The Temple Mount

Last Updated: 05/31/2008 04:13 |

Current news on the Temple Mount situation

Jewish Virtual Library:

The crowning achievement of King Solomon's reign was the erection of a magnificent Temple (Beit ha-Midkash) in Jerusalem. His father, King David, had wanted to build a great Temple for God a generation earlier, as a permanent resting place for the Ark containing the Ten Commandments. A divine edict, however, had forbidden him from doing so. "You will not build a house for My name," God said to him, "for you are a man of battles and have shed blood" (I Chronicles 28:3).
The Bible's description of Solomon's Temple suggests that the inside ceiling was was 180 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 50 feet high. The highest point on the Temple that King Solomon built was actually 120 cubits tall (about 20 stories or about 207 feet). According to the Tanach (II Chronicles) He spares no expense in the building's creation. He orders vast quantities of cedar from King Hiram of Tyre (I Kings 5:2025), has huge blocks of the choicest stone quarried, and commands that the building's foundation be laid with hewn stone. To complete the massive project, he imposes forced labor on all his subjects, drafting people for work shifts lasting a month at a time. Some 3,300 officials are appointed to oversee the Temple's erection (5:2730). Solomon assumes such heavy debts in building the Temple that he is forced to pay off King Hiram with twenty towns in the Galilee (I Kings 9:11).

When the Temple is completed, Solomon inaugurates it with prayer and sacrifice, and even invites nonJews to come and pray there. He urges God to pay particular heed to their prayers: "Thus all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and revere You, as does Your people Israel; and they will recognize that Your name is attached to this House that I have built" (I Kings 8:43).

Destroyed: 9th of Av (July 23-24) by the Babylonian army in 587 BC. (Date confirmation for the extra year compared to link)

During Tisha B'Av Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians which began the 70-year captivity. The Babylonians worshipped among their deities, the god, Jupiter, who was equated with Marduk. At the time, the Babylonians thought Marduk to be more powerful because he conquered Judah. The resulting victory shifted many Judeans' loyalties and this brought about the unfaithfulness and idolatry of Judah.

Confirming The Exile Prophecies of 606 BC and 587 BC - This page looks at more recent Babylonian artifacts that actually place the destruction of the temple in 587 BC according to the astronomical data recorded on the "saros" text, or moon eclipse texts, which contains details of lunar eclipses. They can be assigned precisely to specific absolute dates, because the precise observations are unique and cannot be repeated for thousands of years. One of these saros texts documents precise data that can be confirmed by computers that these lunar eclipses took place in 573/572 BC. This saro text tells us that this took place in Nebuchadnezzar's 32nd year. The same text also documents that the lunar eclipses of 591/590 took place in Nebuchadnezzar's 14th year. A comprehensive Babylonian astronomical diary, VAT 4956, dated in Nebuchadnezzar's 37th year, gives definite observations that cannot fit any other year but 568 BC. This astronomical data allows us to pinpoint the years in which events happened. Ezekiel Prophesied the 1967 Recapture of Jerusalem

Ezekiel's 430 Days - A deeper study on how the judgments of Israel connect to today!

Tisha B'Av, The 9th of Av hebroots.org

History of the 9th of Av - A website chronicling this date in history.

The 9th of Av, 586 BC; The Destruction of the First Temple TempleMount.org

The Second Temple (Herod's Temple)

The Jerusalem Mossaic:

In 538 BCE, a proclamation by King Cyrus of Persia, who had conquered Babylon, permitted the exiles to return to Jerusalem. It was during the ensuing "Persian Period" that the Second Temple was built. The people were led by the towering figures of Ezra and Nehemiah. As the leader and governor of Jerusalem, Nehemiah required every family in Judah to send ten of its members to live in Jerusalem, thus augmenting the city's meager population. Nehemiah's great project was to rebuild the walls and fortify the city.
Following the death of Alexander the Great, who in 333 BCE had vanquished the Persian Empire, his empire split into four kingdoms each ruled by one of his generals. At first Jerusalem and the rest of the country came under Ptolemaic Egypt, then passed to the Seleucid Syrians. Hellenistic culture, an amalgam of Greek and early eastern cultures, grew dominant under the Seleucids. Antiochus IV (175-163 BCE) declared Jerusalem a Greek "polis" = "Antiochia of Jerusalem."

During King Herod's reign (37-4 BCE) Jerusalem grew northward. Monumental building projects included the Second Wall, the expansive and magnificent Temple Mount, the Antonia Fortress and the Citadel (today's Tower of David). Numerous palaces as well as public buildings, such as markets, a theater and a hippodrome, enhanced the city. Besides large-scale construction, Herodian and late-Second Temple era Jerusalem witnessed religious and social ferment. Fierce controversies broke out between various sects and factions.

Destroyed: 9th of Av by the Roman army in 70 AD. (August 5, 70 AD)

Following Herod's death, Roman oppression, and with it Jewish resistance, intensified. Finally a revolt broke out, fomented by the Zealots, who entered Jerusalem in 66 CE and held the city until the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, in 70 CE, when Jerusalem fell to the Roman legions under the command of Titus. This marked the end of the second 14,000 day period from the triumphal entry April 6, 32 AD to Jerusalem and the temple's destruction on August 5, 70 AD.

Tisha B'Av, The 9th of Av hebroots.org

History of the 9th of Av - A website chronicling this date in history.

70 AD to Modern History

The Bar Kochba revolt (aka Simon Bar Cochba, a Mashiach-type to the Jews) was halted by Emperor Hadrian (135 C.E.), and the fortress of the Betar rebellion was overrun. (10) The following year Hadrian built a pagan Temple of Jupiter with a city dedicated to the god, Jupiter (the Babylonian Marduk), on the original Temple site. Hadrian renamed Jerusalem 'Aelia Capitolina' and also renamed Judea 'Palestine.' The Jews were forbidden entrance to the city, and even to look upon it. - Lampholder Publications

Modern History of the Temple Mount

Israel gave up the Temple Mount on June 7, 1967, See pictures on that day, when Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, upon reuniting Jerusalem, permitted the Islamic authority, the Waqf, to continue its civil authority on the Temple Mount. The Waqf oversees all day-to-day activity there. An Israeli presence is in place at the entrance to the Temple Mount to ensure access for people of all religions. However, as we've seen since then, the Muslims throw a fit whenever Jews try to go up there and there's a long list of dos and don'ts to enter the Temple Mount. I believe God gave Israel Jerusalem and the Temple Mount and when the Jews gave up control, this started the last 14,000 day period of time that ended on Rosh Hashanah, 2005.
Israel National News: "While tenacious yearning to visit the Mount by Jews has resulted in a modicum of government acquiescence, religious Jews are often barred from the holy site, as are members of other religions, compelled to bide by the standards set by the Islamic occupiers. Jews who adhere to the strict religious requirements demanded of visitors to the site cannot visit at will, and while there are generally visitation times during which Jews and other non-Muslims may ascend the Mount, the Waqf will not ‘tolerate’ Jews praying on the site. They are backed by Israel Police who are quick to enforce the prayer ban, generally arresting those bold enough to defy it."

Modern Destruction By Richard Benkin, Ph.D. (May 2003) - In 1886, British explorer Captain Charles Wilson undertook the most comprehensive survey of Jerusalem in modern times, noting, “No one has ever questioned that the [Jewish] Temple formerly stood within the Haram-es-Sherif [Moslem name for the Temple Mount].”¹ It would be difficult to think of a more absurd notion. To deny that reality denies the essence of both Jewish and Christian scripture. They both contain voluminous reference to the temples, from their construction to the events in the life of Jesus. In fact, Moslem and Arab history also confirms Warren’s declaration. Before 638 CE—a rather late date in the history of that region—there was no Islamic presence in Jerusalem. Its conqueror, the Umayyad Caliph, Umar, asked its Byzantine Patriarch, Sophronius, to show him the site of the Jewish Temples almost immediately upon entering the city. Sophronius did so and said, “Here is that appalling abomination.” Umar was indeed appalled—but not by the Temple itself. He was incensed at the accumulated garbage and debris, which he believed desecrated that Jewish holy site. He ordered the site cleansed immediately in a manner befitting its holy purpose. Soon thereafter, he commissioned The Dome of the Rock on the Mount, and his son had Al-Aqsa mosque built there as well. These edifices were not constructed to mark a Moslem holy site but to advertise Moslem hegemony over Jerusalem with its Jewish and Christian holy sites. more...
Temple Mount Tour Part 1 | Part 2 - Take a Tour of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel with Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute. Learn the importance of visiting the location of the Jewish Temple. The tour illustrates that the Temple Mount can be visited while respecting the sanctified areas.
More information on the Six-Day-War

Israel, Islam, Current Events & End Time Bible Prophecy (July 7, 2005) Audio: 1:04:00 min. - Presented by Amir Tsarfati, Israel tour guide & director of Behold Israel. Amir stated some pretty interesting things regarding the Arc of Covenants having been found under the Temple Mount, & the Menorah being held at the Vatican in Rome. He stated that they came upon this inner room under the Temple Mount, sent in the chief Rabbi who was totally amazed, couldn't breath! The Muslim authority, when they caught wind of it, sealed it off.

When will it be rebuilt?

So how close are we to the rebuilt temple? The only thing stopping it is the fact that the Muslims control the temple mount and the Jews let them. What I think will most likely spur the rebuilding of the temple will be the Gog/Magog invasion. God will destroy the aggressors with fire and brimstone from heaven. Ezekiel 38,39 says that when this happens both the world and Israel will recognize the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is who He says He is and means what He says. Now imagine also a discovery like the Ark of the Covenant coinciding with the rebuilding of the temple and I'm sure all of Israel would unite and do whatever was necessary to get their temple built. Not only that, but Aliyah into Israel would increase from all over the world.
Israel is still blinded until the fullness of the Gentiles. Romans 8:25 So when they see God intervene to save them, they will have a strong desire to serve Him. However, they don't accept Christ, so the only way they know to serve Him is the way of their fathers. This means rebuilding the temple and beginning the daily sacrifice, a necessary event for Bible prophecy to come to pass.

40-years and 40-days: Israel now able to start the temple sacrifices???

I'm currently trying to locate this information, but I don't want to forget to add it. Basically, this year marks the 40th since the Six Day War. There is something in scripture about when a woman gave birth, she wasn't considered clean until 40 days after the birth. On June 7, 1967, the victorious Jews turned over the Temple Mount to Islamic control and it has haunted them ever since. The idea of cleanliness and the Temple Mount is an interesting combination. I don't know if it means anything, but it's interesting that it wasn't until after that time period that the temple was seriously thought to be rebuilt.

ENP and the future stopping of the daily sacrifice (Daniel 9:27)

While the daily sacrifice isn't started yet, the clarity of timing that the HIStory, Our Future Bible studies provides along with the understanding of the European Neighborhood Policy's 7-year term with mid-term review and this story lend further support to the timing of end-time events. If you have not read up on these, please do so or this may not make sense. The ENP began on January 1, 2007 and ends on December 31, 2013 with a mid-term review in 2010. When you see all the governmental changes that will be happening in the 2009-2010 timeframe and see that the timing places the abomination of desolation in February of 2009, it becomes clear that these two completely independent timelines line up with each other eerily well. Who knows what events may transpire that would require "emergency powers" to be implemented and fast-track the stopping of the daily sacrifice? There are many possibilities, so for now we watch.

Something to make you think Unsealed Prophecy (May 15, 2007) - I believe most of you are familiar with this verse: Daniel 9:27, "And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate." I am going to go outside the view of most prophecy scholars and bring you some views that I want you to study to see if it is so. The popular view is that the Antichrist will break his seven year peace covenant with Israel after 42 months. But the verse says that he will cause sacrifice and the oblation to cease. When Antichrist walks into the Temple, it will not be to break a covenant, but to stop the animal sacrifices by the priests. Regular readers will know that I lean to the view that the seven year ENP might be the fulfillment of this prophecy. We can not be totally sure of it, but the signs are there. I have done some layman studying of the ENP and found that there are action plans written into it to protect animal rights. It must be fully implemented by 2010, halfway trough the ENP seven year period. Israel was one of the first to sign the ENP. Israel wants to have a Temple to resume daily sacrifice. Sacrificing of animals is against the action plans of the ENP. By sacrificing of animals, Israel will violate the ENP, and that can cause the Antichrist to walk into the Temple and stop the sacrificing. Here are some snippets from the official animal welfare document:

OBJECTIVES
The primary objectives that the Commission wishes to achieve with the elaboration of this Action Plan are to:
Define more clearly the direction of Community policies on animal protection and welfare for the coming years;
Continue to promote high animal welfare standards in the EU and at the international level;
Provide greater coordination of existing resources while identifying future needs;
Support future trends in animal welfare research and continue to support the 3Rs principle: Replacement, Reduction and Refinement alternative approaches to animal testing;
Ensure a more consistent and coordinated approach to animal protection and welfare across Commission policy areas, also taking into account aspects such as the socio-economic impact of any new measures.

These cannot be considered as stand-alone actions; there are clear linkages between the actions foreseen necessitating a coordinated and holistic approach. A period from 2006 to 2010 is considered appropriate in order to advance the actions proposed, with associated regular monitoring and evaluation of progress as well as follow-up programming beyond 2010 following the completion of this first Community Action Plan.

BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The preparation of an Action Plan per se has no implication for the Community budget. The potential budgetary implications of each individual action will be taken into account in the impact assessments to be prepared for each respective action, within the framework set for the expenditure on veterinary and phytosanitary measures for the period 2007-2013 where relevant.

These are just snippets of the 9 page document. If you can read the whole document, please do so. The foundation for the fulfillment of Daniels prophecy might already be in place. Only time will tell if it is so. Maybe this will blow over and lead to nothing, or we might see it happen in just over three years time. We still need a Temple and there are not much time left for it to be build, but if we are seeing the unfolding of this prophecy, we will not wait to long. | Israel | EU/UN / 4th Kingdom | Temple Mount |

The Third Temple Preparations for a Third Temple templemount.org

The third temple does not exist yet. As of May 31, 2008 we are still waiting for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy in regards to the temple.
Revelation 11:1,2
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Where will it be rebuilt?
The Third Temple Entrance In Alignment With The East Gate - According to the Scriptures and verified by archaeology and the historical works of men, this author presents the information which places the Holy of Holies at the Dome of the Spirits/Dome of the Tablets and is lined up with the Golden Gate directly to the East.

The Dome of the Spirits
This small dome, also called the Dome of the Tablets, has attracted interest because of Asher Kaufman's theory that it marks the place of the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple. The dome is located on the east-west line from the peak of the Mt. of Olives through the Golden Gate to the two domes of the Holy Sepulcher on the west. Upon the peak of Olivet, according to the Mishnah, the High Priest used to stand when he sacrificed the Red Heifer. During this ceremony, he would have had to look into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood in its direction; the Temple should have lined up, then, with the peak. Kaufman adduced archaeological data to support the theory that the Temple was here, but it has not gained wide acceptance, partly because of the topography. We know from Warren's investigations (1868) that a little to the north was a moat, extending St. Anne's Valley. Herod filled it in, but it was probably there in Solomon's time. Assuming the Second Temple was built where the First had been, the north side of Solomon's Temple, if here, would have been on the slope, slightly below the peak and asymmetrically close to this moat. Without more archaeology, however, no one can be certain where the Temple was.

Dome of the Spirit - Jerusalem - This little dome, about 10 feet in diameter, has been called the "Dome of the Spirit" and the "Dome of the Tablets" for many centuries. Some archeologists believe it was the actual site of the Holy of Holies, for three reasons:

(1) it is in perfect alignment with the ancient East Gate

(2) it is the only place on the Temple Mount where the floor is solid bedrock, just like the threshing floor that King David purchased as the site for the altar, II Sam. 24:24

(3) the dome stands 330 feet north of the Dome of the Rock, allowing enough room to rebuild the Jewish temple on this site if one would "leave out the court which is outside the Temple" as God instructed John, Rev. 11:2.

Dome Of the Spirits, or Tablets (On the left)

With the temple placed such that the Holy of Holies is located on the Dome of the Spirits, this is what it would look like. Put together with Revelation 11:1,2 we have a location that fits with Bible prophecy such that if the outer court is not built for this third temple, it fits right next to the Dome of the Rock and the Holy of Holies lines up perfectly with the Golden Gate, or East gate.

3rd "Tribulation" Temple with outer court left out

So how close are we to the rebuilt temple? The only thing stopping it is the fact that the Muslims control the temple mount and the Jews let them. All we need is a discovery like the Ark of the Covenant and I'm sure all of Israel would unite and do whatever was necessary to get their temple built.
Another interesting note has to do with Christ returning to earth and the geology of Judea showing the future fulfillment of prophecy. Chuck Missler talks about the Mount of Olives cleaving in two. There's a fault line there. "It's waiting for the pressure of one foot." (Ezekiel commentary. Halfway through Ezekiel_04.mp3)
Source: Homeworship101 - "It is interesting to note here, that a U.S. Geophysical survey team in 1967 analyzed the Mount of Olives. They discovered a geological fault line running from the Dead Sea behind the Mount of Olives all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. They stated a tremendous shock would cause an open fault line to appear, just as prophesied twenty-five hundred years ago in Zechariah 14:4. The split in the Mount of Olives will open an escape route allowing the defenders of Jerusalem trapped by the approaching Antichrist army a way to escape to safety."

Zechariah 14:4-9
And his [Christ] feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Third Temple Placement

There are several perspectives of where the temple will be built. I would just like to share some scriptures that I believe help determine that the temple will be built with the main entrance facing East next to the Dome of the Rock. This next passage is the millennial temple, which is different, but the alignment still seems to be East. I think this has to do with Christ being the bright and morning star. Due to the rotation of the earth, the bright and morning star would always rise from the East. Therefore, the light from the bright and morning star would enter the temple from the East. Just a guess though.

Ezekiel 40:6
Then came he unto the gate which looketh toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof, and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad; and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad.

Ezekiel 40:23
And the gate of the inner court was over against the gate toward the north, and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits.

Ezekiel 43:4
And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.

Future Destruction...Almost: 9th of Av by the armies gathered by the frog spirits from the mouths of the dragon, beast, and false prophet in 2012 AD. (Gathering to July 29-30, 2012 AD)

Matthew 23:37-39
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Hosea 5:15
I will go and return to my place, till they [Israel] acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

Psalms 118:19-26
Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.

This stone being spoken of is Christ. He was the stone the builders rejected, but He has become the chief cornerstone. Israel's accepting of Yeshua as their Meshiach Nagid is what prompts Christ's return in glory since they won't see him till they say, "blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." This happened once before at the triumphal entry, which is why the Pharisees told Christ to silence his followers. They recognized that Yeshua was being called the Meshiach Nagid. Mark 11:1-11
So what does this have to do with Christ returning in glory? Remember what is going on as Israel is protected in the wilderness just before Christ returns in glory.

Revelation 16:12-16
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Imagine you are Israel, protected in the wilderness, but seeing millions of men in armies marching toward Jerusalem. now imagine that is happening just before the 9th of Av. I think that might be the straw that breaks the camel's back and Israel will call upon Yeshua as a nation recognizing Him as their Meshiach Nagid. Then He will return in glory and defeat the gathered armies.
I didn't make up this date by the way. This is the date that came up 1260 days, Revelation 13:5, after the the abomination of desolation 1290 days before the end of the week. Daniel 12:11 If you research the information from the Bible in the HIStory, Our Future study, you can see how history is laid out in scripture. Isn't God's Word amazing!

Tisha B'Av, The 9th of Av hebroots.org

History of the 9th of Av - A website chronicling this date in history.

The Fourth Temple (Millennial Temple)

The Temple of Ezekiel by Lambert Dolphin - This author believes that the third temple will be built by the Jews prior to Christ returning and in the earthquakes associated with His return in glory, it will be destroyed and this fourth temple will be built to Ezekiel's specifications. This would make sense since the size of this temple described in Ezekiel would definitely include what is now the outer court plus more. Ezekiel 45:1-4 speaks of a holy portion of the land, that will contain the sanctuary and most holy place. This would imply the location being North of the Temple Mount. Ezekiel 48:8

Most Orthodox Jews don't believe the third temple will be built by Messiah.

A great earthquake is associated with Christ's arrival when "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain." and "a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city [Jerusalem] was split into three parts..." (If the 3rd temple is there, how can it stand through all this?)

The prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 40-48) describes in great detail a temple in Israel that is much too large to fit on the present Temple Mount site. The Temple of Ezekiel proper measures about 875 feet square, and it sits in the middle of a large consecrated area (See inset in diagram below). Ezekiel's temple is also very different in many details from any previous temples that have existed in Israel (or elsewhere). Therefore most Bible scholars believe there will one day exist in the Holy Land a Fourth or "Millennial" Temple.

Ezekiel also describes the reapportionment of the land in specific lots during the millennial kingdom. The temple and the temple district are not part of the rebuilt city of Jerusalem according to the details of this reapportionment. Note that the Temple area will be located to the North of rebuilt Jerusalem.

I have an additional point to add about the millennial temple. Ezekiel 40-47 describes in extreme detail the exact measurements and descriptions of this temple. Ezekiel was written in the Babylonian captivity, 591 BC - 571 BC. Solomon's temple was destroyed in 586 BC. More specifically, Ezekiel tells us just before his visions of the temple he describes when it was...
Ezekiel 40:1-4
In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither. In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.
Notice that chapter 40 is written 25 years after their captivity and 14 years after the city was destroyed, therefore after the destruction of Solomon's temple. He then goes on to describe a temple in great detail. Was this a vision of the destroyed temple left behind? Or was it a vision of a future temple not yet constructed? It wasn't the second temple, which was smaller, and the third temple can't have an outer court according to Revelation 11:1,2. So if this is written after Solomon's temple is destroyed and doesn't match at all the description of the second temple, and has an outer court unlike the third future temple, then I deduce it must not be describing any of those, but a fourth temple.
So what are the implications if Ezekiel 37-48 are in the millennium? Did you know that during the millennium there will be animal sacrifice reinstated? I believe that we don't fully understand the millennium and sacrifices will be a part of life, for whatever reason God intends. I believe it is explained in scripture for us. This isn't my idea here, just to be clear, I'm taking the clear scripture and applying logic. Christians reading this need to keep in mind that during the millennium we will have already received our immortal incorruptible bodies. This is focused on those who are not the bride of Christ yet some of whom will still be in heaven for eternity. I believe it's mostly focused on Israel though. All this description of the temple in Ezekiel 40-48 is interspersed with passages like these:

Ezekiel 43:10-12
Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house.
There are rules, laws, and ordinances during the millennium. Christ rules with a rod of iron. It goes on to describe the altar dimensions, then...
Ezekiel 43:18-27
And he said unto me, Son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it, to offer burnt offerings thereon, and to sprinkle blood thereon. And thou shalt give to the priests the Levites that be of the seed of Zadok, which approach unto me, to minister unto me, saith the Lord GOD, a young bullock for a sin offering. And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about: thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it. Thou shalt take the bullock also of the sin offering, and he shall burn it in the appointed place of the house, without the sanctuary. And on the second day thou shalt offer a kid of the goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they did cleanse it with the bullock. When thou hast made an end of cleansing it, thou shalt offer a young bullock without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish. And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the LORD. Seven days shalt thou prepare every day a goat for a sin offering: they shall also prepare a young bullock, and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves. And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD.
That's a pretty detailed explanation of the sacrificing. Some may try to spiritualize the meaning so as to represent what feels more comfortable to their perceptions of reality, but I prefer to take the Bible for what it says. The temple that Ezekiel just saw in his vision prior to talking about the laws and ordinances of this temple, has never existed and won't fit on the temple mount in the dimensions given in scripture and given all the land changes when mountains are made low and valleys high, upon Christ's return, I doubt the temple the Jews built will still be standing. More sacrificing and reasons...
Ezekiel 44:9-17
Thus saith the Lord GOD; No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger that is among the children of Israel. And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity. And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein.

But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge. And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
There's our reason. Keep in mind that the "house" being spoken of here is not the third temple because the dimensions are too large for the temple mount and the outer court is not left out of this one as Revelation 11:1,2 says. (Ezekiel 42; 44:19)