Listen:  151.8

We read of the Lord’s rejection by Jerusalem and the consequence of their rejection in Matthew 23:37-38, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”  How it broke the Lord’s heart to be rejected by the very ones He loved and had come to save.  In His words to them concerning the temple, notice that the Lord calls it “your house”.  In John 2:16the Lord referred to the temple as His Father’s house.  That says, “And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.”  In Matthew 21:13the Lord referred to the temple as His house.  That says, “And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”  But now, with Jerusalem being in a state of rejection of the Lord, He refers to the temple as their house. 

To answer your question, let’s now read Matthew 24:1-2, “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”  After leaving the temple, the Lord’s disciples tried to point out the beauty and magnificence of the temple.    The Lord responded by telling His disciples that the temple would be utterly destroyed…not even one stone left upon another one.  When would this happen?  Let’s read Luke 21:20-24, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

We often find in scripture a ‘partial’ fulfillment of a prophesy, and then a ‘complete fulfillment of a prophesy.  Under the leadership of the Roman emperor, Titus, Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D.  The complete fulfillment of this prophesy will occur towards the end of the seven-year Tribulation period.  In Matthew 24:3, the disciples asked the Lord 3 questions concerning his prophesy of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.  That says, “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”  The rest of Matthew 24is the Lord’s answer to them, which points all the way to the complete fulfillment of His prophesy, leading up to the glorious return of the Lord.  I encourage to read Matthew 24-25, which is commonly referred to as the Olivet Discourse where the Lord reveals the future of His kingdom on the earth.  (151.8)