- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Mar 23, 2017 1:48:06 GMT -8
I was recently asked “If Jesus didn’t come to make a new religion, why was the Temple destroyed?” I’ve come across this piece of illogical “proof” before, but never gave it much thought. But since it is one of those proofs that are thrown at Messianics from time to time, illogical or not, I’ve been giving it some thought now. And I think I have an answer.
God obviously knew the Temple was going to be destroyed after Yeshua ascended. It took almost 40 years later, but it was done exactly as Yeshua predicted:
Matthew 24:1-2 (ESV) Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
Aside from this there appears to be no warning of the impending destruction of the Temple in the B'rith Chadashah. The only other biblical warning came from Daniel in his prophecy of weeks:
Daniel 9:26 (NASB) Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
Historically the Temple was destroyed because of the continued revolts and refusal of the Jews to adopt Roman paganism. I think also we can see a hint of why God allowed its’ destruction in history.
After the Great Revolt, in 70 AD, the Romans destroyed much of Jerusalem, including the Temple. It was especially razed because when they burned it, the gold overlay melted and ran down the walls, solidifying in the joints of the stone walls. So they were all taken apart and the gold collected; and just as Daniel and Yeshua had predicted not one stone rested on another after Messiah had come.
However it is betweenn the time of Yeshua and the destruction of the Temple where we get hints of “why.” Shortly after the ascension, Emperor Gaius Julius Ceaser Germanicus (the infamous Caligula) decreed that the Jews, who still stubbornly held to their monotheistic religion, were to be brought in line. He ordered his statue be placed in the Holy of Holies and that the Jews would bow to it, proclaiming him to be a god. Furthermore they would acknowledge the pantheon of Roman gods as well. Josephus records:
Now Caius Caesar did so grossly abuse the fortune he had arrived at, as to take himself to be a god, and to desire to be so called also, and to cut off those of the greatest nobility out of his country. He also extended his impiety as far as the Jews. Accordingly he sent Petronius with an army to Jerusalem to place his statues in the temple, and commanded him that, in case the Jews would not admit of them, he should slay those that opposed it, and carry all the rest into captivity. Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, 15, 403 ff.
The Jews could not do this. Through political negotiations and providence, as well as a few minor revolts neither Caligula nor his successor could make the Jews bow to Roman gods. However they all tried to desecrate the Temple and make it into another edifice honoring their gods.
I think it is safe to say that had it been allowed to stand, not only the Roman government, but later the Roman Church would have used this Temple to validate their pagan religions. In other words, it was precisely so Christianity would not have the Temple to validate their religion that God allowed it to be destroyed!
The church fathers and early catholic (universal) religion from which the later Roman Catholic Church and ultimately the Protestant denominations sprang was entirely pagan. Every custom, every holiday, every tradition and practice of worship they set up was taken from pagan sources. Having the Temple to validate this new religion was just not in God’s plan. And that is my logical answer to the illogical question, “Well, if God didn’t start a new religion” or “If God didn’t hate the Jews” or any other permutationn of this argument; “why did He destroy the Temple?”
Dan C
God obviously knew the Temple was going to be destroyed after Yeshua ascended. It took almost 40 years later, but it was done exactly as Yeshua predicted:
Matthew 24:1-2 (ESV) Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
Aside from this there appears to be no warning of the impending destruction of the Temple in the B'rith Chadashah. The only other biblical warning came from Daniel in his prophecy of weeks:
Daniel 9:26 (NASB) Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
Historically the Temple was destroyed because of the continued revolts and refusal of the Jews to adopt Roman paganism. I think also we can see a hint of why God allowed its’ destruction in history.
After the Great Revolt, in 70 AD, the Romans destroyed much of Jerusalem, including the Temple. It was especially razed because when they burned it, the gold overlay melted and ran down the walls, solidifying in the joints of the stone walls. So they were all taken apart and the gold collected; and just as Daniel and Yeshua had predicted not one stone rested on another after Messiah had come.
However it is betweenn the time of Yeshua and the destruction of the Temple where we get hints of “why.” Shortly after the ascension, Emperor Gaius Julius Ceaser Germanicus (the infamous Caligula) decreed that the Jews, who still stubbornly held to their monotheistic religion, were to be brought in line. He ordered his statue be placed in the Holy of Holies and that the Jews would bow to it, proclaiming him to be a god. Furthermore they would acknowledge the pantheon of Roman gods as well. Josephus records:
Now Caius Caesar did so grossly abuse the fortune he had arrived at, as to take himself to be a god, and to desire to be so called also, and to cut off those of the greatest nobility out of his country. He also extended his impiety as far as the Jews. Accordingly he sent Petronius with an army to Jerusalem to place his statues in the temple, and commanded him that, in case the Jews would not admit of them, he should slay those that opposed it, and carry all the rest into captivity. Flavius Josephus, Antiquities, 15, 403 ff.
The Jews could not do this. Through political negotiations and providence, as well as a few minor revolts neither Caligula nor his successor could make the Jews bow to Roman gods. However they all tried to desecrate the Temple and make it into another edifice honoring their gods.
I think it is safe to say that had it been allowed to stand, not only the Roman government, but later the Roman Church would have used this Temple to validate their pagan religions. In other words, it was precisely so Christianity would not have the Temple to validate their religion that God allowed it to be destroyed!
The church fathers and early catholic (universal) religion from which the later Roman Catholic Church and ultimately the Protestant denominations sprang was entirely pagan. Every custom, every holiday, every tradition and practice of worship they set up was taken from pagan sources. Having the Temple to validate this new religion was just not in God’s plan. And that is my logical answer to the illogical question, “Well, if God didn’t start a new religion” or “If God didn’t hate the Jews” or any other permutationn of this argument; “why did He destroy the Temple?”
Dan C
