Not One Stone?

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

Matthew 24:1-2

Jesus predicted that all of the stones in the temple buildings would be thrown down and not one would be left on another. For all of my life I have been told that this prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the temple. There is one small problem with this interpretation. It seems that the Romans left a few stones still in place. (see http://www.livekotel.com/a_freecam.cfm?affid=25) Today those stones are called the Wailing Wall and were apparently part of those structures Jesus spoke about when he predicted their complete dismantling.

In subsequent verses Jesus goes on to speak of His return to earth. The assumption has been that the taking down of the stones and the return of Jesus were two widely separated events. If some of the stones are still stacked in place then perhaps the two events are closely related.

It may just be another “sign” of the return of Jesus. When you see by whatever means the stones of the Wailing Wall taken down take notice and be ready for the return of Jesus. But more importantly, be ready for the return of Jesus today. An accurate missile from some other country or a terrorist explosion could, in a split second take those stones down.

So if you are looking in the Bible for prophetic references to the end of time to convince yourself that you don’t need to be ready today you are indeed being foolish. The timeline for the return of Jesus Christ can accelerate in an instant and the TRUMPET announce the arrival of the DAY OF THE LORD!

Take no comfort that everything may not be ready for His return. Only take comfort in knowing Jesus Christ and in being totally sold out to being His disciple! Maranatha!