ph2ter

I think that the basis of the Christian interpretation of the destruction of the Temple is Joshua 6:26:
And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.

This is surely a reference to the ancient practice of sacrificing the firstborn child before starting to build some important building or city. Christian interpretation of the curse should naturally be: Jesus Christ is the cursed firstborn son of Yahweh and is sacrificed to become the foundation stone for the new spiritual temple.
The city of Jericho was destroyed in seven days with the blow of trumpets and the peoples shout. The seven circles which the Israelites took around the city of Jericho were sometimes interpreted to represent a labyrinth. Even Rahab could be perceived as a Jewish Ariadne which gave a red fleece thread to Joshua's spies. The city of Jericho is then in the Bible really described as a temple and Christian appropriation of it to the Jerusalem Temple is justified. Origen really takes the city of Jericho to be a foretelling of Jerusalem. Seven walls of Jericho could also be interpreted as a seven veils around inner sanctum of the Temple.
In sum: The Israelites lead by Y'hoshua destroyed the old temple (Jericho) and Christians built the new temple with Yeshu as a foundation stone.

Mark 12 also speaks about the same:
A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen...Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. 7But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. 10And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: 11This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? (Psalm 118)

In the epistle of Barnabas the same thing is expressed paraphrasing the Book of Enoch: For the Scripture says, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the Lord will deliver up the sheep of His pasture, and their sheep-fold and tower, to destruction." And it so happened as the Lord had spoken.

The tower is a reference to the Temple. Barnabas openly says that the Temple is already destroyed, meaning that he writes after 70 C.E., but his exposition looks more primitive than the ones in the Gospels:
Before we believed in God, the habitation of our heart was corrupt and weak, as being indeed like a temple made with hands. For it was full of idolatry, and was a habitation of demons, through our doing such things as were opposed to [the will of] God. For it is written, "And it shall come to pass, when the week is completed, the temple of God shall be built in glory in the name of the Lord." (from Daniel 9) I find, therefore, that a temple does exist. Learn, then, how it shall be built in the name of the Lord. ...Having received the forgiveness of sins, and placed our trust in the name of the Lord, we have become new creatures, formed again from the beginning. Wherefore in our habitation God truly dwells in us. This is the spiritual temple built for the Lord.

The Temple as a habitation of demons according to Stephan found his expression in Bethsaida as a place where Jesus come down from heaven in a Marcionite gospel.
Mark 14 has: And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, 58We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.
and John 2 has: 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 2.20 The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" 21But he spake of the temple of his body.

46+3=49 is a period of years from Jubilee to Jubilee. The same is expressed in Daniel 9 (70*7=490 years). Number 49 signifies a start of a Jubilee year: Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. (Leviticus 25: 9 )

Important element in the fall of Jericho walls is a trumpet and its individual keynote. The Jubilee years starts to count after the fall of Jericho.
Already Paul says:
51Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15)

Presumably in the beginning of the last Jubilee year.

Paul in 2Corinthians2 says:
15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

It looks that Paul here regarding the Belial and Christ responds to the "Psalms of Joshua" from "4Q Testimonia":
Then he said, cursed be the man who builds this city ....
And behold, a man accursed, the one of Belial shall arise to be a fow[ler's sn]are to his people, and destruction to all his neighbors. And he shall arise [...] that the two of them may be instrument of violence."
And they shall rebuild [this city and will es]tablish for it a wall and towers, to create a refuge of wickedness [and a great evil] in Israel, and a horrible thing in Ephraim, and in Judah [and they] shall cause pollution in the land, and great contempt among the sons of [Jacob and they shall pour out bl]ood like water on the rampart of the daughter of Zion, and in the boundary of Jerusalem.

From the Psalms of Joshua someone could equate Christ and Belial and that probably urged Paul to respond. Here he confirms the same theology which is also expressed in the Gospels and which is centered around the already destroyed Temple. It is a real enigma how Paul could express the same theology if he writes before the fall of the Temple and if the mentioned sentences are not later interpolations. Joshua's curse on the future builders of Jericho also is reflected in Paul: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. (Galatians)

1 Corinthians 1
10According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

From all that looks that Paul also writes after the fall of the Temple, because he responds to the questions which hardly could be postulated before.
Or he was a real prophet, which is impossible in reality.

PhilosopherJay

Hi ph2ter,

Wouldn't the surprising thing be if there were no interpolations in the letters of Paul?


Warmly,

Philosopher Jay

ph2ter

Hi Philosopher Jay,

Yes, I think that the exposition about the foundation stone of the new spiritual Temple belongs to Paul originally and is not an interpolation.
From that I conclude that, contrary to the consensus, his epistles must have been written after 70 C.E.
The Christ crucified naturally arises from the Joshua's curse - The one who will build the new spiritual Temple must lay the foundation in his firstborn and in his youngest.
From the Scripture everyone can see that the one who is cursed is the one who hangs on a tree. Psalm 22 is a natural development: For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet. Contemporary Roman practice of crucifixion of rebels came to the forefront of Paul's theology and became his foundation stone. I think that this foundation stone of his spiritual Temple lies in already destroyed physical Temple of Jerusalem.