The Olivet Discourse, 4

The Lord Jesus quotes from Isaiah 13:10 in Matthew 24:29. This gives us insight into what he is speaking about. He is using apocalyptic language, pulling back the curtain to show us what is really going on.

Isaiah 13:6 speaks about "The Day of the Lord," and as we read Isaiah 13:9-10, we get a picture of the end of the world, climaxing in Isaiah 13:13 with the violent shaking of the world. However, as we read further in the chapter, it is very clear that what is in view is the END OF THE WORLD FOR BABYLON. Isaiah 13:17-19 describes the fall of the great city to the Medes and Persians in 539 B.C.

When the Lord Jesus describes the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple with these words, what he is telling us is that A.D. 70 would not only mark the complete destruction of the Temple, it would begin the Jewish Dark Ages. Millions of Jews would die or be taken as slaves. It was the end of the world as they had known it.

When Israel returned from Babylonian Captivity, she set about to rebuild the destroyed Temple. When the foundation was laid, there was a great celebration, but there was also great lamentation on the part of those who remembered Solomon's magnificent Temple (Ezra 3:10-13).

God's glory had filled the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34) and Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 8:10-11), but there is no record of this happening with the Second Temple.

However, the Second Temple would be far grander than Solomon's (Haggai 2:6-9), and the reason for this is that the Lord himself would come to this Temple (Malachi 3:1). Our Lord Jesus Christ himself walked there. He is the substance, and what a privilege is ours (Hebrews 13:10).