto Tobiah: And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil…”

“And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers….” (Nehemiah 13:4, 5, 7-9).

The parallels between JESUS CHRIST and Nehemiah are so numerous (and laced with divine precision) that I’ve referred to him as Nehemiah the Pre-Messiah in a prior work. Incredibly, the room where Tobiah resided in the temple, has a link to the later chamber in Herod’s time, known as theCitadel. The Scriptures tell us the “great chamber” in which Tobiah inserted himself was the “treasury” where the tithes and accouterments of the temple were stored:

 “…where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes…” (Nehemiah 13:5).

The same chapter in Nehemiah specially notes these tithes, including the “the corn, and the new wine, and the oil” were stored in the “treasuries” – the very same “great chamber” which Tobiah Spiritually defiled, as he lived in luxury (Nehemiah 13:12). After ejecting Tobiah from the sacred premises,Nehemiah appoints new “treasurers” who have the oversight of the “vessels of the house of God” (Nehemiah 13:9, 13).

Centuries later, after Herod has extensively refurbished the temple, we see the vessels of the temple, including the “vestments” associated with the high priest’s ministrations, are still being kept by the “treasurers” of the temple, and these important articles were stored in the “great chamber” known as theCitadel:

“…and they called it the Tower, in which were reposited the vestments of the high-priest, which the high priest only put on at the time when he was to offer sacrifice. These vestments King Herod kept in that place…they were kept under the seal of the high-priest, and of the treasurers, of the temple: whichtreasurers, the day before a festival, went up to the Roman captain of the temple guards, and viewed their seal, and received the vestments” (Antiquities of the Jews, Flavius Josephus, Book XV, Chapter XI).

Thus, the incursion of the Spirit of Antichrist into the ancient Jerusalem temple, occurred twice. Further, since the two temples from the Old Covenant era prefigure the Spiritual temple of the body of Christ, it is self-evident the Spirit of Antichrist will be manifested within the contemporary body of Christ – and this abomination will occur with the same characteristics of the mingling of the sacred and the profane which occurred so very long ago.

Finally, this mingling will be a mixture of the genuine Spiritual Jews, who are the Christians according to the book of Romans, and the Spiritual Edomites, those who who can best be described as a people who seek to mingle the Gospel with the beliefs of those who once had the birthright, but lost it, in an enormous recapitulation of the sin of Esau.

—- James Lloyd