“70 years,” God told Israel–they would be captive in Babylon. They departed Babylon–precisely on the 70th year (Prophecy 195).
Exactly 70 years after the command to rebuild the second temple at Jerusalem, Jesus predicted this temple would be destroyed (Prophecy 301).
In 70 A.D., Titus destroyed the second temple at Jerusalem. Jesus had predicted its total destruction, just 38 years before, by the words: “not one stone shall be left upon another.”
The first temple was destroyed on August 9th
The second temple was also destroyed on August 9th.
David predicted in Psalm 118 that the Messiah would arrive on the earth and come to the second temple.
Jesus arrived at the temple in Jerusalem, on April 6, 32 A.D, precisely the date that Daniel the prophet had predicted His arrival in Chapter 9 of the book of Daniel–700 years before (Prophecy 309).
The facts surrounding the first two temples at Jerusalem, are truly stunning. We observe a supernatural engineering of time, events, people, and circumstance–placed in order, so that the building and destruction of the first two temples in Israel would be conducted according to a specific plan that God had determined. As-if the Creator of the universe was purposely designing these events so that He might show the world His ability to control and orchestrate every event of history–to fulfill His plans and purposes for mankind.
According to David: The second Temple will be standing when the Messiah arrives.
Psalms 118:26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
When Jesus arrived on the specific day that Daniel had predicted, Matthew records the following events:
Matthew 21:9-12 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!” And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.
The certainty that Psalm 118:26 is Messianic, is understood by David as he writes these words to the Messiah: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!”
When we see the term: “LORD” in the Old Testament, it is the designation for “Jehovah,” or “Yahweh.” Not that the Messiah is coming in the name of God, as His representative, but that He will be: Jehovah or Yahweh, the Eternal God.
David is making it clear that this Messiah who is coming to His temple at Jerusalem, is also God.
By David’s words from Psalm 118:26, we understand that the second temple will be standing: “We have blessed you from the house of the LORD,” which will be recited by those who see Him, at His arrival, during the time of the second temple.
As David describes the coming of the Messiah, Malachi adds: He will come suddenly to His temple (Prophecy 361).
Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple…
The first temple in Jerusalem was built in 957 B.C. by king Solomon, who reigned from 970 B.C. to 930 B.C.[1]
The Second temple in Jerusalem was ordered rebuilt in 537 B.C. by Cyrus. However, it was not until the passage of an additional 17 years, that his command was followed and the actual construction began in 520 B.C.[2] The “Desolations of Israel” ended on December 17, 520 B.C., seven days later on the 24th day of the 9th month (December) of the 2nd year of Darius, the King of Persia, according to Haggai 2:18-19, the Temple Foundation was laid. Three years later, in 517 B.C., the second temple was completed. See the chart in Prophecy 309 for the specific details.
In 175 B.C., Antiochus Epiphanes became the king, replacing his older brother who ruled for just one year.[3] The Jews rebelled against his strict laws, outlawing the Sabbath and the rite of circumcision. In 167 B.C., Antiochus Epiphanes erected a statue of the Greek God, Zeus, in the Holy place of the temple and thereby committed the first incidence of the abomination of desolation (Prophecy 312).[4]
According to 2 Maccabees:
“When these happenings were reported to the king, he thought that Judea was in revolt. Raging like a wild animal, he set out from Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm. He ordered his soldiers to cut down without mercy those whom they met and to slay those who took refuge in their houses. There was a massacre of young and old, a killing of women and children, a slaughter of virgins and infants. In the space of three days, eighty thousand were lost, forty thousand meeting a violent death, and the same number being sold into slavery.”[5]
“Not long after this the king sent an Athenian senator to force the Jews to abandon the customs of their ancestors and live no longer by the laws of God; also to profane the temple in Jerusalem and dedicate it to Olympian Zeus, and that on Mount Gerizim to Zeus the Hospitable, as the inhabitants of the place requested…They also brought into the temple things that were forbidden, so that the altar was covered with abominable offerings prohibited by the laws. A man could not keep the sabbath or celebrate the traditional feasts, nor even admit that he was a Jew. At the suggestion of the citizens of Ptolemais, a decree was issued ordering the neighboring Greek cities to act in the same way against the Jews: oblige them to partake of the sacrifices, and put to death those who would not consent to adopt the customs of the Greeks. It was obvious, therefore, that disaster impended. Thus, two women who were arrested for having circumcised their children were publicly paraded about the city with their babies hanging at their breasts and then thrown down from the top of the city wall. Others, who had assembled in nearby caves to observe the sabbath in secret, were betrayed to Philip and all burned to death.”[6]
This defilement of the second temple in Jerusalem was an earlier fulfillment from Daniel’s prophecy of the final seven years, when the antichrist will also erect a statue of himself in the newly rebuilt—third temple at Jerusalem and command all the world to worship him as God.[7] In 167 B.C., the Jews rose up in rebellion against Antiochus Epiphanes and the Seleucid rule, with Mattathias and his five sons, winning the freedom of the Jews. Judas Maccabeus—the son of Mattathias—called The Hammer, rededicated the temple in 165 B.C.[8] The Jews began the celebration of Hanukkah as a result of this victory, and continue this celebration to the present day.
In 54 B.C., the second temple was again desecrated by Crassus.[9]
In 20 B.C., Herod the Great renovated the second temple, which was known at the time of Jesus as “Herod’s Temple.”[10]
It is this second Temple that the Messiah would come, in fulfillment of this 150th Prophecy, from Psalms 118:26.
After Jesus was rejected by Israel as the Messiah, He predicted the total destruction of the second Temple, within one generation. Only 38 years later, in 70 B.C., Jesus’ prediction was fulfilled.[11]
In 70 A.D., the Roman army under Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple, fulfilling the 12th prophecy of Jesus that not one stone will be left upon another.[12]
One of the amazing facts concerning both the first and second Temples: both were destroyed on the exact same day of the month.
1. The first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians on August 9th of 586 B.C.
2. The second Temple was also destroyed on August 9th of 70 A.D (called Tisha B’Av)
The Bible reveals that there are still two remaining Temples that will be built on the Temple Mount site at Jerusalem:
The Third Temple will be built by the antichrist in the first three years of the seven-year Tribulation, the exact amount of time that it took to build the second temple.[13]
The Fourth Temple, the Millennial Temple, will be built by Jesus during His one thousand-year reign over the earth. It is this temple that is the subject of Prophecy 326 and Prophecy 332.
Psalm 118 is unmistakably written in expectation of the coming Messiah. Contained within this Psalm is the language that is recognized as predictive of the Messiah’s arrival. The very expression described in this Psalm—Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord—were the actual words spoken by the people in response to Jesus’ arrival at Jerusalem. When Jesus was rejected a Jerusalem as the Messiah, He told the people that they would not see Him again until they said these words to Him again:
Luke 13:35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ”
Jesus is saying that He will not return the second time until the Jews are ready to receive Him as their Messiah, and recognize Him as Jehovah, the eternal God. Their understanding of who He is, at His second coming, is observed by their statement: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
This will take place upon Jesus return to the earth, at the end of the seven year Tribulation.[14]
The Messiah’s first arrival, occurred on Nissan 10, the first Palm Sunday before His crucifixion on Nissan 14, 32 A.D.
There is a second possible meaning of Psalms 118 verse 26: those who will receive the Messiah at His first arrival—will be blessed, because the Messiah is coming as their God, to be the Savior of all who will believe. When Jesus returns the second time, at the end of the seven year Tribulation, Israel will finally understand who Jesus is and “mourn for Him, whom they had pierced.”
Prophecy 354, Prophecy 355. Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
The final detail of verse 26: this blessing at the time of the Messiah’s second arrival will come from the third Temple at Jerusalem.
Prophecy 361 predicts that the Messiah will come suddenly to His Temple.
Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts.
This prophecy of Malachi, also appears to have an earlier fulfillment by Jesus: at his first appearance on the earth as the Messiah; and will be fulfilled a second time: at His appearance on the earth: at the end of the seven year Tribulation.
This second Temple—where Jesus appeared during His first coming to earth, was destroyed 32 years after His Crucifixion and Resurrection, in 70 A.D., by Titus and the Roman army.
This second temple was not rebuilt until the Jews returned from their 70 years of exile in Babylon. The laying of the foundation for the second temple took place on the original site of the first temple, in the seventh month of Tishri (September), which was the second year of the Jews’ return to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.
Ezra 3:1-2 And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
Ezra 3:8 Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the LORD.
Ezra 3:10-11 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
The temple was completed in the month of Adar (February-March), the last month of the year in the Jewish calendar. This happened in the sixth year of the reign of Darius, the king of the Medes, in 517 B.C., twenty-two years after the foundation was laid (See the chart in Prophecy 309).
Ezra 6:12-15 And may the God who causes His name to dwell there destroy any king or people who put their hand to alter it, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius issue a decree; let it be done diligently. Then Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-boznai, and their companions diligently did according to what King Darius had sent. So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. Now the temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
Recap:
537 B.C., Command to rebuild the second temple.
32 A.D., Jesus predicts the destruction of the second temple.
537 B.C
32 A.D.
+1 for the change from B.C., to A.D.
70 Years
70 years after the command to rebuild the second temple, Jesus predicts the destruction of the second temple. The second temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.
It was 70 years that God ordered Israel to go into captivity in Babylon. See the charts and details of Prophecy 309.
Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
A Remarkable prophecy—a remarkable Messiah
Jesus came to Jerusalem as the promised Messiah and is proclaimed the King of the Jews during the time when the second Temple was standing, in direct fulfillment of Psalms 118:26 and this 150th prophecy. The fact that Jesus completed the complex requirements of this stunning prophecy is truly incredible. The likelihood that He could have done these things unaided by advanced knowledge of the events and the sovereign control of God, is mathematically impossible.
NOTES:
[1] 1. New American Heritage Dictionary, entry: ‘Temple’ 2”. Temple, the.” Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005.
[2] 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, Ezra 5:13. 536.4 B.C., see the chart at Prophecy 309 for details.
[3] Encyclopedia Britannica Online: Antiochus IV Epiphanes
[4] Josephus, Wars of the Jews 1:1:1–2
[5] 2 Maccabees 5:11–14
[6] 2 Maccabees 6:1–11
[7] Daniel 11:31, 12:11, Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14, Luke 16:15
[8] “Temple, the.” Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
[9] 1. Josephus, The New Complete Works, translated by William Whiston, Kregel Publications, 1999, “Antiquites” Book 14:7, p.463 2. Michael Grant, The Jews in the Roman World, Barnes & Noble, 1973, p.58
[10] Secrets of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, Leen Ritmeyer, Kathleen Ritmeyer, 1998
[11] 1.This verse of scripture has erroneously applied to the days prior to the Rapture and the beginning of the seven year Tribulation. It appears from the context of this verse, and by the eventual fulfillment of Jesus words in 70 A.D., that He was predicting the generation immediately before the total destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, in 70 A.D 2.Matthew 24:34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
[12] Josephus, The War of the Jews VI.4.3, Josephus, The Wars of the Jews VI.4.5
[13] Although Cyrus ordered the temple in Jerusalem rebuilt, in 536 B.C., this order was not carried out for 17 years, until the 24th day of December, 520 B.C. The Lord would not allow the foundation of the second temple to be laid until He had completed the 70 years of “The Desolation’s of Israel”, as He had spoken.
[14] Revelation chapter 19.
Categories: Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus, The First Arrival of the Messiah, The Predictions of Jesus, Transcendent Knowledge
Robert Clifton Robinson 
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