The Desolation of Israel

     O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

     Behold your house is left unto you desolate.

     For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Matt 23:37-39 KJV)

 

     And when he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it, 

     Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belongs unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.

     For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,

     And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within the; and they shall not leave in the one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

(Luke 19:41-44 KJV)

Deuteronomy records the instructions of Moses to the younger generation of Israelites prior to their entry into the promised land. The older generation had passed away in the wilderness as a result of their refusal to enter the land of Canaan forty years before. 

Moses warns them to watch out, so that they do not forget the covenant of the Lord their God. If they depart from the Lord, make images and commit evil, they will provoke Him to anger, for God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 

 

Speaking prophetically, Moses tells them that the time will come when they depart from the Lord and arouse His anger. They will perish from the land that they are about to take possession of, be destroyed,  and a remnant scattered among the nations. (Deuteronomy 4:23-28).

With judgement comes mercy however, and we read a promise of restoration in the next few verses,

   

     But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

    When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

     (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy father's which he sware unto them. (Deuteronomy 4:28-31 KJV)

There have been events in the history of Israel where these things have happened. As the nation plunged into idolatry, God warned them through the prophets, ultimately driving them from the land. 

We see this first with Ephraim, the northern ten tribes of the kingdom which had been divided after the death of king Solomon. They were conquered by the Assyrians, and scattered among the nations just as Moses had spoken to them. Then the southern kingdom of Judah was carried into exile by the Babylonians for seventy years, until Babylon fell to the Persian empire and they were allowed to return and rebuild Jerusalem and their temple.

Against the backdrop of this impending Assyrian invasion Hosea looks ahead prophetically to a time yet future. As a living object lesson, God had commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute. When she left him, Hosea loved her, and bought her back. However, for a time, there would be no sexual intimacy between them (Hosea 3:1-5).

     For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim;

     Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days. (Hosea 3:4-5 KJV)

We see this now. For the last two thousand years Israel has had no temple or been able to offer sacrifices. They have kept themselves from graven images as well, even though as a nation they are still in unbelief, and have yet to return to the Lord their God.

Isaiah speaks of a coming desolation in a well known passage of scripture. In chapter 6 Isaiah saw the Lord, and was completely undone. He was given a call to preach to a rebellious people, the result of his preaching would make the ears of the people heavy and their hearts fat. A spiritual blindness would come upon the people as a result of their persistence in sin. Jesus mentions this when his disciples asked him why he spoke in parables. He replied that seeing they see not, hearing they hear not, nor do they understand. In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled (Matt 13:10-15).

Isaiah asked how long he was to proclaim this message,

     Then said I, LORD, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

     And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

     But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. (Isaiah 6:11-13 KJV)

This spiritual blindness is what Jesus encountered in his ministry on earth. He came offering the kingdom, but it was refused. He offered himself as Israel's Messiah as he rode a donkey into Jerusalem in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. The people cried Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. But as we read in the above verses, Jesus wept over Jerusalem. He knew what was in the heart of man. The crowds wanted a Messiah who would break the yoke of Rome, they did not want the Son of God, a Messiah who would lead them into true righteousness. A few days later this same crowd demanded Barabas for Jesus, and he was condemned to die.

In 70 AD Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and the Jews were scattered among the nations in fulfillment of Jesus' words in Luke 19:42-44. They remained in this scattered state until 1948, when they returned to their homeland as a nation once again. They returned in unbelief however, and as the above passage states, another time of desolation is yet to come.

Daniel agrees. He prophecies of the desolation of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 Ad, and he also foretells of one more to come.

     Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

     Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall,even in troublous times.

     And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

     And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the over spreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:24-27 KJV)

This prophecy begins it's counting at the command to rebuild Jerusalem. The returning exiles from the Babylonian captivity rebuilt the city, the walls, and the temple in spite of the threats of hostile neighbors. 

When this prophecy speaks of weeks, in this instance it means weeks of years. So, from the issuing of the command to rebuild Jerusalem there is seven weeks of years, and sixty two weeks of years. In other words, forty nine years, and four hundred thirty four years (483 years total) pass up to the arrival of Jesus the Messiah.

After the sixty two weeks the Messiah will be cut off. This is speaking of the crucifixion of Jesus. Next, another prince is mentioned. His people will destroy the city and the temple. This happened in 70 AD, and the desolation foretold of began. 

The final week, or seven years will pick up when the prince (the Antichrist) comes on the scene. He will confirm a covenant for one week (seven years) with many. This is most likely some sort of agreement between Israel and the surrounding nations. More than likely it will allow the building of the temple and the resumption of the sacrificial system. This is something that seems impossible at the present time with the Muslim control of the temple mount, yet half way through the seven year period the Antichrist breaks this covenant, puts an end to sacrifice, and places the abomination that causes the final desolation.

The abomination of desolation is referred to by Daniel in several places. Daniel 8:9-14 tells us that the "little horn" or Antichrist will take away the daily sacrifice and cast down the sanctuary and trample it under foot.

In Daniel 11:30-31 we read the same thing, the sanctuary will be polluted, the sacrifice taken away, and the abomination of desolation set up. Finally we read in Daniel 12:11 that after the abomination is set up there will be 1,290 days left, meaning this takes place at the mid point of the 70th week.

Jesus, in the Olivet discourse refers to the abomination of desolation as the event that signals the start of the great tribulation, or time of Jacob's trouble.

     When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

     Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

     Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house:

     Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

     And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

     But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day:

    For the shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matt 24:15-21 KJV)

This final three and one half years will be a time of intense trial and suffering as Satan attempts to destroy Israel through the beast empire. But God will use this time to turn His people's hearts back to Him. Zechariah records,

     

     And it shall come to pass in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

     And I will bring the third part through the fire, and refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God. (Zechariah 13:8-9 KJV)

At the end of this terrible time of persecution, when the strength of the holy people is shattered (Daniel 12:7), God will pour out upon them a spirit of grace and supplication, and they will recognize their Messiah (Zechariah 12:10),  and the words of Jesus will be fulfilled as they say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." (Matt 23:39)