Jesus' words to His disciples-
When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. (Luke 21:20)
Luk 21:21 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.
In this context-
Luk 21:5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,
Luk 21:6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Luk 21:7 And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
The disciples were asking for signs. Jesus gave them a very specific sign-
When Jerusalem is surrounded by armies, know its desolation is close.
So did this happen? Was Jerusalem ever surrounded by armies? Did anyone who saw these armies surrounding the city get a chance to flee to the mountains, to depart?
It would be history so let's go to history to find out.
The Book- 'The Jewish Revolts Against Rome, A.D. 66-135: A Military Analysis' By James J. Bloom
States- 'The Roman taskforce pressed the attack for a further six days, ultimately leading a picked force headed by archers to attack the north side of the Temple compound near the Antonia Fortress. Then, Cestius suddenly abandoned offensive operations. The onset of winter, the unexpected skill and boldness of guerillas at Beth-horon Pass, and his shortage of supplies and baggage mules all contributed to his decision.' Pg. 74 I:The First Revolt A.D. 66-74
Another source--
'The History of the Hebrew Commonwealth: From the Earliest Times to the Destruction of Jerusalem 72 AD.' By Johann Jahn
'From Beth-horon Cestius fled with his army by night, leaving only four hundred men to guard the camp, who were cut to pieces by the Jews early the next morning. Cestius, in the mean time, had advanced thirty stadia; but when the day dawned, he abandoned his military machines, and fled with still greater haste to Antipatris. The Jews collected the machines for future use against the Romans, and then plundered the dead bodies of their enemies, which amounted to five thousand and three hundred foot, and three hundred and eighty horse.
The more prudent citizens now left Jerusalem, and this is the time referred to in Matt 24:15-20.'
Page 386 Hebrew Commonwealth Book XV.
History has PROVEN this to have happened. This SIGN given by JESUS HIMSELF came to pass, and as that one book mentioned - the more prudent citizen left Jerusalem when the army pulled back. They KNEW the prophecy and they knew that the end was going to happen but they were given an opportunity to get out.
But the army didn't return and destroy Jerusalem right away. It wasn't until 70AD four years later that Jerusalem was destroyed.
Is it possible some of the people who left, returned when the army didn't immediately see Jerusalem destroyed? A year goes by, another year and they left family and loved ones behind. Did some go back? I'd like to imagine they didn't, but it's possible that they did, right?
Signs come to pass and because we live in time, we measure time differently than God does. We already studied this recently.
We need to listen to our Lord and live in His idea of time.
We have signs, many signs about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world. So many of the signs have come to pass already, yet there are many people who are still waiting for a lot of the signs, because they cannot fathom that a sign in the 1700's is a real sign for the end of the world because the world is still here. They imagine that the signs all must come one after the other in quick succession ignoring history itself to suit their warped ideas. They claim that people have forced the signs into history to suit their own interpretations and this pleases them because they can still wait for signs to come. They don't realize those signs will never come again. They'll never get the warning they're waiting for so they never get their spiritual life fully ready. They want signs before they give up their cherished sins. They want signs before they really prepare and unfortunately before they really believe, truly believe, before their faith is real enough to get their lives in line with what they know their Savior desires of them.
We need to study the signs once again, the prophecies. By the grace of God we will find truth and nothing but the truth in our Savior's word and be ready for Him when He returns, not expecting signs that have already come to pass, to come to pass once more.
Please Lord, help us! Open our hearts and minds to all Your truth! And let us in FAITH live for YOU, by YOU, through YOU.
All in YOUR LOVE.
When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. (Luke 21:20)
Luk 21:21 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.
In this context-
Luk 21:5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,
Luk 21:6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Luk 21:7 And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
The disciples were asking for signs. Jesus gave them a very specific sign-
When Jerusalem is surrounded by armies, know its desolation is close.
So did this happen? Was Jerusalem ever surrounded by armies? Did anyone who saw these armies surrounding the city get a chance to flee to the mountains, to depart?
It would be history so let's go to history to find out.
The Book- 'The Jewish Revolts Against Rome, A.D. 66-135: A Military Analysis' By James J. Bloom
States- 'The Roman taskforce pressed the attack for a further six days, ultimately leading a picked force headed by archers to attack the north side of the Temple compound near the Antonia Fortress. Then, Cestius suddenly abandoned offensive operations. The onset of winter, the unexpected skill and boldness of guerillas at Beth-horon Pass, and his shortage of supplies and baggage mules all contributed to his decision.' Pg. 74 I:The First Revolt A.D. 66-74
Another source--
'The History of the Hebrew Commonwealth: From the Earliest Times to the Destruction of Jerusalem 72 AD.' By Johann Jahn
'From Beth-horon Cestius fled with his army by night, leaving only four hundred men to guard the camp, who were cut to pieces by the Jews early the next morning. Cestius, in the mean time, had advanced thirty stadia; but when the day dawned, he abandoned his military machines, and fled with still greater haste to Antipatris. The Jews collected the machines for future use against the Romans, and then plundered the dead bodies of their enemies, which amounted to five thousand and three hundred foot, and three hundred and eighty horse.
The more prudent citizens now left Jerusalem, and this is the time referred to in Matt 24:15-20.'
Page 386 Hebrew Commonwealth Book XV.
History has PROVEN this to have happened. This SIGN given by JESUS HIMSELF came to pass, and as that one book mentioned - the more prudent citizen left Jerusalem when the army pulled back. They KNEW the prophecy and they knew that the end was going to happen but they were given an opportunity to get out.
But the army didn't return and destroy Jerusalem right away. It wasn't until 70AD four years later that Jerusalem was destroyed.
Is it possible some of the people who left, returned when the army didn't immediately see Jerusalem destroyed? A year goes by, another year and they left family and loved ones behind. Did some go back? I'd like to imagine they didn't, but it's possible that they did, right?
Signs come to pass and because we live in time, we measure time differently than God does. We already studied this recently.
We need to listen to our Lord and live in His idea of time.
We have signs, many signs about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world. So many of the signs have come to pass already, yet there are many people who are still waiting for a lot of the signs, because they cannot fathom that a sign in the 1700's is a real sign for the end of the world because the world is still here. They imagine that the signs all must come one after the other in quick succession ignoring history itself to suit their warped ideas. They claim that people have forced the signs into history to suit their own interpretations and this pleases them because they can still wait for signs to come. They don't realize those signs will never come again. They'll never get the warning they're waiting for so they never get their spiritual life fully ready. They want signs before they give up their cherished sins. They want signs before they really prepare and unfortunately before they really believe, truly believe, before their faith is real enough to get their lives in line with what they know their Savior desires of them.
We need to study the signs once again, the prophecies. By the grace of God we will find truth and nothing but the truth in our Savior's word and be ready for Him when He returns, not expecting signs that have already come to pass, to come to pass once more.
Please Lord, help us! Open our hearts and minds to all Your truth! And let us in FAITH live for YOU, by YOU, through YOU.
All in YOUR LOVE.
No comments:
Post a Comment