Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Volume 2: Theological Objections by Michael L. Brown

Author:Michael L. Brown
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Christian Ministry, Apologetics, Comparative Religion, Religion, Evangelism, Christian Theology
ISBN: 9780801063343
Publisher: Baker Books
Published: 2000-10-31T22:00:00+00:00

It is a Temple in which we now offer spiritual sacrifices to the Lord, beginning with the offering of our own lives: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Rom. 12:1). “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus [the Messiah]” (1 Peter 2:4–5). “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Heb. 13:15–16).

The point I am making is this: Ezekiel was given a vision of a soon-to-be-built Temple in which the glory of God would dwell in the midst of a purified people, yet the details of this vision make it questionable as to whether it would be literally fulfilled. Rather, it was God’s way of assuring his prophet that restoration and redemption were near at hand, that the captives were about to be released, and that atonement and forgiveness of sins would be provided. Through the atoning death of our great High Priest, Yeshua the Messiah, Ezekiel’s vision has been set on the road to complete (spiritual) fulfillment, and the Temple of God is now being built with living stones—with Jews and Gentiles cleansed and purified with the Messiah’s blood.

At the end of this transition age (see vol. 1, 2.1), Ezekiel’s vision, along with the rest of the prophecies of the Tanakh, will reach complete fulfillment. Take away the Messiah, however, and there is neither partial fulfillment, nor is there gradual fulfillment, nor is there any hope of fulfillment ever coming. It would have been proven long ago that the prophets were liars or dreamers, since they made it clear that certain key events, including a divine visitation and final atonement, had to occur before that Temple’s destruction in 70 C.E. (see again vol. 1, 2.1 for details). In light of the New Testament’s teaching that the Lord is now building a worldwide spiritual Temple, it is certainly interesting that there has been no earthly Temple almost this entire time. Do you see the significance of this?

There is something else worth considering, namely, the language used elsewhere by Ezekiel and the prophets. Although they were divinely inspired, they spoke in the language that they had, and so, when Ezekiel wanted to describe his own people living without defenses, peaceful and unsuspecting, he spoke of them living in “unwalled” villages (Ezek. 38:11).[299] Today we would speak of them living in “unarmed” cities. Similarly, when Zechariah described an end-time invasion of Israel, he spoke of armies coming on horses and mules (Zech. 12:4; 14:15). Today we would speak of troops coming in tanks, flying in jets, and launching scud missiles.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.