Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Departure of the King and the Doom of the Temple (Matthew 24:1-2)

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The Departure of the King and the Doom of the Temple (Matthew 24:1-2) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to reform thinking. Glad to be here.
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So to start us off today, I want you to just picture the year
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8070. Oh wow, yeah, quite a year to
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drop us into. Right, you are standing outside
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the city of Jerusalem and the air is just thick with smoke.
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It is hard to breathe. Roman legions, specifically the
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mighty 10th Legion, have laid this brutal, suffocating siege
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to the city. Led by General Titus.
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Right. Yes, General Titus and the siege
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walls have cut off all the food supplies.
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It is complete devastation, absolutely.
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And right before your eyes, fire is consuming the most
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magnificent architectural structure of the ancient world.
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The Jewish Temple. The Jewish Temple is literally
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burning to the ground. Yeah, it's just a horrifying
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scene the. Heat is so intense, the screams
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are so loud. It it It probably feels like the
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end of the world for anyone standing there.
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I. Mean for them it basically was.
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And because the eastern front of that temple was plated in these
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massive sheets of solid gold. Right, which is just insane
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wealth. Yeah, the inferno reaches
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temperature so high that the gold literally melts.
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Wow. It liquefies.
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It just seeps down into the deep crevices of these colossal
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foundation stones. Just running into the cracks.
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Yeah, and when the fires finally die down and the smoke sort of
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clears, the Roman soldiers are driven by sheer greed, you know?
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Well, yeah, they know it's down there in the rocks.
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So they take these massive iron pry bars and pickaxes, and with
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brute force they pry those gigantic clocks of stone apart 1
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by 1. Just to scrape out the melted
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treasure. Exactly.
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I mean, it is a scene of absolute apocalyptic
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devastation. It really is.
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It's a terrifying historical reality.
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And what is so striking about this event is that this
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catastrophe was not just some random tragedy of ancient
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warfare. Right, it wasn't an accident.
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No, not at all. It was not a tactical accident,
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and it was not just, you know, collateral damage from a Roman
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military campaign. So what was it then?
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That precise moment with the Roman soldiers prying those
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massive stones apart to get to the gold, that was the literal
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fulfillment of a theological verdict.
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That verdict from God. Yes, a verdict delivered 40
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years earlier by Jesus Christ himself.
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And that is spot on what we are going to look at today.
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Yeah, it's a heavy topic. The mission of this deep dive is
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to examine the specific moment that verdict was handed down.
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Right, we are looking at Matthew chapter 24, verses 1 and 2.
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We are going to examine the exact moment Jesus walked away
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from that very temple to create its absolute destruction, and we
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are going to ask what that means for where you and I place our
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trust today. I.
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Love that it's so relevant. So to give us our bearings, we
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are on Wednesday of Passion Week.
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OK, so just days before the cross.
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Right. Jesus is just days away from the
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crucifixion. He is leaving the temple complex
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with his disciples, and the disciples are pointing out the
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buildings to. Him like they're on a tour or
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something, Yeah. But to really grasp what is
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happening here, I think we have to understand the sheer scale of
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the Herodian temple. We really do.
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Because I think we read the word temple in our Bibles and we
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picture, I don't know, a quaint stone church with some stained
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glass. Right.
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Maybe a nice steeple? Yeah, but this is a 46 year
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construction project initiated by Herod the Great. 46 years and
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calling it a building almost does a disservice to the scale
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of what Herod created. He was more like a small city.
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Oh. Absolutely.
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I mean, Herod was a megalomaniac builder.
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He wanted to leave a legacy that would rival the greatest one
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years of the Roman world. And he also wanted to appease
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his Jewish subjects. Right, well, they generally
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despised him, so he thought this massive building project would
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win them over. Which is a classic politician
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move, true. But the historian Josephus
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actually gives us the measurements of the foundation
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stones used in this complex. And they are mind boggling.
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Oh, totally. He records that some of the
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stones were 40 feet long, 40 feet yeah, and 12 feet high and
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18 feet deep. I mean that is almost impossible
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to visualize. It really is.
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To put that into perspective for you listening, a single stone of
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that size would weigh hundreds of tons.
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Just one block. Just one.
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It is the size of a modern semi Trek trailer, but it is carved
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from solid white marble. Which is just wild to think
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about. Just figuring out how ancient
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engineers quarried those stones, let alone move them.
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Yeah, and hoisted them into place.
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Right, without modern diesel cranes or hydraulics, it is
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staggering. It is an architectural marvel,
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and Josephus also records that the eastern face of the temple
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was so heavily plated with gold. Like we mentioned earlier.
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Right. It was so covered in gold that
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when the Judean sun rose in the morning over the Mount of
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Olives, it radiated this blinding light.
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Wow. It literally forced onlookers to
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turn their eyes away. You couldn't even look directly
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at it. That is incredible.
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And from a distance, travelers approaching Jerusalem would see
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what looked like a snow capped mountain.
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Because of the Whitestone. Exactly.
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The parts not covered in gold were this brilliant gleaming
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whitestone. So it's just this shining beacon
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on a hill, basically, yeah. The entire complex, including
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the massive retaining walls, which is what we know today as
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the Temple Mount, was just massive.
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And it wasn't just a pretty building, it was the absolute
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epicenter of Jewish life, right? Oh, 100% religious, social and
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political life. The sacrifices were made there.
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The Sanhedrin met there to govern.
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The national wealth was stored there.
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It was everything. It really was.
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I was trying to imagine the psychology of the disciples in
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this specific moment. Yeah, put yourself in their
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shoes. We have to remember who these
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guys are. They are Galileans.
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Right. They're from up north.
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They are fishermen, tax collectors, basically blue
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collar workers from the rural provinces.
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Not city elites. Not at all.
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Their daily reality up in Capernaum consists of dirt
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roads, wooden boats, the smell of fish and small houses made of
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rough black bustled stone. Very modest living.
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Very modest. And now they've traveled down
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for the Passover festival and they are standing in the shadow
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of this unbelievable structure. Must have been overwhelming.
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It is like taking someone who has only ever seen a minor
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League Baseball diamond in a small farming town and dropping
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them right in the middle of the Super Bowl at halftime.
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That is a great analogy. They are probably taking the 1st
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century equivalent of selfies. Just completely starstruck.
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Yeah, meanwhile Jesus is standing there thinking this is
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all coming down. The contrast is amazing.
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Imagine combining the Vatican with all its intense religious
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weight and a massive, state-of-the-art Stewart Stadium
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with all its nationalistic pride.
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That's exactly what they are looking.
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At they are overwhelmed. They assume this building is the
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permanent, immovable center of God's favor.
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Right. And if we connect this to the
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broader context of 1st century Jewish expectations, you can
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really understand their theological framework.
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What were they expecting? Well, the disciples believed
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that when the Messiah arrived, he would militaristically
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liberate this very building from Roman defilement.
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So they thought Jesus was going to start a war.
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Yeah, they thought he would kick out the Roman Garrison stationed
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right next door at the Antonia fortress.
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Just clear house. Clear House, sit on a throne
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right there in Jerusalem and rule the world.
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So when they point at the masonry, they are not just
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acting like sightseers admiring the architecture.
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No, not at all. They are pointing to their
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national security. They are pointing to what they
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think is the visible proof that God is with them.
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They equate the immense size and the astonishing beauty of the
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building with divine blessing. But there is a massive
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disconnect between what the disciples are seeing and what
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Jesus is doing. A.
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Huge disconnect. The disciples are acting like
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wide eyed tourists, but Jesus is operating on a completely
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different frequency. He always is.
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To understand why Jesus is so entirely unimpressed by these
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semi truck sized stones, we have to look at the immediate
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context. Yes, context is everything here.
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Matthew 24 verse one does not happen in a vacuum.
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It comes directly on the heels of the most blistering
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confrontation in the entire New Testament back in Chapter 23.
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That context is so vital. Can you walk us through what
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happens there? Sure, in chapter 23 Christ
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delivers 7 woes against the Pharisees and the scribes.
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And a woe is basically a declaration of doom, right?
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Exactly. It is a relentless, holy
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condemnation of their hypocrisy. He calls them blind guides, a
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brood of Vipers and whitewashed tombs.
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OK, let's pause on that phrase. Whitewashed tombs because I
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think, I think the cultural context there is just
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fascinating. It really is.
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Why did he use that specific imagery during Passover week?
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Well, it ties directly into the purity laws of the time.
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OK? During the Passover festival,
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hundreds of thousands of Jewish pilgrims would flood into the
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regions surrounding Jerusalem. So the place is just packed.
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Packed and according to the Old Testament law, if you
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accidentally touched a dead body or a grave, you became ritually
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unclean. Which is a big deal during
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Passover. Huge deal, because if you were
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unclean, you could not participate in the Passover
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feast. You were excluded.
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Oh wow, so you traveled all that way for nothing?
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Right, So to prevent pilgrims from accidentally stumbling over
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a grave in the dark or brushing against a tombstone, the locals
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would go out a month before and paint the tombs bright white
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with lime. Just to make them super visible.
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Exactly. They gleam in the sun, looking
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clean and beautiful on the outside.
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But inside. Inside, of course, they were
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full of decaying corpses, dead men's bones.
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That is so graphic. It is, and Jesus looks at the
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religious elite of his day and says that is what you are.
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Wow. You look beautiful on the
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outside with your fancy robes and your meticulous tithes, but
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inside you are full of spiritual death.
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That is a devastating critique. He pulls no punches.
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He is stripping away all the religious veneer, and then at
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the very end of Chapter 23, he delivers this heartbreaking
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lament over the city. Yes, he says.
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O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and
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stones those who are sent to it. So much sorrow in that verse.
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And then comes the chilling verdict.
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He says, See, your house is left to you desolate.
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Yeah. Notice the shift in the pronouns
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there. Right.
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That shift is huge. Earlier in his ministry, Jesus
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walks into the temple, overturns the tables of the money
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changers, and he calls it my Father's house.
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Right. Do not make my father's house a
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den of robbers. Yes, and later in Matthew 21 he
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cleanses it again and calls it my house.
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Claiming ownership. Claiming divine ownership.
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But now, after the religious establishment has completely
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rejected him, after they have proven their total apostasy, he
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repudiates the building entirely.
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He disowns it. He says your house is left to
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you desolate. He stripped the temple of its
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divine association. It is no longer God's house.
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Exactly, it is just an empty building belonging to a corrupt
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religious elite. I'm struggling with the timing
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here though. What?
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Do you mean well? If he knows Rome is going to
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burn this place to the ground in a few decades, why doesn't he
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explicitly warn the religious leaders?
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That's a fair question. Why just issue this condemnation
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and then we'll just walk away? Yeah.
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The text in chapter 24 begins right after that lament.
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It says Jesus left the temple and was going away.
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Is that physical movement just a geographical detail or is
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something much heavier happening here?
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It is definitely not just geography.
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This touches on a massive theme in biblical theology.
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Tell me more. That physical movement is the
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dramatic visual enactment of the desolation he just pronounced.
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Oh, I see, this is an Ichabod moment.
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Ichabod break that down for us. Sure, the word Ichabod comes
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from the Old Testament and it literally means the glory has
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departed. Right from the book of First
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Samuel. Yes, but if you read the prophet
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Ezekiel, specifically chapter 10, there is a terrifying scene
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right before the Babylonians come to destroy the first
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temple. Hundreds of years earlier.
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Right, Ezekiel sees a vision where the presence of the Lore,
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the Shekinah glory, lifts up from the threshold of the
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Sanctuary. The glory physically moves.
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Yes, it moves to the Eastgate and then it departs the city
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completely. God abandons the building before
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the judgement falls. He packs his bags and leaves.
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Yeah, that's a good way to put it.
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And here in Matthew 24, Jesus Christ is the Incarnate glory of
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God. He is God in human flesh.
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Exactly when he physically walks out of those temple precincts
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and heads E toward the Mount of Olives, the glory of God is
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walking away. He is reenacting Ezekiel.
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He is tracing the exact path of the departing glory from
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Ezekiel's vision. He is enacting the very
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judgement he just declared. God is leaving the building.
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That just gives me chills. And then the original language,
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the Greek text, uses a very specific phrasing for his exit
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doesn't. It it does.
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It is not just the stormed out and slam the door.
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No, not at all. The Greek phrasing paints a very
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distinct picture. How so?
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We don't need to get bogged down in the grammatical terms, but
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the way the verbs are structured indicates 2 things happening
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simultaneously. OK, first there is a completed
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exit. He went out of the temple
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precincts. That's done right.
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But that is combined with a word indicating A continuous,
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deliberate movement away. He kept on going.
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So it wasn't a quick exit. No, he is putting steadying
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distance between himself and the apostate religion.
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It is almost like a slow motion shot in a movie.
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Yeah, that's a brilliant way to visualize it.
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He is steadily, intentionally walking away from the system
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that has rejected him. And while Christ is moving
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continuously away in absolute judgment, look at what the
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disciples are doing. Oh yeah, the text says.
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They came up to point out to have the buildings.
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Right. They are approaching him, moving
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toward him to draw his attention backward.
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They want him to look at the stones.
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Which perfectly highlights the tragedy of the moment.
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The disciples are entirely captivated by the physical
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success of the institution. And completely blind to the
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spiritual reality. Completely blind.
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The tragic irony of that is stunning.
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Think about it. Christ is walking away from an
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empty, condemned, spiritually dead religious system.
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The glory of God is literally departing.
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And his closest followers are essentially tugging on his
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sleeve, saying, But Lord, look at the nice stones.
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Look at the gold. Look at the architecture.
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It's almost comical if it wasn't so sad.
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Right. And you know, if you are
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listening to this on your commute right now, think about
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your own workplace or your own church experience.
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Oh. That it's close to home.
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How often do we do that? Yeah.
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How often do we let visible success, massive budgets, shiny
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buildings, impressive attendance statistics blind us to the fact
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that the spiritual life has completely left the room?
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All the time we look at the size of a crowd and just assume, oh
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God must be blessing this. We measure success by human
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standards. That is the core of the
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disciples distraction. They are suffering from the
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peril of physical sight. What do you mean by that?
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They assume that if something is large, expensive, and
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historically significant, God must be pleased with it.
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But Jesus responds to them with a rhetorical question that
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functions as a sharp rebuke. He doesn't just agree with them.
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No, he stops them and says, do you not see all these things?
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Which is funny because they were just telling him to look at
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them. Right.
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But he is demanding that they view these structures not
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through the lens of human admiration, but through the lens
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of divine revelation. They are looking at the temple
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with eyes of flesh. He requires them to look at it
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with eyes of faith. He is asking them to really look
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at what is in front of them, not just the marble and the gold,
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but the spiritual rot underneath it all.
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Precisely. And then in verse 2, he drops
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the hammer. He really does he.
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Issues the decree of total devastation.
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He uses this solemn formula. Truly, I say to you.
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That phrase, truly, I say to you, or Amen, I say to you, is a
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hallmark of absolute divine authority.
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Because prophets usually say, thus says the Lord, right?
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Yes. Jesus does not speak like an
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ordinary Old Testament prophet. He speaks as the Lord Himself.
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He quotes himself. Exactly.
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He is establishing that what he is about to say is an absolute,
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unshakable certainty. And what he says is just
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staggering. He says not one stone here will
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be left upon another, which will not be torn down.
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Total annihilation. Now I know the original language
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uses a double negative here. What does that mean in practical
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terms? Well, in English a double
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negative is usually just bad grammar.
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Right. Like I don't have no money.
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Yeah, which technically means you do have money, right?
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But in the original language of the New Testament, using a
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double negative does not cancel out the negative, it amplifies
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it to the highest possible degree.
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So it's for emphasis. Huge emphasis.
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It is the ancient equivalent of saying it is unconditionally
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impossible in any reality for this building to survive.
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It is the strongest no you could possibly utter.
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He is predicting an annihilation so thorough that the foundation
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itself will be uprooted. Which goes right back to the
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Roman soldiers with the pry bars we talked about at the
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beginning. He was predicting the literal,
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physical method of the temple's destruction.
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Down to the moving of the massive foundation stones.
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The text also uses a specific phrasing for how it will be torn
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down. Yes, the grammar implies what
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theologians call a divine passive.
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Divine passive? What does that mean?
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It means the action is being done to the building by an
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unseen agent. God.
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Yes, while it is historically true that the Roman army under
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Titus wielded the pickaxes and lit the fires, God himself was
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the true agent of this judgement.
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So Rome was just the tool. Rome was simply the instrument
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God used a Pagan, an empire, as a rod of iron to execute his
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holy justice against a religious establishment that had committed
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covenantal treason. Covenantal treason because they
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rejected his son, yes. They rejected the Messiah.
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Which is a terrifying thought, but very consistent with how God
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operates in history. Oh, there is plenty of biblical
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precedent. I am thinking of the book of
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Isaiah where God calls the Assyrian Empire the rod of my
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anger. Perfect example.
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He uses Pagan nations to judge his own covenant people when
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they rebel. He does.
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He is completely sovereign over the nations.
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OK, but I can hear a skeptic listening to this right now and
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saying come on, the prediction is too accurate.
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Yeah, you hear that a lot. A building made of stones the
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size of semi trucks, completely dismantled stone by stone.
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Matthew must have written this gospel after 8070 and just put
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these words into Jesus mouth to make him look like a prophet
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after the fact. That is the standard liberal
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critical view, yeah. So how do we counter that kind
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of modern criticism? Well, we counter it by
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recognizing the anti supernatural bias that drives
18:57
it. They start with a secular
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premise. Right.
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That kind of skepticism begins with the assumption that divine
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omniscience is impossible. The critic assumes that no one
19:06
can actually predict the future, so any accurate prophecy must be
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a forgery written after the event.
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But if Jesus is who he says he is.
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Then the historical fulfillment of this event proves His
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absolute omniscience. He is the Son of God.
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He knows the end from the beginning.
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He's not guessing. He's declaring history before it
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happens, of course. Furthermore, if you look at the
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internal evidence of the New Testament, the book of Acts, the
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letters of Paul. Yeah, what about them?
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None of them mention the destruction of the temple as a
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past event. Really, none of them.
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None. Now think about that.
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If they were writing after 8070, they surely would have pointed
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to the smoking ruins of Jerusalem and said, look, Jesus
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was right. Oh yeah, it would be the
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ultimate apologetic mic drop. Exactly, it would be their
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greatest piece of evidence. The fact that they don't mention
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the destruction strongly supports the fact that these
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documents were written before the event took place.
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That makes a ton of sense. History vindicated the rejected
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teacher, the immovable institution was dismantled, and
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the rejected Galilean was proven right.
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So he knew the horrific details of the coming Roman siege
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because he is the sovereign Lord of history.
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He is. He rules over all of it.
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I want to pivot slightly and ask a theological question.
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Sure, go for it. What does this all mean from a
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redemptive historical perspective?
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OK, big picture. Right.
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Why did the physical temple have to be destroyed?
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Because God established the temple system in the Old
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Testament, right? He.
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Did he gave the blueprints to Moses essentially?
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He commanded the animal sacrifices.
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He instituted the Levitical priesthood.
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Why decree its total devastation now?
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Well, if we connect this to the broader storyline of the Bible,
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the entire old covenant system, the animal sacrifices, the
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incense, the Holy of Holies, the priesthood, it was always
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designed to be a shadow. A shadow of things to come.
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Yes, the author of Hebrews, particularly in chapter 8,
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explains this beautifully. I love Hebrews.
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The physical structures were copies of heavenly realities.
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They were meant to teach Israel about God's holiness and the
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absolute necessity of blood atonement for sin.
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But they couldn't actually fix the sin problem permanently.
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Right, because a shadow has no substance in itself.
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Once Christ arrived, the substance had come.
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The shadow became obsolete. It's kind of like, think of it
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like paying your mortgage with a credit card.
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OK, I like where this is going. You weren't actually clearing
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the debt, you know, you're just pushing it forward to the next
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month. Yeah, you're waiting for the day
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a massive final deposit actually clears the account once and for
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all. That is a highly accurate way to
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view it. The animal sacrifices were like
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using that credit card month after month, year after year.
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And we have to remember how visceral and bloody that system
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was. Oh, it was graphic.
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I mean, we sanitize it a lot today.
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We really do. During a typical Passover, the
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historian Josephus estimates that over 1/4 of a million lambs
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were slaughtered. Wait. 250,000 Yes in one week.
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Yes, the temple courtyard would have been a literal river of
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blood. That is just it's hard to
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stomach. The priests would have been
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waiting in it. The smell, the noise of the
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animals. It was a constant, overwhelming
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sensory reminder that sin brings death.
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But all of that blood could never actually take away human
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sin. No, Hebrew says it is impossible
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for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
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It only pointed forward to the perfect substitute.
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The Lamb of God. Exactly.
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So once Jesus Christ, the substance arrived, the credit
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card was cut up. The debt was paid.
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Paid in full. Jesus makes this explicit really
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early in his ministry, doesn't he?
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He does, yeah, in John's Gospel. Right in John chapter 2 when he
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has asked for a sign after cleansing the temple the first
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time. He says destroy this temple and
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in three days I will raise it up.
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And the religious leaders think he means the stone building.
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Yeah, they say it took 46 years to build this, but the text
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clarifies that he was speaking about the temple of his body.
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So Jesus himself replaces the building.
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Precisely. Jesus Christ is the true temple.
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He is the true final meeting place between a holy God and
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sinful humanity. So the physical building was
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really just temporary. It was scaffolding.
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Scaffolding. Think about it.
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You use scaffolding to construct a magnificent skyscraper, but
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once the architect's vision is fully realized, once the
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building is totally finished, what do you do?
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You take the scaffolding down. You take it down.
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To leave the scaffolding up or to stand around.
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Admiring the scaffolding instead of the finished building would
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be ridiculous. People would think you were
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crazy. Exactly.
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The physical temple in Jerusalem was the scaffolding pointing to
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the finished work of Christ. And we see that reality enacted
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at the crucifixion itself, don't we?
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Yes, visibly and dramatically. When Jesus breathes his last on
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the cross, the veil of the physical temple is torn in two
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from top to bottom. The massive curtains separating
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the Holy of Holies from the rest of the building.
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And that veil was not some flimsy piece of fabric you buy
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at the store. Oh no.
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Historical sources say it was as thick as a man's hand breath
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woven from blue, purple and scarlet yarn.
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It was incredibly heavy it. Would've taken teams of horses
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to pull it apart, but God tears it from top to bottom showing
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that the axis is open. The cross secured direct access
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to God. God, there's no more need for a
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curtain, and there is no more need for a high priest going in
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once a year. So to keep offering animal
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sacrifices in the Herodian temple after Jesus had already
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died on the cross and risen from the grave.
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It would be an abomination. It's an insult to the cross.
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It would be a public denial of the sufficiency of Christ's
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atonement. It would be telling God your
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son's blood wasn't enough. We still need the blood of this
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goat. Wow, the destruction of the
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physical stones in 8070 was God forcefully taking down the
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scaffolding. He's clearing the stage.
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He publicly forced humanity to look away from the physical
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altar and look exclusively to the resurrected Christ.
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Because our greatest need is the imputed righteousness of Christ,
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not a building in the Middle East, right?
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Not then and not today. OK, so let's bring this warning
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out of the 1st century and into the present day.
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Let's do it. What false refuge is is this
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text dismantling for the modern listener?
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Because, you know, we don't have a temple in Jerusalem offering
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animal sacrifices right now. Right, there's no massive altar.
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We don't have a gold plated building we are staring at.
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No, we do not. But the sin of externalism is
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alive and well. It just looks different.
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Human nature has not changed. This text exposes the idolatry
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of visible grandeur in contemporary religion.
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We fall into the exact same trap as the disciples.
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We really do. The modern church often measures
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the blessing of God by very pragmatic metrics.
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Like what? Well, we look at massive
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multimillion dollar campuses, highly produced music programs,
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huge budgets and packed auditoriums.
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The mega church model. Yeah, and we point to the
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flashing lights, the coffee shops in the lobby and the
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oppressive architecture, and we say, look at these wonderful
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stones. God must be here.
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We assume that size, influence and cultural relevance equal
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divide endorsement. Exactly.
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We think if the parking lot is full, God is pleased.
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But Christ cares nothing for architecture or institutional
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wealth. Not a bit.
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If the heart of the people is unregenerate, and if the true
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gospel is absent, the building is just an empty shell.
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A whitewashed tomb. A whitewashed tomb.
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Christ will abandoned a massive pragmatic mega church today just
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as quickly as he abandoned the Herodian temple if it lacks
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repentance and true faith. That is a sobering thought.
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We have to stop equating the metrics of corporate success
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with the presence of the Holy Spirit.
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That hits hard. It really forces a reevaluation
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of how we view our local churches and what we prioritize.
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Yes it does. Are we prioritizing the faithful
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preaching of the Word, or are we just trying to build a bigger,
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shinier building? Are we staring at the stones?
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Right. But let's bring this down even
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further to an individual level for you, the listener.
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Good idea. It's easy to critique a massive
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organization or a mega church. No, it's very easy to point the
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finger out there. Right.
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It is easy to spot religious hypocrisy on a grand scale, but
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how does this prophecy of falling stones apply to your own
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daily life? It applies directly because
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human nature dictates that we all build our own temples.
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We all have something we build our lives around.
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We construct false refuges that we trust to secure our identity
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and our safety before God. Give me an example.
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Well, for some it is the temple of their bank account and their
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financial portfolio. Stacking up dollars instead of
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stones. Exactly.
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They look at their accumulating wealth, their 401K, their
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property and they say look at these wonderful stones.
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I am secure, nothing can touch me.
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Maybe career achievement? Yes, the letters after their
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name, their promotions, or their social status in the community.
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Or even a moral resume. I think a lot of people build a
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temple out of their own good works.
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Oh absolutely, the temple of self righteousness.
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The Temple of I am a good person.
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I volunteer at the soup kitchen. I read my Bible every morning.
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I haven't committed any Major Crimes.
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I have a strong family heritage. Look at my spiritual stones.
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We stack up all these good deeds and we trust these external
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visible things to shield us from the judgement of God.
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We do. We stack the stones of our pride
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and our self righteousness, hoping they will somehow reach
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heaven. Like a modern Tower of Babel.
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Yeah, we try to build a tower of our own goodness, but the text
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declares that every single stone of human pride will fall.
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Every single one. The judgment of God will test
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the foundation of everything we build.
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The things of this world, the wealth, the status, the moral
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superiority are perishing. They won't last.
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They cannot withstand the holiness of God.
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The fire of His justice will melt the gold of our self
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righteousness just as surely as the Roman fires melted the gold
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on Herod's temple. That is a terrifying reality if
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you are trusting in yourself. It is we are called to abandon
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our reliance on anything we can build with our own hands.
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And it rests entirely in Christ's finished work.
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Entirely. So let's pull all of this
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together. OK, let's recap.
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We started with the departure of the King, the glory of God,
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walking away from a spiritually bankrupt system, leaving it
29:32
desolate. The Ichabod moment.
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We saw the distraction of the disciples, who were so easily
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blinded by the shiny gold and the mass of marble that they
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missed the judgement standing right in front of them.
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Trusting in the physical instead of the spiritual.
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We looked at the absolute, terrifying devastation of those
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stones, a prophecy fulfilled literally and brutally in 8070
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by the Roman army. The divine passive judgment of
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God. And we saw the fulfillment of
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the true temple in Jesus Christ, the only place where God and man
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are reconciled. The progression is clear and the
30:05
application is incredibly searching.
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It demands that we evaluate the foundation of our faith.
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Are we trusting in the shadow or are we trusting in the
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substance? So I want to leave you with a
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challenging thought to turn over in your mind long after you
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finish listening to this. Something to dwell on.
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We know from history and from Scripture that the physical
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world, the great architectural wonders and the empires of men
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will eventually crumble. They all fall.
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The stones of Herod fell, and every structure built on human
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pride will eventually meet the exact same fate.
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Amen. So what are you building your
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life upon today as a believer? Scripture calls you a living
30:43
stone being built into a spiritual house.
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First Peter, chapter 2. Are you resting securely on
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Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone whose Kingdom cannot
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be shaken? Or are you spending your days
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polishing the stones of a house that is already destined to
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fall? That is the question that
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decides eternity. Thank you for joining us for
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this deep dive on reformed thinking.
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Until next time, keep your eyes on the true temple.