It is assumed that Yeshua was sacrificed in the year 33 AD, and that the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed around the year 72 AD, roughly two generations later.
I believe God sent Yeshua when he did because he knew the temple would be gone, and with it the only way we could be forgiven of sin.
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To start with, the Torah states that God will not accept any sacrifice unless it is performed at the location where he will place his name (Deuteronomy 12:5), which was first at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, then as the tent moved to Gilgal then Shiloh, and finally to the City of David, people had to travel there to make their sacrifices.
After Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, that was the last (and still the only) place where God put his name, and therefor where sacrifices will be accepted.
Now, I think we all can agree that God knows what is going to happen, even if the only reason he knows that is because he can make whatever he wants to happen, happen, and happen exactly when he wants it to happen, and happen exactly the way he wants it to happen.
As my generation used to say, he is a real “happening” kind of guy!
So, knowing that Rome would soon be destroying the temple, and based on his never-ending desire to forgive us of our sins (Ezekiel 18:23), I believe he sent Messiah Yeshua before the destruction of the temple so that afterward, we could still be forgiven of sin.
Okay, now you may be thinking that he should have sent Messiah way back sometime before 605-587 BCE, when the Babylonian exile occurred and the first temple was destroyed. With that event, there was no way for anyone to receive forgiveness.
My answer would be that maybe since the exile was punishment for not having obeyed the Torah regulations, God wasn’t at that time willing to forgive anyone. After all, they were being punished. They violated many Torah commandments, not the least of which was worshipping other gods, and the people also failed to give the land a Shabbat rest every 7th year for 490 years!
God exiled the people from the land to give it rest, and he chose to exile them one year for each Shabbat rest the land did not get, which over 490 years means they would be exiled for 70 years.
God is really good with math!
Since the exile would be only for a short time, I think God was not willing to allow forgiveness until the punishment was over. That may sound harsh, but he is God and who will tell him what he can or can’t do?
Not me!
So, after the exile the people did return and rebuilt the temple, beginning what we call the second temple period, and forgiveness of sin was once again available.
Let’s now fast-forward to when Yeshua made forgiveness of sin possible by his sacrifice, which replaced the need to bring an animal to the temple; that is why he said the only way to the father (i.e., being free of sin) is through him (John 14:6).
After Yeshua made forgiveness possible anywhere and any time, Rome destroys the temple making the path to forgiveness under the Torah impossible.
Impossible, that is, unless you have faithfully accepted that Yeshua is the Messiah and through his sacrifice forgiveness is still available.
I started out by saying I believe the timing of Yeshua’s appearance two generations before the temple destruction was planned, and now I’ll explain why I say that.
At that time there was no Internet, mail service took a long time, and the best way for news to spread was by word-of-mouth as people traveled to trade their goods and while tending their herds and flocks.
For people to be aware of what happened in Jerusalem when Yeshua was crucified, and especially what happened for the 40 days or so after he was resurrected, needed time to get spread around. The Gospels make it clear that many thousands of people knew of him, but that was in the general area around Jerusalem, mostly in the Southern Kingdom territory.
I read that he covered about 20 square miles during his three year ministry, 80-90% of it in the area of the Galilee, while Israel contained about 8,000 square miles during that time, so he didn’t cover that much territory.
But over two generations, some 40-50 years, I believe that much of what he did had time to spread all over the land, and that gave people time to accept him before the temple was gone.
Those who rejected him as Messiah would soon find themselves, their kids, and all their descendants stuck without any way to be forgiven of sin.
Of course, there is no biblical justification for this drash of mine, and I often have preached how it is dangerous to try to make an argument out of nothing, but I still think “what if” or “why that” now and then. I mean, we humans are curious and there is that innate need to know “why?” that I have found in nearly everyone I have ever known.
Myself, included.
So, nu?.. do you think I’m making any sense with this? Would you agree that it is possible God timed Yeshua’s appearance for the reasons I believe?
Let me know, and thank you for being here. Please do comment and share these messages with everyone you know, even non-believers. Hey, after all, you never know how fertile the soil is until you plant a seed in it.
That’s it for this week, so l’hitraot and (an early) Shabbat Shalom!