Well - thank you for that.
Your descriptive words used ("obsession" and "fixation") certainly explain a little bit about WHY it's taken so many years for me to even hear/read about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. It seems that your attitude isn't uncommon. I first began learning about the significance of the destruction of ancient Jerusalem from Ray Vander Laan (and, for some reason, his teaching is more readily accepted in mainstream Protestant churches). This specific series is one that addresses the destruction of Jerusalem (IIRC):
Quoting Ray Vander Laan------->The Jewish Revolts
Jewish people of Jesus' day had a passionate desire for freedom from the domination of the pagan Romans and the oppressive Herod dynasty that had ruled them for many years. Revolt seethed continuously, mostly underground, for more than 100 years from the time Herod became king (37 BC) until the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple (AD 70).It is helpful to realize that this underlying struggle is the backdrop for Jesus' ministry, and why
so many hoped he would be a conquering king. This helps us understand why the adulation of the crowds during the triumphal entry reduced Jesus to tears, and probably why many rejected his message. ~
The Jewish Revolts
Another article from RVL:
Jesus and the Jewish Revolts
And....from the Greek Orthodox Study Bible:
in looking up Rev 12:5 it states:
Quoting the Greek Orthodox Study Bible ---->
12:5 ~True Israel brings forth Christ, who after completion of His saving work, ascends to heaven (Ps 2:7-9; 46:6)
12:6 ~ The flight of the woman may refer to the flight of the Jerusalem church (embodying true Israel) to Pella before the outbreak of the Roman war. END
There's a reason for this (what seems to be to you) "fixation" preterists have. The destruction of ancient Jerusalem WAS vastly significant. That doesn't mean that those of us that believe in fulfilled prophecies live in the past, though (as I'm gathering from your comment) or that we believe that the Holy Spirit is now silent. It may seem like "obsession" and "fixation" to those that don't believe Christ fulfilled the prophecies about His "coming" (which is different than His future return) mainly because the clash of beliefs that emphasize the differences. I believe almost the entire Bible can be summed up as this one passage encapsulating the whole plot. It all leads up to this point (when Jesus rightfully took HIs place on the throne of David):
1 Kings 2:4 ~ and so that the Lord will carry out His promise that He made to me: 'If your sons are careful to walk faithfully before Me with their whole mind and heart, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'
Preterism seems to be a reaction then to Israel's carnal desires back 2000 years ago. But we know, or should know, that religious men have a distorted view of right and wrong. The Jews were no different. It doesn't really matter what the "passionate desire" of "Jewish people of Jesus' day" was. Man has proved himself to be corrupt, confused, prejudiced, blind, misguided, and self-centered for thousands of years. That is a man-centered gospel. The issue really is: what was God's plan?
It was to deliver man from his sin and give him eternal life so that he would never perish. This is why faithful Israel was looking for a Redeemer that would save them from their sin, not the Roman soldiers. Jesus never started an uprising to remove the Romans. No! His heart was to remove Israel's sin.
The Scriptures are essentially God revealing Himself to mankind through the communication of knowledge. As we analyze the ancient Hebrew text we see a notable and central theme mounting: that of the arrival of a Redeemer Messiah to rescue man from his sinful condition. This came in the form of direct prophecies, old covenant offices, ceremonial typology and a tapestry of unfolding preparation. In fact, Jesus Christ is the key to understanding the biblical covenants. Even though they did not have a full revelation of Him, the old covenant prophets were preoccupied with Christ’s person, His appearance and His ministry. The Old Testament text gradually and assuredly steered history onward to the fulfillment of every ancient promise. There is a steady unfolding continuity of plan and purpose from the Old to the New Testament, concentrated on the promised Messiah. Christ is indeed God’s final and fullest revelation.
Rev. Nicholas T. Batzig (an associate editor for Ligonier Ministries) observes: “While Christians profess that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of the preparatory and anticipatory aspects of the Old Testament, many lack the overarching framework by which the individual parts find their place in the grand narrative of God’s plan of redemption.” He adds: “Jesus fulfilled each and every single shadowy and typical aspect of the old covenant ceremonial law … In short, Jesus fulfills every preparatory and anticipatory aspect of the history of redemption in the Old Testament in general” (Who Is the True Israel of God?).
Kim Riddlebarger cogently observes: “the national/temporal promises of a land, a temple, a priesthood, the sacrifices and so on, made to Israel under the old covenant actually point to something far greater (heavenly promises) and which are fulfilled in Christ. Thus, under the new covenant believers are now called out from among all nations (including Israel) to belong to Christ’s Church, which is the visible manifestation of the new covenant people of God” (John MacArthur on Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Israel and Hermeneutics: A Few Comments).
There is nothing greater emphasized in the New Testament than how Christ is heir to all the Old Testament promises and prophecies relating to the promised Messiah. Throughout it we repeatedly see it stated that Christ was here to fulfil a foreordained plan. He was indeed a man on a mission. Our Lord’s whole life from the cradle to the cross, and thereafter, was a catalogue of confirmations of Old Testament truth. Jesus continually stressed the importance of accomplished prophecy, by stating “It is written” or asking “Have ye not read?” He would then follow this preamble up with a quote from the Hebrew text in order to explain a truth, reinforce a point or prove a fulfilment.
Jesus reveals, in Matthew 13:17, that the old covenant prophets and righteous leaders longed for His day, asserting: “verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” He was the long-anticipated deliver of Israel. Nathanael testified to Philip in John 1:45: “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Our Lord accomplished every expectation that the Old Testament writers predicted.
Speaking about Christ’s words in John 16:33, F.F. Bruce explains: “The perfect tense ‘I have overcome’ suggests the change in eschatological outlook that takes place when we pass from the Old Testament to the New. In the Old Testament, eschatology is forward-looking; its dominant notes are those of hope and promise. While these notes are not absent from the New Testament, the dominant note is that of fulfilment: in the ministry of Jesus the long-expected ‘kingdom of God’ is present, and through His death Resurrection, and Exaltation it comes with power” (Eschatology, London Quarterly & Holborn Review).
Jesus famously rebuked the two downcast disciples on the road to Emmaus on resurrection day, stating: “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26). After this, he began to open their eyes to the meaning of the sacred pages. Luke 24:25 records: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
His intent was to confirm that He completed every demand that was made of Him from the ancient inspired pages. His life was the perfect realization of predicted Old Testament prophecy.
The New Testament writers were equally aware of the importance of Old Testament prophecy and its focus on the life and ministry of Christ. They often referenced the Hebrew text to reinforce the fulfillment of numerous Old Testament predictions pertaining to the life of Jesus. Matthew especially brings this out.
