Temple Baptist Church - 4-27-2025
Psalm 79
Introduction:
A. A Psalm of Asaph. Asaph was contemporary with King David and probably his assistant in matters of the Tabernacle and worship.
B. The Psalm is national, not individual, as Asaph references Israel, Jerusalem, and the future Temple instead of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.
1. Most Psalms of this nature are the cry of the individual for divine involvement in an immediate crisis.
2. Many Psalms are contemporary and prophetic in nature, as they address the present while prophesying the future. Thus, Messianic Psalms imply the coming of and the work of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. This Psalm is simply prophetic. It is a prophetic cry for divine intervention for the nation of Israel.
4. Three things are mentioned that have yet to occur in Asaphs’ lifetime.
a) “The heathen are come into thine inheritance.” The heathen entered the land and nation of Israel. Though this is well noted in Israel’s history up to this point, there had been many instances where the heathen overran and controlled Israel over the centuries due to disobedience to God.
Psalms 79:7 For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
b) “Thy holy temple have they defiled.” During King David’s lifetime, worship was still in the Tabernacle. At Asaph’s time, neither the Tabernacle nor the future Temple had ever been “defiled” by the enemies of Israel.
c) “They have laid Jerusalem on heaps.” The utter destruction of Jerusalem. The heathen had never destroyed Jerusalem.
C. This Psalm speaks of the anger of God against the nation of Israel, indicating His judgment due to the sins committed. Israel had many periods when it turned from God, and judgment fell.
Psalms 79:5 How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
1. “How Long” indicates a future event. If this had been a historical event mentioned in the Psalm, Asaph would have known how long God’s anger lasted.
2. “How Long … for ever” indicates an extended event. The judgment of God will be over a prolonged period of time.
D. Three future events could be considered in the partial fulfillment of this prophecy, two of which I will eliminate because they do not fit all the requirements of the Psalm.
1. The Babylonian Captivity occurred nearly 600 years before the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ. During this time, the walls of Jerusalem were torn down, its gates were burned, and the Temple was destroyed. Israel spent 70 years in captivity before God raised Ezra and Nehemiah to rebuild the Temple and the walls of Jerusalem. I have examined the spoiling of Solomon’s Temple and the destruction of Israel by the Babylonians. However, I find no evidence of defilement related to sacrifices.
The Babylonian Captivity fulfilled two aspects of the prophecy but not the third. Israel was overrun, the Temple was torn down and spoiled, and Jerusalem was ravaged. The gates were burned, and many of the walls were torn down. However, the altar was spoiled but not defiled. I dismiss this theory for another reason. During the Babylonian Captivity, Daniel spoke of the most significant point: Daniel, Jesus Christ, and the Book of Revelation reference the "abomination that maketh desolate" as future events, rather than past occurrences.
2. Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Three hundred fifty-six years before the arrival of Israel's Messiah, the Greek World Empire was led by two notable kings. Alexander the Great reigned from 356 to 323 BC, conquering much of the known world before dying at 33 of possible Guillain-Barré Syndrome (Guillain-Barré syndrome), which paralyzes the peripheral parts of the body. His body did not begin to decompose for six days after they pronounced him dead, leading them to think he was a god, but probably was not dead yet. He had exhausted his ambitions for conquest.
After Alexander the Great, Antiochus IV Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. His reign was marked by significant events, including an attempted conquest of Egypt, the persecution of Jews in Judea, and the subsequent Maccabean Revolt.
Between the Babylonian Captivity and Israel’s rejection of the Messiah, a crucial event occurred that is referenced in 1 Maccabees 1:54-64, a book from the Apocrypha (a Greek word meaning “hidden” or “outside the canon”). The Apocrypha consists of 14 historical books written during the time of the Maccabees, often called the "400 Silent Years." These texts were included in the first King James Bible between the Old and New Testaments for their historical value; however, they were never considered inspired or canonized. They were later removed due to the confusion they caused as readers of the Bible considered them inspired, like the Old and New Testaments.
The account in 1 Maccabees 1:54-64 details the conflict with Antiochus IV, who called himself Epiphanes, meaning "illustrious one" or "god manifest." He was a Greek king who defiled the Temple by setting up an altar to the Greek god Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings and sacrificing a pig on this altar. This event is often interpreted as a foreshadowing of the Abomination of Desolation mentioned during Jacob’s Trouble, or the Tribulation Period. Notably, this act is not recorded in the Bible, as it was neither mentioned by any inspired writers nor by the Lord Jesus.
Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, mentioned the "abomination of desolation" in his work "The Wars of the Jews." According to Josephus, this prophecy was fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes, who desecrated the temple in 167 BC.
3. The Third Event. Jacob’s Trouble also referred to the Tribulation Period. Two intertwining events make up a whole that is separated by 2,000 years. This third event began with the rejection of Israel's Messiah by the Jewish nation (John 1:11).
The rejection of Israel's Messiah initiated a curse upon Israel and its descendants, culminating in the devastation and scattering of the nation. After the crucifixion of Christ, Israel continued to experience significant spiritual decline as they persecuted the Apostles, putting some to death and imprisoning others in the Book of Acts.
The Gospel, though still available to the Jews, was carried to the Gentile nations. This involved breaking off the natural branch, Israel, and grafting in the unnatural branch, a Gentile Church.
About 35 years after the rejection of Christ, the destruction of the Temple and the scattering of the Jews occurred between 70 and 73 AD, carried out by Titus of Rome. Israel, as a nation, ceased to exist when its people were driven from their land and scattered across the globe.
In the mid-twentieth century, God began to gather His covenant people home again, and in 1948, Israel was re-established as a nation. Now, we wait! After the Rapture of God’s Church, the third event will culminate in Jacob’s Trouble, a time prophesied by both Daniel and our Lord Jesus Christ.
E. The Book of Daniel goes hand-in-hand with the Book of Revelation.
Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Daniel 11:31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
Daniel 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
F. Our Lord Jesus Christ confirmed what Daniel prophesied during His walk on earth.
Matthew 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Mark 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
G. Now for a quick look at the fulfillment of Verse 1.
1. First Prophecy.
Psalms 79:1-2 A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. (2) The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
Fulfillment. Revelation 11:7-8 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. (8) And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Revelation 11:7-8 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. (8) And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
2. Second Prophecy. Psalms 79:1 A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
Fulfillment. Daniel 12:11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
3. Third Prophecy. Psalms 79:1 A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
Fulfillment. Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Conclusion: The time is near when we will be called home, and God will restore the natural branch while breaking off the unnatural branch.
Revelation 22:20-21 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (21) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.