Does modern physical Israel, established in 1948, represent the fulfillment of biblical prophecy? How about Jerusalem's destruction in 70 CE? Did that event fulfill biblical prophecy? "In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is made obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." Heb 8:13 When God spoke to Jeremiah of a new covenant, the Mosaic covenant (the old one) was obsolete. Then: "By this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet known as long as the first section is still standing." Heb 9:8 That Hebrew word for standing, στάσις/stasis, means position or stasus. So, once the way into the holy places was known, the temple no longer held its position in God's prophetic plans. Then: "He (Christ) entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." Heb 9:12 Therefore, the writer tells us the way into the holy places is known. That means the old covenant vanished, and the temple no longer stood in its position/stasis within God's plans once it was known Jesus was the way into the holy places, regardless of the physical temples physical standing until 70 CE. This means that the Mosaic covenant was fulfilled at Christ's ascension into heaven. The old covenant vanished, and the temple ceased functioning the moment Jesus ascended into heaven. The shadows were then fulfilled in the realities of Christ. "These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." Col 2:17 At that point, Israel/Jew became a believer rather than a physical nation. Rom 2:29 1. The Temple = Our Bodies (Individually and Collectively) 1 Corinthians 6:19: The individual believer is a temple. Ephesians 2:21–22: The church is being built into a dwelling place for God. John 2:19: Jesus refers to His body as the temple — establishing the new referent for where God's presence dwells. This transition from a physical building to a living body signifies the internalization of God’s presence — no longer behind a veil, but within His people. 2. Daily (Sacrifice) = Praise and Preaching Hebrews 13:15: Sacrifice of praise. Romans 12:1: Offering our bodies as living sacrifices. Philippians 2:17: Paul considers himself a drink offering poured out — indicating service and proclamation as new forms of worship. The shift here is from physical animals to spiritual acts of devotion and truth. 3. The Laver = Self-Reflection and Cleansing The laver was for priests to wash before entering the holy place. Made from women’s mirrors (Exodus 38:8), it symbolizes reflective self-awareness and the need for purification. This aligns with James 1:23–25, where the Word is a mirror showing us our condition, and with the ongoing process of sanctification. 4. The Holy Place = The 144,000 (Spiritual Priests) Revelation 7: The sealed 144,000 are the spiritual “firstfruits,” set apart for service. The holy place (with the showbread, menorah, and altar of incense) is where only priests served — matching the role of the 144k as a royal priesthood (Rev 1:6, 5:10). 5. Showbread = The Twelve Tribes/144k Leviticus 24:5–9: 12 loaves before the Lord continually. Typologically fulfilled in the 12 tribes of Revelation 7, who are before the Lord and serve Him continually. 6. Menorah = The Word of God Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet…” Jesus is the living Word (John 1:1–5), and the Spirit illuminates it within us — just as the menorah gave light inside the otherwise dark holy place. 7. Incense = Prayers of the Saints Revelation 5:8; 8:3–4: Incense is explicitly identified as the prayers of the saints. 8. The Most Holy Place = Heaven Hebrews 9:24: Christ entered into heaven itself, the true Most Holy Place. Our hope is to follow Him into that place (Hebrews 6:19–20). 9. The Courtyard = Washed Believers (Great Crowd) Revelation 7:14: A great multitude has washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. The courtyard is accessible to all who have approached through the sacrifice — Christ. 10. The Curtain = Cleansed Sin The veil was torn at Christ's death (Mark 15:38), symbolizing access now open. The surrounding curtain of the courtyard may represent the righteousness that now surrounds the assembly, having been cleansed by Christ. 11. Jesus as the Door (in Every Phase) John 10:9: “I am the door.” John 14:6: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” He grants access to each stage: into salvation (courtyard), into priestly service (holy place), and into eternal life (Most Holy). ------- Israel, physical or metaphor? Zionism is the common belief that, in our current age, the physical nation of Israel is represented in prophecy. Supersessionism, also called replacement theology, holds that Israel throughout prophecy in our day represents the collective worldwide whole of all true believers. Preterism, partial/full, posits that prophecy was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 CE. Which is true? The Apostle Paul had something to say on these matters. "For he is not a Jew who is one on the outside, nor is circumcision something on the outside, on the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one on the inside, and his circumcision is that of the heart by spirit and not by a written code." Rom 2:28,29 "But now apart from law God’s righteousness has been revealed, as the Law and the Prophets bear witness, yes, God’s righteousness through the faith in Jesus Christ, for all those having faith. For there is no distinction." Rom 3:21,22 If, after God's righteousness through faith in Christ, is revealed, there is no distinction between the physical jew and Greek, when did this moment occur? During our Lord's ministry, he directed his disciples to go only to the house of Israel in order to preach the new covenant and not to go out to the nations. "These 12 Jesus sent out, giving them these instructions: “Do not go off into the road of the nations, and do not enter any Sa·marʹi·tan city; but instead, go continually to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Mth 10:5,6 So, when were the people of the nations gathered into the new covenant? We know this happened when Cornelius the Centurion and his family were baptized by Peter, fulfilling one of the keys given him by our Lord, Christ Jesus. "But he (Peter) became very hungry and wanted to eat. While they were preparing the meal, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and something descending like a great linen sheet being let down by its four corners on the earth; and in it were all sorts of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of heaven. Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, slaughter* and eat!” But Peter said: “Not at all, Lord, because I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.” And the voice spoke again to him, the second time: “Stop calling defiled the things God has cleansed.” This happened a third time, and immediately it was taken up into heaven." Rom 10:10-16 Interestingly, this event was in fulfillment of prophecy from the book of Daniel. Cornelius was baptized approximately three and a half years after our Lord was baptized, and is the fulfillment of the end of the 70th week of Dan 9. (More on that later) Seventy weeks of years were given Israel (the many) under the old covenant promise before the establishment of the new covenant promise under Christ Jesus. "There are 70 weeks that have been determined for your people and your holy city, in order to terminate the transgression, to finish off sin, to make atonement for error, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and the prophecy, and to anoint the Holy of Holies." Dan 9:24 At the half of the 69th week, the Messiah and sacrifices are cut off. "And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering." Dan 9:26 The Davidic covenant that was promised to Israel was put in place for the "many" (a common term denoting the physical Jews themselves) for one week of years. This was in fulfillment of Christ's ministry. Once our Lord Christ Jesus was baptized, beginning the 70th week, the good news of the kingdom was preached all throughout the house of Israel, inviting the physical Jewish nation into this new covenant under Christ. At the half of that 70th week, gift offerings ceased. This was the moment our Lord was "cut off" and the temple sacrifices were no longer valid. The offerings that ceased were those at the temple, as the sacrifices of bulls and sheep were no longer required. "and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering." Dan 9:27b Since that covenant for a kingdom was held in place for the "many" (physical Jews) for seven years, once that seventieth week ended, the nations were invited into that covenant once Cornelius was baptized, and Jew then become believers in Christ. ------------ The start of the seventieth week was seen the moment our Lord was baptized by John in the Jordan River. "You should know and understand that from the issuing of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Mes·siʹahm the Leader, there will be 7 weeks, also 62 weeks." Dan 9:25 At the half of that week, our Lord was cut off at his sacrifice, cutting off the sacrifices and gift offerings at the temple. Ending their necessity and validity before YHWH. Ending that 70th week brought the Davidic covenant unto all mankind the moment Cornelius was baptized, not just for the (many) physical Israel, but now a child of Abraham was all those with faith. In fulfillment of the sheet prophecy before Peter, the nations were gathered, and Cornelius was baptized, establishing a Jew as a believer. (Acts 10:9-16) Abraham's offspring was no longer one of descent, but one of the heart. And once the shadows of the Law became the realities in Christ, the old covenant vanished, and along with it the Mosaic prophetic status of physical Israel and its temple traditions. "Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father." Jhn 4:21 Preterism fails, 1948 prophetic fulfillment fails under the realization that no Jew died in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Joshua