• Original Article: https://www.noachide.ca/wiki/doku.php?id=the_prophecies_of_jesus#the_second_temple_will_be_destroyed
• Updated in 2024-01 with new information.

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

1 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”Matthew 24:1-2 (ESV)

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”Mark 13:1-2 (ESV)

Many upon hearing these words assume that the prophecy is with respect to the buildings of the temple itself. The charge then becomes what about the western wall, the guardhouse, and many other structures and walls left standing on the temple mount? Christians will often defend this by saying the walls or guardhouses don't count. As ironic as this statement is, new evidence suggests it is a response to a strawman.

When we analyze Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24:2 (and the same prophecy in the other Christian gospels) we see that special reference is made to the stones of the building using special language; this language is found to be a scriptural reference. An educated Jew of the 1st century would understand these references immediately however we in the modern day would not understand them upon hearing. Let us examine the scriptures to unravel the mystery of the Prophecy of the Destruction of the Temple, how Christians got it wrong, how Jesus's prophecy failed, and what this means for Christians and Jews everywhere.

• 1. As they were leaving the temple,
• 2. His disciples marveled at the stones of the buildings,
• 3. Jesus then said the stones and the buildings would be thrown down,
• 4. Such that none would be left upon another.

What would this mean to someone living in Jerusalem in the 1st century?

First, here is what the temple would have looked like back in the day:

As you can see, as they were leaving the temple they would have just left the area known as The Chamber of Hewn Stone. This chamber was located to the southeast of the Temple (near the pillars in the image) as can be seen on this model of Herod’s Temple Mount.

There were three places on the Temple Mount, mentioned in Mishnah Middot 5.4, where they used to meet over 1900 years ago. The most well-known location was the so-called Chamber of Hewn Stone. This chamber was located to the southeast of the Temple, as can be seen on this model of Herod’s Temple Mount (image included above)“The New Sanhedrin and the Temple Mount”
Leen Ritmeyer (2007)
https://www.ritmeyer.com/2007/03/11/the-new-sanhedrin-and-the-temple-mount/

Therefore, it would have been assumed that Jesus was fortelling not just the destruction of the temple, but the fall (the end) of the Sanhedrin.

This is not mere speculation. Jesus himself phrases the fall of the Sanhedrin in the same special language that he uses to refer to the stones of the temple!

43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down 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 19:41-46 (ESV)

In the article over Jesus and the Moneychangers it was explained which verses Jesus was referring to, however there is a third verse I will show here, from Ezekiel:

20 His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and they shall profane it. 22 I will turn my face from them, and they shall profane my treasured[g] place. Robbers shall enter and profane it.Ezekiel 7:20-22 (ESV)

Jesus is referring clearly to the Sanhedrin as robbers, in that they have attempted to rob the people of Jerusalem from the truth (by promoting the authority of the Chazal over the authority of Jesus as a 'messiah figure'). He is pointing out that this will not stand and that the chamber of hewn stone, the mightiest stones of the temple, will be thrown down. The double-ententre here of 'stoning the wicked' (stones being thrown down) is visible to the naked eye. Jesus' meaning was clear, and in-line with the accusation of idolatry neighboring in the cleansing of the temple, which is the punchline to this story and is not a separate event in the Christian New Testament.

• Other Destruction Prophecies
  • Jeremiah 26:18
  • Micah 3:12
  • 1 Kings 9:7-8 (why has the lord done this)
  • Daniel 9:26-27 (cut off)

Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. In those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she shall be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’ For thus says the LORD, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to prepare sacrifices continually.Jeremiah 33:14-18 (NASB)

It is ironic that the very prophecy Christians use to claim Messiahship by default (no one else showed up after the destruction of the first temple, therefore…) is the passage that brings their entire religion crumblind down around them. Why?

First, the western wall stands.

Second, the Pool of Siloam stands. https://www.ritmeyer.com/2024/01/15/the-pool-of-siloam/

Third, the flowing water chambers of the City of David stand.

Many other buildings stand. See the Ritmeyer links for images. There are a lot of resources over this now.

Also we have saved the best for last. A new Sanhedrin has been established in the modern day. The third temple is being rebuilt!

On October 13th 2006, 71 Jewish religious leaders re-established the ancient Sanhedrin. This used to be the supreme religious court that resided on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, prior to its destruction by the Romans in 70A.D. Many cities had smaller sanhedrins, but the Supreme Court in Jerusalem was called the Great Sanhedrin. It is this Great Sanhedrin that has now been re-established. There were three places on the Temple Mount, mentioned in Mishnah Middot 5.4, where they used to meet over 1900 years ago. The most well-known location was the so-called Chamber of Hewn Stone. This chamber was located to the southeast of the Temple, as can be seen on this model of Herod’s Temple Mount (image A)“The New Sanhedrin and the Temple Mount”
Leen Ritmeyer (2007)
https://www.ritmeyer.com/2007/03/11/the-new-sanhedrin-and-the-temple-mount/

21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.Deuteronomy 18:21-22 (ESV)

The rabbis say it was because of baseless hatred. Certainly this is true, but what do you think of this?

12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, 13 that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15 you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction,[c] all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17 None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, 18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.Deuteronomy 13:12-18 (ESV)

“I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 24:14)

The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, (Isaiah 14:24)