32. Signs of the Times [Matthew] - Tim Mackie (The Bible Project)

I invite you to grab a Bible and to turn with me to the New Testament to the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 24 we're on the homestretch you guys will be in Matthew for a couple more months we'll finish it Easter we're going to finish Matthew at Easter it's really exciting happy new year now I know it's like a week issue late of but I wasn't here in the morning last week I was at the southeast parish left last week which didn't have a gathering because of the snowstorm so happy New Year to you guys I've seen a lot of lots of you I don't know you know the new year for some of us it doesn't matter you're just like it's just life and you just go through and it just doesn't feel like anything change there are others of us for whom it's a meaningful thing you know the shift into the new year and some of us we reevaluate you know patterns or habits that we have some things we don't want to do anymore and new things that we want to do for me and I'm guessing for at least some of you one of the things I I am a headline junkie I'm a confessed news headline junkie in this twenty four-hours-a-day media circus that we live in here in America any other headline junkies this has to change for us I have a little cluster of different news apps you know and I'm this one of my thing through the year is to eliminate those down to just a you and I you know I guess you know it's like it's what what major world headlines happened in the last hour and a half you know and that's kind of I find myself to doing that and I want to I don't want to do that anymore I'm just kind of it's a time wild I just am really interested in world scene and what's happening current events and many of you are see them but a whole bunch of you aren't so it's true also and so some of you but if you you know our news line headline whatever you pay attention at the end of the year this always happens they do the year review and man you guys 2015 what a whopper yes oh yes kind of being silly about it but I mean really think about what we had no idea what happened when we were all sitting you know here a year ago think of the continuation of mass shootings that just went crazy last year think about everything that's happening with violence either perpetrated by police officers or against police officers think of what's happening with the the one of the largest human migrations in recent history out of the Middle East because of war think of what's happening with the Islamic state think of the craziness of 2015 because the election momentum that's all going to culminate I mean there's just a lot there's a lot and that's just like this tip of the iceberg the world is a crazy place that's my point right now is the world's crazy and it's kind of out of control anybody now here's where's a here's where some of us go with that some of us we can't handle it and so you don't have headline news apps on your phone or whatever like that would just so what you know ignorant this list and you know that and so you choose it and so things are fine in your neighborhood or whatever and you know and you're just trying to manage your world and so you just don't pay attention to it and that's one way that people respond this one way many Christians respond and I understand that I would if you have that on one end then on another extreme would be another way that many Christians respond in that obsession and I might I might be somewhere towards this end but then there's a whole other degree and you know what I'm talking about this is the same crowd for whom the new year means the new let's see newsletter right and this is about people who read the events and current events and try and arrange it into a puzzle and signs so that we can figure out that Jesus will return on May 17th this year okay right how many you guys know what I'm talking about right that's people's approach many Christians approach toward world events is it's a code a symbol system I need to figure out how because it's you know the Bible is all precisely predicting all of this and you get the forwarded emails that if you really love Jesus you'll pass this on to everybody you know have you gotten those before right and the comb of the crown jewel of that whole extreme are the the TV shows big hair price noisy's clothes and we're doing it on air alive you know and if you're if you're really faithful you'll you know submit your credit card number and support this ministry right guess ya know what I'm talking about so these were our extremes like apathy or ignorance is bliss and then obsession and then weird kind of obsession about the end of the world and so I don't know where you find yourself anyway anywhere on that spectrum but so he but for me a raises a question and for some reason the new year kind of puts it to me at least is what the world's crazy the world's a crazy place and out of control and I can respond these ways but as what does it look like to be a faithful follower of Jesus in the midst of a crazy world like what what does Jesus want me to be and do in the midst of the craziness that just in the crises that just keep happening like what mine said am I supposed to cultivate how am I supposed to be intentional so that I don't slide into extremes and lucky for us Jesus spoke precisely to to the question and he does it in the what we're looking at today which is in the context of his prediction of the downfall of the city of Jerusalem but for him the season isn't even so much about the craziness of the event that he talks about that at at the core is that he actually does care how his disciples behaves in a world that's out of control and he gives us specific guidance for how to do it that's what we're looking at here today hi guys done you with me okay so we're going to Matthew chapter 24 but actually if you turned there turn back we're going to look at the sentences right before it and just kind of will lead into it here the story is we've been following Jesus he's announcing this upside down kingdom of God he is its king he came to Jerusalem the City of David and the Messianic Kingdom and saw where the temple is and you remember he rode into Jerusalem like a king he he asserted himself in the temple he pulled that stunt you know turning the tables over and so on he's been teaching there and what what is the verdict of the leaders of Jerusalem towards Jesus of Nazareth what do they think about him he's a punk he's he is a false prophet they think he's leading the people astray that he's crazy and that he has he has to be eliminated they have set in motion a plan to kill him and so Jesus at the end of his accusation against the leaders of Jerusalem look at verse 37 the very last sentences of chapter 23 he says and we know from the other Gospels with tears in his eyes he says Jerusalem Jerusalem you who kill the prophets and stones those who are sent to you how often I've longed to gather your children together like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you were not willing so he this really very tender image he's been describing his whole mission to the people of Israel is like a mama hen trying to gather the chicks and there's wolves out there all these dangers and so mom is gathering the chicks under her wings Jesus says that's what he's been doing by calling Israel to a new different way to be the people of God in the world and in their context under Roman oppression under military occupation of a really really oppressive regime in their times and Jesus called the people of Israel not to respond with violence not to respond with revolt or hate but with just ridiculous acts of generosity and forgiveness and kindness and peacemaking and he said that's how the kingdom of God will come and they've rejected him and so Jesus makes this prediction like you weren't willing nobody accepted excuse me not nobody lots of Jews accepted Jesus of offer the leaders of Jerusalem did not and so he goes on to say verse 38 look your house is left to you desolate I tell you you won't see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord now what we should not conclude as Jesus is like hey I offered you the kingdom but you didn't like me so rah destruction you know because so it's like he's hurt feelings or something like that that's not what's happening here he's calling us real he's calling the people of Israel back from the road that are on right now which is a collusion towards Rome because Jerusalem is going to become like all the rest of the kingdoms of this world which says oh here's what we do with our enemies we annihilate them that's just what humans do and Jesus is calling Israel to respond differently the way of the kingdom according to Jesus loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute he was just totally upside down and so for them to reject Jesus is to embrace the road towards conflict and revolt with Rome and so he predicts it he says you weren't willing to listen you're going to be destroyed Matthew chapter 24 now Jesus he left the temple and he was walking away when his disciples came up to him and they called to his attention all of its buildings I've showed you this picture before but you know it's just a great reminder of how incredible Jerusalem and this whole temper structure was it's you'll see it appear here in a minute here we go so I've shown you this before it's a large half a football sized reconstructed model of Jerusalem in Jesus day and that's just the temple structure you can see the large outlines of the city beyond it it's magnificent it was one of the wonders of the ancient world architected by a Herod the Great took decades to build it and so the temple is that structure in the middle of the courtyard and then the court Jesus pulled his stunts turning over the tables and so on under the red roof right there and so a week of conflict and rejection here Jesus has been there and so he's leavings walking away and the disciples said they're pointing out all of the buildings Jesus look at the architecture it's not amazing and I mean look at it look at even if it's still today if you were to see something of this size and scale it's it's incredible anybody it's a magnificent structure and what is the Jesus's response when they're like oh look at the look at the stones are so big Jesus look how impressive it is because you say you see all this yes and they're like yeah it's great it's great truly I tell you not one stone here will be left on another everything everyone every stone will be thrown down it's kind of killed the party here but we are we know this is what he just said you've rejected the way of the kingdom which is the way of peace the temple Treasuries which is the buildings right around the temple there so it's both the National Monument and the National Cathedral and the Treasury all in one building and those that Treasury will be depleted funding the war against Rome that's going to start in just decades and that's even boiling right now in Jesus day that we know from other historical sources and so it's it's with Greece that Jesus says you guys know know that the Jerusalem the temple what people think is God's dwelling place it's it's a sham it's going to be destroyed that's a major major thing to say for a Jewish man to say the Jews prophets treasonous even and so naturally the disciples have questions verse three as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately tell us they said when will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age how many questions is that two questions did you see it - look at look at verse three and if your Bible nerd and even if you're not a Bible nerd look at verse 3 all right how many questions are there - what's the first one when will this happen or some of you have when will these things happen well more literal so what are they asking about when will what happened the destruction of the temple he just said twice the temple is going to be desolated or destroyed and the natural question the first thing they ask is will when when's that going to happen it doesn't look like it's very bad off right now looking credible when's that going to happen the first question what's their second question what's the sign of your coming and of the end of the age so in their mind these two events are connected here Jesus just predicted the fall of Jerusalem because they've rejected God's kingdom but then closely connected with that is the event that's all of their hopes which is the coming of the Messianic Kingdom to confront evil in the world and to bring justice and peace and the rebirth of the universe and hope and the new creation I mean that's their ultimate hope and so these events are tied together for them right if Jesus is the king he's been rejected by Jerusalem he's predicted the city's going to be destroyed and so when's that going to happen Jesus and also when are you going to take up your kingdom and become king of the world they're just the two events are so closely tied together for them they ask two questions and lucky for us Jesus answers their question and he gives two answers which question do you think he answers first he answers the first one first as you would hope he would as a clear communicator which he's not always I'll grant you that so here's what just watch what he's going to do he's going to answer the first question first what's the first question again when's this starting in verse four he's going to go on for we're gonna read it through today explore it he's going to answer this question when will these things happen when will the fall of Jerusalem takes place it goes through verse 35 now go down this kind of scheme go down we're going to we're going to read it through we'll have to do it fairly quickly but read through go to the end of answer to this first question verse 33 even so when you see all these things you know that it or some of your translations have he oh boy here you go welcome welcome to the debate anyway something is near right at the door truly I tell you this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened what are these things what are these things what was the question that he was asked when will these things or this happen namely the fall of Jerusalem he just responded he gives an answer and then he concludes his answer by giving a timeline doesn't he these things are going to happen within how long what does he say well within this generation so who wants to give a good biblical number to the casting of a generation think of the Israelites in the wilderness 140 there you go 40 at 40 is the biblical round round number for a generation within 40 years Jesus says these things will take place the fall of Jerusalem he was very close 37 years 37 years so that's his first answer his first question then he's going to take up the response to the second question what's the second question what's the sign of your coming and of the conclusion the end of the age right when the kingdom of God becomes the kingdom of this whole when heaven and earth meet and the kingdom of God comes he takes up the answer to that question in verse 36 and look how he begins but about that day or hour nobody knows now the angels in heaven not even the Sun who knows the timing of that one the father that might raise a whole bunch of interesting questions for you that we're not going to talk about right now but what does Jesus essentially say he says I don't know the timing right so he's very clear about this one but about his return the second question and the end of the age and so on he's like I don't know I don't know and he goes on then to give an answer to that but we'll explore next week and over the next couple weeks so there you go now here we enter in this passage has been one of these passages and Jesus teachings attracted enormous debate and conversation and so I'm just going to do my best to keep it simple to help us understand the did why people come to the different conclusions that they do but ultimately this is not about creating timelines or speculation Jesus is giving pastoral wisdom and guidance to his disciples about what on earth are you how are you supposed to live when the world gets out of control like what mindset should I have as a follower of Jesus if it's not apathy or obsession what do I do that's what he cares about and that's what he's going to move towards in this answer now the way he goes about answering it is going to feel strange to us and it's going to feel strange to most of us because most of us in the room here aren't ethnically Jewish you didn't grow up going to synagogue every week and you did grow up immersed in the language of the prophets and the poetry of the prophets and the way that Jesus is going to about answering this question it's like a good Jewish prophet so we're going to give them a beard alright so think of it like this some of you see me draw this drawing before think about if you've ever gone up to the the rose gardens or Pittock mansion or something like that you get up on skyline Boulevard and you you can look at the Willamette Valley looking up at Mount Hood and so in the foreground what you'll see in front of you is the River Valley and then you'll see like Mount Tabor you'll see rocky Butte over here you know and then behind that you'll see you like powell butte and mount Scott over here and then you start to see the pills that kind of go out to sandy you know and then the foothills and then oh right ahead not hit you guys know the view point I'm talking about it's great Grand View so so you look you'll quickly track with what I'm doing right here there's something about your perspective when you're viewing such huge distances that you know Mount Tabor which over looks the just the most wonderful part of Portland in my humble opinion that's all right so so that you know you can see like oh that's very close you know I've been there before and so Rocky beautiful will further out and my power Butte and so on but then you look at sandy and you like a little you know and the hills there and it's so difficult to tell the distance between them from this angle you guys know what I'm talking about and if you guys ever had the feeling when you're up on the West Hills looking at Mount Hood you're like I could jog there right now it just looks so it looks so close and you have no sense of depth that like this is actually for like hour-and-a-half Drive you know like through this and that sandy itself is a half hour from this and kind of and you get the rail out what you have to do is get in the helicopter get up and you can get the whole thing and go cool and you realize the vast distances between these two things this is how the profits and how Jesus goes about talking he's going to enter into a mode of talking that the nerdy name scholars give it is what is the language of apocalyptic literature which doesn't mean the end of the world it's a way of talking that the prophets wrote and spoke full of imagery full of symbolism and they what they would do is they would look at events close to them in history the fall of Jerusalem the fall of Babylon or the fall of the or something and they would paint it but then paint it within a poem that paints it within God's cosmic purposes in the world to judge evil and to bring peace to all nations and they do it all within one poem and you're left going like wait what's this about is this about the fall of Jerusalem or the end of the world exactly you're reading Jewish apocalyptic poetry right and it's just a different culture you just have to check your assumptions you guys with me here so let's just pretend you don't know anything and we're just trying to read and learn and let's see where we get to or begins verse 4 watch out Jesus says that no one deceives you for many will come in my name claiming I'm the Messiah and they'll deceive many you're going to hear about wars and rumors of wars but see to it that you are not alarmed such things must happen but it's not the end the end is still to come nation will rise against nation Kingdom against Kingdom there will be famines earthquakes various places all this is the beginning of the birth pains now remember what question is the answering well quite what question is the answering when will the fall of Jerusalem take place and we know he's get this is part of his answer that these things will happen within how long remember 40 years so first of all he says yes can I get really bad it's going to get bad there's going to be code there's going to come people who were saved Jesus of Nazareth he's clearly the failed Messiah right he got crucified he's a loser no it's me it's me it's some new leader and we know from historical records there were other people claiming to be God's anointed deliver the people of Israel that came after Jesus there's some even referenced in the book of Acts that took place after Jesus and Jesus says watch it they're going to be the wrong kind of leader and you're going to see war at home war abroad famine earthquakes and what is Jesus's advice to his disciples what does he say don't don't let it throw you off the rails you should just expect that the world is crazy you're going to think that it's the end of the world but I'm telling you it's not it's not in he says it's not only it's not the end but he tells you he gives us vivid metaphor of what it is it's in verse 8 he says these are the birth pains he describes the world as a woman in labor and the way that human beings work in the way human kingdoms rise and fall and war and famine and natural disasters it's like our world is rising in the pain of Labor and and labor pains of course all build up towards a moment of new birth of births right and of new life and that this is how the prophets think about the history of the world that we live in a world wracked with human evil and sin and death it's like it's like the pains of labor but it's building up towards the moment of Jesus's return and so Jesus says like listen we're just in the foothills for the next 40 years we're in the foothills like Rome Greece Persia right Battle of cars that like all these crazy events it's all going to go down and don't be alarmed it's just it's just the world it's just the way things work here verse 9 then you'll be handed over to impersonate you'll be hated by all nations because of me at that time many are going to turn away from the faith and betray and hate one another many false prophets will appear and deceive many people because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold so he's saying what question is the answering just going to keep going to get annoying but I'd still help us in a few minutes here right so what question is answering answering this question so just think through the book of Acts right the the disciples are going to go out and begin announcing that Jesus is the risen king of the world and how how are people going to respond to this announcement some people think it's great news and other people think it's ridiculous where I had a strange idea there's a Jewish prophet the Messiah and that he was executed and raised from the dead and it's the king of the world I mean come on strange but strange you guys and if you don't think it's kind of odd that you believe that then you just you become too domesticated to the whole thing right like talk with your neighbors about what they think you believe okay and you realize it's quite it's quite odd and so you have these followers of Jesus going out into the world with this message and look at what it is there's three things he says they're going to happen and all kinds of people are going to bail and following me first of all there'll be pressure from without persecution right mockery just strange Christians they live in these strange different ways and believe this right so there's persecution but not only that there's rot from within so he says false prophets so people who claim to speak on behalf of God and behalf of Jesus and they get a following but actually actually what they've done is they have a religious or a political agenda and they've just hijacked Jesus and are trying to get people on their team to whatever to get give them their credit card numbers or do you know how to go like be on their team it actually has nothing to do with Jesus but it's all done in G is his name watch out Jesus says lots of that coming down Road and that if it's not persecution or giving in to like bad faults leaders or teachers then it's it's going to be the apathy due to wickedness Jesus says lawlessness the Quai of Jesus's Kingdom is so counterintuitive human kingdoms just it's natural humans and human societies us right we reshape right and wrong we turn wrong into right and right into wrong and and as that happens our own moral compasses get distorted and our love grows cold a very vivid image so for Jesus what's the meaning of human life it's the meaning of life what are humans supposed to be about what we made for love love who love God love neighbor there's something that cute this purpose of humans gets extinguished in the course of the rise and fall of human kingdoms so Jesus describing any something unique to the 40 years after after he said these words I guess it's some how does anyone see the last hundred years in these words does anyone see the hundred years after Jesus in these words does anyone see the basic human condition of every centuries of Jesus in these words exactly that's exactly right G he's talking like a prophet okay he's talking specifically at about an event leading up to Mount Tabor right but actually we know and the reason Matthew's preserved this for us as he knows actually what Jesus was doing is tell this is going to be a look because this is going to continue on after the fall of Jerusalem and you're going to reach sandy and then Welch's and rhododendron and it's all going to be the same but it's not going to be any different somehow every generation we tend to think of our crises as the most significant one that nothing it's like no one's ever lived through this before surely this is the end and Jesus is like don't be alarmed the world screwed up you with me so what should His disciples do and he has two recommendations the very simple verse 13 he says the one who stands firm to the end will be saved so it's about intentional being an intentional disciple of Jesus and recognizing there are all kinds of social forces and movement there's all kinds of fears that are going to try and distract me right and pull me towards apathy or they're going to pull me towards a weird form of religious extremism you ride an obsession and you just know the one who stands firm and just follows me and follows my teachings love God love your neighbor as yourself is just mission number one and endurance like he doesn't even say like remarkable success the one who succeeds and like wins all their neighbors to Jesus he just says just the ones who hang on right it's not encouraging because it's like he knows this that's about all we're capable of I'm out of time right the one who stands firm just on today this year holy cow what just happened what's just did I read on the news love God love your neighbor number one number two and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations then the end will come Jesus is acknowledging here that the fall of Jerusalem is not the end of the world that there is a whole worldwide mission of his disciples to live and and through their words through their actions loving God loving neighbor that the good news is about the risen King Jesus needs to go out to all of the nations and how long is that going to take well apparently 2,000 right at least right and when is it all going to culminate when he returns he says I don't know you know how long that's going to take but at least he gives us like marching orders marching orders a parent apparently like all the stuff about now maybe like this person the Antichrist perhaps you know and like the weird prophecy charts and so on like that that's giving in to speculation and fear but also withdrawal and not caring about what's happening in the world is also abdicating our responsibility because i cuz jesus cares about this world he's he's like it's the whole point of the story of the Bible is that God cares and is going to redeem and restore it and so by standing firm and by bearing witness to the good news of Jesus that's the mindset I'm to cultivate every day every day I wake up he with me keep going so when you see standing in the holy place the quote abomination that causes desolation end quote spoken of by the prophet Daniel dear reader please understand what did you guys look at if you have a Bible oh man look at verse 15 is just like such it's the worst sentence in the world in terms of proper sentence structure it's like it's what you're going to see this thing happening in the temple the holy place and they quotes from the Book of Daniel and then it's like let the reader understand what so this is super interesting and I can't nerd out on this for you but it's a cue perhaps from Jesus I think more likely it should be in parentheses it's Matthew giving saying dear reader go read the Book of Daniel and what Jesus is going to say will make sense to you but until you are immersed in the Prophet you're going to be lost that's what this means so what is what's he talking about here remember what was Jesus's prediction that spurred this question what was the prediction fall of Jerusalem and what was the question that they asked first question when's it going to happen so Jesus predicted the knots one stone would be left on another and now he's describing the downfall of the city as the abomination that the desolation so here's here's what happened I'll show you another picture I showed you the model of Jerusalem we can actually see the evidence today of the very event that Jesus predicted and that happened so you're looking at one of these tall walls the remains of the walls of Jerusalem and you're looking at the stones the jesus said not one would be left on another this has all been excavated this was all buried for centuries that so right there on the right is pavement like I was a Main Street Jesus walked on that Street to go into the temple these stones so think what when the Romans came to squash the revolt was a military revolt that was boiling in Jesus's day they rejected Jesus call to a different way and full steam ahead the battle started in 66 AD it concluded in 70 AD when Jerusalem fell now just like the I don't know if you can see a tiny person right there on the right just to get a scope of how huge these stones are and so think when the Romans invaded the city and they plundered everything like slink these stones are the size of large cars so like for a week what they did was like lever off the stones to topple this whole structure and then the destruction got even caused even more desolation I go to the next slide today in Rome still today you can go see a monument called the arch of Titus and Titus was the Roman general who led the siege and battle against Jerusalem and it's a monument describing all of his great victories and how he's awesome and inside of the arch is a depiction of some of his greatest victories and in what you're seeing there is inside the art so the depiction of Roman soldiers plundering the Temple in Jerusalem and what they did is they they won the city they burned everything to the ground they plundered the temple of all the goals and the jewels and menorah right the candle stand that was right inside the temple and then we're told that they began to offer crisis on the altar of the God of Israel but to the gods of Rome as a statement that of course they're God's much more powerful than the God of Israel because look they won and Jesus says when when you see this happening what should your response be he's talking to his disciples what should they do what should they do run run let those or let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains let no one on the housetop go down and take anything out of the house no time Roman soldiers are coming let those who are in the field excuse me but no one in the field go back and get their cloak how dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers imagine having to flee the city with maybe just a few of your belongings and you have a baby pray that it doesn't happen during winter or on the Sabbath for then there will be a great distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now never to be equaled again if those days hadn't been cut short no one would survive but for the sake of the elect the days will be shortened now high done it gets done on the tour so far it's interesting because you were like for sure he was just describing the fall of Jerusalem like it just he referred to it and let the people who are in Judea any of his disciples who are in the regions flee because that's going to be bad news but then all of a sudden he started talking about how this is the greatest distress in the world you with me did you feel like something changed there it feels like he was talking about Mount Tabor and then he just started talking about Mount Hood right so what's happening well he's a Jewish prophet and there are a couple views there are cups some some veer the two main camps here you've seen the basic point of the debate is that some people think and the Jesus is essentially talking about both events the end of Jerusalem and the events leading up to the end of the world and without giving any cues or indications he's just kind of floating back and forth talking about both of them at the same at the same time that's possible there are people that I think are way smarter than me and that I really respect who hold that view I don't think that views right so and here's why is that if if you go look up this very phrase right here there was something that was never like it ever before in the world and never was like it after again that's that's a fixed like phrase in the Hebrew Bible it occurs about 12 times and if you look at it how it's used it doesn't mean what it seems to mean if I were to say to you man I caught a huge fish I this bigger than any fish than anybody's ever caught like what you give me gray because you know what I'm doing is exaggerating but somehow when the biblical authors talk we don't give them the ability to exaggerate to make a point although Jesus did say tear out your eye if you want to follow me and hate your mom and your dad and I'm pretty sure you guys with me here like Jesus was known to use heightened exaggeration to make a point there are all kinds of kings mentioned in the Old Testament and it said like Josiah no King was like him ever before and no King was ever like him afterwards that is until Hezekiah he was no King before him and looking over and you get like all these kings and if this is all said about them and you're like oh I think the point is they were really great Kings right so I I think that's what's going on and so from G it from a Jewish person point of view up to that point that's Jerusalem's the center of everything it's God's house and the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction that God would let foreign armies conquer his own temple is just for them it is the center of the world and it is the greatest catastrophe in world history and in terms of God's purposes in the world the fall of Jerusalem was one event in history that fits in to the trail of what God's doing to confront evil in in his world I could be wrong about that but I don't think that I am but I could be verse 23 keep going to tour begin again at that time if anyone says to you look here's the Messiah all of it look at areas don't believe it false messiahs and false prophets will appear and do signs and wonders they'll deceive even it's possible the elect my disciples I'm telling you ahead of time so that you don't give your credit card number to somebody who says please fund this ministry and you too will get in on the you with me here it's just like he's saying he knows people are afraid we get afraid when the world falls apart and we give in to fear we give in to speculation and Jesus says don't give in the future is in the father's hands stand firm bear witness to the good news about Jesus don't let people prey on your fears if I if I'm in a place of fear it shows that I'm in a place where I don't think that history is in Jesus's hands and I will grant to you because I go there offer myself to that for all for all purposes it looks like history's out of control half the time and and so there we called the wake up that morning stand firm just follow Jesus love God love my neighbour and bear witness to the hope that Jesus is not he knows what he's doing and that he's the king of history I'm telling you this ahead of time Jesus says verse 29 immediately after the distress of those days the Sun will be darkened the moon will not give its light stars will fall from the sky heavenly bodies will be shaken then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven and all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he'll send his angels with a loud trumpet call and they'll gather his elect from the four corners from the four winds and from one end of the heavens to another hello which mountain are we talking about yeah I guess which mount does it seem like mount tabor no it seems like he just started talking about method the the sign of your coming in the end of the age so here here you go okay perfect alright I went too long less time but here was so these two passages are where it all comes down to it it could be the Jesus just decided without giving any indication shifted and start talking about the end of the world and his his return that's possible even though right after this sentence he's going to say now this is all going to happen in the next 40 years you know so he's just shifting topics and I guess he can do that he's Jesus there are some people who would say no he did think that it was all going to come to a close at the fall of Jerusalem and he was wrong the view that some people hold or there's a view where I go back and I say maybe these two poems that Jesus quotes from Isaac Isaiah and Daniel don't mean what I think they mean because they were after all not written in English to 21st century modern Americans so let's just try out this option right Jesus is quoting from a prophet about the Sun and the moon and the stars and so on and what prophecy quoting from you should have a little note you with me you have a little note that tells you where scoring from you ought to you ought to it's a direct quotation from the book of Isaiah chapter 13 and let's just read read it in context and you come to your own conclusion listen a noise on the mountain like that of a great multitude listen an uproar among the kingdoms an army for war coming from faraway lands the stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light the Rising Sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light see I will stir up the needs against Babylon who don't care about silver delight and gold their bows will strike down Babylon the jewel of kingdoms the pride and the glory of the Babylonians will be overthrown what's this poem about poems about the downfall of what city babylon babylon that was babylon was the capital city of the largest and most brutal world empire that people had ever seen in the ancient world and isaiah wrote a poem depicting how God was going to level Babylon to the ground and what other nation is God going to use to just bring about the downfall of Babylon Meade and then in the course of describing the downfall of Babylon Isaiah says the Stars Sun and Moon oh did the Sun get extinguished in 586 or excuse me 539 BC when Babylon fell did the Sun go dark not that okay it's poetry poetry are we going to be more literal right why don't you two speak clearly Isaiah he's a poet for goodness sakes you know I would say so what the world as they know it came to an end the mote the largest empire of the known world came crashing down is remarkable like in the course of two weeks just debt reduced to nothing the world as they knew it came to an end and the only language strong enough that Isaiah can describe it is was that the cosmos itself dissolved and ceased working and this is the very line that Jesus quotes to talk about the downfall of Jerusalem anybody anybody Jesus in genus of eyes Jerusalem has become Babylon Jerusalem has become indistinguishable from the great violent arrogant nations of the world and so he predicts its downfall the same way Isiah did then he goes on to talk about the son of man I know that two-thirds of you don't care about this right and you do don't you're bored I don't care right because there's a third of you that really do care and this has been a really real issue for you three more minutes so he's quoting from a vision that Daniel has Daniel Chapter seven and I don't have the Bible project video to show you yet but I have the artwork so this will make all of us tune back in again because it's cartoon in the church so so Daniel is up there in the upper left having a dream and he has a like real he ate really something really spicy that night because he has a dream about these crazy crazy mutant creatures rising up out of the sea and he so disturbs him that he can't make sense of it and so a young man is there appears to him in his dream to explain the meaning of the vision and what the young man says is that these beasts are symbols of kingdoms and kingdoms that is you go read through the book symbolize Babylon and Persia and Greece and so on but there is coming a great super beast big gnarly one that doesn't sit like any zoological categorization and he has this huge horn coming up out of his head and then the young man says well yeah that's a symbol of a king and this super beast kingdoms it's like an archetype of all the bad kingdoms of the world are going to trample on this figure called the son of man who's the silhouette figure there and then the young man says yeah the son of man you saw in your dream that's a symbol for God's people and their king but then what Daniel sees in his dream is that God comes with fire and light and God sets up a throne and he judges the beastly kingdom and he sentences it to destruction for its violence and arrogance and then we read this line you see it at the bottom there daniel says i saw in the night visions there was before me one like the son of man who had been trampled and so on he came on the clouds of heaven he came to the Ancient of Days and to him was given Dominion glory and a kingdom that all peoples nations and languages should serve him so - stop right here the Son of Man is in Daniels vision riding on clouds from where to where well from death and destruction up into heaven to be seated at God's right hand and to take up his kingdom over the world so in other words once you read this passage in context you see Jesus is not quoting a passage talking about his return to earth on a cloud what he's talking is in the language of Daniels vision of his being exalted from persecution and death up to the right hand of God to become the king of the world are you with me here so can I think of an event where Jesus was trampled and destroyed even unto death but that God reversed that decision by exalting the son of man up to life to declare him to be king of the nations oh yes I feel like that's going to happen to Jesus like not in 40 years but like within days and that Jesus is going to send out his messengers to all of the nations and to gather together his disciples from all of the nations who will bear witness to the kingdom by standing firm and by enduring hi guys done so that's my view of what's happening here other people who I think are smarter than me disagree with me and they think Jesus is shifting and talking about Mount Hood and his return to earth right here even though he says it's happened within 40 years I think there's problems with that view but people who hold that view think there's problems with my view which means that in the end it's okay it's okay like secondary issue we both love Jesus we all want to stand firm and follow him how you guys doing tours over as the tour's over how does Jesus want his followers to live in a world that is constantly on the verge of crisis and that constantly feels like it's falling apart and and for those of us here who are prone to fear or were prone to speculation and it seems like things are out of control and I know I've you know I know there's a lot of us who live in the space and Jesus bottom lines the Jesus wants us to trust that history is in his hands and that his death and his resurrection mean that the most powerful forces of evil don't get the last word in his world and the things have always been bad and that life is probably going to continue on about as horribly as the last 2,000 years of human history of show nuts and that one day Jesus will return and confront evil and bring his kingdom amen so he's going to talk about next week and so I'm going to close in a word of Prayer and here's what I would just encourage you to do is we take the bread in the cup is to just ask yourselves where on the spectrum you might be apathy extremism who are people in your life that you know are given to fear in speculation and what does it mean for your love not to grow cold but to come alongside them to help them stand firm and bear witness to the good news of Jesus we are a people of Hope the followers of Jesus no matter how bad it gets and that's the enduring hope of the good news of risen King Jesus we close in a word of Prayer you

Channel: Tim Mackie Archives

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Length: 54min 52sec (3292 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 20 2017