Olivet Discourse: Temple Destruction & Questions

Introduction

At the end of last year we began a study into the Apocalypse of Yeshua. I realize that the word “Apocalypse” has come to mean disaster and destruction, but the word actually refers to the “revelation” or “revealing” of a previously hidden reality or person. For our context, we are specifically looking at how Scripture describes the person of Yeshua and how He will be revealed to the whole world as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In other words, we are looking at the Return of the King Messiah: the how, what, when, where of the Second Coming of Yeshua.

I encourage you to go back and listen to the previous sermon, but for a quick reminder, we covered the following general rules of interpretation:

Golden Rule of Interpretation

Double-Reference & Recurrence

Compare Scripture with Scripture

Poetry, Symbols & Metaphors

Obscure in light of the Plain

Questions to Consider

Over the next few weeks we will see if we can answer the following general questions:

Why did the Scribes and Pharisees miss Yeshua’s First Coming?

Could we also have faulty expectations of Yeshua’s Second Coming?

When do believers receive rest from tribulation?

When are the persecutors destroyed and/or judged?

Are there multiple Second Comings of Yeshua? Or Is the Second Coming of Yeshua divided into multiple parts?

Is there a difference between the “Day of the Lord” and “Our Gathering to Him”?

What is the distinction between Israel and the Church as it relates to the End Days teachings?

Also, each week, as we go through the passages we will also ask ourselves:

Does the passage we read today:

provide timeline milestones?

show specific events that will occur prior to Yeshua’s Return?

divide Yeshua’s return into multiple parts?

show an actual reign of Yeshua over the world?

give an exact date?

provide us warnings?

provide us encouragement?

Timeline and Foundation

We also looked at a Basic Timeline and the foundational way to read the obscure visions and difficult passages in the Letters in light of the Gospels. We will keep track of this timeline as we study through the Scriptures. As shown, we are going to start our study in the Synoptic Gospels, specifically the discussion that the Talmidim had with Yeshua on the Mount of Olives known as the Olivet Discourse.

Temple Destruction

We will begin our study of the Second Coming of Yeshua by reading the passage from Matthew’s Gospel, but we will be bouncing back and forward between both Mark’s and Luke’s accounts to look at the additional details. Let’s read a few extra verses before the discussion with the Talmidim to gain some context Matt. 23:37-39

Matthew 23:37–39 TLV

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Look, your house is left to you desolate! For I tell you, you will never see Me again until you say, ‘Baruch ha-ba b’shem Adonai. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

This discussion during the last week before Yeshua was executed. He has already been asked many questions by the Torah Scholars, Pharisees and Sadducees, and has just finished with seven woes against them. These woes were not because the religious leaders did not know the Scriptures, but rather because they selectively read the portions that they preferred, and more critically they selectively applied the Scriptures in their lives.

This is the back drop for our study. Let us continue to read in Matt. 24:1-8

Matthew 24:1–8 TLV

Now when Yeshua went out and was going away from the Temple, His disciples came up to point out to Him the Temple buildings. “Don’t you see all these?” He responded to them. “Amen, I tell you, not one stone will be left here on top of another—every one will be torn down!” As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” Yeshua answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray! For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will lead many astray. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must happen but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are only the beginning of birth pains.

As the Talmidim were leaving the Temple with Yeshua they asked Him in Mark 13:1

Mark 13:1 TLV

As Yeshua was going out of the Temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look! What stones and what buildings!”

Yeshua explained to the Talmidim the desolation of what he had already seen when he made the statement at the end of Matt. 23. And Yeshua is very specific as to how the buildings would be destroyed. It would not be by accident such as an earthquake, but rather as Yeshua says in Luke 21:6

Luke 21:6 TLV

“As for these things you are looking at, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another. Every one will be torn down!”

Historical Fulfilment

Jewish historian Flavius Josephus details the events of this time period in his Wars of the Jews, Books 3 to 6. Josephus explains that the First Jewish Revolt against the Romans began in 66 A.D. Interestingly enough Josephus was initially fighting as a Jewish General.

Emperor Nero commissioned Vespasian as the commander over all the Roman Legions of Syria to quell the Jewish insurgency in Judaea. Vespasian sent his son Titus to Alexandria to bring the 5th and 10th Legions from there to meet in Syria. Vespasian then brought his 2nd Legion to meet with Titus along with a large group of auxiliary troops from the kings of that neighborhood.

Vespasian then conducted two successful military campaigns in 67 and 68 A.D. to reconquer most of Judea except for Jerusalem. It was during this time that Josephus was captured by Vespasian and then defected to the Roman cause. [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vespasian] In 68 A.D. Vespasian fortified all the places around Jerusalem including Jericho and Adida, encompassing the city of Jerusalem with armies. But just as he was about to launch a campaign against Jerusalem, Nero died. The year 69 A.D. became known as The Year of the Four Emperors, with Vespasian eventually being declared Emperor by the Senate on 20 Dec 69 A.D. The siege of Jerusalem broke temporarily.

Vespasian returned to Alexandria and then eventually to Rome and he put his son Titus in charge of the Syrian Legions, and gave him the responsibility of conquering Jerusalem. This siege of Jerusalem began during Passover in 70 AD by the Roman Legions and auxiliary troops. Josephus records the gruesome details of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple ending with about 1.1 million Jewish people dead and 97,000 sold into captivity, the Temple burned to the ground on the 9th of Av.

Fulfilment of Yeshua’s Prophesy

The House of the Lord was now desolate, just as Yeshua had declared in Luke 13:34-35

Luke 13:34–35 TLV

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate! For I tell you, you will never see Me until you say, ‘Baruch ha-ba b’shem Adonai. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

And because the House had been burned to the ground, the silver and gold that had covered the doors and walls melted and fell between the cracks of the rocks. All of the buildings were destroyed to get at the precious metals. Many of the huge stones were left as a warning against any future revolts.

Flight to Pella

The historian Eusebius who lived from 260 to 339 in Syria Palaestina (formerly known as Judea) wrote several historical works and is known as on of the most learned Christians during late antiquity. In his work Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius writes:

The whole body, however, of the Church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city to a certain town beyond the Jordan called Pella. Here, those who believed in Christ removed from Jerusalem as if holy men had abandoned the royal city itself and the whole land of Judea.

Another Historian, Epiphanius who lived from 310 to 403 confirms this account as follows:

This heresy of the Nazoraeans exists in Beroea in the neighbourhood of Coele Syria and the Decapolis in the region of Pella and in Basanitis in the so-called Kokaba (Chochabe in Hebrew). From there it took its beginning after the exodus from Jerusalem when all the disciples went to live in Pella because Christ had told them to leave Jerusalem and to go away since it would undergo a siege. Because of this advice they lived in Perea after having moved to that place, as I said.

[ Epiphanius, Panarion 29,7,7-8]

In both of these accounts we see that the Jewish followers of Yeshua who lived in Jerusalem fled when they saw Jerusalem sieged. This was because they took literally what Yeshua said in Luke 21:20-24

Luke 21:20–24 TLV

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must get out, and those in the countryside must not enter her. For these are the days of punishment, to fulfill all that has been written. “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 on this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Normally when a city is besieged, there is no way to enter or leave, but in the case of Jerusalem, the siege broke temporarily when Emperor Vespasian left for Rome and Titus took over.

Talmidim Questions

In Marks account we see which Talmidim came to Yeshua, Mark 13:3

Mark 13:3 TLV

As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Peter, Jacob, John, and Andrew were questioning Him privately,

These Talmidim ask Yeshua the following 2 questions:

Tell us, when will these things happen?

What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?

It would appear, that even though they did not fully understand the death and resurrection of Yeshua, they were starting to realize that the establishment of Yeshua as King might take a little longer than they first hoped.

Summary

We have only just begun our study, but I would like to relook at the timeline and see if we can answer any of the questions we asked at the beginning.

Does the passage we read today:

provide timeline milestones? Yes, Not only did Yeshua prophesy the destruction of the Temple, but he also provided a way of escape from the destruction to those who would obey and listen to Him.

show specific events that will occur prior to Yeshua’s Return? Yes, the fulfillment of the 2nd Temple’s destruction, is a direct fulfilment of Yeshua’s prophesy. And since this part came to pass in 70 A.D. exactly as He said, we should listen to the rest of what he says.

The other questions are not addressed in this passage.

Earlier in the week, Yeshua had been confronted in the Temple by the Rabbis and Torah Scholars. Yeshua’s Talmidim had been singing Psalm 118:26 recorded by Luke 19:38

Luke 19:38 TLV

saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of Adonai! Shalom in heaven and glory in the highest!”

The religious leaders were not interested in having a King Messiah at the time and demanded that Yeshua silence his Talmidim. I want to pick up from the next verse, because I want you to hear the heart of Yeshua. Luke 19:41-44

Luke 19:41–44 TLV

As He drew near and saw Jerusalem, He wept over her, saying, “If only you had recognized this day the things that lead to shalom! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will surround you with barricades and hem you in on all sides. And they will smash you to the ground—you and your children within you. And they won’t leave within you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Yeshua saw the devastation that was about to come on Jerusalem and it broke his heart. It is the same cry that we heard from Jeremiah and many of the other prophets. Do we recognise that “now is the day of salvation”?