The Temple Destroyed

The Temple

V 5

These men were from Galilee a small fishing village

homes made of mud

with a flat roof

and they come to Jerusalem to this magnificent temple

this temple was known around the world for its magnificence

Herod has been building this temple for 50 years already

He started with the temple that Zerubbable had started when he came back from Babylon

remember that the old men cried when they had the foundation laid because they remembered the temple of Solomon

John Macarthur

What a stunning place, one of the wonders of the ancient world. Some writers say it was the greatest building in the world...it was being built and decorated for 85 years total and about 50 years of building at the time our Lord walked out.  It had been started by Herod the Great in 19-20 B.C. The Jews were so concerned that it would be sacred that Herod actually trained priests to be masons, carpenters and craftsmen so that there would only be people who understood holy things who were actually leading the work. Every stone in that place was made of mezza, white brilliant stone available in the land of Israel that can be finely cut and polished so that it looks like marble....So as the disciples left, they look backed at this massive, glorious, incredible building, must have been wondering about the words of Jesus that they had already heard just a day before, that it was coming down.  It was the grandest of Herod's many massive building projects.  Its eastern....side was completely covered in gold plating so that it looked like one massive piece of solid gold.  In the morning sun, the sun would roll up over the top of the Mount of Olives. It would reflect itself in such a blaze that it would blind someone who didn't cover his eyes just to look at the temple.  And in the evening when the sun was on the other side, its golden glory was only subdued but still impressive.  By all accounts, it was the most beautiful building in the world

V 6

Jesus is telling these men who are mesmerized with this great building that it will all be torn down

this whole temple area was 36 acres.

Herod had 1000 carts hauling white marble stone to the site

40 foot columns

this was their masterpiece

this was their whole life

their center of worship

they had to come 3 times a year to the annual feasts

in fact the reason they are there right now was for the feast of Passover

this temple was not completed until ad 63

so every time they came something more was added that made it more splendid

and according to Josephus (15.11.3), some of the stones measured over 35 feet long, 12 feet high, and 18 feet wide. The current Wailing Wall represents just a small part of the foundation left from Herod's Temple complex. The white marble walls rose some 200 feet (or higher) above the Kidron Valley on the southeast corner of the complex. The brilliant white walls with gold trim dazzled in the morning sun. 

Jesus is proclaiming that not one stone will be left upon another

this corrupt worship system will end

These men could not imagine this massive temple being destroyed unless it was the end of the world as we know it

so they assumed that it could only take place at the end of the age

and the end of this age was the beginning of the Kingdom age

there will be a new temple built that is spoken of by Ezekiel

where the Messiah will build His own temple

These me still think that Jesus is going to take His kingship in Jerusalem soon

James and Johns mother is calling dibs on the seats of honor for her sons

So the disciples ask

Questions

V 7

when, and what is the sign

remember they think its days maybe even a month away

even after the resurrection they ask

Acts 1:6 LSB

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus is goin to give these men some signs of this destruction

through the rest of the chapter

we will look more closely in later weeks

there are some in the eschatology world that say all of these things happened in Ad70

these are called

Preterists 

Prophecy is history

preterism looks back and says all is fulfilled

a full Preterist will tell you that all prophecy has been fulfilled

the final Judgement is an ongoing thing that happens as the person dies

a partial preterist believes the return of Jesus happened in ad 70 and it was a spiritual return

the millennial kingdom is happening now

satan is bound now

and everything has been spiritualized

all the things in Revelation happened back in ad 70

revelation was written (according to the prederist) to warn the Jews of what will happen at the destruction of the temple

they say that Nero was the antichrist

most of the reason for this belief is what Jesus answers these questions that these men have

one of the problems these preterists have is the dating of the writing of Revelation

if Revelation is written after ad70 then their reasoning that Revelation is at the time of the temple destruction

so all of their hypothesis are no good

most scholars date the writing of Revelation as ad 90

last week I spoke about traditions and how all of them are worth looking into

why do we believe what we believe

Acts 17:10–11 LSB

And the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

do we believe it because our traditions and our pastor preaches it?

or do we believe something because we ourselves heard it and came home and studied it for our selves

I have listened to preterist and have found the lacking

they have a to me a nonsensical convoluted theology

this week study the rest of this chapter

read Matthew 24-25

is tall of these things already happened?

if not can you separate the past from the future?

this is your homework this week

Study to show yourselves aproved unto God a workman that need not be ashamed