A New Temple

The Hebrew month of Av begins Sunday night, July 7th, and Jews will mourn through the final nine day of The Three Weeks of grief that began with the Fast of Tammuz and end with Tisha b’Av—the day commemorating the destruction of the Jewish temples.

All public transportation will be silenced, all restaurants will remain closed in Jerusalem the evening of July 15th as the sun sets. The Hebrew day of great tragedies, Tisha b’Av, will begin at sundown. In remembrance of the destruction of both the First and Second Temple on the 9th of Av hundreds of years apart, tens of thousands of Jews will gather at the Western Wall to pray and petition the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Jewish hearts around the world will long in unison for the future Temple, the one to be established when the Messiah comes.

The Temple Mount

These next weeks, Jews look toward the Temple Mount with even more longing than normal. Israel has technically controlled the Temple Mount since the Six-Day War in 1967, but the Waqf, a Muslim council, manages the site. The Temple Mount is noticeably dominated by the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Israeli law is supposed to protect free access to the site, but the Israeli government enforces a ban on any non-Muslim prayer on the site in order to avoid Muslim riots.

East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount have been points of major contention in past efforts to negotiate a two-state agreement. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, and the Jews do not want to give up this location that is so precious to Judaism. The world would never expect the Muslims to hand over control of the Kaaba in Mecca in order to keep peace, but the Jews are not free to worship on their holiest site because they fear Muslim violence.

Tisha b’Av

Many disasters have befallen the Jews on the 9th of Av throughout history. According to Jewish tradition, this was the day that God told the Children of Israel they were prohibited from entering the Promised Land because of disbelief. They were forced to wander in the desert forty more years until that adult generation had died out. That tragic day was just the beginning…

On the 9th of Av in:

• 586 BC, Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, and the Babylonian captivity began;
• AD 70, the Second Temple, which stood during Christ’s ministry, was destroyed by the Romans precisely as Jesus predicted in Luke 19;
• AD 135, the famous Bar Kokhba revolt was squelched when Bethar, the last Jewish stronghold, fell to the Romans;
• AD 136, the Roman Emperor Hadrian established a heathen temple to Jupiter on the site of the Jewish Temple. Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city, and renamed the land as Palestina, to distance its Jewish heritage. The date when the Temple area was plowed under by the Romans was the 9th of Av.

The day has continued to be associated with grief for the Jewish people throughout history. For example, Pope Urban II declared the Crusades on the 9th of Av in 1242. According to the Alhambra Decree, the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 on this day (the same day that Columbus left on his westward route to the Indies). On the 9th of Av in 1942, the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto were mass deported to the Treblinka extermination camp in Poland. Thus the 9th of Av, Tisha B’Av, has become a symbol of all the persecutions and misfortunes of the Jewish people, for the loss of their national independence and their sufferings in exile. Above all, it is a day of intense mourning for the destruction of the Temple.

A Day of Mourning… And Future Joy

Tisha b’Av is marked with sadness and fasting from food and drink. Observant Jews avoid bathing or washing clothes or enjoying entertainment like music or movies. On this day the Jews are reminded of their tragic history.

Yet, this day is also expressly linked with Israel’s glorious destiny. The Jews also look forward to the ultimate rebuilding of the Temple, to a time when Tisha b’Av will become a day of joy and gladness (as it was foretold in Zechariah 8:19).

We do know that the Temple will be rebuilt because Jesus, John, and Paul all make reference to it (Matt 24:15; Rev 11:1, 2; 2 Thess 2:4). We also know that a future Temple will be desecrated by the Coming World Leader when he sets himself up to be worshiped (2 Thess 2:3–4). It is possible this prophetic event will also take place on Tisha b’Av—and may happen in the not-too-distant future.

The Antidote for Dread

Waking up in this world in which we live can sometimes be overwhelming.  One turns on the news to learn of the latest massacre of school children, shooters in the Mall or the theater, and the death of loved ones to disease and accidents.  Sometimes it seems to be too much and sense of dread begins to permeate one's thinking.  How can we live in a world with such darkness?

Long ago a very wise man wrote these words in the Book of Proverbs:

29Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

30would have none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof,

31therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way and be sated with their own devices.

32For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacence of fools destroys them;

33but he who listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of evil."

Proverbs 1: 29-33

We are given a choice.  Every day we get to decide to whom we will listen.  The beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord.  There is one who is righteous and someday he will judge each of us by our deeds.  This is not designed to be a threat. In fact, it is good news!  Because if we choose to live our life in the belief of a Creator God who loves us, who made us in his image, who conquered death and wants us to spend eternity with Him we can be "at ease, without dread of evil".  Today I am choosing to begin my day with the fear of the Lord.  I am rejoicing in the midst of all the sorrow and lament that evil can muster.  On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.

Sons and Daughters

The Book of Acts picks up where the gospels stop. In the first chapter of  Acts we read about how the apostles returned to Jerusalem after witnessing Jesus's ascension into heaven.  In the 14th verse we understand that the apostles devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.  I can imagine the questions that they might have asked of his mother?  Did you know?  Did he appear to her after his Resurrection? We can only imagine.  When the day of Pentecost arrives, Peter begins announcing the good news to the world for the very first time.  Peter quotes the prophet Joel in Acts 2:14:

And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; ¹⁸ yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.  

The order of the new kingdom is going to be different from the old establishment.  God chooses whom he wishes to gift. It is a time of new wine skins.   Notice the emphasis upon "all flesh".  In the kingdom of God there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, slave or free, or male or female....we all become one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28.  Even in our own culture we males sometimes forget that it has been less than a century in our American history since the 19th Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote.  Throughout most of recorded world history, women were considered property, along with slaves.  But, in Peter's announcement, one sees that God chooses both males and females as vessels of his Holy Spirit. And the claim is that "they shall prophesy".  So one should conclude that God will give gifts of his His Spirit to both sons and daughters. What we need are more male leaders who are spiritually cognizant of recognizing spiritual gifts and encouraging their use within the body by all male and female members. This is how the body is built up by all members.

There are many churches whom do not recognize the gifts of women after the Holy Spirit has parceled those out.  Those who fail to use their spiritual gifts grieve the Holy Spirit.  I am proud to be part of a church which gives women a voice in the worship service. We recognize that for some members for whom this is a matter of conscience, we offer traditional services which are  led by males only.  But, we also offer far more inclusive worship services which gives godly women whom God has chosen to gift with spiritual abilities the opportunity to stand up and participate in worship.

Rocking the Cradle

When God wants to accomplish a great work he often chooses a helpless baby.  He molds and shapes that child and calls that grown man or woman to the work that he has prepared.  Often such people are nurtured by mothers whose hearts are God touched in special ways to impart just what that child will need in the future in terms of words, values and feelings. It is often been said that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.  But, rocking the cradle is hard work.  While it is not mother's day yet, the power of parenting is illustrated by many Biblical examples.

Jochebed lived during a time of male infanticide while she was a slave in Egypt. Not unlike today where we live in a world where human life is treated as a mere choice rather than something sacred, Pharaoh commanded that all the male children born of the Hebrews were to be cast into the Nile. Exodus 1:22.  She hid her child for 3 months but she could no longer keep him at home. So she placed her infant child, Moses, in an ark made of bulrushes and placed it by a riverbank.  I read a recent story about a modern day village in Africa where villagers kept disappearing.  They organized a search team and discovered a 2500 lb crocodile pictured below.

Can you imagine leaving your infant son along a river with creatures such as these?  But, God was watching.  Pharaoh's daughter found the child and took the baby to the palace and ended up hiring Jochebed to nurse him in his early years. (Exodus 2: 1-10)

In the same manner, Hannah, after much prayer asking God for a son, gave birth to Samuel.  She nursed him until he was old enough to give him back to the Lord for service in the tabernacle.  I Samuel 1:1-28. Elizabeth, in her advanced age, conceived a special child, John the Baptist, and brought him up with a love for God.  Luke 1:5-25.  Timothy was nurtured in the faith by a godly grandmother, Lois, and a mother. (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15).  These are just a few of the many examples of how mothers instilled in their children the truth of God's revelation which laid a foundation for God to use such people years later.  Solomon said it well: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6.    The rocking of the cradle needs to be bathed in the sharing of Bible stories and inspiring prayer. Some say that more than half of a person's intelligence and personality are developed by the age of five.  A mother's love is one of the most potent forces of nature on this earth.  Never underestimate the importance of those who rock the cradle.

Resurrection

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth;  and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then from my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Job 19: 25-27

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most powerful event in history.  One cannot be a historian without acknowledging the shock waves that this one event imprinted upon the history of the world.  Indeed, we divide history by the life of this one who claims to be the Messiah.  The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:12-22 that without the resurrection of Jesus the Christian faith is useless:

Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; ¹⁴ if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷ If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.¹⁹ If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. ²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 

There are skeptics who disregard the resurrection of Jesus and treat it as fable.  However, the evidence for the resurrection is extremely strong.  

1. The Empty Tomb.  Though well-trained Roman soldiers guarded the tomb of Jesus, it was empty 3 days after his death as Jesus had repeatedly foretold.  Matt. 12:40; Mark 8:31. The guards had fled (a death penalty offense).  The massive stone had been rolled away and the body was gone.  His body was never produced by his enemies.  The linen grave clothes in which he had been buried were still in the tomb undisturbed.  Even the Jewish historian, Josephus, to the 5th century Jewish writings called the "Toledoth Jeshu" admit that the tomb was empty.  The body was never found.
2. Living Witnesses.  There were a multitude of witnesses who saw Jesus alive after his death.  The disciples, the travelers on the road to Emmaus and a number of women all spoke to Jesus.  Thomas doubted until he was able to put his fingers into Jesus' wounds (John 20: 26-27).  He later spread the gospel all the way to India.  The apostle Paul tells of 500 people to whom Jesus appeared at one time, most of whom were still alive and available for questioning when Paul wrote his letter to the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 15:6). How do we do know something is true today.  If multiple witnesses corroborate an event by their testimony in a courtroom, we accept that evidence as fact.  Jesus was seen alive many times by hundreds of different people over the course of forty days after his death.  (John 20-21, Acts 1:3).
3. The Disciples.  Jesus' followers who had been fearful and ran away when he was arrested were completely changed after the resurrection and became courageous witnesses.  Peter, whom had denied knowing Jesus to a simple servant girl, became the powerfully bold leader of those who had seen Christ alive and spoke to thousands gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost).  Someone may die for a lie if they do not know it is a lie.  But, people do not give their lives up and face severe persecution to spread a lie that they themselves invented.  The fact that the disciples willing suffered beatings and persecution and death is strong evidence that they actually witnessed the resurrection.  They simply refused to quit telling the story.
4. Saul of Tarsus.  A devoutly religious Pharisee, who persecuted the church and had followers of Jesus thrown into prison, had his life absolutely changed by an encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus.  He became a devoted follower of Christ spreading the gospel throughout Turkey and Greece in  the face of beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonment and finally his execution.

F.F. Bruce wrote "If the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt".

Even Job, through all his trials and tribulations, foretells his faith in His Redeemer whom shall "stand upon the earth" and gives him hope of his bodily resurrection when he shall God!  

Palm Sunday

 ²⁹ When he drew near to Beth'phage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, ³⁰ saying, "Go into the village opposite, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If any one asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' you shall say this, 'The Lord has need of it.'" ³² So those who were sent went away and found it as he had told them. ³³ And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying the colt?" ³⁴ And they said, "The Lord has need of it." ³⁵ And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt they set Jesus upon it. ³⁶ And as he rode along, they spread their garments on the road. ³⁷ As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, ³⁸ saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" ³⁹ And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." ⁴⁰ He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." ⁴¹ And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, ⁴² saying, "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, ⁴⁴ and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation." ⁴⁵ And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, ⁴⁶ saying to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers."   Luke 19: 29-46




When Jesus dispatched his two disciples to go ahead of him and to retrieve the colt, he knew exactly what he was doing.  This day as he entered Jerusalem was the fulfillment of prophecy.  The people knew exactly what he was doing.  The term for the colt was "kyrios"...the same term used for Caesar in the ancient world. This is his proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah.  It was a political statement as well.  The Pharisees seeing the crowd's reactions were fearful of the Romans interceding in "their" city.  The waving of the palm branches was a symbol of rebellion.  The palm leaf had been the symbol of the Maccabees who revolted against the tyranny of the Hellenistic rulers who had preceded the Romans.  This was a national call to arms and was a call for the liberation of Jerusalem from the pagan Romans.  And, the response of Jesus to the Pharisees is telling.  If these people did not proclaim him as Messiah the very stones would cry out to proclaim the message that God had entered His Holy City on that day on the back of a colt.


As Jesus ascends the path upward from the valley between the Mount of Olives and the Temple mount we know what the people were singing.  It was the victory cry of Psalms 118:1-4:


¹ O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever! ² Let Israel say, "His steadfast love endures for ever." ³ Let the house of Aaron say, "His steadfast love endures for ever." ⁴ Let those who fear the LORD say, "His steadfast love endures for ever."


Yet, the reaction of Jesus as he first glimpses the sight of the city in the midst of all the rock star celebration around him is to "weep".  His tears were not for himself.  Yes, he knew he was going to die outside of that City a week later.  Those same voices proclaiming him as Messiah would turn into cries of "Crucify Him...Crucify Him".  That is the way of the Mob.  They can sing one's praises one day; and, call for one's death on a cross later.  Jesus was crying for Jerusalem because he knew of the desolation of abomination that would befall the city in 70 A.D. when it would be completely destroyed by the Romans.  Today the "wailing wall" in Jerusalem is the only remnant left of the temple Mount to this very day.  Jesus proclaimed that the temple would be rebuilt in three days.  His resurrection on the third day is a fulfillment of that prophecy.  His body...the church is His holy temple for now.  But, I don't think that the Lord is done just yet with his plans for Jerusalem.  The story continues.  Today let us celebrate the triumphal entry over 2000 years ago.  But, what we really are celebrating is the Triumphal return of the Messiah when He comes again!   For that, we watch and we wait.  Maranatha.

Why do we seek Him?

  When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ²⁷ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal."   John 6:25-27

John begins his gospel by defining Jesus as the "Word" ("logos") which became flesh. (1:14). It was through the word of God that all things were made in creation as God spoke the world into existence.  Then in the backwater of Judea appears one known as John the Baptist.  The locals recognize him as a prophet and went out into the wilderness to find him.  We discover that he is a first cousin of Jesus.  He proclaims Jesus as the lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world.  By Chapter 6 Jesus has learned of his cousin's death at the hands of King Herod.  Jesus, in turn, goes into the wilderness and the crowds follow him.  He feeds them miraculously while teaching them that he is the bread of heaven.  He sends his disciples on ahead of him to escape the crowds and catches up with them at night during a storm. This is when Peter receives his "baptism" after walking on the water.  They arrive at Genneserat in the morning and the crowds follow with the sick all the way to Capernaum. Perhaps Jesus was still grieving the loss of his cousin.  One can sense the frustration of his being hounded by those who want physical healing and satisfaction. By verse 66 many of them found his words to be so harsh, that they left.  Perhaps that was the Master's intention?  To thin out the crowds of those whose only interest is on "my needs".  Perhaps he was looking for disciples who could discern the spiritual needs over the physical.   I think this is the key to his discourse.  At the end, he asks them if they are willing to go with him?  The response of Peter is one of my favorite passages.  Perhaps Peter was still drying out from his previous night's experience of being wet behind the ears?  But Peter seems to get it:

 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life;  and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."       

John 6: 68-69

This is the precursor to Peter's great confession in Matthew 16 and Mark 8.  And, I think it is the path of faith for all disciples.  When we have tried everything else and it has failed, where else is one going to go?  Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and his righteousness.  When we can call upon him as both Lord and Savior, we are no longer bystanders watching from the cheap seats.  We are in the game with Him.  When we begin to grasp that we labor for the food that does not perish, we gain more than a ticket to heaven.  We get to join God on His journey where we discover that it is not about us.  It is the road less traveled and it is the narrow gate. But, it is confirmed in one's heart by the seal set upon each child of God by our Father in heaven.  It is so worth it!