Sunday
Morning Bible Study
May 29, 2005
Introduction
It’s Tuesday of Jesus’ last week on earth. He had been in the Temple
teaching and answering questions. But the questions have ended and Jesus is
making His way out of the Temple. Matthew
records Jesus’ last words before getting up to leave:
(Mt 23:37-39 NKJV)
37 “O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem,
the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often
I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings, but you were not willing! 38 See!
Your house is left to you desolate;
:1-4 Temple
will be destroyed
:1 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him,
Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!
The history of the Temple:
Before the Israelites began to conquer the land
of Canaan, God told them that when
they entered the land, that He would designate a single place for worship to
take place (Deut. 12).
The first Temple was built by
David’s son, Solomon. The Temple
was completed in the year 959 BC.
For almost four hundred years, the Temple
was that single place where God was worshipped by the Jews. But after hundreds
of years of disobedience, God finally allowed the Jews to be taken into
captivity to Babylon and the Temple
was destroyed in 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar.
After seventy years in exile, the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem,
where Zerubbabel oversaw the reconstruction of the second Temple,
completed in 516 BC.
Herod the Great was appointed king over Palestine
by the Romans in 37 BC. He began a series of huge building projects, including
the complete rebuilding of the Temple.
He didn’t build the Temple because
he was religious; he built it for political reasons, to get the Jews to like
him. Construction began on the Temple
in 20 BC. Herod would greatly enlarge the courtyard area. The main sanctuary
was completed after ten years, but the complete project, including the
courtyards, walls, gates, and various other buildings, was not complete until
64 AD. In other words, the Temple
was still under construction when Jesus was walking through it commenting to
the disciples. The Temple would be destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman armies, and
all that remains intact is a small portion of a retaining wall that supported
the courtyard area – that wall is known as the “Wailing wall”.
The ancient Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities, 15:11:3) described the
stones that were used in the building of the Temple as being 37 feet long, 12 feet
high, and 18 feet wide (25x8x12 cubits). Some of the stones you can still see
in Jerusalem. Some of the stones
have been calculated as weighing 70 to 100 tons each.
:2 …there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be
thrown down.
This is actually quite an amazing prophecy.
When the Roman general Titus took Jerusalem
in A.D. 70, 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 was so intense that all the gold in the temple melted, flowing
into all the cracks between the stones. The Roman soldiers pried all the stones
apart, tearing down the temple, to get at the gold.
And so Jesus' prophecy came true.
:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple…
Jesus crosses the Kidron Valley
and sits down on the Mount of Olives where they can all
see the Temple …
:5-13 Initial signs
:5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive
you:
Take heed – blepo – to
see, to discern mentally, understand. Keep your eyes open. Understand what’s
going on around you.
One of the ways that people will be deceived or led astray is by …
:6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive
many.
I am Christ – The word “Christ” is not in the original Greek. It has
been added by the translators in order to help you understand the passage.
The original text is “ego eimi”
or, “I am”. This could be taken in a couple of ways:
1) These
people who are going to come are going to claim to be Jesus. Jesus said they
would be coming “in my name” saying, “I am”.
2) These
people could be claiming to be God. The name of God, Yahweh, is derived from
the Hebrew words “I am”. When Moses asked God what His name was, God replied,
“I AM THAT I AM” (Ex. 3:14). The
Greek translation of that passage uses the words “ego eimi”. This was the same Greek phrase that Jesus is quoted as
using throughout the Gospel of John. Jesus was claiming to be God, these false
prophets may also be claiming to be God.
For example, the fellow in India,
Sai Baba,
claims to be God.
“He defines himself as an Avatar, that is to say a divine
incarnation; moreover, he would be a Purnavatar, or an incarnation of God with
all his complete powers. In this aspect he defines himself to be superior to
Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.; in one discourse, for instance, Sai Baba said
that Jesus in reality was not even an Avatar, but just a man who became aware
of his own divinity; in another passage he states to be the one who sent Christ
into the world.”
3) They
will come in Jesus’ name, they will claim to be followers of Jesus and simply
say, “I am the one”, perhaps simply the idea that “I am the one you should
follow”.
America
is famous for its cults. Groups like the Mormons, led by Joseph Smith and
Brigham Young, fit this description. I’m sorry if this offends you, but they
have led many astray.
:7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled:
for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.
troubled – throeo – to cry
aloud, make a noise by outcry; in the NT, to trouble, frighten; to be troubled
in mind, to be frightened, alarmed
How many wars are going on today?
We may only be aware of war in Iraq
or Afghanistan,
but in reality, there are
currently close to two dozen “significant armed conflicts” going on around
the world today.
We live in scary times.
Since 1947, a magazine called “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists” has published what it calls it’s
“Doomsday Clock”. The idea came about as a way of letting the world know how
close we are to nuclear annihilation. Over the years the clock has gone back
and forth depending on the condition of world affairs. For these scientists,
they believe that we’re very close to annihilating ourselves.
If North Korea has
indeed developed nuclear weapons, that would make them the ninth nation to have
them.
On the front page of the “Nation and World” section of the Orange County
Register, there was an article about how the parliament of Iran
has just passed a law requiring the nation to develop its atomic capabilities.
Lesson
End Times Anxiety
Don’t be “troubled” about the end times. These things need to take place.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be for promoting peace in the world. I’m
not saying that we should promote war so we can hurry things along.
I’m must saying that we need to realize that these things are all a part of
the process that will end with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ back to the
earth.
We aren’t looking forward to more wars, we’re looking forward to Jesus
Christ.
(Isa 25:8-9 KJV) He will swallow up
death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and
the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the
LORD hath spoken it. {9} And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God;
we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited
for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Jesus said,
(Luke 21:28 KJV) And when these things
begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your
redemption draweth nigh.
With each new day that passes, we’re closer to the coming of Jesus to the
earth.
When we hear bad news, we need to learn to say to ourselves, “Jesus is
coming back”. Turn to the person next to
you and tell them that Jesus is coming back.
When we hear about false religions, know that “Jesus is coming
back”. When we hear about wars, know
that “Jesus is coming back”.
:8 … and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be
famines and troubles:
nation – ethnos – a tribe;
people group; the emphasis seems to be on ethnic ties, not politics.
kingdom – basileia – a
kingdom, here the emphasis is a political territory.
earthquakes – seismos – a
shaking, a commotion; an earthquake
Did you hear about the great earthquake and tsunami that happened last
December? This bit of news from a few weeks ago, May 19, 2005:
Headline: Tsunami Quake Shook
Earth's Total Surface
WASHINGTON — December's great
Sumatra-Andaman earthquake — the most powerful in more than 40 years and the
trigger of a devastating tsunami— shook the ground everywhere on Earth's
surface. Weeks later the planet was still trembling. The quake resulted from
the longest fault rupture ever observed — 720 miles to 780 miles, which spread
for 10 minutes, also a record. A typical earthquake's duration would be 30
seconds.
:8 these are the beginnings of sorrows.
sorrows – odin – the pain
of childbirth; it’s a process that has to happen for the baby to be delivered. The pains are getting closer together…
When you hear about wars, earthquakes, famines, and trouble, know that “Jesus is coming back”.
:9 … for they shall deliver you up to councils …for a testimony against
them.
councils – sunedrion – any
assembly (esp. of magistrates, judges, ambassadors), whether convened to
deliberate or pass judgment; this is the word for the “Sanhedrin”, the ruling
council in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day.
It’s interesting that last January an interesting thing took place in
Tiberias in Israel, a new Jewish high council was started, a new Sanhedrin. 71
Jewish rabbis were “ordained” in a special ceremony. The idea is to create an
authority, the “highest Jewish-legal tribunal” in Israel.
It is not without controversy, some say that it is not a legitimate Sanhedrin. Others
say they will have to see how things turn out.
testimony – marturion
(“martyr”) – testimony
We really don’t know much about persecution here in America. Yes, things are getting worse in terms of
religious freedom, but compared to what goes on in other places around the
world, we know nothing.
Open Doors
says that more than 200 million Christians around the world are facing
persecution. Just in Indonesia,
over 600 churches have been destroyed and 20,000 believers have been killed in
clashes between Christians and Muslims.
In Turkmenistan,
since 2001, almost every church has been forced to close it’s doors. In Sudan,
2 million have died due to the civil war, much of it centering around religion
– an estimated 60-200,000 have been forced to be slaves.
When you hear of people being persecuted for being a Christian, know that “Jesus is coming back”.
:10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
nations – ethnos – a
tribe, nation, people group
be published – kerusso –
to be a herald, to deliver a message with gravity and an authority which must
be listened to and obeyed; we might say “preach”.
There are 6,800
known languages in the world, only 2,261 of them have writing systems, the
other languages are only spoken.
In 1990, the Bible had been translated into 1,946 languages. As of Dec. 31, 2002, The Bible had been
translated into 2,287
languages.
Wycliffe Bible
Translators says that of the 3,000 languages that still need the Bible
translated into their language, 1,000 languages are in the area of India,
940 languages are in Africa, and 700 languages are in Asia.
Though at the present rate, the Bible won’t be translated into these languages
until the year 2150, their goal is to make it by the year 2025.
The Jesus Film has been translated into 896 languages. More
than 58 million people have seen the film in the U.S.,
more than 6 billion have seen or listened to it
around the world since it’s creation in 1979.
When you hear about the gospel being taken to the nations, know that “Jesus is coming back”.
What is the “gospel”?
It’s the good news about what Jesus has done for us.
The Bible says that we are all sinners.
We have all fallen short of what is required to get into heaven.
Yet the Bible teaches us that God loved us so much that He sent His Son,
Jesus, to come to earth and save us. How
did He save us? He saved us by paying
for our sins, by being a sacrifice and dying in our place. That’s good news.
The Bible teaches that if a person will turn from their sins and receive
God’s free gift of forgiveness, that they will receive eternal life. That’s good news.
As believers, we are asked by Jesus to take this message to our friends,
our neighbors, and even around the world.
:11 … take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak …but whatsoever shall
be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the
Holy Ghost.
take no thought beforehand – promerimnao
– to be anxious beforehand. It seems
that often times we worry about things long before we need to.
There are lots of occurrences of the word “speak” – don’t worry ahead of
time what you should speak, but
whatever is given you, you shall speak (command)
because it isn’t you speaking, but
the Holy Spirit.
Lesson
The Holy Spirit’s gifts
Some preachers have used this verse as an excuse not to study and prepare
for their messages on Sundays. But Jesus
isn’t talking about the ministry of preaching and teaching, He’s talking about
what you do when you’re suddenly in trouble.
The idea is that we don’t need to worry about what to do because the Holy
Spirit will “give” you something at the time you need it. All you have to do is to speak what has been
“given” to you.
So often we get trapped into thinking that when we’re in trouble, the
answer is simple, we need more money.
Money isn’t the answer. Jesus is. We think that if we just had a little
more money that everything would be fine. It’s an illusion. Money brings great
temptations and great problems. Jesus is the answer to your emptiness.
Cultivate your relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Slow down. Quiet down.
Elijah was in trouble. He had been
doing God’s work, challenging the people to abandon their idols and follow
God. In the process he offended Queen
Jezebel and he ended up running for his life.
He ran over three hundred miles and ended up hiding out in a cave.
(1 Ki 19:11-13 KJV) And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the
mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong
wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the
LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was
not in the earthquake: {12} And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was
not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. {13} And it was so,
when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and
stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him,
and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
From this point, Elijah received guidance and help from
the Lord.
But you don’t necessarily need to run away and hide in a
cave for God to speak. Though maybe at
times that’s just what we need to do.
Perhaps we need to simply quiet down. Turn off the TV from time to time. Spend time with God. Listen for His voice. A still, small voice. If your life is too noisy, you just might not
hear it.
He has the answers.
:12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death …
The previous verse was about being betrayed (“delivered”). Now Jesus tells
us who some of the people will be that betray us, those closest to us.
:13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake:
hated – miseo – to hate,
pursue with hatred, detest; Not hated because you’re a mean or obnoxious
person, but because you’re a Christian.
Lesson
Being hated
While God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, Satan hates you
and wants to ruin your life.
Satan will do whatever he can to hurt you, stop you, or make you
ineffective.
One of the things that catches us off guard is when we face the hatred of
Satan, usually expressed through people.
(John 15:17-20 KJV) These things I
command you, that ye love one another. {18} If the world hate you, ye know that
it hated me before it hated you. {19} If ye were of the world, the world would
love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you. {20} Remember the word that I said
unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me,
they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours
also.
We are to find “love” with other Christians, with the church. We should expect to find “hate” in the world.
Satan would love to turn this around.
He’d love to make us hate one another at church and cause us to find
“love” out in the world.
:13 but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
shall endure – hupomeno –
to remain; to tarry behind; to remain i.e. abide, not recede or flee; to
preserve: under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ; to
endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments
Lesson
Endure
Norwegian wharf rats
I remember hearing about tests done with laboratory wharf rats. These are the rats that live under the piers
along the waterfront. One group of rats
was placed in a large container of water, in the dark, with no place to stand
on, they had to keep swimming. They all
drowned within fifteen minutes. The second group was placed in a similar
container, yet every ten minutes the lab technician would open the container,
take the rats out, stroke them a few seconds, and put them back in the
water. They didn't have time to rest,
they just got a little encouragement.
These rats went on swimming for over 12 hours (or something like
that...).
How can we keep going? How can we
endure?
We keep going because Jesus is
coming back.