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| Chapter 13 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said unto Him, "Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!" 2 And Jesus answering, said unto him, "Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." 3 And as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, 4 "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?" 5 ¶ And Jesus answering them, began to say, "Take heed lest any man deceive you. 6 For many shall come in My name, saying, ‘I am Christ!’ and shall deceive many. 7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled, for such things must come to pass; but the end shall not be yet. 8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. 9 "But take heed for yourselves, for they shall deliver you up to councils, and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten. And ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them. 10 And the Gospel must first be proclaimed among all nations. 11 But when they shall lead you and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak; neither need ye premeditate. But whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents and shall cause them to be put to death. 13 And ye shall be hated by all men for My name’s sake; but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 ¶ "But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not be" (let him that readeth understand), "then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein to take any thing out of his house. 16 And let him that is in the field not turn back again to take up his garment. 17 But woe to them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! 18 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. 19 For in those days shall be affliction such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, neither shall be. 20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He hath chosen, He hath shortened the days. 21 And then if any man shall say to you, ‘Lo, here is Christ!’ or, ‘Lo, He is there!’ believe him not; 22 for false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. 23 But take ye heed; behold, I have foretold you all things. 24 ¶ "But in those days, after that tribulation, ‘the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, 25 and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.’ 26 And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then shall He send His angels and shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. 28 ¶ "Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When her branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near. 29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. 30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. 31 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away. 32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man--no, not the angels who are in Heaven, neither the Son, but only the Father. 33 "Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is. 34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. 35 Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh--at evening, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning-- 36 lest coming suddenly, He find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you, I say unto all: Watch!" |
v1,2 The disciples, it seemed, were very proud of the temple, even though it had been built by the Herod family, Edomites, in an attempt to bring a peace with the Jews. It must have been a real surprise to the disciples when Jesus tells them that the temple was soon to be destroyed. The temple had been defiled by the Jewish religious leaders, it had now been rejected by God. See Matt 23:36-39. v3-37 "Olivet Discourse." Matt 24 to Matt 25 and Luke 21:5-36. v4 Now away from the crowds the disciples ask Jesus when this destruction will occur. The question shows that they only had a small understanding of prophecies, they thought that the destruction of the temple would happen at the end of the age. The answer Jesus now gives we call the "Olivet Discourse." In this passage four times Jesus tells the listeners to "take heed" or pay careful attention, v5,v9,v23 and 33 and finally tells them to "watch." The passage gives us a greater understanding of the future events but we must not use the information to set dates. We must also bear in mind that Jesus was talking to Jews and we need to consider their way of life. For instance, "False Messiahs or Christ’s" would have a special meaning to the Jewish nation. Though the original question the disciples asked concerned the destruction of the temple, the answer also included the events which would happen in a period of time we now call "the tribulation." Jesus breaks up the events in to three stages, the beginning v5-13, the middle v14-18 and the final period v19-27. Matthew 24 contains more detail. Many Bible students, who study prophecy, believe that the ‘believers’ will be removed from the earth to heaven before the events given, 1 Thess 4:13-5:11; Rev 3:10-11. v5-13 The Beginning Matt 24:4-14. Jesus starts by warning not to be deceived by some apparent "signs" of His coming. False Christ’s, Nations fighting each other, natural disturbances, religious persecutions. These events must happen but are just the beginning. Christians will be persecuted by the governments and by their own relations, even brothers, sisters and parents betraying each other. This persecution started to happen in the early church. See Acts 4-5; 7; 12; 16; 21-28. Official persecution for the new Christian Jews would have been obvious, but why the family betrayal?- The Christian faith was looked upon as an heresy and blaspheming as both Jew believed "The Lord our God is one Lord" and the Gentile "Caesar is Lord." v9-13 Even with the promise of a very hard future Jesus tells the disciples, and us, not to be discouraged, persecution will actually help in spreading the Gospel, as long as it is done "for My name’s sake." v10 Is an interesting prophecy, it was the instruction of the Lord to His followers but may not be a condition of the return of the Lord. Matt 28:19-20. v11 This promise should not be used as an excuse for not preparing for preaching. Note John 14:26; Acts 4:8. v13 "Hated by all men " because we believe in Jesus, we must expect the world to treat us as He was treated by the world. v14-18 The middle of the tribulation. v14 This warning Jesus gave for future believers, not those who were listening to Him then, the future believers will recognize the events when they happen. "The abomination of desolation" is referring to the pollution of the Jewish temple by the Gentiles as prophesied by Daniel 9:27; Daniel 12:11. The temple was defiled by the Syrian King Antiochus 4 (also called Epiphanes) in 167 B.C. when he poured the blood of a pig onto the alter. The temple was also defiled by the Romans in 70 A.D. when the temple built by Herod was destroyed. However, Jesus is talking about the final end times. Jesus warns that this period will be bad, basically He is telling the believers "to get out as fast as you can." This warning also applied to A.D. 70 but Jesus is talking about the Tribulation times. v19-27 The final stage. This will be a period of judgement the world has never seen before as God prepares the world and His people for the coming of the Lord Jesus. During this period Satan will still be very active and many false Messiahs will appear, even doing miracles and this will cause even the ‘Believers’ to be lead astray. (v22 "The elect" is referring to those who turn to Christ during the Tribulation See Rev 14). Miracles are not proof of divine source, only the Word of God can be relied upon. Matt 7:20-23; 2 Thess 2:8-12; Rev 13:11-14. The final stages will be full of terrible signs from heaven which affect the whole world. Luke 21:25-26 v27 The gathering of Israel from the nations, they will see the Messiah and trust Him. v28 The fig tree is specially associated with Israel, the fig tree is not evergreen like many of the trees in Israel, so when the leaves appear it is a sign of the coming spring, so to will those who are living during the Tribulation will see the signs of the coming Lord. v30 Which generation was Jesus talking about, it was not the disciples generation, perhaps the generation living during the tribulation? The Tribulation will only last for seven years, so a number of generations will be involved. The Greek word translated "generation" is used meaning "race" and "family" in other Bible verses Mark 8:12; Mark 8:38; Mark 9:19, referring to the Jewish nation, the chosen nation of God. God will keep His promises to them. v31-37 This parable applies to all people, we must all be watching out for the return of our Lord. 1 Cor 15:51-52. No one knows the time or day of the return of Jesus, only God the Father, v32. We each have been given work to do for the Master, just like the servants in the parable, and they had to watch for his return, even at night. When He returns will our Lord be pleased with our work? 2 Peter 3:1ff. |
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