The following are eight prophecies made by our prophets concerning the future construction of the Temple. They all indicate that the Temple will be built by mortal man.

Prophecy No. 1: The third Temple will be built of Lebanese cedar.

The prophet Isaiah speaks time and again of the future rebuilding of the Temple, and we find that, in Rashi's opinion, the Temple will be built by man in the end of days, according to the verse: the glory of Lebanon will come to you (Isaiah 60:9). Rashi explains that for the construction of the future Temple, various kinds of "trees from the forests of Lebanon" will be brought to Jerusalem and to the Temple, such as cypresses and cedars, to glorify the site of My Temple. In other words, the future Temple will be made of wood and stone, by man, as in the Solomonic period.

Prophecy No. 2: The Temple will be built with the aid of non-Jews.

In addition, Isaiah's closing prophecy, spread over chapters 60, 61 and 66, describes the reconstruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by human beings. Isaiah describes a situation where even non-Jews participate in the labor, according to the verse: and aliens shall build Your walls (and v. R. Sa'adia Gaon's Emunot v'De'ot [Beliefs and Opinions], section VIII, where it says that the gentiles are those who will build the temple in the future -- in regret and apology for having disrupted the construction of the Second Temple).

Prophecy No. 3: The Temple in Jeremiah's Prophecy -- is built by Man.

Jeremiah says concerning the Temple (30:18): Thus Hashem has spoken: . . . the city will be rebuilt on its hill and the palace as it should. Rashi explains that the "palace" is the Temple, the meaning of the verse being that it will be rebuilt correctly. The Torah says of the tabernacle being built of wood: and you shall set up the tabernacle as is proper or as has been decreed.

Prophecy No. 4: Ezekiel's Temple -- is built by Man.

Rashi explains Ezekiel's detailed prophecy (Chapter XL ff.) about the future Temple: Tell the Jewish Nation of the Temple . . . that they keep all its shape and all its rules, and perform them -- they will learn all its measurements from you, so that they know how to perform them when the time comes. In other words, when the time comes the Temple will be built by human beings.

Prophecy No. 5: Hosea's Temple -- is built by Man.

Rashi writes at Hosea 4:4: After the period of exile the Israelites (Jews of the northern kingdom) will return to the Land, and adds that, despite the fact that in the days of Rehavam ben Shlomo they took no pride in the Temple, they shall yet repent, and then: they shall fear Hashem and His goodness -- this means the Temple. Their fear is their sense of regret for having despised the Temple in the past as well as the corrective step, the construction of the Temple in the future (v., too, Yalkut Shim'oni, Samuel 106).

Prophecy No. 6: The Temple in Zekharia's Prophecy -- is built by Man.

One of the better-known prophecies, which some recent authorities cite, is that by Zekharia (2:3), which says: Jerusalem will not be walled in because of the large number of people and animals in the city, but I will be unto Jerusalem -- speaks Hashem -- a fiery wall around.

At first glance, it would seem that here we have a explicit indication that there will be a fiery wall in Jerusalem in the future.

Yet a closer perusal of the verses reveals that the prophet was not speaking of a fiery Temple and a fiery wall descending from Heaven. On the contrary, he says explicitly that in Jerusalem of the future there will be no wall, but that the Almighty will protect Jerusalem instead of a wall.

Rashi remains consistent here as well, regarding the building of the Temple by human beings, and explains: And I will serve as a shield for Jerusalem, as if the city was surrounded by a wall of fire. In other words, in future Jerusalem there will be neither wall nor fire.

The conclusion to be drawn from these prophecies is as the rabbis say in Sota (47a): "Not at all! That is, there will be neither a Heaven-sent Temple nor a Heaven-sent wall of fire -- for it is all a parable."

Prophecy No. 7: Hashem's Temple will be built by Man.

Another prophecy by Zekharia (10:12) talks of the rebuilding of the Temple in the future. The Targum explains that the Messiah will grow strong and build the Temple of the Almighty. V. Targum and Rashi, who also explains the verse as referring to the building of the Temple by human means.

Prophecy No. 8: Malakhi, the last of the prophets, prophesied that the Messiah would come to the already-built Temple.

Malakhi's prophecy says that suddenly the master you seek will come to his Temple. In his Iggeret Teiman, Maimonides explains the meaning of the verse thus: "that the messianic king shall appear after the Jewish people shall have rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple," i.e., that the Messiah will come to the already-built Temple. This idea is expressed in midrash Lekah Tov (B'reshit 4:11) as well, and Rabbeinu Sa'adia Gaon says essentially the same thing in Emunot v'De'ot, section eight: Messiah ben-David will suddenly be revealed to us, he will bring people with him, until he reaches the Temple.