January 29: LAYERS OF PROPHECY
Our holy and beautiful temple, Where our fathers praised You, is burned up with fire; And all our pleasant things are laid waste. Isaiah 64:11
Isaiah’s prophetic ministry included visions of events that were yet to occur. This vision is written in the past tense, as if it had already happened, but it is a reference to the Babylonian destruction under Nebuchadnezzar which was yet to come.
The magnificent temple built by King Solomon symbolized the zenith of the twelve united tribes of Israel under God. Sadly, this high point was short-lived. Scripture is filled with rebukes from the LORD to the people because of the surrounding enemy successes at drawing them away from Him. Isaiah saw the cities within Israel’s border as a wilderness, and the city of Jerusalem as a desolation (v.10). This foreshadowing of the seventy-year captivity of God’s people — namely Judah — in Babylon was preparing them for an even greater calamity than the previous captivity and loss of the identity of the ten northern tribes — known as Israel after the kingdom divided — due to absorption by Assyria.
Fast-forward to the end of the Babylonian captivity of Judah and the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem. There were those older participants who were reduced to tears over the lesser state of grandeur of the second temple’s foundation (Ezra 3:12), for they remembered well the former magnificence of Solomon’s temple. Yet the prophet Haggai wrote: The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says the LORD of hosts (Haggai 2:9). This is an explicit reference to the physical presence of the Lord Jesus — the One in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily — in the temple (see Luke 2:25-30, 42, 46, 49; John 2:13-16; Mark 11:15-17; Colossians 2:9).
During His earthly ministry, Jesus had clearly acted to preserve the sanctity and purpose of the temple. But, incredibly, in sharing with His disciples the dramatic shift on the horizon for the people of God, He said: “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” (Matthew 24:2).
The utter destruction of the second temple by the Romans in 70AD was prophesied by Jesus some 40 years earlier, and expected by His followers. Its thorough fulfillment served to bring to a halt the empty rituals carried on by the unbelieving Jews. Their failure to acknowledge their Messiah, and His once-for-all (Romans 6:10; see also Acts 7:57) sacrifice for the sin of mankind, confirmed the fact that the LORD’s presence was in the temple building no longer. Jesus had said as much: “See! Your house is left to you desolate!” (Matthew 23:38) Early in His ministry, the Lord began to teach of His body as a dwelling place for God (John 2:19-21). Scripture applies this concept to His people as well (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and not a single Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. His instructions for that particular time also apply to the end-time struggle that is almost upon us. We can be prepared by believing His word, which also means obeying Him. Faith and faithfulness…
“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 24:12-13