Why was the Second Temple Destroyed?
Was it prophesied in T'nach?
by EJD © 2002
 On the Ninth of Av (July 17) in the year 70 CE the last sacrifice was offered up just prior to the complete destruction of the Beit HaMiqdash HaBeit Sheini - the Second Temple by the Roman armies under Titus. This date was the second of two, for on the Nineth of Av in 587 BCE the First Temple was also destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar.
But there is a great difference between the two disasters. There are many prophecies during the period prior to the destruction of the First Temple. The prophets were very active to warn the people of Judah of impending disaster, the destruction of Jerusalem, if they did not repent (turn away) from a national life of idolatry and sin. Major books of the T'nach such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel speak of the forthcoming doom that was awaiting Judah if no change occurred. They were recalcitrant and thus ended up in Babylon as slaves and exiles for about 70 years.
That exile was not long, compared to the exile that occurred after 70 CE under the Romans. This exile was for nearly 2000 years. Yet, the T'nach is largely silent about it. Compared to the volumes of prophetic data for the First Temple, references to the Second Temple seem cryptic with a little mention of it here and there.
Like the T'nach, Second Temple period Rabbinical materials do discuss the matter, but not in great detail. What is emphasized is the "why" of the Temple's destruction. For instance, in the Talmud Bavli at Maseret Yoma 9b is a comment giving the reasons for the destruction of the First Temple in a discussion related to Micah 3:12:
"'Therefore shall Zion be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest (Micah 3:12).' But why was the Sanctuary destroyed, seeing that in its time they were occupying themselves with Torah, [observance of] precepts, and the practice of charity? Because therein prevailed hatred without cause. That teaches you that groundless hatred is considered as of even gravity with the three sins of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed together." 1
"Idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed together" were the reasons for the First Temple's destruction. Only one reason is given for the Second Temple's destruction, which is "hatred without cause" or "groundless hatred." What is hatred without cause? The phrase in transliteration from the Hebrew is Sinat-Chinam.
Several explanations are offered to answer that question. It should be noted at this point that Jeremiah the Prophet give the orders from Adonay2 concerning Teshuvah (repentence), which was - surrender to the authority of the Babylonians! This was treasonous. G-d3 tells Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 24 to go to the Temple and sample figs from two baskets of figs. The first basket produces figs that taste awful. G-d interprets this as those who either fight the Babylonians or who flee from them to Egypt. The figs from the other basket taste sweet. These, Adonay intimates, are those who follow G-d's ways. They understand that surrender to Babylon is the only way for Judah's (and their) deliverance.
G-d knew that most people were going to rebel. They showed that by refusing to submit to G-d's ways in the matter. The coming destruction and exile should have been understood without Jeremiah and the other prophets for in Deuteronomy it was foretold:
"The LORD will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like an eagle. It is a nation whose language you do not understand, a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young. Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will starve to death. They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, bringing about your destruction. They will lay siege to your cities until all the fortified walls in your land-- the walls you trusted to protect you-- are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the LORD your God has given you" (Deut. 28:49-52).4
Packaged with the warning of impending doom, was the "why" of destruction, and the way of deliverance. History and prophecy have shown that only a remnant, a small community within the nation, responded in faith and trusted G-d in Babylon. This way of G-d was an act of treason. This was why Jeremiah was imprisoned. If the whole nation had repented and embraced G-d's way then the disaster would not have come.
It was as though the idol had such a hold on people that the image was clutched with a tenacious grip with one hand, while the sword was held by the other to keep the Babylonians away. It was the idol in the heart5 that locked the idol and sword in hand. A simple release in the heart from one's own ways to G-d's way will release the grip on the idol and the sword.
Several reasons for the "uncaused hatred" were given from the era of the Second Temple.
- A collective hatred for one another in the land.
- An offended Romanized Jew who helped orchestrate the Jewish War against Israel.
- Rejection of Yeshua as the Messiah
Item one speaks of a generalized sin idea. Too many people had an attitude of hatred toward one another and perhaps towards G-d by rejecting a Torah way of life. This is reflected in the Talmud:
"And [during the time of] the first Sanctuary did no groundless hatred prevail? Surely it is written: They are thrust down to the sword with my people; smite therefore upon my thigh, and R. Eleazer said: This refers to people who eat and drink together and then thrust each other through with the daggers of their tongue! -- That [passage] speaks of the princes in Israel, for it is written, Cry and wail, son of man; for it is upon my people, etc. [The text reads] 'Cry and wail, son of man'. One might have assumed [it is upon] all [Israel], therefore it goes on, Upon all the princes of Israel" (b. Yoma 9b).1
Thus a national crisis of tongue-lashing brought down the Temple.
The difficulty here is, can this be proven? If so, how is that generation's sin any greater than any other generation before or after? Or was it a case of reaching a unspecified percentage of collective sin in the population and then the axe falls? It's sort of like a "This far and no more" idea. This last question is not as far-fetched as it appears. The Amorites were said to not have reached an unspecified level (the cup of the iniquity of the Amorites) in Abraham's day, but had in Mose's day (the cup was full). The trouble with this analogy is that the Amorites were anihilated for this crime.
Item two offers another traditional explanation. There was an assimilated Jew who had great influence in the government at Rome. He went back to Israel for a visit and was treated with disrespect because of his assimilated life. As a consequence, he lobbied his Roman connections to commence the war against Israel that became known as the Jewish War. But can this be proven? It is true that history can have behind-the-scene events like this. This makes a great explanation for possible human factors in historical events, but can it qualify as a sole reason for G-d to judge Israel, destroy the Temple, and scatter the people into exile?
Both items 1 & 2 suffer from a nagging question. If either of these brought about the destruction of the Temple, why has this condition of exile continued for two thousand years?
There has been one consistent reason that has held steady since the time of the Second Temple period, the rejection of Yeshua as the Messiah. All efforts by elements in the Jewish community, Christian communities, and the Jewish-Christian community have failed to alter the situation.
Can it be that the Talmud is right about the Sinat-Chinam, the groundless hatred? King David had many enemies in his day and wrote about his experience. He included the notion of "hatred without cause" in the Psalms as a part of that life-situation:
"Don't let my treacherous enemies rejoice over my defeat. Don't let those who hate me without cause gloat over my sorrow" (Psalm 35:19 NLT).
There may have been several justifications in the minds of the enemies to hate David. He had committed adultery with Bathsheba. He had Uriah the Hittite murdered in battle. Perhaps, there were some governmental policies that were perceived as unjust. But the real most compelling reason for them was that David had usurped the kingdom from the house of Saul.
But behind David's prayer was the idea that it was not a usurpation, but a divine appointment that gave him the kingdom. This hatred was based on a groundless cause. Perhaps the real motivation for the hatred was jealousy.
This was the context of the quotation that Yohanan or John, the Jewish-Christian writer of the Gospel of John, used in reference to Yeshua.
"Anyone who hates me hates my Father, too. If I hadn't done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be counted guilty. But as it is, they saw all that I did and yet hated both of us-- me and my Father. This has fulfilled what the Scriptures said: 'They hated me without cause'" (John 15:23-25).
The motivation is supplied in this text. Yeshua made the system of self-righteous justification appear tarnished by his mere presence. False holiness couldn't tolerate the activities of real holiness. He did things no one else could do - a characteristic of the Messiah. It was as though the Shekinah was out in the streets, that Holy Presence of G-d's glory which was only seen by the Cohen-HaGadol (High Priest) once a year on Yom Kippur.
It was dangerous to be in that Presence. High Priests were afraid to die for violating the sanctity of it. Tradition has it that a rope was tied around the ankle of the High Priest just as he was about to enter the Holy of Holies. This was in case the High Priest died before the Shekinah for an improper ritual or sin. No one else dared go in to bring out the corpse. Thus the rope could be pulled to drag out the body.
This is really the heart of the matter. It is not that Yeshua was wrong, or deluded, or sinful, but rather it was because he was holy. Just before the time of his rejection, the High Priest Caiaphas prophesied, as a function of his office, about the fate of Yeshua.
"Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. 'What shall we do?' they asked. 'Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.' Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, 'You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.' He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one." (John 11:47-52).
A nation's leaders decided that Yeshua's works, the good things he had done for Israel, were intolerable. Their fear was that the masses would believe that he really was the Messiah and then.... Roman trouble.
A similar decision was said to have occurred in the time of Pachahutec, the great emperor of the Inkas, approximately a century before the arrival of the Conquistadores. He had proof that the Sun was not G-d. He brought the evidence before his great council. They agreed on the validity of the evidence, but a practical matter came up. If they announced that the Sun was not the Creator, then the people would riot and have a revolution to overthrow the heretical leadership. Long centuries of great deprivation and labor to produce great temples, and offer costly sacrifices to the Sun as G-d were not to be thrown away as total falsehood. It was too risky for the Inka leadership to own up to the truth.6
It was the Roman authorities that put Yeshua to death. This was in violation of Roman Law. There was never any proof that Yeshua was a threat to Roman authority. Such a threat merited capital punishment under Roman law. Pilate said that he found no fault with the man and symbolically washed his hands of the whole matter. He was not innocent. The later Christian creeds nailed it - "Sub passus Pontio Pilatus" "who suffered under Pontius Pilate." Pilate was the Christ-killer, not the Jews.
All justifications of blame on the Jews over the centuries were either misinformed or deliberate policies of anti-semitism. Such attitudes and actions were and are contrary to the spirit and letter of the Brit-Chadashah, the New Testament.
Yet that doesn't mean that Israel was all together innocent either. A Sinat-Chinam against the Messiah was a serious matter, but so were the loss of the Temple and a two thousand year exile as serious consequences. Diyeinu! It was enough!
The purpose for Yeshua's coming as Mashiach-HaEved, the Servant-Messiah, was to die "not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of G-d, to bring them together and make them one." He came to fulfill the requirements of the Torah. In so doing he merited perfect righteousness in his humanity. This was his function to be the sin-bearer to make a final atonement for sinful humanity - both Jews and Gentiles. He also produced the righteousness that was necessary to fulfill the Torah's requirement of righteousness.
Thus for the believer there is the cancellation of sin and the imputation of righteousness. Both are needed to be saved and go to heaven. By faith, a Jewish person or a non-Jewish person can be as though they had never sinned, but instead be as though they had fulfilled every precept of the Torah - in word, in deed, and in thought. This doesn't come naturally, but rather supernaturally because of Yeshua's great atoning sacrifice on the cross. G-d validated that sacrifice by raising Yeshua from the dead three days later. Now, for you it is a question of faith -- in Yeshua!
Click here: How to be saved.
Footnotes:
- 1The Soncino Press, The Soncino Talmud, Brooklyn: The Soncino Press, Ltd.
- 2Adonay is the traditional way to say the Ineffable Name of Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey.
- 3G-d is the traditional way to write the English word "God."
- 4The Jewish Publication Society, TANAKH, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.
- 5Ezekiel 14:3-7
- 6Don Richardson, Eternity in their Hearts, Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1984.
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