MATTHEW 24:1-2 (NKJV)

Matthew 24:1-2 (NKJV)

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

Matthew 24:1 The discourse of 23:1–39 had evidently been given in the temple precincts. The NKJV gives the impression in 24:1 that the Lord Jesus had already left the temple area when the disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. The Greek text clarifies that this happened as they were in the process of departing from the temple complex. The first temple built by Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The second temple built on the encouragement of Haggai and Zechariah and the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua (Hag. 1:1) was completed after considerable delay in 516 B.C. This second temple was totally renovated by Herod the Great, a master builder. He began the work some ten years before he died, and it was not completed during the lifetime of Christ (John 2:20). The actual work was not finished until A.D. 64. It stood completed only six years. The construction was massive and lavish. The disciples were justifiably proud of the temple area with its buildings.

Matthew 24:2 The devastation of the temple by the Romans in A.D. 70 was so thorough that the precise location of the sanctuary is still unknown today.