Jesus was picturing the temple destruction

JESUS WAS PICTURING THE TEMPLE DESTRUCTION
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 24:2 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."
New Living Translation
But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I
tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished.
Not one stone will be left on top of another!”
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Coming Of Christ
Matthew 24:1-3
J.A. Macdonald
After dooming the temple to desolation, "Jesus wentout." The action was
significant (see Luke 19:44). In every case the departure of the Saviour is a
solemn event. "His disciples," viz. Peter, James, John, and Andrew (see Mark
13:3), calledhis attention to the magnificence ofthe structure. Men are
naturally influenced by material glories. They had especiallynoticedthe

greatness ofthe stones (see Mark 13:1), and were astonishedwhen Jesus
declaredthat these should become disjointed and overthrown. How "slow of
heart" are even goodmen "to believe all that the prophets have spoken" (see
Micah3:12; Jeremiah26:18)! What havoc in the material world is wrought
through moral obliquity! "And as they sat" in full view of the temple and city
(ver. 3), where the Shechinah had restedafter leaving the temple and the city,
and whence it ascendedinto the heavens - awful presage of the desolationof
the temple and city by Nebuchadnezzar, and the captivity of the people by the
Babylonians (Ezekiel11:23): - the action of Jesus here therefore was not only
the expressionofa tender, sorrowful, patriotic, human sympathy, but
moreovera parable and a prophecy of momentous import.
I. CHRIST WAS COMING IN HIS KINGDOM.
1. The advent of the King Messiahwas the constantsubject of ancient
promise.
2. It was accordinglythe chief expectationof the Jews.
3. But so dazzled were they with the splendour of the imagery, in which the
coming of Messiahin his glory is set forth in prophecy, that they overlooked
the predictions setting forth an earlier advent of Messiahin humiliation.
4. Hence, when Jesus came in that earlier advent his people were offended in
him.
II. HE COMES IN SPIRIT AND POWER.
1. So he came upon the memorable Day of Pentecost. Jesus hadbeen
corporeallytransiently present with his disciples as their Comforter, and he
promised, after his removal from them in that capacity, to come againas their
permanent or abiding Comforter in his Divine Spirit (see John 14:15-21).
2. That advent was quickly followedby the "end of the world," or, more
properly, the "consummation of the age." The Levitical dispensationended
with the destructionof the temple. Forthe temple was the very centre of that
system. "The temple was destroyed:
(1) Justly; because ofthe sins of the Jews.

(2) Mercifully; to take awayfrom them the occasionof continuing in Judaism.
(3) Mysteriously; to show that the ancient sacrificeswere abolished, and that
the whole Jewisheconomywas brought to an end, and the Christian
dispensationintroduced" (Clarke).
3. The judgment in the destruction of Jerusalemwas a figure of the judgment
of the greatday. The scatteredJew-Christians found relief in the judgment
which brought desolationto their persecutors (cf. Mark 13:13;James 5:7-9).
III. HE WILL YET COME VISIBLY, IN POWER AND GLORY.
1. He will then come "in the clouds."
(1) He will come upon a glorious throne.
(2) He will come with a myriad retinue. Clouds of angels. Clouds of spirits of
just men made perfect (see Hebrews 12:1).
2. He will come to introduce the millennium.
(1) He will begin that reign with judgments upon the obstinately wicked. The
antichristian nations will be overthrown.
(2) He will end that age with the final judgment upon the dead, small and
great.
IV. HE COMES IN THE ARTICLE OF DEATH.
1. This is the "end of the age" to us as the term of our probation.
2. It is to us virtually the day of judgment.
3. Christ comes in personto receive to himself his own (see John 14:3).
4. Let us be admonished and prepare. - J.A.M.

Biblical Illustrator
And Jesus wentout and departed from the temple.
Matthew 24:1
Judgment of Jerusalemand the world
F. Godet, D. D.
In this chapter the accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the "end"
of the world are so interwoven, that it is not easyto distinguish betweenthem.
Many people have been puzzled because they could not draw the line of
demarcationarbitrarily, and say where the division was. But the best wayof
looking at the passageis to regardit as not confused — as one narrative, not
two. The destruction of Jerusalemand the end of the world are here
consideredas one event. We who live in the presentdispensation are they
"upon whom the ends of the world are come." The narrative is of one thing in
two parts; one tale told in two chapters; one drama in two acts. This is why it
looks like two accounts. And it is not difficult to see this. It may be felt to be
the duty of a parent, who has an unruly, incorrigible child, to administer
corporalchastisement, but he would not strike more than one blow at a time.

Betweeneachstroke there is an interval, and the parent may, after having
begun, suspend the punishment; and then, when the waiting time is over, and
the necessityof punishment still continuing, he may finish what had already
been begun. The actof punishment is one, though distributed over two
periods of time. So with God's 'judgments related in this chapter. The
destruction of Jerusalemwas not merely a prelude to the day of judgment,
nor merely a type of it, as is commonly supposed, but it was a part of it. The
day of judgment, which is to come upon the whole world, began with the
destruction of Jerusalem;and God having struck one blow in one place, is
now waiting, with sword still uplifted, to strike againand finish His work. The
corresponding accountin Luke tells us that God is waiting "until the times of
the Gentiles be come in." The Jew was first in grace;he is likewise first in
judgment. But the turn of the Gentiles is coming on. Judgment has begun at
the House of God, but it stays not there. The awful drama of the end of the
world has two acts, and the time in which we are living is due to a suspension
of the judgment already begun.
(F. Godet, D. D.)
On the destruction of the temple
B. Beddome, A. M.
I. AN INSTRUCTIVE QUESTION — "See ye not all these things?" — these
goodly stones, this stately fabric, this masterpiece ofarchitecture. The
question was meant as a reproof;
1. That they so much admired it. As if He had said, "Turn your eyes from
hence, and see things of a superior nature; the beauty and excellence ofthe
renewedsoul; the gospelChurch; the house which is eternalin the heavens,
whose builder and maker is God.
2. That which they admired, they imagined He must admire also. But what
are earthly temples to Him who meted out the heavens with a span, who
Himself dwells in unapproachable light, and before whom the seraphim cover
their feet and veil their faces?

II. A SOLEMN DECLARATION — "Verily, I say unto you," etc. By this
Christ may have intended to instruct His disciples —
1. That though God may bear long, yet He will not bear always, with a sinful
and provoking people.
2. That the most stately structures and the most splendid edifices, through the
pride of their inhabitants, shall one day fall in ruins. Only God's spiritual
temple will not be burnt up, nor any of the materials of it destroyed.
3. That the time was coming when God would no longerprefer one place of
worship to another.
4. That the whole frame of the Jewisheconomyshould shortly be dissolved.
The substance being come, the shadows are fled.
(B. Beddome, A. M.)
The destruction of Jerusalemseemedimprobable
E. E. Johnson, M. A.
There was no outward signof any such disaster. The indications were all
againstthat prediction. The sunlight which, that day, glorified the -towers of
Jerusalemwas of the common kind, only, it may be, brighter than ever. There
was nothing unusual in the sight which met the eyes of the disciples. They
beheld the tide of traffic ebbing and flowing along its noisy streets in the
ordinary way. They knew that in the temple the priests stood ministering, just
as they had done for years. Therefore Christ's words, His mournful prophecy,
His pitying lament and tears must have seemedto them strange and uncalled
for. And yet, although what He saw was so different from what met their
vision, though He beheld desolationwhere they discernednought save
splendour, that difference was but the result of less than half a century's
change. In the crowds then pressing along that city's prosperous courts, there
were some who did not taste of death, till they drank the cup of a worse
bitterness in the day when Christ's word was all fulfilled.

(E. E. Johnson, M. A.)
Why Jerusalemmust be destroyed
E. E. Johnson, M. A.
And now there rises the question: Why did not Jesus save that city? The awful
peril which He saw impending in the near future was destined to involve not
the guilty alone, but the innocent as well; why then did not the Son of God
avert the coming tribulation He so bitterly lamented? Why did He not do it at
leastfor the sake ofthose who had shown themselves friendly to Him, the
humble ones who followedHim with a sortof dumb faithfulness until the
hostility of the government, which frightened the apostles, filled them also
with paralyzing fear? There is no doubt that Christ was able to dispel that
storm rising so black and terrible. The twelve legions of angels who were
ready to save Him from capture, would, at His word, have savedJerusalem.
The myriads of the army of heaven could have turned to a retreating flight the
advancing eaglesofthe heathen conquerorThe destruction of Jerusalem
belongs to the workings ofthat natural law in which there is, after a time, no
place and no use for repentance, under which God, for some inscrutable
reason, permits the innocent to suffer along with the guilty, and where no
regreton the part of any one can save him from the doom of reaping precisely
what the community has sown. Christ offeredto the Jewishnation, as a
nation, deliverance from temporal evil. There is no doubt of that. He stood
ready to fulfil for them all the glorious things spokenof Zion by the prophets.
Both spiritual and earthly peace laywithin their reach. It was bound up in the
kingdom preached and offered by Him. He promised to take them out from
the realm of natural government, where fixed laws work on regardless ofthe
cry of pain and the supplication for pity, where nothing miraculous ever
interposes to avert the gatheredlightning of moral retribution, where the
storm of judgment breaks over the community that deserves it, even though
some who are comparativelyrighteous must endure thereby what seems
temporal wrong. He offered, I say, to redeem that Jewishworld from the
natural law of sin and death and inflexible justice, and lift it into the higher,

supernatural realm of grace and life. But that redemption depended upon
their knowing and receiving Him. And their selfishness andpride prevented
them from recognizing Him. Their King and Redeemercame, but they cast
Him out. They chose to be a law unto themselves. Hence that former law must
have its perfect work. The hand outstretchedto save the nation drifting to
ruin was not grasped, and therefore that nation must whirl on and on, down
the rapids and over the brink. The destruction of Jerusalembecame simply a
question of time. Inward corruption would sooneror later have accomplished
what we are wont to regard as solely the result of external force. The fig-tree
had ceasedto bear fruit; and that fact was of itself a sign of the death which
had already begun to work. All that was left of the glorious opportunity was
the bitter consciousnessthatit was past Under the working of this law, the
drunkard comes atlast to a point where repentance is too late, and where
death lies both in continued indulgence and in attempted reformation. And so
with nations. The day may come to even the strongest, whenon the whole it is
not worth saving, when, although there are many pure patriots in it, the only
thing left for it to do is to die and be blotted out of the map of the world.
(E. E. Johnson, M. A.)
The warnings of judgment
T. Adams.
The uncertainty of the day bespeaks ourpreparedness. When the disciples
askedChrist concerning the sign of His coming, He answers them with a how,
not with a when. He describes the manner, but concealsthe time; such signs
shall go before. He does not determine the day when the judgment shall come
after. Only He cautions them, with a "Take heed, lestthat day come upon you
unawares:for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the
earth" (Luke 21:34, 35). The bird little thinks of the snare of the fowler, nor
the beastof the hunter; this fearlesslyrangeththrough the woods, the other
merrily cuts the air: both follow their unsuspected liberty, both are lost in
unprevented ruin. Against public enemies we fortify our coasts;against
private thieves we bar our doors, and shall we not againstthe irremediable

fatality of this day prepare our souls? It is favour enough that the Lord hath
given us warning; the day is sudden, the warning is not sudden. The old world
had the precaution of six-score years, and that (we cannotdeny) was long
enough; but we have had the prediction of Christ and His apostles ofabove
fifteen hundred years'standing; besides the daily sounds of those evangelical
trumpets, that tell us of that archangelicaltrumpet in their pulpits. When we
hear the thunder, in a dark night on our beds, we fear the lightning. Our
Saviour's gospel, premonishing of this day, is like thunder; if it cannotwake
us from our sins, the judgment shall come upon us like lightning, to our utter
destruction. But I will thank the Lord for giving me warning. The thunder
first breaks the cloud, and makes wayfor the lightning, yet the lightning first
invades our sense. All sermons, upon this argument of the lastday, are
thunder-claps; yet such is the security of the world, that the sons of thunder
cannot wakenthem, till the Father of lightning consume them. The huntsman
doth not threaten the deer, or terrify him; but watches him at a stand, and
shoots him. But God speaks before He shoots;takes the bow in His hand and
shows it us before He puts in the arrow to wound us.
(T. Adams.)
Christ's coming no delusion
Olshausen.
The first reasonwhy the declarations ofChrist respecting the near approach
of His coming, although they were not realized in their utmost sense, yet
involve no error, is this — that it is an essentialingredientin the doctrine of
the advent of Christ that it should be consideredevery moment possible, and
that believers should deem it every moment probable. To have taught it so
that it should have pointed to an indefinite distance would have robbed it of
its ethical significance. The constantexpectation of the return of Christ is
verified, secondly, by the fact that Christ is constantlycoming in His
kingdom; it is relatively true that the history of the world is a judgment of the
world, without superseding by the judicial activity of God, as already
manifesting itself in the history of the development of mankind, the judgment

as the concluding actof all developments. And it is here we find the
foundation of the principle, that great events in history, wherein either the
fulness of the blessing that is in Christ, or His severity againstsin, is strikingly
manifested, may be viewedas types of the lasttime — as a coming of Christ.
To this category, so far as respects the fulness of blessing revealed by Christ,
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit belongs.
(Olshausen.)
The destruction of Jerusalem
G. Brooks.
I. An illustration of the instability of all earthly grandeur.
II. An instance of God's punishment of sin in the present world.
III. An example of the fulfilment of Scripture prophecy.
IV. A proof of the abolition of the Mosaic economy.
V. A cause ofthe dispersion of the Jews.
(G. Brooks.)
COMMENTARIES
The Coming Of Christ
Matthew 24:1-3
J.A. Macdonald

After dooming the temple to desolation, "Jesus wentout." The action was
significant (see Luke 19:44). In every case the departure of the Saviour is a
solemn event. "His disciples," viz. Peter, James, John, and Andrew (see Mark
13:3), calledhis attention to the magnificence ofthe structure. Men are
naturally influenced by material glories. They had especiallynoticedthe
greatness ofthe stones (see Mark 13:1), and were astonishedwhen Jesus
declaredthat these should become disjointed and overthrown. How "slow of
heart" are even goodmen "to believe all that the prophets have spoken" (see
Micah3:12; Jeremiah26:18)! What havoc in the material world is wrought
through moral obliquity! "And as they sat" in full view of the temple and city
(ver. 3), where the Shechinah had restedafter leaving the temple and the city,
and whence it ascendedinto the heavens - awful presage of the desolationof
the temple and city by Nebuchadnezzar, and the captivity of the people by the
Babylonians (Ezekiel11:23): - the action of Jesus here therefore was not only
the expressionofa tender, sorrowful, patriotic, human sympathy, but
moreovera parable and a prophecy of momentous import.
I. CHRIST WAS COMING IN HIS KINGDOM.
1. The advent of the King Messiahwas the constantsubject of ancient
promise.
2. It was accordinglythe chief expectationof the Jews.
3. But so dazzled were they with the splendour of the imagery, in which the
coming of Messiahin his glory is set forth in prophecy, that they overlooked
the predictions setting forth an earlieradvent of Messiahin humiliation.
4. Hence, when Jesus came in that earlier advent his people were offended in
him.
II. HE COMES IN SPIRIT AND POWER.
1. So he came upon the memorable Day of Pentecost. Jesus hadbeen
corporeallytransiently present with his disciples as their Comforter, and he
promised, after his removal from them in that capacity, to come againas their
permanent or abiding Comforter in his Divine Spirit (see John 14:15-21).

2. That advent was quickly followedby the "end of the world," or, more
properly, the "consummation of the age." The Levitical dispensationended
with the destructionof the temple. Forthe temple was the very centre of that
system. "The temple was destroyed:
(1) Justly; because ofthe sins of the Jews.
(2) Mercifully; to take awayfrom them the occasionof continuing in Judaism.
(3) Mysteriously; to show that the ancient sacrificeswere abolished, and that
the whole Jewisheconomywas brought to an end, and the Christian
dispensationintroduced" (Clarke).
3. The judgment in the destruction of Jerusalemwas a figure of the judgment
of the greatday. The scatteredJew-Christians found relief in the judgment
which brought desolationto their persecutors (cf. Mark 13:13;James 5:7-9).
III. HE WILL YET COME VISIBLY, IN POWER AND GLORY.
1. He will then come "in the clouds."
(1) He will come upon a glorious throne.
(2) He will come with a myriad retinue. Clouds of angels. Clouds of spirits of
just men made perfect (see Hebrews 12:1).
2. He will come to introduce the millennium.
(1) He will begin that reign with judgments upon the obstinately wicked. The
antichristian nations will be overthrown.
(2) He will end that age with the final judgment upon the dead, small and
great.
IV. HE COMES IN THE ARTICLE OF DEATH.
1. This is the "end of the age" to us as the term of our probation.
2. It is to us virtually the day of judgment.
3. Christ comes in personto receive to himself his own (see John 14:3).

4. Let us be admonished and prepare. - J.A.M.
PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
Matthew 24:1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going awaywhen His
disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him: Kai exelthon
(AAPMSN) o Iesous apo tou hierou eporeueto (3SIMI) kaiproselthon oi
mathetai autou epideixai (AAN) auto tas oikodomas touhierou:
came out of: Mt 23:39 Jer 6:8 Eze 8:6, 10:17-19, 11:22,23 Ho 9:12
point out: Mk 13:1,2 Lu 21:5,6 Jn 2:20)
(Copyright 2014 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software)
THE OLIVET DISCOURSE:
THE TEMPLE'S BEAUTY ADMIRED
On what day of "Holy Week" did this discourse take place? TuesdayEvening
(cp Mk 11:19, See note on "Holy Tuesday", cfPassionWeekorHoly Week)
(Note:MacArthur thinks it was Wednesdayevening because he dates the
Triumphal Entry to Monday, not Sunday).
John Phillips observes that "The King had passedfinal judgment on the
nation of Israel(cf Matthew 23:38-39). All that remained was the cross. But
first, in an astonishing prophetic discourse, the King gave His disciples a
sketchof the generaltenor of the new church age that was about to be

inserted into time, and then went on to speak ofthe end-time events that
would herald His coming again. This important prophetic statement gathers
togetherthe main threads of Old Testamentend-time prophecy and the
threads of New Testamentprophecy, weaves them into an imposing fabric of
eschatology, andembroiders the fabric with flashes of insight from the Lord's
omniscient foreknowledge."(Exploring the Gospelof Matthew)
Warren Wiersbe sets the stage for Matthew 24 commenting that "The Olivet
Discourse grew outof some questions the disciples askedwhenJesus told
them that the temple would one day be destroyed. First, they wanted to know
when. This answeris not recorded in Matthew but is given in Luke 21:20-24.
Second, they askedabout the signof Christ's return. This is answeredin
Matthew 24:29-44. In their final question, they askedabout the sign of the end
of the age. Christ's reply is in Matthew 24:4-28. (The Bible Exposition
Commentary)
Gotquestions - It is important to recognize that Jesus'teaching in this
discourse is in reference to Israel and not the Church. Christ was speaking of
God's future program for Israel. Other passagesto considerwhen studying
the Olivet Discourse are Daniel9:24-27 and Revelation6:1 - 19:21, which
refer to the future seven-yearperiod calledthe tribulation. God's program for
the Church concludes with the rapture, which is not taught in the Olivet
Discourse.The rapture of the Church is found in John 14:1-4; 1 Corinthians
15:51-52;and 1 Thessalonians4:13-18. In Matthew 23:1-37, 38-39, Jesus had
spokento the Phariseesconcerning judgment. This can be seenin the "woe"
statements in that chapter. (What is the Olivet Discourse?)
David Platt - Jesus'prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalemand
His secondcoming are a callfor His disciples to trust in His authority,
persevere in His power, and long for His return. (Exalting Christ in Matthew)
THE GLORY DEPARTS
THE TEMPLE!
Jesus came out from the Temple - "All the discourses since Mt21:23 have
been in the Temple courts." (A T Robertson)This final departure of Jesus

from the Temple marked the end of His public ministry! Mark 13:1 has a
similar phrase "He was going out" (present tense) picturing Him in the actof
leaving. The statement about Jesus'leaving the Temple is not found in Luke
21:1-6 which at leastraises the possibility that the latter discourse was
delivered in the Temple complex. Howevermost commentators considerLuke
21 as part of Jesus'classicOlivet Discourse.
Fruchtenbaum points out that "Actually, at that time, the Temple buildings
were not yet completed. The Temple Compound was begun by Herod the
Greatin 20 B.C., but it was not finished until A.D. 64, only six years before its
destruction. The words of the Olivet Discourse were spokenin the year A.D.
30, and so the building of the Temple Compound had been going on for fifty
years. They would continue the building for another 34 years." (The Footsteps
of the Messiah-A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events)
Was going away- The imperfect tense (continuous action)gives us a vivid
description of Jesus. One can picture Him as He keeps on walking awayfrom
the Temple for the last time.
So here we see Jesus the One Who alone possessed"gloryas of the only
begottenfrom the Father" (Jn 1:14-EasternGate (just as did the Shekinah
glory - Ezek 10:19-see description)which was also the likely route of His
"Triumphant Entrance" into Jerusalem(cp Lk 19:28-48)two days earlier
("Palm Sunday"). Howeverthe glory of will one day return, because the
Glorious One will return! Indeed, Ezekielprophesies that "the (Shekinah)
glory of Jehovah(cf Jesus - Jn 1:14-note) would one day in the future come
into the Millennial Temple "by the way of the gate facing toward the East."
(Ezekiel43:4-see GoldenGate;See relatednote on "The Gate to Prophecy")
RelatedResource:
The Stepwise Departure of The Glory of the LORD from Solomon's Temple
Tony Garland makes an interesting observationthat there is a "parallelwith
Jesus, the Glory of the Lord, departing the Temple to the Mount of Olives and
the ShekinahGlory which departed in the same manner in Ezekiel's day
(Ezek 11:22-23-note cf. Mt. 23:38). In both cases,some time thereafter the

Temple was destroyed." (See depictionof the departure of the Shekinah glory
in Ezekiel8:1-11:25)
Jesus (2424)(Iesous)is transliteration of the Greek Iesous, whichin turn is the
transliteration of the Hebrew name Jehoshua (Yehoshua)or Jeshua (Yeshua)
which mean Jehovahis help or Jehovahis salvation. Stated another waythe
Greek Iesous corresponds to the OT Jehoshua (Yehoshua)which is contracted
as Jeshua (Yeshua). NET Note on Jesus - The Greek form of the name Iēsous,
which was translated into Latin as Jesus, is the same as the Hebrew Yeshua
(Joshua), which means "Yahwehsaves" (Yahwehis typically rendered as
"LORD" in the OT).
His disciples came up to point out the Temple buildings to Him - Mark says
"one of His disciples" (Mk 13:1) apparently actedas spokesmanforthe group
and directed Jesus'attentionto the magnificent structures. The Synoptic
Gospels do not state specificallywhy they did this. Howeverkeeping the
context in mind, they may have been motivated by the fact that Jesus had just
stated"Behold, your house (the Temple) is being left to you desolate!" (Mt
23:38 - discussedmore fully in comments below on Mt 24:3) Luke 21:5 says
"some were talking about the Temple, that it was adornedwith beautiful
stones and votive gifts." (Lk 21:5) Aren't we all like the disciples, awe struck
by the beauty of man made edifices, but sadly often minimizing the super-
human Beautiful One Himself!
The Temple (See Herod's Temple) buildings - Constructionof the Temple had
begun nearly 50 years earlier under the direction of Herod the Great and
would still be ongoing 40 years later when it was utterly destroyed!(cf Eccl
1:2-3!) The summit of Mount Zion had been dug awayto leave a plateau of
1,000 feetsquare. At the far end of it was the Temple itself (naos). It was built
of white marble plated with gold, and it shone in the sun so that a man could
scarcelybearto look at it. Betweenthe LowerCity and the Temple Mount lay
the TyropoeonValley, and across this valley stretcheda colossalbridge. Its
arches had a span of 41 1/2 feet, and its spring stones were 24 feet long by 6
inches thick. The Temple area was surrounded by greatporches, Solomon's
Porticos and the Royal Porch(Acts 3:11-12). These porches were upheld by
pillars, cut out of solid blocks ofmarble in one piece. They were 37 1/2 feet

high, and of such a thickness that three men linked togethercould scarcely
put their arms round them. At the corners of the Temple angle stones have
been found which measure from 20 to 40 feet in length, and which weigh more
than 100 tons. How they were ever cut and placed in position is one of the
mysteries of ancientengineering. Little wonder that these Galileanfishermen
lookedand directed Jesus'attention to them. Others are like Herod who
focusedon the trappings of "religion" at the expense of a relationship with the
Righteous One!.
Hiebert - According to Josephus, part of it was built of strong, white stones
eachmeasuring twenty-five cubits long, eight high, and about twelve in
breadth (37 1/2′Ã— 12′ Ã— 18′). Some of these massive stones weighedmore
than one hundred tons. The plural buildings denotes the Temple proper as
well as the various courts with their chambers and magnificent colonnades, all
of which restedon the platform which Herod the Greathad constructedfor
the enlargedTemple area. Luke mentioned also the costly votive offerings
with which the temple was decorated(Luke 21:5). The Herodian Temple was
recognizedas one of the architectural wonders of the Roman world. (Ibid)
Relatedresources:
JewishChristian Alfred Edersheim's Temple--Its Ministry and Services
Josephus - scrolldown page to "Chapter11" for discussionofTemple
Tacitus-Book V Chapter 8 describedthe Temple as "enormous riches"
The Temple buildings - The disciples focusedon the exterior of the Temple.
Jesus focusing on the real meaning of the Temple, which was supposedto
symbolize the presence ofGod. And of course Jesus knew that not only was
much (most) of the religious activity associatedwith the Temple a sham, He
also knew that the religious leaders would soonrejectHim as the God that the
Temple symbolized.
Temple (2411)(hieron)referred to a building which was set apart and
dedicatedto the worship and service of the gods. In the NT hieron was used to
designate the entire complex, the entire sacredenclosure, withits porticos,
courts, and other subordinate buildings. The Greek word Naos referredto the

Temple proper, including the inner sanctuary, composedofthe outer room,
the Holy of Holies and the innermost Holy Place. When our Lord taught in the
Temple, He taught in the hieron, in one of the temple porches. He expelled the
money-changers from the hieron, the court of the Gentiles. When the veil of
the Temple was rent at the time of the death of our Lord (Mt 27:52, cp Heb
10:19-22-note), it was the veil of the naos, the curtain separating the Holy of
Holies from the Holy Place. WhenZacharias entered the Temple to burn
incense (Lk 1:9), he entered the naos, the Holy Place where the altar of
incense stoodwhile the multitude were in prayer outside in the hieron the
temple complex (Lk 1:10).
Matthew 24:2 And He saidto them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I
say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn
down.": o de apokritheis (APPMSN)eipen (3SAAI) autois ou blepete (2PPAI)
tauta panta? Amen lego (1SPAI) humin ou me aphethe (3SAPS) ode lithos epi
lithon os ou kataluthesetai(3SFPI):
1Ki 9:7-8 Jer26:18 Eze 7:20-22 Da 9:26,27 Mic 3:12 Lu 19:44 2Pe 3:11
Rock left after Temple Destroyed
THE OLIVET DISCOURSE:
THE TEMPLE'S DESTRUCTIONDECREED
Parallelpassages:
Luke 19:44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within
you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did
not recognize the time of your visitation."
Mark 13:2 And Jesus saidto him ("one of His disciples" - Mk 13:1), "Do you
see these greatbuildings? Notone stone will be left upon another which will
not be torn down."

Luke 21:6 "As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in
which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn
down."
Do you not see all these things? - In Mark 13:2 Jesus asked"Do yousee these
greatbuildings" (cf "it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts" -
Lk 21:50)thus acknowledging the magnificence of the Temple complex.
Hiebert says the disciples were "justified in viewing it with admiration. The
words ("Do you not see...")may be viewed either as a question or an
assertion. If they are a question, Jesus askedthe disciple(s), "Is your attention
centeredon the grand material structure?" If they are an assertion, Jesus
acknowledgedthat the disciple(s) was occupiedwith the grandeur before Him.
To view the reply as a question seems preferable. In either case, His words
fixed attention on the material temple itself in preparation for His astonishing
announcement." (Ibid)
Truly (Amen) (281)(amen)when used by Jesus before a saying was to stress
the truth and validity of the sayings by His own acknowledgmentof them. The
idea is "I solemnly assure you."
Not one stone here will be left upon another - Up to this time during the day
(it was probably toward Tuesdayevening now - cf Mk 11:19)Jesus had been
teaching (cf Mk 11:20-12:44), acting as the "forth teller" but now He switches
to "foreteller" uttering a dramatic prophecy that would sooncome to pass.
Jesus predicted the complete and utter destruction of the Temple, a prophecy
that was fulfilled in 70AD. Jesus had foretold metaphorically of the
destruction of the "Temple" of His body (Jn 2:19, Mk 14:58, Acts 6:14), but
now He spoke of a literal destruction of the holy Temple, not His holy body.
Although some of the stones which were set in place by Herod the Great in his
expansion of the Temple complex are still visible on the southeastcornerof
the Temple Mount, that does not at all invalidate the literal fulfillment of
Jesus'prophecy, because He was referring to the stones ofthe actualTemple
of which not a stone remains left upon another.
Not one stone...uponanother (Literally = "stone upon stone") - In Matthew's
version Jesus uses a strong double negative (ou me) signifying absolutely not

one stone of the Temple would remain intact. His negative emphasis is even
strongerin Mark 13:2 for He uses the double negative twice - "Absolutely not
even one stone will be left upon another which will absolutelynot be torn
down." His prediction was statedabout as dogmatically as it could be stated
in the original Greek!
John MacArthur adds that Jesus'words that not one stone here will be left
upon another "would be fulfilled literally in A.D. 70, when the Romans, the
human means of divine wrath (Ed: Notice this point! cf
"Nebuchadnezzar...Myservant" = Jer 25:9, 27:6), erectedscaffolds around
the walls of the temple and its buildings, filled them with wood and other
flammable material, and set them on fire. The intense heat from the fires
causedthe stones to crumble. After it was further dismantled and sifted to
find all the melted gold, the rubble was thrown down into the Kidron Valley.
Only the huge foundation stones remainedlargely intact. Those stones,
however, were not part of the Temple itself, but supports for the retaining
wall." (Luke 18-24 MacArthur New TestamentCommentary)
Hiebert - The Temple was actually destroyed by fire, contrary to the order of
Titus, who had hoped to spare the edifice; but later, he gave orders to
demolish the entire city and Temple. (Flavius Josephus, Wars of the Jews 6.1-
6.92;Flavius Josephus, Wars of the Jews 7.1.1)(Ibid)
Leon Morris has a point of application regarding the destruction of the
beautiful Temple - Jesus is making clearthat, while the temple was
undoubtedly a wonderful building, the disciples should not be beguiled by its
beauty. What matters is that God's people should live godly lives. When they
do not, disasterin some form is inevitable. (Pillar NT Commentary)
SOME CONTEXT ON THE
DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE & JERUSALEM
In the Old Testament, Jehovah, through the prophet Jeremiah, had given a
clearwarning to Israel concerning the impending destruction of the Temple
"Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your
sight? Behold, I, even I, have seenit," declares the LORD. But go now to My

place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see
what I did to it because ofthe wickednessofMy people Israel. And now,
because you have done all these things," declares the LORD, "and I spoke to
you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I calledyou but
you did not answer, therefore, I will do to the house which is calledby My
name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers,
as I did to Shiloh. (Jer 7:11-14, cf Ps 78:60-61)
Prophecyis like a jigsaw puzzle and just as one is enabled to solve the puzzle
by first finding the most obvious pieces (the corners), so too one is enabled to
unravel a controversialchapterlike Matthew 24 by finding the obvious pieces.
And so we need to keepthe context in mind and compare Scriptures that
relate to the context. What was the context? What had Jesus just declaredin
Matthew 23:37-39?
"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!'" (Mt 23:37-39)
Comment: To what house does He refer? This is clearlya reference to their
beloved Temple (and city of Jerusalem). In the Old TestamentDaniel9:26 (see
commentary) had prophesied "after the sixty-two weeks (plus the 7 weeks =
69 weeks = 483 years)the Messiahwouldbe cut off (the Crucifixion of Jesus -
Hebrew word = karath = speaks ofa violent death) and have nothing, and the
people (Romans)of the prince who is to come (Antichrist) will destroy the city
and the sanctuary. And its (Jerusalem's)end will come with a flood; even to
the end there will be war; desolations are determined." As discussedabove it
may have been because Jesuspronouncedthis judgment on Jerusalemand the
Temple that the astonisheddisciples immediately drew His attention to its
beauty and magnificence.
Ray Stedman: All of this (Ed: Referring to the Olivet Discourse)comes atthe
close ofthe most blistering sermon He everdelivered. It was addressedto the

Scribes and the Pharisees, andconsistedofa series of "woes"pronounced
upon the hypocrisy of these religious leaders (Mt 23:2, 13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25,
27, 29). They were supposed to be the teachers ofthe people but were actually
hindering them from knowing the truth of God. Jesus beganHis ministry with
a series ofeight blessings (the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:1-12), and He ended it
with a series ofeight woes. Nothing arousesmore vehement angerin the heart
of God than religious hypocrisy. Throughout the Scriptures, God's most
scorching terms are reservedfor those who profess to know Him but who
behave quite contrary to their profession-especiallyfor the self-righteous.
(The Long Look Ahead - Matthew 24:1-3)
It is worth noting that almost 500 years earlierDaniel had foretold the
Crucifixion of the Messiahand the desolationof Jerusalemby the Romans.
But in the midst of wrath ("your house...leftto you desolate")Godremembers
mercy, for He is a merciful (mercy filled) God! And so in Mt 23:39 Jesus gives
a prophetic promise which begins with the word "until" which marks the time
when Israel will bless the MessiahWho returns in the Name of the LORD at
the end of this age. Why will they call Him "blessed" in the future and not at
the time He walkedamong them? MostJews rejectedJesusas the Messiahin
His first advent (Jn 1:11), but when He returns, the Spirit of grace and
supplication will be poured out on the Jews (Zech12:10)and one-third will be
saved(the "all Israel" of Ro 11:26-27, Zech13:8-9). It is those savedJewish
people who will shout out Psalm118:26 (where Mt 23:39 changes "one" to
"He" and Lk 19:38 changes "one"to "the King" for at that time He will
indeed be "King of kings and Lord of lords!" Amen! [Rev 19:16]). In
summary even in Matthew 23:38-39, Jesusprophesiedof the coming
destruction of the House of God, the Temple, which occurred in 70AD. But He
also prophesied about His future return as King of kings at the end of this
age!Now as we read Mt 24:3 we can better understand why the disciples ask
Him not only about the timing of the destruction of the Temple but also about
His return at the end of the age.
Compare other Scriptures related to the destruction of Jerusalem. In Luke
Jesus gives a parallel prophecy of the coming destruction of Jerusalem...

And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you
had knownin this day, even you, the things which make for peace!But now
they have been hidden from your eyes. For(term of explanation) the days
shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and
surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground
and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon
another, because (term of explanation) you did not recognize the time of your
visitation (see episkope)." (Luke 19:42-44)
Comment: In Luke 19:42 the phrase "this day" might be better translated
"the day" because the definitive article ("te" = the) precedes "day" (hemera)
and marks it as a very specific, unique day. In context, "this day" is further
describedby Jesus as "the time of your visitation." What is unique about
"this day" and "the time of your visitation." It was the very unique day when
Jesus presentedHimself to the Jews as their Messiahand King entering
Jerusalemriding on a colt (Lk 19:35-38;cp Mt 21:7-9 "the donkey and the
colt")as the Jews cried"Hosanna [Save Now]in the highest!" (Mt 21:9) They
were crying for salvation(from Rome)but not for salvation(from sin) and so
they missed their long promised Messiah. Jesus'is very clearthat they should
have "knownin this day" that it was "the time of visitation." But is Jesus
being unfair? How could they have known this specific day? Is there any place
in the Old TestamentScriptures where God had foretold of this unique day?
Since we know God is never unjust or unfair, we know that there was clearly
a prophecy that foretold of "this day." That prophecy is found in the Seventy
Weeks whichwere specifically"decreedfor your people (Israel) and your holy
city (Jerusalem)" (Da 9:24-27). That incredible prophecy foretoldto the day
when the Messiahwouldcome into Jerusalem, but also foretold that He would
be crucified and that Jerusalemwould be left desolate, just as Jesus had
predicted.
For a more detailed explanation of what is probably one of the greatest
prophecies in all of the Bible see the commentary notes on eachof the specific
verses -
Daniel 9:24;

Daniel 9:25;
Daniel 9:26;
Daniel 9:27.
Matthew 24:3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to
Him privately, saying, "Tellus, when will these things happen, and what will
be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?":Kathemenou
(PMPMSG)de autou epi tou Horous ton Elaion proselthon (3PAAI) auto oi
mathetai kat idian legontes (PAPMPN)Eipe (2SAAM) hemin pote tauta estai
(3SFMI)kai ti to semeiontes ses parousias kaisunteleias tou aionos:
Was sitting: Mt 21:1 Mk 13:3,4
the disciples:Mt 13:10,11,36 15:12 17:19
Tell: Da 12:6-8 Lu 21:7 Jn 21:21,22 Ac 1:7 1Th 5:1-11
the sign: Mt 24:32,33,43
the end: Mt 13:39,40,4928:20 Heb 9:26)
Amplified While He was seatedon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to
Him privately and said, Tell us, when will this take place, and what will be the
sign of Your coming and of the end (the completion, the consummation) of the
age?
Darby And as he was sitting upon the mount of Olives the disciples came to
him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what is the sign
of thy coming and the completion of the age?
KJV And as he satupon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him
privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the
sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
NET As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him
privately and said, "Tellus, when will these things happen? And what will be
the signof your coming and of the end of the age?"

ESV As he saton the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately,
saying, "Tellus, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your
coming and of the close of the age?"
NIV As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him
privately. "Tellus," they said, "whenwill this happen, and what will be the
sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
NLT Later, Jesus saton the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him
privately and said, "Tellus, when will all this happen? What sign will signal
your return and the end of the world? "
YLT And when he is sitting on the mount of the Olives, the disciples came
near to him by himself, saying, 'Tell us, when shall these be? and what is the
sign of thy presence, andof the full end of the age?'
THE DISCIPLES'
QUESTIONS
Ray Stedman - Having said this he left the Temple, and the disciples went with
Him. Silently, they walkeddown through the valley of Kidron and up the
other side to the Mount of Olives. There Jesus took his seat, upon one of the
rocks that overlookedthe city and the Temple area (Ed: The higher elevation
enabled them to look down on a panoramic view of the city).. The disciples
were troubled and confused. They could not understand His actions or His
words concerning the Temple. The Temple was the center of the nation's life
and they regardedit with holy awe as the very dwelling place of God among
His people. Its beauty was famous throughout the earth and they could not
believe that God would allow any harm to come to it. So they beganto point
out to Jesus the strength and beauty of the Temple. (The Long Look Ahead -
Matthew 24:1-3)
As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives - (the posture of a teacher, cf other
references to Jesus seated - Mt 5:1; 13:1; 15:29;19:28; 22:44;23:2; 25:31)
"The final teaching section(Mt 24:3-26:1)begins like the first with Jesus
sitting on a mountain (Mt 5:1) and concludes with a similar ending (Mt 7:28;
26:1)." (Lowery - Bible Knowledge Key Word Study) Mark adds the small

detail that Jesus "was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple."
(Mk 13:3) The Mount of Olives is about 150 feethigher and due westof
Temple Mount, separatedby the Kidron Valley, giving one a panoramic view
of the holy Temple and the holy city (See picture). The fact that the disciples
came to Him suggests thatHe had already walkedaheadof them possibly "in
silent meditation." (Hiebert)
The Mount of Olives - How apropos that Jesus'delivered this message giving
details of the His glorious return (Mt 24:27-30). The disciples may have
known the prophecy of in Zechariah 14:4-note - "And in that day His feetwill
stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalemon the east;and
the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from eastto westby a very large
valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other
half toward the south." Not only would Jesus return to the Mount of Olives
but He would soonascendback to the Father from the Mount of Olives (Read
Acts 1:9-11, 12-note).
Before we go any farther it is important to understand what Jesus'disciples
believed about the coming of the Messiah. The following summary is taken
from John MacArthur's sermon(see this sermon for expansion of eachof the
following points) and much of his information is derived from the work of
Emil Schurer (See Schurer's discussionof The Messianic Hope - Caveat- Note
that I do not agree with all of Schurer's conclusions - e.g., he dates the writing
of Daniel circa 164 BC four centuries later than it was actually penned by the
prophet Daniel!). What this synopsis does help us understand is that the
disciples were not looking for a "SecondComing" as we speak of it today.
They were firmly convincedthat Jesus was the long expected JewishMessiah
and that in their lifetime He would defeatIsrael's enemies and setup His
glorious kingdom of God in which Israelwould once againbe the most
prominent nation in the world. Even after His death, burial and resurrection,
the disciples still did not understand that Jesus had to leave and that there
would be a long interval (at least2000 years now)before He would return and
accomplishthe objectives outlined below. How do we know the disciples were
still confusedabout the "timing"? Even after Jesus had spent 40 post-
resurrectiondays speaking of the things concerning the Kingdom of God
(Acts 1:3-note), they steadfastlycontinued to believe that Jesus was going to

setup the Kingdom at that time. And so when they had come together, they
were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the
kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6-note). Notice whatJesus did NOT SAY - "Boys,
you've gotit all wrong. The promises to Israelhave been given to the Church.
Israelhas been replacedby the Church and God is finished with the literal
nation of Israel!"
Here is the summary of what the disciples and most Jews ofJesus'day
believed about the coming of the Messiah...
(i) Before the Messiahcame there would be a time of terrible tribulation.
(ii) Into this chaos there would come Elijah as the forerunner and herald of
the Messiah.
(iii) Then there would enter the Messiah.
(iv) The nations would ally themselves and gather themselves togetheragainst
the champion of God.
(v) The result would be the total destruction of these hostile powers.
(vi) There would follow the renovation of Jerusalem.
(vii) The Jews who were dispersedall over the world would be gatheredinto
the city of the new Jerusalem.
(viii) Palestine would be the centre of the world and the restof the world
subject to it. All the nations would be subdued.
Warren Wiersbe reminds us as we read the Olivet Discourse it is vital that we
"We must keepin mind that the "atmosphere" ofthis discourse is Jewish.
Jesus talkedabout Judea (Mt. 24:16), the Sabbath (Mt. 24:20) (Ed: And in
Mark's version mentioned synagogues -Mk 13:9), and the prophecies of
Daniel concerning the Jewishpeople (Mt. 24:15)...Thoughthere are definite
applications to God's people today, the emphasis is on Jerusalem, the Jews,
and the temple. Our Lord was not discussing His coming for the church (The
Rapture), for that can occurat any time and no signs need precede it (1Cor
15:51-58;1Thes. 4:13-18). "Forthe Jews require a sign" (1Cor1:22); the

church looks fora Saviour (Phil 3:20-21)." (The Bible Exposition
Commentary)
The disciples came to Him privately (cf Mt 17:19) - The Olivet Discourse was
not a public teaching, but was given only for the ears of believers. Mark gives
us the names of the four disciples who came to Jesus - "Peterand James and
John and Andrew were questioning Him privately." (Mark 13:3) These were
the first four disciples Jesus had called at the outsetof His ministry and they
comprised His innermost circle. Then the four disciples askedthree questions.
THE DISCIPLES'
QUESTIONS
(1) When will these things happen?
(2a) What will be the sign of Your coming?
(2b) What will be the sign of the End of the Age?
Parallelpassages - Matthew 24:3; Mark 13:3-4;Luke 21:7 (Remember that to
best understand Matthew 24-25, it is important to study the related passages
in Mark and Luke).
When will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and
of the end of the age? - This is two questions with the secondquestion having
two components (some interpret it three questions - Walvoord, Fruchtenbaum
- see below).
Fruchtenbaum comments that "All together, three questions were asked
which, at the same time, included requests for three signs." (Ibid) He explains
that in the Luke passagethe disciples askednot only when (just as in
Matthew)but what is the sign that will identify that these things are about to
take place. Matthew asks only when but do not mention a sign.
Thomas Constable on the other hand comments that "The disciples asked
Jesus two questions. The first was, "Whenwill these things be?" The second
question had two parts as is clearfrom the Greek constructionof the sentence.
It linked two nouns, "coming" (parousia) and "end" (sunteleia), with a single

article, "the" (Gr. to), and the conjunction "and" (Gr. kai). What will be the
sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24 Commentary)
Blomberg agreesthat "By not repeating the definite article ("the")before
"end of the age," Matthew's rendering of Jesus'words is most likely linking
the coming of Christ and the end of the age togetheras one event (Granville
Sharp's rule)." (NAC - Matthew)
What is the significance ofthe fact that there is only one article governing the
coming and the consummation (end)? This suggests thatthe disciples viewed
the coming and the consummation as two events which were distinct, but
closelyconnected. This will be discussedmore fully below.
FIRST QUESTION:
WHEN?
Tell us, when will these things happen - What are these things? This refers to
the destructionof the Temple, which He had foretold in Mt 23:38 and againin
Mt 24:2. The disciples did not ask "why" (presumably they understood why
judgement had to come)but "when?"
Matthew 24 and Mark 13 do not record when the Temple would be destroyed,
although they do recordsigns regarding when it would be made desolate (Mt
24:15, Mk 13:14). The answerto when the Temple would be destroyedis
recordedin Luke 21:20 where Jesus foretoldthat "when you see Jerusalem
surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolationis at hand." This
clearsign would signal the beginning of the end of Jerusalemand destruction
of the Temple, a prophecy that was literally fulfilled in 70AD, confirming
Jesus as a true prophet, Whose coming had been foretold by Mosesin
Deuteronomy "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me
from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him." (Dt 18:15,
18, cf tests of a true prophet - Dt 18:20-22)
See Chart Summarizing the Three Signs in the Olivet Discourse
Hiebert has an interesting and astute analysis of these things - These things
againrelates to the Temple, but the question (of the disciples) assumes that

the destructionwill be part of the complex events culminating in the
consummation of the age and the inauguration of the messianic kingdom. His
prophecy of the destruction of the temple naturally led them to think of
Zechariah 14 and its eschatologicalportrayal. This implication is more clearly
indicated in Matthew's formulation of the question. "When shall these things
be, and what is the signof thy coming and [the] completion of the age?"
(Darby). Completion of the age (sunteleia) is the noun form of the verb in
Mark, rendered "shall be fulfilled," (sunteleo)denoting that the things
mentioned will be brought to their close, orfinal fulfillment. All (panta) (Ed:
This refers to the parallel passagein Mk 13:4) stands emphatically at the end
of the sentence to stress the total consummation of these crisis events ("to
semeionhotan mello tauta sunteleisthaipanta"). They were eagerto know
what sign or visible portent would enable them to recognize the inauguration
of these cataclysmic events. Clearly, they did not foresee the long interval
betweenthe two events (Ed: Some would say "three" events) . The localevent
(Ed: destruction of the Temple) became blended into the eschatological(Ed:
His parousia and end of the age). This use of the localevent in the foreground
as the type of eschatologicaleventis seenin the Old Testamentin Joel's
presentationof the Day of the Lord (Ed: E.g., Joel1:4 describing the local
locustplague and the Day of the LORD in Joel1:15). This prophetic use of the
localcrisis as a type of the end time teaches us that eachage has its own
judgment pointing to the certainty of the final judgment. (Ibid) (Bolding
added for emphasis)
Indeed, if the disciples knew their OT prophecies, Jesus'prophecyregarding
the Temple and His subsequent establishmentof the Messianic Kingdom
would have naturally led them to think of Zechariah 14:1-21, for Zechariah
14:2 describes a battle againstJerusalem, Zechariah14:3,5 describes
Messiah's victorious return (cp parousia - arrival and presence)and
Zechariah 14:8-21 describes the conditions of the subsequent Messianic
Kingdom.
A few thoughts to ponder - Remember that in 2016 we readJesus'prophecies
almost 2000 years laterand we know that the Temple has been destroyed in
70AD and we know that Jesus has not physically returned to bring this
present age to its consummation and inaugurate His Messianic Kingdom. But

if we place ourselves in the sandals of these four disciples on the mountain
with Jesus, whenthey askedabout the Temple destruction, they did not see a
gap of 2000 years betweenthe fulfillment of these prophecies (Temple
destroyed, Jesus'arrival, end of this age). In their mind they clearlyassociated
Jesus parousia (presence - see discussionbelow)and the consummation of the
age (and beginning of the next, the Messianic Age). Indeed, from Acts 1:6
their question indicates that they thought the end of this age and the
beginning of the Messianic Kingdom was to come soon, probably in their
lifetime (cf Lk 19:11). After all they were on the same Mount of Olives as they
were in Mt 24:3 when Jesus had first disclosedHis prophecy. The difference
was that now Jesus had been crucified and resurrected, returned to life from
the dead. And they understood that truth now. And so here they were on the
Mount and Jesus had indeed in one sense returned or "come" to them again
(recalling that parousia means an arrival and a presence), this coming of
course being from the grave not from clouds. And so one could easilysee how
they might interpret this as His parousia (arrival and presence)as fulfilled.
No, the Temple had not yet been destroyed, but His coming back to life and
coming to them would signalthat this was the end of the age and soonthe
Messianic Kingdom would begin. Just a few thoughts to ponder!
John MacArthur's sermonon The Signs of Christ's Coming, Part 1 gives a
summary of first century Jewisheschatologicalexpectationswhichhelps us
"getinside the disciples'heads" and better understand why they were asking
Jesus whatthey asked. In other words, one might think that the mention of
the Temple's destruction would generate a question related only to that topic.
Howeverthey also askedabout the coming of Messiahand the consummation
of the age. It is clearthat in their minds all three were related, but as alluded
to above, they had no conceptof the gap of time that would separate the
Temple's destruction from the coming and consummation. See discussionof
Time Gaps in Interpretation of Prophecy.
Ray Stedman - In Luke 21:20, we have other details of this predicted
overthrow of the city and the Temple. There Jesus adds, "But when you see
Jerusalemsurrounded by armies, then know that its desolationhas come
near." Forty years later, the Romanarmies under Titus came in and fulfilled
the prediction to the very letter. With Titus was a Jewishhistorian named

Josephus who recordedthe terrible story in minute detail. It was one of the
most ghastly siegesin all history. When the Romans came the city was divided
among three warring factions of Jews, who were so at eachothers' throats
that they paid no heed to the approachof the Romans. Thus, Titus came up
and surrounded the city while it was distracted by its own internecine
warfare. The Romans assaultedthe walls again and again, and gave every
opportunity to the Jews to surrender and save their capital destruction.
During the long siege a terrible famine ragedin the city and the bodies of the
inhabitants of the city were literally stackedlike cordwoodin the streets.
Mothers ate their own children to preserve their own strength. The toll of
Jewishsuffering was horrible but they would not surrender the city. Again
and againthey attempted to trick the Romans through guile and perfidy.
When at lastthe walls were breachedTitus tried to preserve the Temple by
giving orders to his soldiers not to destroy or burn it. But the angerof the
soldiers againstthe Jews was so intense that, maddened by the resistance they
encountered, they disobeyedthe order of their generaland setfire to the
temple. There were greatquantities of goldand silver which had been placed
in the Temple for safekeeping. This melted and ran down betweenthe rocks
and into the cracks ofthe stones that formed the Temple and the wall around
it. When the Romansoldiers finally took the city, in their greedto obtain this
gold and silver they took long bars and pried apart these massive stones.
Thus, quite literally, not one stone was left standing upon another. The
Temple itself was totally destroyed though the wall supporting the area upon
which the Temple was built was left partially intact and a portion of it
remains to this day, called the WesternWall. In this remarkable fulfillment,
confirmed so strongly by secularhistory, is convincing proof that God will
fulfill every other part of this amazing messagefully and literally. As Jesus
himself said in the discourse, "Heavenand earth will pass away, but my words
will not pass away. (The Long Look Ahead - Matthew 24:1-3)
In fairness, a number of commentaries feelthat in Matthew 24 Jesus did
answerthe first question about when the destruction of the Temple would
occur. These commentaries interpret Matthew 24:15-22 as a prophecy of the
destruction of Jerusalemwhich was fulfilled in 70AD. The commentary you
are reading however interprets the abomination of desolationin Mt 24:15ff

literally and in light of Daniel 9:27-note as a prophecy of Jerusalem's
destruction which is yet future. Matthew 24 and Mark 13 do not describe the
destruction of Jerusalemin 70AD, although some who interpret it as yet
future, also see either a past fulfillment ("double fulfillment") or a "type" or
shadow of the yet future destruction. Luke 21:20-24-note presents a clearand
distinctive sign(the Roman army surrounding Jerusalem)of the impending
destruction of Jerusalem, which occurredin 70AD. It follows that both
Matthew 24 and Mark 13 focus primarily on disciples'secondand third
questions regarding the timing of the SecondComing and the end of the age.
There Is a Mighty Question
There is a mighty question
We ask when nations rage:
Just when will be Christ's coming,
The ending of the age?
Take care, saidJesus clearly,
For many will appear;
They'll claim to be Messiah,
Yet people should not fear.
For in the days of Noah,
The people went along
In eating and in drinking,
In merriment and song—
Then suddenly the world changed
With great, surprising power;

So too will be Christ's coming,
And no one knows the hour.
So keepawake and watchful;
Salvationis at hand!
Our hope is in Christ Jesus,
And by God's grace we stand.
The night is almost over,
We wait for God's new day,
And through the Holy Spirit,
We follow Jesus'way.
Be ready in your living,
For when you feed the poor,
Or give to thirsty children
The waterthey long for,
And when you welcome strangers
And help the ones in need,
Christ says:Receive my kingdom,
For you are serving me.
THE SIGN
OF HIS COMING

What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age? - As alluded
to above the Greek constructionclearlylinks these two events together. While
the phrase Your coming naturally suggestJesus SecondComing to most
modern day readers. As discussedbelow the noun for coming (parousia) can
have more than one meaning, so which meaning was intended by the
disciples?
Why did they ask Jesus aboutHis coming? Had He just mentioned His
coming? In fact He did in Mt 23:39 "ForI 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 so He said that the Jews would not see Him again
until they said "Blessedis He Who comes in the name of the Lord." And the
END OF THE AGE refers to this current age that is going to usher in the
corning of Jesus Christ.
Fruchtenbaum explains that "This question did not concernthe Rapture of
the Church because the Rapture is imminent and can happen at any moment,
having no warning sign preceding it. However, the Second Coming will be
precededby a sign, and the disciples askedwhatthe sign would be." (Ibid)
Comment: I realize that not every readerwill agree with Fruchtenbaum's
analysis especiallyif you are post-tribulation or mid-tribulation rapture. (See
related study on the verb harpazo in 1Th 4:17 which describes the church's
seizing or "rapture.")
RelatedResource:See Table comparing Rapture vs SecondComing
Coming (3952)(parousia)means presence, arrival, coming, an appearance, or
a presence afterhaving been gone. Parousia was usedas a near technicalterm
in secularGreek for the visit of a king or emperor or for the appearance of a
god.
According to the Greek Lexicon BDAG parousia had 2 basic meanings:
(1) the state of being present at a place - presence (e.g., 2Cor10:10 = speaks of
Paul's "personalpresence")
(2) the arrival as the first state in presence - coming, advent.

(a) Of human beings = Phil 1:26.
(b) In a specialtechnicalsense referring to coming of Christ (1Cor1:8, 2Th
2:8) and once to the coming of the Antichrist (2Th 2:9).
It is notable that the only use of parousia in the Gospels in in Matthew 24:3,
27, 37, 39. Mt 24:30 describes the "Sonof Man coming on the clouds" but the
Greek verb for coming is erchomainot parousia. It is interesting (and
appropriate) that parousia in the secularGreek writings often referred to the
visit of an emperor! (cp SecondComing Rev 19:11-13 and Rev 19:16)
Think about the disciples' requestabout His coming. What does that imply?
Clearly it implies He would depart. Why would they think He was going to
depart? If we examine the context, we note that Jesus did allude to His
departure in Mt 23:39 stating "from now on you shall not see Me until you
say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'" In
other words, He predicts there is a time when Israelwill not see Him. While
the disciples may not have fully understood what He meant, the language
clearly implies He would not be seenfor a time and then He would be seen
again("until you say..."). Another passage the disciples may have had in mind
was the Parable in Luke 19:11-15 where we see a "nobleman (~Jesus, Who)
went to a distant country" and later "returned after receiving the kingdom."
(Lk 19:15)This parable discusses the faithfulness of the nobleman's servants
while he was absent. And finally as discussedabove the disciples may have
recalledZechariah 14:1-21 which describes Messiah's return to rescue
embattled Jerusalem(cp Zech 14:2-3, 4, 6).
So the disciples were requesting a sign of His arrival/presence afterdeparture
or a sign of His future SecondComing, depending on which way they were
using parousia. Mostcommentaries feel the disciples were referring to His
future coming (but see Stedman and MacArthur below). Regardlessofwhich
way one interprets the disciples'question about His parousia, clearlyJesus
used parousia to describe His future coming.
PAROUSIA INTERPRETED

AS CHRIST'S ARRIVAL/PRESENCE
Here are two examples of interpretation of parousia in Mt 24:3 as meaning
presence rather than SecondComing:
(1) Ray Stedman writes that the disciples did not understand that Jesus must
die, be resurrectedfrom the dead, ascendto heavenand come again from
heaven. Therefore Stedman feels that when the disciples askedfor a signof
His coming, their emphasis was on "His presence in the nation as its King.
But, as we shall see in our Lord's answer, He treats it as a legitimate inquiry
concerning his SecondAdvent." (ReadStedman's reasoning in his sermon -
The Long Look Ahead - Matthew 24:1-3)
(2) John MacArthur - Coming translates parousia, which has the basic
meaning of presence and secondarilycarries the idea of arrival. The disciples'
question might therefore be paraphrased, "What will be the sign of Your
manifesting Yourself in Your full, permanent presence as Messiahand
King?" They did not use parousia in the specific and more technicalsense that
Jesus usedit later in this chapter (Mt 24:27, 37, 39)and as it is often used
elsewhere in the New Testamentin referring to His secondcoming (see, e.g.,
1Th 3:13; 2Th 2:8: 1Jn2:28). They were not thinking of Jesus'returning,
because they had no idea of His leaving, but were thinking rather of His
perfectedMessianic presence, whichthey expectedHim to manifest presently.
(The MacArthur New TestamentCommentary- Matthew 24-28;see also his
related sermons listed above)
THE SIGN OF THE END
OF THE AGE
The end of the age - Notice that KJV translates it as "the end of the world"
but that is not an accurate translationfor Matthew uses aion (age)not kosmos
(world).
Fruchtenbaum explains that the disciples "askedfor a third sign, and that
was:"What will be the sign that the end of this age has begun?" In rabbinic

theologyof that day, the rabbis spoke oftwo ages:this age, in which we now
live; and the age to come, the Messianic Age. The question is: "Whatis the
sign that the last days of this age have begun and that will lead to the
Messianic Age? All together, then, there were three questions in which the
disciples askedfor three signs to watch for (Ed: See Table below). Jesus
answeredthese questions, but not in the same order as they were asked. He
answeredthe third question first, the first question second, and the second
question third. Nor are all three answers found in all three accounts. While
Matthew and Mark recorded the answers to the secondand third questions,
they ignored the answerto the first question. It is Luke who recordedthe
Messiah's answerto the first question." (The Footsteps ofthe Messiah-A
Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events)
Thomas Constable agreesthat "By asking the question this way clearlythe
disciples believed that Jesus'coming (prophesied in Mt 23:39)would end the
present age and introduce the Messianic Age." (Matthew 24 Commentary)
In summary, by linking Jesus coming with the end the disciples probably
believed that Jesus'coming would end the present age and bring in the
Messianic Age.
SCRIPTURESASSOCIATING
SECOND COMINGWITH MESSIANIC AGE
The Jewishpeople failed to recognize Jesus'missionto die as the Lamb of
God Who takes awaythe sin of the world (Jn 1:29), and insteadheld fast to
the hope that He would soonbring in an earthly Messianic Kingdom. While
He did not come the first time to bring in the Messianic Kingdom (He would
have if Israelhad not rejectedHim), His return would usher in His glorious
kingdom. We see this truth echoedin other passages including ones from
Matthew, Luke, Acts and even the OT prophet Daniel.
(1) Matthew - In Matthew 19 Jesus had promised His disciples a place with
Him in His future earthly kingdom. They just failed to grasp how far in the
future this would be fulfilled!

Jesus saidto them, "Truly I sayto you, that you who have followed Me, in the
regenerationwhen the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging (present tense) the twelve tribes of
Israel. (Mt 19:28, cf Luke 22:28-30;cf "Kingdom of God" in Luke 22:16-18
and similar promises to all believers = Rev 3:21-note, Rev20:4-6-note)
MacArthur explains that regenerationhere "does not carry its normal
theologicalmeaning of personalregeneration(cf. Titus 3:5). Instead, Jesus
was speaking of"the period of restorationof all things about which God
spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time" (Acts 3:21). This
is a reference to the earthly kingdom described in Rev 20:1-15, whenbelievers
will sit with Christ on His throne (Rev 3:21). (MacArthur Study Bible)
Mt 19:28 appears to be a reference to a literal, earthly kingdom, for in heaven
there will be no need for the disciples (apostles)to sit on 12 thrones judging
the 12 tribes of Israel. This passage is also evidence that God is not "finished
with Israel" as is taught in ReplacementTheology (Supersessionism)unless
one interprets "Israel" in this passageas the Church! Even D A Carsonsays
the most likely interpretation is that "the twelve apostles exercisejudgment
over the twelve tribes of Israelphysically and racially conceived." (Expositor's
Bible Commentary-Matthew)
(2) Luke - Luke 19 records another passagethat supports the premise that the
Jews (including the disciples) were eagerlylooking for the imminent
appearing MessianicKing and Kingdom.
And while they (Jewishcrowdincluding the disciples) were listening to these
things (What things? Lk 19:10+), He went on to tell a parable, because He was
near Jerusalem, and they (which would include the disciples) supposedthat
the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. (Lk 19:11+)
John MacArthur: Their anticipation was growing with eachpassing mile and
is even suggestedby the Greek verb translated appear, which is a nautical
term for something becoming visible on the horizon (cf. Acts 21:3+). But that

earthly kingdom would be delayed, and Jesus would first be rejectedby His
people (John 1:11+), killed, and raisedfrom the dead to provide the sacrifice
for salvation. At His return He will establishHis earthly millennial rule (cf.
Rev. 20:4-6+).
Thomas Constable:The connectionbetweenJesus being almostat Jerusalem
and the kingdom appearing immediately implies that the believers in the
crowdexpected Jesus to begin the kingdom when He arrived there. Jesus had
just told Zaccheus that salvationhad come to his house that day (Lk 19:9+),
but salvationwould not come to Israel for some time. Even though the Son of
Man had come to seek and to save the lost(Lk 19:10+), the national
deliverance of Israelwould have to wait. What follows (Lk 19:12-27+)is
another of the many passagesin Luke that records Jesus'teaching about the
future. (Ed: Quoting Tannehill who adds) "In Luke 19:11 the disciples are
pictured as expecting something that should have been and could have been
apart from the rejectionof Jesus. But because ofthis rejection, the Messianic
Kingdom for Israeldoes not come immediately, as the disciples mistakenly
hoped. We see that in Luke-Acts the problem of eschatologicaldelayis
intertwined with the problem of Jewishrejection." (Luke 19 Commentary)
Walter L Liefeld - Obviously this parable teaches thatJesus predicted an
interval of time betweenHis ascensionand return. For the time when the
kingdom will be restoredto Israel, see the beginning of Luke's secondvolume
(Acts 1:6-7+). (Expositor's Bible Commentary, 1984)
(3) Acts - It is notable that the very lastquestion the disciples ask Jesus before
His ascensionwas aboutthe timing of the Messianic Kingdom.
And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is
it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It
is not for you to know times or epochs which the Fatherhas fixed by His own
authority; 8 but you shall receive powerwhen the Holy Spirit has come upon
you; and you shall be My My witnesses bothin Jerusalem, and in all Judea
and Samaria, and even to the remotestpart of the earth." (Acts 1:6-8-see
commentary)

Comment: Notice that Jesus did not correcttheir belief but explained they the
timing of "times or epochs" were in the hands of His Father. He did teach
them that they had another missionwhich was to carry the Gospelto ends of
the world. There is little doubt that some 40+ days earlier the disciples'
question in Matthew 24:3 reflectedtheir belief that Jesus was aboutto set up
His earthly Messianic Kingdom.
ESV Study Bible: The place of the disciples'assemblywas the Mount of Olives
(Acts 1:12+), at the foot of which lay Bethany (Luke 24:50). The disciples
askedJesus whenHe would restore the kingdom to Israel because they
concluded from His resurrection and the promise of the Spirit that the
Messianic era had dawned and the final salvationof Israelwas imminent.
However, they were probably still expecting the restorationof a military and
political kingdom that would drive out the Roman armies and restore national
sovereigntyto Israel, as had happened numerous times in the OT. Jesus
correctedthem, not by rejecting the question, but by telling them (Acts 1:8+)
that they would receive powerfrom the Holy Spirit, not in order to triumph
over Roman armies but to spread the goodnews of the gospelthroughout the
world. In other words, the return is in God's timing; in the meantime, there
are other keythings believers are to do.
Thomas Constable adds: The Old TestamentassociatedSpirit baptism (Ed:
Just promised by Jesus in Acts 1:5) with the beginning of the Messianic
(millennial) kingdom (Isaiah 32:15-20;Isaiah 44:3-5;Ezekiel39:28-29;Joel
2:28-32, 3:1; Zechariah 12:8-10). It was natural therefore that the disciples
would ask if that kingdom was about to begin in view of Jesus'promise that
the Spirit would baptize them in a few days. "This time" refers to "not many
days from now" (Acts 1:5). In the Septuagint, the term "restoration" (Greek
apokathistemi)technically refers to God's political restorationof Israel
(Psalms 16:5; Jeremiah15:19; Jeremiah16:15; Jeremiah23:8; Ezekiel16:55;
Ezekiel17:23;Hosea 11:11). [Note:J. Carroll, Response to the End of History,
p. 146, footnote 124.]The Gentiles had taken the Jews'kingdom from them
dating from Nebuchadnezzar's conquestin 586 B.C. Clearlythe messianic
kingdom is in view here. [Note: See DarrellL. Bock, "Evidence fromActs," in
A Case for Premillennialism: A New Consensus,pp. 187-88;and Ladd, p.
1125.]"In the book of Acts, both Israeland the church exist simultaneously.

The term Israelis used twenty times and ekklesia(church) nineteen times, yet
the two groups are always keptdistinct." (Acts 1 Commentary)
Richard Longenecker- The question the disciples askedreflects the embers of
a once blazing hope for a political theocracyin which they would be leaders
(cf. Mark 9:33-34;10:35-41;Luke 22:24). Now the embers are fanned by
Jesus'talk of the coming Holy Spirit. In Jewishexpectations, the restoration
of Israel's fortunes would be marked by the revived activity of God's Spirit,
which had been withheld since the last of the prophets. But though his words
about the Spirit's coming rekindled in the disciples their old nationalistic
hopes, Jesus had something else in mind. (Expositor's Bible Commentary,
1984)
(4) Daniel - It is possible the disciples were familiar with Daniel's prophecies,
including the prophecy in Daniel2 which clearlylinked Jesus'SecondComing
(symbolized by the Stone) with the end of this age (The Stone will crush the
statue representative of Gentile powers and Gentile dominion will come to an
end when the Stone comes!) and the establishment of His MessianicKingdom.
"You continued looking until a Stone was cut out without hands (the
supernatural Stone = Jesus - Ps 118:22, 1Pe 2:4-8), and it struck the statue on
its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. 35 "Then the iron, the clay, the
bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time, and became
like chaff from the summer threshing floors;and the wind carried them away
so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue
became a greatmountain (symbolizes a "kingdom" - cp Da 2:44) and filled
the whole earth. (Da 2:34-35-Commentary)
"And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will setup a kingdom
which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another
people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself
endure forever. 45 "Inasmuch as you saw that a Stone was cut out of the
mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the
silver, and the gold, the great Godhas made known to the king what will take
place in the future; so the dream is true, and its interpretation is
trustworthy." (Da 2:44-45-Commentary)

Comment: The Stone symbolizes Christ Who at His return will put an end to
Gentile dominion (symbolized by the crushing of the statute), thus bringing an
end to this age, atwhich time Godwill set up His Kingdom which will fill the
whole earth. We see the same truth taught in Daniel 7:13-14-note where the
Son of Man is given a Kingdom. (Quoted by Jesus as the "sign" of His coming
in Mt 24:30;cf the same pattern of the end of the age and of Gentile rule and
the beginning of the next age, the Messianic Kingdom in Da 7:26-27-note)
The sign - EarlierJesus has referred to the scribes and Pharisees who had
askedfor "a sign" as "anevil and adulterous generation." (Mt12:38-39, cp
Mt 16:1-4). He did not rebuke the disciples'request for a sign, for their
request was not a manifestation of unbelief but of belief. They believed He was
coming againand His coming would be associatedwith the end of the age.
They wanted a warning sign regarding the coming events which they clearly
believed would sooncome to pass.
The parallel passageto Mt 24:3 in found in Mark 13:4 which reads...
"Tellus, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these
things are going to be fulfilled?"
Sign (4592)(semeionakinto semaino = to give a sign; sema = a sign) is a
distinguishing mark by which something is known, an object, quality, or event
whose presence oroccurrence indicates the probable presence oroccurrence
of something else. Below are the three questions (or two questions with the
secondhaving two parts) and the signs that signify they are about to take
place. Notice that Matthew and Mark do not record the disciples asking Jesus
for a signregarding the destruction of the Temple. However, Luke 21:6-7
records
"As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which
there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down."
And they questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, whentherefore will these things
be? And what will be the sign when these things (What things? Lk 21:6 in
context = utter destruction of the Temple) are about to take place?""

Note that the sign in Luke 21:20 is not the same as the sign in Mt 24:15. They
are clearlydistinctly different signs and to attempt to say they are identical
signs is an example of not letting the plain sense ofthe Scriptures say what
they say. The result of course will be an incorrectinterpretation. To reiterate,
Matthew 24 is indeed a difficult prophecy but the three signs are not difficult
to identify unless one comes to the text with a preconceivedbias or a desire to
make Jesus'words fit one's particular system of theologicalinterpretation.
And if one fails to read the text literally, a difficult prophecy becomes even
more difficult to accuratelyinterpret!
THREE SIGNIFICANT QUESTIONS**
THREE SURE SIGNS
The
Prophetic Event
The
Sign
The
Timing
The Scripture
(1)
DesolationofJerusalem
Destructionof Temple
WHEN YOU SEE...
Jerusalem
Surrounded
by Armies

Fulfilled
70AD
Luke 21:20+
(2)
The End of
the Age
WHEN YOU SEE...
Abomination of Desolation
Standing in the Holy Place
Yet
Future
Matthew 24:15+
(3)
The Second
Coming
THE SIGN...
The Son of Man
Coming in the clouds
Yet
Future
Matthew 24:30+

** Events (2) and (3) are linked because the SecondComing marks the "end
of the age" thus many writers saythe disciples askedonly two questions, the
secondhaving two components.
The end of the age - KJV has "end of the world" but as Vincent says it is more
correctlya reference to "the existing, current age," notto "the end of all
time." So Jesus is not referring to the end of the world but the end of the age.
The definite article is present signifying the specific age they were living in at
the time. It is the same age we are living in today. The next age is the
Messianic Age which of course identifies me as one who takes Scripture
literally and believes in a coming time when Messiahrules and reigns on
earth. The Messianic agewill be followedby the next "age" ofthe New
Heaven and New Earth.
The End (Consummation) (4930)(sunteleia from sun = togetheror an
intensifier + teleo = to finish) describes the bringing of something to a
successfulfinish. In a word the noun sunteleia means completion, conclusion,
close, end, consummation. It is used 5 times by Jesus Himself in the phrase the
"end of the age." (Mt13:39, 40, 49, 24:3, 28:20). The only other NT use is by
the writer of Hebrews who describes "the consummationof the ages." (Heb
9:26).
MacArthur commenting on end explains that sunteleia is "a compound word
that refers to completion, as in the final culmination of a planned series of
events. In the disciples'minds the end of the age would accompanyJesus'full
manifestation of His Messianic powerand glory, bringing to a close the era of
man's sin and rebellion againstGod and ushering in the divine kingdom of
righteousness andjustice (Ed: The Millennium 2; The Millennium 3). Jesus
used the phrase the end of the age in the parable of the wheat and tares and
the parable of the dragnet, where in both cases it representedthe gathering of
the wickedby God's angels in preparation for judgment (Mt. 13:39, 49). He
also used the phrase at the conclusionof the Great Commission, assuring the
disciples, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Mt. 28:20).
The disciples'question was about the ultimate end of the age, not simply the
end of an era or epoch of history, but the final end to the present world system
of darkness and sin-an end they expected soon." (The MacArthur New

TestamentCommentary- Matthew 24-28;see also his related sermons listed
above)
Of the Age (165)(aion)usually refers to some aspectof time past, present or
future depending on the context: (1) as a segmentof contemporary time =
lifetime (1Ti 6:17), present age (Lk 16.8, 20:34 = "sons of this age", 1Cor3:18,
1Cor1:20, Titus 2:12 = "live....godlyin this present age;" Mt 12:32, Mt 13:22
= "cares ofthis present age" = also in Mk 4:19; 2Ti4:8 and Ro 12:2 = "this
world" = this present age and its ungodly thoughts and actions;2Cor4:4 =
"godof this world" = of this present age;The end of this period = Mt 13:39-
40, 49, Mt 24:3, 28:20); (2) of time gone by past, earliesttimes (Lk 1.70);(3) of
prolonged and unlimited time = eternity (1Ti 1.17);(4) of time to come
eternity = age to come (Lk 20.35, BDAG says "the age to come" corresponds
to "the Messianic period");idiomatically (with preposition eis = into) literally
into the age = forever, eternally (JN 6.51);In another idiom aion means
literally into the ages of the ages = forever and ever, forevermore (Heb 1.8);
(5) plural, as a spatialconcept, of the creationas having a beginning and
moving forward through long but limited time = universe, world (Heb 1.2;
9.26;11.3)
The end - This phrase occurs 9x/9v in Matthew's Gospeland 4 of the uses are
in Matthew 24 (Mt 24:3, 6, 13, 14). Five times Matthew uses the specific
phrase "the end of the age" and every time the noun for "end" is sunteleia. In
the other 4 occurrencesof"the end" the noun for "end" is telos.
Here are all the uses of the end in Matthew...
Matthew 10:22+ "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the
one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
Matthew 13:39+ and the enemy who sowedthem is the devil, and the harvest
is the end (sunteleia) of the age (aion) ; and the reapers are angels.
40 "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at
the end (sunteleia) of the age (aion).
49 "So it will be at the end (sunteleia)of the age (aion); the angels will come
forth and take out the wickedfrom among the righteous,

ESV Study Bible: The judgment that will follow the Sonof Man's return at
the close ofthe age to establishHis kingdom in its fully realized form.
(Bolding added for emphasis). (Ed comment: Notice how this note rightly
connects Christ's coming with the consummation of this age and
commencementof His Kingdom.)
be the sign of Your coming, and of the end (sunteleia) of the age (aion)?"
6 "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not
frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
13 "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
14 "This gospelofthe kingdom shall be preachedin the whole world as a
testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I
am with you always, even to the end (sunteleia) of the age (aion)."
Sign - Semeion
Sign (4592)(semeion)(akinto semaino = to give a sign; sema = a sign) is a
distinguishing mark or symbol that carries a specialmeaning or like a simple
sign points to something else. In Scripture when semeionused of God's
miraculous works (that which is contrary to the usual course of nature) it
points to spiritual truth.
Semeioncan be a sign, a mark, a token, or a miracle with a spiritual end
purpose. In other words a signcan be either natural or supernatural. A sign is
an object, quality, or event whose presence oroccurrence indicates the
probable presence or occurrence ofsomething else.
In a number of NT contexts semeiontakes on the sense of a miracle because of
its unusual nature, especiallyas that which is contrary to the usual course of
nature (e.g., Jn2:23, Acts 4:16, 22 - And the KJV translates semeionas
miracle 23xin John).

Wiersbe says that a sign is "Something that points beyond itself to something
greater. It was not enough for people to believe in Jesus'works;they had to
believe in Him and in the Father who sent Him (John 5:14-24). This explains
why Jesus oftenadded a sermonto the miracle and in that sermon interpreted
the sign. In John 5, the healing of the paralytic on the Sabbath openedthe way
for a messageonHis deity, "the Lord of the Sabbath." The feeding of the
5,000 (John6) led naturally into a sermon on the Breadof Life."
William Barclaysays semeion"is John's favourite word. To him a miracle
was not simply an astonishing happening; it was not simply a deed of power;
it was a sign. That is to say, it told men something about the person who did it;
it revealedsomething of his character;it laid bare something of his nature; it
was an action through which it was possible to understand better and more
fully the characterofthe personwho did it. To John the supreme thing about
the miracles of Jesus was that they told men something about the nature and
the characterofGod. The powerof Jesus was used to heal the sick, to feedthe
hungry, to comfort the sorrowing;and the fact that Jesus usedhis powerin
that way was proof that God cared for the sorrows andthe needs and the
pains of men. To John the miracles were signs of the love of God. In any
miracle, then, there are three things. There is the wonder which leaves men
dazzled, astonished, aghast.There is the power which is effective, which can
deal with and mend a broken body, an unhinged mind, a bruised heart, which
can do things. There is the sign which tells us of the love in the heart of the
God who does such things for men." (William Barclay's DailyStudy Bible)
"In a realsense, one cannot divorce miracle from Deity. God alone is capable
of overriding natural law. He cancountermand the command of nature."
(Detzler)
Semeionis found primarily in the Gospels and Acts with 17 uses in John, 13 in
Acts, 9 in Matthew, 9 in Luke and 6 in Mark. Revelationuses semeion7 times.
The NASB translates semeionas follows = distinguishing mark (1), miracle
(2), sign (35), signs (39). The KJV translates semeionmuch more frequently as
miracle with the uses as follows = sign (50), miracle (23), wonder (3), token(1).

Twice in Matthew Jesus answeredthe Jews requestfor signs declaring "An
evil and adulterous generationcraves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given
to it but the signof Jonahthe prophet." (Mt 12:39, 16:4) He was referring of
course to His resurrection as the sign of Jonah. In the uses of semeionby His
disciples in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 there of course was no rebuke
for they were not asking out of a heart of unbelief but of belief.
In 2Th 3:17, of writing of the closing salutations, the apostle using the pen
himself instead of his amanuensis, his autographattesting the authenticity of
his Epistles.
MacArthur comments on use of semeionin the Revelation(Rev12:1, 3; 13:13-
14; 15:1; 16:14;19:20) - Semeion (sign) describes a symbol that points to a
reality. (Ed: Commenting specificallyon the "sign" in Rev 12:1) The literal
approachto interpreting Scripture allows for normal use of symbolic
language, but understands that it points to a literal reality. In this case, the
description plainly shows that the woman John saw was not an actualwoman.
Also, the reference to "the restof her children," those "who keepthe
commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" (Rev12:17), shows
that this womanis a symbolic mother.
Charles Swindoll on semeion - Ancient peoples often viewed "signs" in the
sky, such as lightning or eclipses, as omens of terrible things to come (Matt.
16:3). The term sēmeioncould also refer to miraculous feats that pointed to a
person's supernatural origin or authority (Mt 12:38). In Revelationthe term
is used to indicate amazing symbolic visions that point to epochalevents (Rev.
12:1, 3), but it also refers to false wonders and miracles used by Satanto turn
people awayfrom God (Rev 13:13-14). (Insights on Revelation)
Wayne Detzler- In the New Testamentthere are two Greek words which
describe miracles. The first of these is semeion(literally "sign"). At first this
word meant a visible sign which someone saw. Forinstance, when Constantine
was embroiled in battle he saw the signof a cross and the words, "In this sign
conquer." This turned him to Christianity, and he granted tolerationto the
Christians in 313. So first of all semeionmeant a realor imagined visible sign.
Later it came to mean the intervention of the deities in our world. This is the

meaning which the Bible attaches to miracles, when Godbreaks into the
natural world to accomplishsome specialfeat. A secondwordis thauma
(which literally means "to wonder," or "to be astonished"). In this case the
miracle is "in the eye of the beholder." The rootword behind this Greek term
is thea ("a vision"), or theaomai("to contemplate"). It is seenin our English
word "theater" (literally, "a place of seeing or viewing"). It is in this
secondarymeaning of astonishmentthat we see the root of a miracle. What
causes one to be astonishedor amazed is out of the ordinary. This was
especiallytrue in the Greek epic poems, which describedmany astonishing
events. Thus thauma speaks ofa "wonder," an amazing act, and thus a
miracle....The mostnotable miracle-workerin the New Testamentis, of
course, the Lord Jesus Himself. It is He who raised Jairus'daughter from the
dead (Matt. 9:18-26). He too interrupted the funeral processionatNain (Luke
7:11-17). Having raised a little girl and a young man, He also brought His
friend Lazarus back to life (John 11:38-44). (New TestamentWords in
Today's Language-- a useful resource for word studies - also in Logos).
Zodhiates on distinction of sign and wonder(teras) - the word sēmeíon,
"sign," sharply contrasts with the meaning of téras, "wonder." For"sign"
has a distinct ethical end and purpose whereas "wonder" has the leastethical
and unyielding connotation...The prime object and end of the miracle involved
and declaredin the very word semeionis to lead us to something out of and
beyond itself. It is a fingerpostof God, as if Godwere saying, "I do this in
order for you to see and understand." The miracle is not valuable so much for
what it is as for what it indicates of the grace and power of the doer, or of his
immediate connectionwith a higher spiritual world (Ex 7:9, 10; 1Ki. 13:3;
Mark 16:20; Acts 14:3; Heb. 2:4). Thus, the Jews were demanding miracles
performed by God, not for the sake of the miracles, but as the finger and voice
of God indicating "This is my beloved Sonin whom I am wellpleased" (Matt.
3:17). The Jews expectedphysicalmiracles. Accustomedto such
manifestations under the economyof the Law, they expected Godto work that
way in the economyof grace.(1 Corinthians Commentary)
Trench on semeion- "It is involved and declaredin the very word that the
prime object and end of the miracle is to lead us to something out of and
beyond itself: that, so to speak, it is a kind of finger-postof God, pointing for

us to this: valuable, not so much for what it is, as for what it indicates of the
grace and powerof the doer, or of his immediate connectionwith a higher
spiritual world"
See Trench's Analysis of the following synonyms. Note also:If you click on
Strong's # you will retrieve the Abbreviated Thayer's Definition as well as the
Expanded Thayer's [scrolldown], the expanded Liddell-Scott-Jones
definition, and Moulton-Milligan's (Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament)
discussion.
teras (Strong's #5059)Wonder, Miracle
semeion(Strong's #4592)Sign, Miracle
dynamis (Strong's #1411)Power,Mighty Work
megaleion(Strong's #3167)Mightydeeds (NAS)
endoxon (Strong's #1741)Glorious Thing
paradoxon (Strong's #3861)Strange Thing
thaumasion (Strong's #2297)
As an aside Polhill remarks that "It should be noted that "throughout Acts
the term 'wonders'only occurs in conjunction with 'signs,'a testimony to the
fact that mere marvels have no value in themselves except as they point
beyond themselves to the divine powerbehind them and so lead to faith."
Blomberg - Each evangelisthas his own thematic emphases concerning Jesus'
miracles. Mark sharply contrasts the glory of Jesus'public ministry and its
preponderance of wonders with the road to the cross and his teaching on
suffering (Mk 1:1-8:30; 8:31-16:8). Mark, too, introduces the so-called
messianic secretmotif following severalmiracles (e.g., Mk 1:34; 3:12; 5:43).
Matthew's miracle-stories fit his overall narrative progressionfrom Jesus'
particularism to universalism (with Mark 13:1-37 as the hinge) and his stress
on the fulfillment of Scripture (Mk 8:17; 11:4-5). Luke highlights Jesus'
compassionfor the outcasts ofsociety(Lk 4:18; 17:11-19)and his role as a
new Moses (Lk 9:28-36)and Elijah/Elisha (Lk 7:1-28). John's views prove the

most distinctive. Whereas the Synoptics use "signs" in a negative sense as that
which unbelieving skeptics demand but do not receive save for the
resurrectionas the "signof Jonah" (Mt 12:38-42), Johnconsistentlyspeaks of
Jesus'miracles as "signs" meantto lead people to faith in Christ (Jn 2:11;
4:54; cf. Jn 20:31). But he encouragesa maturity that does not require
dependence on miraculous proofs (Jn 4:48; 20:29). John also pairs sevensigns
with sevendiscourses to form the first major half of his Gospel(Jn 1:19-
11:57). The signs require interpretive teaching even as they legitimate Jesus'
claims. (Miracles, Signs - Baker's EvangelicalDictionaryof Biblical Theology)
Vine - semeion= "a sign, mark, indication, token," is used (a) of that which
distinguished a personor thing from others, e.g., Matt. 26:48;Luke 2:12; Ro.
4:11; 2 Cor. 12:12 (1st part); 2Th 3:17, "token," i.e., his autographattesting
the authenticity of his letters; (b) of a "sign" as a warning or admonition, e.g.,
Matt. 12:39, "the signof (i.e., consisting of) the prophet Jonas";16:4; Luke
2:34; 11:29, 30; (c) of miraculous acts (1) as tokens ofdivine authority and
power, e.g., Matt. 12:38, 39 (1st part); John 2:11, RV, "signs";Jn 3:2 (ditto);
Jn 4:54, "(the second)sign," RV; Jn 10:41 (ditto); Jn 20:30; in 1Co 1:22, "the
Jews ask forsigns," indicates that the Apostles were met with the same
demand from Jews as Christ had been: "signs were vouchsafedin plenty,
signs of God's powerand love, but these were not the signs which they
sought.… They wanted signs of an outward Messianic Kingdom, of temporal
triumph, of material greatness forthe chosenpeople.… With such cravings
the Gospelofa 'crucified Messiah'was to them a stumblingblock indeed"
(Lightfoot); 1Cor14:22; (2) by demons, Rev. 16:14; (3) by false teachers or
prophets, indications of assumedauthority, e.g., Matt. 24:24; Mark 13:22;(4)
by Satan through his specialagents, 2Th2:9; Rev. 13:13, 14; 19:20;(d) of
tokens portending future events, e. g., Matt. 24:3, where "the signof the Son
of Man" signifies, subjectively, that the Son of Man is Himself the "sign" of
what He is about to do; Mark 13:4; Luke 21:7, 11, 25; Acts 2:19; Rev12:1,
Rev 12:3, Rev; 15:1. "Signs" confirmatoryof what God had accomplishedin
the atoning sacrifice of Christ, His resurrectionand ascension, andof the
sending of the Holy Spirit, were given to the Jews fortheir recognition, as at
Pentecost, and supernatural acts by apostolic ministry, as well as by the
supernatural operations in the churches, such as the gift of tongues and

prophesyings; there is no record of the continuance of these latter after the
circumstances recordedin Acts 19:1-20. (Sign - Vine's Expository Dictionary
of NT Words)
Zodhiates -
In the plural, miracles which lead to something out of and beyond themselves;
finger-marks of God, valuable not so much for what they are as for what they
indicate of the grace and powerof the Doer(Mk 16:20).
(I) Particularly a signby which something is designated, distinguished, known
(Mt. 26:48; Ro. 4:11, circumcisionas a sign [cf. Ge. 9:12, 13;17:11]).
Specificallya sign by which the characterand truth of any person or thing is
known, a token, proof (Lk 2:12; 2Cor. 12:12; 2Th3:17; Sept.:1Sa 14:10; 2Ki.
19:29;20:8).
(II) A sign by which the divine power in majesty is made known, a
supernatural event or act, a token, wonder, or miracle by which the power
and presence ofGod is manifested, either directly or through the agencyof
those whom He sends (Sept.: Ex. 4:8, 17, 28, 30).
(A) As wrought of God (1Cor. 14:22), a token to the unbelieving of God's
presence and power(cf. 1Cor 14:25);or perhaps a signof divine displeasure
(cf. 1Cor14:21). "The sign of the prophet Jonah" means the miracle which
God wrought in the case ofJonahconcerning the greatfish that swallowed
him and the three days therein that followed(Mt. 12:39 [cf. Mt 12:40]; Mt.
16:4; Lk 11:29). Metonymically of persons sent from God, whose character
and acts are a manifestation of the divine power(Lk 11:30). In Lk 2:34 for a
sign which shall be spokenagainst. Ofsigns, wonders, miracles which God did
through someone, joinedwith térata (5059), things out of the ordinary,
wonders (Acts 2:22, 43;4:30; 5:12; 14:3; 15:12). Specificallyas revealing
future events, a signof future things, a portent, presage (Mt. 16:3), the
miraculous events and deeds which revealthe coming of the Messiahin His
kingdom (Mt. 24:3, 30; Mk 13:4; Lk 21:7, 11, 25;Acts 2:19; Rev. 12:1, 3; 15:1;
Sept.: Deut. 13:1, 2).

(B) Of signs, wonders, miracles wrought by Jesus and His Apostles and the
prophets in proof and furtherance of their divine mission (Mt. 12:38, 39;16:1,
4; Mk 8:11, 12; 16:17, 20; Lk 11:16, 29; 23:8; Acts 4:16, 22; 8:6; 1 Cor. 1:22).
In John the word is used only in this sense (John 2:11, 18, 23; 3:2; 4:54; 6:2,
14, 26, 30; 7:31; 9:16; 10:41;11:47; 12:18, 37;20:30). Joined with térata,
wonders, and dunamis (1411), mighty works (Jn 4:48; Acts 6:8; 7:36; 8:13;
14:3; Ro 15:19;2 Cor. 12:12;Heb. 2:4).
(C) Spokenanalogicallyof signs, wonders, wroughtby false prophets claiming
to act by divine authority (Rev. 13:13, 14;16:14; 19:20);with térata (Mt.
24:24;Mk 13:22; 2Th2:9). (Word Study New Testament - excellent resource)
Liddell-Scott-Jones (primarily secularuses) -
(A1) Mark by which a thing is known - sign of the future; trace, track;of a
cork on a buoy, (2) Sign from the gods, omen, ; wonder, portent, LXX Ex 4:8;
Especiallyof the constellations, regardedas signs (3) sign or signalto do a
thing, made by flags ( he made signalfor the rest to put to sea);to take it
down, strike the flag, as a signof dissolving an assembly;generally, signal;
signalto commence work;with unremoved signal(s), of gymnasia, i.e. never
closed, (4) standard or flag, on the admiral's ship; on the general's tent, body
of troops under one standard or flag, (5) land mark, boundary, limit, out of
the limits of your commercialport, (6) device upon a shield; upon ships,
figure-head, (7) signeton ring, etc; figure, image; badge;plural, written
characters, plural - stripes, (8) watchword, war-cry, (9) birthmark or
distinguishing feature,
(B1) Sign, token, indication of anything that is or is to be, (2) in reasoning, a
sign or proof, is no proof to the contrary; also, instance, example,·to
introduce an argument (3) in the Logic of Aristotle, a sign used as a probable
argument in proof of a conclusion, opp. = a demonstrative or certain proof),.
in Stoic and Epicurean philos., signas observable basis of inference to the
unobserved or unobservable, (4) Medicine - symptom, (5). pl., shorthand
symbols, (6) critical mark,
Hastings Dictionary - SIGN . Any outward fact which serves as a pledge of a
Divine word or a proof of a Divine deed is a sign , whether it be natural or

supernatural in its character. The rainbow served as the sign of the Noahic, as
the rite of circumcision of the Abrahamic, covenant( Genesis 9:12;Genesis
17:11 'token,' Romans 4:11). That God was with, and workedfor, the
Israelites was shownin the plagues of Egypt ( Exodus 10:2). Gideon asks for
and receives a sign that it is Jehovahwho speakswith him ( Judges 6:17), and
Saul also receives signs to confirm the words of Samuel (1Sa 10:7 ). The
prophetic word is thus proved from God ( Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah38:7, Jeremiah
44:29, Ezekiel14:8 ). The sign need not be supernatural ( 1 Samuel 2:34,
Isaiah8:18; Isaiah20:3 ); but the Jews in the time of Christ desired miracles
as proofs of Divine power( Matthew 12:38; Matthew 16:1 , John 4:48 , 1
Corinthians 1:22), a request which Jesus refusedand condemned. The
messageofthe Baptist, though not confirmed by any sign, was seento be true
( John 10:41 ). It is Jonah's preaching that is probably referred to when Jesus
speaks ofhim as a sign to his generation( Matthew 12:39 ). The 'babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger,'is the simple and
humble sign to the shepherds of the birth of a Saviour, Christ the Lord ( Luke
2:12 ); and He is welcomedby Simeon as 'a signwhich is spokenagainst'(
Luke 2:34). The Fourth Gospelfrequently describes the miracles of Jesus as
signs ( Luke 3:2 , Luke 4:44), and attributes to them an evidential value which
is not prominent in Jesus'ownintention. This confirmation of the gospelwas
found in the Apostolic Church ( Mark 16:20 , Acts 4:16; Acts 6:3; Acts 8:6;
Acts 8:13; Acts 15:12 , 2 Corinthians 12:12 ). The last things will be usheredin
by extraordinary signs ( Matthew 24:30 , Luke 21:25 , 2 Thessalonians 2:9 the
working of Satan with all powerand signs and lying wonders, Revelation
12:1; Revelation13:13 etc.). The faith that depends on signs, if not altogether
condemned ( John 6:26 ), is by Jesus deprecated( John 4:48 , cf. 1 Corinthians
1:22 ).
Chris Church describes 8 functions of NT Signs:
1. Signs function simply to identify. Judas' kiss clearlydesignatedJesus as the
One the mob was seeking (Matthew 26:48 ). The sign of Jesus'coming and the
end of the age which the disciples requested is, likewise,an identifying mark
(Matthew 24:3; Mark 13:4; Luke 21:7 ); it is not a matter of evoking faith in
Christ's coming but of identifying that event when it occurs. The difficult
"signof the Son of Man" is probably an identifying sign as well (Matthew

24:30 ). The above uses approximate the nontheologicaluse ofsign by the Old
Testament. Other uses of sign are distinctly theological.
2. John's signs generally impart knowledge aboutJesus and His relation to the
Father. Jesus'first sign, the changing of waterinto wine at Cana, points to
Jesus as the source of the abundant, joyful life which characterizes the
anticipated Messianic Age (John 2:1-11 ). The three-fold repetition of the
phrase "your son lives" in the healing of the official's son (John 4:46-54 )
points to Jesus as the life-giver. The healing of the sick man at the SheepGate
Pool(John 5:2-9 ) points to Jesus as the One through whom God is still
working (John 5:17 ). Though the just-fed crowd saw Jesus'feeding of the five
thousand (John 6:2-13 ) as a sign that Jesus was a prophet (John 6:14 ), the
sign points to Jesus as the life-giving bread which alone can satisfy(John 6:35
). The sign of the healing of the man born blind (John 9:1-7 ) illustrates the
ambiguity of signs:some took the sign to mean that Jesus was not from God;
others, that God was with Him (John 9:16 ). John's conclusion(John 9:35-41 )
points to Jesus as both giver of spiritual insight and judge of spiritual
blindness. Finally, the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1 ) points to Jesus as the
resurrectionand the life (John 11:25 ).
3 . Though the term sign is not used, the sealof God upon the foreheads of the
redeemed(Revelation9:4 ) is a sign of protection.
4. Some signs serve to motivate faith. The signs in the Fourth Gospelwere
recounted so "tha you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Sonof the God,
and that believing you may have life in His name" (John 20:31 ). John
previously noted signs leading to faith (John 2:11; John 4:53; John 9:38 ). The
sign of the healing of a lame man led to the praise of God in Acts 4:16 ,Acts
4:16,4:21 . Philip's signs, likewise, evokedthe Samaritans'faith (Acts 8:6 ).
5 . Other signs serve to recallGod's past saving acts. The paired expression
"signs and wonders" (Acts 2:19 ,Acts 2:19,2:22;Acts 4:30; Acts 7:36-37;Acts
14:3 ) recalls the foundational saving events of the Exodus. The "signs and
wonders" which Jesus and the apostles performed designate the inauguration
of God's new saving event.
6. Paul spoke ofcircumcision as a witness to the covenant (Romans 4:11 ).

7 . Signs often serve as confirmation or authentication. The humble
circumstances ofthe Christ-child in the manger confirmed the angel's
announcement of a Savior to outcastshepherds (Luke 2:12 ). Jesus offeredthe
difficult "signof Jonah" as His authentication (Matthew 12:39-43;Luke
11:29-32 ). God was at work in Jesus'preaching of repentance as God had
workedin Jonah. The New Testamentoften rebukes the demand for a sign to
confirm God's work (Matthew 16:1; John 2:18; John 4:48; 1 Corinthians 1:22
). A sign may evoke faith in a receptive heart, but no sign will convince the
hard-hearted.
8. Though the term sign is not used, Agabus' actionin binding Paul with his
belt (Acts 21:11 ) parallels the acts of the Old Testamentprophets. (Sign -
Holman Bible Dictionary)
Other Dictionary Articles on Signs:
Sign - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Signs - BridgewayBible Dictionary
Robert Neighbour- The Eight Signs in John (All uses of semeionin John's
Gospel= John 2:11, 18, 23;3:2; 4:48, 54;6:2, 14, 26, 30; 7:31; 9:16; 10:41;
11:47;12:18, 37; 20:30)
The Sign of the WaterTurned to Wine (John 2:1-11).
The Sign of the Healing of the Nobleman's Son (John 4:46-54).
The Sign of Bethesda's Pool(John5:1-13). (Ed: But semeionnot used in this
section)
The Sign of the Loaves and the Fishes (John6:1-15).
The Sign of the Walking on the Sea (John 6:16-24).
The Sign of the Man Born Blind (John 9:1-17).
The Sign of the ResurrectionofLazarus (John 11:33-47).
The Sign of the Draught of Fishes (John 21:1-14).

In the Book ofHebrews, we read the following: "Godalso bearing them
witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of
the Holy Ghost, according to His own will" (Heb. 2:4).
Three things stand before us — miracles, wonders, and signs.
These, in the Greek, are designatedby three different words: "dunamis,"
power, significant of mighty works;"teras," wonder, significantof causing the
people to marvel; "semeion,"a sign, significantof a foreshadowing of
Christ....."Semeion"is translated in John 13x by the word "miracle," and
four times by the word "signs." (EdNote: Neighbouris referring to the uses
in the King James Version). The above notations show that there are three
purposes in a miracle: first, it portrays the powerof a Living Christ; second,
it causes the people to wonder, and thirdly, it produces a sign, concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospelof John was distinctively written that "ye
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye
might have life through His name" (John 20:31). With one single exception,
the Holy Spirit, in the Gospelof John, refers to the miracles of Christ under
the word "semeion,"a "sign." (Ed note: This statement is basedon the KJV)
The purpose of the Holy Spirit was to setforth distinctive marks of the Deity
of Christ, that men might believe in Him and have life.
Hampton Keathley - A miracle is an unusual and significant event (terasa)
which requires the working of a supernatural agent(dunamis) and is
performed for the purpose of authenticating the message orthe messenger
(semeion).
Herbert Lockyeron "signs" (semeion) - Here we have a word carrying with it
a particular reference to the significance ofmiracles as being seals by which
God authenticated the miracle-workerhimself. In semeion, the ethical
purpose of the miracle is most prominent. A miracle was to be lookedupon as
a tokenand indication of the near presence and working of God and a proof
of the genuineness ofrevelation. The miracles of Christ were signs and pledges
of something more than beyond themselves (Isaiah7:11; 38:7). As we have
indicated, they were seals ofpower setto the person performing the miracle
(Mark 6:30; Acts 14:3; Hebrews 2:4). They were legitimate acts whereby the

miracle-workercouldclaim to be acceptedas God's representative (I John
2:18; II Corinthians 12:12). The "signs" givento Saul, Eli, Gideon, and others
are not to be thought of as miracles (I Samuel 10:1-19;Judges 7:9-15; Luke
2:12). Sign designates a proof or evidence furnished by one setof facts to the
reality and genuineness of another" (II Corinthians 12:12). POWERS—
Dunamis - Miracles are also "powers"in that they manifest the mighty power
of God which was inherent in Christ Himself, "the greatpowerof God" (Acts
8:10), and who was made unto us—power. This word points to new and
higher forces working in this lowerworld of ours (Hebrews 6:5). Semeion
refers to the final cause of miracles;dunamis, to their efficient cause.
Semeion- 77x in 69v - NAS Usage:distinguishing mark (1), miracle (2), sign
(35), signs (39).
Matthew 12:38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees saidto Him, "Teacher,
we want to see a sign from You."
39 But He answeredand said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation
craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the
prophet;
Matthew 16:1 The Pharisees andSadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they
askedHim to show them a sign from heaven.
3 "And in the morning, 'There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and
threatening.' Do you know how to discern the appearance ofthe sky, but
cannot discernthe signs of the times?
4 "An evil and adulterous generationseeksaftera sign; and a sign will not be
given it, exceptthe sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away.
be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
24 "Forfalse Christs and false prophets will arise and will show greatsigns
and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.

30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appearin the sky, and then all
the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN
COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with powerand greatglory.
Matthew 26:48 Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying,
"WhomeverI kiss, He is the one; seize Him."
Mark 8:11 The Pharisees came outand beganto argue with Him, seeking
from Him a sign from heaven, to testHim.
12 Sighing deeply in His spirit, He said, "Why does this generationseek fora
sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."
Mark 13:4 "Tellus, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when
all these things are going to be fulfilled?"
22 for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and
wonders, in order to leadastray, if possible, the elect.
Mark 16:17 "These signs willaccompanythose who have believed: in My
name they will castout demons, they will speak with new tongues;
20 And they went out and preachedeverywhere, while the Lord workedwith
them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. [And they promptly
reported all these instructions to Peterand his companions. And after that,
Jesus Himself sent out through them from eastto westthe sacredand
imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.
Luke 2:12 "This will be a signfor you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths
and lying in a manger."
34 And Simeon blessedthem and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this
Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be
opposed--
Luke 11:16 Others, to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven.
29 As the crowds were increasing, He beganto say, "This generationis a
wickedgeneration;it seeksfora sign, and yet no signwill be given to it but
the signof Jonah.

30 "Forjust as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man
be to this generation.
Luke 21:7 They questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, whentherefore will these
things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take
place?"
11 and there will be greatearthquakes, and in various places plagues and
famines; and there will be terrors and greatsigns from heaven.
25 "There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay
among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
Luke 23:8 Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus;for he had wantedto
see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was
hoping to see some signperformed by Him.
John 2:11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
18 The Jews then said to Him, "Whatsign do You show us as your authority
for doing these things?"
23 Now when He was in Jerusalemat the Passover, during the feast, many
believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.
John 3:2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know
that You have come from God as a teacher;for no one cando these signs that
You do unless God is with him."
John 4:48 So Jesus saidto him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you
simply will not believe."
54 This is again a secondsignthat Jesus performed when He had come out of
Judea into Galilee.
John 6:2 A large crowdfollowed Him, because they saw the signs which He
was performing on those who were sick.

14 Therefore when the people saw the signwhich He had performed, they
said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."
26 Jesus answeredthem and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not
because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
30 So they saidto Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see,
and believe You? What work do You perform?
John 7:31 But many of the crowdbelieved in Him; and they were saying,
"When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which
this man has, will He?"
John 9:16 Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from
God, because He does not keepthe Sabbath." But others were saying, "How
can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And there was a division
among them.
John 10:41 Many came to Him and were saying, "While John performed no
sign, yet everything John said about this man was true."
John 11:47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees conveneda council,
and were saying, "What are we doing? For this man is performing many
signs.
John 12:18 For this reasonalso the people went and met Him, because they
heard that He had performed this sign.
37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were
not believing in Him.
John 20:30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence
of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
Acts 2:19 'AND I WILL GRANT WONDERSIN THE SKY ABOVE AND
SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF
SMOKE.

22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attestedto
you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed
through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know--
43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe;and many wonders and signs were
taking place through the apostles.
Acts 4:16 saying, "What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a
noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live
in Jerusalem, and we cannotdeny it.
22 for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing
had been performed.
30 while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place
through the name of Your holy servant Jesus."
Acts 5:12 At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking
place among the people; and they were all with one accordin Solomon's
portico.
Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing greatwonders
and signs among the people.
Acts 7:36 "This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land
of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.
Acts 8:6 The crowds with one accordwere giving attention to what was said
by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing.
13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on
with Philip, and as he observed signs and greatmiracles taking place, he was
constantly amazed.
Acts 14:3 Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance
upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that
signs and wonders be done by their hands.

Acts 15:12 All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and
Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through
them among the Gentiles.
Romans 4:11 and he receivedthe sign of circumcision, a sealof the
righteousness ofthe faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might
be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness
might be credited to them,
Romans 15:19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit;
so that from Jerusalemand round about as far as Illyricum I have fully
preachedthe gospelof Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks searchfor
wisdom;
1 Corinthians 14:22 So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe
but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those
who believe.
2 Corinthians 12:12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you
with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.
2 Thessalonians 2:9 that is, the one whose coming is in accordwith the activity
of Satan, with all powerand signs and false wonders,
2 Thessalonians 3:17 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is
a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.
Hebrews 2:4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by
various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His ownwill.
Revelation12:1 A greatsign appearedin heaven: a woman clothed with the
sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
3 Then another sign appearedin heaven:and behold, a greatred dragon
having sevenheads and ten horns, and on his heads were sevendiadems.
Revelation13:13 He performs greatsigns, so that he even makes fire come
down out of heaven to the earth in the presence ofmen.

14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because ofthe signs which it
was given him to perform in the presence ofthe beast, telling those who dwell
on the earth to make an image to the beastwho had the wound of the sword
and has come to life.
Revelation15:1 Then I saw anothersign in heaven, greatand marvelous,
sevenangels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the
wrath of God is finished.
Revelation16:14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go
out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them togetherfor the war of the
greatday of God, the Almighty.
Revelation19:20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet
who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceivedthose who had
receivedthe mark of the beastand those who worshipedhis image;these two
were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.
Semeion- 99v in the Septuagint (Lxx) -
Ge 1:14; 4:15; Ge 9:12-13, 17;Ge 17:11;Ex 3:12; 4:8-9, 17, 28, 30;7:3, 9;
8:23; 10:1f; 11:9f; 12:13;13:9, 16;31:13, 17; Num 14:11, 22;16:38; 17:10;
21:8f; 26:10; Deut 4:34; 6:8, 22; 7:19; 11:3, 18; 13:1f; 26:8; 28:46; 29:3; 34:11;
Josh2:18; 4:6; Judg 20:38;1 Sam 2:34; 10:1, 7, 9; 14:10;2 Kgs 19:29; 20:8f; 2
Chr 32:24;Neh 9:10; Esth 4:17; 10:3; Job 21:29; Ps 65:8; 74:4, 9; 78:43;
86:17;105:27;135:9; Isa 7:11, 14;8:18; 11:12;13:2; 18:3; 19:20; 20:3; 33:23;
37:30;38:7, 22; 44:25;55:13; 66:19;Jer 6:1; 10:2; 32:20f; 44:29; 48:9; 51:12,
27; Ezek 4:3; 9:4, 6; 20:12, 20;39:15; Dan 4:1f; 5:9; 6:27
Below are some representative uses of semeionin the Septuagint:
Genesis 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens
to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons,
and for days and years;
Genesis 4:15 So the LORD said to him, "Therefore whoeverkills Cain,
vengeance willbe takenon him sevenfold." And the LORD appointed a sign
for Cain, lest anyone finding him should slay him.

Genesis 9:12-13)And God said, "This is the sign of the covenantwhich I am
making betweenMe and you and every living creature that is with you, for all
successive generations;13 I setMy bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign
of a covenantbetween Me and the earth.
Genesis 9:17 And God saidto Noah, "This is the signof the covenant which I
have establishedbetweenMe and all flesh that is on the earth."
Genesis 17:11 "And you shall be circumcisedin the flesh of your foreskin;and
it shall be the sign of the covenantbetweenMe and you.
Exodus 3:12 And He said, "CertainlyI will be with you, and this shall be the
sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people
out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain."
Exodus 4:8-9"And it shall come about that if they will not believe you or heed
the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign. 9
"But it shall be that if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what
you say, then you shall take some waterfrom the Nile and pour it on the dry
ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the
dry ground."
Dr. Jack L. Arnold
THE OLIVET DISCOURSE
Lesson#1
Matthew 24:1-3

I. INTRODUCTION
Do you have a desire to know what is going to happen in the
future? Do you want the veil to be removed from your mind to know
something of the future as well as the past? The only one who knows the
future is God and He has revealed it to us in the Bible. That is one of the
things that makes the Bible such a fascinating book.
If we Christians are going to plan for the future, bestwe know
what God’s plans are for this world and getin line with God’s program.
Gladstone, the English statesmanonce said,
“The task of statesmanshipis to discover the
Directionin which God Almighty is going for the next fifty years.”
So how much more true is this for the Christian, for we want to
be in tune with God’s plan and operate accordingly, no matter what the rest
of the world is doing.
Today we begin a study of the Olivet Discourse. Matthew 24
and 25 are prophetic sections ofthe Bible, and in these chapters the Lord
Jesus Christ reveals many truths concerning the ultimate fate of the earth.
Our Lord’s words are the history of the future already written. This
discourse was deliveredon the Mount of Olives during our Lord’s lastweek
immediately before His crucifixion. It is definitely eschatologicalin nature for
the Lord tells of the destruction of the city of Jerusalemwhich was in the near
future. He looks acrossthe centuries and outlines in a generalwaythe perils
that lie betweenthe first and secondadvents. He looks pastthe present day to

that time which he calls “the end of the age” whichin turn will be
consummated in his own return to earth and the ushering in of a new day.
II. JUDGMENTANNOUNCED
“And Jesus wentout, and departed from the temple: “Our
Lord had just preacheda scathing sermon againstthe Pharisees in Jerusalem,
pronouncing many woes onthem for their religious hypocrisy. He
pronounced judgment on the City of Jerusalembecause oftheir rejection of
Christ (Luke 19:41-44)and then drove out the money changers from the
temple (Luke 19:45). Then He pronounced the destruction of the temple
(Matthew 23:37-39), and said, “Your house is left unto you desolate.”
Judgment was inevitable for the nation of Israel. NOTE: Jesus left the
temple never to return again, and His judgment would be on Israelas a nation
until the secondadvent when they will say, “Blessedis he that cometh in the
name of the Lord.”
“And his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of
the temple.: -- Having made His pronouncement of judgment, the Lord
leaves and walks down through the valley of the Kidron and up the other side
to the Mount of Olives. There Jesus couldoverlook the city and the temple
area. The disciples came to him and were confused, for they did not
understand Christ’s pronouncement of judgment on Israel. They were not
interestedin the beauty or architecture of the temple (although it was
beautiful) but they could not see how Israel’s program set forth by God in the
Old Testamentcould be continued if the temple and city were destroyed.
NOTE: We can see that the vast majority of teaching in the Olivet Discourse
deals with God’s future plan for Israel and does not include Church truth per
se, for the Church was not yet formed.

III JUDGMENTPREDICTED
“And Jesus saidunto them, See ye not all these things?” -- The
“these things” refers to the wickedness ofthe nation of Israeland the
subsequent judgment upon the physical city and temple.
“Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone
upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” -- Jesus predicts that the
temple shall be destroyedand that there will not be one stone standing upon
another.
1. This prediction is more clearly taught in Luke
21:20-24. OurLord says Jerusalemwill be surrounded with armies and it will
be a horrible time of suffering for the people. It will end in defeatfor
Israeland Jerusalem(including the temple) will be “trodden down until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
2. This prediction was historically fulfilled forty
years later in 70 A.D. when the RomangeneralTitus came with a great army,
surrounded the city of Jerusalemand utterly destroyedit and the temple as
well. NOTE: Josephus, a Jewishhistorian of that day, records the fall of
Jerusalemto Titus. It was one of the most ghastly sieges ofall history. The
city was torn with inter strife betweenwarring factions of Jews. Theywere so
busy fighting one another, they did not prepare to fight the Romans. Titus
laid siege onthe city, and his armies attackedthe walls againand again, and
gave every opportunity to the Jews to surrender and save their capitalfrom
destruction. During the long siege a terrible famine ragedin the city and the
dead bodies of the inhabitants were stackedin the streets and starving
mothers and fathers ate their dead children. The toll of Jewishsuffering was
terrific. When the walls were finally breached, the armies broke through and

destroyedthe city and tore down the temple, even though Titus had given
orders not to do it. The Romans hated the Jews fortheir stubbornness, and
setfire to the temple. The Jews hadhidden their gold in the temple in various
places and when the temple burned it melted the gold, causing it to run down
betweenthe rocks and into the cracks ofthe stones. Whenthe soldiers
realized that the melted gold was in the walls of the temple, they took bars and
pried apart the massive stones. Thus, quite literally, not one stone was left
standing upon another. The only portion to remain was the WesternWall,
now known as the wailing wall.
3. When Christ predicted the destruction of the
city and temple, he was proving himself to be a true prophet according to the
Old Testament(Deut. 18:18, 19, 20-22). Christ gave the sign of the
destruction of the city and temple as His credentials for being a true prophet.
This was then filled to the letter. NOTE: Therefore, we canconclude that
whateverprophecies Christ gives in Matthew 24 and 25 will also come true in
His appointed time. Our Lord Himself said, “Heavenand earth will pass
away, but my words will not pass away” (24:35).
WILLIAM BARCLAY
The DoomOf The Holy City (Matthew 24:1-2)
24:1-2 When Jesus had left the precincts of the Temple, he was going away;
and his disciples came to him to point out to him the buildings of the Temple
area. He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? This is the truth I tell
you--one stone will not be left here upon another that will not be thrown
down."
It may well be that at leastsome of the disciples had not been very often to
Jerusalem. Theywere Galilaeans, men of the highlands and of the country,
fishermen who knew the lakeside far better than they knew the city. Some of

them at leastwould be like country folk come up to London for a visit,
staggeredby what they saw;and wellthey might be, for there was nothing
quite like the Temple in the ancient world.
The summit of Mount Sion had been dug awayto leave a plateauof 1,000 feet
square. At the far end of it was the Temple itself (the naos, Greek #3485).It
was built of white marble plated with gold, and it shone in the sun so that a
man could scarcelybearto look at it. Betweenthe lowercity and the Temple
mount lay the valley of the Tyropoeon, and across this valley stretcheda
colossalbridge. Its arches had a span of 41 1/2 feet, and its spring stones were
24 feet long by 6 inches thick. The Temple area was surrounded by great
porches, Solomon's Porchand the RoyalPorch. These porches were upheld by
pillars, cut out of solid blocks ofmarble in one piece. They were 37 1/2 feet
high, and of such a thickness that three men linked togethercould scarcely
put their arms round them. At the corners of the Temple angle stones have
been found which measure from 20 to 40 feet in length, and which weigh more
than 100 tons. How they were ever cut and placed in position is one of the
mysteries of ancientengineering. Little wonder that the Galilaeanfishermen
lookedand called Jesus'attentionto them.
Jesus answeredthatthe day would come when not one of these stones would
be left standing upon the other--and Jesus was right. In A.D. 70 the Romans,
finally exasperatedby the rebellious intransigence of the Jews, gave up all
attempt at pacificationand turned to destruction, and Jerusalemand the
Temple were laid waste so that Jesus'prophecy literally came true.
Here speaks Jesusthe prophet. Jesus knew that the way of powerpolitics can
end only in doom. The man and the nation which will not take the way of God
are heading for disaster--evenin material things. The man and the nation
which refuse the dream of God will find their own dreams shattered also.
JOHN BROADUS

Matthew 24:1 f. The temple is here hieron, the generalsacredenclosure, see
on "Matthew 4:5". Jesus wentinto the Court of the Gentiles and the Court of
Israel, but never into the central building (naos)and the surrounding Court of
the Priests. (Compare on Matthew 21:12)The clause 'from the temple' stands
in the Greek (correcttext)(1) betweenthe participle rendered 'went out' and
the verb 'was going,'and could be connectedwith the latter, as in Com. Ver.,
but is more naturally connectedwith the former, as in Rev. Ver. The
preposition 'from' makes the temple the point of departure; the other
expression, 'going out,' shows distinctly that he had been in the temple, which
would be plain from the nature of the case. (Compare onMatthew 3:16) Was
going on his way (Rev. Ver.), doubtless returning towards Bethany, whence he
had come that morning (Matthew 21:17 f.; Luke 21:37);and the disciples
interrupted his progress to show him the buildings of the temple (hieron). In
Mark (Mark 13:2) they are expressly called'greatbuildings,' and in Mark
and Luke specialattention is directed to the vast "stones"employed. Josephus
says ("Ant.," 15, 11, 3) that Herod built the sanctuary (naos)of stones that
were "white and strong," probably meaning a hard variety of white limestone
still much used in Palestine, and that they were about twenty-five cubits long,
eight in height, and twelve in breadth, or in our feet about forty by twelve by
twenty, which is even largerthan the stones now found in the southern angles
of Herod the Great's outer wall. (See on "Matthew 21:42")In "War," 5, 5, 6,
Josephus evensays that some of the stones were forty-five cubits long (eighty-
five feet). Doubtless the inner walls also, and pillars of the colonnades (see on
"Matthew 21:12"), presentedvery large and 'beautiful' stones. (Luke 21:5,
Bib. Un. Ver.) It is doubtful whether any other pile of sacredbuildings on
earth has been so vast or to contemporaries so imposing as Herod's temple.
Talmud Bab. says:"He that never saw the temple of Herod, never saw a fine
building." Luke's other expression, 'the temple was adorned with beautiful
stones and offerings' (Bib. Un. Ver.), recalls Josephus'statementthat
"fastenedall around the temple (hieron) were barbaric spoils, and all these
King Herod offeredup, adding whateverhe took from the Arabians also."
(Compare Revelation21:26)There were doubtless also many votive tablets,
and other beautiful objects offered by the people, to adorn all the courts and
colonnades, as wellas the central sacredbuilding. Tacitus says ("Hist.," V., 8,
12), that it was "a temple of immense wealth," and so constructedas to be "an

excellentfortress." Our Lord seems to have been outside of the temple when
his attention was calledby the disciples, but this does not show that they were
observing only the stones of the outer wall, for the central building rose high
above the outer court and its wall, and was visible to a greatdistance, as
Josephus states, ("Ant.," 15, 11, 3.)Our Lord's language in Matthew 4:2
shows that he is referring to the entire structure. And Jesus said, etc. But he
answeredand said, is the correctGreek text. The subsequent insertion of the
name 'Jesus'is a thing of frequent occurrence in the manuscripts, compare on
Matthew 14:14. See ye not all these things? This calledtheir attention to the
vast and solid mass of buildings, by way of preparation for the statementthat
all would be overthrown, a thing which then seemedin the highest degree
unlikely; indeed, we know that Titus fully meant to preserve it. (Josephus
"War," 6, 4.) There shall not be left here one stone upon another. So also in
Mark and Luke. Some stickle at the fact that severalstones ofHerod's outer
wall now remain in situ, e. g., at the Jews'place of wailing, and at the
southeastand southwestcorners;indeed, at the southeastcornerthe recent
English excavations reachedfoundation-stones supposedto have been laid by
Solomon. Our Lord's language is of course popular, and such an objection is
trifling. Compare Jeremiah26:18. In fact, it is wonderful how literally the
prediction was fulfilled, for very seldom was a greatcity so completely
destroyed. Josephus says ("War," 7, 1, 1) that Titus finally ordered the whole
city and the sanctuary to be razed to its foundations, exceptthree towers and
part of the westernwall, and that all the restof the city wall "was so
completely levelled with the ground that there was no longer anything to lead
those who visited the spot to believe that it had everbeen inhabited."
CALVIN

Matthew 24:1. And Jesus wentout. The disciples undoubtedly perceivedthat
Christ was paying, as it were, his last adieu to the temple. It remained,
therefor that he should erecta new temple far more magnificent, and that he
should produce a more flourishing condition of the kingdom, as had been
foretold by the Prophets;for he had nothing to do with that temple, in which
every thing was opposedto him. But again, the disciples could not believe that
the magnificent splendor of the temple would give wayto Christ. And it ought
to be carefully observedthat, owing to the prodigious costliness ofthe temple,
their eyes were so dazzled by the splendor of its present aspect, that they could
scarcelyentertainthe hope that the kingdom of Christ would arise. They do
not, indeed, in express terms acknowledge theirhesitation, but they tacitly
throw out a suggestionofit, when they allege, in opposition to Christ, the mass
of stones which must be gotout of the way, and which must indeed be utterly
laid low if he intended to reign. Many simple persons of our own day are
carried awayby a similar admiration of Popery; for, perceiving it to be
supported by very greatwealth and by immense power, they are filled with
absolute amazement, so as to despise a Church of mean and slovenly aspect.
Many even think that we are mad in laboring to effectits destruction, as if this
were nothing less than an attempt to draw down the sun out of heaven. And
yet, there is no reasonto wonderthat a spectacle so imposing held the
disciples of Christ in astonishment; for how greatexpense that building cost
Herod, may be concluded from the single fact, that he kept ten thousand
workmenemployed on it for eight successive years. Noris it without reason
that they admire the stones which, Josephus tells us, were superlatively
beautiful, and were fifteen 125 cubits in length, twelve in height, and eight in
breadth. Besides,so greatwas the reverence entertainedfor the temple even
in remote districts, that scarcelyany person would venture to suppose that it
could ever be destroyed.
2. Verily I say to you. As the vast size and wealthof the temple, like a veil
hung before the eyes of the disciples, did not permit them to elevate their faith
to the true reign of Christ, which was still future, so he affirms with an oath,
that those things which occupy their attention will quickly perish. This
prediction of the destruction of the temple, therefore, opened up a path for the

ignorant and weak. 126 Now,though it was advantageous thatthe temple
should be destroyed, lest its services and shadows might exercise an undue
influence on the Jews, who were already too much attachedto earthly
elements, yet the chief reasonwas, that God determined, by this dreadful
example, to take vengeance onthat nation, for having rejectedhis Son, and
despisedthe grace whichwas brought by him. And, therefore, this threatening
must have intimidated the disciples from taking part with a rebellious people;
as the punishments which Scripture denounces againstthe wickedought now
to deter us from those crimes which provoke the wrath of God. Every thing
that it tells us, even about the fading and transitory aspectof the world, ought
to correctthe vanity of our senses,whichtoo eagerlyfollow pomp, and luxury,
and pleasure. But more especially, what it declares respecting the fearful
destruction of Antichrist and his followers, oughtto remove every obstacle
which hinders us from pursuing the right course offaith.
RICH CATHERS
Matthew 24
Thursday Evening Bible Study
May 17, 2007
Introduction
Jesus has been teaching in the Temple during this final week in Jerusalem.
Sometimes it’s just hard to get motivated.
Illustration
Being A MOM !
One day a man comes home from work to find totalmayhem at home. The
kids were outside still in their pajamas playing in the mud and muck. There

were empty food boxes and wrappers all around. As he proceededinto the
house, he found an even bigger mess. Dishes onthe counter, dog food spilled
on the floor, a brokenglass under the table, and a small pile of sand by the
back door. The family room was strewn with toys and various items of
clothing, and a lamp had been knockedover. He headedup the stairs,
stepping over toys, to look for his wife. He was becoming worried that she
may be ill, or that something had happened to her. He found her in the
bedroom, still in bed with her pajamas on, reading a book. She lookedup at
him, smiled, and askedhow his day went. He lookedat her bewilderedand
asked“whathappened here today?” She againsmiled and answered, “You
know everyday when you come home from work and ask me what I did
today?” “Yes”, was his reply.” She answered, “Well, today I didn’t do it!”
Jesus is getting near to the time when He will no longer be with the disciples.
How is He going to keepthem motivated? What kinds of things are going to
keepthem going?
:1-2 Temple Destruction
:1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came
up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
:2 And Jesus saidto them, "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."
Herod the Greatbegan renovating Zerubbabel’s temple in 20 BC. In Jesus’
day, the work was still going on. The work would not be finished until 64 AD.
Herod’s Temple was knownfor it’s massive stones, many of them 10-12 feetin
length, some up to 26 feet in length. It was difficult to see how they could ever
come apart.
The Romans were known for being respecters ofother nations’ religions.
They had never torn down another nation’s temples. I would imagine the Jews
in Israel felt pretty goodabout their Temple, despite the factof the Roman
rule over the land. But that changedin AD 70 when Titus moved to put down
the Jewishrevolt.

When the Titus took Jerusalem, he intended that the temple be left in tact.
After getting into the city, the battle headed toward the temple where 6,000
Jews were holedup. On August 30, in the attack in the inner court, a soldier
tosseda firebrand through a window into one of the side chambers. Titus
rushed up shouting commands for the fire to be extinguished, but wasn't
obeyed. Another soldier tosseda burning brand into the Holy Place that set
the sanctuaryitself on fire. The 6,000 people in the temple complex died.
The fire melted the gold of the Temple and the molten gold seepedinto the
cracks betweenthe stones. The Romans pulled the stones apart in order to
salvage the gold.
A HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINEOF THE LORD’S RETURN
Dr. W. A. Criswell
Matthew 24:1-3
3-25-84 10:50 a.m.
It’s a gladness to welcome you who are sharing this hour with us on radio and
on television. This is the pastorof the First Baptist Church in Dallas bringing
the messageentitledA History of the Doctrine of the Return of Our Lord.
Our backgroundtext is the apocalyptic discourse of Jesus in Matthew 24.
Reading the first three verses, Matthew 24:
And Jesus wentout, and departed from the temple: and His disciples came to
Him for to show Him the buildings of the temple.

And Jesus saidunto them: See ye not all these things? Verily, I say unto you,
there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown
down.
And as He satupon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him
privately saying: Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the
sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?
[Matthew 24:1-3]
We’re going to follow this doctrine of our Lord’s return first as it is taught in
the New TestamentScriptures, the doctrine of the early church; second, the
return of our Lord as the doctrine was taught by the church fathers in the
pilgrim-persecuted primitive church. Third, we shall follow the doctrine of the
return of our Lord as it was drowned and denied by the lavish imperial
Roman church. Fourth, we shall follow the doctrine of the return of our Lord
as the hope of the morning stars of the Reformation, the precursors of the
Reformation. Fifth, we shall follow the doctrine of the return of our Lord as it
was taught by the leaders of the greatReformation;and lastly, we shall look
at the doctrine of the return of our Lord as it is preachedby the great
revivalists of the last two centuries.
First, then, the presentationof the doctrine of the return of our Lord in the
New Testament:in the New Testament, the apostles andthe disciples of Christ
believed in and lookedforward to the imminent return of Christ. Without
exception, the doctrine of the New Testamentis pre-chiliastic and
premillennial. When you use the Greek characterizationofthe return of our
Lord, you use the word chiliasm. The Greek word for thousand is chiliad.
And the doctrine of the return of Christ is calledchiliasm, and the people
were chiliasts.
The thousand-year period is mentioned six times in the first few verses of the
twentieth chapter of the Revelation[Revelation20:2-7]. Now that is in the
Greek church. They were calledchiliasts. In the Latin Church, they were
calledmillenarians, millennialists. The word millennium, when you come to

the Latin language, is from two words:mili which means thousand and anus
which means year. So millennium is a thousand years.
And the people in the Latin language that believed the Bible were called
millenarians as the people who spoke Greek were calledchiliasts. Now, a pre-
millenarian, a premillennialist, a pre-chiliast, is someone who believes the
Bible and believes that Christ is coming before the millennium. His coming is
imminent: any moment, any day, any hour, any time.
A post-chiliast, a postmillenarian, a postmillennialist, is someone who believes
that we’re going to getbetter, and better, and better. We’re going to win the
world by preaching the gospel, and after we have brought in the millennium
then Christ will come.
The amillennialist, the achiliast, is someone who doesn’tbelieve any of it. He
is a spiritualizer. He is an allegorizer, and to him there is no such thing as a
millennium. There’s no such thing as a literal interpretation of the Word of
God.
Now, we are going to look first at what the Scriptures say about the return of
our Savior, namely, that it is premillennial – that the coming of Christ is
imminent: i-m-m-i-n-e-n-t: any moment, any day, any hour.
Our Lord Jesus saidin John 14:3: "If I go away, I will come againand receive
you unto Myself." And in Mark 8, in the last verse, verse 38, He said, "The
Son of Man cometh in the glory of the Fatherwith His holy angels." The
apostle Paul wrote the first and the secondletters to the church at
Thessalonica andin every chapter, all five of them in 1 Thessalonians, all
three of them in 2 Thessalonians, withevery chapter, Paul closedwith a
promise and a description of the glorious secondreturn of our Lord [1
Thessalonians 1:10, 2:19, 3:13, 4:14-17, 5:23; 2 Thessalonians1:7-10, 2:1-14].
In the Book ofHebrews – in Hebrews 9:28, "Unto them that look for Him
shall He appearthe secondtime apart from sin unto salvation." James, the
Lord’s brother and the pastorof the mother church at Jerusalem, wrote in
James 5:8, "Be ye patient, establishyour hearts for the coming of the Lord

draweth nigh." Imminency – the doctrine of the imminent return of our
Lord; His coming draweth nigh.
Simon Peterwrote in 2 Peter, chapter 3, verses 3 and 4, "There shall come in
the lastdays scoffers . . . saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’" Verse
9: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise." Verse 10, "But the day of
the Lord will come as a thief in the night . . . " without advertisement, without
any notice. He will come clandestinely, furtively, secretly, soft-sandaledly, as
a thief in the night. And the apostle John, the text of the Apocalypse, is
Revelation1:7: "Behold, He comethwith clouds and every eye shall see Him."
In the fourth chapter of the Apocalypse, John sees a door openedin heaven
and the invitation, "Come up hither," and John is raptured [Revelation4:1].
He’s caught awayto heaven – a type, a picture of the catching away, the
rapture of the church. And we see in the Apocalypse, in chapter 19 and verse
11, our Lord returning to earth with His saints [Revelation19:11]. And the
Apocalypse closes withthis benediction, Revelation22, verse 20:"He which
testifieth these things saith, ‘Surely, surely, I come quickly,’" and the
answering prayer of the sainted apostle John, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
This is the doctrine of the coming of our Lord in the New Testamentchurch.
We turn now to the church fathers – those who lived and ministered and
preachedin the days of the persecutedpilgrim primitive church. First, the
Didachē, the teaching of the twelve apostles. The documentwas discoveredin
1873, andthere are many scholars who assignits writing to about 100 AD
about the same time that John wrote the Revelation. Fromthe [sixteenth]
chapter of the Didachē are these words, "Watchfor your life’s sake. Letnot
your lamps be quenched nor your loins unloosed;be ye ready, for you know
not the hour in which the Lord cometh" [Didachē 16:1]. And the Didachē has
a post-communion prayer ending with maranatha [Didachē 10:14]; that is
Aramaic for the Lord cometh. That is the wayPaul ended his first Corinthian
letter [1 Corinthians 16:22].
We turn now, second, to the epistle of Barnabas. It was written in about 130
AD. It’s a pseudonymous letter. It is not written by Barnabas;it is just
written in his name. It was found at the close ofCodex Siniaticus which was

discoveredby Tishendorf in St. Catherine’s monastery at the footof Mount
Sinai. Now, in this document written about 130 AD., addressedto the Gentile
Christians, the epistle says:
The Sabbath rests will come when the Sonof Godshall appearand destroy
the lawless one;the Antichrist. The true Sabbath is the Sabbath of the one
thousand years, the millennium. Then all will have been sanctifiedcompletely,
when Christ comes back to reign.
[Barnabas 15:5]
Our third is, Clement of Rome. There are many who think that Clement that
Paul mentions in Philippians 4:3 is this Clement. He wrote two letters to the
church at Corinth. In the first letter he said, "Let us be followers ofthose
who went about in sheepskins andgoatskins preaching the coming of Christ"
[Clement’s First Letter 17:1]. In the secondletter he wrote to the church at
Corinth he said, "Let us every hour expect the kingdom of God because we
know not the day of Christ’s appearing" [2 Clement 12:1].
Another one of those early documents is named the Shepherd of Hermas.
There are many scholars who believe that this is the Hermas mentioned by
Paul in Romans 16, verse 14. That also was discoveredby Tishendorf in 1859
when he discoveredCodexSiniaticus in the monastery on Mount Sinai.
The Coptic Church, the African church, in the third century placedthis
Shepherd of Hermas as a part of the New Testament. Hermas writes that in a
vision he was told, quote, "Go tell the elect, the Lord, go tell the electof the
Lord that this beast, this imperial persecutor, the Roman Caesar, is a type of
the greattribulation that is coming" [Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 4].
Number five, Ignatius: Ignatius was a disciple of Peterand of John. He was
pastor of the church at Antioch. He was thrown to the lions in 107 AD. And
after he was condemned to die, he made the journey, a martyr’s journey, from
Antioch, around the Mediterranean, to Rome where he was martyred by

being fed to the lions in the Coliseum. And along the way, he wrote letters to
the churches and to the great men of God. And here is the letter, a sentence
from the letter he wrote to Polycarpwho was pastorof the church at Smyrna.
"Be every day better than another. Considerthe times and expectHim who is
above all time" ["Ignatius to Polycarp" 3:2].
The next one, Polycarp: Polycarpwas the disciple of John. He was pastorof
the church at Smyrna, and he was burned at the stake at 155 AD. His
writings have perished but some of his sentencesare quoted by others, and
this is one: "If we obey Christ, we shall receive the age to come. Christ will
raise us from the dead and we shall live and reign with Him. The saints shall
judge the world" ["Polycarpto the Philippians," 5:27].
The next is Papias: Papias along with Polycarpwere disciples of the apostle
John. Papias was the pastor at Hierapolis. Hierapolis is just there on that
side of the Lycus River from Laodicea which is locatedhere; the two Greek
cities in ancient Asia, the province of Asia, the Roman province of Asia were
right across the river from eachother. Only fragments of what Papias wrote
are knownto us, but here is one sentence whichis quoted by the ancient
historian Eusebius. Papias said, "There will be a millennium after the
resurrectionfrom the dead when the personalreign of Christ will be
establishedon the earth" [Eusebius, "The Writings of Papias," in Church
History].
We next cite Justin Martyr. Justin Martyr was born at Shechemin ancient
Samaria. He was born in 89 AD. He was martyred in 163. In his book
Dialogue with [Trypho], he wrote, "I and all of the Christians know there will
be a resurrection of the dead and a thousand years in Jerusalem, built,
adorned, broadened as the prophets Isaiahand Ezekieland others declare"
[Chapter LXXX – "The Opinion of Justin with Regardto the Reign of a
Thousand Years. SeveralCatholics RejectIt," in Dialogue with Trypho].
Irenaeus: Irenaeus was pastor of the church at Lyon, Gaul, now called
France. He was a disciple of Polycarp. You have here these three men
clasping hands. John, the disciple of the Lord who lay on His breast at the
Lord’s Supper, John, and the disciple of John, Polycarp, and the disciple of

Polycarp, Irenaeus. Those three men clasphands in an unbroken testimony.
Irenaeus writes:
When Antichrist shall have devastatedall things in this world; he will reign
for three years and six months and sit in the temple at Jerusalem.
And then the Lord will come from heavenin the clouds, in the glory of the
Father, sending this Antichrist to the lake of fire, but bringing in for the
righteous the times of the kingdom, the rest, the hallowed seventhday.
[Against Heresies, chxxx]
And I quote just one other. All of these others are from the East. I quote one
from the West, the greatestLatin father was Tertullian. He was the son of a
Roman centurion. He was an eminent lawyer. He was born 160 AD. He was
born in Carthage in northern Africa. Here are two sentences that I copied
from Tertullian: "We do confess that a kingdom is promised us on earth
before that in heaven. After its one thousand years are over, there will ensue
the destructionof the world and the conflagrationof all things, at the
judgment" [Chapter XXV – "Christ’s Millennial and Heavenly Glory in
Company with His Saints" in Against Marcion, Book III]. This is the
millenarian stance of the preaching of those fathers who labored in the
persecutedpilgrim, primitive church.
Now, the next section:then came Constantine, Roman emperor from 306 to
337. And he came with the story of his having seenthe shining cross in the sky
with the Latin inscription beneath: in hoc signo vinces, "In this sign,
conquer." He was an adroit, an ambitious politician. He saw in the Christian
church a powerful ally for his personaladvancement. His conversionpaid off
wonderfully. He was receivedas the defender and promoter of the faith
whom heaven had raisedup to exalt the church.
The change in the church was terrific and cataclysmic. It was phenomenal. A
magician’s wand could not have evokedno mightier a change. Frombeing

persecutedand despised, the church became the admired and adored lapdog
of the court. Menof all classesfrom the highest dignitary to the lowestslave
rushed into her arms. As it became fashionable in the court to be a Christian,
it became no less honorable in the hut to display the cross. The whole pagan
world was baptized into the Christian faith: temples, basilicas, priests, liturgy,
rituals, images, relics, icons – the whole thing, eastand west, Greek and Latin
was baptized into the church. The whole thing became a part of the church.
The church found herselffacing a new creation. No longerpoor but laden
with wealth and worldly honors, she saw clearly that to maintain the doctrine
of pilgrimage and separationfrom the enticements of the world would
displease the Emperor and the pagan masses. Sucha procedure might do
while she was poor and persecutedbut not now that she was rich and lordly.
Satanoffered the church the kingdom of this world if only she would bow
down before him. The church acceptedthe worldly powerand support. The
union of church and state was the burial of true Christianity. Dante, the great
Italian, Florentine poet, in his Inferno, refers to this time:
Ah, Constantine, of how much ill was cause.
Not thy conversion, but those rich domains
That the first Roman bishop receivedof thee.
There upon and therein and therewith the church rejectedthe millennial
doctrine of the Bible and suppressedall millennial literature. The new
doctrine opposedthe teaching of a personalreign of Christ upon earth.
Augustine, himself once a millenarian, took up the new principle and carried
it to the full. He taught, and the rest followed, that the church was the
kingdom; that the millennium dates from the rise and conversionof
Constantine;that we are in the millennium now, and the coming of Christ is
not to be expectedbut in a spiritual way. The personalpresence of Christ is
no longer needed. The millennium has come without Him. The imperial
church has overcome the world and as the scarletharlot, as I add say, as the

scarletwhore, as the scarletharlot, she rides on the back of the beast.
Revelation17, verse 3 and verse 7. Isn’t that the strangestprophecyyou
could ever read in the Bible – the church likened to a scarletprostitute riding
on the back of the imperial beast, the Roman Caesar?
As long as the pilgrim persecutedchurch lookedheavenwardwhere her Lord
lived, as long as she remembered that her citizenship was in glory, she looked
forward to the secondcoming of the Lord. But now, in wealth and in
prosperity, stretching her limbs upon ivory couches, sitting in her palace in
the sun, she said, "I am a queen. I shall see no more sorrow. Mykingdom has
come."
And what of the doctrine of the return of our Lord? Counselafter counsel
denounced any attempt to revive so unsettling a promise. Having
spiritualized and allegorizedthe Holy Scriptures, making all its golden
prophecies apply to the Roman church, the Word of God was discounted and
reckonedas a thing safe only in the hands of the hierarchy. The knowledge of
the Word of God perished among the people. Ignorance, darkness,
hopelessness,superstitionreigned supreme and the dark ages of western
Christian civilization had come.
We turn now to the morning stars of the Reformation, to the precursors of
those who brought the Scriptures back to the people. First, Joachimof
Florence;he was the abbot of Calabria. Calabria is the heel of the Italian
boot. He resignedhis position as abbot in order to study the Scriptures. He
preachedgreatsermons from the Apocalypse on the coming of Christ. He
preachedthe millennium beginning with the personaladvent of our Lord.
Second, PeterWaldo who founded the Waldensians. Bythe way, in some of
those Waldensianchurches you had to memorize the entire New Testamentin
order to be receivedas members of the church. What would my brethren
think about that? Those Waldensianpreachers preachedconversion, and
consecration, and the coming of the Lord; and they were martyred by the
untold thousands.
Next, John Wycliff 1324 to 1384;he’s one calledthe morning star of the
Reformation. He wrote a book entitled The Last Age of the Church. He

regardedthe Redeemer’s appearing as the object of the hope and constant
expectationof the true church. He translated the Bible into English. He
escapedmartyrdom. John Wycliff did, but in 1428 at the demand of Pope
Clement the VIII, his body was exhumed. It was dug up. It was burned and
his ashes were scatteredonthe River Swift. But the River Swift runs into the
Avon. And the River Avon runs into the Severn and the River Severn runs
into the sea. And the seas bathe the continents of the world. And they carried
John Wycliff’s doctrine of the coming of our Lord and the inspiration of the
Bible to the peoples of the world. One of his converts and followers was John
Huss of Bohemia and Jerome in Prague. I have stood there in Prague before
the tremendous marvelous tribute in bronze to John Huss and Jerome. They
were burned at the stake, but they preachedthe coming of the Lord. Then we
name Savonarola ofFlorence, 1452-18. He was a bugle blast that ushered in
the Reformation.
I went to the Duomo in Florence, the greatcathedral in Florence, just to stand
there where Savonarola preached. He preachedfrom the Apocalypse. He
preachedfrom the Revelation. He preachedthe return of Christ. He
preachedthe Tribulation. He preachedthe judgment and visitation of God. I
have heard it. I have read it is impossible, they say, to describe the preaching
of Savonarola. Thousands andthousands crowdedinto that Duomo to hear
Savonarola declare the Word of the Lord. They came to hear him as they
came to hear John Chrysostom a century before in Antioch. Critics coming to
scorn, to report his sermons, dropped their pens to weepin repentance and
contrition. He was a mighty pentecostalrevivalist, and he brought revival to
the land.
Rome was stirred, of course. Savonarola refusedthe bribe of a cardinal’s hat.
Excommunicated, he was horribly tortured. He was hanged in the public
square of Florence until he died. Then his body was burned.
William Tyndale, 1480-1536:He caught the refrain of the brilliant, dynamic
preaching of Savonarola in Florence, and he said, "I’m going to make it
possible for every ploughboy in England to know more of the Bible than these
who are taught in the hierarchy" [recordedin Actes and Monuments, John
Foxe, 1563]. He was strangled;he was burned at the stake. Buthe wrote,

"Christ and His apostles taught us no other thing than to look for the coming
of our Lord any hour." These are the morning stars and the precursors of the
Reformation.
Then the Reformation:the doctrine of the coming of our Lord through these
centuries. Martin Luther, 1483-1546,in his commentary on John 10:19,
Luther wrote:
Some say that before the latter day, the whole world shall become Christian,
post-millennialism. This is a falsehoodforgedby Satanto darken sound
doctrine. Beware ofthe deceiver. Let us not think that the coming of Christ
is far off. Let us look up with our heads lifted high. Let us expect our
Redeemer’s coming with longing and with a joyous mind.
[quoted in "A Summary of the Argument in Defence ofPre-Millenarianism,"
Rev. John T. Duffield, D.D. in The SecondComing of Christ: Premillennial
Essays [etc.], NathanielWest, 1879, p. 425.]
John Calvin, 1509 – 1564, he wrote, "Scripture uniformly enjoins us to look
with expectationfor the advent of Christ" [Institutes of the Christian
Religion, Book III, Chapter 25, section6.] JohnKnox, 1505 – 1572, he wrote:
The Lord Jesus shallreturn and that with expedition." What were that but to
reform the face of the whole earth, which never was nor yet shall be till that
righteous judge shall appearfor the restorationof all things.
[quoted in "A Summary of the Argument in Defence ofPre-Millenarianism,"
Rev. John T. Duffield, D.D. in The SecondComing of Christ: Premillennial
Essays [etc.], NathanielWest, 1879, p. 425.]

And these two great EnglishBishops: Nicholas Ridleyand Hugh Latimer.
When you go to Oxford, when you enter Oxford, you will see there a great
monument to MasterRidley and to Hugh Latimer – one, the Bishopof
London, Ridley, and the other the Bishop of Worcester. Theywere burned at
the stake there in 1555.
Hugh Latimer was one of the greatestpreachersofall time and the most
fearless ofthe Englishreformers. A mighty, influential preacher of the Word
of God, he said, "Let us not think of Christ coming as far off. When Paul
thought that this day would come in his time, how much more shall we think
that it shall come in our time? Christ saith not in vain, watchand pray"
[from "On the Gospelfor the SecondSunday in Advent," Sermons and
Remains:Hugh Latimer, vol. 2, Ed. George Elwes Corrie, p. 59]. He would
have us to be watchers and to have it that all men are in remembrance of His
coming.
MasterRidley, who was burned with him said, "Let us with the apostle John,
the servantof God, cry in our hearts unto the SaviorChrist, ‘Come Lord
Jesus, come’" ["ALamentation for the Change of Religionin England"].
The Anabaptists: Ana is the Greek word for again, and they were called
Anabaptists because they baptized their converts. The whole world, the whole
Christian world, the whole westernworld, had been sprinkled into the state
church; but these Anabaptists preachedthat you had to be converted before
you were baptized. So upon a confessionof faith, as you saw this morning,
they were baptized. So they were calledAnabaptists. Multitudes of them
were martyred by drowning. They said, "You like water? Here’s lots of
water!" And they drowned them! All of them, without exception, were
millenarians. They were premillennialists – every Anabaptist that lived.
Now the Baptists: in 1660, anassemblyof English Baptists presented to King
Charles II in London a confessionoffaith for which they declaredthey were
ready to suffer persecutionunto death. And in that confessionthey presented
to King Charles II, they wrote:

Concerning the Kingdom and the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we do
believe that He is now in heaven, at His Father’s right hand, so we do believe,
that at the time appointed by the Father, He shall come again, in power and
greatglory. Raise the dead, judge and restore the world and according to the
Scripture, reign on the throne of His FatherDavid, on Mt. Zion, in Jerusalem,
forever. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself will be alone, the
visible, supreme God and King of the whole earth. We believe that the New
Jerusalemthat shall come down from heaven will be the metropolitan city of
the Kingdom and will be the glorious palace of the residence ofboth Christ
and His saints forever.
["Standard or Brief ConfessionofFaith," GeneralBaptistassembly, 1660]
That’s what our forefathers believed.
Now we come to the last: the doctrine of the SecondComing of Christ as
preachedby the greatrevivalists.
John Wesley: 1703 – 1791. Wesleylived every day and hour as though it
were his last. He was always ready, waiting for the coming of the Lord. He
said, "Perhaps He will appear as the dayspring from on high, before the
morning light. Expect Him every hour. Now He is nigh, even at the door"
["The Righteousness ofFaith" in The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M.].
When Wesleywas buried, his friend, WalterChurchey, spoke in broken tones
and said, "I have lostmy friend, but I shall see him again – perhaps soon–
even upon the earth where the sufferers for Christ are to rise and to reign in
His spiritual kingdom for a thousand years" [from a letter to JosephBenson,
Walter Chruchey, 1801]. GoodMethodistdoctrine.
Charles Wesleywrote, 1708 – 1788, wrote so many hymns. Here’s a stanza:

Trusting in the literal word
We look for Christ on earth again,
Come our everlasting Lord
With all Thy saints, to reign.
[Short Hymns (1762), 2:56, Hymn 1284]
George Whitefield: don’t you wish you could have heard that man? They say
he could pronounce the word Mesopotamia andbring a congregationto tears!
George Whitefield. George Whitefieldsaid, "Where is the promise of His
coming? … Perhaps today, perhaps this midnight, the cry will be made …
‘Behold the Bridegroom cometh!’ Let that cry be continually sounding in
your ears, and begin now to live as though you were assuredthat this night
you were to go forth to meet Him" [from "The Wise and FoolishVigins," pub.
in SelectedSermons of George Whitefield, 1904].
Augustus Toplady, who wrote the "Rock ofAges," in honest Englishhe said,
"I am one of those old fashionedpeople who believe in the doctrine of the
millennium, and that there will be two distinct resurrections of the dead: one,
the resurrectionof the just; second, the resurrection of the unjust. This last
resurrectionof the reprobate will not commence until a thousand years after
the resurrectionof the Just. In this glorious interval of a thousand years,
Christ will reign in personover the kingdom of the Just" ["Speech[etc],"
pub. In The Works ofAugustus M. Toplady, 1825, p. 470].
There were two greatpreachers in the lastcentury who were goodfriends,
though they labored on opposite sides of the Atlantic. One was Charles
Haddon Spurgeon, who died in 1892, and the other was Dwight L. Moody,
here in America, who died in 1899. Ihave in my library a book by Spurgeon
entitled Twelve Sermons on the SecondComing. Spurgeonsaid, "I do look
for his premillennial advent and expectHe will come again, Jesus our Lord, to

be King of all the earth and to rule all nations in a glorious, personalreign"
["The Kingly Priesthoodof the Saints," sermonby C. H. Spurgeon, 1855].
And Dwight L. Moody: "Paul’s epistles speak aboutthe return of the Lord
fifty times and yet the church has very little to say about it. Now, I can see a
reasonfor this. The devil does not want us to see this truth for nothing would
wake up the church so much. The moment a man takes hold of the truth that
Jesus Christ is coming againto receive His followers to Himself, this world
loses its hold upon him., The church is cold and formal. May God wake it up!
And I know of no better way to do it than to getthe church to look for the
return of our Lord." Dwight L. Moody. ["The Return of Our Lord," Moody:
his words, work, and workers, Ed. Rev. W. H. Daniels, p. 468, 475]
And last, our own fellow churchman here in this First Baptist of Dallas, Billy
Graham. He has presentedthe gospelface to face to more people than any
other man in history. One of his books is entitled Till Armageddon. And his
latestbook, just off the press, is entitled Approaching Hoof Beats: The Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The lastchapter in that book is called "The
Grand Finale," and in it Billy Graham says:
Christ’s triumph over Antichrist and the forces of evil will be a reign of Jesus
Christ and His saints of all ages overour earth, an earth that will know
unprecedented prosperity and peace. There canbe no new world under
present conditions. Something dramatic must happen to alter man and the
world. That leaves us with one absolute certainty about the future, Christ, as
the Prince of Peace, withthe government upon His shoulders. Without the
Messiahthe human enterprise crashes into darkness forever. But thank God
the Messiahis coming! He saves individuals today. In the great tomorrow he
will remake all creation.
This is a greatreview of the doctrine of the coming of our Lord from the day
of the Savior, Jesus, to our latest, greatevangelistBilly Graham.

There is something about the teaching and the preaching of the doctrine of the
coming of Christ that lifts up our souls heavenward. When our lives and our
interests are immersed in this world, somehow we lose touch with God and we
lose touch with the glorious hope of redemption. For when our souls and our
hopes and our visions and our prayers are centeredin this life and in this
world, there is nothing to look forward to but death and the grave and the
darkness of the midnight. The world is hopeless – pitiful and to be pitied if
all of our life is just this. But when we open God’s Book and read there of the
redemption that is yet to come, of the resurrectionof the dead, of the kingdom
of our Saviorwhere He will live and reign with His saints foreverand ever, no
matter what our estate or what our suffering or what our troubles, there’s a
better day tomorrow. There’s a more glorious life yet to come God having
prepared some better day for us. There is nothing comparable to the
preciousness ofthe hope that we have in Christ Jesus. And He is ours for the
having, for the asking, for the inviting: "I stand at the door of your heart and
your life, and I knock. And if you will hear My voice and open the door, I will
come in and sup with you and you with Me" [Revelation3:20]. Do it. Our
Lord will bless your house. He’ll bless your home. He’ll bless your heart.
He’ll bless the work of your hands. He’ll be your friend to the hour of death.
He’ll stand by you in that ultimate and final tragic moment. And He’ll send
His angels for us to take us to heavenwhen we die, and He will comfort us –
raise us from the dead one glorious day.
And this is our invitation to you: to give your heart in faith to the wonderful
Savior, or to put your family in the circle of this glorious church, or to re-
consecrate your life to Jesus. This is God’s moment. This is God’s time.
Listen to the Spirit of the Lord and answerwith your life. Do it now. Do it
now.
Now, Brother Ed Poole, I want you to come and stand over here. Every
Sunday, we have members of our staff who re-consecrate andrecommit their
lives to the Lord Jesus. Thenwe have a prayer of consecrationand
commitment, and if you would like to come and to be a part of that
recommital of your life to the wonderful Savior, so welcome you. Come and
we’ll kneeland pray together.

Then, of course, to give your heart and faith to Christ or to put your life in the
circle of this wonderful church, a thousand times welcome as the Spirit of God
will lead you in the way. Make it now. Make the decisionin your heart now,
and when we stand up, stand up taking that first step down a stairway, down
an aisle: "Here I am pastor. I am on the way." Mayangels attend you as you
come, while we stand and while we sing.
Rev. David Holwick Z
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
August 20, 2006
Matthew 24:1-3
PROPHECYIN THE MIDDLE EAST TODAY
I. Fighting in the Middle East.
A. Have many times have you seenthis?
1) I remember 1967 Six-DayWar, 1973 Yom Kippur War, and
a couple Intafadas.
2) Former congressmanNewtGingrich saidin an interview
that he thought it could be the start of World War III.

3) This gotmany people to thinking about the ultimate war --
the battle of Armageddon.
4) (The Lebanese border is very close to the expected
locationof that final battle.)
B. Has the Bible predicted all this?
1) Even secularpoliticians are concerned.
a) They may not believe in prophecy, but they are
concernedthat YOU may believe in prophecy.
2) A persistent rumor about President Bush is that he believes
in prophecy and is tailoring his foreign policy to fit
it.
His office denies this, but no President has been more
pro-Israelithan Bush. [current Newsweekmagazine]
a) Greatdifferences in US and European support of Israel.
b) Our Evangelicalismis largelyresponsible.
C. The Bible does predict the future.
1) The big question - is THIS the future that is predicted?
2) We must turn to the Bible itself for answers.
II. How Christians have handled prophecy.
A. Mosthave spiritualized prophecy.

1) Prophecies aboutthe Messiahwere fulfilled by Jesus.
2) Prophecies aboutIsraelare fulfilled by the Church.
a) There is no future for a literal Israel.
b) The book of Hebrews may support this idea:
Hebrews 8:13 --
"By calling this covenant'new,' he has made the first
one obsolete;
and what is obsolete and aging will soondisappear."
3) They may acknowledge a SecondComing, but usually put
little emphasis on it.
B. A few have insisted on literal fulfillment.
1) 1800s Christianinterpreters.
a) Every word of God will come true.
b) Prophecies aboutIsraelwill all be fulfilled for that
nation, not the Church.
1> Israelwill have its land again.
2> Jerusalemwill be their capital.
c) They expectedthis, even though Israeldid not exist.
Dr. John Cumming wrote in 1864:

How comes it to pass that as a nation they have been
dispersed over every land, yet insulated, separated,
and alone amid the nations?
The predictions of their restorationare in words as
definite only not yet fulfilled.
As a nation they were cut off and dispersed, and it
is as a nation that they shall be gathered and
restored. [1]
2) 1948 changedthe landscape.
a) Forthe first time in 2000 years, Israelis a nation.
b) Against huge odds, they have survived to this day.
C. Who is correct?
1) The New Testamentitselfspiritualizes sometimes so that
approachcannot be ruled out.
2) But events in the last half-century have given much weight
to a literal interpretation.
III. What is still to come.
A. Events in Lebanon are not mentioned in the Bible.
1) Unless they fall under the categoryof"wars and rumors of

wars."
2) Certainly, the SecondComing of Jesus will be preceded
by very unsettled times on earth.
B. What many Bible scholars expect:
1) Rebuilt Jewishtemple with sacrificialsystem.
2) Antichrist and 7-year Mideastpeace treaty.
3) Battle of Armageddon.
4) Conversionof Jewishnation to Christianity.
5) Jesus returns to earth (outside Jerusalem)and rules.
IV. The drama of the Temple.
A. The JerusalemTemple in prophecy.
1) Jesus predicted its utter destruction.
2) Jesus'disciples thought this would have to signify the
end of the world.
3) He said other events would have to come first, especially
the abomination of the Temple.
B. The temple in history.
1) It was consideredone of the most beautiful structures
of the ancient world.
2) The Romanarmy utterly destroyed it in A.D. 70.

a) The menorah and other temple equipment was paraded
through Rome.
1> Forthe next 500 years, the temple area was a dump.
2> Muslims erectedthe Dome of the Rock in A.D. 691.
b) No trace of the Temple can be found today.
c) We are not even sure of its exactlocation.
V. Will the Temple be rebuilt?
A. Spiritualists say everything Jesus predicted about the
Temple is completely fulfilled.
1) Romans desecratedit in A.D. 70. (see Luke 21:20-25)
2) The only Temple Jesus really emphasized was his
body, and by extension, his Church.
3) Early Christians thought these passageswere fulfilled.
4) However, a comparisonof Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15 and
2 Thess. 2:1-4 suggestsit is only partially fulfilled.
B. Literalists note the desecrationbrings the Tribulation.
1) This desecrationalso requires an Antichrist.
2) They look for the Temple to be rebuilt so these events
canoccur.
C. The problem of the Dome of the Rock.

1) This Muslim holy place is near (on?) the temple location.
2) Ancient Islamic traditions say Mohammed rode his horse
from this rock into heaven and back.
3) Destroying it would start a war.
a) Will a Muslim missile accomplishthis?
b) Will a Christian or Jewishterrorist do it?
VI. The Jews are ready.
A. Temple supplies, ritual and personnel are in place.
A Jewishfringe group, The Temple Mount Faithful, believes
the Messiah'sarrival canbe hastenedby building the
temple now.
They have already carved a three-ton cornerstone - without
the use of metal chisels, as the Bible instructs.
"The Temple Mount is our religious and spiritual center,"
says Faithful leader, GershonSolomon.
"We are sorry, but the mosque must be moved."
In October1990 a rumor that the Faithful would be having
a processionto the Temple Mount was started, and a
riot ensued.

At least20 Arabs were killed.
#1349
B. These groups are consideredextremist by many Jews.
1) Note when Israeli Army Rabbi Shlomo Goren blew the shofar
and performed a religious ceremony near the Dome of the
Rock onthe Temple Mount in August 1967 just days after
its capture, he was criticized by both the secular
Israelipress and orthodox Jews. [2]
2) Twenty years later, 18% of Israelis supported rebuilding
the Temple.
3) Thirty years later, 58% of Israelis supported it.
a) Jews have prayed for it three times a day, for 1900
years.
VII. Are you ready?
A. We should not force God's hand.
1) God doesn't need any help in fulfilling his prophecies.
a) "Temple terrorists" are wrong.
2) Justice should be our primary goalin the Mideast.
B. Our perceptionis limited.
1) Some confident predictions by Christians have proved false.

2) But our perception should getclearertoward the end.
C. When it happens, it may happen very quickly.
1) Jesus tells us to "watchand pray."
2) Have you acceptedJesus as yourSavior?
==========================================================
==================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] "The Late GreatPlanetEarth," Hal Lindsey with C.C. Carlson
(Zondervan, 1970), p. 49.
[2] "The JewishTemple in Contemporary Christian Zionism," Stephen
Sizer,
August 2, 2001. < http://www.cc-vw.org/articles/temple.htm>
#1349 "ATime Bomb At The City's Heart," Newsweek, October22, 1990,p.
38.
These and 30,000others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutelyfree, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

==========================================================
=================
Hawker's PoorMan's Commentary
Verse 1-2
"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to
him for to show him the buildings of the temple. (2) And Jesus saidunto them,
See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
It is worthy our observation, that this was the last visit Jesus made to the
temple. So that when he left it, it was to return no more. And when Jesus left
it, the glory was departed from it. The Prophet Haggaiwas commissionedby
the Lord, to tell the people, that the glory of this latter house should be greater
than the former. And it was made so in the presence ofJesus when he entered
it, in substance of our flesh. Haggai2:9. But when the Lord of his temple
departed, then what Jesus saidin the close ofthe foregoing Chapter, was
fulfil, led: your house is left unto you desolate. Matthew 23:38. Whata
precious thought to all his redeemed; Jesus neverleaves them! Hebrews 13:5;
Matthew 28:20. This prediction of Jesus, we are told, was literally fulfilled
when Titus sackedJerusalem. Forthough the stones of the temple, were some
of them of an enormous size, yet so it was, not one of them but what was
broken or thrown down. The prophet Micah, had said, Zion should be
ploughed as a field. Micah 3:12. And here was the accomplishment, Reader!
what an awful thing is it, even consideredonly in a temporal point of view, am
I as it respects nations to slight Jehovah's Christ? And how awful, in the day
in which we live is it, to considerwhat a Christ despising generationis the
present.

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann
Matthew 24
Verse 1-2
The Judgment of God upon Jerusalemand upon the World.
Of the destruction of the Temple:
v. 1. And Jesus went out and departed from the Temple; and His disciples
came to Him for to show Him the buildings of the Temple.
v. 2. And Jesus saidunto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto
you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be
thrown down.
In this chapter, as Luther writes, there is describedthe conclusionand the end
of both kingdoms, that of the Jews and that of the whole world. Jesus had
spent a strenuous day on this Tuesday, teaching and preaching from early
morning till the shadows of evening fell. He now left the Temple and the city,
in order to return to Bethany for the night. As He was passing out through the
Temple-gate, one of His disciples admiringly pointed out to Him the massive,
beautiful stones and the rich ornamentation of the Temple, the pride of the
Jews, andother disciples eagerlycame forward to call attention to special
features, to the various porticoes, halls, courts, and other structures. The
conversationthus begun continued for some time, probably till they reached
the hill opposite the city where they lookeddown upon the splendor of
Herod's most magnificent building. But the summary of Christ's words is
given in the solemn predictionâ€”allthe more impressive since they were
standing or sitting in a place which afforded the most comprehensive view of
the Templeâ€”thatthere would not remain one stone in its proper position
upon the other, which would not be completely demolished. The beautiful

foundation and walls of white marble, the splendid Corinthian columns, the
heavy gold ornamentation and veneering, all would be destroyed completely.
JOHN TRAPP
To show him the buildings of the temple] As thinking by that goodlysight,
haply, he might be moved to moderate the severity of that former sentence of
leaving their house desolate unto them, Matthew 23:38. True it is, that Herod
(to get the people’s goodwill, which yet he could never do) had been at a
wonderful charge in building and beautifying the temple. Josephus the Jew
(Antiq. xv. 14) tells us that for eight whole years togetherhe kept 10,000 men
at work building it; and that for magnificence and stateliness, itexceeded
Solomon’s temple, if his words exceednot the truth of the matter. This the
disciples fondly thought would work upon our Saviour to reverse his former
sentence, as above said;but his thoughts were not as their thoughts. Animo
magno nihil magnum, With greatspirits, nothing is great, saith Seneca. The
bramble reckonedit a greatmatter to reign over the trees;not so the vine and
olive, 9:15.
2 And Jesus saidunto them, See ye not all these things? verily I sayunto you,
There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown
down.
Ver. 2. There shall not be left here, &c.]This was afterwards fulfilled, when
the temple was so set on fire by Titus’ soldiers, that it could not be quenched
by the industry of man. Titus (it is said) would have preserved the temple, as
one of the world’s wonders, from being burnt, but could not; such was the
fury of the soldiers, setto work by God doubtless. And when, upon the taking
of the city and temple, the army saluted him emperor, and many others by

way of congratulationsent him crowns and garlands, he, by a memorable
example of modesty, refused them, saying, that he had done nothing more
than lent his hands and help to God, who declaredhis fierce wrath against
that sinful people. Non sese illa fecisse, sedDeo iram suam declaranti manus
suas commodasse.(Pareus.)And when Julian the apostate, to spite the
Christians, permitted and encouragedthe Jews to rebuild their temple at his
charge, and they attempted it accordingly, they were hindered from heavenby
a mighty earthquake, togetherwith balls of fire issuing out of the ground
works, and consuming the builders. There are those who say, that at the same
time the temple at Delphi was utterly overthrown by earthquakes and
thunderbolts, and could never since be repaired. When Phocas the murderer
sought to secure himself by building high walls, he heard a voice from heaven
telling him that though he built his bulwarks never so high, yet sin within
would soonundermine all. {a} We may saythe same to the Jesuits, telling us
so often in their writings de magnitudine EcclesiaeRomanae, that be they
never so high set, God, for their abominations, will abase them. It is observed
of Rome, that since it became the pope’s seat, it was never besiegedby any,
but it was sackedand ransacked. See its destiny elegantlyand emphatically set
forth, Revelation18:21.
PHIL NEWTON
What to Do While Waiting for the End
Matthew 24:1-14
February 20, 2005
Now that we're moving into Matthew 24-25, the greatteaching of Christ
regarding lastthings, we have some important questions to ask!Are you pre-,
post-, a-, or I-don't-know? Do you hold a preterist, partial-preterist, or full-

preterist view? Do you subscribe to a pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib position?
Do you go for a rapturous two-return or a single parousia?
Well, if you feel thoroughly confusedor befuddled by all of this, do not feel
alone or strange!Welcome to the world of modern eschatology-the
meanderings on lastthings. It's been going on for many years-forcenturies, in
fact. We've seenplenty in our own day. World War I, the so-called"warto
end all wars," saw a rise in predictions about the return of Christ and the
ushering in of an age of peace. The reestablishmentof Israelas a state in 1948
boostedeven more predictions. The word "generation"in Matthew 24:34 has
grown increasinglylongerin many eschatologicalviews since that time! In the
early 70s, Hal Lindsey led the pack of end-time books with his, The Late
GreatPlanet Earth. It sold multiplied millions of copies. Lesser-knownbooks
sold plenty with many of them, guardedly or blatantly, making predictions of
when Jesus would return. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have been the latest
to profit from the end-times' craze with their series ofnovels, movie, and Left
Behind knick-knacks.
With every wrinkle on the world stage, whetherfrom natural disasteror
globalterrorism or nuclear developments or political checkmate, anotherrash
of books hit the marketto satisfythe curiosity of religious and non-religious
alike. What is going to come next? That seems to be the puzzling question that
so many live with, especiallyin an age when communication takes place in
nanoseconds.
I've not been immune to this myself. I recallthe early days of being a
Christian, and all of the fanciful talk of end-times at youth rallies and camp
meetings. While I desperatelyneeded to understand the gospeland what it
meant to be a disciple of Christ, I found myself caught up in all of the talk
about eschatology-thoughI don't remember daring to use that word! At the
ripe age of 17, I thought that I had it all figured out. Then I beganto read the

Bible instead of pop-books, and many of the ideas that had been cultivated in
my thinking wore thin. I well-imagine that some of you have similar stories.
Things may have moved slowerin the first century but curiosity was no less
strong. Pitched with messianic fever, the masses in Israelwanted to know
when the kingdom would come, when world powers would be overthrown,
and when the judgment would take place. Not to be outdone by their modern
counterparts, all sorts of theories and ideas floatedamong the masses.
But considerthat twelve men had been walking with Jesus Christ and
listening to His talk of death, resurrection, triumph, judgment, destruction,
and the end. They soughtto fit all of His talk into the schematics (or
paradigms) that framed their ownpicture of eschatology(study of last things).
Christ had stunned them with the prediction, "Behold, your house is being left
to you desolate!" Now they tried to put it all together, but in all likelihood,
within the framework of their own preconceivednotions. Our Lord's response
is not a neatly laid out, carefully delineated eschatology. His great emphasis is
on persevering. New Testamentteaching on eschatologyis never to satisfy
curiosity but to motivate us ethically and evangelistically-andJesus does just
that. We all have some things to do while waiting for the end. Our lot joins
with that of the apostles to faithfully live as Christians until the final triumph.
Does that strike a chord in your own heart?
I. Preconceivednotions (vv. 1-3)
I do not begin to think that our study in Matthew 24 will (1) answerall of your
questions about the last days, (2) agree with all of your own preconceived
notions, or (3) satisfy your curiosity about eschatology. In no other field of
Christian study do we have as many ideas, theories, dogmatic assertions,and
perplexing questions.

Here are my ground rules for considering Matthew 24. First, my concernin
studying this portion of God's Word is pastoralnot theoretical. I want to focus
on our Lord's intent wheneverHe or His disciples taught on eschatological
themes. I am much more concernedwith how we are living as Christians than
crossing our eschatological"tees"together. Second, this is not an area to
break fellowship over if we disagree with one another. A few years ago we did
a summer-long study on eschatologyon Wednesdaynights, considering the
varied views. We had a blast in doing this, and though there were some
disagreements onpositions taken, we simply agreedto disagree. That's the
position that we continue with in the present study. Finally, I am not
approaching this study with the same dogmatic stand that I would take upon
the gospelorthe church or the person of Christ. I will seek to give my own
studied position, as a text may warrant, but I do not want to lose sight of the
goalto apply these messagespastorally. I encourage youto lay your
preconceivednotions on the table, back awayfrom them, and take a fresh
look at the Word of God. Sometimes slavishadherence to a system blinds us to
the intent of the biblical writers. That's always preferable in this kind of study
than maintaining rigid, inflexible thought. So with this in mind, let us embark
togetherinto Jesus'teaching on lastthings.
1. What were the disciples thinking?
Jesus had spokenin the temple area with such sternness and forcefulness that
probably all felt blown awayby His rebukes of the spiritual leaders of Israel.
He ended His prophetic denunciation of their hypocrisy with a heart-
wrenching lament over the state of Israel, her unwillingness to respond to the
messageofthe kingdom and the kingdom's King, and a prediction of
desolation. As they walkedaway, the disciples certainly had in mind what
Jesus had predicted, "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!"
Maybe that seemedstrange to their ears since every Jew held the temple in
highest regard. Matthew picks up the story of what happened. "Jesus came

out from the temple and was going awaywhen His disciples came up to point
out the temple buildings to Him." Mark comments that one exclaimed,
"Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!"
(Mark 13:1) And it was a wonderful sight! This temple, knownas Herod's
Temple, had been in an enlargementprocess formany years. It's white
marble stones, grandcolumns, and goldenroof attractedthe eyes from miles
around. Those gazing at the temple when the sun's rays focusedon the golden
roof had their breath taken awayat such a sight! Josephus tells us that some
of the stones in the temple were "aboutforty by twelve by twenty" feetin size
[John Broadus, SelectedWorks:Matthew, 480]. He said that some were even
eighty-five feetin length! In spite of the Jewishdisdain for Herod, the
Babylonian Talmud stated, "He that never saw the temple of Herod, never
saw a fine building" [Broadus, 481].
The disciples had trouble thinking of this magnificent structure being torn
down. Add to this the walls of Jerusalemand its locationat the pinnacle of a
mountain, and the whole scene appearedindestructible. Aside from this, the
temple was the place where God had chosento revealHimself and where the
high priest interceded for the people in the holy of holies.
So what were the disciples thinking? Well, maybe Jesus was using hyperbolic
language to make His point. Or perhaps this was His way of introducing the
time when He would establishHis kingdom rule. Or maybe He meant that the
influence of the hypocritical scribes and Phariseeswouldend and Christ
would be preeminent among them. I think that it is quite fair to say that the
disciples'eschatologicalviews did not include the destruction of the temple or
the end of Israelor the bitter hatred that they would soonexperience from the
world. They lookedfor the 'Golden Age of Israel'with the Messiahonthe
throne. So if the temple were destroyed, at leastthe Golden Age would take
place and all would be well for them.

2. What was Jesus implying?
Jesus begins His response with a pointed question. "Do you not see all these
things?" I think that His question pointed beyond the temple to the whole
picture of what He was about to unfold. Though they loved Him and followed
Him, they were still shaped by the popular notions common among their
fellow countrymen. They had no thought for what would take place in less
than forty years as Jerusalemwas utterly destroyedand left desolate, just as
Christ predicted.
"Truly I sayto you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will
not be torn down." 'It's not like you think it will be!' Desolatemeans empty,
barren, waste, just as Jesus declaredin 23:38. Now He amplifies upon it,
predicting the utter destruction of the temple and the city. Josephus observed,
after the RomangeneralTitus finally conquered Jerusalemafterfour years of
assault, that the leveling was so severe that Jerusalem's city wall "was so
completely leveledwith the ground that there was no longeranything to lead
those who visited the spot to believe that it had everbeen inhabited" [Broadus
481]. Christ's comment focusedupon the destruction that would be completed
in 70 A.D.
Matthew 24:1f
by Grant | Mar 13, 2009 |Matthew | 0 comments
ReadIntroduction to Matthew

1 Then Jesus wentout and departed from the temple, and His disciples came
up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus saidto them, “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.”
Chapters 24 and 25 comprise Jesus’fifth and final discourse;we call this
discourse the Olivet Discourse. This presentationis entirely prophetic. Mostof
the descriptionis about the time of the Tribulation.
24:1
Then [following the judgments of chapter 23] Jesus wentout and departed
from the temple,
Jesus and His disciples left the temple area and began to climb the Mount of
Olives. He had just pronounced judgment on the temple (23:38). The glory
had departed from the temple (Ezek 9:3; 10:4; 11:23).
and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
The buildings of Herod’s temple were a wonderful site. The disciples wanted
to talk about its physical beauty. Herod beganbuilding this temple is 20 B.C.
and it was still under constructionin A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed it. It
was made of gleaming white limestone. The easternwallwas coveredwith
gold plates.
24:2
And Jesus saidto them, “Do you not see all these things?
As they walkedup the Mount of Olives Jesus askedHis disciples to look down
at the beauty of the architecture of the temple below them.
Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that
shall not be thrown down.”
The Roman army fulfilled these words in A.D. 70 when Titus ordered the
destruction of the temple. They threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. The

destruction of the temple was so complete that its exactlocationis not known
to this day.
PRINCIPLE:
The glory can depart from a ministry.
APPLICATION:
Churches that treat their pastor or staff poorly over a long period of time may
find themselves setaside by God. Pastors orstaff that constantly abuse their
localchurches may find their ministries rendered inoperative. Churches that
are no longerfaithful to the Word of God will be setaside. They will all find
that the “glory has departed” from their ministry, as in the book of Ezekiel.
SPURGEON
1. AND Jesus wentout and departed from the temple: and his disciples came
to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus saidunto them,
See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
The King, having finished his final discourse in the temple, left it, never to
return: Jesus wentout, and departed from the temple. His ministry there was
ended. As his disciples moved awaywith him towards the Mount of Olives,
they calledhis attention to the greatstones of which the temple was
constructed, and the costlyadornments of the beautiful building. To them the
appearance was glorious;but to their Lord it was a sad sight. His Father’s
house, which ought to have been a house of prayer for all nations, had became
a den of thieves, and soonwould be utterly destroyed: Jesus saidunto them,
“See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. ” Josephus tells us
that Titus at first tried to save the temple, even after it was seton fire, but his

efforts were of no avail; and at last he gave orders that the whole city and
temple should be leveled, excepta small portion reservedfor the garrison.
This was so thoroughly done that the historian says that “there was left
nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited.”
SPURGEON
Verses 1-21
Matthew 24:1. And Jesus wentout, and departed from the temple: and his
disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Ah, me! the rejectedking took but slight interest in the temple of which his
disciples thought so much. To them the appearance was glorious;but to their
Lord it was a sad sight. His Father’s house, which ought to have been a house
of prayer for all nations, had become a den of thieves, and soonwould be
utterly destroyed.
Matthew 24:2. And Jesus saidunto them, See ye not all these things? verily I
say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall
not be thrown down.
And it was so. Josephus tells us that Titus at first tried to save the temple,
even after it was seton fire, but his efforts were of no avail; and at lasthe gave
orders that the whole city and temple should be leveled, excepta small portion
reservedfor the garrison. Yet the stones of the temple were such as men very
seldom see, so exceedinglygreat;they lookedas if, once in their place, they
would stand there throughout eternity, but all are gone, according to our
Lord’s prophecy.
END OF PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES

Jesus Predicts The DestructionOf JerusalemAnd The Temple In 70 A.D.
By Rob Robinson on September 9, 2019 • ( 0 )
One of the most stunning proofs for the authenticity of the Bible is found in
our discoveryof history. Jesus told His disciples that Jerusalemand the
Temple would be surrounded by an army and destroyed. Just38 years after
He spoke these words, Titus accomplishedthe fulfillment of Jesus’words
precisely.
Luke 19:43-44 Fordays will come upon you when your enemies will build an
embankment around you, surround you and close youin on every side, and
level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave
in you one stone upon another, because youdid not know the time of your
visitation.
Matthew 24:34 Assuredly, I sayto you, this generationwill by no means pass
awaytill all these things take place.
The context of Jesus’revelationto the disciples, in Luke 19:29-21:24, is
directly after Palm Sunday, 32 A.D. Jesus is describing the judgment that will
come upon Israel for her rejectionof Him as the Messiah. The fulfillment of
this prophecy occurredwithin one 40-yeargeneration, in 70 A.D., as Titus
brought his army againstJerusalem.[1]Titus sackedthe city and destroyed
the Temple, burning it to the ground. Literally, “not one stone (of the Temple)
was left upon another,” just as Jesus had predicted.
Matthew Chapter 24 is essentiallythe same accountthat Luke records, as
Jesus is seenat the Temple with the disciples when He tells them that “not one
stone shall be left upon another….”
Matthew 24:1-2 Then Jesus wentout and departed from the temple, and His
disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus saidto

them, “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.”
Luke 21:24 And they (those in Jerusalemand Judea, vs 20-21)will fall by the
edge of the sword, and be led awaycaptive into all nations. And Jerusalem
will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Jesus’ProphecyIs Fulfilled, DocumentedBy SecularWriters
The Jewishhistorian Josephus describes the destruction of Jerusalemand the
murder of 1.1 million Jews, with97,000 others takenas captives of war.
Thousands were sold as slaves, with many more dispersed all over the world.
This entire event is recordedby Josephus in the “Book ofWars,” Book 5,
Chapter 22, Sections 1-3.[2]
Jesus warnedHis disciples aheadof time to flee Jerusalembefore the siege
began. He told them to watchfor this sign:
“When you see Jerusalemsurrounded by armies, then know that its
desolationis near. Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who
are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter
her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may
be fulfilled… There will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this
people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led awaycaptive
into all nations. And Jerusalemwill be trampled by Gentiles until the times of
the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:20-24).
The Jews who had believed in Jesus as their MessiahevacuatedJerusalem
after its first siege in 66 A.D., aheadof the final Romansiege of 70 A.D. Just
as Jesus had predicted, there was a massive slaughter of those who remained
in Jerusalemand did not believe His words.
The Roman army generalTitus, who later became the emperor, stated that he
believed his actions againstthe Jews in 70 A.D. were an instrument of God’s
wrath.[3]
“The slaughter within was even more dreadful than the spectaclefrom
without. Men and women, old and young, insurgents and priests, those who

fought and those who entreated mercy, were hewn down in indiscriminate
carnage. The number of the slain exceededthat of the slayers. The legionaries
had to clamber over heaps of dead to carry on the work of extermination.
Titus’ strategyagainstthe city of Jerusalemwas simple: cut off the food and
watersupplies to Jerusalem, and starve the people into submission.
Many people died of starvation during this siege ofTitus, as the food supplies
of the Jews inside the city of Jerusalemwere depleted. Some people resorted
to eating the flesh of their dead in order to survive. This was the fulfillment of
the prophecy of Zechariah 11:9: “Let those that are left eat eachother’s
flesh.”
Nearthe middle of May, 70 A.D., Titus ordered the constructionof a siege
wall, built around the city of Jerusalem, and he destroyed the newly-built
third wall with a battering ram. The Antonia Fortress ofHerod was takenjust
north of the Temple Mount. As fighting ensuedinside Jerusalem, the Jews
were forced into the Temple, as a secondattempt at negotiating a cease fire
failed.
The following accountof the Temple destruction in 70 A.D. is from the Jewish
historian Flavius Josephus’“The Wars of the Jews,”Book6, Chapter 4.[4]
Storming The Temple
“So Titus retired into the towerof Antonia, and resolvedto storm the temple
the next day, early in the morning, with his whole army, and to encamp round
about the holy house. But as for that house, God had, for certain, long ago
doomed it to the fire; and now that fatal day was come, according to the
revolution of ages;it was the tenth day of the month Lous, [Ab,] upon which it
was formerly burnt by the king of Babylon; although these flames took their
rise from the Jews themselves, and were occasionedby them; for upon Titus’s
retiring, the seditious lay still for a little while, and then attackedthe Romans
again, when those that guarded the holy house fought with those that
quenched the fire that was burning the inner [court of the] temple; but these
Romans put the Jews to flight, and proceededas far as the holy house
itself.”[5]

A Soldier Sets Fire To The North Side Of The Temple
“At which time one of the soldiers, without staying for any orders, and
without any concernor dread upon him at so greatan undertaking, and being
hurried on by a certaindivine fury, snatched somewhatout of the materials
that were on fire, and being lifted up by another soldier, he set fire to a golden
window, through which there was a passageto the rooms that were round
about the holy house, on the north side of it. As the flames went upward, the
Jews made a greatclamor, such as so mighty an affliction required, and ran
togetherto prevent it; and now they spared not their lives any longer, nor
suffered any thing to restrain their force, since that holy house was perishing,
for whose sakeit was that they kept such a guard about it.”[6]
Titus Informed Of The Temple Fire
“And now a certain personcame running to Titus, and told him of this fire, as
he was resting himself in his tent after the lastbattle; whereupon he rose up in
greathaste, and, as he was, ran to the holy house, in order to have a stop put
to the fire; after him followed all his commanders, and after them followed the
severallegions, in greatastonishment; so there was a greatclamor and tumult
raised, as was natural upon the disorderly motion of so greatan army. Then
did Caesar, both by calling to the soldiers that were fighting, with a loud
voice, and by giving a signal to them with his right hand, order them to
quench the fire.”[7]
Roman Soldiers Trampled And Killed
“But they did not hear what he said, though he spake so loud, having their
ears already dimmed by a greaternoise another way; nor did they attend to
the signalhe made with his hand neither, as still some of them were distracted
with fighting, and others with passion. But as for the legions that came
running thither, neither any persuasions nor any threatenings could restrain
their violence, but eachone’s own passionwas his commander at this time;
and as they were crowding into the temple together, many of them were
trampled on by one another, while a greatnumber fell among the ruins of the
cloisters, whichwere still hot and smoking, and were destroyedin the same
miserable way with those whom they had conquered…”[8]

Soldiers, NotHearing Titus’ Command, Set Fire To The Holy Place
“…and when they were come near the holy house, they made as if they did not
so much as hear Caesar’sorders to the contrary; but they encouragedthose
that were before them to setit on fire. As for the seditious, they were in too
greatdistress already to afford their assistance[towards quenching the fire];
they were every where slain, and every where beaten;and as for a greatpart
of the people, they were weak and without arms, and had their throats cut
whereverthey were caught. Now round about the altar lay dead bodies
heaped one upon another, as at the steps going up to it ran a greatquantity of
their blood, whither also the dead bodies that were slain above [on the altar]
fell down.”[9]
Titus Attempts To Save The Holy of Holies
“And now, since Caesarwas no way able to restrain the enthusiastic fury of
the soldiers, and the fire proceededon more and more, he went into the holy
place of the temple, with his commanders, and saw it, with what was in it,
which he found to be far superior to what the relations of foreigners
contained, and not inferior to what we ourselves boastedof and believed about
it. But as the flame had not as yet reachedto its inward parts, but was still
consuming the rooms that were about the holy house, and Titus supposing
what the factwas, that the house itself might yet he saved, he came in haste
and endeavoredto persuade the soldiers to quench the fire, and gave order to
Liberalius the centurion, and one of those spearmen that were about him, to
beat the soldiers that were refractory with their staves, and to restrain them;
yet were their passions too hard for the regards they had for Caesar, and the
dread they had of him who forbade them, as was their hatred of the Jews, and
a certain vehement inclination to fight them, too hard for them also.””[10]
Soldiers, Seeing The Holy Place Full Of Gold, Come To Take Plunder
“Moreover, the hope of plunder induced many to go on, as having this
opinion, that all the places within were full of money, and as seeing that all
round about it was made of gold. And besides, one of those that went into the
place prevented Caesar, whenhe ran so hastily out to restrain the soldiers,
and threw the fire upon the hinges of the gate, in the dark; whereby the flame

burst out from within the holy house itself immediately, when the
commanders retired, and Caesarwith them, and when nobody any longer
forbade those that were without to set fire to it. And thus was the holy house
burnt down, without Caesar’s approbation.”[11]
One of the Romansoldiers threw a burning spearinto the wall of the Temple,
setting it on fire. Titus had not planned to destroy the temple; but we should
remember that Jesus had predicted that not one stone would be left upon
another, when He pronounced judgement on the Jews for their rejectionof
Him as the Messiah. Titus had originally determined that he would take the
Temple and turn it into a Roman temple, dedicated to the Roman emperor.
The fire that spread throughout the Temple building quickly destroyed the
entire structure, resulting in an amazing fulfillment of Jesus’prediction.[12]
As the fire acceleratedinto an intense heat, the Jews trapped inside the Holy
Place were burned alive. The gold that lined the entire inner structure of the
Holy Place melted and ran into the cracks ofthe foundation stones. In their
greed, the Roman soldiers, seeing the melted gold now cooledand laying
betweenthe stones ofthe temple, pried up one stone after another until the
Temple was obliterated. In this way, the literal words of Jesus—notone stone
shall be left upon another—was literally fulfilled.
According to 2 Chronicles 3:8, the gold that lined the entire inner structure of
the Holy of Holies was about 23 tons. At $1,500.00per ounce, this would place
the current value of the gold inside the Holy place at 1 billion, 104 million
dollars.[13]
On “Tisha B’Av,” August 9th of 70 A.D., the Temple was destroyed. By
September 7th, 70 A.D., Jerusalemwas completelyunder controlof the
Romans. An amazing fact of history is that the first temple was also destroyed
by the Babylonians on the same date, August 9th of 586 B.C.
Although this prophecy was fulfilled in 70 A.D. by the Romansiege on
Jerusalemand the burning of the Temple, there also appears to be a later
fulfillment of this same prophecy. During the midway point of the seven-year
Tribulation, the antichrist will come againstJerusalemto destroy the Jews,
and they will also flee the city of Petra.

Sidebar: This is a very common occurrence in the prophecies of the Messiah
and those that concernthe last days. Often we will see an earlier fulfillment as
well as a later fulfillment of the same prophecy. Remember this principle as
we go through the various chapters of this book.
All of these events that Jesus predicted, nearly 40 years before their
fulfillment, came about due to this prophecy of Zechariah 11:4-6:“When the
Messiahcomes,He will find false leaders in Israel.”
How can we explain a secularverification of the historical recordthat fully
verifies an event Jesus predicted 38 years in advance, exceptthat He knew
preciselywhat was going to take place before it happened?
It was by the words Jesus spoke, words His disciples recordedin the pages of
the four gospels, that we have evidence to believe that the writers of the New
Testamenthave told us the truth.
These men saw and heard things that no other person on the planet has ever
experienced. They were present when God revealedHimself to man in a real
and tangible way. They witnessedthe power of Jesus’words and His
incredible ability to comprehend what was in the heart of every person. They
saw Him touch the eyes of the blind and restore sight. They heard Jesus speak
the words, “Rise up and walk,” and a man born crippled stoodto his feet. A
grieving family and friends stoodnearby, as Jesus raisedHis voice and
commanded the corpse of Lazarus to “come forth.” They saw a man, who had
been dead four days, come out of his tomb alive again.
What more would we expect from a person who had seenand heard events
like these, exceptthat they would write about them and tell everyone they
meet what had happened? During the time these things took place, there were
thousands of people who had firsthand knowledge ofthese events. There was a
greatdeal of opportunity for any personto write that these things had not
takenplace, or to refute the details of these events. We find no such record of
any rebuttal from this time period in the historicalrecord.
Reading With Understanding

Many people read the Bible without understanding its true purpose. I have
spokento a number of individuals who have told me that they have read the
entire Bible. When I ask them if they understood what they were reading, they
usually answerin the affirmative. If further inquiry is made regarding the
depth of their understanding, we quickly learn that these individuals have
acquired nothing more than a basic comprehensionof the stories that are
recorded. Finally, they have told me that they do not believe the Bible is true
or it has any relevance to human life today.
The Bible was never meant to be read in the same manner that other pieces of
literature are perused. There are many tales of certain individuals that can be
observed, which may bear no relevance to the readerother than old stories in
a very old book. There is also a phenomenon of the Bible that is seldom
discerned. Within every story the Bible holds, there is deeper spiritual
significance. Whenwe read the accounts of Abraham taking Isaac up on
Mount Moriahto offer him as a sacrifice to God, if all that we see is a father
offering a human sacrifice, thenwe are missing the true intended purpose of
this event.
After waiting for the promise of God to give him a son, for nearly 25 years,
Abraham finally has the object of his dreams. When we find Abraham on the
mountain with Isaac, this young man is perhaps in his early thirties, and
Abraham is a very old man of about 130 years of age. Although Isaac could
easilyoverpowerhis elderly father, he submits himself to his authority.
Isaac has become everything Abraham has dreamed of. He is the apple of his
father’s eye and the delight of his life. Abraham loves Isaac so much, that he
has become a danger to his father.
We see in this example of Abraham and Isaac anincredible picture of the Son
of God, who will also come to this same mountain and offer His life upon the
cross. Jesuswillingly submitted to His Father’s authority, humbled Himself,
and carried the woodfor His sacrifice the same hill that Isaac traveled.
In order for anyone to truly love God, He must be first and foremostin
everything. There is no room on the throne of our heart for anyone except

God. To place a son, a daughter, mother, or father, or any other personabove
the Lord is to commit the gravesterror.
Matthew 10:37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of
Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
It is only right that the Lord demand, that He is the first love of our life. By
His very nature as the Creatorand Sustainerof all life, God has the right to
be worshipped exclusively by all of His creation.
To give him an opportunity for growth, the Lord desires that Abraham
understand, by practicalexperience, who is truly first in his life. This testis
not for the Lord so that He can find out where Abraham’s heart is. The trial is
for Abraham. One of the attributes of God is that He knows everything. There
is nothing He must learn, or discover. What makes the Lord, God, is that He
knows all things—from eternity. The Lord understands Abraham so well, that
He is keenlyaware of his love for Isaac. The problem is that Abraham does
not know that his love for his son has surpassedhis love for God.
God desires that Abraham would have the issue of Lordship settledin his
heart, before He can take him to the next level of his spiritual growth. In our
life, the importance of making and keeping Jesus as the Lord of our life is
equally significant. Without allowing the Lord to be the decision-makerin all
of our dreams, goals, and hopes, we become lord over Him, insteadof He
being Lord over us.
Genesis 22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey,
and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the
woodfor the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God
had told him.
Genesis 22:4-5 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the
place afar off. And Abraham saidto his young men, “Stayhere with the
donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to
you.”

Abraham understands that he is taking Isaac up the hill to offer him as a
sacrifice. Evenso, he tells the young men who came along on the journey that
he and Isaac will both be returning soon.
This is a subtle hint of Abraham’s faith. In order to carry out the Lord’s
command to offer Isaac as a burnt offering to the Lord, Abraham must
believe that when he kills his son, God will raise him back to life again.
Otherwise, how would God be able to fulfill His promise to make one of
Abraham’s descendants a greatnation?
In other words, Abraham believes in the resurrectionof an only sonin order
to obtain the promises of God.
This sounds very much like the Gospelof Jesus Christ:
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begottenSon,
that whoeverbelieves in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Another similarity between the sacrifice Jesus made and the offering of
Abraham’s son is the wood for the burnt offering that is laid on the shoulders
of Isaac.
Genesis 22:6 So Abraham took the woodof the burnt offering and laid it on
Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of
them went together.
John 19:17 And Jesus, bearing His cross, wentout to a place calledthe Place
of a Skull, which is calledin Hebrew, Golgotha.
While we stand in amazement at Abraham’s faith in being able to offer up his
only son, we should not miss the equally stunning detail, that Isaac is allowing
his father to tie him to the altar for the sacrifice. Isaacis not a young boy; he
is a man of about 30 years of age. Isaac couldeasilyoverpowerhis aging
father if he was not willing to be the sacrifice. Noticethat Isaac, the son, was
willing to give his life. Much in the same way that Jesus was willing to lay
down His life for all of us.
Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me;
nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

Finally, as Abraham and Isaac reachthe top of the mountain where the
sacrifice will be offered, the question is asked:“Where is the Lamb for the
sacrifice?”
Genesis 22:7 But Isaac spoketo Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the
lamb for a burnt offering.”
Abraham tells Isaac that God will provide the Lamb for the sacrifice.
Another translation of this verse is “Godwill provide Himself as the lamb….”
No matter how these verses are translated or interpreted, the clearmessage
being given to us is that Abraham’s offering of Isaac on Mount Moriah was a
visual illustration of the future sacrifice that God’s only Sonwould make of
Himself on Mount Moriah.
It is this manner of presenting the story of Jesus, through the illustrations of
the Old Testament, that we understand that the entire purpose of the Bible is
to reveal who Jesus is and the purpose of His presence here on earth. If we
approachthe text of the Bible with the knowledge that every page is seeking to
communicate a messageaboutJesus to us, we will have apprehended the
reasonfor the scriptures.
This is the supernatural constructionof the Bible that is well known to those
who have studied it for some time. After forty-one years of exploring this fact
of the Bible, I have begun to realize the incredible way in which it is written. If
I forgetthat there are forty authors for these sixty-six books, I could easily
believe that there was a single author who is seeking to tell one story. The fact
is, the Bible is not written by one author; it is penned by forty men. How is it
that these multiple authors could write about one person who will arrive on
the earth in the future, at greatdistance to their own lives? The answeris that
they could not have possibly knownunless there was one common source from
where all these writers receivedthis knowledge—God.

It is very important to understand that God has communicated a single
integrated messageto all of mankind by the use of multiple writers, and has
preservedthis record for every person. If we can believe that Godis the
source of the universe and all that we can see, as wellas the invisible world of
the atom—allcame into being as a result of the wisdom and power of an
eternal and unlimited Being—itis also very easyto acceptthat He has the
technologyto preserve His word for all mankind, through every generationof
people.
If we read the text of the Bible with this understanding, it becomes an
incredible receptacleofwisdom. By this knowledge, we gaina true
understanding of the purpose of man here on this unique planet. We realize
that everything that happens and every person whom these things happen to
are all a part of one large and well-organizedplan of God.
It is by understanding the facts of these principles that any personcan
confirm the honestyof the writers who compiled the text for the Bible.
Over four hundred Hebrew prophecies are ascribed to Jesus ofNazareth.
These predictions were intended as His calling card. As the Messiahwould
appear in Jerusalem, He must fulfill the words and actions associatedwith the
coming Messiah. Godintended that we be able to validate who the Messiahis,
by His fulfillment of these important predictions. As I was writing my first
book, “The Prophecies ofthe Messiah,” Iquickly realized that it would be
impossible for any one personto complete all the prophecies required of the
Messiah.
It is interesting that so many people miss this important fact when they are
considering which religion or religious book is truly from God. The Bible is
unique in its strict requirements for its own validation. Imagine writing a very
large book in which you will be making the assertionthat the words within
these pages are those of the One True God. In order to validate what you are
claiming, you will include more than four hundred predictions that must be
perfectly fulfilled by the primary characterof your story. If this individual
does not fulfill every one of these predictions, he will be disqualified. The Bible
is distinct among all books that claim divine inspiration, in that it sets a

standard for verification that is virtually impossible to meet. There is no other
religious book that has made and fulfilled its predictions, as a matter of
history, other than the Bible.
This fact is a stunning verification of the Bible’s authorship as not from men
but originating from God. No man has the capacityto predict where someone
will be born, the specific words and actions of a person, hundreds of years
before this individual is born. Further, we have the historical validation that
all of these prophecies were literally fulfilled, in the narrative of the New
Testament. It is the task of this book to display these facts to the reader.
The Preceding Is From “These Things Were Written”
See It Now At Amazon
NOTES:
[1] 1.Historically, a generationof judgement has been defined in the Bible as
40 years. It was 40 years that Israel was in the desert. David reigned over
Israelfor 40 years before the kingdom was divided.
2 .So the LORD’S angerwas arousedagainstIsrael, and He made them
wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generationthat had done
evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. Numbers 32:13
3 .The period that David reigned over Israelwas forty years; sevenyears he
reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalemhe reignedthirty-three years. 1Kings
2:1
[2] Josephus in the “BookofWars”, Book 5, chapter22, sections 1-3
[3] Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana 6.29
[4] Flavius Josephus, “The Wars of the Jews,” Book6, Chapter4. (2010-10-
07). The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus (Kindle Locations 25601-
25585). . Kindle Edition.

[5] Ibid
[6] Ibid
[7] Ibid
[8] Ibid
[9] Ibid
[10] Ibid
[11] Ibid.
[120 Ibid.
[13] According to the New Living Translationby Thomas Nelson, Open Bible
Commentary, Page 580.
August 15, 2016 ByRandall Niles 2 Comments
Destructionof the Temple Foretoldby Jesus
Destructionof the Temple Foretoldby Jesus
Destructionof the Temple Foretoldby Jesus – The Scripture
One day, as they exited the Temple complex, one of the disciples saidto Jesus,
“Look, Teacher, whatwonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And
Jesus saidto him, “Do you see these greatbuildings? There will not be left
here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” (Mark 13:1-2)
Did they hear Jesus right? Was he predicting the total destruction of the
Temple?

And as he saton the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peterand James
and John and Andrew askedhim privately, “Tellus, when will these things
be, and what will be the signwhen all these things are about to be
accomplished?” (Mark 13:3-4)
Then Jesus wenton to deliver a cryptic accountof the signs of things to come.
He mentioned nation rising againstnation, kingdom rising againstkingdom,
earthquakes and famines… Even the sun, moon and stars would somehow be
dramatically affected.
Jesus foretoldthe destruction of Jerusalemand the Temple. He also warned
his followers to be on guard — for they would be arrested, tried, tortured, and
killed on accountof their associationwith him. He spoke ofterrible times in
the future, but also gave hope for his glorious return to setthings right again.
Destructionof the Temple Foretoldby Jesus – The Fulfillment
Over the last2,000 years, theologianshave debated what Jesus reallymeant in
his discussionofthe “end times.” There are a wide variety of theories
regarding these Gospelpassages,especiallythe signs and timing of this “end
of days” scenario. However, we do know that in 70 AD — some 37 years after
Jesus made this prediction — Rome sackedJerusalemand destroyedit. The
historian Josephus actually witnessedthe siege andaftermath, and said…
“Now as soonas the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because
there remained none to be the objects of their fury, Titus Caesargave orders
that they should now demolish the entire city and Temple…”
Other than a few towers and forts for the Roman garrison, everything was
destroyed.
“It was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the
foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe
Jerusalemhad ever been inhabited.”
(The Wars of the Jews orHistory of the Destructionof Jerusalem. Book VII,
Chapter 1.1)

Then, about 60 years later, the Roman Emperor Hadrian commencedwith
finishing the job of complete annihilation of Jerusalemand much of the land
of Israel. By 135 AD, nearly 600,000Jewswere killedand over 1,000 towns
and villages were razed to the ground. The practice of the Mosaic Law was
prohibited, the sacredscrolls were burned, and circumcision was outlawed.
All that remained on the Temple Mount in Jerusalemwere a few Roman
statues of a few Romangods.
In an attempt to erase any memory of Judaea and Jerusalem, Hadrian
renamed the territory “Syria Palaestina” — a complete eradicationof Jewish
title in favor of the ancient Philistines. He also renamed Jerusalem, “Aelia
Capitolina,” which was a loose combinationof Hadrian’s family name and a
hill dedicatedto the Roman God Jupiter. The Jewishpeople were strictly
forbidden to enter their own capital, except once a yearon the holiday
commemorating the destruction of the Temple.
These huge stones lying at the base of the southern sectionof the Temple
Mount are a testament to the fulfillment of Jesus’prophecy. Between70 and
135 AD, the Romansoldiers stripped the Temple Mount bare — every stone
was thrown down… And the remnant of Israel was scatteredto the four
corners of the earth. The destruction of the Temple foretold by Jesus was
complete.
Destructionof the Temple Foretoldby Jesus – Drive Thru History
Filed Under: Blog, Dig Deeper, The Gospels
ReaderInteractions
Comments
Peggysays
April 20, 2019 at4:03 pm

Oh my Lord!! This is a bad thing. What will happen next… the return of
Christ?
Reply
James Hyde says
July 26, 2019 at6:10 am
DearBrother Niles,
Thank you for the historical overview. The artwork is nice too. But if you are
talking about the Temple Mount, the real one, you are about a mile off. All the
old Temples once stoodon a spot called Ammunition Hill. It lies just westand
down the hill from the site of the realOld City, which is Mt Scopus.
Apparently, when old Constantine was building the Haram, he decided to use
stone from Ammunition Hill for his mighty church, which was the original
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. So, the Jews who pray at the Wailing Wall
aren’t exactly wrong, because their Temple really is up there, somewhere.
Goodstone is hard to find, I guess. The Dome certainly incorporates some of
it, so they are not exactly wrong.
What’s so specialabout Constantine’s greatplatform? Only this, that it
surrounds and establishes the family crypt of one Josephof Arimathea. The
grave can be entered via steps beneath the Dome (google forpictures, it’s no
big mystery). In other words, the Dome stands over the empty tomb of our
Lord Jesus.
Here endeth the lesson.
Jesus’Prophecyand the Destructionof the Temple
By Wayne Jackson

A skeptic recently claimed that Jesus’prophecyregarding the destruction of
the temple in Jerusalemhas proved false.Note the following text:
“And Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way; and his
disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. But he
answeredand said unto them, ‘You see all of these things, do you not? Truly I
say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not
be thrown down’” (Matthew 24:1-2).
It is allegedthat when the Romans invaded the city, wreaking devastational
damage in A.D. 70, the temple was not totally demolished. Rather, the
“Wailing Wall” is standing yet. Thus, supposedly, the Lord’s prophecy was
not fulfilled.
Temple History
The original temple was constructedin the days of Solomon, but that
structure was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzarin 587/6 B.C. (2 Kings 25:8-17).
When the Jews returned from the Babylonian Captivity (536 B.C.), the
project of rebuilding the temple was begun (Ezra 1:1-4). The work was stalled
for severalyears, but finally was completed in 515 B.C., due to the prophetic

urging of Zechariahand Haggai(cf. Ezra 6:15). There was some destruction
of Jerusalem’s walls againin the days of Antiochus IV (169 B.C.).
Herod the Great(who slaughtered the infants in attempting to eradicate
Christ—Matthew 2:1ff) reigned from 37-4 B.C. (a calendarerror accounts for
the 4 B.C.). One of his ambitious projects was to remodel the temple and
expand the surrounding area.
In a confrontation with the Lord near the commencementof his ministry, the
Jews claimedthe building projecthad been underway for forty-six years
(John 2:20). It is one of the oddities of history that the temple projectwas not
completed until A.D. 64 — just in time to be destroyedsix years later as a
result of Jewishrebellion.
Herod’s enterprise was phenomenal. The king enlargedthe platform area
around the temple considerably, building massive retaining walls that were
filled in with dirt and stone. The walls had huge stones (one measures 39 ft.
long by 13 ft. wide). The area enclosedwas about172,000square yards. The
“Wailing Wall” was a part of this retaining system.
The Romans invaded Jerusalemin August of A.D. 70, after a five-month siege.
A full accountof the bloody conflict is found in Josephus (Wars V, VI). The
temple was destroyedon the 10th day of the 5th month, according to Jewish
tradition — ironically, the same day of the year upon which Nebuchadnezzar
had burned down the first temple, some 656 years earlier!
The Alleged Problem
Let us now address the allegedproblem in Christ’s prophecy. Does the
“Wailing Wall” constitute an argument againstthe accuracyof Christ’s
prophecy? It does not.
First, Jesus’language couldhave been hyperbolic, simply signifying a
complete destruction. Hyperbole is common to all languages as a technique
for matters of greatemphasis.

Second, this wall actually was a part of Herod’s “platform” projectto extend
the temple compound area. It was not related to the temple structure itself;
the disciples askedaboutthe “buildings,” not the city walls.
In his book, The Archaeologyof the JerusalemArea (Grand Rapids: Baker,
1987), Harold Mare, former president of the NearEastArchaeological
Society, notes:“We do not have any remains of the Herodian temple itself
because ofthe devastating Romandestruction in A.D. 70” (p. 141;emp. WJ).
Another scholardeclares:“Strictly speaking, the Temple proper is not a
matter of archaeologicalconsiderationsince only one stone from it and parts
of another can be positively identified” (H.T. Frank, An Archaeological
Companion to the Bible, London: SCM Press, 1972, p. 249). That “one stone”
was from the small wallseparating the Court of the Gentiles from the sacred
compound.
Jesus prophesiedcorrectly!
THE TEMPLE DESTROYED, 70 A.D.
The fulfillment of Christ's prophecy concerning the destruction of the
magnificent temple at Jerusalemnot only reveals the year of Christ's
crucifixion, but also ended one phase of God's plan for the salvationof
humanity and ushered in the next phase—Christ's return to conquer and rule
the earth.
In 40 B.C., the Roman senate appointed Herod, later knownas Herod The
Great, as the ruler of Judea. Herod had previously served as the governorof
Galilee and was a personalfriend of Mark Antony before Antony was

defeatedby Octavian. Later Herod became a friend of Octavianwho became
the first Roman emperor as CaesarAugustus.
Herod the Greatruled Judea for the next 36 years, during which time he
beganmany huge building projects including the building of a new Temple in
Jerusalemfor the worship of God. From the beginning of the Temple project
in 19 B.C., it took 46 years to complete the main building and another 36
years to finish the entire Temple complex. This was a huge undertaking which
required a tremendous amount of labor and money. This new temple was said
to be a largerand a more beautiful temple than the one that Solomonbuilt.
The historian Josephus saidthat much of the exterior of the Temple was
coveredwith gold that reflectedthe fiery rays of the sun. Moreover, he said
that, from a distance, the Temple appearedlike a mountain coveredwith
snow. This was probably because those parts that were not coveredwith gold
were made of white stone.
From what is said in many writings about Herod's Temple, it was indeed a
magnificent structure of awesome proportions. However, four years after it's
completion, it was totally destroyedand wiped from the face of the earth.
During Jesus'time, many of the Jews were so awe struck and impressed with
the grandeur of the Temple that they replacedthe worship of God with
respectand reverence for the Temple complex itself. However, Jesus was not
impressed with the Temple's physical structure, because he knew that the
SovereignGodwas greaterthan any building that man could construct, no
matter how grand and beautiful it was.
THE PROPHECIES

Jesus prophesiedboth the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem;therefore,
it is necessaryto discuss both prophecies in order to clearly understand the
events that happened 40 years later.
The Temple
"Jesus leftthe temple and was walking awaywhen his disciples came up to
him to call his attention to its buildings. 'Do you see allthese things?' he
asked. 'I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every
one will be thrown down'" (Matt.24:1-8 NIV). See also Lk.21:5-6.
In his well knownprophecy about the end of the age recordedby Matthew
and Luke, Jesus predictedthe destruction of the Temple and Jerusalemwhich
came to pass 40 years after his death and resurrection. Because the disciples
as most of the Jews oftheir day (especiallythe Essenes andthe Pharisees)
were looking for a Messiahto come who would restore national Israel, setup
an earthly kingdom, and destroy the existing Temple and build a new one in
its place (See Ezekielchapters 40 to 47), they were anxious to know when this
would happen. They asked, "Whenwill this happen, and what will be the sign
of your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matt.24:3 NIV).
Many today believe that the answerthat Jesus gave to his disciples referred to
the time that they were living in. Although in a generalsense, some ofwhat he
said would apply to their age, Jesus did not answerthe first part of their
question:“when will this happen?” Instead he began to answertheir other two
questions—“whatwill be the sign of your coming and of the end of the
age?”—with a generaloverview of the things that would happen at the end of
this age just prior to his return:

"Watchout that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name,
claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and
rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must
happen, but the end is still to come. Nationwill rise againstnation, and
kingdom againstkingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various
places. All these are the beginning of birth pains" (Matt.24:4-8 NIV).
After Jesus'resurrectionfrom the dead the disciples askeda similar question
to the one that they had askedhim after their Temple visit, during which he
told them about world events at the end of this age:
"When they therefore were come together, they askedofhim, saying, Lord,
will you at this time restore againthe kingdom to Israel? And he said to them,
It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, whichthe Fatherhas put in
his ownpower" (Acts 1:6-7 KJV).
Looking back on the task that Jesus gave to the disciples after his resurrection
(Matt.28;19-20)andthe ensuing history of the early church, not allowing these
men to know the date of the destruction of the Temple, his coming to power,
and the end of the age of human rule on earth helped keepthem focusedon
their task and from being discouraged, becausethese events were not to
happen as soonas they expected.
Jerusalem
There were two occasions onwhich Jesus foretoldthe destruction of
Jerusalemthat would occurin 70 A.D.. The first was when he entered the city

and the people laid their clothes on the ground before him, which was the
custom to honor someone of greatimportance such as a king:
"Then the crowds spreadout their robes along the road ahead of him, and as
they reachedthe place where the road starteddown from the Mount of Olives,
the whole processionbeganto shout and sing as they walkedalong, praising
God for all the wonderful miracles Jesus had done. 'God has given us a King!'
they exulted. 'Long live the King! Let all heaven rejoice!Glory to God in the
highest heavens!' But some of the Phariseesamong the crowd said, 'Sir,
rebuke your followers for saying things like that!' He replied, 'If they keep
quiet, the stones along the road will burst into cheers!' But as they came closer
to Jerusalemand he saw the city ahead, he began to cry. 'Eternal peace was
within your reachand you turned it down,' he wept, 'and now it is too late.
Your enemies will pile up earth againstyour walls and encircle you and close
in on you, and crush you to the ground, and your children within you; your
enemies will not leave one stone upon another- for you have rejectedthe
opportunity God offered you.' Then he entered the Temple and beganto drive
out the merchants from their stalls, saying to them, 'The Scriptures declare,
My Temple is a place of prayer; but you have turned it into a den of thieves'"
(Lk.19:36-46 TLB).
It is important to understand that Jesus was no ordinary man, he was the
CreatorGod who voluntarily gave up his immortal existence to become
human and die for the sins of humanity. Jesus understoodthat, although the
plan for the salvationof humanity required certain events to take place, if
people would repent of their evil ways, these events could be modified and
workedout in other ways that would allow for less pain and suffering in order
to fulfill God's plan for humanity.
Although Jesus understood that his heavenly Father was merciful, he also
understood the heart of the vastmajority of the Jews and their leadership and

that they would not repent of their evil ways. This is one of the reasons he
wept over Jerusalemas he foretold its destruction.
The secondtime that Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalemwas as he
was being led to the place of his execution. The streets along the way were
packedwith his enemies as well as with those who enthusiasticallyfollowedhis
teaching and were hopeful that he was indeed the prophesied Messiah:
"And there followed him a greatcompany of people, and of women, which
also bewailedand lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said, Daughters of
Jerusalem, weepnot for me, but weepfor yourselves, and for your children.
For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessedare the
barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.
Then shall they begin to sayto the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills,
Coverus" (Lk.23:27-30 KJV).
What Jesus saidto those who were showing their concernfor him and the
injustice that was about to befall him foretold the destruction of Jerusalem
and the horrible starvation, sickness, anddeath that would come upon them
before and after the Romans destroyedthe city and its Temple. It is also
possible that what he said to these women may also have some application
during the end of this age just before his return. See Hos.10:1-10;Rev.6:12-17.
PASSOVER 30 A.D.
The Passoverseasonof30 A.D. began much as it had in previous years.
Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world crowded into Jerusalem.
Becausethey were concernedwith preparing for the Passover, they did not
realize that this particular Passoverwouldbe the most important event in all

of human history. It was on this Passoverthatthe Lamb of God would be
sacrificedfor the sins of humanity.
Jesus died about 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon of 30 A.D. on the first of two
authorized Passoverceremonies(see ourstudy about this specific Passover
season). His death set into motion a series of events and warnings to the Jews
which were meant to show that indeed the Jews had murdered the Messiah
and that his prophecy concerning the destruction of the Temple and
Jerusalemwould come to pass.
The Earthquake
There were three simultaneous events that happened during the earthquake
at Jesus'death that are of major importance to the fulfillment of the
prophecies concerning the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem:
The veil of separationtorn from top to bottom
The tombs opened and the dead raised to life
Jesus acknowledgedas the Son of God
The Curtain of Separation
History seems to indicate that there were two curtains in Herod's Temple:
One at the huge gatedentry into the Temple and the other separating the
Holy of Holies and the main sanctuary. These curtains were said to be 60 feet
long, 30 feet wide, and as thick as the palm of a man's hand. We are told that
these curtains were so heavy that 300 priests were needed to manipulate each
one. The curtain being torn from top to bottom was a foreboding omen

indicating that God's hand had torn it in two and that his presence was
leaving that holy place. (See the JewishTalmud, Yoma 39b).
The curtain separatedthe Holy Place from everyone but the high priest. The
Holy Place was where the presence ofGod dwelled on the mercy seat. The
curtain was a constantreminder to the Israelites that their access to God
depended on another physical human, and that this accesswas only granted
through the physical works ofthe sacrificialsystem.
"And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the spirit. And the veil of the
temple was torn in half from the top to the bottom" (Mk.15:37-38 KJV).
"And when Jesus had cried out againin a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At
that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of
many holy people who had died were raised to life" (Matt.27:50-52 NIV).
Considerthe enormous significance of this monumental historicalevent.
Picture Jesus'loud and painful cry "it is finished" (Jn.19:30), as the Roman
solderplunges a spear deep into his side and his life blood drains to the
ground. At the same instant, the Temple veil tears apart as a powerful
earthquake shakes Jerusalem. Furthermore, picture the high priest who
having just condemned Jesus to death the night before was splashing the
blood of Passoverlambs againstthe altar of God.
When Jesus cried out "it is finished" and the curtain tore, the relationship
betweenGod and humanity was altered forever. The tearing of the curtain of
separationfrom top to bottom forever opens the way for all humanity to
eventually fellowshipdirectly with God the Father.

This is the moment in time that Jesus spoke ofto the woman of Samaria when
he foretold that the existing worship systemwould be abolished, and that
those who wanted to worship God would no longerneed to travel to a specific
locationto worship:
"The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers
worshiped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalemis the place where
it is necessaryto worship. Jesus saidto her, Woman believe me that an hour is
coming when you will worship the Father neither in this mountain nor in
Jerusalem. . .. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth" (Jn.4:19-23 Para.). See ourstudy
paper about the new creationfor more details about worshiping Godin spirit.
No longer would a physical man be required to offer animal sacrifices forsins.
Any who truly worship the Father can now stand before him and present their
own cause to him, knowing that he will hear and considertheir prayer
because ofthe sacrifice ofJesus the Christ.
The apostle Paulexplains this improved relationship betweenGod and non-
Israelites to the electin the city of Ephesus:
"Wherefore remember, that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who
are calleduncircumcision by that which is calledthe Circumcisionin the flesh
made by hands; That at the time you were without Christ, being aliens from
the commonwealthof Israel, and strangers from the covenants ofpromise,
having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus you
who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ. For he is
our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of
partition betweenus; Having abolishedin his flesh the enmity, even the law of

commandments contained in the ordinances;for to make in himself of twain
one new man, so making peace;And that he might reconcile both to God in
one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby" (Eph.2:11-16 KJV).
With the tearing of the curtain, all who worship God, whether Jew or Gentile,
have access to the throne of mercy by the one and final sacrifice ofJesus
Christ, the Lamb of God. See Heb.4:15-16;6:18-19;9:1-15; 10:19-22.
“Forthrough him we both have accessby one spirit to the Father. Now
therefore you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the householdof God”
(Eph.2:18-19 KJV).
The DeadRaised
The earthquake and resurrectionof the righteous dead at the death of Jesus
pertains to a number of prophetic events for that time and the future.
This event was evidence that God had fulfilled his promise containedin the
many prophecies about the redemption of humanity. A way was now open for
all who would truly worship God to have victory over sin and death. This
event also pointed toward the future when a greatearthquake will shake the
entire earth before the return of Christ to gather the righteous dead of all ages
to meet him in the air. See 1.Thes.4:16-17.
This resurrectionof the dead shows the following:

• Christ's blood is life-giving (pictured in the blood of the Passoverlamb)
and has now wiped awaythe penalty of sin (Rom.6:23)for all those who only
had their sins coveredby the sacrifice of animals.
• There will be a time when all those who have or will have lived a
righteous life will be given eternal and immortal life at the return of Christ.
See our study papers on the return of Christ and the resurrections.
• The greatenemy death has lostits powerover humanity through the
sacrificialblood of Jesus Christ.
The Son of God
“Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw
the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying
Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt.27:54 Para.). See also Lk.23:47.
The Jews had rejectedChrist as the Messiahand murdered him as their
fathers had murdered many others whom God had sent to them to teachhis
laws and ways of life. To their shame, it was a Roman centurion, not an
Israelite, who recognizedand acknowledgedJesusas the Son of God. See
Psa.118:22-24;Jer.8:9; Matt.13:57;21:42.
Becauseoftheir rejectionof the Messiahand his messagethe Jews would now
pay a heavy price. The magnificent structure which symbolized God's
presence and on which the Jews lavishedmuch praise and showedgreat
reverence would be destroyed along with their beloved city.
The Temple Gates

The JewishTalmud says that 40 years before the Temple was destroyedthe
gates ofthe temple openedby themselves, until Rabbi Yohanan B. Zakkai
rebuked them (i.e., the gates)saying, "Hekel, Hekel, why do you alarm us?
We know that you are destined to be destroyed" (Yoma 39b).
The priests understood that, for Ezekiel's prophecy to be fulfilled, the existing
temple would have to be destroyedand a new one built; however, because
they did not understand the prophecies concerning the Messiahfortheir time,
they did not understand the supernatural opening of the gates to mean that
the old system of atonement was being replacedwith a new one.
The Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin officiatedfrom the Chamber of Hewn Stones which was about
120 feetsoutheastof the Temple and its enormous stone lintel, which was at
least30 feet long, weighedsome 30 tons and had crackedduring the
earthquake at the Messiah's death.
History tells us that the Sanhedrin moved from their opulent surroundings in
the Chamber of Hewn Stones to lesseraccommodationsshortly after the
earthquake. Becausethere is no record of the Sanhedrin being forcedby the
Romans to move from the Temple (which would have causeda major political
crisis), one canassume that the Sanhedrin moved because the earthquake had
so damaged the building that it was unsafe for them to continue to meet there.
It is interesting that, prior to the Messiah's crucifixion in 30 A. D., the
Romans had takenawaythe Sanhedrin's authority to execute criminals (See
Jn.18:31;Talmud Sanh.1:1,7:2). The last judgement that the Sanhedrin made
from the Temple was to sentence the Messiahand Creatorof humanity to

death. From 30 A.D. to the time of this writing no Sanhedrin has officiated
from a Temple in Jerusalem. With the departure of the Sanhedrin from the
Chamber of Hewn Stones, the law no longerwent forth from the Temple.
Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the Sanhedrin was banished
from their official residence to the trading stationon the Temple Mount
(Shabbat 15a), and eventually off the Mount altogether.
40 YEARS OF WARNINGS
Many wonder why God waited 40 years after Jesus'death and resurrectionto
fulfill his prophecy about the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem. First,
the number 40 in the Bible is symbolic of trial, testing, and punishment.
Second, waiting 40 years shows God's patience in allowing the Jews time to
repent and turn back to him with proper behavior and worship so that he
could bless them instead of punishing them.
Although the Temple and city were not destroyeduntil 70 A.D., the
supernatural events that occurredon the day the Messiahwas murdered were
only a few of the many warnings given to the Jewishpeople prior to the
destruction of their beloved Temple and city. On the Day of Atonement in 30
A.D. a series oftwo consecutive warnings that were repeated on this day for
another 39 years began.
A Black Stone and A ScarletThread
“And Aaron shall castlots upon the two goats;one lot for the Lord, and the
other lot for the scapegoat” (Lev.16:8 KJV).

There is much debate over exactly what kind of objects the lots were.
However, the information found in the Babylonian Talmud and the Mishnah
indicates that the lots were two stones—onewhite and one black. The white
stone had the words “Forthe Lord” written on it, and the black stone had the
words “ForAzazal” (i.e., the goatthat is sent awayor banished) written on it.
These two stones were placedinto a containerand it was shaken;then,
without looking into the container, the high priest would put his right hand
into the container and draw out one of the lots.
The Babylonian Talmud shows that, for two hundred years before 30 A.D.,
the first stone to appear in the right hand of the high priest randomly
fluctuated eachyearbetween the white and black stone. One would expectthis
type of randomness, because Godselectedthe more perfect goatto be slain for
the sins of the people. But, beginning with the Day of Atonement in 30 A.D.
(the year of the death and resurrectionof Jesus Christ), the black stone
appearedin the right hand of the high priest for the next 39 years.
The chances ofthe black stone (For Azazal) appearing 40 consecutive times in
the right hand of the high priest is over a trillion to one according to Pascal's
table of numerical odds.
The continual appearance ofthe black stone in the right hand of the high
priest was surely a signof God's displeasure with the House of Judah and a
warning for them to repent.
The fulfillment of the prophetic black stone came after forty years of
continuous warning when the Temple and Jerusalemwere destroyedin 70 A.
D. by the Roman Empire.

The ScarletThread
On the Day of Atonement, a scarletwoolthread was placedon the door of the
sanctuary. It was said that this thread turned white when the live goatwas set
free. But, beginning on the Day of Atonement in 30 A.D., this thread never
turned white again. See Yoma 39b, Babylonian Talmud and pages 166, 170
Mishnah, by Danby.
Clearly, the failure of the scarletthread to turn white was another signof
God's disapproval of Israel's worshipof him and their impending punishment
if they did not repent. See Isa.1:18.
THE REBELLION
Shortly after the beginning of 63 A.D. and while Jerusalemwas still a peaceful
and thriving city, Jesus the son of Ananus beganproclaiming and warning of
the coming destruction to Jerusalem. Forhis continued effort to warn of the
impending disaster(which lasted sevenyears and five months according to
Josephus)he was ridiculed and beaten.
Three years after Jesus the son of Ananus began his prophetic warnings, and
in the Spring of 66 A.D., the Jews of Judea begana full scale rebellionagainst
Rome.
Besides the continual warnings of the son of Ananus, the Jews also receiveda
number of supernatural warnings of the coming destructionof the Temple
and Jerusalem.

The Jewishhistorian Josephus recordedseveraldramatic events and
warnings that concernedthe Temple worship system at Jerusalem(War, Book
6. ch.5.)and foretold the end of the Temple worship systemat Jerusalem. The
following are just a few of the many warnings of impending disasterto come
upon Jerusalem.
1. During the FeastofUnleavened Bread in 66 A.D., at about 3 in them
morning, a light as bright as daylight appearedaround the altar for half an
hour. Although some thought it was a goodsign, the scribes understood it to
be a precursor to the supernatural events that followedduring the Feast:
A heifer being led for sacrifice was saidto have given birth to a lamb in the
midst of the Temple.
Around midnight, during the Feast, the huge easterngate ofthe inner court of
the temple, which was made of brass and normally took twenty men to shut,
opened on its own. Josephus says that this was understood by knowledgeable
men to mean that the Temple's protection had vanished and that the gate was
opened for the benefit of their enemies. These enlightenedmen publicly
declaredthat this sign foreshadowedthe disasterthat was coming on them
(Wars IV,5,3).
2. On the twenty first of the month of Iyar, just before sunset, chariots and
soldiers in armor were seenrunning about in the clouds around the city. See
Lk.21:20.
3.During the night portion of the day of Pentecostin 66 A.D., as the priests
were entering the inner court of the Temple, they felt a quaking and heard a
greatnoise and a sound like a greatmultitude of voices saying, "Let us
remove hence".
4. Jewishhistoricalrecords state that the shekinahglory departed the Temple
at that time and remained over the mount of olives for three and a half years,

during which time, a voice could sometimes beheard coming from the mount
pleading for the Jews to repent. See Midrash Lamentations 2:11. It is said
that, just before the Roman'sfinal siege ofJerusalem, that this light which
appearedover the Mount of Olives disappearedinto the heavens.
The Jews failedto heed these and many other warnings to repent of their sins
and return to their Godin humble obedience. If indeed the nation of Israel
beganits covenantrelationship with the CreatorGodon the day of Pentecost
at the foot of Mount Sinai, it ended this relationship on the day of Pentecostin
66 A.D..
Destroyedin 70 A.D.
By the summer of 68 A.D., Jews were nearing defeat by the Romanlegions
and in 69 A.D., Vespasianwas made emperor of Rome and gave his sonTitus
the honor of delivering the final death blows to the rebellious Jews and their
capital city.
In The Wars of the Jews, Book6, Josephus notes that, on the eighth day of the
of the Roman month Lous (Jewishmonth Ab), the ramps were finished and
Titus ordered the battering-rams brought up and made ready for an assault
on the Temple. With the battering-rams in place the Roman siege of
Jerusalem, which beganat Passoverthatyear, would come to an end.
As soonas the walls were breached on the 9th of Ab in 70 A.D., a Roman
military force of about 30,000troops under the command of Titus marched
into Jerusalemand began a systematic slaughterof the Jews and the
destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem—exactlyas Jesus foretold40 years
earlier.

The Romans brutally slaughteredan estimated 600,000people in Jerusalem
including many of the Passovervisitors who had been trapped there for the
143 days during the Roman siege. Manyof the people who were not killed by
Roman soldiers were shipped off to the gladiatorialgames, Romanmines, and
otherwise exiled from Judea and scatteredthroughout the Roman empire and
other nations. By the year 73 A.D., all traces of a self-ruling Jewishnation had
completely disappeared.
Josephus records that the Romans put the city and the Temple to the torch
and that these fires were still burning a month later on the eighth day of the
Roman month Gorpieus (Jewishmonth Elul).
The magnificent Temple that Herod had built was completelydestroyed as the
fires ragedinside and out. These fires were so hot that the gold fittings, and
the goldgilding inside and on it's outside walls melted and ran into the cracks
betweenand in the stones. During the pillaging of the Temple these stones
were broken up to get at the gold. Therefore, fulfilling Jesus'prophecythat no
stone would be left on another—the destruction was total, just as Jesus
foretold.
Summary
The Temple Solomonbuilt was destroyedby fire on the 9th of Ab in 585 or
586 B.C. (depending on which biblical scholaris doing the research). Just656
or 657 years later on the 9th of Ab in 70 A.D., the Temple that Herod built
was also destroyed.
The destruction of both Solomon's Temple and Herod's Temple on the 9th of
Ab seems to indicate that, when God's patience comes to an end with his

chosenpeople, he removes his presence and the physical symbolism of his
presence from among them to be a witness to future generations that there is a
price to pay for disobedience to him.
Although the events shortly before and after the Roman destruction of the
Temple and Jerusalemwere horrible in terms of human suffering, there have
been events in Jewishhistory since then that have been even more horrible,
such as the extermination of millions of Jews during World War Two.
Many Bible prophecies concerning the next temple to be built at Jerusalem
for the worship of the CreatorGod clearlyshow that God will only allow
sacrifices to be performed there for 1,150 days after which greattrouble will
befall the Jews. During this time of trouble, the atrocities committed against
the Jews during World War Two will seem minor in comparison. This period
of trouble is to last 3 ½ years and will come not only upon the Jews, but upon
other Israelites from the ten tribes and the entire world as the forces ofevil
become more and more aware that their rule of earth is drawing to an end. It
is during this time that the SovereignGodbegins in earnestthe final
preparation for his Son's return to set up his kingdom over the earth.
The fulfillment of prophecy is a major proof that the SovereignGod does exist
and that he has the power and authority to control the destiny of humanity.
Moreover, the fulfillment of prophecy tells us that God's plan for humanity is
right on schedule.
By B. L. Cocherell

Jesus Predicts the Destructionof the Temple.
1Jesus leftthe temple and was walking awaywhen 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.” (Matthew 24:1,2)
Thoughts: The Herodian Temple was not fully complete when the disciples
were awedby it. It was consideredone of the wonders of the ancient world
because ofits huge stones and the way the sun glistened off of the white
limestone. It was finished in 66 AD but was totally destroyedby the Romans
in 70 AD. They literally tore the huge stones down.
This is a prophecy of Jesus that he made at leasteight times. He was
accusedathis arrestof speaking againstthe Temple and partially was
crucified for this charge. He told the women of Jerusalemto not weepfor
Him but for themselves for the destruction about to come upon them. It is
noteworthy that Matthew does not speak as if the Temple has already fallen,
saying something like "and the Temple did fall." Or, "Justas Jesus
predicted..." Many scholars date Matthew as coming before the fall of the
Temple for this reason. Others think that this is such a specific outlandish
prophesy that it had to be dated after the Temple fell. However, Jesus also
predicted in 24:14 that the Gospelwould be sent to all nations- (accomplished
when converts came in Nepalin 1989). Christianity is the only religion that is
in all nations- and Jesus predicted this when the faith had only a few dozen
followers all centeredin one place. But no one would date Matthew after
1989. Predictionalone is not a reasonto date a book.
Jesus was and is considereda prophet by many Jewishrabbis because of
his teachings and prediction on this particular issue (he was one of the few).
The Temple was biggerthan it had ever been and the walls seemedquite
imposing and invulnerable. Yet Jesus pointed out that they were to come
down- and within a generationthey did.

It was in part a symbol of what God was doing. He was taking the faith
and spreading it beyond the centralized locationof the Temple-Jerusalem-
Judea. God was remaking His people/gospelas a Potter re-makes the clay.
Prayer: Lord, Help me to trust in you in the times you are re-making things as
a Potterremakes the clay.
https://dailybelief.blogspot.com/2017/10/jesus-predicts-destruction-of-
temple.html
What biblical prophecies were fulfilled in AD 70?
Question:"What biblical prophecies were fulfilled in AD 70?"
Answer: Much of importance happened in Israel in AD 70, and many link the
events of that time to prophecies in the Bible. In studying this subject, it’s
goodto remember that prophecy does not describe the future in the same way
that history describes the past. That’s why there are varied interpretations of
biblical prophecy. Predictions dealing with the end times, a categoryknownas
eschatology, are ofparticular interest to many people. Within modern
Christianity, most of these discussions are less about which events are
predicted than when the events will happen. The most common point of
reference for these opinions is the significantyear of AD 70, when the Romans
destroyedthe Jewishtemple.

Virtually all Christian interpretations of biblical prophecy agree that several
prophecies were fulfilled in or before AD 70. Jesus predicted the destruction
of the temple (Luke 21:6; Matthew 24:2) and, some would argue, the Jewish
genocide atthe hands of Rome (Luke 23:27-31). Historically, these events
align extremely wellwith Jesus’statements. There is broad agreementwithin
most Christian interpretations that these prophecies were literally fulfilled in
AD 70.
There is debate over whether additional prophecies, suchas those found in
Daniel chapter9, Matthew chapters 24 and 25, and Revelationchapters 6—
18, were also fulfilled in AD 70 or if they are yet to come. Partialpreterism
and full preterism hold that most, if not all, of the prophetic events in the
Bible were completed by the end of the first century, mostly prior to AD 70.
Dispensationalismholds that only the temple destruction and possibly the
genocide were actuallyfulfilled in AD 70 and that the rest of the prophecies
will have a future fulfillment during the tribulation.
In terms of historicalevidence, there is little to make a definitive case one way
or the other. The events of AD 70 can be made to fit certain prophetic claims,
depending on one’s perspective. Of course, if one is willing to apply a high
enough degree of symbolic interpretation, any prophecy can be made to
conform to almost any event. It should be noted, however, that most non-
dispensationalinterpretations require the book of Revelationto have been
written prior to AD 70, something that generalscholarshipdoes not support.
The most serious difficulties in claiming all the prophecies were fulfilled in AD
70 are theological. In particular, preterism requires scriptural passagesto be
interpreted with a chaotic blend of extremely literal and extremely figurative
language. One would have to interpret words, verses, and phrases that appear
in the same discourse, oreven the same paragraph, with a different literal-
figurative assumption.

The most reasonable interpretation is that the genocide and destruction of the
temple were prophecies fulfilled in AD 70, and that the other events described
in Daniel, Matthew, and Revelationare yet to occur. They are truly end-times
predictions.
https://www.gotquestions.org/AD-70.html
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The DestructionOf Jerusalem(Part 1)
by David Padfield
The 24th chapter of Matthew is one of the most abusedpassagesin the Bible.
Premillennialists use this chapter as a springboard for all sorts of fanciful
teaching and wild speculation. In this article we want to examine the context

of the chapter and see its application to the destruction of Jerusalemin 70
A.D.
On the Tuesdaybefore His crucifixion, our Lord went into the temple and
denounced its inhabitants as being the "sons of those who murdered the
prophets," a "brood of vipers," and those destined for the "condemnationof
hell" (Matt. 23:31, 33). He ends this scathing rebuke with these words: "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are
sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen
gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See!Your house
is left to you desolate;for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say,
'Blessedis He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" (Matt. 23:37-39).
As Jesus left the temple, "His disciples came to Him to show Him the
buildings of the temple" (Matt. 24:1). While gazing upon the Herod's temple,
Jesus told the disciples that the day was coming when "not one stone shall be
left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (Matt. 24:2). After
crossing the Kidron Valley, Jesus and His disciples sit upon the Mount of
Olives. His disciples came to Him privately and asked, "whenwill these things
be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
(Matt. 24:3).
The destruction of the temple was such a notable event that the disciples could
only think of it happening in connectionwith the secondcoming of Christ.
Jesus clears up their misunderstandings and answers their questions in order.
First, He tells them about the various signs which would be given prior to the
destruction of the temple. Second, Jesus explains there will be no signs given
prior to His return and the end of the world. The events describedin Matthew
24 are also recordedin Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36.
Key To The Discourse
It is my contention that everything spokenin Matthew 24:4-35 relates to the
destruction of Jerusalem, and that the remainder of the chapter deals with the
secondcoming of Christ. After explaining all of the signs that would happen
prior to the destruction of Jerusalemand the temple, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I
say to you, this generationwill by no means pass awaytill all these things are

fulfilled" (Matt. 24:34). Jesus warnedHis followers that Jerusalemwould be
destroyedwithin their own generation.
JosephHenry Thayer defines the Greek word for "generation" as "1. a
begetting, birth, nativity 2. passively, that which has been begotten, men of the
same stock, a family the severalranks in a natural descent, the successive
members of a genealogyb. metaph. a race of men very like eachother in
endowments, pursuits, character;and esp. in a bad sense a perverse race 3.
the whole multitude of men living at the same time: Mt. xxiv. 34;Mk. xiii. 30;
Lk. i. 48 xxi. 32 4. an age (i.e. the time ordinarily occupiedby eachsuccessive
generation), the space of from 30 to 33 years" (Greek-EnglishLexiconOf The
New Testament).
W. E. Vine says the word is "connectedwith ginomai, to become, primarily
signifies a begetting, or birth; then that which has been begotten, a family; or
successive members of a genealogyorof a race of people, possessedofsimilar
characteristics, pursuits, etc., (of a bad character)or the whole multitude of
men living at the same time, Matt. 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 1:48; 21:32
Transferredfrom people to the time in which they lived, the word came to
mean an age, i.e., a period ordinarily occupiedby eachsuccessive generations,
say, of thirty or forty years" (Vine's Expository Dictionary Of Biblical
Words).
A generationis a period of time somewhere betweenthirty or forty years.
Jesus gave the Olivet discourse in about 30 A.D.; Jerusalemwas destroyedby
Titus, the Roman General, in 70 A.D.
Flavius Josephus
In this article we will be quoting at length from the first century historian
Flavius Josephus, a Jewishpriest who led a revolt againstRoman oppression
in Galilee. He was captured by the Romans at the fall of Yotapata in 67 A.D.,
and held as a prisoner in Caesareatill 69 A.D. He returned to Jerusalemwith
Titus in 70 A.D. and became an eyewitness to the final siege ofJerusalem.
Josephus was made a Roman citizen by Vespasian. An excellentbiography of
Josephus by Steve Masonrecentlyappeared in Biblical ArchaeologyReview
(September/October1997, pp. 58-69).

Let us now examine the signs Jesus saidwould appear prior to the destruction
of Jerusalem.
False Christs
Jesus warnedHis disciples that "many will come in My name, saying, 'I am
the Christ,' and will deceive many" (Matt. 24:5). As predicted by Jesus, many
false prophets did arise.
Josephus claimedthat, "there was an Egyptian false prophet that did the Jews
more mischief than the former; for he was a cheat, and pretended to be a
prophet also, and got togetherthirty thousand men that were deluded by him;
these he led round from the wilderness to the mount which was calledthe
Mount of Olives, and was ready to break into Jerusalemby force from that
place." (The Wars Of The Jews, 2:3:5).
Josephus also wrote:"Now it came to pass, while Fadus was procuratorof
Judea, that a certain magician, whose name was Theudas, persuaded a great
part of the people to take their efforts with them, and follow him to the river
Jordan; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own
command, divide the river, and afford them an easypassageoverit; and
many were deluded by his words." (The Antiquities Of The Jews, 20:5:1).
Wars And Rumors Of Wars
The disciples were warned that they would "hearof wars and rumors of
wars," and yet Jesus told them, "See that you are not troubled" (Matt. 24:6).
Today, every time a firecrackergoesoff in Jerusalemsome preacherwill start
sweating and tell his congregationthat the end of the world is at hand—you
would think the Middle Easthad never experiencedconflict before. It is hard
to picture a time more trying than just prior to the destruction of Jerusalem.
Tacitus, a Roman historian, said of this period: "The history on which I am
entering is that of a period rich in disasters, terrible with battles, torn by civil
struggles, horrible even in peace. Fouremperors fell by the sword; there were
three civil wars, more foreign wars, and often both at the same time." (The
Histories, 1:2).

Josephus tells of a day in which "the people of Caesareahad slain the Jews
that were among them on the very same day and hour [when the soldiers were
slain], which one would think must have come to pass by the direction of
Providence;insomuch that in one hour's time above twenty thousand Jews
were killed, and all Caesarea was emptiedof its Jewishinhabitants." (Wars,
2:18:1).
Famines And Pestilences
The destruction of Jerusalemwas to be precededby a time of "famines and
pestilences"(Matt. 24:7). You do not have to leave the pages ofthe New
Testamentto find the fulfillment of this. Luke, writing by the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, recordedthat, "in these days prophets came from Jerusalem
to Antioch. Then one of them, named Agabus, stoodup and showedby the
Spirit that there was going to be a greatfamine throughout all the world,
which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar."(Acts 11:27-28).
Josephus tells of queen Helena's relief effort for Jerusalem. "Now hercoming
was of very greatadvantage to the people of Jerusalem;for whereas a famine
did oppress them at that time, and many people died for want of what was
necessaryto produce food withal, queen Helena sent some of her servants to
Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of corn, and others to Cyprus,
to bring a cargo of dried figs" (Antiquities, 20:2:5). Tacitus wrote: "Many
prodigies occurred during the year. Ominous birds took their seaton the
Capitol; houses were overturned by repeatedshocks ofearthquake, and, as
the panic spread, the weak were trampled underfoot in the trepidation of the
crowd. A shortage of corn, again, and the famine which resulted, were
construed as a supernatural warning." (The Annals of Imperial Rome, 12:43).
Pestilencesusually accompanyperiods of famine.
Earthquakes
In addition to the havoc brought about by famine and pestilences,our Lord
said that greatearthquakes would shake the region prior to the siege of
Jerusalem(Matt. 24:7).

J. Marcellus Kik said, "And as to earthquakes, many are mentioned by
writers during a period just previous to 70 A.D. There were earthquakes in
Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos, Laodicea, Hierapolis, Colosse,
Campania, Rome, and Judea. It is interesting to note that the city of Pompeii
was much damagedby an earthquake occurring on February 5, 63 A.D." (An
EschatologyOf Victory, p. 93).
Fearful Events From Heaven
In Luke's accountof the Olivet discourse he records the warning of Christ
that "there will be fearful sights and greatsigns from heaven" (Luke 21:11).
One night when "there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the
utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largestshowers ofrain, with
continual lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and
bellowings of the earth, that was in an earthquake. These things were a
manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the
system of the world was put into this disorder; and anyone would guess that
these wonders foreshadowedsome greatcalamities that were coming." (Wars,
4:4:5).
On anotheroccasionJosephus wrote:"Thus there was a star resembling a
sword, which stoodover the city, and a comet that continued a whole year.
Thus also, before the Jews'rebellionso great a light shone round the altar and
the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which light lastedfor
half an hour Moreover, the easterngate of the inner [court of the] temple,
which was of brass armed with iron, and vastly heavy, and had been with
difficulty shut by twenty men, and restedupon a basis armed with iron, and
had bolts fastenedvery deep into the firm floor, which was made of one entire
stone, was seento be opened of its own accordabout the sixth hour of the
night." (Wars, 4:4:5).
GospelPreachedTo All Nations
Prior to the destruction of Jerusalemthe "gospelofthe kingdom will be
preachedin all the world as a witness to all the nations" (Matt. 24:14). This

came to pass in the first century. Paul wrote to the saints at Colosseand spoke
of gospel"whichwas preached to every creature under heaven" (Col. 1:23).
"Tradition assigns the following fields to the various apostles and evangelists:
Andrew is said to have labored in Scythia; hence the Russians worship him as
their apostle. Philip spent his lastyears in Hierapolis in Phyrgia. Bartholomew
is said to have brought the gospelaccording to Matthew into India. The
tradition concerning Matthew is rather confused. He is said to have preached
to his own people, and afterwardin foreign lands. James Alphaeus is said to
have workedin Egypt. Thaddeus is said to have been the missionaryto Persia.
Simon Zelotes is said to have workedin Egypt and in Britain; while another
report connects him with Persianand Babylonia. The evangelistJohn Mark is
said to have founded the church in Alexandria." (Lars P. Qualben, History Of
The Christian Church).
Stand Before Kings And Rulers
Jesus told the apostles to "watchout for yourselves, for they will deliver you
up to councils, and you will be beatenin the synagogues.And you will be
brought before rulers and kings for My sake, fora testimony to them" (Mark
13:9).
You do not have to leave the pages ofthe New Testamentto see the fulfillment
of this prophecy.
Peterand John were brought up before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4). Stephen was
stoned to death by an angry Jewishmob (Acts 7:54-60). Herod Agrippa
"killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw that it
pleasedthe Jews, he proceededfurther to seize Peteralso" (Acts 12:2).
Paul stoodbefore Gallio, proconsulof Achaia (Acts 18:12), Felix, a Roman
governor(Acts 24), and King Agrippa (Acts 25). Paul was finally allowedto
present his case before Caesarhimself.

The Romans Destroythe Temple
at Jerusalem, 70 AD
Printer Friendly Version >>>
In the year 66 AD the Jews of Judea rebelled againsttheir Roman masters. In
response, the Emperor Nero dispatched an army under the generalshipof
Vespasianto restore order. By the year 68, resistance in the northern part of
the province had been eradicatedand the Romans turned their full attention
to the subjugation of Jerusalem. Thatsame year, the Emperor Nero died by
his ownhand, creating a power vacuum in Rome. In the resultant chaos,
Vespasianwas declaredEmperor and returned to the Imperial City. It fell to
his son, Titus, to lead the remaining army in the assaulton Jerusalem.
Roman Centurian
The Roman legions surrounded the city and began to slowlysqueeze the life
out of the Jewishstronghold. By the year70, the attackers hadbreached
Jerusalem's outer walls and began a systematic ransackingofthe city. The
assaultculminated in the burning and destruction of the Temple that served
as the centerof Judaism.
In victory, the Romans slaughteredthousands. Of those sparred from death:
thousands more were enslavedand sent to toil in the mines of Egypt, others
were dispersedto arenas throughout the Empire to be butchered for the
amusement of the public. The Temple's sacredrelics were takento Rome
where they were displayed in celebrationof the victory.
The rebellion sputtered on for another three years and was finally
extinguished in 73 AD with the fall of the various pockets ofresistance
including the stronghold at Masada.
"...the Jews letout a shout of dismay that matched the tragedy."

Our only first-hand accountof the Roman assaulton the Temple comes from
the JewishhistorianJosephus Flavius. Josephus was a former leaderof the
JewishRevoltwho had surrendered to the Romans and had won favor from
Vespasian. In gratitude, Josephus took onVespasian's family name - Flavius -
as his own. We join his accountas the Romans fight their way into the inner
sanctum of the Temple:
"...the rebels shortly after attackedthe Romans again, and a clash followed
betweenthe guards of the sanctuary and the troops who were putting out the
fire inside the inner court; the latter routed the Jews and followedin hot
pursuit right up to the Temple itself. Then one of the soldiers, without
awaiting any orders and with no dread of so momentous a deed, but urged on
by some supernatural force, snatcheda blazing piece of woodand, climbing
on another soldier's back, hurled the flaming brand through a low golden
window that gave access, onthe north side, to the rooms that surrounded the
sanctuary. As the flames shot up, the Jews let out a shout of dismay that
matched the tragedy; they flockedto the rescue, with no thought of sparing
their lives or husbanding their strength; for the sacredstructure that they had
constantly guarded with such devotion was vanishing before their very eyes.
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...No exhortationor threat could now restrain the impetuosity of the legions;
for passionwas in supreme command. Crowdedtogetheraround the
entrances, many were trampled down by their companions; others, stumbling
on the smoldering and smoked-filledruins of the porticoes, died as miserably
as the defeated. As they drew closerto the Temple, they pretended not even to
hear Caesar'sorders, but urged the men in front to throw in more firebrands.
The rebels were powerless to help; carnage and flight spread throughout.
Mostof the slain were peacefulcitizens, weak and unarmed, and they were
butchered where they were caught. The heap of corpses mounted higher and
higher about the altar; a streamof blood floweddown the Temple's steps, and
the bodies of those slain at the top slipped to the bottom.

When Caesarfailedto restrain the fury of his frenzied soldiers, and the fire
could not be checked, he entered the building with his generals and lookedat
the holy place of the sanctuary and all its furnishings, which exceededby far
the accounts current in foreign lands and fully justified their splendid repute
in our own.
As the flames had not yet penetrated to the inner sanctum, but were
consuming the chambers that surrounded the sanctuary, Titus assumed
correctlythat there was still time to save the structure; he ran out and by
personalappeals he endeavoredto persuade his men to put out the fire,
instructing Liberalius, a centurion of his bodyguard of lancers, to club any of
the men who disobeyed his orders. But their respectfor Caesarand their fear
of the centurion's staff who was trying to check them were overpoweredby
their rage, their detestationof the Jews, and an utterly uncontrolled lust for
battle.
Titus
Mostof them were spurred on, moreover, by the expectationof loot,
convinced that the interior was full of money and dazzled by observing that
everything around them was made of gold. But they were forestalledby one of
those who had entered into the building, and who, when Caesardashedout to
restrain the troops, pushed a firebrand, in the darkness, into the hinges of the
gate Then, when the flames suddenly shot up from the interior, Caesarandhis
generals withdrew, and no one was left to prevent those outside from kindling
the blaze. Thus, in defiance of Caesar's wishes,the Temple was seton fire.
While the Temple was ablaze, the attackers plundered it, and countless people
who were caught by them were slaughtered. There was no pity for age and no
regard was accordedrank;children and old men, laymen and priests, alike
were butchered; every class was pursued and crushed in the grip of war,
whether they cried out for mercy or offered resistance.
Through the roar of the flames streaming far and wide, the groans of the
falling victims were heard; such was the height of the hill and the magnitude

of the blazing pile that the entire city seemedto be ablaze; and the noise -
nothing more deafening and frightening could be imagined.
There were the war cries of the Romanlegions as they sweptonwards en
masse, the yells of the rebels encircledby fire and sword, the panic of the
people who, cut off above, fled into the arms of the enemy, and their shrieks as
they met their fate. The cries on the hill blended with those of the multitudes
in the city below;and now many people who were exhausted and tongue-tied
as a result of hunger, when they beheld the Temple on fire, found strength
once more to lament and wail. Peraea and the surrounding hills, added their
echoes to the deafening din. But more horrifying than the din were the
sufferings.
The Temple Mount, everywhere envelopedin flames, seemedto be boiling
over from its base; yet the blood seemedmore abundant than the flames and
the numbers of the slain greaterthan those of the slayers. The soldiers
climbed over heaps of bodies as they chasedthe fugitives."
References:
Josephus'accountappears in: Cornfield, Gaalya ed., Josephus, The Jewish
War (1982);Duruy, Victor, History of Rome vol. V (1883).
How To Cite This Article:
"The Romans Destroythe Temple at Jerusalem, 70 AD," EyeWitness to
History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com(2005).

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