Thursday
Evening Bible Study
May 17,
2007
Introduction
Jesus has been teaching in the Temple
during this final week in Jerusalem.
Sometimes it’s just hard to get motivated.
Illustration
Being A MOM !
Jesus is getting near to the time when He
will no longer be with the disciples.
How is He going to keep them motivated?
What kinds of things are going to keep them going?
:1-2 Temple Destruction
:1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came
up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
:2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?
Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that
shall not be thrown down."
Herod the Great began renovating Zerubbabel’s temple in 20 BC. In Jesus’
day, the work was still going on. The work would not be finished until 64 AD.
Herod’s Temple was known for
it’s massive stones, many of them 10-12 feet in length, some up to 26 feet in
length. It was difficult to see how they could ever come apart.
The Romans were known for being respecters of other nations’ religions. They
had never torn down another nation’s temples. I would imagine the Jews in Israel
felt pretty good about their Temple,
despite the fact of the Roman rule over the land. But that changed in AD 70
when Titus moved to put down the Jewish revolt.
When the Titus took Jerusalem,
he intended that the temple be left in tact. After getting into the city, the
battle headed toward the temple where 6,000 Jews were holed up. On August 30,
in the attack in the inner court, a soldier tossed a firebrand through a window
into one of the side chambers. Titus rushed up shouting commands for the fire
to be extinguished, but wasn't obeyed. Another soldier tossed a burning brand
into the Holy Place that
set the sanctuary itself on fire. The 6,000 people in the temple complex died.
The fire melted the gold of the Temple
and the molten gold seeped into the cracks between the stones. The Romans
pulled the stones apart in order to salvage the gold.
:3-14 Signs of the End
:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the
disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things
be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
Now across the Kidron valley, sitting on the Mount of Olives
and looking back at the Temple, the
disciples start asking questions. They’re assuming that the destruction of the Temple
would be the end of the world. Jesus will move on to a time long after the
destruction of the Temple. What
follows is called the “Olivet Discourse”, Jesus’ message from the Mount
of Olives.
Mark (13:3) tells us that Peter, James, John, and Andrew were the specific
disciples asking the questions.
Some see verses 4-14 as a description of events during the first half of
the tribulation and verses 15-28 as the second half of the tribulation.
I’m not sure I’d limit verses 4-14 to the first half of the tribulation,
unless you want to conclude that we’re already in that time period (I don’t
think that’s true).
Another possibility is that vs. 4-8 precede the tribulation, vs.9-14 refers
to the first half of the seven year tribulation, vs.15-28 refer to the last
half or the tribulation, and vs.29-51 refer to related subjects to His coming.
:4-8 Before the Tribulation
:4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one
deceives you.
:5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will
deceive many.
:6 "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not
troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
We see these kinds of things continually through man’s history.
:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.
Nation will rise … - there is some concern in security circles that Israel
is preparing for a possible war with Iran
this summer. The Iranians are on the verge of the ability to build a nuclear
bomb. Ahmadinejad feels it’s his purpose in life to bring about the end of the
world and the coming rule of the “Mahdi”, or Islamic ruler of the world.
:8 "All these are the beginning of sorrows.
:9-14 1st Half of Tribulation
:9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you
will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
:10 "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will
hate one another.
:11 "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
:12 "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow
cold.
An increase in crime. People not caring any more.
love – agape – brotherly
love, affection, good will, love, benevolence
will grow cold – psucho –
to breathe, blow, cool by blowing
Increased sin decreases godly love.
:13 "But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
This may be something that is meant solely for those in the Tribulation,
but I don’t think so. The principle applies across the board to all believers.
There is a sense in which we have security in our salvation.
(John 10:28-29 NKJV) "And I give them eternal life, and they
shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. {29}
"My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is
able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.
But there is also a sense in Scripture that reminds us that we need to make
it to the end of the race and not quit halfway through.
(Heb 3:12-14 NKJV) Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; {13} but exhort one
another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. {14} For we have become partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world
as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
The gospel will be preached to the nations. Some see the angel of Rev.
14:6-7 as fulfilling this.
I don’t think we ought to sit around though and expect the angel to finish
what we were unwilling to do. We ought to be concerned about preaching the
gospel to the nations.
Illustration
An American evangelist was invited to preach in Peru.
Since he spoke no Spanish, a local missionary agreed to interpret. At the close
of the first service, a Peruvian pastor came up to the interpreter and said, “I
could understand every word you said. But who was that rude fellow who kept
interrupting you?”
-- Elzena A. Scott, Mesa, Arizona, in The Christian Reader, March/April,
1995, p. 16.
Sometimes God wants us to be that “rude” fellow who was faithful to share
Jesus, even with people who couldn’t understand him.
Jesus told His disciples:
(Mat 28:18-20 NKJV) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,
"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. {19} "Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} "teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age." Amen.
This is our commission as well.
Illustration
Dr. Kermit Long says, “With all our education, our fine buildings, our
image of the church, we are doing less to win people to Christ than our
unschooled forefathers did. We’re no longer fishers of men, but keepers of the
aquarium, and we spend most of our time swiping fish from each other’s bowl.”
:15-28 The Great Tribulation (2nd half)
:15 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of
by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him
understand),
As unclear as it is as to when events will take place in the Tribulation,
there is one event that stands out as a very concrete time marker – this
“abomination of desolation”. It comes from the prophecy known as the “Seventy
Weeks” of Daniel, a prophecy concerning the time of the Messiah’s arrival. We’ve
seen in previous studies that the “weeks” are groups of seven years, and that
the first 69 weeks gave the time of the Messiah’s first appearance, actually
predicting the day of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem,
something that had just occurred days earlier in our narrative in Matthew. The
final “week” is the period of time we call the “Tribulation”, a period of seven
years that leads up to the Messiah’s Second Coming.
(Dan 9:26-27 NKJV) "And
after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And
the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war
desolations are determined.
At the end of the first 69 weeks, Messiah would be cut off – Jesus would
die. The people of the prince to come destroyed Jerusalem
in AD 70, the “people” being the Romans. The “prince who is to come” is the
antichrist. The antichrist will have some sort of connection to Rome.
Now we zoom into the future where the final “week” will occur:
{27} Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
The “he” is the antichrist, who will make some sort of treaty with Israel
for seven years. Some have suggested that the treaty might even have something
to do with the rebuilding of the Temple,
though that might have already occurred when this happens.
But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice
and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the
desolate."
This is the “abomination of desolation”. The antichrist will do something
so “abominable” that his act will eventually lead to desolation, perhaps the
destruction of the future Temple.
The “abomination” might have to do with the stopping of sacrifice.
Paul gives us another hint:
(2 Th 2:3-4 NKJV) Let no one deceive you by any
means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the
man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, {4} who opposes and exalts
himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as
God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
In Jesus’ day, there had already been one abomination of desolation – the
Greek king Antiochus Epiphanes had ordered a pig sacrificed to Jupiter in the Temple
of Jerusalem. This was an
abomination. The desolation was the Temple
becoming “unclean”. The Temple
would later be cleansed when the Maccabees revolted and took back the Temple.
But Jesus isn’t talking about a past abomination of desolation, He’s
talking about something that is still yet to come.
One of the things this event requires is that there must be a Temple.
:16 "then let those who are in Judea flee to
the mountains.
People in Israel
will need to pay attention to this.
John’s vision matches up with this picture:
(Rev 12:13-14 NKJV) Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast
to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. {14}
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a
time, from the presence of the serpent.
The “woman” is Israel,
who will flee for 3 ½ years from the antichrist. The “wilderness”, as the
“mountains” (our verse) is most likely the area of Jordan
west of the Dead Sea, the area around the ancient city
of Petra (Is. 16).
:17 "Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out
of his house.
Houses had patios on their rooftops.
:18 "And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
:19 "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing
babies in those days!
:20 "And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
:21 "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been
since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
We call this final 3 ½ years of the Tribulation the “Great Tribulation”,
because it will be so much worse than the first 3 ½ years.
:22 "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved;
but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.
the elect – who are “the elect”? The answer to this question will
change how you view this chapter.
There are some who say the “elect” is the church, those God has chosen to believe
in Him.
There are Scriptures to back this view – the New Testament epistles has
references to the church as being “elect”.
These folks will also tend to look at the church as having replaced Israel
in God’s prophetic plan. They will take Old Testament passages intended for the
nation of Israel
and say that the church will now fulfill these prophecies, such as establishing
a kingdom on the earth.
If the “elect” is the church, then you also have to come to the conclusion
that the church is going to go through the tribulation period.
I believe the “elect” is the nation of Israel.
Look at the passage. Who would be affected by their “flight” (vs. 20) being
on the Sabbath? Only the Jew who has restrictions as to how far they can travel
on the Sabbath.
Some may say, “But He’s talking to His disciples (vs.3)!” I would reply
that it’s Jesus’ JEWISH disciples He’s talking to.
:23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or
'There!' do not believe it.
:24 "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great
signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
signs and wonders – some folks get fooled by miracles and
pseudo-miracles. Just because a miraculous thing happens doesn’t mean that God
was behind it. Satan and the antichrist will be able to perform miracles and
deceive many.
(Deu 13:1-3 NKJV) "If there arises among you a prophet or a
dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, {2} "and the sign
or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after
other gods'; which you have not known; 'and let us serve them,' {3} "you
shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for
the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul.
The antichrist himself will deceive many into thinking that he is the
Messiah. The prefix “anti” means “instead of”, not “opposite”. We think of the
antichrist as the “opposite” of Jesus (which he is), but in reality he is the
one who is coming to take the place of Jesus, the one people will believe in
“instead of” Jesus.
elect – again, the nation of Israel
will apparently be persuaded for a short time to follow after the antichrist,
before he turns on them.
:25 "See, I have told you beforehand.
:26 "Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not
go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.
inner rooms – it’s interesting that the Jehovah’s Witnesses had a
prophecy years ago claiming that Jesus would come back, and when He didn’t,
they claimed that He actually did come back in 1917 and was in a secret chamber
at their headquarters in Brooklyn, New
York.
:27 "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west,
so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
It will be very obvious when Jesus returns. There will be no doubt about
it.
(Rev 1:7 NKJV) Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will
see Him…
:28 "For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered
together.
There’s a lot of debate over what this phrase means. It’s a bit unclear.
eagles – aetos – an eagle;
some think this should be translated “vultures” since eagles don’t eat dead
carcasses.
What does this mean?
1. Some see it as eagles – the believers are the eagles, Jesus is the
carcass – in other words we’ll know Jesus has returned because we’ll be with
Him.
2. Some see it as a carcass and vultures – in other words, it is obvious
when Jesus returns, just like it’s obvious that someone is dead when there’s
vultures flying around.
3. In the same way, some think that where there’s spiritual corruption (the
carcass), there will be judgment (the vultures).
4. Another idea is that Jesus is alluding to the battle of Armageddon,
where the land of Israel
will be littered with carcasses and birds eating the dead bodies (Rev.
19:17-19), which takes place at the return of Christ.
:29-31 Jesus Returns
:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
These same pictures of the end of the world are found in
(Isa 13:9-10 NKJV) Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with
both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its
sinners from it. {10} For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not
give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon
will not cause its light to shine.
(Joel 2:31 NKJV) The sun shall be turned into
darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome
day of the LORD.
(Joel 3:15 NKJV) The sun and moon will grow dark,
And the stars will diminish their brightness.
:30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then
all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming
on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
What is the “sign”?
Some see it as the “lightning flashing from the east and the west” …
Others see it as the Shekinah, the glory of God.
It might be Jesus Himself.
(Zec 12:10
NKJV) "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of
grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they
will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one
grieves for a firstborn.
:31 "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and
they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven
to the other.
This would be the gathering of the rest of the Jews who have survived and
were scattered during the Tribulation.
:32-35 The Fig Tree
:32 "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.
The parable has a couple of important aspects.
1. There are signs that show us what is around the corner.
Fig trees lose their leaves during the winter. In the springtime the leaves
begin to appear again and show you that summer is right around the corner.
In the same way, when you see all these various signs coming together, the
signs are like the leaves on the fig tree, showing you that you are in a
special season of the year. The signs should be showing us that Jesus is very
close. The more signs, the closer He is.
Some might say, “But Christians have been saying that Jesus is coming back
for centuries!” I would say that looking at the signs, He’s now closer than
ever.
2. The fig tree itself has significance.
We’ve already seen the subtle references to the identity of the fig tree in
this final week of Jesus’ life.
(Mat 21:18-19 NKJV) Now in the morning, as He returned to the city,
He was hungry. {19} And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found
nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever
again." Immediately the fig tree withered away.
It is after this episode of Jesus cursing the fruitless fig tree that Jesus
tells a parable about a landowner looking for fruit from his vineyard and what
the landowner would do to the vinedressers who would not give him his fruit.
(Mat 21:33-34 NKJV) "Hear another parable: There was a certain
landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in
it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far
country. {34} "Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to
the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.
(Mat 21:41
NKJV) They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and
lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in
their seasons."
(Mat 21:45
NKJV) Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they
perceived that He was speaking of them.
I think Jesus has already identified the fig tree as a picture of Israel.
Not only would these various “signs” be a signal that the end was near, but
the budding of Israel once again as a nation is a sign as well, perhaps the
greatest sign we’ve seen yet.
What other ancient nation has been conquered, scattered, and come back to
life after two thousand years?
:33 "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near;
at the doors!
:34 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass
away till all these things take place.
Two possibilities:
“Generation” might refer to the Jews, the race of the Jews, that they won’t
pass away until all this is fulfilled. In other words, the Jews won’t be
exterminated, no matter how hard the latest Hitler tries.
“Generation” might refer to the group of folks who are around when the fig
tree puts forth leaves. Israel
became a nation in May of 1948. We’re still in that era.
:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means
pass away.
There are only two things in this room that are forever.
The people you are sitting with.
The book you are studying.
Don’t spend too much time on things that don’t last.
:36-44 Coming Unexpectedly
:36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of
heaven, but My Father only.
People that try and set dates and predict when Jesus will return are not
telling the truth.
:37 "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son
of Man be.
:38 "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the
ark,
:39 "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so
also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
days of Noah – we can learn lessons about what the days of Noah were
like – the violence and the rebellion, but the picture Jesus paints is the
picture of life as usual. There will be a sense in which life will be going on
as usual when Jesus returns.
:40 "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the
other left.
:41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the
other left.
Some see these verses as a description of what will happen at the second
coming – and in this case the one that is taken is taken in judgment because
they did not believe in the Lord Jesus, and the one that is left is the
believer who comes into the Kingdom
of Jesus.
I see this as a picture of the Rapture – the one event tied to the Second
Coming that is completely unknown as to when it will happen.
The sequence of main events:
The battle of Gog and Magog – Iran
and Russia
invade Israel
(Eze. 38-39).
The Rapture
The Tribulation starts
The abomination of desolation, midway through the Tribulation
The Great Tribulation, culminating in the battle of Armageddon
Jesus returns
You could probably make a point of calculating the day that Jesus returns
based on the abomination of desolation, even counting to the day when He comes.
In fact, the armies at Armageddon are not gathered to fight each other, they’re
gathered to fight Jesus (Rev. 19:19).
But the Rapture, the snatching away of the church before the Tribulation
starts, this could happen at any moment, while life goes on as usual.
:42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is
coming.
:43 "But know this, that if the master of the house had known what
hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to
be broken into.
:44 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an
hour you do not expect.
Three (of many) reasons why I believe in the Rapture happening before the
Tribulation:
1. It best reconciles a sudden return with a predictable return.
I can predict when Jesus is coming back.
(Dan 12:11
NKJV) "And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the
abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred
and ninety days.
When the abomination of desolation is set up, there will
be 1290 days (3 1/2 years) until Jesus returns.
But the Rapture, when Jesus takes His church off this earth, which happens
at the beginning of the tribulation period, can't be pinpointed. We can only
get the sense that it's getting closer.
2. Jesus promises to keep the faithful church from the tribulation
(Rev 3:10
NKJV) "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you
from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who
dwell on the earth.
3. It fits best with our understanding of the tribulation being a time of
God's wrath
(Rev 6:17
NKJV) "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to
stand?"
(1 Th 5:9 NKJV) For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
:45-51 Two Different Servants
:45 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made
ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?
:46 "Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find
so doing.
:47 "Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his
goods.
:48 "But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is
delaying his coming,'
:49 "and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with
the drunkards,
:50 "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not
looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of,
:51 "and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the
hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Lesson
Be Ready
Sometimes we can get so caught up in the fascination of prophecy that we
neglect the very reason God has given it to us.
God’s desire is to motivate us to follow Him.
Some people want to scoff at our interest in prophetic things – they say,
“Christians have been saying for thousands of years that Jesus would come back,
and they were all fooling themselves”.
Note that it was the “evil” servant who took the line that the Master was
not coming back.
Note that Jesus’ intention was for us to live each day as if today was the
day of His return.
And when you wake up, read the newspapers, and read your Bible, you will
hopefully realize that it’s not just wishful thinking, He’s right at the door.
Illustration
When Dwight David Eisenhower (his mother named him Dwight after D.L. Moody)
was President of the United States
he visited family in Denver over a
weekend. His wife, Mamie, was from there. He went to a Presbyterian church on
Sunday morning, and then set off on a special errand. He had been told about a
little guy by the name of Paul Hanley, Jr. who was dying of cancer.
Imagine the scene as President Eisenhower in his limousine arrived
unannounced on a Sunday afternoon at the modest little home of the Haleys. When
Paul Haley, Sr. answered the knock at the door, imagine his surprise at finding
President and Mrs. Eisenhower standing there. He had not shaved that morning,
nor combed his hair. He was wearing an faded, old pair of blue jeans, and a
dirty T-shirt.
Eisenhower, pretending to ignore his appearance, said kindly, “I heard that
little Paul is sick. I stopped by to see him. Is it all right if I come in. I
have a little something for him.”
At the end of his visit, the President took little Paul into his arms and
carried him out to the limousine so that he could sit in it for a moment. Then
he took him back to the house, returned to his car and left. The whole visit
only twenty minutes. But in that short time a crowd had gathered.
When Eisenhower was gone, everybody in the neighborhood was talking about
how exciting it was to have the President of the United
States drop by. Everybody, that is, except
Paul Hanley, Sr. All he could say was, “Think of it. The President of the United
States—and here I am without my hair combed,
unshaved, wearing a grubby T-shirt, and this pair of old, faded jeans.”
-- Moody Founder's
Week Messages, 1978, p. 10-11.