The Fewer, The Better!

Not many people remember but after Sarah died Abraham married again and fathered 5 sons by Keturah, legally a woman of only concubine status.  One of those 5 sons was a man called Midian.  Midian, in turn,  had 5 sons who became the 5 progenitors of a “people of the east” known as the Midianites.  The Midianites were a nomadic people and lived at times in southeastern Palestine, in the Sinai Desert and southwest Israel alongside the Moabites.

Our first brush with Midian is positive.  Jethro, the father in law of Moses, was a priest of God and was from Midian. Apparently, there were very few God fearers among them, most were idolators.  When it becomes clear that Israel is going to enter Canaan and sweep the land clean of it’s inhabitants, Midian allied herself with Moab and began to militarily confront Israel.  Midian was out to play hardball, a move they would soon live to regret.  In Numbers 25 we learn that the Midianites infiltrated the camp of Israel, seduced both men and women to worship the false god Baal-Peor  which triggered the wrath of God.  A plague ensued upon the people and 24,000 died before the Lord until the plague was stopped by a man known as Phineas.  Phineas was a priest.  In fact he was not just any priest, he was the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron.  When Phineas observed that an Israelite man was taking a Midianite woman into his family circle, he arose and killed both the man and the woman with a spear.  The anger of the Lord was abated and Phineas was rewarded by God with a “covenant of peace” and a “covenant of perpetual priesthood” because he was “jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.”  Phineas became the warrior-priest for Israel.  God used him to strike a heavy blow to Midian. 

In Numbers 31, on instructions from God, Moses assembles an army of 12,000 men, 1,000 from each tribe in order to “execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian.”  This army was led by none other than Phineas.  The Bible says that “every male” was killed from among them including the 5 kings of the five Midianite clans.  Baalam also died, the man who pushed the infiltration idea to start with.  This all took place “on the plains of Moab, across the Jordan, opposite Jericho.  Why, then, some 200 years later are the Midianites again a threat to Israel, now in the land of promise? 

History tells us that the Midianites not only were divided up among 5 tribes, some lived in fortified cities and some lived as roaming nomads in the wilderness.  The city dwellers were the warriors and defenders of their land so the nomadic portion of the people could sustain everyone with their shepherding and trading endeavors.  The nomads survived the slaughter for they were not present at the battle on the plains of Moab.  Over time, the Midianites rebuilt their powerbase and became so strong as to not only threaten Israel once more, they actually conquered Israel and held them under subjection for some 7 years

According to Judges 5, Israel “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and he gave them into the hands of Midian seven years.” (6.1 NASB)  Midian allied themselves with the dreaded and hated Amalekites and suppressed Israel in ways that are hard to imagine.  Israel was suppressed to such an extent that they abandoned their property and lived in caves while the enemy ravaged the land.  They cried out to God for deliverance and He heard them.  God sent them a deliverer, a man called Gideon whose name means “mighty warrior” or “faller of trees.”  How he delivered Israel is very instructive for us for it shows us an insight into the mind of God as He protects His people and sets them on a path to growth and faithfulness.

About fifty miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee is a place known as the Valley of Jezreel.  It is large and flat, very suitable for large armies of men to gather and fight.  Gideon set up camp overlooking the valley above a place known as “The Spring (or well) of Harod” that gives a continuous source of cold, clear and clean water that flows south and east into the Jordan River.  Today it is known as the “Springs of Gideon” and water STILL flows as it did many thousands of years ago.  Gideon had raised a small army, without weapons by the way, of 32,000 men.[1]  The enemy down in the valley numbered approx. 135,000![2]   Outnumbered nearly 4 to 1, the odds looked “mighty long,” especially in the light of the fact that the enemy was a fully trained and equipped professional military force.  That being the case, God now tells Gideon something spectacular, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, “My own power has delivered me.” (7.2 NASB)

God first tells all the men who are afraid to just go on home, 22,000 do so.  That leaves 10,000.  God tells Gideon that He is going to “test them.”  Gideon, at Gods direction, brings the men to the Springs of Harod and tests them as to just how they drink the water.  Only those who lie down prostrate and “lap the water up like dogs” are chosen.  All those who knelt down and scooped the water up with their hands were sent home.  This number turned out to be 9,700 leaving a force of 300 men!  NOW God was ready!

We all know what happens next, the 300 men at God’s direction under Gideon blow their trumpets, crash their lamp jars, hold up their torches and cry out at once, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”   Panic ensues in the ranks of the enemy so as they all flee their camps.  Gideon summons men from Naphtali, Asher and Manasseh and the enemy is pursued and killed, including their two field commander kings, Oreb and Zeeb.  The defeat was massive, 120,000 of the enemy were killed as they fled before Gideon.  In addition, Ephriam is summoned to secure a broad area, cutting off any possibility of retreat .  Later Ephriam routs the remaining whole army of 15,000.   The Bible says in Judges 8.28 that “…Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore.” (NASB)  Midian disappears from history.  God delivered Israel from the enemy with only Gideon and 300 men!

This is far more than just very interesting history, it gives us an insight into the mind of God as to what He will do for His Names Sake when he people are threatened or suppressed.  From His ranks he will purge the fearful and the faint hearted leaving only a faithful remnant with whom He will gain a great victory!

By application, when God delivers a congregation of His people who cry out to Him for deliverance, He may choose to separate His people into 3 camps, the Fearful, the Faint-Hearted and the Faithful.  We MUST take heed to make sure we are in the 3^rd group, a distinct and tiny minority – a remnant!  As we have just discovered, only less than 1% were ultimately selected to remain in God’s army to attack Midian.  That means that 99% of those called by Gideon failed to make the cut.

·         The Fearful will not inherit a reward in Heaven – Revelation 21:8.  Those Christians that
bury their talents in the ground and refuse to confess Christ before men are fearful and will not gain their inheritance!

·         The Faint-Hearted  - James 4:8 – The fainthearted Christian is one that is apart from God, being a sinner and having an un-pure heart.  He in enjoined to “draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  Elijah asked the faint hearted Jews on Mt. Carmel; “How long will you halt between two opinions?”  (I Kings 18.21)  The faint-hearted will not be used by God until they repent and return to God.

·         The Faithful – Matthew 25:21 – The faithful servant who has been faithful over a few things will be made ruler over many things! 

Let us all strive to be FAITHFUL in all things so that we will be in “God’s 1% remnant!” as was Gideon and his 300 men!  Those faithful will be used by God to save our congregation so that God can grow His church here in Charlotte!  The remnant will prevail in the struggle!

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[1] This according to Judges 7.3

[2] This according to Judges 8.10

NOTE: Picture courtesy of: http://gardenofpraise.com/bibl12s.htm, a publication of the La Vista church of Christ

"End Times" or the "End of Time?"

The 2nd Temple circa 30 A.D.


A Continuing Exposition of Matthew 24 & Luke 21

As we continue to explore the singular meaning of the Matthew 24 / Luke 21 Mount Olive discourse regarding the two apostolic questions; “When will the Temple be destroyed?” and “What are the signs of your (2^nd) coming and the end of the world?” we will fail in our exegesis unless we grasp the fact that this discourse is neither chronological nor sequential in the 21^st century mindset.  Christ does not put everything in exact “time sequence” and “chronological” order.  To our way of thinking, He jumps around and gets things “out of order.”  In fact, such chronological and sequential concepts are foreign to the 1^st century Jewish way of thinking.  Though many, if not most, of the dialogue is in what we would call “proper sequence,” it is by no means 100% so.  Frankly, such concepts as time, chronology and sequence were not important to the writers of Jewish literature, inspired or otherwise.  What was important was the impact of certain people, places and events in order of importance to God’s long term plan for mankind.  In other words, “correct” chronological and sequential order has little, if nothing, to do with how God communicated His Holy Word to the Jewish people.  As the Littman Co. © says;

The comprehensive study of time, time reckoning, and chronology in ancient Jewish sources demonstrates that the concept of time as an entity or a continuum was entirely absent from ancient Judaism.  Reality and change were conceived in terms of concrete processes.  This stands in contrast with the world view of Greco-Roman culture and its pervasive concept of chronos…[1]

This, of course, is not to say that viewing history chronologically is in any way right, wrong or indifferent.  It is to say, however, that the 1^st century Jew did not communicate discourse and dialogue in the same way we do 21 centuries later.  Now back to our text(s).

The Jewish revolt that resulted in the complete destruction of the 2^nd Temple and the city of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. began in 66 A. D. when 3,000 Romans were lost in battle with the Jews.  The Romans withdrew for a time and then returned with a massive army of 60,000 men made up of the combined forces of the 5th and 10th Legions.  The combined force was commanded by Vespasian moving the 10th southward out of Syria and his son, Titus, pressed north from Egypt with the 5th.  Rome was determined to put down Jewish uprisings for all time and eternity.  When it was all over, the only thing left of Jerusalem was a small Roman garrison camped on top of Mt. Zion where the Temple once stood.  Josephus records a detailed history and archeology has un-earthed a Roman marker dedicating the victory to “Imperial Caesar Vespasian…”  Vespasian led the army to a rout of Jewish opposition in Israel, pushing Jewish forces gradually into Jerusalem which he then began to besiege.  However, he was called back to Rome by his supporters where he was installed as the imperial emperor on 21 December 69 A. D.[2]  In his absence, the siege was temporality lifted and people were able to leave Jerusalem.  Shortly, in the new year, the siege was begun anew under the new commander, Titus.  Titus, on behalf of Vespasian, destroyed the Temple, conquered Jerusalem, killed 1.1 million persons in there, defeated the remnant Jewish garrison at Masada, and ended the revolt.  The events of 70 A. D. had consequences that last until this very day.  Not since the destruction of the Temple have the Jewish people been able to prove what tribe they are from, no person(s) of Levitical linage ancestry are identifiable thus completely destroying the Mosaical sacrificial system.  Everything near and dear to the Jewish mindset and identity as a people was swept away forever.  In fact Jesus said that “…Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled…” – Luke 21:24b (KJV).  Thus it is so, Jerusalem has been fought over and trampled by Gentile peoples from that day until this very day.  As we speak Gentile Arabs possess and control the very Temple Mount that was swept clean of the Temple of God by Titus.  Gentile peoples will continue to fight over this mount until the last trumpet sounds.  The seed of Abraham is now living in Spiritual Israel, the hearts of Christian men and women and His law is no longer written in stone but on the hearts of every faithful Christian!  - TO BE CONTINUED

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NOTE:  Picture courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod%27s_Temple#Herod.27s_Temple

[1] From the on-line intro to the book Time and Process in Ancient Judaism by Sacha Stern.  See: http://www.littman.co.uk/cat/stern-time.html
[2]  69 A. D. is known as "The Year of the Four Emperors."  Vespasian was proclaimed emperor only after 3 other men temporarily held the Imperial Seat. Nero committed suicide in 68 A. D. In 69 A. D. Galba was assassinated in the Forum by the Praetorian Guard, Otho committed suicide, thirdly, Vitellius was killed by Vespasian's soldiers as they overran Rome.  Interestingly, as his son would do a year later in Jerusalem, Vespasian burned down the Temple of Jupiter which was associated with Vitellius.  The fourth emperor that year, Vespasian, was proclaimed emperor just before years end.
NOTE: For a detailed history of "The War of the Jews" see: http://www.historynet.com/first-jewish-roman-war-siege-of-jerusalem.htm

"Popular Religion"

We live in retail times.  Everything is for sale, including religion.  The 12th century Roman Catholic monk, Thomas Aquinas, taught that one's primary access to God was one's own senses - including, according to Thomas, one's own imagination!  How American!  "If you can dream it, you can make it reality!"  We might call this approach, "Popular Religion."   In these days of American jobs being shipped overseas, "popular religion" is one of the last things manufactured here in the states...and boy do we turn out the product!  The message of "popular religion?"  "Come just as I am and leave just as I am!"  No repentance, no confession, no acknowledgement, no baptism, no changed life...God just pats me on the head and tells me "you're o. k., you're not as evil as all those other people!"

The most "popular" church in America today is Joel Osteen's "Lakewood Church" in Houston, TX.  Lakewood boasts a membership of just north of 43,000 people![1]  Just how popular is Joel Osteen?  Popular enough to "put the show on the road!"  People are so wanting to hear Joel's "popular religion" of no change and no obligation that they are willing to pay big bucks just to hear it!  Here’s an advertisement on ticketsnow.com:

Charismatic Lakewood Church pastor and best selling author Joel Osteen is sharing his message with capacity crowds at arenas across the nation.  Fans drive in droves to see Joel Osteen and hear his popular sermons!  Join one of the most famous televangelists for a special night of encouragement, inspiration, and worship!  Buy your Joel Osteen tickets now!(2)

But...what does GOD think of "popular religion?"  Does He endorse it?  Does He accept it?  More importantly, will it SAVE you?  Paul says that "the things written aforetime were written for our learning."  (Romans 15:4)  One of those "aforetimes writings" takes place in I Kings 22 where we get an insight as to the validity of "popular religion" with God.

Due to an un-scriptural marriage (I Kings 8:18) between Judah's King Jehosophat's son, Jehoram, with the daughter, Athalia,  of the pagan queen of Israel, Queen Jezebel, and her lap-dog husband, King Ahab, Jehosophat found himself in a military pact with evil.  This obligated Jehosophat to militarily support whatever military adventure Ahab could dream up.  "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." (22:4b ESV)  Thus the two kings decided to attack the Syrians at Ramoth-Gilead.

King Jehosophat, being skeptical of that old fox Ahab, in 22:5; "Inquire first for the word of the Lord."  He wanted God's stamp of approval before he and Ahab started a war.  Ahab, being the pragmatist that he was, was actively seeking a way to fend off such pesky requests.

We think "opinion polls" are new but King Ahab knew all about them.  Not only that, he knew how to manipulate them!  (Imagine, politicians manipulating polling data?!)   In 22:6, the Bible says, that Ahab took an "opinion poll" of "about 400 men" who (here’s a shocker!) ALL told the king that he would succeed!  They universally proclaimed to the king, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king."

This is "popular religion" at it's best, or should we say, at it's worst!  We can almost hear the people say, "Tell the king what he wants to hear and all will go well with you!"  They claimed to be speaking for God (22:11) but Jehosophat was still skeptical!  "Is there not here another prophet of the LORD of whom we may inquire?"  Finally, the reluctant Ahab fesses up!  "There is yet on man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil." (22:8. emphasis mine - RM)  You reckon!?  No wonder Ahab did not include him in the first batch!  He knew what was the likely prophesy to come out of all of this!

As it turns out, the 400 "prophets" were wrong and the lone Micaiah was right!  The combined army of Ahab and Jehosophat was to be defeated by the Syrians.  Not only that, the evil Ahab was killed at Ramoth-Gilead and Jehosophat barely escaped with his life to rule over a devastated and ruined country.  "Popular religion" did not fly on that day nor will it in our day!   Every Sunday in Charlotte, 400 +/- denominational preachers tell their listeners to say the "sinners prayer and receive Christ as their personal savior."[3]  They tell people what they want to hear while entertaining them with instrumental music, art, dance and drama...all without a "word from the LORD!"  What was it that Paul told the Galatians?  "But though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8 (KJV)  "Popular Religion" IS "another gospel!"  It is accursed!

Yes, King Ahab died for his embrace of "popular religion" and will face God one day in judgment still clutching onto it.  WILL YOU?                    

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[1] According to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakewood_Church

[2] Upcoming Osteen event tickets for a November 4, 2011 event in Cincinnati are priced from $25.00 - $109.00 each!  Via: http://www.ticketsnow.com/joel-osteen-tickets/ 

[3] There is no such thing as the “sinner’s prayer” in Scripture.  For more Bible on this, go to: http://sinners-prayer.info

NOTE: Picture courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org

Let The Lower Lights Be Burning!

S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, 1958 - 1975[1]

10 November 1975 was a dark, cold and stormy night on Lake Superior just off Cleveland.  As sometimes is the case, 80 mile per hour winds and 30 foot waves sprung up without warning.  The now iconic ship S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sunk just short of reaching harbor.  All 29 crew were lost without a trace with the cause of the wreck unknown until this day.  She lies in 530 feet of water just 15 nautical miles from the safety of Whitefish Bay.  In her day she was the largest ship ever to sail the Great Lakes. The maritime tragedy, is memorialized by Gordon Lightfoot in his moving 1976 ballad, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.[2]  Such losses of men and ships are nothing new off Whitefish Point.  In fact, from 1816 until 1975 some 240 ships perished![3]  One such loss in the middle of the 19^th century moved song writer and missionary singer, Philip Bliss (1838 – 1876) to write a moving hymn; Let the Lower Lights be Burning.  While in Chicago, Bliss heard a preacher tell of a similar tragedy that took place on Whitefish Bay off Cleveland more than a 100 years before.  The preacher told of a ship in a violent storm one stormy night trying to make Cleveland. 

As he drew near, (the captain) shouted to the lighthouse keeper, “Is this Cleveland?”  The lighthouse keeper shouted back, “Quite true, sir!”  The captain asked, “Where are the lower lights?”  The lighthouse keeper said, “They have gone out.  Can you make the harbor?”  The captain replied, “We must, or we will perish!”  With that he sailed his ship into the harbor, passed the lighthouse, missed the channel, and was dashed against the rocks.  It was a terrible tragedy.  Many people were killed.  The preacher brought the story home with these words; “Brothers and sisters, the Master will take care of the lighthouse.  Let US keep the lower lights burning!”[4]    

The prospect of a shipwreck due to extreme weather and darkness is clearly revealed to us in Acts 27:39 – 44.  Life knows few terrors more desperate than a shipwreck in the dark of night.  We can easily visualize such trauma by remembering the opening scenes of the Disney classic Swiss Family Robinson.  The Edmund Fitzgerald had radar and she knew her heading but the storm was just too great to overcome. In years past, before the advent of radar and sonar, ships had to rely on lighthouses at the harbor entries for direction.  These lighthouses had both upper and lower lights.  The upper light is what we normally think of when we think about lighthouses.  It is that light up top of the large brick structure that shines several miles out to sea.  It gave general direction to ships seeking harbor.  However, the upper lights by themselves became useless when the ships drew close.  They would be blind without the “lower lights burning.”

Just what are the “lower lights?”  The “lower lights are those lights in those buildings surrounding the harbor illuminating the narrow channel and entrance to the safety of the harbor, where the wind and the waves subside, eliminating the terror and danger of the open sea.  Without the “lower lights burning,” the helmsman is blind and in grave danger.  “Light” is biblically linked to safety and salvation.  It is the singular most visible attribute of God Himself!  It is our duty and privilege as Christians to carry the light of God’s saving gospel to a lost and dying world, much like those who bravely man the “lower lights along the shore.”  As the upper light and the lower lights strive together to bring the lost and stranded sailor to the safety of the harbor, so it is with God and His children.

In Scripture, the primary Hebrew word for “light” is or which means “illumination in every sense including lightning, happiness, bright, clear, day, morning, sun.” [5] [See Exodus 10:23, Psalms 27:1 et. al.]

The primary Greek word for “light” is phos which means to “shine or make clear by rays, fire or light.”[6]  [See I john 1:5, John 8:12, Matthew 5:14 et. al.]

Metaphorically speaking, God provides the “upper light” of salvation which we then carry to a lost and dying world as His “lower lights.”  The essence of these thoughts are all covered by Paul’s wonderful words in II Corinthians 4:4 – 7 where Paul uses “light” to describe both the glory and the Word of God, God Himself and the Light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ, light that is then distributed by jars of clay!  My friend, you and I are “lower lights” housed in “jars of clay” lining the harbor of God’s salvation!

Jesus Christ, the (upper) Light of the World, gives us the His gospel through the light of the knowledge of His Word & then gives us (lower lights) “…all authority to speak, exhort, rebuke and to be disregarded by no one!”  (Titus 2:15 (ESV)  “Let the lower lights be burning, send a gleam across the wave.  Some poor fainting, struggling seaman, you may rescue, you may save!”                          

[The gospel of Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15) is the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, that He was buried, that He rose on the 3rd day and appeared to over 500 witnesses.  The free gift of God's salvation through Jesus Christ is available to all who HEAR the Word of God (Romans 10:17), who BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God (John 8:24), who REPENT of all sin (Luke 13:3, Acts 2:38), who CONFESS that Jesus is the Son of God before witnesses (Matthew 10:32), who are BAPTIZIED in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38) and who LIVE FAITHFULLY from that point forward until death (I John 1:7).]

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[1] Photo from the Minnesota Historical Society via: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

[2]For an excellent video regarding the ship, the crew and the song, go to: http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=the%20edmund%20fitzgerald&tnr=21&vid=1053208806682&l=593&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fvideos%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D1053208806682%26id%3D792e2355d1fa81a9b9841ff09b5d0083%26bid%3DB2FgpX5pcmYdJw%26bn%3DThumb%26url%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.dailymotion.com%252fvideo%252fxif69_wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald_music&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymotion.com%2Fvideo%2Fxif69_wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald_music&sigr=12bcu5h38&newfp=1&tit=wreck+of+the+edmund+fitzgerald

[3] Op. cit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

[4] http://ussboston.org/shore.html

[5] According to Strong’s via http://e-sword.com

[6] Ibid.

"End Times" or the "End of Time?" - Part II

The Temple Mount as seen across the Kidron Valley from the Mount of Olives (1)

A Continuing Exposition of Matthew 24 & Luke 21

It is morbidly interesting to see what the "God is the Temple / The Temple is God" mentality led to.  After the destruction of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem by the Romans, the remaining Jewish fighters fled to the mountain top fortress in the wilderness, Masada.  It was thought that no army could ever defeat it.  The Romans, however, never got the message and built a siege ramp and entered the fortress.  Sadly they discovered the Jews there had all committed suicide.  Why?  Suicide had always been looked upon with distain by God's people.  The reason is that with the Temple destroyed, there could be only one conclusion.  There is no God, there is no afterlife, life is meaningless.  Suicide was the only answer to their now atheistic minds.  Had they only listened to Jesus!  He had (and STILL has!) the words of life!

In vs. 4, Jesus began to answer the disciples first question; "Tell us, when will these things be?"  He clearly states that before "one stone is not left upon another," deceivers will arise and attempt to draw away the disciples.  One of the keys to understanding this passage is to observe the almost redundant use of the personal pronouns of "you" and "your" by Jesus referring exclusively to the disciples.  The text tells us that the "disciples came to Him privately."  There was no one there but Jesus and His disciples when he answered their two questions.  He is not speaking to someone in the distant future, He is speaking to His disciples in the flesh and in their own time.

Throughout this discourse, Christ will give many detailed clues as to when and under what circumstances the destruction of the Temple will take place.  His instructions were so precise that the disciples were able to warn the Christians in Jerusalem at that time to the extent that there is no record of even a single Christian perishing in Jerusalem in 70 A.D.!  We will detail these very clear signs.

As noted, the first sign Christ tells the disciples of the Temples destruction is that there will be an attempt to "lead YOU astray."  Not people in the future but the disciples in their lifetime.  Vs. 5 gives four vivid predictions that begin the signs of the coming destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in which it is located.  (1) The deceivers will be "many."  (2) They will come in the Name of Christ.  (3) They will claim to be the Christ.  (4) They will lead many astray.  These are warning signs that are spiritual in nature but very observable.  There were also physical warnings that would be very observable to the disciples as well.

Jesus begins to detail these physical warnings in vs. 6.  He says that YOU (the disciples) will "hear of wars and rumors of wars."  Many today fret that the end of time is approaching because we continually hear of "wars and rumors of wars."  Really?  Name a time in history since Cain slew his brother Abel that there has NOT been "wars and rumors of wars?"  War is a constant in the ongoing saga of fallen and sinful man.  Jesus was speaking "privately" to His disciples answering two very distinct questions, the first of which he answered with multiple signs and the latter which He answered with absolutely no sign whatsoever.  Jesus here is referring to specific wars and rumors of wars..."The War of the Jews" as Josephus puts it.  In 66 A.D., after years of protest, violence, civil disobedience and several small but open revolts, the Jewish nation rose up en masse in open rebellion against the hated Romans.  The Romans, in the process of establishing their pax romano (The Roman Peace), were determined to once and for all stamp out all Jewish resistance in a most complete and dramatic way.  The result was so profound that the entire empire took note and complied to Roman rule for the next 300 years.  The destruction was as Christ said it would be; "...great tribulation, such as not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be."  TO BE CONTINUED

[1] Photo Courtesy of: http://www.photos8.com/the_old_city_of_jerusalem-wallpapers.html  The extant “Dome of the Rock” is the approx. location of the Herodian Temple.

"End Times" or the "End of Time?" - Part I

                             Jerusalem as seen from the Mount of Olives[1]

An Exposition of Matthew 24 & Luke 21 - First of a Series

A burning question, it seems, for our times.  Do we live in the “end times” or the “end of time?”  Do we live in the days of Christ’s judgmental return or are we simply living during the last spiritual age?  Despite the denominational rhetoric to the contrary, the Bible answer is the latter, God has truly initiated the very last spiritual age in the history of the world – the Christian Age.  It began with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ whose will was read on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days following the crucifixion of Christ.  These “last days” will linger until the “last trumpet” has sounded.  How long will these “last days” extend?  No one knows.  We do know, however, what Christ told his disciples about how they (and by extension you and me) should view these questions and how to set their priorities accordingly.   

Matthew 24 is very clear about two things; the absolute predictability of the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. and the absolute un-certainty of the timing of the judgmental return of Christ – the very last day.  This passages clarity, however, has been clouded by many overlays of preconceived falsehoods in recent years by those who would distort the very words of Christ.  It is our purpose to reexamine the text for what it says, not what many would like it to say.

Matthew 24 begins with the awe the disciples had for the magnificence of the Herodian Temple.  It was one of the most beautiful structures in all the 1^st century world.  They were so enthralled with its stunning beauty that they made an overt effort to point it out to Jesus.  How Jesus responded must have shocked the disciples to the core.  He told them that this “wonder of the world” would be destroyed to such an extent that literally “not one stone would be left upon another!” They left the Temple, walked down into the Kidron Valley and walked up the slope of the Mount of Olives.  Looking back, one could clearly see Mount Zion and the Temple which set atop it.  It must have been quite the scene. 

The shock of the disciples at Jesus’ reply was so profound that the disciples did not speak about it again until the end of the journey from the top of Mt. Zion to the top of the Mount of Olives.  Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives and the disciples, still stunned, came to Him with two questions; “When will these things be?” and “What will be the signs of Your coming and the end of the world?”  Jesus will give them two very different answers, one complete with every detail and the other with absolutely no detail at all.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to fully appreciate what the Temple meant to the 1^st century Jew.  It not only was the place of national worship and the very presence of the Spirit of God, it was literally part and parcel of their spiritual and national identity as a people.  Without the Temple, there would be no nation.  Without the Temple, there would be no sacrificial system.  Without the Temple they would no longer be a people.  In their minds, without the Temple there would be no God!  Any loss of the Temple would be like…the end of the world itself.  Without the Temple, how could life go on?  That is why the two questions were linked in their mind for “if” there was no Temple there would be no place for the Spirit of God to reside.  “If” God’s Spirit was no longer on earth, how could earth itself survive?  If the Temple were to be destroyed, how could life continue?  Over time, sadly, the faith of the Jewish people had moved…without notice…from faith in God to faith in God’s residence.  One is reminded of that old song by Leslie Gore; “…don’t they know it’s the end of the world?  It ended when I lost your love.” – TO BE CONTINUED                                                                           

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[1] Photo Courtesy of: http://www.photos8.com/the_old_city_of_jerusalem-wallpapers.html  The extant “Dome of the Rock” is the approx. location of the Herodian Temple.

Eternal Dust or Just Broken Temporarily?

True repentance is the most difficult thing to accept in this life.  Repentance is a complete, and permanent, change of direction.  It means that each one who repents turns around from pursuing Satan to pursuing God.  It means forsaking everything we cherish and hold dear, up to and including family and friends.  It means surrendering "ownership" of what we have accumulated.  It means to give up all self love, self indulgence and self importance.  It means gathering up our entire "essence," throwing it all on God's altar and burning it up.  It means we no longer live for self but live for Christ.  It means selling ourselves into literal and figurative slavery.  It means accepting the redemption of Christ who buys us from our former slave master, Satan, and gladly, happily to willingly serve our new master, Christ Jesus.

Jesus characterizes and contrasts the cost of repentance...and...the cost for failure to repent in Luke 20:18; "Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall be ground to powder."  What is Jesus saying?  He is, as God always does, giving us two simple choices.  We are reminded of that old Fram Filter (C) ad of some years back; "Pay me now or pay me later!"  Either we die to self now and live eternally or live for self now and die eternally.  This is the same essential message of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.  While God has different requirements in each of the three dispensations, the necessity of true repentance is present in all three.

Jesus Christ is the "stone which the builders rejected that has now become the chief cornerstone" of God's house.  The builders (The Jews and their leaders) rejected that chief cornerstone and suffered destruction in 70 a.d. at the hands of Titus the Roman.  Christ uses the metaphor to contrast the choices we have in the Christian age, what the Bible calls the "last days."  We can either cast ourselves on the stone of Christ and be broken (true and total repentance) thus ending our lives to self while claiming eternal life or we can refuse to repent and suffer the penalty.  What is that penalty?  It is being crushed into "dust" by the stone resulting in total and eternal destruction, a destruction not unlike what happened to the Herodian Temple where "not one stone was left upon another."  That temple, and those people, were crushed as it were, into dust.  The "dust bin" of eternity is Satan's hell where all the "non-broken" people reside forever, many of whom were "good" people while on this earth.  They just refused to be "broken on the stone."

Repentance, true repentance, requires a response to God's grace, mercy and His free gift of salvation.  We must, as Peter said in Acts 2:38, be "baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins."  One cannot "repent" while refusing baptism for this is the time and place of God's work - the removal of our sins much like circumcision of the old covenant.  (Colossians 2:11-12)  Repentance AND baptism constitute one's "falling upon that stone."  "Repentance" without baptism is like announcing that you are going to cast yourself down upon the stone of Christ but then refusing to do so.  Submission to God's will in baptism completes the process for that is when we join Christ in His death.  (Romans 6:3)  We become "broken upon the stone" in the watery grave where God meets us as we meet the blood of His dear son, blood that was "shed for the remission of sins."

What then shall it be for us?  Will we be broken or will we be crushed by the stone of Christ into eternal dust?  The "Rock of Ages" can save us or destroy us!  Which will it be?