Matthew 24 - The Abomination of Desolation

And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Luke 21:20:22

Jesus warned His disciples that one of the signs of the End Times of that Mosaic temple system would be the abomination of desolation spoken of my Daniel the prophet, which we find in Daniel 9. In that chapter, the angel Gabriel tells the prophet that people of the prince who was to come (Titus of Rome) would destroy the city and the sanctuary - and that is exactly what happened in 70AD!

We see Jesus confirming this in the Gospel of Luke (21:20), where He tells His disciples that the abomination which would cause desolation were the Roman armies who would compass the city of Jerusalem about and bring it to its end. Sadly, so many Christians are sitting under false teaching today which tells them that all Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 is future, yet to be fulfilled.

These pastors and teachers ignore the fact that the Lord said that these things would all be fulfilled in THAT generation - that there were some standing there before Jesus in His day who would not taste death till ALL was fulfilled. In addition, these pastors and teachers ignore the historical account of what actually happened between 66 - 70 AD. When we read Josephus and some of the other ancient historians, it is quite shocking to see that things happened EXACTLY as Jesus said they would!

Bottom line: Jesus came and the Kingdom is here. Jesus is alive and well, working on the earth through His body, the church. We, the church, are considered to be seated WITH HIM in heavenly places even as we dwell here in our earthly bodies, advancing the kingdom and doing ALL He has called us to do! Amen!

Links:
https://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/unheeded-or-misinterpreted-signs-the-destruction-of-jerusalem-70ad/

http://bible.christiansunite.com/jos/warindex.shtml

http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com/

Matthew 24 - The Olivet Discourse continued

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Matthew 24:4-8.

I'm back from the Christmas holidays and ready to resume our study of Matthew 24. Unlike many denominational pastors and teachers who present a futurist view of End Times prophecy, we will see that Jesus' discussion of the Last Days was referring to the days in which He was living.

The generation alive during His time were the last Jews to live under the Old Covenant Temple Age -  which was the current world system at that time, ruled by Satan, the god of that age. Jesus told His disciples (and us, the church) that the New Covenant age was coming - the spiritual Kingdom of God - which came in its fullness in 70AD. There would be signs of its coming, and historically, we find that, indeed, those signs happened exactly as Jesus predicted!

Don't let anyone dupe you into believing that Jesus' predictions are for some future date long into the future. It has all been fulfilled, the Kingdom has come, and all of the Old Testament prophecies regarding Jesus' coming in judgment have been fulfilled! The church is His body, operating in the full authority and power of the bridegroom, Jesus Christ!

Links:
https://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/unheeded-or-misinterpreted-signs-the-destruction-of-jerusalem-70ad/

http://bible.christiansunite.com/jos/warindex.shtml

http://www.allthingsfulfilled.com/

Matthew 24 - the Olivet Discourse

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. Matthew 24:3-5.

The disciples came to Jesus wondering when He would return in accordance with Old Testament prophecies (as well as His own teachings), judge the Mosaic temple system, and usher in the new age. 

His answer was very different from what they were expecting. He first warned them to be careful of deception, which is a warning we in the church today must heed. Many would come in the last days of that age and proclaim themselves to be Christ, deceiving and tempting new-found believers to shrink back from their faith and go back to the temple/sacrificial system.

We know today that there are so-called leaders in the Christian church who desire to rebuild a temple in Jerusalem so that temple sacrifices can be reinstituted. This is not biblical, as we shall see in studying God's Word!

Matthew 23 - Woes to the Pharisees, Part 2

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Matthew 23:37-39.  

Once Jesus stilled the mouths of the Pharisees and Sadducees, it was time to pass judgment. These scriptures where Jesus prophesied the impending doom of this wicked Jewish generation are particularly hard to read and study, but they are important because they show the righteousness and holiness of our God.

After numerous opportunities to repent and believe, the leaders of the nation of Israel would not accept this spiritual kingdom that God was offering. They still reject it today, but it is available! Still available...anyone who believes with their heart and confesses Jesus as Lord is born again as a new creation in Christ Jesus, they become a child of God with all the rights, honors, and privileges that come with being part of the godhead.

That's right! Salvation means you become filled with His spirit, you are part of the body of Christ, you have the mind of Christ, you spiritually hear His voice leading you and guiding you, and, amazingly, in the spirit realm, you are seated with Jesus Christ in heavenly places at the right hand of God the father! Study the Bible on your own and discover these wonderful truths!

Matthew 23 - Woes to the Pharisees, Part 1

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Matthew 23:13-15

Once Jesus stilled the mouths of the Pharisees and Sadducees, it was time to pass judgment. These scriptures where Jesus prophesied the impending doom of this wicked Jewish generation are particularly hard to read and study, but they are important because they show the righteousness and holiness of our God.

After numerous opportunities to repent and believe, the leaders of the nation of Israel would not accept this spiritual kingdom that God was offering. They still reject it today, but it is available! Still available...anyone who believes with their heart and confesses Jesus as Lord is born again as a new creation in Christ Jesus, they become a child of God with all the rights, honors, and privileges that come with being part of the godhead.

That's right! Salvation means you become filled with His spirit, you are part of the body of Christ, you have the mind of Christ, you spiritually hear His voice leading you and guiding you, and, amazingly, in the spirit realm, you are seated with Jesus Christ in heavenly places at the right hand of God the father! Study the Bible on your own and discover these wonderful truths!

Matthew 22 - Jesus Answers the Pharisees

Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. Matthew 22:42-46.  

The Pharisees tried one last time to trip Jesus up in His words, but it was He who used their subterfuge against them to still their mouths. He asked them a very simple question - what did they think of Messiah - whose son is he? They knew from 2 Samuel 7 and other scriptures that David was the father of Messiah. Jesus then asked, how then could David, in the spirit (Psalms 110), refer to Messiah as his Lord? In particular, David spoke of a vision where he heard God the father tell Messiah to sit at His right hand until He had made His enemies a footstool.

David lived a thousand years before the time that Jesus stood there speaking to the Pharisees, and still (as far as the Pharisees believed), Messiah had not yet been born. How then could David have spoken of Messiah as his Lord? David was king and would never refer to any man as his Lord, much less an unborn son of his. No, this Messiah must be more than a flesh and blood son of David. He must also be a God-man, a spiritual being that existed long before David.

That makes most of us stop and think, doesn't it? And it made the Pharisees think as well. They shut their mouths and did not question Jesus again. I believe they knew He had crossed over into the spiritual realm, the realm of God, where they had absolutely no understanding and never would.

Religious people will always clam up when spiritual truths are espoused!

Matthew 22 - Resurrection into a Spiritual Kingdom

Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Matthew 22:29-32.

When the Pharisees failed to entrap Jesus in His speech, the Sadducees tried in their own way. They did not believe in the resurrection, and yet they came with a hypothetical question regarding the resurrection. In their scenario, a woman who marries seven brothers in quick succession after their untimely deaths dies herself and is then resurrected with all of her husbands. They asked, "Which husband would she belong to in the resurrection?"

Jesus answered by informing them that they erred, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. Can you imagine how insulting that was to these learned men of the Law? They probably smarted at being put in their place by such words, but Jesus was correct in His assessment. As He explained, in this new kingdom, people would not be given in marriage as in their earthly lives. Women would not be subject to their husbands with very little rights and privileges as was the practice in the Levitical/Mosaic system. As a new creation in Christ, all born again children of God become a new man in Christ without regard to gender, ethnicity, or religious background. Like the angels, new creations in Christ are only subject to God.

Jesus also challenged their beliefs regarding the resurrection, explaining that God is the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, the God of the living and not the dead. God had always referred to Abraham as being alive and not dead, even though his soul had left his earthly body long ago. Death was and always has been an enemy of God. God has always spoken of and embraced the preciousness of life.

The multitudes marveled at Jesus' teaching while the Sadducees were silenced into submission.