Destruction of Jerusalem 70 A. D.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He answered and said to them, Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down. And as He was sitting 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” (Matt. 23:37-39; 14:1-3).

The first advent of Jesus Christ brought about His virgin birth. His virgin birth was followed by His public ministry. Then He was crucified. In the second advent, Christ will come with thousands of His angels and thousands of His saints to establish the Kingdom. The prophecy of Matthew 24:2 was fulfilled in 70 A.D., but Christ did not come personally as King in 70 A.D.

In Matthew 24:3, our Lord spoke of two prophetic events. The destruction of the temple was near at hand—some thirty years in the future. However, Christ’s second advent which would consummate the present age was in the distant future.

The first event was the destruction of the Temple by Titus, the Roman emperor, in 70 A.D. (Read Matt. 24:3; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6, 20-24.) Christ’s statement of Matthew 23:38-39 had eschatological significance for the disciples to whom Christ spoke. The disciples would soon go from the Mount of Olives to the upper room for reassurance concerning Christ’s going and His returning to receive them unto Himself (John 13-16). Hence, in John 14:1-3, our Lord gave comfort, permanence, preparation, reception, and certainty to the disciples who had questioned Him two days before the cross. Christ’s going away would be in two stages: (1) His going to Calvary, and (2) His ascension from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:9-11). The disciples were concerned not only about Christ going away but also about the time span between the prophecy at hand and the one being in the distant future. The Lord had recently said to the people of Jerusalem, “You may by no means see me from now until you see the one coming in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23:39—translation).

The disciples failed to understand the destruction of Jerusalem with its temple. They needed instruction. The Jews had great admiration for the temple which was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts (gifts given by vow). Josephus, who witnessed much of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., said that many of the stones were about 25 cubits long, 8 cubits high, and 12 cubits wide. A cubit is about 22 inches. He mentioned the enormous riches contained in the temple given by pious persons and rulers. The temple, like the tabernacle, had been a tremendous blessing to the Jewish people. The magnificence of the temple excelled that of the tabernacle that was just covered with dried animal skins.

Much of Jewish history was associated with the temple. Such names as David, Solomon, Josiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, and Nehemiah were connected with it. The disciples no doubt wondered if there was not some way the temple could be spared. The essential idea of the temple was that it was a place where God manifested Himself to His people, just as the tabernacle that preceded it. When it was finished according to specifications, the glory of the Lord filled the temple as it did the tabernacle. The house of the Lord (temple) built by Solomon was noiselessly constructed: “And the house, while it was being built, was built of stone prepared at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built” (I Kings 6:7 NASB). God’s quiet operations are like Him. They are deep, seem to be slow and circuitous, and must be searched in order to be apprehended, much less to be comprehended. God’s operation of grace is accomplished by invisible and unrecognized means. If the Lord should give His people what men call success, it would prove a total failure from God’s viewpoint. God succeeds by making men fail. God’s plan is that there shall be none of self and all of Christ. (Read I Cor. 1:18-31.)

Unlike modern “church” buildings, the temple was not made to accommodate congregations. It was 60 by 120 feet. The congregation never met inside. How could two million Jews get inside the tabernacle or the temple? They offered worship toward it as the place where God met with His people. Only the high priests went inside. Every devout Jew turned his face toward the temple when he offered up his daily prayers (I Kings 8:44; Dan. 6:10; Jonah 2:4). The most Holy Place in the temple revealed the whole plan of Divine redemption. The Ark of the Covenant included that necessary double unity—a denying and a confessing. In denial and confession, there is a breaking down the old life and the introduction of the new life. Every time Christians assemble in the Lord’s house on the Lord’s day and truly worship God, there is a breaking down of the old man and forgiveness and guidance. However, the old man will never be completely broken because the old Adamic nature is with the children of God until the Lord takes them home. Christ has brought this double unity to completion. His priestly offering brought the putting away of sin, and Christ’s Lordship effects sanctification. Therefore, in the most Holy Place, contact is made between eternity and time. As God’s people worship God, there is a connection between time and the eternal God with whom and to whom they go for worship.

The connection between the present time and the eternal God is symbolically set forth in the form of a cube, the Holy of Holies, which was first, in the tabernacle; second, in the temple that Solomon built; and third, in the New Jerusalem. The cubicle is a harmonious whole that presents the idea of perfection. Sin rendered the full manifestation of the Divine perfection impossible. Therefore, the most holy place in the tabernacle and in the temple must be represented as hidden or veiled (Heb. 9:3, 8) and mysteriously shrouded in darkness (Ex. 20:21; I Kings 8:12). Graded anterooms and areas of less spiritual rank and importance, like the forecourt and the holy place, were added. God’s plan and His people will not be brilliantly manifested until the perfection. Only then will the forecourt and the holy place completely disappear (Rev. 21-22).

There are similarities in three temples of God: (1) Solomon’s temple, (2) Christ’s temple, and (3) the believer’s temple.

1. Their origins are similar. There is silence and mystery in each one. In Solomon’s temple (I Kings 6:7), there was silence—silently made; in Christ’s body, His human nature was prepared in the womb of Mary (Luke 1:35—that holy thing); and Christians are born again silently by the Spirit of God in regeneration (John 3:8).

2. Their materials are similar and glorious in each—gold and wood in the temple, Divine and human natures in Christ’s temple, and immaterial (soul) and material natures in the believer.

3. There is similarity in their suffering. The temple was besieged (Amos 8; Neh.). Christ was hated and persecuted. Christians are also hated and persecuted (John 15).

4. Their Divine desertion is similar. The temple was left desolate. Christ was forsaken. Believers can lose God’s presence of blessing.

5. There is similarity in the destruction of each one. The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. (Luke 21:5-6). The temple of Christ’s body was destroyed (John 2:19-20). Christians suffer and die.

6. Their restoration is similar. The temple will be restored. Christ arose from the dead. Believers will experience the glorification of their bodies.

The destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. by Titus was not its first destruction. After Solomon’s reign, the kingdom was divided into northern Israel and southern Judah. Israel was without one good king for about 240 years, and Judah had only 8 good kings in about 400 years. After the death of Josiah, Judah’s last good king, conditions went from bad to worse under the evil men Joahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jehoiachin, as well as Zedekiah. The message of Jeremiah went unheeded, like the true message of God today is going unheeded in most places where people are supposed to be the people of God. Hence, God used Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, to destroy the house of the Lord (temple) (II Chr. 36).

After 70 years of Babylonian captivity, the temple was rebuilt by a remnant under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Ezra. It was finished in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, but altered and enlarged by Herod during the time of Christ. Jesus Christ entered this temple as a boy (Luke 2:46) and later taught there as a prophet (Mark 12:35; 14:49). The curtain in this temple was rent (Matt. 27:51; Heb. 10:19, 20). This is the temple that was destroyed by Titus in 70 A.D. It was destroyed for the same reason that Solomon’s temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. It had been polluted by the priests (Mal. 2), the religious leaders. The world went for 400 years without a voice, a prophet, before the coming of the Son of God. It had been polluted by priests and people.

Architectural beauty cannot restrain God’s judgment. When the things sanctified for His use are polluted and His presence is despised, God will destroy them one way or another. On the other hand, truth is strong and on the way to a crowning victory, no matter how weak and insignificant it may appear. The destruction of the temple was a good lesson not only for the disciples to whom the Lord was speaking in Matthew 24, but also a good lesson for Christians today. However strong and beautiful buildings may appear, if Ichabod (I Sam. 4:21—the glory has departed) is written over the doorway, nothing remains but destruction.

All three synoptic writers record Christ’s prediction concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and His second advent to consummate the age. Only Luke records the specific account of the judgment that was to come upon Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (Read Matt. 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6, 20-24.) One must be careful about trying to fit everything into a chronological scheme by studying only Matthew’s account. There is no reference to the rapture in Matthew. The word for generation is a word that has been debated for two centuries. The amillenialists ask this question: “Why bring Jesus Christ back to earth? He has already come and established His kingdom. He is already reigning in the church, the church/kingdom.” Their basic argument is that Christ’s mission of redemption is completed (Eph.1:7-10), His revelation has been completed (Jude 3), His authority is exercised over all the world (Matt. 28:18), His kingdom has been established (Col. 1:13), He sits on His throne (Heb. 4:14; Rev. 3:21), and He has been glorified (Luke 24:26; I Peter 1:20-21). They believe Christ’s work on earth is finished. They ask, why bring Christ back to earth?

The amillennial argument is answered by the difference between mediate and immediate presence. Mediate presence involves an intermediate agent or agency. To illustrate, Scripture says that Christ dwells in my heart. He is not personally in the Christian’s heart, but He is in his heart. He dwells there by the Holy Spirit, the third Person in the Godhead. Therefore, Christians have the mediate, not the personal, agency of Jesus Christ. Immediate presence is without an intervening agent. When Christ comes, He will come in Person as the God-Man who died for the elect at Calvary.