Because of His unfathomable love for each one of us, His creations, Jesus came down to earth as a man to redeem us from the wrath of God against our sin. Jesus, Savior of the world, came to save sinners.
It is because of what He did here on earth, that we can be declared “set free” within the legal system of God’s Kingdom. Have you submitted yourself to the system of God, or are you still rejecting His Way, lost in the systems of the world?
Read: What will not stand.
Jesus came to die for us (John 3:16-21). But He was also a prophet. The physician, Luke, records that Jesus was at the Jerusalem Temple when He said,
“As for these things which you are observing, the days will come when there will not be left one stone upon another, which will not be torn down.” – Luke 21:verse 6
Jesus said this standing there in Jerusalem with the people. He was asked: when would the destruction of the Temple happen. He replied in prophetic fashion, answering their question, but He also prophecied about “the end”, as He called it.
In Luke 21 Jesus does not share the future in easy to follow terms, like a plan of action laid-out in order: 1, 2, 3. He cautions us, saying “these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately“.
9 And when you hear of wars and revolts, do not be alarmed; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.”
Since those days of Jesus walking the earth – over 2000 years have come and gone. Many events happened. “But the end will not follow immediately.”
In verses 7-19, and 20-24 (Luke 21), Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem (which did happen in 70 AD). He also speaks of the end times of the earth.
He speaks specifically about the future time of 70AD (which we know from historical records)…
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. 21 Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are inside the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; 22 because these are days of punishment, so that all things which have been written will be fulfilled. 23 Woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people;
24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles
until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. – Luke 21:20-24
We know (according to Josephus and others) that that prophecy was fulfilled in 70AD. The predictions came true: “…the days will come when there will not be left one stone upon another, which will not be [a] torn down” (Luke 21:6). 1 Jerusalem was destroyed – just as He said it would be:
“…for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people; 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles….” – Luke 21:12-24
Jerusalem was totally leveled, utterly destroyed, and, as we know by historical records, Jerusalem was “trampled underfoot by the Gentiles” for the next 1,878 years – until 1948.
But note the end of verse 24: “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” When the time was right, then God brought about the end of “the times of the Gentiles”…right on time — and the Jews reclaimed their homeland, in 1948.
God did that. God is still in control, and He will continue to make His plans happen. 2
The wrath of God, in Luke 21:12-24, is upon “this people“, the Jews of Jerusalem (v23), but in “the end”, the wrath is upon all the evil earth.
At verse 25 Luke records Jesus’ transitioning in his talk — to “the end” times. Jesus says,
27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
NOTE: In 70AD, Jesus (the Son of Man) did not come in a cloud, did not come with power, nor with great glory. (Verses 25-26 did not happen in 70AD.) So these verses (Verses 25-26 and Luke 21:27-28) are not about 70AD (as Preterists erroneously teach). These verses speak of the End Times.
Jesus speaks here of His Second Coming. It is at this End Time event that Jesus says “all the earth” will be trapped, and His wrath poured out:
34 “But be on your guard, so that your hearts will not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that [y]this day will not come on you suddenly, like a trap; 35 for it will come upon all those who live on the face of all the earth. 36 But stay alert at all times, praying that you will have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” – Luke 21:34-36 NASB
“for it will come upon all
those who live on the face of all the earth.
– Luke 21:35
True followers of Christ can escape the ending events of the Great Tribulation. But each of us must “Be on your guard.” (Luke 21:34-35 ) “Be cautious and active in faith” (Matthew 24:42-44).
Be ready for the Rapture! Or you may be caught in the trap of the End Times events coming after Jesus snatches away His faithful. Don’t be left behind.
FOR MORE:
Note to Preterists – Jesus did not return in 70AD. He is coming soon!
Bought with a price—the blood of Jesus
Five Big Time Events Coming Soon
List of References to the Rapture
Jesus promises an End Times Rapture
Be cautious and active in faith
What God has going on with us here on this planet
Footnotes
- Footnote a:
- Luke 21:6 In a.d. 70, just six years after the temple was completed, it was destroyed by the Roman general Titus and his army, who thoroughly devastated Jerusalem.
- God is in control of events. For example: I am in control of my soft boiled eggs in the mornings (that’s about all I can control these days!): I put the timer on 4.5 minutes of boiling, and take the eggs out exactly when the dinger goes off (if I hear the dinger ding!), so that my eggs are not too gooey, not too hard, but, just right, as I determine them to be.
The chronology of history
God is also a timer of events (but He leaves the eggs to us!). He needs no timer, and is not hard-of-hearing. He has been, and will later, and is now… planning and timing earth’s events (better than quantum computers can, and much better than my dinger!), so that they occur at just the precise moment in time that He Himself has decided to place them in the chronology of history.Believe it. He prepares things to boil for …months and years and decades and centuries. He puts to boil any prepared future event as He deems it fit to be, and then takes the planned event out of the boiling pot, into reality – just at His predetermined, precise, hour of the correct day in earth time.
I am not surprised that our Awesome Creator of all that is, continues to be involved with one of His planets and the peoples He watches over. He is that big a God. – Source: What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?.
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