THEY HAVE CAST FIRE INTO THY SANCTUARY

The house of God was sanctified, and yet it could be so mistreated by men. The Messianic psalms were prophetic, as were many psalms speaking of millennial conditions. So were certain psalms that spoke of the house of God in centuries after they were written by the psalmists. Similarly Isaiah prophesied of Messianic and millennial conditions, as well as of events brought about by the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem: “our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary”, Isa. 63. 18; “our holy and our beautiful house … is burned up with fire”, 64. 11.

Thus Asaph (one of David’s singers) spoke of dreadful things yet to come: “the perpetual desolations”, Psa. 74. 3; “the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary”, v. 3; “they break down the carved work”, v. 6; “They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled … the dwelling place of thy name to the ground”, v. 7. Asaph also said, “the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled”, 79. 1. Such deeds were done both by the kings in Jerusalem and by foreign invaders. Thus Ahaz “cut in pieces the vessels … and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord”, 2 Chron. 28. 24; Manasseh introduced every kind of idolatry into the house and its courts, 33. 3-7; Ezekiel saw men worshipping the sun in the temple courts, Ezek. 8. 16. Finally, the house of the Lord was destroyed by the Babylonians: Nebuzar-adan “burnt the house of the Lord”, 2 Kings 25. 9, so Jeremiah cried, “The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary”, Lam. 2. 7. Later, the Lord Jesus spoke of Herod’s temple, “There shall not be left here one stone upon another”, Matt. 24. 2.

Viewing the local church as the antitype, we see that the N.T. prophesies of similar dreadful things. This is “the temple of God” and it is holy, but it can be defiled by men, 1 Cor. 3. 17. This can be done by men on the inside or by men coming in from the outside, as Paul warned, Acts 20. 29, 30. There can be false brethren, false teachers, false elders, false prophets and false evangelists. As Thyatira and Laodicea, a church can become so worldly that its lampstand can be removed.

“Who hath bewitched you?”, Gal. 3. 1.