21:20 ¶ And when ye shall
see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is
nigh. 21 Then let them which are in
Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart
out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all
things which are written may be fulfilled. 23
But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in
those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this
people. 24 And they shall fall by the
edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and
Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled. 25 And there
shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the
earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the
powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And
then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great
glory. 28 And when these things begin to
come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth
nigh.
Here is a clear
distinction between the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple
versus the end of history. Read 20-24 to the comma before until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. There is a couple thousand-year
gap in that comma.
Paul wrote about the
period of Israel’s blindness over the last two thousand years;
Romans 11:25 For I would
not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be
wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come
in. 26 And so all Israel shall be
saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall
turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I
shall take away their sins. 28 As
concerning the gospel, they are
enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 30 For as ye in times past have not believed God,
yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31 Even so have these also now not believed,
that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
32 For God hath concluded
them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Notice Paul’s until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Notice also that God is not done with the Jews but their apostasy turned to our
salvation and we are to be witnesses for them, not their persecutors.
Now, back to the comma
and the two thousand plus year gap. Here is another example of that type of
handling of time in the Bible. Read this prophecy in Isaiah.
Isaiah 61:1 ¶ The Spirit of
the Lord GOD is upon me;
because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to them that
are bound; 2 To proclaim the
acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort
all that mourn;
Now, read up to the
comma after to proclaim the acceptable
year of the LORD. Jesus refers to this passage in His early ministry.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he
hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat
down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
He stopped where that
comma is for us. Before that comma is His first advent and after that comma the day of vengeance of our God holds
the second advent as related in the Book of the Revelation. There is a long
time in between, two thousand years so far.
From the point at the
end of Luke 21:24 and onward we have the events of the end foretold. There was
some question about how long that gap might be. If the council had, as related
in Acts 7, when they were addressed by Stephen, acknowledged, as he said in
verse 52, that they had had the Messiah killed by the Romans, like David killed
Uriah by the Ammonites (2Samuel 12:9), that gap may have been much smaller than
two thousand years.
Acts 7:52 Which of the
prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which
shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the
betrayers and murderers:
Christ was ready,
perhaps, to receive the repentant Jews. In Mark 16:19; Colossians 3:1; and
Hebrews 10:12 He is said to be seated on the right hand of God but in the
following He might have been prepared, as an example to us, to receive the Jews
if they had been repentant and acknowledged who He is and what they did.
Acts 7:55 But he, being
full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened,
and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
They had used the sword
of Roman justice to murder the Innocent One (Psalm 94:21; Matthew 27:4) but Peter
said they did it out of ignorance.
Acts 3:17 And now,
brethren, I wot that through ignorance
ye did it, as did also your rulers.
Confirming what Jesus
said from the Cross.
Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus,
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
And the Law provided a
way to deal with the rulers’ sin from ignorance as per Leviticus, chapter 4.
But, it was not to be. The Jews had rebellion against God on their spiritual
hearts.
Matthew 27:25 Then answered
all the people, and said, His blood be
on us, and on our children.
John 19:15 But they cried
out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto
them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
And so, we have the age
of the Church until the times of the Gentile domination are over. Israel still
has to deal with the Gentiles and their very existence, from a temporal and
strictly earthly point of view, depends on the support of powerful nations, the
holding back of their enemies, and a very, very shaky geopolitical situation with
another holocaust from the Beast and Satan’s fury coming. But, when Christ
returns to rule Gentile domination is over.
Revelation 11:15 And the
seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and
ever.
Verses 25-27 summarize
the events of the Book of Revelation. For 27 see;
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he
cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail
because of him. Even so, Amen.
Finally, as in verse
28, we are told to be expectant of Christ’s return, of His calling us out as
the church, His body on earth being removed or translated from here to Heaven.
1Corinthians 15:51 ¶
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all
be changed, 52 In 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.
1Thessalonians
4:13 ¶ But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even
as others which have no hope. 14 For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and
the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17
Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Titus 2:13 Looking for that
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ;
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