Introduction: Welcome to Expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible. Our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God as we explore the Word of God in a way that is interactive, enjoyable, and congregational.
Skip Heitzig: Mark, chapter 13; let's pray.
Father, we now give you our attention. We have declared to you that you are God, that you are worthy, that we are yours because you paid the debt on Calvary's cross. All of those truths we have told you about, we just got through singing them to you, but a deeper form of worship is now in order where we love you enough to listen as the Spirit of God speaks through Word of God to the hearts of the people of God.
Help us to understand, to piece things together, but to walk away, more than anything else, with the knowledge that you love us so deeply and your plan for the world includes us. And that's why we have such joy, such peace, such stability even in the world in which we live in that seems so out of control. Thank you, Lord, for this chapter and including it, so that we might know what's going to come in the future, at least in part, in Jesus' name, amen.
Mark, chapter 13, is a chapter of transition. It's a transition and it's a bridge. It's a transition from history, something that happened in the past, what Jesus has gone through in his ministry, to the future as he discusses what will come upon the world. It's a bridge from the controversy narratives, let's call them, of the previous two chapters.
Chapters 11 and 12, are the controversy narratives where Mark stacks up scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians--- all coming in different groups to Jesus to trick him, to ask him a question, to get in his face about some issue and Jesus' response. Those are the controversy narratives. Chapter 14 and 15 will be the passion narratives: Jesus going to the cross, dying for the sin of the world, etcetera. This is the bridge that bridges the gaps between the controversy and the passion.
It is the longest spoken section where Jesus speaks a message that's included in the Gospel of Mark, the longest section where Jesus gives a sermon. We call it the Olivet Discourse. The parallel chapters to chapter 13 of Mark are Matthew, chapter 24; Luke, chapter 21; and also Mark 13. All of them speak about the same subject: Jesus on the Mount of Olives speaking about end-time events.
Now, I say it's the longest section where Jesus speaks, that is because Mark's Gospel, if you recall, the focus of this book isn't on what Jesus said as much as what Jesus did. Matthew, on the other hand, includes much of what Jesus said, including the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, 7; the kingdom parables, Matthew 13. John speaks about the Upper Room Discourse. But Mark really isn't focused on what Jesus said as much as what Jesus did.
It's a very rapid-action book. And so we find words, connective words in abundance in the Gospel of Mark: the conjunction "and," the adverb "now" or "when." These words are used 1,331 times in the Gospel of Mark. The author wants to take you through the rapid succession of the Servant of God, Jesus, because that's the theme, and he's writing to a different audience than Matthew was writing to. So we're focused on what Jesus did more than what Jesus said.
Here is the exception where we come now to the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus is speaking about a very crucial issue all keyed off a prediction. Now Jesus makes this prediction that the temple that was in Jerusalem at the time that they were all looking at, a magnificent structure and set of buildings, that that temple would be destroyed completely.
As soon as he says that, he spikes the attention of the disciples who want to know when that's going to happen. And so the whole chapter is basically keyed off that prediction and answering the question: "When is this going to happen? And what's the sign of the end of the age and all of these things being fulfilled?"
And so it says, "Then as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, 'Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!' " Now let me just kind of give you a little bit of groundwork as we work our way into this. In answering the question that you're about to hear the disciples ask Jesus after Jesus announces the destruction of the temple, in answering the question the Lord will weave together two elements---just to keep your mind open and ready for this, to observe this.
He weaves together the near and the far: the near prediction, the destruction of the temple that will happen in 70 AD; and the far off event, the far off prediction: the end of the world, the coming of the Antichrist, the great tribulation, all of the scenario that is written about primarily in the book of Revelation, some in the book of Daniel.
He's going to weave together the near and the far because these disciples they're not thinking in terms of 2,000 years later, they're thinking in terms of like a week or a month perhaps; it's stuff that's going to come down very, very quickly. However, something I noticed this time around by the answer that Jesus gives to his disciples as to when these things are going to come and when his coming is going to be: by reading what Jesus said, it is obvious that Jesus anticipates and knows there's going to be quite a length of time between now or then, when he spoke it and his second coming, because he foretells events after events after events.
And just by reading it, just the sheer context lets you know that Jesus tells his disciples, "Boys, this isn't going to happen in a week or two weeks or three weeks, there's going to be a long period of time. History is going to unfold." And that's very important for our benefit. So, Jesus went out of the temple. He has been at the temple. He has driven out the buyers and the sellers. He's now moving eastward out of the temple toward the Mount of Olives.
"One of his disciples said to him, 'Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!' And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.' "Oh, the temple---I wish you could see---I wish I could have seen the temple. Models have been made; they have been constructed. If you go to Jerusalem we can take you around a model that shows you what it looked like, but a magnificent building.
The stones were huge. The temple was white with a gold cornice. And the Jews believed that the existence of the temple in Jerusalem, just the existence of it was the evidence of God's blessing upon the nation: "God allowed Herod to be a benefactor to our nation and build this wonderful thing. This is God's will and this is the proof that his favor is upon us." Now let me just tell you that at the time the disciples are speaking to Jesus and Jesus answers their question, the temple isn't even done yet.
The construction of the temple began in 20 BC and did not finish till 64 AD. So if it was destroyed in 70 AD, it only has been standing six years before it was destroyed---can you imagine? It took over eighty years to build it. It took eighty thousand laborers to construct it. The temple was a complex. It sat on thirty-six acres. The mountaintop was flattened by building a retaining wall, moving in fill dirt, building buildings underneath it. And then on that thirty-six-acre site a retaining wall, a massive retaining wall that could be seen from all directions guarded it.
The temple complex was one-fifth of the total landmass of the city of ancient Jerusalem. It was huge. Thirty-six acres was the temple: that was the court of the Gentiles, and then the court of the women, and the temple itself in the middle. If you were to measure what is called the pinnacle of the temple, or the southeast corner down to the Kidron Valley, it's 158 feet. And I'm telling you, if you were at the bottom of the Kidron Valley looking up---and the present-day walls on that corner aren't the height that they were originally during the time of Herod.
It's just---it's massive. It's, like, wow! Man! You can imagine Satan tempting Jesus, saying, "If you just jump off in the presence of your disciples, you know, the Scripture says he'll give his angels charge over you." I've often imagined that scene as I've looked up at that corner. But it's so impressive that many years ago, and I'm talking many years ago. You know, the Temple Mount, there's a lot of controversy in the Middle East these days and it has been for years now.
But there used to be a day and age when it was just more peaceful, and they didn't eye you so dramatically, and they didn't have the kind of security. So, I wanted to just get the feel of what it was like to be on the pinnacle of the temple looking down over the Kidron Valley, and just to get that distance, so I took a Frisbee with me, a Wham-O Frisbee. I mean the big floater kind.
And I walked up to the pinnacle of the temple and when nobody was looking, I hurled it out toward to Kidron Valley just to watch it float toward the Mount of Olives and then land down. And I knew I'd never see it again, it was just too far gone, but just to watch that float to get that distance. So I know that has really nothing at all of spiritual value to share with you, but it was just a cool memory that came to my mind. [laughter]
According to the Babylonian Talmud it states, "He who has never seen the temple of Herod has never seen a fine building." Some of the stones---and I could show you them were we there today---measure twelve feet by twelve feet by forty feet long; a single stone weighing over four hundred tons. And you'll see these massive stones stacked one upon another. And first question is: How on earth were they able to do that? They're massive.
You can just imagine, the disciples, they're Galileans, they get out of Jerusalem every now and then. This is the third Passover they have been with Jesus, so, you know, it would just take your breath away. I've told you before just going on the Mount of Olives and looking over present-day Jerusalem takes your breath away. But to see that temple, it's like, "Check this out, Jesus! Look at this temple! Look at these stones!" And Jesus says matter of factly, "Take a good look, boys. It's going away. Not a single stone that you are seeing on this temple is going to be left."
The temple itself, not the thirty-six acres, the temple itself, the temple proper, the main building was ninety feet taller than the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount was 2,600 feet above sea level. Another ninety feet was the top of the temple proper, and around that white marble was a golden cornice.
In 70 AD when the Romans overtook Jerusalem and some soldier---there's a lot of different stories. But the best story I've heard that makes the most sense, because it comes from a variety of sources, is that fire was lit, it got hot, the gold on top melted, got through the cracks. The Romans soldiers to get the gold took every single stone off, dismantled the temple, basically, to get the gold for themselves.
If you go to Jerusalem today, you can see the street where some of the those massive stones fell, stone hitting a stone street making a huge impact and the dent, the two thousand-year-old dent from the falling of the temple is there to this day---quite impressive. So this literally happened. That was an event that was coming up soon. That's the near event. The destruction of the temple will happen.
"Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives," verse 3, "opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew"---this is the only Gospel that mentions the disciples by name that came and asked him this question. The other Gospels just say, "the disciples came to him" and asked him the question. We're given the four that probably talked about it at events: "We gotta get more info on this. Let's go pepper Jesus with these questions. We gotta understand what this means."
"And they asked him privately, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?' " Two questions: when? And what? When is this coming down? And what is the sign that it's coming down? Now they're on the Mount of Olives at this time. And if you remember, Jesus entered the city on a donkey a few days before from the Mount of Olives going down toward the city of Jerusalem. He's been in the temple. He goes back out and goes back on top of the Mount of Olives.
Why? Remember why? That was his hotel. I mean, he's staying with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. They live on the opposite side of the Mount of Olives in a town called Bethany. That's where Jesus would be staying, so he would naturally go back out of the city. Now, the Mount of Olives is 2,700 feet above sea level, so 100 feet taller than the city of Jerusalem. It just gives you that incredible view.
Great place to study prophecy, and so whenever we take a group there, we perch ourselves on top of the Mount of Olives and get a prophetic rundown of the prophets and all the way through the book of Revelation in very truncated form. But it's a magnificent place to study. And so they're looking at the city and they ask the question: "When is this going to happen? And what would be the sign when these things are going to be fulfilled?"
And by the way, I'm so glad they asked this question, because we have the answer. You know, never feel dumb that you're the guy in the class with the questions. "Teacher, I have a question. I know this is a dumb question." Teachers will always say, "There's no such thing as a dumb question." So I'm just thrilled that these four disciples had the chutzpah to approach Jesus and say, "Uh, you gotta give us more information on this," because we are the beneficiaries of that.
Now, when they asked Jesus this question, you need to understand, at least in part, what's going on in their minds. You go, "How can you read their minds?" Simply because we know the kind of eschatology that these Jewish men had as they asked Jesus the question. Two thousand years ago there was a fixed Jewish eschatology. Eschatology means a study of last things or end-time events. There was a belief system that the disciples shared with other Jews about what is going to happen at the end of time.
Number one: There's going to be significant turmoil in the world, and especially in the land of Israel. They saw a fulfillment of that with the Roman occupation of their land. They were under Roman oppression, Roman taxation, Roman law. They had taken away the right of capital punishment among the Jews. The iron fist of Rome ruled. And so the time of turmoil was fulfilled. They saw that as---"We're in that period."
Number two: They believed that in the midst of the time of turmoil Elijah the prophet or an Elijah-like forerunner will appear on the scene announcing the Messiah. That's why people got so excited when John the Baptist was baptizing out in the Jordan. It's like, "Okay, this could be the guy."
Number three: Messiah will come after the forerunner is announced and establish his kingdom and defeat his enemies. Number four: Scattered Jews from all over the world will return to the land. Judea, Jerusalem, the temple will be restored. It will be the kingdom of Messiah.
It was their belief, these four disciples and the others, that they're at stage number three: "The forerunner has come; this is our Messiah; the donkey ride happened the other day, fulfilling Zechariah, chapter 9. We're in." But now he's announcing that the temple is going to be destroyed. "Uh, wait a minute. The temple's going to be destroyed? How does that happen? When is this going to happen, Lord?" They're trying to fit all this into their fixed theology of end-time events, and so they ask the question.
"Jesus, answering them, began to say: 'Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, "I am he," and will deceive many.' " And the rest of the chapter is the answer to these two questions. Something about the answer to these two questions: the answer is a Jewish context. They're looking at a temple. They're in Jerusalem. Some of the words that Jesus will use and place names that Jesus will use, it's a geocentric answer. It's going to happen in the far future as well as the near future, and the center of God's program is and will be the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. The context is Jewish. So let's look at a few of these verses.
" 'Take heed that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, saying, "I am he," and will deceive many.' " There's always been deception. As believers we should never be astonished or taken off guard that there is such a thing as spiritual warfare. Sometimes, it's funny, I'll just will have conversations with some people, and it's like, I'm thinking, "Do they not understand that this is a spiritual battle? Did they somehow expect that they were going to be immune from a spiritual battle?"
And so, part of this is to alert these disciples that as you live, as you wait for that coming to happen, you are in warfare. You know, we studied Daniel, chapter 10, how the prince of Persia delayed the angel's answer. For twenty-one days there was angelic warfare going on in the heavens behind the scenes. Behind the earthly scene is an angelic and demonic scene where really the action is happening. So we also need to be aware that we're in a spiritual battle. There's an old saying that says, "Satan is never too busy to rock the cradle of a sleeping saint." So it's time to wake up.
"Many will come in my name saying"---not just one, many. Deception will mark history. Why is that? Well, there's a law in science---actually, it was Sir Isaac Newton and his laws of motion that said, "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." There's also that same law in the spiritual realm: every divine action brings an opposite satanic reaction. If there's truth, there's going to be lies. If there's veracity, there's going to be deception.
Now, it was John in First John, I think, chapter 2, he said, "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, even so many antichrists have already come, whereby we know it is the last hour." Jesus said that, "Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he.' " Now this will play out ultimately with Satan's masterpiece in the end times---we've studied him in the book of Daniel when we were in it---the Antichrist. And he will embody the characteristics of the one who sent him---namely, Satan.
Revelation 12 talks about that great dragon Satan who deceives the whole world. His primary tactic, by the way, Satan's primary tactic on earth---you know what it is? You know what the primary tactic of the devil is? Deception: getting at the truth, getting you just a little bit off center of the truth, getting you to major on minors and get deceived about stuff that doesn't even matter. And that's why we must be committed to the Scripture. Paul wrote to the church and said, "We're not ignorant of his devices." But I'll tell you one thing: we are ignorant of his devices if we don't stick to the text. We'll have no clue; we'll have no playbook from which to get the real information.
"But," verse 7, "when you hear of the wars and rumors of wars," reports of wars in other places, "do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet." In other words, don't take every war that you hear about as a sign of this is it. Jesus says this is going to happen throughout history. "These things have to happen, but the end is not yet. You're going to hear of wars and rumors of war." They will also mark history.
Did you know that since history began there have been wars. Now, if you just look back since the earliest records, 3600 BC, 3.64 billion people have been killed by wars. It has absolutely been one of the constant marks of civilization. So to think that somehow today we could look at each other, and put a bumper sticker on our car, and sing a song, and end war, is to defy human nature. I mean, it's a nice thought, but it's a really ridiculous thought because there's no power behind it. It'll just make you feel good for a minute, and then you have to read a newspaper and get back into reality. There have always been wars, and Jesus said there will be "wars and rumors of wars."
"Nation will rise against nation," verse 8, "and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles." Again, all these things have marked us, but notice this in context: "These are the beginnings of sorrows." If you have a New International Version, or perhaps even a more modern version, or just a different version than the one I'm reading from, it might say, "These are the beginning of birth pangs." Birth pangs, that's a better translation. That's literally what it is.
These wars, earthquakes, famines that always happen, it's the beginning of birth pangs. Now that's a key phrase because five times in the Old Testament Prophets that very term is employed to speak of God's judgment, God's wrath upon sin, upon the earth. It speaks of it as the birth pangs of a woman, as God intervening in history in a very judicial and direct manner. It's described as birth pangs.
But it's also a key phrase, I believe. Because although these things have always been around us---wars, earthquakes, famines---birth pangs is a tip-off. My mind goes back to 1986 when my wife had birth pangs. Now, she had different pangs throughout the nine-month pregnancy, but every time there's a pain you don't call the doctor and rush to the hospital and have a baby delivered. There's normal pains that happen---like wars and rumors of wars and famines and earthquakes. There's just pains throughout, you know. Being pregnant can be a pain. It's wonderful, but it can be painful: the stretching the discomfort, etcetera.
But when those contractions, those pains become regular, you can time them more frequent and more intense, and they're measured by their intensity and their frequency, then you know time for the birth is right around the corner. And I remember those birth pangs starting about eight-nine o'clock at night and lasting into the morning, and taking her into the hospital, and the next day out popped my son. "These are the beginnings of birth pangs." You know that there's going to be the birth of the judgment of God when these things happen with more frequency and more intensity.
"But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to the councils, you will be beaten in the synagogue, you will be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them." Back to the "wars" thing, just for a moment. Though there have always been wars, I think what the Bible is teaching is that the end times will see an intensity, a frequency. Almost like you turn around and you go, "Again, another one? That's happening now? This is happening in Syria? And this is just happening in Egypt? And that just happened in Libya?" Especially in that region where they just become more frequent and more intense.
Until we get, finally, to that last period of human history, that last seven-year period, and especially that last three-and-a-half-year period called the great tribulation, where in Revelation, chapter 6, if you remember, there were four horses that came out. The four horsemen, they're called, of the Apocalypse. John said, "I looked, and behold, a white horse. And then he said, "I looked again, the second horse, a fiery red horse. And the one who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another."
It will be one of the sad marks of that last period of time unlike any other period of time until it culminates in the mother of all battles, (Revelation, chapter 16, the battle of Armageddon) where the kings of the earth and the people of the earth battle each other in a final convict. Jesus tells them personally to "watch out."
"You'll be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them." Look at verse 10, "And the Gospel must first be preached to all the nations." Now, stop right there, because that verse has been so butchered by so many different interpreters, and especially mission groups. Let me just tell you the direct sense of it, the context:
"You know, bad things are going to happen, you're going to be persecuted, you're going to be brought before the councils, but this Gospel must be preached to all the world." In other words, "Disciples, whoever reads this, yes, you're going to be persecuted for your faith, yes, you're going to get hassled for believing in me and following me, but don't let that cause you to despair or give up the most important thing that you're to be about doing, and that is, preaching to Gospel."
That's really the context of it, but mission groups have taken this verse to mean that Jesus cannot come back until every person on earth hears the Gospel, every tribe or every nation hears the Gospel. So I've heard at mission conferences people say, "Let's hasten the day of the Lord. Let's bring the Lord back quicker by getting the Gospel all over the world," as if God has left the scheduling of his second coming to us. [laughter] Like, "Here, it's on your timetable. Whenever you get this job done, I'm coming. But until you get it done, I'm not coming back. So it's really, you schedule it whenever you feel like you're up to the task."
Man, that's a lame interpretation. It's not at all what it means. The context simply means: "You're going to be persecuted---don't let that stop you. This Gospel as an imperative must be brought, must be preached to all the nations."
And then it says, in Matthew, "And then the end will come." Now people have asked---because we're dealing primarily with here with the tribulation period. People have asked, "Well, if the rapture of the church"---and I believe in the rapture of the church before the tribulation. I believe in that without shame, without equivocation. Okay, so I believe that.
But then people say, "Well, now, if the church is raptured off the earth, how on earth are people going to hear the Gospel?" Well, really? You've limited God that much? Well, let me tell you. Number one: there's going to be two witnesses in Jerusalem (Revelation chapter 11) that do miraculous signs and powers that will be on television. You say, "Well, how do you know that?" Well, because it says when they do miracles and when they die and when they're resurrected, the whole world in one instant will be able to see it. That couldn't even be fulfilled until there was satellite television. That's number one.
Number two: there's going to be 144,000 sealed servants of the Lord, Jewish evangelists, as a result of the two witness that come to them. Now, you know, have you ever seen a Jewish evangelist? Have you ever seen a Jewish believer who comes to the reality of Yeshua as the Messiah, Jesus? It's like, I mean, imagine 144,000 Paul the apostles. One hundred forty-four thousand, and the result of them, according to the book of Revelation, is a Gentile multitude that no one could number.
Number three, and this is, to me, the coolest of all: Did you know that in the tribulation period God will send a special angelic messenger to finish the job? I just want you to listen to this verse as I read it to you. This is Revelation, chapter 14, this is the tribulation period.
Listen to this: "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth---to every nation, every tribe, every tongue, and people---saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.' "
Two witness, 144,000, and just in case nobody's watching satellite television, an angel to cover every people group on planet earth to hear the Gospel. So that is how that verse is going to be fulfilled. (I lost my place---no, I didn't.)
Verse 10, "And the Gospel must first be preached to all nations." And then Jesus (Matthew 24) said, "And then the end will come." I've read that before and I've often wondered, "Lord, why didn't you just do that to begin with? Why don't you just send an angel to begin with?" I mean, if an angel of God were to fly through heaven and fly over UNM tomorrow, and all the colleges in every state, and every tribe, and then on television---I mean, it would be, like, so unmistakable, right?
It's, like, why didn't God do that to begin with? Well, we go back to what it says in First Corinthians 1, "God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise." God has limited himself to entrust this Gospel to us. So, we are his mouthpieces. We are his feet. We are his hands. We are the ones who are to do the task, but in the end of days it will finally be finished by the angel who preaches the everlasting Gospel.
Verse 11, to further prepare them: "When they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate on what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit." It's so cool. But you know how many pastors I've met that quote this verse? "I don't need to study the Bible. I don't need to study commentaries. I just need to get up there and open my mouth, let the hose run, and trust God for the anointing." [laughter]
This is a promise to persecuted believers, not lazy preachers. [laughter] "Study to show yourself approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Keep it in context, pastor. That's who he's speaking to, those who will be arrested and hassled.
"Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved." Jesus is answering the second question. The second question was: " What is the sign that all these things will be fulfilled?" So, in verse 14, " 'So when you see the "abomination of desolation," spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not' (let the reader understand), 'then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.' "
Do you remember, if you were with us in the study of Daniel, do you remember that phrase the "abomination of desolation"? Daniel used it three times in his writing. The idea of the abomination of desolation is someone or something placed in the area of worship that would cause the temple, the place of worship, to be made desolate, people to leave it---that's the idea. It's predicted three times in the book of Daniel, here Jesus brings it up again, the abomination of desolation.
It happened historically in 167 or 168, depending on which chronology you use, BC. A guy by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes, we also studied him in Daniel, the eighth Seleucid king called Antiochus IV. He believed he was the incarnation of Zeus. He gave himself the name Antiochus Epiphanes: "the illustrious one"; "I am God made manifest." The Jews called him Antiochus Epimanes, which means "the madman."
He went into Jerusalem, stopped the sacrifices, dedicated an altar to Zeus, took a pig and sacrificed it on the altar of sacrifice, spread its juices around the precincts of the temple, forbade the keeping of the Sabbath, forbade circumcision, etcetera. The Jews knew that to be the abomination of desolation. He killed on that attack 80,000 Jews. He killed 80,000 Jews; he took 40,000 as slaves.
When that happened, the Jews knew that to be the abomination of desolation. Yet, Jesus speaks of it yet future: "When you see the 'abomination of desolation,' as spoken of by Daniel the prophet." It happened historically; when will it happen again? Now, here's why I ask the question, because every now and then somebody will ask this question: "Well, maybe what Jesus was simply referring to was what happened in 70 AD, the Romans coming in and destroying the temple."
It's true, the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, but that's it. There was never an altar, a profane system of worship that took the place of true worship that caused the temple to be desolate. Moreover, it is predicted in Second Thessalonians about the Antichrist, the man of sin, the son of perdition that will come in the future: "He opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he himself sits as God in the temple of God, proclaiming that he is God."
That is the ultimate abomination of desolation in the future. What happened historically is a harbinger, a model, a picture of what will happen ultimately. It happened only in part in 70 AD, according to Paul, according to John in Revelation, and, I believe, according to Jesus, he speaking of the end of times. And I'll show you why as we work our way through here, God willing.
Verse 15, "Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of the house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in the winter." And if you remember Matthew 24, Jesus said, "or on the Sabbath day."
Again, a reminder the focus of chapter 24 is localized. It's geocentric. He mentions Judea, the temple, the Sabbath day; he is speaking to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, because he's speaking about an event in the future that will happen primarily in Jerusalem---the abomination of desolation. Sure, the Antichrist will wreak havoc all over the world, but primarily the inhabitants of Jerusalem would be the ones that feel it.
There is a catastrophe that is going to happen in the Middle East centered in Israel, centered in Jerusalem of epic proportions coming, which brings up what's happening right now over in the Middle East. Isn't it interesting that the Middle East is always in the headlines? I mean always. Israel is such a tiny, little sliver of real estate, but it gets all of these headlines because of the nations that are in conflagration all around it, and upheaval all around it.
Syria is flaring up. When I was over in Lebanon, I met Syrian refugees. They left their home. A million of them have crossed the border. In total, three million have left the country. It is interesting trying to just figure out what's going to happen next. According to the prophet Isaiah in chapter 17, Isaiah makes a prediction that the city of Damascus will be totally destroyed.
It doesn't say when, it just says it will be totally destroyed. Some kind of fix that into the eschatological day of the Lord, the tribulation; or the last three years, the great tribulation. But it says Damascus will be destroyed. Now that has never happened historically. It has never happened yet. It's one of the oldest, if not the oldest continually inhabited city on earth. It still stands. It's predicted that Damascus will be destroyed in some kind of a battle with Israel.
And it says that in that battle "the glory of Jacob will also wane," that is, Israel will sustain enormous casualties itself. It'll be hit hard. And as you go through the chapter---and, of course, I've been visiting the chapter lately, the last couple of weeks more than usual just to look at it again and again---it seems to indicate that a lot of this will happen in the span of a day, in a night; an overnight strike, and the next day gone.
And we don't know, and I'm not going to sit here and predict that that is going to happen tomorrow, but I'm saying it is going to happen sometime. Whether it's in the tribulation period---which I don't intended to be here when that happens---or it happens sooner than that where we're getting it all set up for then the Lord to come back to take us before this. But I mean, it just, I read it and it's like, I turn on the news and I go, "Really? This is happening right in front of our eyes."
According to Jeremiah, chapter 30; do you know what the tribulation is called by the prophet? "The time of Jacob's trouble." "Alas!" he says, "Alas! For that day is great, there is none like it; it is the time of Jacob's trouble," Israel's trouble, "the glory of Jacob will wane." According to the book of Zechariah---now I'm going into the tribulation period itself. According to the book of Zechariah, chapter 13, when the Antichrist comes, sets up the abomination of desolation, attacks Judea, attacks the Jews, that's when Jesus says, "Get out of town, leave, don't get anything, go."
It's because he will seek to destroy them. And according to the prophet Zechariah, two-thirds of the Jews in that area will be completely destroyed, will be killed. Two-thirds of the Jews in Judea will be killed; one-third will be spared and they will flee.
You keep reading, keep reading, keep reading, keep reading throughout the New Testament to the book of Revelation, chapter 12. It talks about Israel being taken and preserved by God for 1,260 days in the wilderness. As they flee he protects them for three and a half years. So Jesus says, "When you see this happen, get out of town now."
"For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be." Now we have studied that pretty much in depth throughout the book of Daniel, so I'm not going to get too heavy into it. "And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, which he chose, he shortened the days." God has set time limits on that final day of wrath.
The time limits are 1,260 days, three and a half years. The great tribulation will be no longer than that. God will graciously spare the earth because---and people say, "Well, you know, there's always been times of trouble, and there's always been tribulation. Why is that period of time worse than all the other periods of time? After all, didn't Jesus say, 'In the world you will have tribulation'?" Yes, he did, but there's a huge difference between the tribulation that comes from this world versus the tribulation that comes from God Almighty upon the earth---two different categories.
The tribulation period, the great tribulation will primarily be a confluence of three strains: the direct wrath of God upon the earth, the hatred of Satan for God's elect, and the rebellion of mankind in epic proportions. You get all three of those elements together, you have the perfect storm. That will be, in essence, the great tribulation.
"Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ! Or, 'Look, here he is, he's there!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect." Now it is not possible. If you're truly elect, you won't be deceived. If you get deceived, it shows that you were not elect. It's that easy as far as I'm concerned. We'll talk more about that on Sunday.
"But take heed; see, I told you all things beforehand. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; and the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." In other words, there will be cosmic disorders that will precede his second coming.
So, you know why that's important? Because if, as some say, what Jesus was predicting was all fulfilled in 70 AD when the Romans came in, then you would have read somewhere in history where the world ended. The stars fell from the heaven; I don't know how it continued now. But, I mean, those things never happened yet. Moreover, read on.
"Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send his angels, and gather together his elect from the four winds and from the farthest parts of the earth to the farthest part of heaven." If what Jesus has just spoken about was fulfilled in 70 AD, as some say, then Jesus would have returned. That hasn't happened yet.
So, you can see that here's the disciples, and they only had the benefit of Old Testament Prophets, which---remember when we talked about prophetic foreshortening? If you don't, it's in the book of Daniel. I don't have time to explain it all again. But from the disciples viewpoint of the Old Testament Prophets, that's all they had. They didn't see that there would be an interval of time between the first and the second coming of Messiah. They thought, "He's come. The kingdom will now be set up."
Jesus says, "Well, before the kingdom is set up, I'm going to come again. I'm going to come back. I'm going to appear in glory. But there's all of these things that must occur first, including the heavens giving way, the stars falling from their places, their orbits, that kind of mass destruction, and then they will see the Son of Man coming in this clouds with power and great glory."
"Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near---at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away."
This parable of the fig tree has been interpreted a few different ways. Number one, some people see it as picture of nation of Israel. And the fig tree sprouting, that is Israel becoming a nation again in 1948. The reason I don't believe that's what Jesus is referring to is this: if Jesus meant that, could the disciples have even remotely gotten that? Not at all. I mean, that would be so obscure to them: "Oh, yeah, 1948"---no. They're not even thinking on that level, number one.
Second reason that I don't think that it refers to the nation of Israel is because in the parallel account of the Olivet Discourse in Luke, chapter 21, he says, "Look at the fig tree," or learn of the fig tree, "and all of the trees." Not just the fig tree, now he says "all of the trees." So he doesn't mean just one, but all. If the fig tree is Israel, then he says, "Now look at Israel and all of the other trees, all the other nations." So, I don't think he's referring to Israel.
Number two, because it says, "This generation will not pass away." And the word is genea, which means "race," "ethnicity." some people believe it refers to the Jewish race, that Jesus is predicting that the Jewish race will continue in perpetuity throughout history, that God has a promise. And certainly that is true, but, again, that would be very obscure to the disciples. I just think it's simpler than that and more straightforward.
That when you begin to see certain things happening in the present, they're an indication of what's coming in the future. You can tell what the future will bring by seeing certain things unfold now. You can tell his coming by certain events that he speaks about. That after a winter of tribulation will come a springtime of blessing. You'll see these things happening, and you'll know that his coming is near. And he's speaking primarily of the tribulation period and the second coming.
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." This bothers some that Jesus himself is saying, "I don't even know when that's going to happen." And the reason he could say that is because Jesus was in human flesh when he spoke those words. In the incarnation he submitted himself to these kinds of limitations, something that was reserved in the mind only of the Father.
And the question is: "Well, now that Jesus has ascended, does he know?" I believe, absolutely, he does know. But at the time of the incarnation this would be accurate. He had limited himself and the scope of certain knowledge barriers and information that was reserved only for the Father.
"Not to Son, but only the Father. Take heed, and watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is." Okay, now let me throw something out at you. If you're in the tribulation and you're reading this, and what Jesus just predicted happened and you see it, and you happen to know a little bit of the book of Daniel, little bit of the book of Revelation, as well as what Jesus said, then when the abomination of desolation happens, you can count three and a half years. You can count 1,260 days and you will arrive on the exact day of his coming.
So, how could he say "nobody knows" when this is going to happen, when, in fact, in the tribulation period anybody who's searching and biblically astute---and there will be a lot of Bibles laying around, a lot of eschatological information and books available for people to read. They will know when he's coming.
Let me piece something together for you. When all of this begins---"all of this" meaning the day of the Lord, the seven-year period divided into two, the first half more peaceful than the second half, the great tribulation---all of that seven-year period, that Seventieth Week of Daniel will, I believe, be kicked off at the rapture of the church. Nobody knows when that's going to happen. We're told to wait. The Lord could come at any moment. If I was in the tribulation, and you and I were both in the tribulation, we would know exactly where we're at, and we would know when Jesus is coming.
So from our vantage point and the vantage point of the disciples and making the prediction, the day of the Lord, nobody's going to know when that's going to start because the day that triggers that is the rapture, and nobody knows that timetable. From our vantage point, we're awaiting two events in the future, two comings of the Lord. Number one, the Lord coming toward to earth. Number two, the Lord coming to the earth.
The first one, the Lord coming toward the earth, he doesn't come to the earth, he just comes toward the earth. Picture it as a flyby. He comes pretty close, but not all the way down. It says we will "meet the Lord in the air," First Thessalonians, chapter 4, remember that? He comes toward the earth, not to the earth. Why? To get his church. He comes for his church at the rapture. When he comes to the earth at the end of that tribulation, great tribulation period, he comes to the earth with his church, with his saints; two completely different events that will occur. So he tells us to be ready, to watch.
"It's like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming---in the evening, at midnight, the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning---lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all"---that would be all of you and I as well---"Watch!" or be alert.
I'll leave you with two things. You want to be ready for the Lord? Get saved, number one. Number two, get busy, get active, get busy. Get saved. You know what the saddest reality to me is? That, perhaps, for some of you this sermon, this Bible study is the closest you will ever get to heaven, that you will push away the invitation of the Holy Spirit to get saved. And one day you'll remember that you had the opportunity, but you said no. That's the saddest reality. Get saved and get busy about his business. Let's pray.
O Father, we pray that that would not be. We pray, Father, that everyone in the hearing of my voice would be truly saved and truly ready; made ready by the blood of Jesus Christ once and for all time shed for the sin of all men and all women. That we'd place our faith ultimately, totally, finally, unequivocally on Jesus alone, and that in so doing we would be busy about his business.
We're about to close with a chorus of a song, and then you're going to be dismissed. But if you are here tonight and you've been playing around, and you don't know the Lord personally, you don't remember a time where you have stopped, you have turned from what you know to be wrong and you've turned your life over to him to follow him, and for you to make him the Lord of your heart, the Lord of your life; if you don't remember consciously ever doing that, making that decision to follow Christ so that here you are tonight and you're not sure that if you were to die you'd go to heaven, I want you to be sure.
I want you to receive Christ as your Savior and come into the kingdom. If you're willing to do that, as our heads are bowed, I want you to raise your hand up. Just raise it up quickly and I'll pray for you quickly as we close this service. Keep it up for just a moment. God bless you, and you, sir; on my left, that's right. That's the first step. Anybody else? Raise your hand up. Right up in the front; anybody else? Anybody else?
Father, we pray for those people around this auditorium that have made that their heart's cry, and we pray that you'd give them the strength to follow through on that, to believe, to be your disciple, to bear forth fruit, to be busy about your business, and enjoy the sheer pleasure of being used by you in this world, in Jesus' name, amen.
Let's all stand. As we sing this final song, I'm going to ask those of you who raised your hand to just come forward right now and just stand right up here at the front of this platform. I'm going to lead you publicly in a prayer to receive Christ. God bless you, ma'am.
[worship music plays]
Awesome. I saw arms go up around the auditorium; I'm going to give you an opportunity. I'm just going to wait just a moment longer. You know, Jesus walked up to a guy named Matthew one day publicly, and he said, "Matthew, follow me." He said it out loud, in front of people, and he had Matthew follow him publicly. That did something for Matthew. That settled something that day in his heart. And so, if you think this isn't an important step, I'm here to say it is an important step, that you make a stand, you're willing to make a break from the past and step out of the shadow and into the light and follow him.
I'm just going to give you an opportunity just as we sing this through one more time. If you have never done that and you're sensing that your life is just sort of burned out and you're not getting all that you hope to get out of it, and you want more, there is more, and Jesus has more. Jesus made you for a reason, and you'll never experience that purpose till you come to him. That's the purpose for which you were made is to be a child of God, a son or daughter of God. You're going to be in misery until you raise the white flag and surrender to him. So we'll sing this through one more time, and you respond to him if you haven't yet, you respond now.
[worship music plays]
[applause]
Those of you who have come forward, I'm going to lead you in a prayer, and I'm going to ask that you say this prayer right now, out loud, after me, from your heart to the Lord. Let's pray: Lord, I give you my life. I know I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. I believe in Jesus, that he shed his blood for me that he died and rose from the dead. I turn from my past. I repent of my sin. I turn to you as my Savior. Help me to live for you as my Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.
We want to rejoice with you. [cheers and applause] Awesome!