Thank you for the interpretative question on the Messianic Temple from Zechariah, “Did Zechariah prophecied in the Tanakh that when the kingdom of Yahweh arises, there will be a temple where sacrifices will be performed?”
As one reads Zechariah, there is the question whether there will be a Temple when the Messiah reigns. Zechariah was written to encourage the returning exiled Jews to rebuild the Temple that was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE. Zechariah provides hope for the returning Jews for they face opposition in rebuilding the Temple. God assures that the Temple will be rebuilt.
It appears from the context that the Temple that would be rebuilt will remain into the Kingdom. However as one reads Ezekiel’s description of the Temple in Ezekiel 40–48 that the Temple being built does not fit the description of Ezekiel’s Temple. Thus one can conclude that there would be a future Temple in the Kingdom of God.
For one’s consideration, Zechariah hints, implies of a future Temple that is beyond this one.
A. Zechariah 1 says this, “16 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the LORD Almighty’ (NIV). Bible citations are from the New International Version.
Zechariah 2 says this, “10 Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the LORD. 11 “Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. 12 The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”
God states that his house will be rebuilt (Zech. 1:16), but that his presence is in the future-”I will live among you…many nations will be joined with the LORD in THAT day and will become my people. God states that he will live among them.
The reader is left wondering what is “that day”. Is it something in the near future when the temple is completed or is it a distant future? The Scriptures states that God will live among his people. Since the time of the rebuilding of the temple, has the LORD God dwell among them? My thought is the LORD God has not dwell among his people in a manner in which his blessings flows among his people.
If the LORD God is to dwell among his people, the place of his Presence will be in the Temple. The sacrifices that God commanded in the Law will be re-inaugurated when that Temple is present in the Promised Land. Ezekiel 40–47 states that sacrifices will be present in the Kingdom of God.
B. Zechariah 8 says this, “This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain” (NIV).
The text states that Lord God will return and dwell in Jerusalem whereby she will be called the Faithful City. Since the LORD’s Presence will be there, what will the faithful Jews bring to God in praise and adoration of him? Will the Jews come before God empty handed? It would be appropriate that the people will bring an offering to God, perhaps a fellowship offering, remembering the Passover or the Day of Atonement.
If the City is called the Faithful City, it presupposes that they are faithful to something or someone. Can it be that that they are faithful to the commands of God?
C. Zechariah 14 says this, “16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. 18 If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.
20 On that day holy to the LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. 21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite[c] in the house of the LORD Almighty” (NIV).
Zechariah mentions the Festival of Tabernacles. Lev. 23 says this about the Festival of Tabernacles, “33 The LORD said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. 36 For seven days present food offerings to the LORD, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work” (NIV)
Zechariah 14 is the clearest statement that the Jews will celebrate at least one of the Jewish festivals: the Tabernacle of Festivals. They are to present food offerings to the LORD while doing no regular work during this time. The pots and pans that cook the food are considered holy to the LORD. If there were no sacrifices, then there will be no needs of pots and pans. Zechariah is one book of the Old Testament. One must consider other Scriptures as I have suggested Ezekiel 40–48.
If one wanted to give something to the LORD God, what will you give to him? What will reflect one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength? That love for God will be expressed in some manner. What is it for you?
SUMMARY: God desires our sacrifices but more so our heart’s to him.
For more perspectives: