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The meaning of 46—The Temple, part 2

The word temple appears 46 times in the King James Version of the New Testament. The Greek word is naos, which appears just 45 times in the New Testament. The discrepancy is found in 1 Corinthians 3:17 KJV, where “temple” appears three times, but where naos appears just twice.

¹⁷ If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The third “temple” in the verse above is added for clarity, but the word naos is not in the original Greek text. Nonetheless, it seems that God used this to make a point. We have shown how Adam was the first temple of God in Scripture and that his name in Hebrew (Adm) carries a numeric value of 45, while in Greek his name (Adam) carries a numeric value of 46. The difference in spelling is that the Greek name uses two alpha’s, while the Hebrew uses just one alef.

This suggests that Adam under the Old Covenant was to be shaken, since 45 is the number of “shaking”), while “the last Adam” (Christ) was to be the chief corner stone of the true Temple of God. Adam’s “temple” was indeed defiled, and so he was sentenced to death (Genesis 2:17) and ultimately reduced to dust (Genesis 3:19). Hence, it seems prophetic that the extra use of the word “temple” is found in 1 Corinthians 3:17, where it speaks of the defilement of the temple.

Our temples are defined by 46 chromosomes as well. We received 23 from each parent. The number 23 is the biblical number for death and resurrection life. For example, in Romans 1:28-32, Paul says that there are 23 things listed that are “worthy of death.” When Adam sinned, he was sentenced to death. God put death into his seed so that “death spread to all men” (Romans 5:12) through his “seed which is perishable” (1 Peter 1:23).

This is why we need to be begotten by the imperishable (immortal) seed of “the enduring word of God,” for “the word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 1:25). The new creation man that has been begotten by the word of the Lord is both incorruptible and immortal. It alone qualifies as a living stone in the temple of God that will not be destroyed but will have resurrection life.

These vital truths are preserved in the numbers 23 and 46 and are also seen in the comparison between 45 and 46.

Psalms 46 and 47

Psalm 46 is the 45^th psalm, and Psalm 47 is the 46^th psalm. This is because Psalm 9 and 10 are two halves of the same psalm, so the numbering of the psalms is off by one.

The 45^th psalm speaks of the mountain shaking (Psalm 46:3 KJV), and in the Exodus Book of Psalms this particular psalm commemorates God’s descent upon Mount Sinai—an event that shook the mount (Exodus 19:18; Hebrews 12:26). The 46^th psalm reflects what the Israelites were supposed to do. They were supposed to accept Him as their King, and if they had done so, the nations would have been given to them for an inheritance.

Reading from the 46^th psalm, Psalm 47:1-4 says,

¹ O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy. ² For the Lord Most High [Yahweh Elyon] is to be feared, a great King over all the earth. ³ He subdues peoples under us and nations under our feet. ⁴ He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom He loves. Selah.

We see, then, how God descended upon the mount in the 45^th psalm (Psalm 46), and this was followed by the statement in the 46^th psalm (Psalm 47:5), “God has ascended with a shout.” We see from this that if the people had been able to hear God’s voice at Mount Sinai, they would have inherited the nations. They failed, of course, and so we ourselves have come to a new mount—Mount Sion (Hebrews 12:22 KJV), which is Mount Hermon (Deuteronomy 4:48).

This new mount is located north of Israel near the Old Testament city of Dan, which was known in the New Testament as Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13). It is where Jesus brought His disciples when He was ready to ascend the Mount where He was to be transfigured (Matthew 17:1). Hence, Zion is the city of David where the people rallied around the king of Judah, as prophesied in Genesis 49:10; but Sion is where New Covenant people now rally around Jesus when He comes as “Shiloh.”

We conclude, then, that the 46^th psalm (Psalm 47) prophesies of the sons of God rallying around Jesus Christ. These are the ones who hear the voice of the Great Shepherd (John 10:27). They succeed where the Israelites failed. Hence, Psalm 47 commemorates New Covenant people coming to Mount Sion—not those who came to Mount Sinai and later to Mount Zion. Mount Zion is the government of the earthly Jerusalem, which, Paul says, is Mount Sinai and Hagar (Galatians 4:25).

The Inheritance

These New Covenant believers, claiming Sarah as their spiritual mother, are given the nations as their inheritance (Psalm 47:3, 4). This is why the 46^th time Abram is mentioned in Scripture, we see God bringing forth Ishmael; and the 46^th time Abraham’s name appears is when he is making a covenant of peace and reconciliation with the Philistine king. It is all about nations and kings acknowledging Jesus Christ as the King of Kings. Speaking of the new Jerusalem, Revelation 21:24-26 says,

²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; ²⁶ and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

Again, we read in Revelation 15:3, 4,

³ And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! ⁴ Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; for all the nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.

So the number 46 points to the temple. It sometimes refers to Adam’s defiled temple, sometimes the temple in Jerusalem that was also defiled and later destroyed; but it also refers to the greater temple being built upon the chief corner stone (Ephesians 2:20) under the New Covenant. It is at this temple that the nations will come to worship God, for it is the house of prayer for all people that was prophesied by Solomon and Isaiah. This temple is not in the earthly Jerusalem but is in the heavenly city, which John saw coming down out of heaven, when the glory of God is brought to the earth at the end of the age.