The writings of Luke the physician starting with his version of the gospel - Luke 22:1-6 comments: the plot to kill Christ, the Messiah

Luke 22:1 ¶  Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. 2  And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people. 3  Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. 4  And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them. 5  And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. 6  And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread and its relationship to the Passover should be read from the Old Testament.

Exodus 12:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2  This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4  And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6  And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9  Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10  And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the

morning ye shall burn with fire. 11  And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. 12  For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14  And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. 15  Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. 16  And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. 17  And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. 18  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. 19  Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that

soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. 20  Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.

The chief priests and the scribes sought how they could kill Jesus but not in such a way as to arouse the riotous inclinations of an unruly people who adored Him. It is at this point in God’s plan to redeem mankind to Himself that Satan entered Judas.

Jesus called Judas a devil.

John 6:70  Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?

And although the specifics aren’t related here Judas, a man given to doubtful loyalty to Christ, is possessed, as we understand it, by Satan himself. See here for Judas’ bad character.

John 12:6  This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

And here for the specific occurrence of Satan taking control of him.

John 13:26  Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27  And after the sop

Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. 28  Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 29  For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30  He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

But when Satan is finished using a person they are themselves typically finished.

Matthew 27:1 ¶  When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: 2  And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3  Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4  Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5  And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6  And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 7  And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 8  Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9  Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; 10  And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.

Exodus, chapter 40 comments: conclusion

Exodus 40:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 3  And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. 4  And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof. 5  And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle. 6  And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 7  And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein. 8  And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate. 9  And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy. 10  And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy. 11  And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it. 12  And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water. 13  And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 14  And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats: 15  And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.

    40:16 ¶  Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he. 17  And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. 18  And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars. 19  And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the LORD commanded Moses. 20  And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark: 21  And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses. 22  And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail. 23  And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses. 24  And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward. 25  And he lighted the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses. 26  And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail: 27  And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the LORD commanded Moses. 28  And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle. 29  And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering; as the LORD commanded Moses. 30  And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal. 31  And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat: 32  When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses. 33  And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.

    40:34 ¶  Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35  And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36  And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: 37  But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. 38  For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

    

Much of what is written here has already been commented on. We’ve learned a great deal about our worship and our reality here in Exodus and there are a few things I want to point out again. Our work for God is only acceptable to God if it is sanctified by Him. He makes our prayers and our worship acceptable to Him.

Aaron acts as a mediator between God and man in his office as priest. For Christians, Christ is our mediator. There are many verses about Christ bearing our sins and I will not post them all but this one is applicable to what Aaron was doing. We need no priest other than Christ, fully human and fully God, who in his humanity is our priest.

1Timothy 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…

Aaron is to bear the iniquity of the holy things in 28:38 and make acceptable to God the Hebrew’s fallible and weak offerings to him. Our worship without God’s help is a meager and pathetic thing. We don’t even know how to pray as we ought, we are so blinded by our sin nature. We need help.

The Holy Spirit even sanctifies our prayers.

Romans 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Another point is that God blessed the midwives and made them houses.

Exodus 1:21  And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

Now, lest you think God is in the business of building suburban developments near Cairo understand that a house can be a family, or a dynasty, that goes on for generations.

Exodus 6:14  These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.

1Samuel 20:16  So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David’s enemies.

As well as a building…

1Kings 9:10  And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king’s house,

So, depending on the context house can be short for household as well including servants, wives, and children.

Genesis 45:2  And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

So, a question for fundamentalists arises naturally from this. Is this reference following a physical building or a group of people characterized in type as a spiritual building?

1Corinthians 14:23  If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

How do physical buildings come together to meet? Seems an absurdity.

Colossians 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence…24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The church is Christ’s body on earth, not a building.

Acts 2:47  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

1Timothy 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

So, what is the house of God, to the Roman Catholic ‘wannabes’ of Protestant fundamentalism, the Vatican’s auxiliaries? Has the gate of heaven reference in Genesis 28:17 confused you? Do you consider your specific church building, the place where your church meets, the ladder between heaven and earth? What about Christ in John 1:51? And what about these verses?

1Corinthians 3:16 ¶  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Corinthians 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Our bodies are the tabernacle where God meets with us after the resurrection because His Spirit resides in us.

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

God’s Spirit is already inside of us if we are Christians and we do not need to ask for Him to “come down and walk among the pews.” We should ask to be filled with His Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 ¶  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

God has placed in our hearts the things He wants from us if we will hear and obey.

Jeremiah 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

2Corinthians 3:2  Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

We must remember that Christ has fulfilled the Law for us. He is the fulfillment of it.

2Corinthians 3:12 ¶  Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 13  And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

In Paul’s great argument, his letter to the Romans, he lays it out.

Romans 10:1 ¶  Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 5  For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 6  But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 7  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 8  But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Always remembering that we Christians are not justified by the Law given to Moses.

Galatians 3:19 ¶  Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20  Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21  Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

There are many wonderful passages in Exodus. One that is revealed in the translation of great importance is this.

Exodus 12:3  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4  And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

These verses give us an understanding who Christ was and is.

He is a lamb (verse 3), a sacrifice and ransom to God, the propitiation to satisfy God’s wrath for mankind’s sins against Him. He is the lamb (verse 4), the only way to salvation. He is your lamb (verse 5), who died for your sins on the cross at Calvary and rose for your justification.

God is with us in our wilderness wanderings as we leave the world when we are born again and often wander in the wilderness trying to find our way.  God wants to lead us, to direct us to our Promised Land, eternal life with Him. The kingdom of God is within us.

Luke 17:20 ¶  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Exodus teaches us about how the Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt as we are enslaved to the world before we followed Christ. The Red Sea crossing is our salvation experience as we are led by God toward what He has ordained for us. We resist and struggle against Him often and just as the generation of Hebrews that left Egypt could not enter the Promised Land neither can our flesh, in its present form, go to ours. We must leave our temporal bodies in the wilderness.

God’s glory filled the tabernacle in the wilderness and we should desire that His Spirit fill this tabernacle in which we walk and live in a fallen world. In that tabernacle is an ark that contains the testimony of God as it should be in us.

Exodus teaches so much and I have only scratched the surface. I hope you will look into it for deeper truths and more important connections than I could give you here.

The writings of Luke the physician starting with his version of the gospel - Luke 21: 5 - 38 comments: the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world

Luke 21:5 ¶  And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, 6  As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 7  And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? 8  And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. 9  But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. 10  Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 11  And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. 12  But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. 13  And it shall turn to you for a testimony. 14  Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: 15  For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. 16  And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. 17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. 18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish. 19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

Jesus restates His prophecy of the temple’s destruction from 19:41-48. I will repeat some of what I wrote. 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.

There is a warning in verse 8 to follow no one after Christ who claims to be Him. Many terrible things will happen, both natural and man-made, before this dreadful event and the disciples are told not to be concerned by them. Based on the context we have the Preterist justification for saying that the events of Revelation were fulfilled when Jerusalem fell to the Romans but this has nothing to do with the events of Revelation. Jesus did not come to physically rule the earth from Jerusalem in 70AD. The Preterist view is simply insane and denies the text of Revelation.

Christ here tells His disciples that He will give them the words to say when they are under persecution.

Jeremiah 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

In chapter 12 Jesus also underscored this point in speaking of persecution.

Luke 12:8  Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: 9  But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. 10  And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. 11  And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: 12  For the Holy Ghost shall

teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

The fact that Jesus is talking to His disciples about a persecution to come in time that is not too far distant is evidenced by the following statement.

18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

If this passage is foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70AD this undercuts Roman Catholic tradition which has Peter dying at Rome in 64AD. Jesus is promising that not a hair of their head will perish during this terrible national tragedy, that He will give them the words to say.

Remember, that Peter didn’t say he was going to Rome. He said he was writing from Babylon where there was a strong Jewish community.

1Peter 5:13  The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

Babylon was part of the Parthian kingdom at this time and Josephus wrote about how the Jews in Judea appealed to the strong community in Babylon to help them in their rebellions against Rome.

Based on some written evidence by Eusebius, a famous early church historian, and other writers, Christians escaped from Jerusalem before the destruction in 70AD. We know in Acts how God permitted a situation to exist where many Christians had to leave Jerusalem because of persecution, perhaps not only forcing them to be witnesses to the world but also saving them from the awful terror that was to unfold in the Jewish-Roman War that resulted in the destruction of the Temple.

If this passage is a reference to the events leading up to and including the Fall of Jerusalem then literally Christ is assuring these disciples in front of Him that they will survive it. The fearful sights and natural disasters that surrounded the Fall of Jerusalem are spoken of by Josephus, who was not a Christian but a Jew who had sided with the pagan Romans.

Josephus wrote about incredible signs that preceded the conquest of Jerusalem by the future Roman emperor, Titus. They are hard to be believed like soldiers and chariots in the sky and other events that many eyewitnesses claimed to see, according to him. False prophets arose in abundance and a couple are mentioned in Acts by the Jewish teacher of Paul, Gamaliel.

Acts 5:36  For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. 37  After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.

Verse 19 gives us one reason for including longsuffering, which is patience, in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. Trust in Christ, wait on Christ, be faithful and strong. Remember that words joined by and are typically synonymous. We like to think of longsuffering as putting up with the kids’ nonsense but it carried a far more heavy weight in the first century in regard to persecution and suffering.

Colossians 1:11  Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

Luke 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 to 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;

Luke 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.