SURROUNDED!
LUKE
21:20-24
(see
also Matthew 24 & Mark 13)
Susie: In
this passage, Jesus predicts the relatively close event of the fall of
Jerusalem that would occur in AD 70. However, some of the same things will be
true when Jesus returns to set up the millennial kingdom. Daniel speaks of the
more distant future destruction of Jerusalem during the period known as The
Great Tribulation just before Jesus returns.
Daniel
9:27 And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle
of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of
the temple will come the abomination that causes desolation, until the decreed
destruction is poured out upon him.
Luke
21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the
desolation thereof is nigh.
Susan: Jesus
had spoken of wars and rumors of wars, but now He explains that when they physically
see armies surrounding the entire city of Jerusalem, they can be assured that
its destruction is imminent.
Susie: In AD
70, the Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius
Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged Jerusalem. Commentators point out
that since Jesus had given this warning about forty years prior, many of the
Christians in Jerusalem were able to flee before the final battle when the
temple and much of the city were reduced to rubble.
Luke
21:21 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.
Susan: Jesus’s
followers heeded this warning, followed His instructions to the letter, and
were saved from death or captivity. However, those who were His detractors
failed to accept this as prophetic and were captured or slaughtered in the
streets of Jerusalem.
Susie: Normally,
a walled city would be a place of refuge, the very place to run into during a
battle. However, Jesus forewarned that this would not be the wise choice when
the Romans (Gentiles) attacked Jerusalem.
Luke
21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may
be fulfilled.
Susie: The
destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was a judgment against the Jews who failed to
recognize Jesus as their Messiah. However, it is also a foreshadowing of the
judgment and destruction during the Great Tribulation of the end times.
Susan: In
some sense, the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in AD 70 served to
spread the Gospel due to the scattering of the Christians around the globe.
Luke
21:23 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.
Susan: It
would be more difficult for pregnant women and nursing moms to escape to
safety.
Susie: God’s
wrath would be poured out via the hands of the Roman soldiers. God uses even
those who do not know Him to bring about His will.
Luke
21:24 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.
Susie: As
stated before, during the fall of Jerusalem in AD70, people were slaughtered,
and those who were spared were led away captive. Many of those became slaves. Some
were forced to perform as gladiators who fought to the death and others were
put in the arena to be torn apart by wild beasts while the crowd cheered. The
destruction was brutal. Jerusalem has continually been controlled by Gentiles
(non-Jews) since that time. But what is meant by “the times of the Gentiles?”
Susan: Paul
uses a similar phrase:
Romans
11:25 (ESV) Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware
of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the
fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Susan: Some
commentators describe the times of the Gentiles as beginning with the
Babylonian captivity and ending at the culmination of the church age. The
Gentiles are the predominate people being brought into the Kingdom of God,
although individual Jewish people do receive Christ. During the Great
Tribulation, 144,000 Jewish evangelists, given divine protection from the horrors
of that time, will lead millions to trust in Christ, both Jews and Gentiles. We
found good articles on “the times of the Gentiles” online:
One
theme of Romans 11 is that, when the Jewish people rejected Christ, they were
temporarily cut off from the blessings of a relationship with God. As a result,
the gospel was given to the Gentiles, and they gladly received it. This partial
hardening of heart for Israel doesn’t preclude individual Jews from being
saved, but it prevents the nation from accepting Christ as Messiah until His
plans are finished. When the time is right, God will restore the entire nation,
and they will come to faith in Him once again, ending “the times of the
Gentiles” (Isaiah 17:7; 62:11–12; Romans 11:26). https://www.gotquestions.org/times-of-the-Gentiles.html
Ponder
this and Apply it: There is no direct application here. However,
the Christians who had heard Jesus’s teaching knew to flee Jerusalem and
avoided death or capture. Jesus has preserved His word, the Bible, throughout
the centuries. If we read His word and believe His statement, “I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6),
we too will be spared. When we trust in Jesus alone and not our own efforts
(Ephesians 2:8-9), we will spend eternity joyfully in the Lord’s presence. Those
who do not surrender their lives to the Lord’s control experience eternal
destruction in hell.
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