Sanctuary Destroyed

The destruction of the temple began in the reign of Jehoiakim. At that time Nebuchadnezzar advanced on Jerusalem. He took some of the temple items with him when he returned to Babylon:

5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
6 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against him and bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the articles of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon ( 2 Chron. 36).

Jehoiachin reigned next. Nebuchadnezzar then took him to Babylon along with valuable items from the temple (2 Chron. 36:9,10; 2 Ki. 24:8-16):

He [Nebuchadnezzar] carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, just as the LORD had said (2Ki 24:13).

The reign of Zedekiah followed Jehoiachin. He was eventually taken to Babylon. During his reign, the temple was plundered and destroyed.

2 Ch 36:17 Therefore He [the Lord] brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand.
18 All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon.
19 Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles.

The Psalmist commented on the destruction of the temple as follows:

Ps. 74:3 Turn Your footsteps toward the perpetual ruins; The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place; They have set up their own standards for signs.
5 It seems as if one had lifted up His axe in a forest of trees.
6 And now all its carved work They smash with hatchet and hammers.
7 They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They said in their heart, "Let us completely subdue them." They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

The Coronation of Christ

Acts 2:33 Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.

Revelation reveals Christ’s reception of the Holy Spirit. It was then that he was coronated as high priest. Notice that the seven spirits have changed from lampstands to horns and eyes and moved from before the throne to the lamb

Rev. 4:5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;
Re 5:6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.

This event was foretold by the Psalmist:
1 ¶ A Song of Ascents, of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron’s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes.

It was at Pentecost, when the disciples were dwelling together in unity [of one accord], that the Holy Spirit was poured out. This happened when Jesus was crowned as high priest. He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and as promised, poured it upon the disciples.

Acts 1:4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me;
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
6 ¶ So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

Naaman and Job

Naaman's cleansing from leprosy is described by a word also used in Job. The word translated "be clean" in 2 Kings 5 is used in a parallelism with "justify" in Job 4:17: “Can mankind be just <06663> before God? Can a man be pure <02891> before his Maker?”

The parallelism indicates "be clean" and "be justified" have the same meaning.

2Ki 5:10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean <02891>."

2Ki 5:12 "Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean <02891>?" So he turned and went away in a rage.

2Ki 5:13 Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean <02891>‘?"

2Ki 5:14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean <02891>.

The LXX translates the Hebrew word #06663 with the Greek word #273 in Strong's Concordance. This word is used in the following places in the NT:

Lu 1:6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly <273> in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

Php 2:15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless <273> and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,

1Th 3:13 so that He may establish your hearts without <273> blame <273> in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

The blameless in the NT are those who have been justified.

Job on being Pure, Clean, and Just

Two words in Job that are translated as “be pure” or “be clean” are used in parallel construction with the word for justify (06663). Thus it made be said that to be justified is to be clean or pure, in Job’s view.

Job 4:17 ‘Can mankind be just <06663> before God? Can a man be pure <02891> before his Maker?

Job 15:14 "What is man, that he should be pure <02135>, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous <06663>?

Job 25:4 "How then can a man be just <06663> with God? Or how can he be clean <02135> who is born of woman?

Proverbs contains a verse which uses <02135> and <02891> together. They have the same meaning. That meaning is synonymous with being justified in Job.

Pr 20:9 Who can say, "I have cleansed <02135> my heart, I am pure <02891> from my sin"?

To be clean and pure from sin is to be justified.

Justification and Job

A Hebrew word translated "justify" (Strong’s # 06663) is used more often in Job than in the Psalms and Moses combined. 06663 is used 17 times in Job. It is only used 40 times in the entire OT. > than 40% of the times that the Hebrew word for "justify" is used in the OT, it is in the book of Job. 06663 is translated by such words and expressions as "vindicated, "declare you right," "be just", "be righteous," and "to justify" in Job.

06663 is used in parallel structure with other important words translated as "perfect," "cleanse," "guiltless," and "pure".

Job 4:17 ‘Can mankind be just <06663> before God? Can a man be pure <02891> before his Maker?

Job 15:14 "What is man, that he should be pure <02135>, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous <06663>?

Job 25:4 "How then can a man be just <06663> with God? Or how can he be clean <02135> who is born of woman?

Job 22:3 "Is there any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous <06663>, Or profit if you make <08552> your ways perfect <08552>?

Job 9:20 "Though I am righteous <06663>, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am guiltless <08535>, He will declare me guilty.