Having been invited to pay attention to the Temple, Y’shua did exactly that. If they were incredulous about Him walking away from the Temple, their jaws must have dropped at what He said in return. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
Matthew 24:1-2 NIV
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.
2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
Bar None
In Genesis 11, the Babel project was terminated by God. But the project is not recorded as destroyed. In Genesis 19, when the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah sinned to the ‘point of no return’, destruction was their portion. The sulfur destroyed even the vegetation, nothing remained. Obadiah 1 speaks to the destruction of Edom, and Ezekiel 26, to the utter destruction of Tyre. Moreover, there are several prior prophecies that spoke to the destruction of the Temple. But, the Temple – God’s earthly dwelling place – had been previously destroyed. So it would be even more painful for the disciples to have heard in advance of its pending destruction. This was not predicted as a partial destruction, rather every single stone would be uprooted. Bar none.
Point to Ponder
How has God’s judgements affected our impression of God’s character?
Application
We know that the Temple was destroyed as predicted. It must have been hard for the Jews when it happened. For the temple signified God’s presence with them in their midst. with every stone overturned, it may have signified the inability to worship as they would wish. Thus, in prophesying (predicting) the Temple’s eventual destruction, could it be that Y’shua was already warning that the presence of God had already departed Jerusalem?
We may recall that this wasn’t Jesus’ only indictment on the City. In the chapter prior, Matthew 23:37, He wept over the city, and its treatment of genuine prophets of God. I also remembered that in Samuel, the ‘light’ went out of the temple the night Eli was warned that the stench of his sons’ attitudes had reached beyond breaking point, and that God would act. Some of us may also remember the Ark of the Covenant being captured, and the sense of desolation it brought.
We may also recall that Y’shua’s prophecy was fulfilled AFTER His ascension. Rome destroyed the second temple, brick by brick to ensure the total humiliation of the Jewish community and to destroy their will to fight. For them, the building represented the presence of God in their midst. On the other hand, we have the assurance that our bodies are temples in which God’s Spirit dwells. For us, it is God and not the temple that we worship.
Perhaps it’s not so much about our bodies being destroyed, as it is our own belief that God is incapable of protecting us and keeping us. I pray that just as the temple was destroyed brick by brick, we may also find that our confidence in ought but God is destroyed brick by brick, bar none.
Self Check
In what do we place our trust? May it be in God alone.
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May all we seek be found in Christ
