23:26 ¶ And as they led him
away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and
on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great company of
people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters
of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
29 For, behold, the days are coming, in
the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that
never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. 30 Then shall they begin to say to the
mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. 31 For if they do these things in a green tree,
what shall be done in the dry?
Simon, who is forced to
carry at least part of the cross that Jesus was to be crucified on as writers
often talk about the execution victim having to carry the crossbar to the place
where it would be nailed to the stake that went into the ground, is a Cyrenian.
Cyrene' was an ancient Greek then Roman city in modern day Libya on North
Africa’s Mediterranean coast. Likely a Jew and not a Roman citizen and there at
Jerusalem for the feast he is noted as being the father of Alexander and Rufus
in Mark 15:21. This suggests that the two youngsters may have become notable
Christians as did, perhaps, their father after this experience.
The name Alexander is
mentioned later but there is no indication that it ever refers to this
Alexander. However, Paul salutes a Rufus who may or may not be this one. It is
important not to do too much arguing when the Bible is silent on something in
spite of traditions and extrabiblical references in writings of questionable
authenticity.
Romans 16:13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his
mother and mine.
From verse 28 it seems
clear that Jesus is talking about the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the
temple that has figured so prominently in His prophecies previous to this. Read
my comments on 19:41-48 & 21:5-19 where I repeat them in part.
Quote “19:41 ¶
And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at
least in this thy day, the things which
belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine
enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee
in on every side, 44 And shall lay thee
even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in
thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy
visitation. 45 And he went into the
temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;
46 Saying untothem, It is written, My
house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. 47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the
chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy
him, 48 And could not find what they
might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.
Here is a prophecy of
the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD70. Josephus, a Jewish general
who went over to the Romans, gave us the history of that event if we can
believe what he wrote. The siege and destruction of Jerusalem was the main
event of the First Jewish-Roman War that ended not only in the disaster to the
city but the destruction of the Temple, as well.
What was called Herod’s
Temple, the Second Temple with the first destroyed by the Babylonians hundreds
of years previously, will be destroyed. The Jews will suffer for rejecting
their Messiah and for fabricating a false religion, a house of cards built on
the Mosaic Law, not too different from what many Christians have done. It seems to be a character trait of mankind,
making it up as they go along. But, some historical writers say that the
destruction of Jerusalem marked the great shift away of Christianity from its
Jewish roots.” unquote
It is certainly
understandable to play this forward to the events of the end of human history
in Revelation but it is also important to keep in mind the immediate context of
prophecy. There is a context the first readers would have understood and then
there is a future context which we are constantly debating about. One of the
problems with the Preterist philosophy, those who believe that this defines
even all of the events of Revelation, is that Christ did not return to assume
control of all of the kingdoms of the earth as Revelation 11:15 declares.
Again, let’s review my
comments previously about this singularly great disaster in Jewish history.
Quote “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;
21:29 ¶
And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and
know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come
to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at
any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares
of this life, and so that day
come upon you unawares. 35 For as a
snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to
pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 37
And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went
out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. 38
And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for
to hear him.
See here in Jesus’
closing statements how with the age of the Christian church not revealed that
the two prophecies of events at least two thousand years apart appear to be
conflated. This confuses the Preterist who say the events of Revelation were
fulfilled in 70AD, which is nonsense.
First, it must be
understood that the events of the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the
Temple will happen so close in time that the generation hearing Christ will
have many who will witness them. With the First Jewish-Roman War less than four
decades away this generation will experience it.
But, He includes in His
closing remarks something more, that the
whole earth will experience, the coming of the kingdom of God physically on earth at Christ’s return. Without the
two thousand years of the Church Age in between it appears confusing to some.
But, look at the disaster the Jews faced in 70AD as a type and a portent of
what the end of human history will look like. The signs of Jerusalem’s fall and
the signs of the time before Christ’s return will be similar and Christians
will be delivered from both sets of horrors involved in those signs.”unquote
Think of it, if the
Jews do these things when Christ is present with them what shall be done when
He is not. From another perspective Josephus would write about how even the old
and feeble were slaughtered by the Romans in the siege of Jerusalem. So, there
are probably several ways to compare a green
tree with a dry.
It is tempting to think
of all of the sermons that could come from this passage. As an example, if
American Christianity is so weak as a moral force when there is very little
oppression of faith in the country what shall become of it when in a future
time our faith is outlawed? I am sure you can think of many ways of looking at
this prophecy and relating it to us today.
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