“Baruch Haba B’Shem Adonai!”
Wonder what that is? It would be Hebrew’s exclaim of embrace at Jesus’ appearance as the coming Lord and Messiah. And it simply translates, ‘Blessed Is He Who Comes In The Name Of The Lord’.
This same Israel that crucified Him? Yes, despite her hossanaic fanfare of similar welcome of Christ at His triumphant entry of the temple, Jesus disclosed at the close of Matthew 23 that Israel would render this line at His next coming. “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, You shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.”
So, WHEN exactly is this desolation that will draw a heartfelt reverence for Jesus from the same Israel that rejected Him?
Welcome back to Matthew 24. And how settling is it to know that it’s of this same desolation that He said not a single stone of the temple buildings would be left upon another!
“WHEN shall these things be?”
Verse 15 to 28 of this Matthew 24 saw Jesus next addressed that lingering first question among all three. And He did so without parables such as He used while speaking of rebuilding the temple of His body in three days if destroyed. Jesus started answering this WHEN question by referencing the book of Daniel.
“Therefore WHEN you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place”. (Whoever reads, let him understand.)
Though a culmination of the global tribulation of the church witnessing the gospel of the kingdom to all nations, which marks the end of the age answered in BICQ 1, the event in this edition is Israel specific. While we won’t belabor details revealed to Daniel in Daniel 11 which later became concealed to him in his 12th Chapter, events are already unfolding to identify key players in this desolation Jesus was talking about – the King of the North and the King of the South. But what is central to Jesus’ reference here in answering this WHEN is verse 31 of Daniel 11. “And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.”
Jesus was speaking of an abomination standing visibly in Jerusalem’s temple as the venue and avenue for a sacrilege that would sack the glorious land. Can you see any? Note, something specific would make this abomination unheard-of. Not only would the temple and all its buildings be leveled out such that not a stone would be standing for prayer contact or daily sacrifice, all that would be left standing is the abomination.
So, it is in order to ask, with the track history of destructions that has courted the Jewish temple, has this event not already been fulfilled, especially that the Roman pushed for their gods to be placed in the temple? We understand from the scripture and history that the Jewish temple first built by King Solomon was destroyed by superpower Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon around 586 BCE. Then, Zerubbabel rebuilt the second temple about 515 BCE which was refurbished by Herod. And that was the temple and its buildings the disciples showed Jesus in Matthew 24. Unfortunately, that too became destroyed by then superpower Roman Empire in AD 70, John the Beloved perhaps witnessed this before his exile.
While painfully the Israeli nation ceased to exist altogether since that AD 70 until AD 1948, something striking happened in the AD 70 Roman incursion. A wall survived. It became the popular Wailing Wall called Ha-Kotel Ha-Maʿaravi! A Wall that lives to tell the tales of lamentation of every other fallen bricks and has its feet deep rooted into generations, and so the wail. A wall which for every grain of its bricks, Israel would give every drop of her blood. And with all wows, this western wall must be a wonder of the world for it to still be standing tall. Its sacredness then to the Jews can be understood in its survival of Roman paganism and Islamic invasion such that, even if all there is left to it were just one stone standing upon another, it would still be hallowed as the whole temple.
What does this mean? With that Wailing Wall still standing, though shielding a mosque standing in the temple mount, that scripture is not fulfilled yet. Little wonder Jesus chose His words that not one stone would be left on another that shall not be thrown down. Recall that His disciples showed Him the temple but He answered by saying, “these buildings,” that included the walls. While the fate of the Wailing Wall or a third temple if built is up to God, this Jesus’ answer to the disciples WHEN is clear as noon.
In addition, that no desolation had pulled off Israelis words of adoration of Jesus as the Blessed One coming in the name of the Lord showed He hasn’t come. The upcoming desolation we are talking about is nothing compared to previous chronicles of temple crumbling.
This would-be siege on Jerusalem comes to a point that Judeans would run to the Jordan mountain like that Samaria woman at the well. When the temple is flattened out, those at roof top can’t even go back into their house to pick up travel essentials but run. With flights grounded like on Sabbath curfew, Jesus said it won’t be a good time for maternity ventures.
This is where you can begin to see chapter 5 to 20 of the book of Revelation unfold. First with the preludes of seals in chapter five which only Christ can open, verse 15 of Matthew 24 agrees that those seals of Daniel can then be opened. What a an easy and concordant read if you open your bible at this point! By verse 21 of Matthew 24, Jesus had tagged it the Great Tribulation just as John wrote in chapter 7 of Revelation. Compared to any tribulations at all, Jesus said there would be no greater, hmm!
So, all that John paged as the seven seals each of Israel; trumpets, bowls and plagues would keep unfurling up to the 17th chapter. Pandemics are a form of plagues too. Verse 22 of Matthew 24 reads of having to shorten those days for the elects sake, otherwise no flesh would be saved just as confirmed in Daniel 12 vs 12. Among these surviving few that know their God and doing exploits can be seen in Revelation Chapter 11 and 14 as God’s two witnesses and Elects respectively.
Verse 23 to 26 of Mathew 24 is replete with the most confounding deceit by False Christs and prophets – what could only be wield by the two beasts and a dragon. The world would be under the control of a God-playing ruler with a Spiritual and economic power even if it doesn’t go by the name Antichrist. Jesus said even the very elects risk being swindled here. While this superpower who would dare God occupies the whole of chapter 17, 18 of Revelation down midway chapter 19, it will be defeated. So, global deceit won’t last!
There’s therefore no doubt that, WHEN unfortunately the temple, the pride of Israel taken out, with no recourse to it as little as a stone, all she sees in her local air when Jesus appears globally would be His rebuilt body temple – the stone that the builder rejected would indeed be the corner stone. Jesus‘ words in Matthew 12 vs 6 that greater than the Jewish temple is here would be realized.
But you don’t want to wait for that last stone of the temple to be thrown down before welcoming the Lord of the temple! To wait this out and His Israelis grand reception is to wait until the Jesus arrived already. A lot would have been too late. He was once here forerun by Elijah in the person of John the Baptizer, His death tore the temple veil, since which the physical shadowy temple has been reduced now to a wall so make you the real temple not built by hands. Don’t wait till it’s a stone not left on another.
Welcome now the One who already came in the name of Lord and made you His temple! He wants to live in the temple of your body today till this corruptible body is shed for the glorious incorruptible body at His appearance! Welcome Him.
Also join us for BICQ 3 as we behold Jesus’ answer to the most anticipated question of all – how quick is the day and hour of His coming.
Topic writer – Olusanya Olusola
Edited by Olusanya Racheal
