City Life Starter

Written by Efe Abbe

The Word

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

⁵ And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, ⁶ “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” ⁷ And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” ⁸ And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. ⁹ And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

Luke 21:5-9 ESV

Gabriel’s Message about the Anointed One

²⁰ I [Daniel] went on praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God for Jerusalem, his holy mountain. ²¹ As I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice. ²² He explained to me, “Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding. ²³ The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God. Listen carefully so that you can understand the meaning of your vision.

²⁴ “A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. ²⁵ Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes. Jerusalem will be rebuilt with streets and strong defenses, despite the perilous times.

²⁶ “After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.

Daniel 9:20-26 NLT

Reflection

Knowing what was to befall Jerusalem because of rebellion, Jesus had wept over the city (Luke 19:41-44). In His sovereignty, He had always known it would be so, yet His heart broke. In fact God had shown Daniel, through the angel Gabriel, that Jerusalem would be destroyed after the death of the Anointed One (Daniel 9:26 – 27), still God in Jesus came to His own people, seeking their hearts so that He would heal them.

In His last week on earth, Jesus bluntly told his disciples who were in awe of the Temple’s magnificence that it would all be destroyed – effectively affirming His impending death as revealed to Daniel, since it was revealed that after the Messiah’s death that Jerusalem and the Temple would again be destroyed. Even though you can hear the shock in the disciples’ voices when they asked Jesus about the timing of the Temple’s destruction, the Lord’s concern wasn’t with revealing historical timelines. Instead, He responded by telling them the kind of people they were to be – people, who through God’s wisdom and power accurately understood the times, were faithful to Him in their trust, and were not led astray.

God Almighty has been and is always absolutely sovereign over history, and He has also given us freewill. Jesus lovingly warned His disciples of future events to guide them into trusting Him when these events eventually happened.

Application

Everything Jesus foretold about His death and Jerusalem’s destruction was already in the Scriptures, yet not even His disciples understood He had to die. Sadly, almost all of Jerusalem/Judea did/would not accurately understand from Scripture and were blind to who Jesus, choosing rebellion instead. This led to God’s judgment when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD.

For us living after Jesus’ ascension, it is still not our place to become obsessed with dates of when God’s prophecies will be fulfilled; what we need to know is that because God is sovereign, they will all be fulfilled. What God has given us in His Word are the general contours of history that is unfolding and yet to come: the Gospel being preached in all the earth (Matthew 24:14), the multiplication of evil in the last days (Matthew 24:12, 2 Timothy 3:1-5), and persecution of the church (Matthew 24:9, Revelation 6:11). All will culminate in Jesus’ very visible return to judge the world (Matthew 24:30-31, Revelation 1:7).

Just as Jesus predicted to His disciples then, we too live in tumultuous times. In these days, let us remember that God has been, is, and will forever be sovereign over it all and He is firmly in control. Jesus’ primary concern for us still remains that by His Word and Spirit, we accurately understand our times to remain faithful and to trust Him, so that we are not led astray.

Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for freely revealing Your Truth about who You are and Your purpose – to make all of Your creation, including me, new. As I wait for Your return and the fulfillment of all You have purposed to do, please give me a clear understanding of the times and help me to be faithful to You with my life, trusting You as my Savior, amen.