Jesus and Jewish history
This is the second in a three part series; Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, beginning with http://colinbarnesblog.blogspot.com/2017/12/jesus-jewish-messiah.html
Quick
re-cap
We began last time with my ulpan teacher commenting
that the messiah would be good for the Jews. Since the past 2000 years,
starting with the destruction of the Temple, the scattering of the Jewish
people and culminating in the Holocaust, had not been good, Jesus could not
have been the messiah. It was the argument of Jewish history. To answer it, we
looked firstly at the role of the Messiah, as described in the Old Testament, and as
understood by the Rabbis.
Here we found that in one important area, the messiah
was a virtual anti-prophet, anti-rabbi. The role of the Law, as given through
Moses, was to be a protective wall around Israel, to protect them from the
gentiles, but mostly to protect them from God. Moses himself stood in the
breach (between Israel and God!), the prophets and later the rabbis were
likewise those who would stand in the breach, and also repair or rebuild the
walls when they had fallen down. Furthermore, if the Torah was a fence around Israel, the rabbis also wished to make a fence around the Torah. Indeed, verse one chapter one of the Mishna;
REAR MANY DISCIPLES AND MAKE A FENCE ROUND THE TORAH.
The messiah however did not simply continue in this
tradition – he was the son of Perez, the one who breaks through the wall. He
broke through the wall which protected the Jewish people from God, and as the
universal saviour, he also broke down the wall separating Jews from Gentile,
protecting Jews from Gentiles. He could do this because the wall was always
intended to be temporary, and was only needed to protect the flock during the
night. With the coming of the messiah, the sun of righteousness, the light of the
world, the wall was no longer appropriate, but had fulfilled its purpose. With
the coming of the light, the flock needed to go out to pasture, and the messiah
broke through the wall which had protected them through the night.
He did this because, as beautiful and perfect as the
Law was, in protecting Israel from God, it also separated Israel from God. God
loves us and was not prepared for this separation to continue indefinitely. He
broke through because he wanted to look upon our face. That is why the messiah
is called Immanuel, God with us, and why Ezekiel, that missionary-hearted book
so concerned with how others will view God, ends with the New Jerusalem being
called “God is there.” The Messiah breaks through our walls of separation
because he loves us and desires to be with us. As son of Perez, he broke
through the wall, and restored to humanity everything that Adam had lost, so
that mankind could once again walk with God. For as Isaiah prophesied, the
return of the Lord to Zion initiates a return of redeemed humanity to Eden.
So, while the Rabbis wanted the messiah, their job was
to repair the wall, and to build a fence around the commandments, while the
messiah’s task was to smash through that wall. Was conflict with the one they were longing for therefore inevitable? Is this why he was rejected and
handed over to the gentiles to be killed? We shall examine at this later.
The
Messiah and Jewish history
So, having just looked at Jesus’ messianic credentials, we now need ask; Is there any way, in the light of this, that Jewish history after the time of Jesus itself affirms the messiahship of Jesus?? And this means we must confront the difficult and intensely painful concept, found throughout Scripture, that the Messiah would not only suffer, but that he would also be rejected. This brings us to one further, necessary way in which
Jesus fulfilled Messianic prophecy; one which is vital if we are to address my
ulpan teacher’s question – “If Jesus was the Messiah, how come the past 2,000
years have been awful for the Jewish people? That’s not what the coming of the
Messiah is supposed to do.” And so, we must look into a profound and tragic
mystery;
The Bible teaches that Israel's Messiah would be rejected
by Israel.
That
indeed, in being rejected by Israel, Jesus was fulfilling messianic prophecy,
that in this also, he was being the Jewish messiah!
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by
men
Daniel 9:26 The Messiah will be cut off and
will have nothing.
Zechariah 12:10 They will look on me, the one
they have pierced,
Psalm 118:22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
John 1:11 He came to what was his own, and
his own people did not accept him.
This was
not only prophesied; it was already foreshadowed within Israel’s own history. In
Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 we read that “the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they
sold him as a slave into Egypt.” And that “Moses whom they had rejected with
the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' was sent to be their ruler and
deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.”
That is, their rejection of God’s deliverer for them was both in line with their previous behavior towards Joseph and Moses, and also in line with the prophecies that the messiah would be rejected and suffer.
Acts 13:27 "The people of Jerusalem and their
rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in
condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every
Sabbath."
Now, what are the consequences of this
fulfilment of messianic prophecy for Israel?
The
fearful question we need to confront is this; in destroying the dividing wall
between Jew and Gentile, did Jesus render Israel defenseless, leading to the
fall of Jerusalem and all the subsequent pain?? Is Jesus the author of their
suffering??
Before
I answer that, I need to give three important asides;
1. I love the Scriptures concerning the comforting and
restoration of the Jewish people. I can also tend to just skim through and
avoid any deep interaction with those Scriptures which deal with the sin and
punishment of Israel. This may be understandable emotionally, but it is
profoundly wrong and damaging. Paul tells the Ephesian Christians at Miletus
that he has not shrunk back from declaring to them the whole council of
God (Acts 20:20), and we are commanded to eat the entire lamb at Passover. This
is because every bit of the Lamb is good, and because we need every bit, and
because every bit is a blessing we do not deserve. Who would dare to presume to
tell God “I like this bit, but don’t like that bit”? We need it all, and all of
it is a feast. I need those passages I find difficult, for out of the hunter
has come sweetness. Let us strengthen ourselves with this promise as we address
this sorrowful topic.
2. We need to face up to the fact that Israel as a nation did reject their Messiah, and that they still need him today.
Acts 3:12-19 When Peter saw this, he said to
them: "Men of Israel, … The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of
our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed,
and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released
to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from
the dead. We are witnesses of this. … Now, brothers, I know that you acted in
ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled
what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would
suffer. Repent, then, and
turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may
come from the Lord.”
We will be examining the reality of that rejection today, but the first point to note is this; Romans 10:1,9 “Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. … if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Israelis today are hurting, Israelis today are sinning and Israelis who die today, unless they believe in Jesus, will go to Hell. It doesn’t matter if they have made nice medical advances or wanted peace with their neighbors. John 10:7-9 “Therefore Jesus said again, I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” God does not call us to be a mindless cheer squad for Israel. He calls us rather to proclaim to them the good news and comfort which can be found only in his dear son. Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
3. This topic would be difficult enough in its own right, but as Christians looking at it, we also bear the weight of 2,000 years of Christian sin. We will therefore need to be very careful. That is because historically, Christianity has taught that Jewish history since 70AD proved that God has rejected the Jewish people, and chosen the church in their place. Three quick examples; St Chrysostom in the 5th century declared;
We have said enough to prove that the temple will never be rebuilt. And from the words of the prophets I shall make it clear that the Jews will recover neither their city nor their temple in days to come.
In the 17th century, Pascal wrote that; “The condition in which one sees the Jews is
moreover, a great proof of the Religion. For it is an astonishing thing to see
that people subsisting for so many years, and to see them always in a state of
misery; it being necessary for the proof of Jesus Christ, both that they
subsist as a proof, and that they be
wretched, because they crucified him.”
And, writing twenty one years after the Holocaust,
William E. Cox stated that; “All earthly promises to Israel have been either
fulfilled or invalidated because of disobedience. ... God withdrew his presence
from Israel as a nation. The Jewish state came to a bitter end in AD 70. Nor
will national Israel ever again be a fruitful nation.”
So what we have to do first is to
utterly reject the idea that God has rejected his people! Jeremiah 31:37 This is what the LORD says: "Only if the heavens above can be
measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject
all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done," declares the
LORD. Romans 11:1 I ask
then: Did God reject his people? By no
means!
Indeed, what we find in the Bible is the very opposite! We do not see in the New Testament God rejecting Israel for rejecting him! Rather, Jesus, in full awareness that he will be rejected, weeps over Jerusalem, he is grief-stricken over what they are bringing upon themselves! Luke 19:41-42 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes.
Matthew 23:37 "O 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, but you were not willing.
So, Jesus as he approaches Jerusalem, knowing what awaits him, weeps, not for himself, but for them.
What is more, look at the action of the Holy Spirit in an earlier passage, and how he intervenes through the High Priest even as the High Priest is condemning Jesus to death!
John 11:48-53 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
Even as he is being condemned to death, the Holy Spirit speaks through the High Priest, the very one who is doing the condemning, to declare what? That this is the end of Israel? NO – in unbelievable grace, the Holy Spirit speaks words of healing and of hope through the very one condemning Jesus; that Jesus is dying FOR the nation of Israel! This is not rejection! See the God-inspired commentary on these words; he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, “and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.” That is because it is in his very act of dying that Jesus makes the break and leads his sheep out to wider pastures; “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.”
Now, having wept over Jerusalem as he approached it, having had the High Priest prophecy that Jesus would die for the nation, as Jesus is being led to his death, we read;
Luke 23:27-31 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then " 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" ' For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
Jesus own thoughts are not on his own immanent and horrific death, rather his grief is for the daughters of Jerusalem, the daughters of those who have rejected and are killing him, and the devastation this will bring on them.
Finally, after Jesus has been murdered (Acts 3:13-15 “You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life”), God raises him from the dead, and then … what?? Acts 3:26 “[Men of Israel] When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you.” Why would God send Jesus back to the Jewish people just after they had killed him? To destroy them? To rain fire and brimstone down upon them? NO!! “When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."
(who wants to bless Israel? how do we
bless Israel??)
What a wonderful God we serve!! As Paul says; Romans 11:25-29 “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.”
So, we can utterly reject any thoughts of divine hatred or retribution or vindictiveness towards the Jewish people on account of Jesus death. Jesus wept for them, died for them, and longs for their salvation! The Holy Spirit spoke through the High Priest to promise the nation (and all the scattered children of God) hope, and the Father sent Jesus back to them to bless them. All the Trinity affirm that God has indeed not rejected them! With that firmly in our hearts, we need to return to the central mystery that we are looking at today.
The
Rejection of the Messiah by Israel
Point 1 This rejection was both expected and necessary
We will return to this, but we need to stress here that this rejection was not a surprise to God. As seen, it was both expected (prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures, and pre-figured in earlier Jewish history), and it necessary.
Luke 24:26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things?
Isaiah 53:10 it was the LORD's will to crush
him and cause him to suffer,
Acts 3:18 But this is how God fulfilled
what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.
Acts 26:22-23 I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer,
Matthew 27:1 Early in the
morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the
decision to put Jesus to death.
The decision that Jesus must die was, therefore, like the Messiah himself, both fully divine and fully human.
Point 2 This does not mitigate human guilt!
Genesis 50:20-21 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good
Luke 22:22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him."
God warned the children of Israel not to do this!
Deuteronomy 18:15-19 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die." The LORD said to me: "What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.
For those who did not repent, human guilt most certainly did remain! Stephen indeed pronounces God’s judgment;
Acts 7:51-54 "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him-- you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it." When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him."
Again, as seen, this was by no means a total denunciation! (Acts 3:26 Romans 11:1-2)
Point 3 The terrible consequences of rejecting Jesus – judgement is coming!
There does indeed seem to be a link between their rejection of Jesus and the subsequent Jewish history. Luke 19:42-44 If you had “only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." Matthew 23:38-39 “Look, your house (Temple) is left to you desolate. (deserted/abandoned!) For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' " Luke 23:28-31 “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. … For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
Now, clearly those who were guilty will be punished, (Luke 11:49-54, Luke 19:27, Romans 11:7-11) but even here, only if they don’t repent! God does not want any to perish, he has no pleasure in the death of anyone – that’s why he sent Jesus in the first place! “He sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways." In Romans 11 Paul speaks both of a remnant in the present chosen by grace, and of the rest of Israel being hardened. But note both that Romans 11 ends with all Israel being saved, just as the Psalm he uses to condemn those who rejected the Gospel ends with; “for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it;”
The role of the Pharisees
When we are trying to understand both what happened and what its consequences were, we need to look more closely at the role of the Pharisees. Here we need to take the words of Jesus seriously;
Luke 11:49-54 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.' Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all. "Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering." [see also Matthew 23:13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.] When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.
Here we get a taste of the difficulties the Messiah, the breaker, causes for the existing order. Jesus has already stated that; “the kingdom of heaven is breaking forth, and everyone breaks forth with it.” Jesus is leading his sheep out of the sheepfold and out into pasture. But here the Pharisees are erecting a fence to protect the wall that Jesus is breaking through. “You yourselves have not entered [the kingdom of Heaven], and you have hindered those who were entering.” Jesus has already spoken about destroying this fence also; “every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” But the point here is that it is the actions of the Pharisees that are hindering the Jewish people from leaving, from breaking out with their messiah, from thereby entering the Kingdom of God!
Importantly, it is their hypocrisy[1] and their rejection of the ways of God, rather than their teachings which were the issue;
Matthew 23:2-3 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”
Luke 11:42 "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.”
Jesus accuses them of being bad builders, of neglecting the weightier matters. Do not covert, love your neighbour/brother etc.
Ezekiel 13:10-16 "It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will break out. … "Thus I shall spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I shall say to you, 'The wall is gone and its plasterers are gone, along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,' declares the Lord God.”
A similar, negative judgement was given by the Essenes in the Essene Damascus Covenant 4:19; “the builders of the wall ... are caught in fornication.”[2]
They were guilty of shoddy building (neglecting justice and mercy, the foundations of the wall), and building fences which undermined and broke through the very walls they should have been protecting!
Mark 7:8-23 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' " After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.") He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'"
The Pharisees had failed, destruction will follow
What we find is that the Law, the wall around Israel, its protection from the wrath of God and the wrath of the gentiles, was fundamentally undermined by the sinfulness of the very ones charged with its upkeep!
Romans 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,
The Law was powerless and weakened by human sin!
Hebrews 7:18-19 The former regulation is set
aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing
perfect), and a better hope is introduced,
Strikingly, Jewish sources agree with this! Yoma 9b in the Babylonian Talmud asks; “Why was the second Sanctuary destroyed, seeing that in its time they were occupying themselves with Torah, [observance of] precepts, and the practice of charity?” The answer it gives is; “Because therein prevailed hatred without cause.”
This is an incredible verse! They concede far more than they intended! You see, the problem for the Jewish community was that the Temple and Jerusalem were destroyed. Josephus records that had it not been for the savage infighting between the differing Jewish groups, the Romans would never have been able to conquer the city, and destroy the Temple. So, the Temple and the sacrificial system were functioning, the community generally was profoundly religious, occupying themselves with Torah, precepts and the practice of charity. And still, the Temple was destroyed. And the obvious, urgent question is why?? How could God have let this happen? And the answer the Talmud gives is “because there was hatred without cause.” Even with the Temple, the sacrifices, the Law, study and charity, even with all of that, still causeless hatred flourished to the point of destroying the Temple! It was in paradise that Adam fell!
“For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature,” "for the law made nothing perfect.”
The Law and the regulation had not been able to stop hatred from flourishing!
Hebrews 10:1-4 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
Clearly, a man’s “evil inclination” cannot be overcome by Torah study and Temple sacrifices, or Jerusalem would not have fallen. And we see this causeless hatred foreshadowed in their treatment of the spotless lamb of God.
John 15:24-25 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without cause.'
“Why was the second Sanctuary destroyed, … Because therein prevailed hatred without cause.” Yoma 9b
Mark 15:10 "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.
“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. … For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
At this point, we need to consult Zechariah 11. Many of us love Zechariah for his promises to Israel, but Zechariah does not shy away from also declaring Israel’s guilt. Chapter 11 begins with the verses which the Talmud says predict the destruction of the Second Temple in 70AD (“Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars!”), and continues with the price of Jesus’ betrayal (“I told them, 'If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.' So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.”) And it is between these verses that we find God’s devastating response to the cry of the chief priests and their officials – in Zechariah God has already heard and responded to the very words the chief priests will utter more than 500 years later! (John 19:15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.).
In Zechariah 11:6-9 we read; “For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land," declares the LORD. "I will hand everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will destroy the land, and I will not rescue them from their hands.” Here we have both the infighting ("therein prevailed hatred without cause") and the Romans. Note the phrase; “his king”, the one they chose (= Caesar). It was the people plus the Romans who destroyed the land, and God did not rescue that generation from their hands. In a real sense, God is saying; you chose Caesar over my son, then experience the reality of your choice. In 40 years, the king they chose would destroy Jerusalem. It is very similar to the situation in Isaiah where King Ahaz is contemplating hiring the Assyrians to defeat the Syrian/Ephramite alliance against him. Isaiah meets him and offers God’s support instead. God knows it is hard to trust, and offers to give him a sign to strengthen his faith, but Ahaz has already determined to trust rather the Assyrians for his help, so God says, if you prefer them to me, then you will experience the reality of that choice. Isaiah 7:17 “The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah--he will bring the king of Assyria." And while God would rescue Hezekiah from the Assyrians, this time he will not rescue Jerusalem. “I will not rescue them from their hands.”
Zechariah
11 continues, prophesying about Jesus ministry, his rejection and the
consequent destruction of Jerusalem. “So I pastured the flock marked for
slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. (it was the poor who heard
Jesus gladly. “and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me
knew it was the word of the LORD.” = mercy even in that generation, = the
remnant saved by grace!). “Then I took two staffs and called one Favor/beauty
and the other Union, and I pastured the flock. In one month I got
rid of the three shepherds.” These shepherds, appointed by God to care for the
flock, would seem to be (as we will examine in more detail later) the
ministries of prophet, priest and king – these offices were cut off from
Israel, abolished due to their rejection of Jesus. Jesus came with good staves, beauty and union, but they rejected
him. Psalm 81:11-12 "But
my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.” Zechariah 11 continues, “The
flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, "I will
not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those
who are left eat one another's flesh." And again in verse 14; “Then I
broke my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and
Israel.”
For the third time in this chapter, God prophecies the causeless hatred between brothers, blamed in the Talmud for Jerusalem’s loss, the infighting and civil war which Josephus says destroyed Jerusalem for the Romans. Horrifically, as well as civil war, Josephus, in Wars: 6-193ff. also mentions actual cannibalism within Jerusalem on the eve of its destruction. “Let those who are left eat one another's flesh."
So Zechariah prophecies in intense detail Israel’s rejection of Jesus and the punishment on Jerusalem as its consequence. It is God who hands them over, each one to his neighbor and his king, it is Jesus who breaks the staves of beauty and union. Here we see the wrath of God breaking out against his people, because the Law, weakened by sin, had not been able to protect them. Because even cultivated branches, if they lack faith, are broken off.
So,
Jerusalem is doomed.
The walls, the Law, the Temple, weakened by sin, cannot prevent hatred without cause. It will not stand on the day of battle. It will neither protect them from the gentiles, nor will it protect them from the wrath of God.
As a consequence of his rejection, Jesus said; Matthew 23:37-38 “"O 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, but you were not willing. Look, your house (temple) is left to you desolate.” According to Jesus, not one stone would be left upon another when the Temple was destroyed. And see how he says; “your house is left to you desolate.” This is not so much the outpouring of divine anger, rather, God withdraws his protection (they will destroy, and I will not rescue), and his abandoned house collapses. Jesus emotions here are those of deep regret, sorrow and grief.
Luke 13:1-5 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
Jesus predicted the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and his heart cried out to warn them;
The prophet Daniel
had also predicted both the cutting off of the Messiah and the destruction of
the Second Temple:
Daniel 9:26 After
the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.
The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and
desolations have been decreed.
Luke 20:13-19 "Then the owner of the
vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they
will respect him.' "But when the tenants saw him, they
talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the
inheritance will be ours.' So they threw him out of the vineyard
and killed him. "What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When
the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!" Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that
which is written: " 'The stone the
builders rejected has
become the capstone '? Everyone who falls on that stone will be
broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." The teachers of the law and
the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable
against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Luke tells us explicitly that this parable was not spoken against the (Jewish) people, but against the builders, the teachers of the Law and the Chief priests.
I asked at the beginning if Jesus being the breaker was the reason the Pharisees, the builders of the wall, opposed him. Was their being righteous, and repairing the wall as they were supposed to, why they were in conflict with him? It sounds possible! Praise God, the answer is however a resounding no! The righteous in Israel were longing for their messiah, and recognized him!
Matthew 1:19 “Joseph her husband was a righteous man.” Luke 1:5-6 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, walking in all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. … When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! (Psalm 119:1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.) note the expression here, of walking according to the Law, is profoundly Jewish, halacha, the practice of Jewish religious law, comes from the word holech, to walk.
Luke 2:25-26 “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.” We also read in Acts 6:7 of “a large number of priests became obedient to the faith,” and also of believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees.
The righteous saw Jesus and rejoiced! Jesus attacked the Pharisees, not because they were doing what the Law required, but because they were not doing what the Law required! Luke 11:42 "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.”
The Son was sent as the final test of their intentions, looking for fruit from the vineyard. Mark 11:13 “Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit.” Just as Jacob sent Joseph to inquire after his brothers, and Jesus looked to the fig tree hoping for fruit. But with their leaders thereby revealed to be guilty, the flock are defenseless.
Zechariah 11:7-13 So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock. In one month I got rid of the three shepherds. The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, "I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another's flesh." Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD. I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"--the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.
So Jesus was sent to the flock marked for slaughter, hoping against hope that he might gather them as a hen gathers her chicks, testing them to see what fruit they would bear, but they showed hatred without cause, and killed the author of life. Isaiah 5:2 "Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit." Mark 11:13 “When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.” Just as when Moses first went to rescue the children of Israel, and they rejected him - Acts 7:25 “Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.” Acts 7:35 "This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself.” Note also that Stephen specifically mentions that God said they would be enslaved there for 400 years; Acts 7:6 God spoke to him in this way: 'Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. Acts 7:17 "As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham.” Moses initial effort was made 40 years too early! It was not yet the season for figs. The nation was incapable of responding to their messiah. He would indeed be despised and rejected by those he came to save. They were indeed the flock marked for slaughter.
Luke 19:41-44 And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. "For 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 you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
With the coming of the Messiah, the people needed to rush out, (Matthew 11:12 “the kingdom of heaven is breaking forth, and everyone breaks forth with it.”) but the Pharisees are aiding the enemies of Israel, who will likewise throw up a bank before its walls, and hem them in, and not allow them to rush out; “You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” Matthew 23:13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them.” This is the vision that causes Jesus to weep!
Note also that the events around Jesus were very well known by the public in Jerusalem. (See for examples; Luke 5:17, 6:17, Matthew 3:5, 4:25, John 11:55-56, 12:19). Further evidence of this is found in Luke 24:18 "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" In Acts 1:19 we read; “Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.” That is, even the events surrounding the death of Judas were widely known and discussed, to the point where the field where he died became locally know in reference to them. As Paul told Agrippa; “The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.” (Acts 26:26)
Jesus had gone to rescue them, and that offer had been refused, and they had killed him. That death itself would, through his own body, create an escape passage for them from the doomed city.
The destruction of Jerusalem,
whose fault??
So,
did Jesus being the Messiah, the breaker, destroying the dividing wall between
Jew and Gentile, lead to the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD? Jesus Himself
prophesied that Jerusalem would be trodden down by the Gentiles. Remember, the
placing of a hedge around something was a form of protection (Job
The Bible says NO.
As
seen, it was the Pharisees and other religious leaders who broke the
Commandments, killed the innocent, hated without cause, murdered for envy –
this was what caused the fall of Jerusalem! They were the thieves and robbers
who tried to break in before Jesus. Just as the angels who went to Sodom were
not responsible for its destruction, so Jesus coming to Jerusalem exposed the
pre-existing rot, it did not cause it. It is the same with the question;
Who destroyed the Temple?
At
the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus went to the Temple;
John 2:13-19 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me." Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
Jesus goes to the Temple, sees what a disgrace it has become, is overcome with zeal for God’s house, and cleanses it. When asked for a sign to show by what authority he did this, re replies; "[you] Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The word “destroy” here is in second person plural! Having seen the state it is in, Jesus is in effect accusing them of destroying it! He was not destroying it, rather out of zeal for it, he was cleansing it. They were the ones destroying the Temple. Jesus then goes further, and alludes to his own mission as being to restore the Temple once it has fallen. This is a very important point, and an active bone of contention in New Testament times, where both Luke and Mark go out of their way to brand as false the then present accusations that Jesus had said that he would destroy the Temple.
Mark 14:57-58 And some stood up and began to give false testimony against Him, saying, "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.'"
Acts 6:13-14 And they put forward false witnesses who said, "This man incessantly speaks against this holy place, and the Law; for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place." (See also Paul, Acts 25:8 Then Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple”)
When Jesus returns to the Temple in his last week, he finds it remains un-repaired. He then knows that the fig tree has no fruit, and will wither. He came looking for righteousness, and experienced wickedness. Matthew 21:38-43 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: " 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
Again, (as in Luke) there is a clear distinction between the leadership, who understand that Jesus is attacking them here, and the people, who hold him to be a prophet.
Matthew 21:45-46 When the chief priests and the
Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. They
looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the
people held that he was a prophet. Zechariah 11:11
“and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the
word of the LORD.”
The Temple and the City were destroyed by human sin, not by the coming of Jesus.
In the prayer recited on the Three Pilgrimage Festivals we find the following expression: “Because of our sins, we were exiled from our land and distanced from our soil….”
John 1:11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not
accept him.
What
Jesus did was to provide an escape route out of the doomed city! It was here
that the Rabbis fence around the Torah caused further harm, as it prevented
others from leaving, and even the Rabbis did not leave.
So, having hopefully cleared up that profoundly important question, again
we ask;
Does Jewish history at this time
bear witness to the messianic activity of Jesus?
Is there any evidence for a change in the spiritual
conditions in Jerusalem from the time of Jesus? (Can history inform our
discussion?)
In the Talmud, three signs are recorded as occurring
in the Temple which showed that its destruction was inevitable. While the time
these signs began is a little vague, 40 years being a generic phrase, it does
date them to the time Jesus went beyond the city gates, and was crucified;
Yoma
39b “Our
Rabbis taught: During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple
the lot [‘For the Lord’] did not come up in the right hand; nor did the
crimson-coloured strap become white; nor did the westernmost light shine; and
the doors of the Temple [to the Holy place] would open of their own accord.
Then R. Johanan b. Zakkai rebuked them, saying: Temple, Temple, why do you
alarm yourself [Predict thy own destruction]? I know about you that you will be
destroyed, for Zechariah ben Ido [11:1] has already prophesied concerning you
[I.e., concerning this significant omen of the destruction of the Temple]: Open
your doors, O Lebanon, that a fire may devour you cedars. R. Isaac b. Tablai
said: Why is its name called Lebanon? Because it makes white the sins of Israel
...” [A play on לְבָנוֹן, connected with לְבָנ]
The first two signs concern the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. The lot was for the two goats of the sin offering. Leviticus 16:7-10 details the placing of the lots. That the lot “for the Lord” did not come up in the right hand for 40 years in a row was seen as inexplicable, and a sign of God’s displeasure. The scarlet thread was tied both to the second goat and also to the door of the Temple on the outside; Rosh HaShana 31b “as it has been taught: ‘Originally they used to fasten the thread of scarlet on the door of the [Temple] court on the outside. If it turned white the people used to rejoice, and if it did not turn white they were sad. They therefore made a rule that it should be fastened to the door of the court on the inside. People, however, still peeped in and saw, and if it turned white they rejoiced and if it did not turn white they were sad. They therefore made a rule that half of it should be fastened to the rock and half between the horns of the goat that was sent [to the wilderness]’... and it has further been taught: ‘For forty years before the destruction of the Temple the thread of scarlet never turned white but it remained red’”
The most important sacrifice of the year, for the sins of the people and the nation, was rejected by God!
The third sign concerned the westernmost light; “The
westernmost light on the candlestick in the Temple, into which as much oil was
put as into the others. Although all the other lights were extinguished, that
light buried oil, in spite of the fact that it had been kindled first. This
miracle was taken as a sign that the Shechinah rested over Israel. V. Shab. 22b
and Men. 86b.” Soncino Commentary, Yoma 39a. RaSHI also states that the above
events were signs that the Shechina, the Holy Spirit, was leaving the Temple.
The
fourth sign was that the door of the Holy Place opening of its own accord. Josephus in Wars, 6:5:3 records a similar omen when the massive brass eastern
gate of the Temple’s inner court, which was so heavy it needed twenty men to
move it each evening, and though securely locked by iron bolts, opened by
itself in the middle of the night, at the sixth hour. The Temple guards ran and
reported the matter to the Captain, and he came up and by strenuous efforts
managed to close it. Something also very similar is recorded in three of the
Gospels; Luke 23:44-46 It was now about the sixth hour,
and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for
the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my
spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Luke has the departure from the Holy of Holies, the Talmud the departure from the Holy Place (the Hekal), and Josephus the departure from the Eastern Gate. The Temple is left wide open, defenceless. Isaiah 7:9 'If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.' If we put these accounts together, we find they testify to the departure of the Holy Spirit from the Temple, as recorded in Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 9:3 “Now the glory of the God of
Israel went up from above the cherubim [in the Holy of Holies], where it had
been, and moved to the threshold of the temple.” Ezekiel 10:18 “Then the glory of the LORD departed from over
the threshold of the temple” Ezekiel 10:19
“They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD's house, and the glory
of the God of Israel was above them.” Ezekiel 11:23
The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the
mountain east of it. Hebrews 8:13 “By
calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is
obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”
[Jesus will in fact re-trace these steps when he returns to the Temple, descending firstly upon the Mt of Olives, then entering through the Eastern gate; Psalm 24:7-10 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty-- he is the King of glory. Selah”]
Finally, we know from the Talmud that; Sabbath 15a “Forty years before the destruction of the Temple the Sanhedrin went into exile.”
Numbers
Rabbah III:12. “THE SCEPTRE S
As a result of all this, it was understood both by ben
Zakkai, and a prophet, Jesus ben Ananus (Josephus, Wars. 6:30-9), that the Second Temple
was doomed. Hagigah 5b.
“What is the meaning of [the expression] ‘for the pride’? - R. Samuel b. Isaac
said: For the glory that has been taken from them and given to the nations of
the world.”
It seems then, that at the time of Jesus (forty years
before the destruction of the Temple), the Shechina left the Temple, the
sacrifice for sin lost its efficacy and the Sceptre departed from Judah.
Why
did all this happen?? Are these phenomena explained by the rejection by the
nation of Jesus?
The
historical/religious consequences of this rejection
Jewish history, from Jewish sources, would therefore show that from the time Jesus was rejected, Israel lost the kingship, the prophetic ministry of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21) and the sacrificial ministry of the priesthood. This was prophesied in Hosea;
Hosea 3:3-5 Then I told her, "You are to
live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any
man, and [so] I will live with you." For the Israelites will live many
days without king or prince, without
sacrifice or sacred stones, without
ephod or idol. Afterward the
Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king.
They will come trembling to the
LORD and to his blessings [or, “for his goodness”] in the last days.
This is an incredibly important prophecy! Israel’s world-wide dispersion had already been prophesied;
Deuteronomy 28:63-67 “Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will serve other gods--gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day, never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, "If only it were evening!" and in the evening, "If only it were morning!"--because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.”
But in Hosea we see important new details. Here we see Israel, having been cured of idolatry through the Babylonian exile, and having come under God’s nominal headship (“for you are to live with me for many days.”) Here we find also that this does not signify a full restoration of their marriage relationship. Rather, this begins an extended neutral period between them (“For the Israelites will live many days”), sustained by the promise that ultimately a full marriage will be restored between them.
Since Babylon, there had been an outward return to God, but no national change of heart. Jesus came seeking fruit, but they rather revealed what was in their hearts and killed the author of life. So now they will abide many days, without their king, sacrifice or priest, because they have rejected Jesus who is all three, but also without a prince, sacred stone or idol (the negative of each pair). They have not fallen back into idolatry, but neither have they entered into true fellowship with God (the reason the Breaker destroyed the dividing wall in the first place). They are in a spiritually neutral, and unsatisfying position, claimed by God but not in fellowship with him. This extended period of time, prophesied at the very start of their national history, before they had even taken possession of their land, and detailed similarly in Daniel, is also described in the New Testament as “the times of the gentiles”, when the scepter has departed from Judah, and the Gentiles are the focus of God’s saving grace. A time which will end with the return of Jesus, their king, who will rule from Jerusalem. Hosea 2:19-20 “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.”
So, why did Israel lose their sacrifices, their government and the prophetic gift? This is what Hosea prophesied, but why did he say they would abide many days without these? And does his final promise, that in the last days they will “return and seek the LORD their God and David their king” shed light on why these aspects had been absent until then?
The Davidic Messiah combined the three anointed offices of Israel, he was to be a prophet like unto Moses, a priest of the order of Melchizedek, and a king of the line of David. That is, in the messiah was their government, their priestly ability to sacrifice, and the spirit of prophecy. The three things Hosea prophesied that they would abide many days without! The Talmud confirms that all three left “forty years before the destruction of the Temple,” the very time that Jesus was rejected. It was their rejection of their messiah which caused the condition described in this prophecy. And remember, it was also prophesied that the messiah would be rejected, thereby triggering the start of this prophecy!
Jewish history for the past 2,000 years does not prove that Jesus was not their messiah, rather it proves that Jesus was their rejected messiah! Otherwise, these offices would not be absent from Israel as a consequence of their rejecting him! What is more, this Jewish interregnum was foretold in (their own) Scripture – its very existence is again proof that their messiah has come! Jewish history, which affirms absences of these offices, is proof that Jesus was their messiah. Why else would his rejection result in the loss of all three messianic offices? Without Jesus they lack the Spirit of prophecy, the Sacrifice and the Scepter. In Him the Name of the Lord dwelt, and on him rested the Holy Spirit (the very three things which left the Temple about 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem!).
Daniel 9:26 “After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.”
What is more, Hosea’s prophecy is found within their Scriptures, and is seen by their greatest authorities as applying to their present captivity.
The RaDaK, Rabbi David Kimchi in the twelfth century wrote; “After she was guilty of adultery, I punished her by requiring her to live in abstinence for many days, restrained from further adultery, yet uninvolved in conjugal relations with her husband. This represents the experience of the Jews in exile.” Looking at the expression “many days” in the prophecy “For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol” he continued; “These are the days of this present captivity, in which we are in the power of the Gentiles, and in the power of their kings and princes, and we are “without a sacrifice and without an image,” that is, without a sacrifice to God, and without an image to false Gods; and “without an ephod and without teraphim,” that is, without an ephod to God, by means of which we could foretell the future, as with the Urim and Thummim; and without a teraphim to false gods. And this is the present condition of the children of Israel in this present captivity.”
Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel (the great Portuguese Jewish exegete, 1437-1508) saw these two verses as the prophet’s encouragement to the Jewish people to withstand their tribulations in exile, secure in their awareness that the tragedies of exile, along with the ultimate redemption, are both predicted in Scripture. … “just as your tribulations have befallen you as foretold in Scripture, they will also be followed by your eventual salvation. Therefore, do not despair in your exile, or submit to your dire circumstances and abandon the ways of Hashem. Rather, remain faithful and refrain from turning to other gods even as your bond with him is unfulfilled.” “for you shall refrain from idolatry in exile, even as I withhold from you my Divine Presence.” Abarbanel also states; “With this statement from the sages, we are given to appreciate how closely the kingdom of David is linked to the sovereignty of the Almighty … accordingly, at the end of days they will seek both the kingdom of Hashem and that of David [as the two are inseparable.]”
The Midrash Samuel, 34:4 as cited by Rashi reads; “The sages state; R Shimon bar Yochai said: The Jewish nation despised three things in the days of Rehoboam; the Kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of David and the Temple. Said R Shimon ben Menasheh: The signs of redemption shall not be shown to Israel until they return and seek all three of them, as it is stated; afterwards the Children of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God [that is, the Kingdom of Heaven] and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and for his goodness – this is the Temple, as it says, Deuteronomy 3:25; “This good mountain.”
So, this prophecy from the Jewish Scriptures, and Orthodox Jewish understanding of it, shows the spiritual (and temporal) state of the Jewish people in exile, that is from around 70 AD. God has withheld his Divine Presence from them, their bond with him is unfulfilled. They are under his authority, but not in relationship with him, they are without scepter (kingship), sacrifice, or the prophetic office.
Discussion of the loss of these offices
They abide many days without a
king, ruled by Gentiles, because they said “we have no king but Caesar.”
Interestingly, there is a problematic portion of the Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a,
which states that the normal procedures of a trial for life, the calling of
favorable witnesses (because “they sat to justify and not to condemn”) was not
observed in the case of the trial of Jesus “but the case of Jesus stood
differently because he stood near to the
kingdom.” This is an admission that Jesus was of the house of David! The
Temple genealogies were existent, and open to all. The Pharisees attacked Jesus
relentlessly, but never disputed that he was a son of David, the name by which
the common people called to him. Likewise, the Jewish people of today have no
sacrifice – the Temple has been destroyed. The one place on earth where the
sacrifice could be made. Deuteronomy 16:5-7 “You
must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the LORD your God gives you except in the place he will choose as a
dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the
evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from
Egypt. Roast it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will
choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.”
In the Jewish Standard Prayer book, in the ADDITIONAL SERVICE FOR THE FESTIVALS, To be said on Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, and on the intermediate days of Festivals. The following prayer (Amidah) contains the words;
“But on account of our sins we were exiled
from our land, and removed far from our country, and we are unable to go up in order to appear and prostrate ourselves
before thee, and to fulfil our
obligations in thy chosen house, that great and holy temple which was
called by thy name, because of the hand
that hath been stretched out against thy sanctuary.”
Note also that the destruction of the Temple created an additional problem for the Rabbis.
Just after the Babylonian exile, Haggai prophesied to
the people, and encouraged them to re-build the Temple. The people obeyed, and
God blessed them, but those who remembered the former Temple despised the
poverty of the rebuilt temple. “’Who of you is left who saw this house in its former
glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?” To
answer this, God then makes a promise; “The
glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house’
says the LORD almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the
LORD almighty.”
Now,
that house was destroyed in 70 AD. Look at the glory of the first Temple. The
rabbis affirm that there was never any such glory in the second Temple, that in
fact it was in many ways an empty shell. So when was this prophecy fulfilled?
Every word of the Lord proves true. Where do we read of a glory in this house
greater than the glory of the first house??
Luke 2:25-32 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."
A final offer of mercy before judgement
With the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit did indeed leave the Temple where Jesus had been condemned, and we see an empty Temple, bereft of redemptive power, its doom known to all. Before that happens, however, two further things occur. Firstly, there was a final offer of mercy before judgement. Judgement was delayed 40 years, the empty temple a stark warning to all who would listen. What was needed during those years was repentance, and for the people to follow Jesus out through the Gate! This was urgent, and God sent Jesus first to Israel to bless them by turning them from their wicked ways.
Acts 3:12-26 When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? …The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, … You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. … "Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.' … And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.' When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."
The fig tree is cursed, but that curse did not fall immediately – look at the Temple. In Acts 2:46 we read; “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.” Acts 5:42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. Acts 28:20 It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain." Acts 26:6-7 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me.
See the compassion and mercy of our God! Acts 5:19-20 “an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life." Even after Jesus had gone, found it a den of robbers and pronounced God’s judgement, that it would be left desolate, even after the Spirit had departed, still God tarried. And he did not leave his house without a forwarding address. For forty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the church in Jerusalem met where at his direction? In his Temple! 2Chronicles 6:20 “this place of which you said you would put your Name there.”
Secondly, praise God, his incredible mercy bore much fruit! Many indeed did break out, following Jesus – the remnant saved by grace
We know that a significant number of Jewish people did
break out with and follow their messiah. We read in Acts 6:7 that a large number of the Priests became obedient to the
faith, In Acts 15:5 that many
Pharisees believed, and in Acts 4:2
that many in general believed, and the number quickly grew to around 5,000.
Given that Josephus estimates the number of Pharisees a generation earlier
(based on the number fined by Hyrcanus) at 6,000 (Antiquities of the Jews 17.41) and the number of Essenes at about
4,000 (Antiquities of the Jews 18.20),
we can see that the followers of the Way were immediately a major force within
Judaism.
For those who refuse to repent
however, judgement was coming.
Tragically, Jesus was rejected by the majority of the Jewish people (Acts 13:46 etc), and that the Gospel message was received rather by the Gentiles. So, while our hearts wish and fervent prayer is with Paul, that all the Jewish people would have followed Jesus outside the city wall, we must now turn our attention to the majority, to those who remained with the walled city.
Isaiah
5:5-7 “Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my
vineyard: I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed; I will break
down its wall and it will be trampled... the vineyard of the Lord Almighty
is the house of Israel.”
Acts 7:51-53 "You stiff-necked people,
with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always
resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did
not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous
One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him-- you who have
received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed
it."
All this fell on “this generation.” It did not signal an irredeemable flaw in the Jewish people!!
Luke 17:25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Luke 11:50-51 Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the
prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the
altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this
generation will be held responsible for it all.
Furthermore, so long as the church was in the Temple, Jerusalem was not destroyed. It was only after Ananus arrested and had stoned James and some of his companions, that its fate, prophesied by Jesus and awaited for forty years, came upon it. It was this act indeed which was seen by Josephus as one of the final triggers to the Jewish War with Rome. It was also the context in which the book of Hebrews was written. It is also interesting that the killing of James so upset the Pharisees that they petitioned king Agrippa to have Ananus removed. Josephus, Antiquities 20:197-202 “Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the Sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned: but as for those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent to the king [Agrippa], desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified;”
The phrase "the most equitable of the citizens" is generally taken as a reference to the Pharisees, perhaps the school of Hillel. Pharisees likewise came to the aid of Peter in Acts 5:34-36, and Paul in Acts 23:6-9. This killing of James and his companions would indicate the expulsion of the church from the Temple.
And so, the church was driven from the Temple, the Roman armies came, the church left Jerusalem and the Temple was destroyed. (Note that ben-Zakkai and the Pharisees also left Jerusalem before it fell.)
Final clarification point!
Again, if the Jewish people as a people rejected God, did God also reject the Jewish people? No! See both the general principle and its specific application;
2Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.”
Romans 11:1-2 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
God did not reject his people,
Romans 11:28-29 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.
What amazing love and tenderness God shows towards those who killed his own son!
Forty years before the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit left the Temple, the sacrifices ceased to be acceptable, the scepter departed from Judah, because Jesus was crucified. Jewish history subsequent to their rejection of Jesus is in fact proof that he was their rejected messiah, and is a strong reason to believe in him today, and not to reject him again.
[1] The charge of hypocrisy needs to be placed in historical context. The Jewish community in the land of Israel at this time was itself already highly sectarian and divided. If the Babylonian exile had brought the concept of the godly remnant to the fore, the impoverished reality of post-exilic life turned it divisive. If the godly individual could survive the destruction of the sinful nation, the remnant was supposed to function as a conduit to the restored, post-exilic community, where godliness would again be a community attribute. The less-than-ideal nature of the post-exilic community fundamentally challenged this worldview. This discontinuity between the historic remnant and the godly remnant created a crisis of identity, between the individual’s loyalty to and identification with the community the “all Israel” which was so fundamental to the doctrine, and the individuality/sectarian identity required by Isaiah and the godly remnant motif. Individuals had to pursue godliness, and yet be loyal to a community that did not live up to its eschatological promise. The powerful and contradictory impulses this unleashed were not resolved until 90 AD, with the triumph of Rabbinic Judaism. This tension is evidenced in the increasingly sectarian writings of the intertestamental period, as different Jewish movements try to claim for themselves the identity both of the “true” remnant, and “all Israel”. This is true of the Essenes, the communities of 1 Enoch, Psalms of Solomon, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, the Pharisees, and followers of “the Way”. It is this tension that creates the society of the New Testament. Even the hypocrisy of some Pharisees is thus understood - in a divided society, where a few are recognized as being more religious than the rest, and are honored for it, it is not surprising that hypocrites will be attracted to such status and join such groups. It is of interest that the Pharisees themselves recognized such problems, four of the “woes of the Pharisees” in the Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud, Berakhot 9, 14b) deal with hypocrisy, and that with the triumph of Rabbinic Judaism, the standards became normative, and the problem died down. Even anti-Jewish polemics of the second century did not accuse the Jews then living of the charge. See D. Flusser, 1989: 27-30. See also M. Weinfeld, “The Jewish Roots of Matthew’s Vitriol”, Bible Review 13-5 (1997) 31.
[2] P. Tomson,
111. This comment would seem to interact with the Pharisaic word play on
builders and sons re Isaiah 54:13 as found in Berakhot 64a.
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