59. What the destruction of the Temple demonstrates
The Temple meant far more to the Jews than we understand today. It was not just like another church building but it was THE ONE AND ONLY PLACE where GOD himself resided at the heart of Israel. It was the place where HEAVEN met EARTH.
Matt 24:1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." 3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying,"Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" NKJV
The Temple was the place which was at the centre of the Jewish religious life...God resided there, sacrifices were offered there and festivals were held there.
It was the centre of the Hebrew nation and it was the physical expression of their unique and special covenant relationship with God and it's existance confirmed their entitlement to occupy the Land.
A series of events were prophecied to be closely associated with the destruction of the temple AS PART OF THE JUDGEMENT OF ISRAEL being ...
1) the destruction of Jerusalem and the nation (Dan 9:24-27)
2) the great tribulation (Dan 12:1)
3) the abomination of desolation (Dan 9:26-27)
4) the coming of the Lord on clouds and the new Kingdom of Heaven (ie the New Covenant) ( Dan 7:13-14)
5) the last trumpet as angels gather the elect (as Ex 19:13-20...But now heralding the beginning of the NEW Covenant)
6) the Day of the Lord being a day of wrath and Judgment (Dan 12:1-2)
7) the resurrection and rewarding the righteous (Dan 12:2-3)
8) the time of the End...or the end of the age (Mat 24:4)...or simply ...THE End. (Dan 11:40, 12:7 and Mat 24:6, 14)
The apostles KNEW that all these items would occur at the 'End of the age'. (see Mat 24:3 and compare with Mark 13:4 and Luke 21:7)
Jesus automatically adresses all the associated events collectively as part of the time known as The End ... and refers the readers the prophecy given to Daniel as the basis of what was going to unfold.
Numerous other prophets however also spoke of the coming destruction of the temple and Jerusalem....
Isa 64:10 Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful temple,
Where our fathers praised You,
Is burned up with fire;
And all our pleasant things are laid waste. NKJV
Context is AFTER Messiah's death (Is 53)
Dan 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
...............
26 "And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined. NKJV
The context again is AFTER Messiah's death (line 2)
(See also Isaiah 24-27, Isaiah 64-66, Zech 12-14, Zeph 1:14-18)
The destruction of the Temple celebrated the END of the Age of the Law and Israel's special relationship with God. This will NEVER be reversed!
John 4:21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." NKJV
Material religion located in one place came to an END with the destruction of the physical temple.... God now can be found by ANY and EVERY believer who seeks Him and in EVERY NATION of the world and at the same time.
Luke 17:20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say,'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." NKJV
Israel is no longer the centre of the spiritual world ... their Temple was destroyed...their priesthood extinguished (when the genealogical records were all burned up)...their sacrificial system ended ('there is now no sacrifice for sins')... their land was taken from them....and their nation decimated when 1.1 million were executed and most others taken into slavery by the Romans in AD70..
God DEMONSTRATES His judgment on Israel in the destruction of the temple. Their final response to being given the Law was to REJECT GOD HIMSELF in Christ Jesus. God then demonstrates that the covenant relationship with natural Israel (Israel according to the flesh) is OVER.
Dan 12:7 ... and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. NKJV
The 'power of the holy people' refers to the exclusive covenant relationship Israel had with God. God describes this as a marriage in many places. BUT Israel betrayed the covenant. God first divorced the northern Kingdom of Israel for their adultery. (This was done when the Assyrians took the nation capitive and spread the people all over the Assyria and then populated the northern part of Israel with other nations they had defeated)
Jer 3:8 And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot. ASV
Judah was the southern kingdom...and was represented by Jerusalem. (The Romans took the capital city and destroyed the nation in AD70 showing that she too was divorced ... the seven sealed scroll of Revelations can be seen as the bill of divorcement for Judah)
Jesus interprets that Dan 12:7 would be fulfilled with the destruction of the temple in Mat 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 and that this would be 'the time of the end'. The apostles knew from both Old Testament prophecies and Jesus words that the timing of these events was to be 'the end of the age'. In AD70 this was fulfilled together with the destruction of the priesthood and the end of sacrifices and the death of more than 1.1 million Jews with the balance being taken away as slaves. This leaves us with one other unshakeable conclusion.....
Just as this prophecy of Daniel concerning the destruction of Jerusalem was certainly fulfilled in AD70.... so ALL THESE things are now FINISHED... according to scripture
All the things spoken of by Daniel include:-
1) the second coming on clouds...Dan 7:13
2) the tribulation ...Dan 12:1
3) the resurrection and judgment... Dan 12:2&3
4) the establishment of the everlasting and un-ending Kingdom of Heaven ... Dan 2:44; Dan 7:13-14 & 27
Now if Daniel states that ALL these things are finished, what basis is left for any futurist escatology in the prophetic scriptures?
Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. NKJV
Jesus also confirmed that ALL prophecies concerning Him would also be fulfilled at this time ...by the same series of events. Please do not believe sceptics who say there are Old Testament prophecies which are NOT yet fulfilled.
The Old Testament foretold of a new temple which Messiah would build..
Zech 6:12 Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying:
"Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH !
From His place He shall branch out,
And He shall build the temple of the LORD;
13 Yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD.
He shall bear the glory,
And shall sit and rule on His throne;
So He shall be a priest on His throne,
And the counsel of peace shall be between them both."' NKJV
And in the New Testament God offers a NEW AND LIVING WAY ...by residing in ALL His children wherever they are.....
John 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
20 Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. NKJV
Paul tells us how this was also to be spiritually fulflled in the New Covenant
1 Cor 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. NKJV
1 Cor 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? NKJV
2 Cor 6:16 For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
"I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people." NKJV
Peter confirms this ...
1 Peter 2:5 ... you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
"Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,
"The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone," NKJV
Brethren, God now resides IN THE HEARTS OF HIS CHILDREN!
Acts 7:48 ... the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49'Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the LORD,
Or what is the place of My rest?
50 Has My hand not made all these things?' NKJV
God built His OWN House...His family...in Christ Jesus
Rev 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. NKJV
This verifies that the prophecies of Revelations HAVE BEEN fulfilled at the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in AD70 in chapters 16-20 and that it is the NEW COVENANT which was introduced as the 'New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven' ...in chapter 21 in all its glory (Galatian 4).
We today as believers are THE ISRAEL OF GOD... together with the believing remnant of Israel (the lost sheep - Mat 10:6) who formed the foundation of the early church and then those who have become believers throughout the centuries since then. We as believers in Yeshua have been grafted into THE vine and now each draw our LIFE from Christ directly. (John 15 and Rom 11). We are today all equally part of THE Body of Christ.
Will a new physical temple be built in Jerusalem as some believe, so that some further prophecies can be fulfilled?
Those who believe that there is to be a new physical temple and a new physical and magnificent Jerusalem (as described in Rev 21) have misunderstood the prophecies of the Old Testament....and the book of Revelations. This is the product of apocalyptic prophetic Hebrew being interpreted by a literal Greek mindset.
2 Cor 4:18 For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. NKJV
Col 2:16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. NKJV
God is NOT going to restore the Old Covenant...with a new physical temple. Revelations 21:22 tells us that there is NO TEMPLE in the New Jerusalem. JESUS himself is the FULFILLMENT of the Old Covenant and the temple.
Rev 21:22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.NKJV
When the New Jerusalem is described as 'heavenly' it is NOT talking about a physical heaven...but the spiritual reality of the New Covenant.
Rev 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. NKJV
Rev 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. NKJV
Heb 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. NKJV
Gal 4:24 .. which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar — 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children — 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. NKJV
(The Old Covenant came down from a God through an intermediary...the new covenant come to mankind directly from God Himself)
WE are the temple....and the New Jerusalem is the NEW COVENANT... and the realm in which we today all can fellowship with God as His children.
1 Peter 2:4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. NKJV
There will be NO future animal sacrifices...Jesus is the fulfillment of the sacrificial system. Those who want sacrifices to recommence are those who still reject Jesus as THE Lamb that God Himself provided.
Heb 10:12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. NKJV
There will never be any need for another future sacrifice...except those which the spirit now brings out from us in gratitude.
Heb 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. NKJV
The NEW temple brethren is US... and God will NEVER again dwell in a physical temple in Jerusalem. In the same way the HEAVENLY Jerusalem is the NEW covenant. Just as God will never again dwell in a physical temple, He will NEVER again return to 'Israel after the flesh' in the covenant of the Law. We will never have to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem because GOD IS SPIRIT.
Deut 24:4 (after being given the bill of divorcement).. then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD NKJV
God will NEVER take 'Israel after the flesh' back into another covenant...other than the under NEW Covenant we all have access to today....
Matt 26:28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. NKJV
Jermiah 31:31-33 ' Behold the days are coming says the Lord , when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah - not according to the covenant I made with their fathers .... 33 But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts: and I will be their God and they shall be My people. NKJV
So what about those 'problem scriptures'?
Many focus on obscure passages such as ... 'until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled'...and believe that these almost single handedly justify another almost totally unsubstantiated future eschatology ...
Luke 21:20-24 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. NKJV
Brethren, please LOOK at the context...it is all about the judgment of Israel promised by Daniel and Jesus to be before AD73. The early church ALL knew what Jesus meant. THEY should flee when THEY SAW this event...and they DID ... and they were ALL saved by fleeing to Pella.
Now where else you may ask is this same phrase used....How would the JEWS of Jesus day have understood what Jesus was referring to? (other than Daniel)
Ezek 30:1-3 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Wail, 'Woe to the day!'
3 For the day is near,
Even the day of the LORD is near;
It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. NKJV
The phrase 'the time of the Gentiles' is prophetic terminology for the period when God's wrath is being poured out on a nation ... and this by using another nation as His tool!
Ezek 30:10 Thus says the Lord GOD:
"I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease
By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations,
Shall be brought to destroy the land; NKJV
Brethren, this phrase is certainly not used in your bible in a didactic form to teach or even imply anything about a new or future dispensation for 'Israel after the flesh' post the church being established! Even today Jerusalem is STILL trampled underfoot by Gentiles...the presence of the AL AQSA mosque is proof. There is no serious indication that this will ever change.
...and what about ....
Rom 11:25-26
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, NKJV
Brethren. Paul explains in vs 11-12 before this what 'fullness of the Gentiles' means both in regard to Gentiles and Jews. Why is this passage never referred to by so-called prophecy experts? Simply because it blows the doctrine of a future dispensation for Israel OUT OF THE WATER!
Rom 11:11-12 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! NKJV
... stumbling and falling related to Israel being blinded to the gospel because they rejected Jesus
... falling is that Israel as a nation should come into judgment for killing Jesus
... riches only started for the Gentiles AFTER Israel (after the flesh) rejected the gospel (Acts 13:46-47)
... riches for Israel (the elect remnant) occurred after the AD70 judgement on national Israel ... when they as individuals repented for rejecting Jesus as their Messiah and were also saved (also becoming part of 'the Israel of God' which included Jew and Gentile believers together) The church at this time saw great expansion
... fullness was when God's OVERALL plan to reach both Israel and the whole world was achieved.....and His grace manifested to all and the MYSTERY of God revealed. Context demonstrates that 'fullness' is NOT a reference to a specific number of Gentiles being saved but the completion of God's plan to reach both Gentiles and Jews in one body.
The fullness of the Gentiles refered to by Paul is 'qualitative' and not 'quantitive'.
This was demonstrated in history because on the fullness being given to the gentiles, the church united experienced a time of explosive growth.
Paul NEVER postulated a future for Israel apart from the church united ... ie united with their Gentile brethren.
Brethren, please remember that a TEXT out of context...and without 2 or 3 confirming scriptures ... is often no more than a pretext for deception.
The doctrine of imminence ...and the BLATANT absence of a temple
The destruction of the temple spelt the death knell to the doctrine of imminence after AD70.
All we have to ask ourself is ...
"LOOK out the window and see if there is a temple?" If not, "How in heavens name can you claim that the return of Christ is imminent?"
Brethren, this FACT according to most futurists prophecy pundits, demonstrates that CHRIST CANNOT RETURN nor has He been able to return at ANY time since AD70. (The physical existence of the temple is required for this to occur according to most modern interpretations of Ezekiel 37-48).
(Please note however that Jesus emphatically tells us that ALL THINGS spoken of by the Law and the prophets concerning Him were to be fulfilled BEFORE the generation He was speaking to had passed away - Luke 24:44, Luke 21:20-22, Luke 21:32 and Mat 24:34)
(Realistically it would take a minimum of 3-5 years to rebuild the temple ... then how on earth can Christ's return possibly be imminent today?)
The belief in a future physical temple in literal city called Jerusalem located in Israel is based on an assumed interpretation of Ezekiel 37-48 and Zechariah 12-14 describing literal physical events rather than being apocalyptic prophetic language which was fulfilled in AD70 (as stated by Jesus and the apostles) ... similar to that of Revelations 8-20. Note though that Revelations 21 which describes the New Covenant specifically and didactically states that it 'has NO TEMPLE'.
Brethren, these passages were fulfilled in CHRIST when He came and died and was raised from the dead...and then He returned in JUDGMENT on Israel.... and He NOW rules in His worldwide HEAVENLY Kingdom.... IN THE SPIRIT under the NEW COVENANT.
This is how Jesus is able to save people all over the world at the same time.