Destruction of Jerusalem's Temple (not one stone left upon another) (Mat 24:2)
This phrase "not one stone left upon another" is found in Mat 24:2
Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
A similar saying of Jesus is also in Mark 13:2; and Luke 21:6
These are all parallel accounts of the same event but written in different books of Matthew, Mark, Luke.
The Context for this phrase is Mat 24:1-25; Mk 13:1-33; Luke 17:20-37; 19:41-44; 21:5-36.
The phrase is a continuation from Mat 23:37-38 where Jesus said the Temple in Jerusalem will be desolate / destroyed.
In Mat 24:1 The disciples of Jesus boasted to Jesus about how magnificent the Temple is. In fact, they were right. This Temple was rebuilt by King Herod (a puppet leader of the Roman empire).
If you think the Solomon's temple (1st temple) is beautiful and magnificent, Herod's temple was even more and much more. But you only read of the Presence of God descending upon Solomon's temple was because they brought the Ark of the Covenant into Solomon's temple. After the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Solomon's temple, all the artifacts of the temple were carted away including the Ark. Until today the Ark was never found, even though there are many speculations where the Ark is today.
So the Presence of God was not in Zerubabbel's temple and not in Herod's temple because there was NO Ark there, and idolatry practices were performed inside. Some called Herod's temple (2nd temple) an extension of Zerubabbel's temple. They were only practicing Judaism rituals like burning sacrifices and celebrating the Feasts of Israel in these temples, and giving a form of importance to the Levitical priesthood organization.
In many historian writings including that of Flavius Josephus (a key Roman historian of Jewish descent), they wrote about the walls of the temple were lined with gold, precious material, and the huge effort by Herod to produce a magnificent temple.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus
So, its no wonder the disciples who were Jews boasted about the beauty of the Temple to Jesus, but Jesus next statement in Mt 24:2 must have shocked them to speechlessness.
Mat 24:2...verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
It's like telling Malaysia, the Twin Towers will be thrown down until not one stone will be upon another. I am sure many will be in unbelief.
However, in the course of history, in AD70, the Roman General Titus (who later became emperor) lead a siege upon Jerusalem and ordered all the foundation stones of Jerusalem to be pulled out, after they had ransacked the city.
Why did Titus attacked Jerusalem? Why?
In AD66, the nations (or regions) around Judea (region surrounding Jerusalem), rose up to revolt against Roman rule in their land. One by one, all the military of these regions lost. Their final stronghold was to take over Jerusalem (a very important and significant city), and to use that to fight against the Romans. The nations took over Jerusalem by force, ransacked the city, and tortured the inhabitants, so that they can establish their military fortress to protect their interests. At that time, the general Vespasian together with his son (Titus), conquered the regions around Jerusalem. Then Vespasian went back to Rome to be crowned the next emperor, and Titus continued on with the attack on Jerusalem in AD70, so that Rome can crushed the rebellion completely. It was recorded that more than 1 million Jews lost their lives in this massacre. Now you understand why did Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem and ask his followers to flee to the hills of Judea and hide.
Jesus made that prediction / prophecy only about 40 years before Titus launched the attack. Many of those whom Jesus spoke to, witnessed the fulfillment of this prophecy.
Mat 23:36 Verily I say unto you, ALL these things shall come upon THIS generation.
Mat 23:38 Behold, your house (Temple of Jerusalem) is left unto you desolate.
Note: Jesus did not use my house, or my Father's house like in the past, but their house.
How did the Jewish audience responded? What went into their minds?
For many who know their scripture, they will remember:
Micah 3:9-12 which says that Jerusalem is to be destroyed due to the nature of their leadership. Jerusalem will be plowed like fields into heaps.
(I have heard Christians use Micah 3:9-12 against their church leaders because they didn't like them. They told their leaders God is going to destroy their church because of their leadership. This is a total wrong interpretation of scripture, and a wrong attitude in heart).
Mat 24:2 Jesus is telling His disciples, don't you see these things? don't you comprehend?
Q: How can they see? How can they comprehend?
A: They can only see if they know their Old Testament (Torah and writings of their minor prophets) or with a special revelation by God's Holy Spirit.
Jesus is enlightening them, by bringing them to SEE God's timeline and what is going to happen to them in THAT generation.
Critics will say: Ah ha...! you are wrong. If you go to Jerusalem today, you will still see part of the Jerusalem Western Wall (today it is called Wailing Wall).
We can argue till "the cows come home", but to say "not one stone left upon another" is a metaphor that means the buildings will be torn down, destroyed and left uninhabited. History tells us that Jerusalem was uninhabited for the next 200 years after AD70.
What is a metaphor?
A metaphor is a phrase or symbol in the Aramaic/Hebrew culture or language to mean a natural happening or event of significance. The Jewish culture is full of metaphors.
For example:
Psalms 50:10 says God owns the cattle in a thousand hills.
Q: Does that mean He doesn't own those on the thousand and one hill, or the thousand and two hill?
A: No. It means God owns everything on all the hills inclusive.
Modern English metaphor: He is the black sheep of the family.
Does that mean he is black, and he is a sheep... Hahaha. Of course not.
So "not one stone upon another" is a fulfillment that the buildings of Jerusalem and the Temple will be destroyed, even though part of the Western Wall still stands.
See my write-up on Aramaic idioms and metaphors:
AND this is going to happen to the Jews in THAT generation (those who are alive at that time).
Very interestingly, the Pharisees fulfilled these words in Mat 27:24-25, in front of Pontius Pilate, when they said "Let the blood of Jesus be upon them and their children" (not their future generations - of grand children and great great grand children and definitely not those in the 21st century).
This was to fulfill the prophecy of Jesus in Mat 23:36.
The history as recorded by the Roman historian Flavius Josephus confirms this.
Did Josephus confirm the events that happened?
Can we trust the words of Josephus?
Of course, we can trust his writings. If not how are we going to understand ancient history. It is a similar comparison on how we understand World War 1 and World War 2, by reading the history books about them. Were we alive during WW1 and WW2.? Were the people who lived during WW1 alive today to tell us life witness accounts? No, we depend on reputable history books.
Who is Flavius Josephus?
Josephus was born a Jew and lived from AD37 to AD100.
His original name was Yosef ben Matityahu.
In his youth days in AD66, he was part of the rebellion that fought against the Romans trying to free their land from the Roman empire. He was the leader given the task to defend Galilee, but alas, he failed and was captured. Most of his military men died in battle, but General Vespasian kept him because of his many talents especially the languages that he knew. He grew in favor with Vespasian who kept him as a close aide and friend, and later he changed his name to Flavius Josephus and became a Roman citizen.
See: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Flavius-Josephus
After the complete fall of Jerusalem around AD75, Josephus wrote the book called "The Jewish War" or "History of the Jewish War". In it, he recorded how the Romans wage war on Jerusalem from AD66-AD70.
Note that Josephus was a historian and was NOT writing scripture or the bible. He was just recording events as it was happening for the Roman cultured library. It was an unbiased historical account. He lived through those events and 5 years after it had happened, he began to put it in writing.
It was a very fresh perspective, still vividly present in his memory. He was not a Jesus supporter so he couldn't be writing just to fulfill the prophecies of Jesus.
An excerpt from his book: "The Works of Flavius Josephus Vol.1" regarding the Jerusalem of that day states:
[Caesar gave orders to demolish the entire city of Jerusalem and the Temple, but to leave the towers standing for eminency (prominence)... The Wall surrounding the West side, to be spared to set up camp for garrison (army). the towers were spared to show posterity the type of city it was, and how well fortified it was, and the might of the Romans in subduing it. The rest of the walls and the foundation stones are to be upturned that those who looked at it will think it is uninhabited.]
History tells us there were so much damage in Jerusalem that it took almost 200 years before the city recovered from the Roman Siege.
Another prominent British historian and theologian F.F. Bruce (1911 - 1900) researched and wrote about the siege of Jerusalem in AD70.
[Accordingly, in April AD70, Titus invaded Jerusalem. As the Siege was on, the horrors and famine, even cannibalism were added to the hazards of the war. But the defenders had no thought of capitulating (ceasing to resist).
Titus, using Josephus as interpreter, urged them to surrender which is to their advantage... On 24th July AD70, the Romans captured the fortress of Antonia. 12 days later, the daily temple sacrifices were discontinued. On 27th August AD70, the temple gates were burnt. On 29th August (the anniversary of the destruction of the 1st Temple by the Babylonians in 587BC), the Sanctuary itself was set on fire and destroyed.
By 26th Sept AD70, the whole city was in Titus hands. It was razed to the ground. Only 3 towers of Herod's palace and the Western Wall was left standing in part.]
See my blog on the temples of Jerusalem:
https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2020/04/did-jerusalem-have-2-or-3-temples.html
Listen to the Siege of Jerusalem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y741QbT1YEo
(updated March 2022)
