This study will attempt to show the great significance to Judaism of its temple in order to better appreciate the impact to Judasim of its destruction. Following that, we will examine the prophetic words of Christ regarding the Herodian temple as these bear strongly upon the future of Israel’s temple and cult. In closing, a possible Levitical type will be examined to provide some additional understanding of the grounds for the temple’s destruction.
The Importance of the Temple to the Jewish Community
The Old Testament prophets equated the destruction of the temple with the destruction of the cosmos. It is seen in their words which described the temple’s destruction using apocalyptic language. [1] This is not surprising given that the temple was a model of the cosmos.
For the ancient Jewish community, the temple was the center of the Jewish cult and the center of Jewish life, giving it enduring importance. Its purely visual aspects were significant, located on top of Mount Zion in the center of Jerusalem, the center of the land. Herod’s efforts to build an expanded temple complex only served to magnify the visual impact. Herod’s temple truly was one of the architectural marvels of the ancient world. At the center of the city of David atop the temple mount, Herod’s temple must have been a remarkable structure that constantly focused the attention of Judaism on the importance of the temple to the Jewish cult. The temple was so important to the Israelites that to this day, their prayers still reflect their desire for its reestablishment:
The liturgy and the Bible – the classical sources that are accessible to every Jew – point to the centrality of the Temple in Jewish thought. The traditional prayers recited three times a day include petitions that the Temple service be restored. When a Jew recites the Grace after Meals, which is ostensibly a litany of thanks, he offers a digressive and lengthy appeal for the reconstruction of the Temple. Over one-third of the verses of the Torah and over half of the 613 biblical commandments relate directly to the Temple and the activities within it. From the conquest of Joshua until the return of Ezra, the Temple – in its road to construction, destruction, and reconstruction – emerges as a central theme of the entire Bible. [2]
The temple was traditionally the center of the Jewish cult, the place of offerings and sacrifices. For the Jew however, the significance of the temple carries well beyond. The tabernacle and temple represented the place of the presence of God with the visible emblem of the Angel of the Presence. It was the place of numerous annual feasts and the center of Jewish religious learning. In short, the Temple is at the core of Jewish life and represented their religious and national identity.
The covenant of Sinai set the nation of Israel apart for service to God, declaring Israel to be a “holy” nation (קֹדֶשׁ qodesh). At Sinai, the Sabbath was declared qodesh as a sign of the covenant between God and Israel. The pinnacles of kedushah (qodesh) are the Sabbath and temple, with its holy place and Most-Holy-Place. [3] Within this Most-Holy-Place were the tablets of the law, signifying the covenant. Thus, there is a link between the holy Sabbath, celebrated at the temple, the Most-Holy-Place in Israel and the holy law. [4]
Entering into the very presence of God requires lawful compliance with the terms of the covenant including honoring the Sabbath. In building the temple, Solomon recognized the inseparable link between temple and covenant when he declared “I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant” (1 Kings 8:21). That the construction of the temple did not start until after Yahweh gave rest to the land provides a further link between temple and Sabbath (2 Chronicles 6:41; cf. Psalm 132:8, 14). Thus, the law and Sabbath are inseparable from the temple.
The temple was also a place of festive gathering in which all Israelite men were to gather annually for the celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Tabernacles. Scripture describes the encounter in language reminiscent of Sinai (Deuteronomy 5:4), with the attendees to “be seen before the face of the Lord God” (Exodus 23:17, 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16). That God was to be encountered face-to-face points toward Israel’s covenant and the theophany of Sinai, reinforced in temple practice:
The Talmud records a practice in the Temple that underscores the notion of pilgrimage as a face-to-face encounter: “When Israel would ascend for the festival pilgrimage, they would roll back the curtain dividing the outer chamber [of the Temple] from the Holy of Holies, and they would display before [the nation] the cherubim, whose stance was that of a young couple enamored one with the other, and they would declare to [the nation], ‘Behold the adoration the Almighty has for you – it is even as the adoration between man and woman.’” [5]
The roll-back of the curtain enhances the concept of a face-to-face- encounter with God. Quite strikingly, Deuteronomy 31:9-12 records that in the year of cancelling debts (every seventh year), men, women and children were all to gather at the temple to share in this face-to-face experience, pointing to the temple as the place where redemption is secured.
The law was also to be read by the Levites in their hearing, emphasizing the key role of the temple as the place of knowledge and teaching of God’s covenantal laws. The temple was the center of Torah learning (Leviticus 10:8-11; Deuteronomy 33:10) and the place from which justice was dispensed (Deuteronomy 17:8-10). The Priests and Levites, as experts in the law were assigned to adjudicate disputes and other legal matters at the temple. [6]
The temple also served as the center from which charity flowed to the poor evidenced in the second tithe, a tithe of produce to be brought to Jerusalem and shared with family and the poor. Bringing the tithe brought about social unity within the Judeo-Israelite community through gathering together, sharing God’s increase and breaking bread together. In all these practices, the temple is seen to be the source of Jewish life and an extension of the covenant.
Christ’s Temple Judgment
Given its centrality to Jewish life, the destruction of the temple would deliver a crushing blow to the psyche of the Jewish people. Its destruction was unimaginable, particularly given the promise of 2 Samuel 7:16 which seemed to promise David a house and kingdom forever. Despite diminished import of temple sacrifices that followed the destruction of the Solomonic temple, God’s gracious provision of a second temple offered hope to Judaism, reviving temple importance.
It is no surprise then, that the disciples were shocked on hearing Christ’s prediction of the destruction of the Temple. Christ, the Messiah and Son of David had come to re-establish the Davidic throne forever and it would be natural for any Jew to assume that Jesus would take His seat in the Herodian temple. Stunningly, Jesus pronounced seven woes on the religious leadership, concluding with:
33 You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. 37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ 1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Matthew 23-24
A few elements of Christ’s indictment are noteworthy: First, Christ pronounced judgment upon the religious leadership. Judgment likely was intended upon all Israel but with the leadership representative of Israel’s rejection of the Messiah. Second, Jesus noted His failed efforts to gather Jerusalem, pointing toward the prophesied great end-time ingathering with Jerusalem representing all Israel, including the diaspora. Third, Jesus’ pronouncement of judgment upon “your house” left desolate with the added condemnation that Israel’s house will be so completely desolated that “not one stone here will be left on another, every one will be thrown down”, anticipates a destruction so thorough that it will be final. It would seem there will be no chance of another rebuilt temple.
Jesus’ judgment most immediately applied to the Herodian temple. Yet His understanding of Himself as the cornerstone of the new temple of God and cornerstone of the new community of faith suggests that the judgment on the temple may be inseparable from the judgment upon the community of Israel. Fourth, given the close interconnection between temple, covenant, Israel and Sabbath, there is implication that temple destruction brings a follow-on destruction of the covenant, Israel and potentially even the Sabbath ordinance. [7]
In drawing attention to the massive stones with which the Herodian temple was built, Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the temple would have signaled the end of the age – at least in the minds of His disciples. [8] As in prior times, the destruction of the temple would be understood as the destruction of Israel. [9] No wonder that each of the Synoptic Gospels records Christ’s prediction of the temple’s destruction.
A careful reading of the discourses suggests that their purposes were not to detail the Parousia as much as to correct the disciples’ misunderstanding, clarifying that the temple’s destruction would not bring the end, but merely signal the end of the age. [10] It explains why the mention of the flood in the Olivet discourse is scant, found in only one of the three accounts. That reference in Matthew appears little more than a closing footnote to keep watch due to the unexpectedness of Christ’s Parousia. It is the Temple and its destruction (and by implication the impact to the Jewish community) that seems to be the focus of each account, drawing attention to temple preeminence to Judaism at the time of Christ. It will be destroyed, but its destruction does not bring the end.
With the temple’s prophesied destruction, the generation that rejected Christ is charged with the bloodshed of all the righteou. The charge of bloodshed suggests retribution in Jerusalem by bloodshed (see Genesis 9:5-6) in talion for shedding Christ’s blood. With the bloodshed of all the righteous of all ages placed upon “this generation”, one would expect widespread destruction of the Jewish community accompanying destruction of the temple.
With seemingly demeaning irony, Christ declares “your house” is left desolate. [11] Herod’s temple is not God’s house, but their house. God’s house would be in Christ and His people. A titanic event has just been announced. Judaism, like its temple would end, being replaced by a new covenant people in Christ’s blood. The physical destruction of Herod’s temple would happen before the generation that rejected Christ would pass away. The judgment will fall upon that generation who rejected Christ.
The destruction of Herod’s temple put a final nail in the coffin of the Judaic cult. Christ’s prediction that not one stone would be left on another points toward a destruction so thorough that the temple would never again be rebuilt. With Judaism’s refusal to be gathered by Christ, there is implication that God’s great prophesied ingathering will now proceed through the Gentiles. The Gentiles will be the new covenant community, together with a remnant of Jews who accept Christ.
This outcome is not unexpected. The temple was an extension of the covenant and Israel’s Sinai experience. Its destruction could be expected to bring consequences reflecting back upon the Sinaic covenant while signaling a return to exile in the “wilderness of the nations” for an unbelieving people (in apparent recapitulation of the generation in Israel that rejected Moses’ command to enter the land. That generation died in the wilderness).
The impact and scope of Jesus’ words are often underappreciated. The changes Jesus predicted truly are like the destruction of the cosmos. The old Herodian temple will be destroyed and replaced by a new eschatological temple in Christ. Jerusalem will be destroyed and replaced by a new Jerusalem (Jerusalem-that-is-above) that descends from heaven, the citizenry of the new Jerusalem will be a new community of faith in Christ whose membership is not dependent upon physical birth in the patriarchs but spiritual birth in Christ, and the temple mount (Mount Zion in Jerusalem) will be destroyed and replaced by a new Mount, a new Zion, a spiritual mountain that ultimately fills the earth (Daniel 2:35b).
This reality contrasts greatly with Judaism’s continuing desire and commitment to rebuild her temple of stone in their old city, Jerusalem-that-is-below. While the desire of many Jews to rebuild their temple may seem sincere, it is rooted in their continuing rejection of Christ as Messiah and thus represents an obstinate desire to worship God through a covenant that Christ has superseded (Colossians 2:14-17). Their hope to revive Judaic cultic worship by ushering in a golden age of peace and rest in the land is an attempt to realize all the promises of Abraham without Christ. To reject Christ and promote worship without Him is false worship, and false worship is idolatry.
Not One Stone – A Levitical Type?
As shocking and unexpected as Christ’s prophecies may have seemed to His disciples and the Jewish religious leaders, it is possible that the outline of the Israel’s temple history is contained in Levitical type. Given the importance of the temple to Judaism and the widespread misunderstandings surrounding the temple in the end-times, we will examine a Levitical provision in the hope that it provides an outline that will assist believers in understanding the temple’s past history and Yahweh’s future temple plans. The stark prediction not one stone here will be left on another is reminiscient of Leviticus 14 concerning mildew in homes:
33 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 34 “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land, 35 the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.’ 36 The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. 37 He is to examine the mold on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, 38 the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. 39 On the seventh day the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mold has spread on the walls, 40 he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. 41 He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. 42 Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.
43 “If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, 44 the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean. 45 It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.
The levitical provision regards mold in the home of an Israelite. However, the temple was often called God’s house, suggestive that this Levitical provision could be applied to the temple. [12] It required a priest to determine if the mold had penetrated beyond the surface of the walls. If so, the priest locked the house for seven days. Upon returning, if the mold had spread, the walls were to be scraped and contaminated stones removed to an unclean place outside the city. Other stones would replace those removed and new clay and plaster applied to the walls. If the mold reappeared, then the entire structure including all its stones, timbers and plaster would be torn down. It was unclean. [13]
Parallels are seen when comparing the history of Israel’s temples to the levitical rites of a house with mold. The Solomonic temple was defiled with the sin of idolatry, with her priests also idolatrous (Ezekiel 8). What followed was a vision of the abandonment of the temple by God, followed by its destruction.
Seventy years later, the temple was rebuilt, but later re-infected with the idolatry of Talmudic tradition bringing the rejection of Christ. [14] If one views the destruction of the first temple as the first Levitical provision, then the destruction of the Solomonic temple would parallel the removal of infected stones and scraping of infected plaster.
Their replacement with new stones and new plaster seems indicative of the replacement of the Solomonic temple with the second temple, both essentially stone temples of similar structure. The Levitical provision to replace the infected stones, scrape and re-plaster the walls seems to foreshadow the second temple, new but fundamentally the same construction as the prior temple. Like its predecessor, the second temple was a temple of stone.
With the reinfection of idolatry into the second temple, it was a persistent problem of idolatry requiring the temple structure to be totally torn down with all stones, timbers and plaster removed to an unclean place outside the city. Not one stone could be left upon another. The persistence of idolatry suggests the obsolescence of the old temple(s) of stone construction. It must be replaced with a new temple not susceptible to idolatry, bringing first the total destruction of the Herodian temple and second, the obsolescence of stone temples.
The complete destruction of the structure alludes to a new temple, a temple of living stones to replace the era of stone temples. With the new era inaugurated in Christ comes a new house for Yahweh, a house worthy of His name, a temple of living stones, one not subject to idolatry due to the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit. An outline of the parallels is suggested in Table 1:
Table 1: Parallels for Mold in a Home and Israel’s Temples
| The priest is to order the house to be emptied Leviticus 14:36 | And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god. 2 Kings 24:12-13; Jeremiah 27:19-22 |
| The priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. On the seventh day, the priest is to inspect the house Leviticus 14:38-39 | Ezekiel’s Vision of Yahweh’s abandonment of the temple in the sixth year and sixth month of Jehoiachin’s captivity to Babylon (Ezekiel 8:1; cf. Ezekiel 1:2) [15] |
| If the mold has spread on the walls (Leviticus 14:39b) | Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. . . . They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. Ezekiel 10:18-19; see also Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10; Daniel 9:2. Yahweh’s abandonment of temple signals the mold has spread. |
| [The priest] is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. Leviticus 14:40 | He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. Jeremiah 52:13-14 |
| Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house. Leviticus 14:42 | When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord. Ezra 3:10 |
| If the defiling mold reappears in the house . . . the priest is to go and examine it, and if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defliling mold; the house is unclean | Jesus drove out all who were buying and selling . . . “you are making [My house] a den of robbers” (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46) |
| It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place. Leviticus 14:43, 45 | “There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down” Matthew 24:2 |
If correct, then Leviticus 14 provides some insight into Judaic temple history and why the old stone temples needed to be destroyed and abolished. The temple had a persistent impurity and could not be permanently cleansed. [16] The coming temple-desolation that Christ predicted, “your house is left to you desolate”, hints at a coming tectonic shift in God’s interactions with His people (Isaiah 5:9). In rejecting their Messiah, Judaism had failed to bring forth the fruit Yahweh sought (Isaiah 5:1-7). There could be no clearer way to exemplify that failure than through the destruction of the temple, the symbol and centerpiece of Judaic life.
The levitical rites for purity of a house point strongly to Israel’s incurable idolatrous nature. Faithfulness would require a new temple and a new covenant that would bring a new heart (Ezekiel 11:19-20; 36:26-28). The old covenant, the old temple and its inferior rituals could not be salvaged and must be destroyed and replaced by a better covenant, a better temple and superior sacrifice.
Israel was incapable of seeing this despite many signs, being judicially blinded by her idolatry (Isaiah 6:9-10). [17] The Lord would need to exile the Jews from their land, bringing them into the wilderness of the nations, to deal with her sin and woo her back. Tragically, Israel would be exiled again, her city and temple again destroyed. Though her exile would be far longer, there is hope that her restoration can be far greater than before.
Relevance for Christians Today
The theme of this post has been the temple’s destruction and its impact upon God’s people. We have attempted to show the far-reaching impact upon Judaism and to gain some insights into its relevance to Christianity today. It is the latter that becomes a significant challenge. Most Christians struggle to fully appreciate the importance of the temple even to Judaism, never mind its significance to Christianity. But in arguing that the church is the true temple of God during our age, it should bring some insight to Christians, particularly given Israel’s history that twice brought temple destruction.
Ethical Lessons
Perhaps greatest among ethical considerations is God’s demand that His house remain pure and holy. God will not dwell where sin or impurity is present. It is a concept introduced early with Adam and Eve’s expulsion from God’s presence and recapitulated in Israel’s history. It should bring serious reflection to the church, especially in light of prophetic promises that in Christ, Israel as God’s community of people would finally be able to live righteously.
There is unmistakable warning in Israel’s history that God will destroy those He’s called, should they live in sin. It is affirmed in Ezekiel and Paul also warns that those who destroy God’s temple will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 3:17), declaring “you together are that temple”. We are to build His temple, not destroy it.
The temple we are to build is the community of God’s people. Our modern culture has placed a premium on state-of-the-art facilities with multi-million dollar media and sound systems that are internet enabled to meet the demands of modern tech-savvy congregants. We’ve also sought to create Edenic campuses with modern conveniences including cafes and pleasant gathering spaces. While all these amenities are designed to improve attendance and foster relationship, God’s temple is not the church building, nor is God found in our campuses, cafes, theatrical productions or our multi-media systems.
We are the temple of God and it would seem pleasing to God if we devoted at least as much energy to preparing the gardens of our hearts so that we are pleasant, approachable, pure, holy, righteous and loving. God will be found in each of us. The most beautiful campuses and buildings cannot hide sinful mold and mildew in our hearts. The world sees it with great clarity.
Eschatological Lessons
Jesus’ pronouncement “My House will be a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7) anticipates a new universal worship of God in which all nations worship together (Isaiah 2:2-3). This new worship breaks down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, giving access to all who seek God. Access would no longer be limited to the Jewish people.
Such radical changes in worship anticipate the erection of a new temple for a new age which Jesus would inaugurate in His death and resurrection. Christ’s prediction that “not one stone here will be left on another” announce that the last days are now here, the end of the age has come and a new era has birthed.
The old temple had been spiritually destroyed (already) with its physical destruction (not yet) within a generation. The expectation of the new temple (and by implication a new cultic practice with it) is confirmed in the words of Christ “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days” (John 2:19). Christ’s words proclaim that a new temple will be erected in His resurrection, replacing the prior temple of stone manifested in Herod’s temple. The destruction of the old temple should have signaled to Israel that God had abandoned His House and Israel would again go into captivity, in recapitulation of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden.
God did not abandon Israel however. Ezekiel 11:16 lays out the precedent and Paul affirms it in Romans 11:26. It offers Israel hope. God is a sanctuary for His people regardless of where they are exiled. They need only turn to Christ who is this new spiritual sanctuary. Then their exile ends and they have a restored temple immediately!
They do not need to wait seventy years as at their exile to Babylon. The dream of their heart and the focus of their prayers can all be answered immediately. The restored temple is built upon the covenant of Christ’s blood, giving them access directly to God. They can immediately realize what was only foreshadowed on their days of pilgrimage – they can have a true face-to-face encounter with God again, in a new temple on a new Mount Zion as they historically had on Mount Sinai. This new temple also exceeds in glory Solomon’s and Herod’s temple, truly a place of prayer for all nations.
But importantly, though the Jewish people suffered severely for their rejection of Christ, the judgment fell upon “that generation”, not the current generation. There is restoration available and forgiveness flows like a fount. Even within “that generation”, God preserved a faithful remnant who were excluded from judgment (Luke 21:21). Unlike those who took refuge in the Herodian temple only to speed their deaths, there is refuge in a greater temple that is truly secure, one that is pure and holy, forever without sin or impurity (i.e. spiritual mold).
There are also take-aways for Christians. While it is often taught that the Jews must restore a physical stone temple on the temple-mount in Jerusalem, the scriptural evidence continues to contradict that position. Crucially, the vehicle for advancing the kingdom is God’s people. It is the place of His Spirit and presence, the place where unbelievers literally meet God and have a face-to-face encounter with Him. As such, every believer must recognize their responsibility to draw all men to Jesus so that unbelievers can experience God and His great love. Believers are the new temple of God.
With regard to Leviticus 14, there doesn’t appear to be an instance in the Old Testament where the provision for mold was applied (much like skin disorders or leprosy). It points to application tothe temple, the house of God, for why else would Scripture include the provision? It distinguishes sins and impurities limited to the outer “skin” from those which are deeply embedded in the “body”. Those on the skin of the building or body do not require destruction. Those deeply embedded in the building or body require destruction with a new structure or body to follow. The entire Levitical provision seems to anticipate resurrection.
It also attests to limits on God’s tolerance of pollution within His house (and within each of His people). Persistent defilement is not tolerated. It should drive urgency for pastoral leaders to press congregants to live holy lives, separated from the world. If God twice destroyed His temple (and all but a remnant of His chosen people) because of sin and impurity, He will destroy those of us who harbor sin or idolatry. To paraphrase Paul, if God twice destroyed the natural branches, casting them off, we should not be surprised if he chooses in the future to cut us off, the branches He grafted in, if we succumb to sin or impurity. Critically, the greatest impurity that brought temple destruction was idolatry.
This warning is particularly germane when examining 2 Thessalonians 2:4 where the “man of lawlessness” will take his seat in “the temple” and demand to be worshiped as God. The implication is that some in the church will rebel against God and idolatrously worship the Antichrist. Based upon Israel’s temple history, would anyone believe that God would not destroy those in the temple who willfully choose idolatrous worship over worship of the true God? As He has done formerly, not one stone of this idolatrous temple will be left upon another. May God’s people live in purity and reverence to His divine laws.
[1] One need only read Lamentations to see the impact of the destruction of the Solomonic temple and Jerusalem on the Jews. The destruction is likened to the destruction of a garden (an Edenic reference) (Lamentations 2:6), the temple is rejected and abandoned (Lamentations 2:7) and the Lord has “determined to tear down the wall around Daughter Zion” (Lamentations 2:8), a possible allusion to the hedge that surrounded Eden. Israel’s splendor has been hurled down from heaven to earth and his footstool has not been remembered, allusions to Yahweh’s cosmic temple and to the atonement cover of the Ark in the Holy-of-Holies. These allusions suggest the Jews saw the destruction of the cosmos in the destruction of their temple. Note also their punishment was worse than Sodom (Lamentations 4:6), a possible type of the future destruction of the earth and Yahweh’s true temple and people (cf. Revelation 11:1-14; 13:10).
[2] Berman, Joshua, The Temple, Its Symbolism and Meaning Then and Now, Northvale, NJ, Jason Aronson Inc., 1995, p. xvi-xvii
[3] Leviticus 19:30 and 26:2 establish the holiness of both the Sabbath and Sanctuary. Each is set apart, the one as sacred time, the other as sacred space.
[4] Berman, Joshua, The Temple, Its Symbolism and Meaning Then and Now, Northvale, NJ, Jason Aronson Inc., 1995, p. 12
[5] Ibid, p. 53-54. One can only wonder if this practice was in mind when various prophets spoke of seeing heaven opened.
[6] In Deuteronomy 17:8, difficult cases were to be decided at “the place the Lord your God will choose” which Berman argues is the temple based upon Maimonnides’ comments on capital cases. Ibid, p. 94
[7] With the Sabbath, we can conclude that at minimum, that specific cultic practices associated with the Sabbath would suffer destruction or elimination. These might include elements like physical rest on the Sabbath (replaced by spiritual rest), prohibitions on physical labor and work on cultic days such as new moons and festival Sabbaths.
[8] Hence their question in Matthew 24:3 linking the destruction of the temple to the return of Christ and the coming of the end of the age. While it may not have been apparent to the disciples, their inquiry contained two questions. The first “when will this happen” (i.e. the destruction of the Temple) and second “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age (the Parousia)”. Christ’s answer provides the vista of events that span from the destruction of the Temple up to the Parousia. In His discussion, Jesus contrasts the disciples unpreparedness for the temple’s destruction with the readiness of those at the end of the age for His return.
[9] Adjoining Fort Antonia and afforded its protection, its destruction would imply the destruction of Jerusalem and thus the Jewish nation, an event that for the first century Jew would have been unthinkable. It would imply that Yahweh had turned His back on His people, leaving them accursed.
[10] Christ’s warnings of false Messiahs, wars, rumors of wars, national conflicts, famines, earthquakes (Matthew 24:4-7) are described as the beginning, events affirmed in the first and second century A.D. An explicit warning is given that “the end is still to come”, implying no imminent return of Christ while these signs are occurring. Christ’s words seem designed to tamp out any expectations that the destruction of Jerusalem’s temple bring the end.
[11] Christ’s use of “desolate” ἔρημος erēmos may offer insight into His prophecy. The use of erēmos in the LXX is suggestive. It is used to describe the wilderness Israel wandered in before coming to the promised land. Isaiah used it to describe the ruin and restoration of Jerusalem and Judea (Isaiah 1:7; 5:9; 6:11; 44:26; 49:8; 52:9; 58;12; 61:4; 62:4, 10) in keeping with Jewish belief that Palestine was an interim Eden with the temple as Yahweh’s earthly Holy-of-Holies. Thus, the desolation of the temple and Jerusalem is consistent with the punishment on Adam, removed from the garden to the desolated wilderness outside the garden, and that of Cain who left Yahweh’s presence and became a wanderer without a land to call his own. That the blood of all the righteous were placed upon the generation that rejected Christ shows the sin of Jerusalem to be greater than that of Adam or Cain. Jerusalem would endure far greater punishment, with that generation experiencing bloodshed to atone for all the blood shed in the land throughout that era. Further, the desolation was so comprehensive as to obliterate the temple down to its foundation stones. No part of it would survive. Christ’s use of erēmos may be a play on words as erēmos is often translated Negev in the OT, the desert of Edom and homeland of Herod the Idumaean (Edomite). One wonders if its use here ridicules Herod and his temple or if Christ is also comparing the uncleanness of the temple to Edom, traditionally a place considered unclean and an enemy of God’s people (Isaiah 63:1; Ezekiel 25:12-14; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11; Malachi 1:4).
[12] The tabernacle/temple was frequently referred to as a house. “It [the tabernacle] is also called bet YHWH = ‘house of Yahweh’, as in Exodus 34:26.” Gooding, D.W., The Illustrated Bible Dictionary Part 3,Tabernacle, Wheaton, IL, Inter-Varsity Press, Tyndale House Publishers, 1980,p. 1506. “This ‘holy place’ (AV ‘temple’; Hebrew hékāl, a word derived through Canaanite from Sumerian É. GAL, ‘great house’) was 40 cubits long, 20 in breadth, and 30 high.” McKelvey, R.J., The Illustrated Bible Dictionary Part 3,Temple, Wheaton, IL, Inter-Varsity Press, Tyndale House Publishers, 1980, p. 1524. Shrines to various deities were often referred to as the house of that deity. Ibid, p. 1524. The NT also uses the Greek οἶκος (oikos) meaning house to describe the temple, often used by Christ (Matthew 12:1-4; 21:12-13; Mark 2:23-26; 11:15-17; Luke 6:1-4; 19: 45-46; John 2:13-17). Oikos is also used to describe the temple as the house of God in Hebrews 10:19-22 and 1 Peter 4:17. Christ’s judgment of desolations on “your house” appears to be a reference to Herod’s Temple, unclean by the sin of rejecting Jesus and the associated idolatry of preferring law to Christ.
[13] In describing the uncleanness using צָרַעַת tsara`ath, meaning “skin condition” or “leprosy”, the uncleanness of the house becomes equivalent with the uncleanness of a person with leprosy and thus requires the same sacrificial ritual when the infection of the house or person clears (cf. Leviticus 14:3-7 for a person and Leviticus 14:49-53 for a house). Does this foreshadow God’s eschatological temple of living stones needing cleansing from defilement? Leprosy has been described as typical of sin and its effects (Habershon, Ada, The Study of the Miracles, Grand Rapids MI, Kregel Publications, 1957, p. 122). Leprosy was sometimes used in judgment (Miller, Madeleine S. and Miller, J. Lane, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, New York, Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1961, p. 389). Describing mold as “leprosy” is striking as it foreshadows the defilement of sin in the house of God, potentially both the temple of stone and later eschatological temple of living stones. Not only must atonement be made for the individual sins of God’s people but atonement must be made for the corporate sins of God’s people as the temple of God. God’s temple and dwelling place must be cleansed. It is telling that Leviticus devotes two chapters to the rites of tsara`ath, given no record of either ritual being practiced (until Christ’s healing of the leprous man). Note also there was no way to make the person or house clean once infected. It required a miracle from God foreshadowing Christ as the only remedy for sin and uncleanness (the priest merely performed the ritual when the one infected was declared clean!). Finally note the “law of the leper in the day of his cleansing” (Leviticus 14:2), suggestive of the Day of Atonement, Israel’s most sacred day and day of national reconciliation. It was the day the high priest made atonement for “all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions in all the sins”. On that day, the temple was also ceremonially cleansed! It suggests that the cleansing of God’s temple of living stones occurs at the end of the age, at His Parousia.
[14] The house being “shut” for seventy years (versus seven days per the levititical rites) may reflect the seriousness of the crime of infecting Yahweh’s house versus the house of an ordinary Israelite. Noteworthy, we will argue (in a future post) that our inter-advent age is seven “days” in length. Is this indicative that seven “days” are needed to fully assess and cleanse God’s new escatological temple of idolatry and rejection of Christ seen through its desire to observe ritual rather than relationship?
[15] Note that Ezekiel’s vision of God abandoning the temple signals the inspection. That he sees the seventh year approaching suggests his vision of Yahweh’s abandonment of the temple will soon be fulfilled. That it is seven years rather than the Levitical requirement of seven days may signal the increased gravity of the mold/leprosy in God’s house versus a typical Israelite’s home.
[16] When applied to the temple, the mold is not physical mold but impurity from the sins of those who worshiped in the temple. The impurity could not be eliminated permanently within the old covenant, thus requiring a new temple, one not subject to corruption and a new people who similarly would not be subject to sin and corruption. The physical temple of stone made with human hands would always be idolatrous and thus subject to persistent sin (mold), requiring its destruction. That physical mold of a home is not in view becomes apparent from Zechariah 5:3-4 which states “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land . . . it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.” The reference to timbers and stones echos the Leviticus 14, showing God’s limited patience with a disobedient people who have not repented despite exile to Babylon.
[17] To understand how this judicial blinding relates to Israel’s idolatry, see Beale, G. K., We Become What we Worship, A Biblical Theology of Idolatry, Downers Grove IL, IVP Academic Press, 2008