Scripture
“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands and in three days build another not made with hands.'”
~Mark 14:58, NET
Quote
The destruction of the Temple {Christ on Cross} was the pre-ordained plan of God, set in motion before time began, so that the host of heaven and hell would stand in wonder at the glory of God’s love.
~Dana Ortlund
Psalm 74 was written during the post exilic era. The Jews had witnessed the devastation of the destruction of the Temple and had been taken from the home land. When they returned 70 years later, there was no city, no walls and certainly no Temple. They were surrounded by people who hated them and who mocked their God Yahweh. Psalm 74 contains five questions and I think I can answer them all.
- O God, why have you rejected us so long?
- Why is your anger so intense against the sheep of your own pasture?
- How long, O God, will you allow our enemies to insult you?
- Will you let them dishonor your name forever?
- Why do you hold back your strong right hand?
One, God has not rejected His people. It may seem that way at times but He will keep His promise to Abraham. The Israelites {Jews} were hard headed and disobedient. God disciplined them for their disobedience. How long will the enemy insult believers and Yahweh our God? Until Jesus comes again and sets this world straight. He will most definitely not allow His NAME to be dishonored forever: it is not going to happen. Why did He hold back His RIGHT HAND {Jesus}? At just the right time, God the Father sent His Son into this world born of a woman and tabernacling among us. God has not held back. Paul sums it up in Romans 8:31-32, What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
All suffering is related to our disobedience. If Adam had not disobeyed, we would not be under the curse of death. Death is the price we pay for disobeying. Even so, suffering and tragedy are very hard to handle. The Jews had idolized the Temple. The LORD kept telling them through the prophets that He would send them a Temple but they jumped ahead and build a temple of stone. God’s plan was always Jesus. Jesus got the Jews going in John 2 when He told them that He was the Temple, “What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?”But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body. They were like an old hound dog chasing the shadow on a bird on the ground; so focused on the shadow that they failed to look up at the real thing. So believers near and wide, relax, no enemy can destroy our TEMPLE. They destroyed it once, but He raised it back up and now it is indestructable. We will never see the true glory of God ii buildings made by hands, but we see it clearly in Jesus. God told David, “You are not the one to build me a temple, your son is the one who will build a Temple to honor my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will secure the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.” Solomon has no eternal kingdom, Jesus does: you do the math. Don’t focus on the shadow–focus on the substance. Jesus is the real Temple filled with God’s glory.
Extra
Hallelujah, what a Savior we had one precious child come to Christ yesterday in repentance and faith. PTL. We drove home thankful. We were thankful all evening.
The quote and the original thought came from Dana Ortlund’s book on Psalms. I really like this young Presbyterian pastor and it is good to find someone who agrees with me on the Temple. Someone enquired about the sermon yesterday, if it would be preached on line at DBC. I am not preaching at DBC until September. I prepared the message for a REVIVAL service at Grassy Baptist Church where I will be in revival October 22. I may preach it again before that and if so, I will keep you posted. But, we cannot duplicate yesterday morning: I am fairly certain, that was the Ruach {Holy Spirit}.