Messianic prophecy: Messiah must 'come to the temple,' not rebuild it — Malachi 3:1

Mike argues this is a misstatement of the prophecy. The Old Testament prophecy (Malachi 3:1) says the Messiah would come to the temple — 'the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.' There was no prophecy to rebuild it; the prophecy assumed a standing temple. This also implies a time constraint: Messiah had to appear before the temple's destruction in 70 AD. Jesus came to the Second Temple while it was still standing, fulfilling this requirement. Daniel 9 also addresses this timing.