2. Kings 25,1-22 4222
10. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 57
Bonosus and Maximilianus, soldiers, Martyrs 363
21. August 2022
1. ℣ Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh:
℟ And the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance. (Psalm 33,12).
O God and Father, behold us poor and miserable sinners, who have done great evil with our hearts, mouths and hands; lead us to repentance and seal it in Christ, Your Son, so that we may be made perfect in salvation. Amen. (Auf tiefer Not laßt uns zu Gott elkg 258,2 2021 Michael Weiße 1531).
2. »In the fifth month (Ab/Av/August), on the seventh day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar (587 bc), king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. And he burned the house of Yahweh, the king’s house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem. And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.«
3. On 10. August 587 bc Nebuchadnezzar ordered the temple burned; in ad 70 on the exact same date General Titus, soon to be Emperor Titus, ordered the temple burned. Both temple destructions were prophesied. The Prophets time and again implored the people of Israel to repent, lest Yahweh destroy the temple with fire (Jeremiah 7,12-15; Hosea 8,14; Amos 2,5). Centuries later, Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple (Matthew 24,1-3; Mark 13,1-4; Luke 19,44; 21,5-7).
4. Why was the temple destroyed in 587 bc? The great, generational sin that plagued Israel and Judah was idolatry; they tolerated idols alongside the temple worship of Yahweh. Moses had told them: »Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that c is God in heaven above and on earth beneath; there is no other God« (Deuteronomy 4,39). »If you will not obey the Voice of Yahweh, your God …, then He will cause you to be defeated before your enemies« (Deuteronomy 28,15.25).
5. The nation’s idolatry turned the temple, the house of God, into a den of violent tyrants, robbers and insurrectionists (פּוצים; ληστων). Their idolatry lead to a disregard toward their neighbors: they treated one another unjustly, unkindly and oppressively (Micah 6,8). Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? We act the same way in the 21. century. First, table violations of the covenant lead inevitably to second table violations. When Yahweh is not loved, then neither is the neighbor.
6. Israel’s/Judah’s idolatry was punished in the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. Jesus told His disciples that the second temple would also be destroyed, and it was in response to the Jewish rejection of Yahweh. Jesus said the generation in which He lived was an evil generation (Luke 11,29). They seek a sign that Jesus speaks for Yahweh, and the sign that God gives them is Jonah: repent, lest you be destroyed (Jonah 3,4)! But His generation did not repent, and this destruction fell upon them within their generation, 40 years later, when Rome burned the temple and sacked Jerusalem.
7. The people had the signs of Jonah, John the Baptizer and Jesus. By and large they rejected, particularly the religious and political leaders, these signs, refused to repent and remained unbelieving. Those same signs are before our current generation. Will this generation heed and believe the signs or will it reject and remain unbelieving? Refusal to repent has consequences. Judgment is nigh, and only Jesus can avert it.
8. The other sign of Jonah is his 3 days and nights in the belly of a fish. Unlike Gentile Nineveh, the Jewish generation of Jesus’ day would not accept the sign of Jonah and actively rejected the Word of God, nor would they keep His Word. Jesus is the sign to His generation (Just 482). Rejecting this sign lead to Judah’s destruction.
9. Now, if we consider these things, we will find that God takes care of mankind, and by all ways possible foreshows to our race that which is for our preservation (Josephus War 6.5.3-4; Whiston 743). God in Christ foreshows humanity the sign of His eternal love and mercy. Jesus is the antitype of Jonah in the fish, for it is His crucifixion and resurrection that reveals beyond a doubt the depth of God’s grace upon His fallen creation.
10. The physical temple in Jerusalem is no more, but God still has His temple, a better and more faithful Temple that is His Only Son Jesus Christ. Jesus told the Jews that He would destroy this Temple and raise It up in 3 days. He was talking about Himself: His body was crucified and killed, but 3 days later He raised It up again from the grave. This the old testament has been fulfilled and the new testament has been established by the shed blood and risen body of Jesus.
11. God’s temple was always His house were prayer and forgiveness were the centerpiece. Every church is such a house for it is there that Christ’s Word is preached and His Sacraments of Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Absolution of sin are administered. Yahweh’s house is a house of prayer and forgiveness because it is built upon Christ who is our mediator and propitiator. Here we gather to receive from Christ His gifts forgiveness. This New Temple will never be destroyed for this Temple is Christ. He is the very sign that judgment is averted, wickedness is atoned for and mercy is available for all people.
12. The dying Lord our ransom paid,
One final full self-offering made,
Complete in every part.
His finished sacrifice for sins
The covenant of grace begins,
The [gospel in] the heart. (No Temple Now, No Gift of Price, Timothy Dudley-Smith b. 1926 lsb 530,2)
This is most certainly true.
13. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.
14. Let us pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, from whom without ceasing we receive exceedingly abundantly all good gifts and by whom we are guarded daily from every evil? Grant us we beseech Thee by Thy Spirit that we in true faith may acknowledge this Thy goodness with our whole heart and my now and ever more thank and praise Thy loving-kindness and tender mercy. Amen. (Martin Luther; AE 53,139 © 1965 Fortress Press)
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
✠
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
Just, Arthur A., Jr. Luke 9:51––24:53. Copyright © 1997 Concordia Publishing House.
Whiston, William. The Works of Josephus. Copyright © 1987 Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
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