Mark 13:1-2 "And as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples saith unto Him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
An interesting and surprising response from Jesus to His disciples' declarations of admiration regarding the temple. And, yet, it happened just as Jesus said it would.
God's Word is true and sure and we can count on it. It's been tried and tested and scrutinized like no other literary work.
During the time of Jesus, the temple was one of the wonders of the ancient world. It took over fifty years to construct.
Josephus, an historian during this time, records some of the stones being forty-seven feet long, eight feet high and twelve feet thick. The prophecy of Jesus seemed unbelievable and impossible, until archaeological excavations unearthed tremendous cornerstones approximately thirty-five feet long, about six feet high and eight feet thick. It is estimated that these stones weigh up to four hundred tons. While in Israel, I stood beside these stones and was amazed at how each stone was so perfectly hewn and carved so perfectly smooth that they required no mortar and laid flat one stone upon another where a knife could not be inserted between two stones. It is still not know how these stones were moved into place. The temple was then adorned with gold.
So, as the disciples were coming out of the temple, they noticed these huge stones and the marvelous building that was constructed by Herod, and pointed it out to the Lord. Jesus' response to the disciples must have surprised them. However, some forty years later, when Titus came in and conquered Jerusalem, the temple came under attack. Titus ordered the temple not to be destroyed, but to leave it intact. However, some of the drunken Roman soldiers began to shoot flaming arrows toward the temple and it caught on fire. The gold in the temple began to melt under the intense heat of the fire and the melting gold dripped down filling the cracks in and between the stones. In order to gather the melting gold, the Roman troops dismantled the temple, stone by stone, until not one stone was left standing upon another stone, fulfilling the prophesy of Jesus.
Today in the Teropian Valley in Jerusalem you can look down into the excavations and see where they have dug all the way down to the Roman road which was there at the time of Christ. And on that Roman road, you can see huge stones lying broken from being pushed over from the Temple Mount. And as you see these stones lying on that road you are witnessing the fulfillment of what Jesus predicted when He said, "Not one stone was left standing upon another."
God's Word is sure and I believe that we need to pay close attention to what God's Word, the Bible, says and how it applies to our lives. It is my prayer that you read the Bible everyday and that you might grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
An interesting and surprising response from Jesus to His disciples' declarations of admiration regarding the temple. And, yet, it happened just as Jesus said it would.
God's Word is true and sure and we can count on it. It's been tried and tested and scrutinized like no other literary work.
During the time of Jesus, the temple was one of the wonders of the ancient world. It took over fifty years to construct.
Josephus, an historian during this time, records some of the stones being forty-seven feet long, eight feet high and twelve feet thick. The prophecy of Jesus seemed unbelievable and impossible, until archaeological excavations unearthed tremendous cornerstones approximately thirty-five feet long, about six feet high and eight feet thick. It is estimated that these stones weigh up to four hundred tons. While in Israel, I stood beside these stones and was amazed at how each stone was so perfectly hewn and carved so perfectly smooth that they required no mortar and laid flat one stone upon another where a knife could not be inserted between two stones. It is still not know how these stones were moved into place. The temple was then adorned with gold.
So, as the disciples were coming out of the temple, they noticed these huge stones and the marvelous building that was constructed by Herod, and pointed it out to the Lord. Jesus' response to the disciples must have surprised them. However, some forty years later, when Titus came in and conquered Jerusalem, the temple came under attack. Titus ordered the temple not to be destroyed, but to leave it intact. However, some of the drunken Roman soldiers began to shoot flaming arrows toward the temple and it caught on fire. The gold in the temple began to melt under the intense heat of the fire and the melting gold dripped down filling the cracks in and between the stones. In order to gather the melting gold, the Roman troops dismantled the temple, stone by stone, until not one stone was left standing upon another stone, fulfilling the prophesy of Jesus.
Today in the Teropian Valley in Jerusalem you can look down into the excavations and see where they have dug all the way down to the Roman road which was there at the time of Christ. And on that Roman road, you can see huge stones lying broken from being pushed over from the Temple Mount. And as you see these stones lying on that road you are witnessing the fulfillment of what Jesus predicted when He said, "Not one stone was left standing upon another."
God's Word is sure and I believe that we need to pay close attention to what God's Word, the Bible, says and how it applies to our lives. It is my prayer that you read the Bible everyday and that you might grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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