The New Covenant Heavens & Earth

if you would open your bibles in a new testament gospel according to matthew chapter 24 gospel according to matthew chapter 24. uh we're going to go to verse 32. matthew 24 32. hear now the word of the living and the true god from the fig tree learn its lesson as soon as its branches branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves you know that summer is near so also when you see all these things you know that he is near at the very gates truly i say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away as far as the reading of god's holy and inspired word let's pray together father we come before you as your people this is your word it is breathed out by you god your word is holy inspired powerful and lord all of us bow before you and your word and recognize the tremendous gift that we have right now as your people to hold your word in our hands lord we're grateful that you've given to us this gift of your revelation we pray now god that as the word is spoken and preached that you lord would challenge us change us equip us renew us and lord i pray that you bless your people through the proclamation of your word today i pray that you would get the preacher out of the way that people would forget me i pray that i would decrease christ would increase speak to your people today by your spirit through your word in jesus name amen so matthew 24 this is the olivet discourse this is the great tribulation passage this is the passage where if you want to make a lot of money on christian books or movies you based on this section here great tribulation oliver discourse we've got stars falling from the heavens wars famines plagues pestilence all those things here this particular text and this is from the synoptics matthew mark and luke matthew 24 mark 13 luke 21 synoptic gospels all have the olivet discourse and i've said this before you have differences between the two in terms of in some places more explanatory power say for a gentile mind where luke will take something that matthew says this very jewish like let the reader understand the abomination of desolation and luke says when you see jerusalem surrounded by armies then flee so there's differences like that helpful differences at times but we have here this amazing moment that i firmly believe is rooted very deeply in the anticipation and expectation of the jewish people the covenant people my argument has been oh through about a year or more of preaching on this one chapter that this is covenantal it's covenental it's concerning the covenant breakers the covenant people of god my argument has been over the last year as we've unpacked this passage that if you know your old testament then what jesus is doing now on the mount of olives with the olivet discourse should have been something you expected you you expected this moment and the reason i say that we're going to do some of this today not unpack in detail everything that we've done but a little bit of review as we finish this up the reason i say that is because the old testament is actually very clear in a number of places that the coming of the messiah was going to have two primary things attached to his coming and that was judgment and salvation it's expected the covenant breakers were going to experience covenantal curses and judgment and there was going to be also at the same time salvation salvation of course for the covenant people not all of them but the covenant people but also for the world the nations were going to come to god you see here's the points i mentioned in my last message as we talked about the gospel according to matthew and how to read this rightly that in order to understand the new testament revelation you have to have watched the first part of the film right there's an intermission there a long intermission in the middle and i talked about those old films that would have that beginning portion of the film and then the intermission and then the second part of the film if you came back after the intermission to a completely different story it would jolt you you'd be wondering did you put the wrong tape in like what is going on after the intermission we have to understand that this new testament revelation this story of the messiah in history is not a novelty dropped in history that would have shocked the jews now truth be told there were certain things of course with the revelation of jesus christ that expanded their understanding certain things with the coming of christ that actually correct their misinterpretations but the the story of the messiah and his kingdom and history is not a novelty it wasn't new it was something that was attached to a revelation before it now here's what's really important if you've been with us through the gospel according to matthew this series and in particular the olivet discourse you know that i have stressed over and over again that we need to read the bible biblically amen yes you need to think with your bibles and in in this particular case as we look at a few things that often startle 21st century gentiles you need to read this with jewish eyes in many ways and i'll just give you one example it's actually i think one of the most potent parts of this and that's the portion where people say are you saying that the olivet discourse when jesus says that that generation wouldn't pass away until all those things took place that it actually happened my answer is yes and the mind immediately goes to but wait a second there's all these cosmic events that jesus refers to stars falling from the heavens you really believe that took place and this is where we have to read the bible with jewish eyes we need to think biblically jesus was quoting from isaiah 13. it wasn't a novelty for jesus to actually say those words about stars falling from heaven it's something that actually god had said before only in isaiah 13 he's using it about a different nation and how he was going to turn their world upside down and destroy them in other words when jesus is telling them the stars are going to fall from heaven and he's talking about judgment upon the jerusalem temple and the jewish people there and now he takes a passage that was in reference to a gentile pagan nation and its destruction and jesus now uses it against the covenant people they knew judgment was coming judgment was coming jesus wasn't speaking literally this happens often in scripture dramatic prophetic hyperbole things like the stars shaking off a tree and hitting the earth things like in the king james version the blood melting the mountains things like that this dramatic prophetic hyperbole that god uses all the time in the old testament if we think biblically if we actually look with jewish eyes we'll better understand the covenantal nature of the olivet discourse and what's taking place here it's very much you know in my house i used to think that my wife was the worst when it come let me finish that thought when it comes to watching a movie right she'll be in the kitchen doing something you'd be watching a movie or like you know more than halfway through the film and then in comes candy and she sits down and she starts making assumptions about what's going on in the screen and she just comes in wandering in right and just throwing out well why is he doing this and what's happening here and why would she do that and and asking god to sanctify me i've always tried to like you you really need to watch the whole film you you you're like a child wandering in a theater you have no idea what's happening here you really need to watch the first part of the film there's character introductions there's whole story lines that lead to this i i'm trying to finish the movie and now you're coming in and you're interrupting i used to think that candy was the worst and then i created a spawn and his name is stellar and he's the worst by far he drives even candy nuts like you can't walk in here at the last five minutes of the film and start asking us what's going on this is the climax i'm trying to finish the movie right watch it yourself but this even happened to me a couple of weeks ago candy found a new series to watch and i was into it the first two episodes and then i got really busy with ministry stuff and i just really couldn't pay attention and so she started like staying up and watching the rest and she like the next morning she's like you gotta watch this it's excellent so i'd go okay fine i'll sit with you and just start where you started and she's like you can't do that you got to go back and start where you left off or you're not going to have any concept of what's going on you have to actually understand the story prior before you understand anything else that's going on we all sort of instinctively understand that when it comes to things like films and books and movies today but oddly we sometimes forget that in terms of interpretation of the bible if you're reading say the book of revelation as a 21st century gentile christian and you start reading all this apocalyptic imagery and language you start reading about locusts with men's faces you've got like man hoppers in the book of revelation right you've got you know a harlot a riding a beast drinking blood wearing purple and scarlets you know if you walk into that story without understanding the previous revelation and the fact that john is actually quoting from the old testament you're going to do some serious damage to the book of revelation like many prophecy writers have done in the last generation specifically the last 30 years i mean the end of the 90s was an epic time for prophecy remember y2k i mean it was like we're not going to last past 2000 y2k and end of the world and then we just move right past it people were just speculating with things in revelation as though it made sense with modern times and they would just do all kinds of weird gymnastics words matter context matters now i want you to get this because this is a big premier part of the message today in terms of when we talk about what is jesus referring to when he says the temple is going to be destroyed and heaven and earth will pass away words matter context matters environment matters i was thinking about this this week like how do i get this across and i thought this is a perfect example you can look this up later on youtube don't do it now um look this up look up home depot bomb scare there's a news report about a bomb scare at home depot in kansas and the report goes that the law enforcement was actually brought to home depot because somebody had told an employee that a man in the building in the bathroom said that there was a bomb and police showed up and they came and they got the guy and started investigating asking him questions and he said i didn't mean to cause any problems he had walked into the bathroom and told everybody in the bathroom they had better evacuate because he was quote fixing to blow it up he said when i did that everybody in the bathroom laughed but apparently some people heard the words made assumptions didn't think about the context and environment and then the law enforcement descends on home depot and home depot of course didn't press charges and the man was let go words matter context oftentimes matters a whole lot more right it matters a lot and so when we think about this question of heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away we need to think about context we need to think about language biblical language and this very important fact we don't have a right as christians to go running to the bible and imposing upon scripture are 21st century traditions understandings of words that may actually not comport with what the original meaning was or context was we need to do exegesis that means let the text speak let the author's intent be understood let the scripture itself interpret scripture we draw from the text it's meaning so that we are not imposing upon the text our own interpretations and ideas we want to have god speaking to us we don't want man speaking to us and distorting god's revelation amen so when we think about this question of language from the old testament we need to consider well what does that mean when god said that before what was it in reference to why did god speak like that what was the original context if jesus is say in language quoting from isaiah 13 and isaiah 33 or 34 in the olivet discourse well what was the original intention of that passage what was it in reference to again isaiah 13 god actually makes this claim about these cosmic events and darkness and blood and stars falling from the heavens but that was used before in reference to the destruction of a city-state a pagan nation and jesus now applies it in his context to his first century hearers after saying these are the days of vengeance all the blood of the righteous is going to be upon this generation jerusalem jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those who were sent to her this is where jesus has just now indicted the religious leadership in jerusalem and he says you brood sorry he says to him he says you're a whitewashed tombs you're full of dead men's bones he indicts them the seven woes that he pronounces upon the first century generation there's a context to this and let's this question of language let's dig into this a bit everyone go to psalm 114. psalm 114. and look at this from psalm 114 verses 1 through four when israel went out from egypt the house of jacob from a people of strain strange language judah became his sanctuary israel his dominion the sea looked and fled jordan turned back the mountains skipped like rams the hills like lambs think about that language when israel went out from egypt the house of jacob from a people of strange language judah became his sanctuary israel as dominion the sea looked and fled jordan turned back the mountains skipped like rams the hills like lambs literally that literally happened the sea literally fleet fled away mountains skipped like rams the hills like lambs we can see that god uses this dramatic language this at times poetic language to get across a point that causes your mind to think beyond typical categories but this specific language here in reference to the physical creation itself fleeing away the sea fleeing away mountains skipping like rams something to keep in mind in terms of what came before the new testament revelation now go to something probably more familiar to you genesis 9 genesis 9. genesis chapter 9 sorry 39 genesis 39 9-10 genesis 39 9-10 this is the story sorry guys i can't read my own handwriting 37 37 37 9 through ten familiar story everyone knows about joseph and his brothers joseph's brothers throwing him into a pit lying about his death joseph going into egypt potiphar's wife all of that saving egypt and the surrounding nations from the famine it's amazing story of god's providence and power and sovereignty but in genesis 37 9-10 this is the famous dream then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said behold i've dreamed another dream behold the sun the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me but when he told it to his father and to his brothers his father rebuked him and said to him what is this dream that you have dreamed shall i and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you and his brothers were jealous of him but his father kept the saying in mind so here's an example of course joseph sort of says well i had this dream and here's what's going on and they understand that you're you're talking about us sun moon and stars we're talking about the heads of the tribes of israel here sun moon and stars bowing down before joseph we have this here in this dream the the people of israel the head of all this the start of all this representing represented as sun moon and stars and bowing down to joseph now mind you this is in the mind of jewish people we understand this before we even get into the story of the olivet discourse this is already laid down prior to that now go now to leviticus leviticus 26. leviticus 26 this is god speaking to his people verse 17. i will set my face against you and you shall be struck down before your enemies those who hate you shall rule over you and you shall flee when none pursues you and if in spite of this you will not listen to me then i will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins and i will break the pride of your power and i will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze and your strength shall be spent in vain for your land shall not yield its increase and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit here's an example in god's previous revelation in the old testament revelation of god here's god talking to his people talking about judging them for their sins against him for their covenant unfaithfulness and when he talks about judging his people for their covenant on faithfulness i will break the pride of your power and i will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze god is going to judge his people but notice the language the language there cosmic language language of heaven and earth now go to isaiah 51. i hope you're also recording these so you can go back and read this more in detail later but isaiah chapter 51 this i think is compelling in particular because it is in the my favorite book of the prophets isaiah the book that speaks so much about the messiah the messiah's kingdom the hope we have for the future the messiah's victory over the nations but in particular isaiah chapter 51 verses 15 through 16 i think is important as we think about this question of heaven and earth and the kind of language that's used look what he says to his people he says this in verse 15 of 51 i am the lord your god who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar the lord of hosts is his name and i have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth and saying to zion you are my people so here's an example in isaiah where god is speaking to israel his servant his people he's speaking to them and he actually refers to where he took his people as establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth and saying to zion you are my people so this is powerful you get this and you're going to get a significant part of this here is god saying that when he comes to israel and he takes israel as his people and he says to them you're my people that was the establishing of the heavens and the earth that was a creation an establishment of essentially a new world a new order so when he says to zion you are my people it's an establishing of the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth that's isaiah 51. now go to isaiah 24 last one on this point of language isaiah chapter 24. and read here about the judgment isaiah 24 verses 3 through 6 first it says this the earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered for the lord has spoken this word the earth mourns and withers the world languishes and withers the highest people of the earth languish the earth lies defiled under its inhabitants for they have transgressed the laws violated the statutes here it is ready broken the everlasting covenants this is all covenantal it's all covenantal language and notice also the dramatic language being used in terms of the judgment upon people who are violating his statutes and breaking the everlasting covenants but now as you move forward to verses 19 through 20 same passage look at the words the earth is utterly broken the earth is split apart the earth is violently shaken the earth staggers like a drunken man it sways like a hut its transgression lies heavy upon it and it falls and will not rise again on that day the lord will punish the host of heaven in heaven and the kings of the earth on the earth now look in verse 23 then the moon will be confounded and the sun is shamed for the lord of hosts reigns on mount zion and in jerusalem and his glory will be before his elders so here we have everlasting covenant being violated broken violating god's statutes this dramatic language being used here and the earth shaking and and breaking and splitting apart heavy upon its all of that in terms of covenantal judgments covenantal judgments so laying that down the language i think is important here in terms of if you're jewish and you are raised on these scriptures you've been in the book of isaiah you're waiting for the messiah's kingdom you've read through the torah and the tanakh you've read through the old testament this is part of your worldview it's part of your language when god says he calls his people his people he's laying the heavens and the earth to the jewish mind they're able to take those categories and put them together god was was making a new creation when he brought israel to himself this is something that they understood in their own minds now so there's a language we have to understand next is expectation just go read these later joel 2. write that down joel 2 why is that important it's important because peter at pentecost he quotes joel 2 and he says this the signs and the wonders that you're seeing now is that which is spoken of by joel the prophets but if you read joel 2 joel 2 is actually speaking about judgment upon the covenant breakers that there was going to be signs and wonders before blood fire pillars of smoke judgment upon who the covenant breakers now peter at pentecost said that this was what they were seeing joel 2 was what they were seeing in their midst with the signs and wonders the signs and wonders were supposed to actually be a testimony against the covenant people to say the judgment was about to come the same judgment actually that they were hearing the whole time from john the baptist what did john the baptist say in matthew chapter 3 repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hands the winnowing fork at hand the winnowing fork is in his hands the axe is already laid at the root of the trees he says repent and bear fruit of repentance that they were about to be judged this is what they were expecting if you read malachi chapter 3 and on you'll see again that testimony that yahweh himself is going to come to his temple there's jesus yahweh in human flesh coming to the first or the first century second temple visiting his own temple and then what takes place in malachi 3 it says there's going to be what it says there's going to be judgment specific covenantal judgments and purification and salvation and there's a warning in malachi there's a warning in malachi towards the covenant people and of course this is consistent judgment and salvation now i'm going to point you to this ready i would love to spend all the time in the world right now in isaiah 65 all i can give you is now a pointer to it i'll show you a few things that hopefully excite you about the passage but let's go now to isaiah 65. this is something that was written near 700 years before jesus came in his earthly ministry and this is really important it's actually a powerful one uh pastor luke said that this was the passage that made him a post-millennialist that this was the passage that made him a post-millennialist by the way praise god pastor james is post-millennialist now huh that's what happens when you hang out with apology at church for too long right victory right um but he already does a better job now of explaining it than me so that's yeah um isaiah 65 is powerful because if you read isaiah 65 isaiah 65 talks to the covenant people and it says to them that they're going to be judged but i want you to see something specific look isaiah 65 verse 1 i was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me i was ready to be found by those who did not seek me i said here i am here i am to a nation that was not called by my name i spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people who walk in a way that is not good following their own devices a people who provoke me to my face continually sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks who sit in tombs and spend the night in secret places who eat pigs flesh and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels who say keep to yourself do not come near me for i am too holy for you these are smoke in my nostrils a fire that burns all the day who's he talking to he's talking to his people he's talking to his people who pretend to be so religious who pretend to be so holy but they violate god's covenant they don't live consistently with their profession they're supposed to be god's people and yet they're just perverting this whole entire thing and god's speaking to them and now what's interesting here is what he says what he says to them he says in verse six behold it is written before me i will not keep silent but i will i will repay i will indeed repay into their lap both your iniquities and your father's iniquities together says the lord here it is verse 8 thus says the lord as the new wine is found in the cluster and they say do not destroy it for there is a blessing in it so i will do for my servant's sake and not destroy them all i will bring forth offspring from jacob and from judah possessors of my mountains my chosen shall possess it and my servants shall dwell there sharon shall become a pastor for flocks and the valley of acor a place for herds to lie down for my people who have sought me but you who forsake the lord who forget my holy mountain who set a table for fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for destiny here it is ready i will destin you to the sword and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter because when i called you did not answer when i spoke you did not listen but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what i did not delight him now watch therefore says the lord god behold my servant shall eat but you shall be hungry behold my servants shall drink but you shall be thirsty behold my servant shall rejoice but you shall be put to shame behold my servants shall sing for gladness of hearts but you shall cry out for pain of hearts and shall wail for it breaking of spirits you shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse and the lord god will put you to death but his servants he will call by another name so that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the god of truth and he who takes an oath in a land shall swear by the god of truth because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes for behold i create in new heavens and a new earth and the former thing shall not be remembered or come to mind isn't it interesting isaiah 65 is god speaking to the covenant people saying to them that he's going to judge them for their covenantal unfaithfulness and give his people a new name they're going to eat you're going to starve they're gonna drink and you're gonna be thirsty i'm gonna give my people a new name and i'm gonna destroy you i'm creating a new heavens and a new earth what's the context covenantal judgment and god actually taking his people saving these people and judging these ones behold they create a new heavens and a new earth isn't it interesting that this is the very same book the very same book where he just said in isaiah 51 15-16 that when he called israel his people and brought them together as his people he established the heavens and the earth when he made a covenant with them and brought them into his hands and now he says he's going to judge the covenant people give his people a new name and created new heavens and earth literally well if you look at the passage and i can't unpack it all today you'll find some interesting things about the new heavens and new earth described here like physical death taking place now brothers and sisters if this is the eternal state being described here then what are people doing dying in it further it also says that there's building of houses and agriculture taking place that there are descendants being made and oh yeah isaiah 66 19 says evangelism is taking place in the new heavens and new earth so if that's describing the eternal state how are all those things taking place or should we read our bibles biblically and allow the bible to interpret the bible so there's the background in terms of language and expectation are we there now everybody yes we good you with me we only have two hours to go i'm just kidding not really okay so just a quick thing in terms of turning back to matthew 24 go back to matthew 24. now something to consider is you're in matthew 24. go to the text with me verse 32. from the fig tree learn its lesson as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves you know that summer is near so also when you see all these things you know that he is near at the very gates truly i say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place heaven and earth will pass away my words will not pass away quick thing move back don't do it now just later in your studies go back again to matthew 20 17 and that's where jesus sets his face towards jerusalem and he says i'm going to jerusalem they're going to kill me three days later i'll rise again then of course jesus goes into the triumphal entry they're welcoming jesus palm trees branches and then jesus goes to the temple and the second cleansing of the temple takes place jesus goes into the temple and he cleanses the temple which was of course the duty of the priest and then jesus starts talking to them about judgment he gives them the famous parables that are actually pretty specific he talks to them about a vineyard and the owner of the vineyard keeps sending people to the vineyard and he's not getting the fruit of the vineyard so he says okay i'll send my son to the vineyard they're going to respect my son and then when he sends his son the the people at the vineyard say oh look it's the heir let's kill him and take his inheritance he says to the jewish people of his day jesus does when he tells this parable he says uh what's the owner or the vineyard going to do when he finds out what they've done and they say oh he'll destroy those miserable wretches and give the vineyard to others which will give him the fruit of it and jesus says and that's you then jesus tells another parable about people invited to a wedding feast and then they won't come so the king sends the armies to the city to burn it down then jesus of course goes into his indictment upon the jewish leadership the seven woes are pronounced woe to you woe to you woe to you and he tells them that desolation is taking place upon them your house is being left to you desolate that's the context leading all the way up to matthew 24 and then of course jesus as he's departing the temple he goes to the mount of what mount of olives now here's what's amazing again read your bible biblically think with a biblical mind if you're jewish you know that first temple was destroyed and it says that yahweh's glory departed the first temple and rested on the mount of olives before its destruction now yahweh is incarnate declaring woes upon that generation saying your house is left to you desolate and that jesus takes the same path as yahweh in the old testament before the first temple's destruction and he sits on the mount of olives he's recapitulating reenacting what took place before i should have been assigned to them your temple's about to be destroyed and this of course is the famous section where jesus says do you see all these things there shall not be left one stone upon another he says what about it all in this generation now quick thing who's he talking to come with me now who's he talking to you be afraid you can i'm gonna let you talk now okay is he talking to you who is he talking to them that generation he uses the near demonstrative this generation and everywhere in the new testament in the gospel record where he refers to this generation he says it actually quite a few times he's referring to that current generation living what shall i compare this generation to it's like this he uses this before and he's talking everybody sees plainly to them near demonstrative them the generation that's before him now jesus promises that the temple's destruction along with all the other things in the olivet discourse prior are going to be upon that first century generation now we can't go over it all again but i think i can demonstrate and we have demonstrated and christians have throughout the centuries that those things did in fact take place on time and as planned just like jesus promised but jesus says truly i say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place context marker are you ready for it put a pin in this what started this discussion the destruction of the jewish temple he departs from the temple mount of olives and he says do you see all these things there shall not be left one stone upon another are you kidding me to the jewish mind this glorious building this amazing temple is going to be taken apart not one stone upon another lord jesus before we all die that's the question he just indicted the jewish leadership he promised they're going to be desolate these are the days of vengeance all the blood of the righteous upon this generation and now they ask the question when shall these things be what things the judgment he just described upon whom the covenant people upon their temple now watch this here's the context you're going to get this you'll get the whole thing that temple represented heaven and earth i'm going to show you in just a moment here that in jewish thinking this is not something that is um uh new and understand this is this is this is written about they understood the temple itself to be the meeting place of heaven and earth jesus just told them the temple is going to be taken apart not one stone upon another and that's the context of their question when will these things be what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age the word there is not cosmos the word there is not physical creation it's age because what did the old testament say you had the age of the old covenant and then the promise of the new covenant age i'll make a new covenant my law will be inside them they'll be my people i'll be their god you've got the old covenant age new covenant age the old covenant age and the age of the messiah they understood that that's the distinction they have at least in their minds where we're at now and this coming messianic kingdom with a new covenant now they understood the destruction of this jewish temple means the end of an age and that's the substance of their question it's not about us it was about them does that bother you by the way all right so aren't we so arrogant as to say well wait a second if if the olivet discourse isn't about me and my future then what's the point oh because it has to be about you it can't be about god's glory and his keeping his promises and judging the covenant people like he said and the vindication of jesus as messiah when i go to matthew 24 i use this text to prove that jesus was exactly who he said he was that he is vindicated as the messiah that he said it was going to happen and it happened and the principle behind it is you better pursue god trust him and obey him because he judges he's a holy god and he judged his people as he said he would but when you look at this passage there's a context to their understanding this temple's about to be destroyed my argument has been again that this passage the olivet discourse here it is covenantal that's the context it's covenantal it's a matter of fact what's interesting here watch this is a big one it was a big one for me the light bulb came on when jesus is describing these judgments that by the way did in fact happen in the first century exactly like jesus said before that generation passed away it's interesting that he tells his people when you see this flee judea brothers and sisters that's local the context of destruction of jerusalem the context is what they're going to experience and he says when you see all these things flee and isn't it interesting that we know from history that actually christians recorded this history and tradition that the christians actually escaped the judgment on jerusalem why because they actually had a word from god that told them what to look for and they escaped the judgment on jerusalem and they went to a place called pella the christians actually escaped because jesus warned them as to what to look for and they did escape by obeying jesus prophecy isn't that amazing by the way jesus preservation of his people his people escaped the judgment on jerusalem the christians fled the city when they saw roman armies surrounding the city it's a powerful thing okay quick thing i pointed you to the old testament just the consideration of heaven and earth and the establishment of covenants but i wanted to read you this i i did this in this one page i took it from an article i thought that's a great summary i would probably turn this into three messages so i was like i'll just keep it tight and just do it from this this is a great article about heaven and earth and what that meant for first century jews jews did not always mean the physical universe when they spoke of heaven and earth together in jewish literature the temple was a portal connecting heaven and earth they called it quote the navel of the earth and quote the gateway to heaven enoch 26 1 some historical writings just like the mesopotamian tower in genesis 11 the temple connected god's realm to where humans lived to reflect this belief the jerusalem temple had been built to look like a microcosm of the universe we typically overlook how literally true the temple hymn preserved in psalm 78 69 is he built his sanctuary like the high heavens like the earth which he has founded forever the actual holy place and most holy place inside the temple building were constructed like earth and heaven the courts outside represented the sea according to josephus two parts of the tabernacle were quote approachable and open to all but one was not he explains that in so doing moses quote signifies the earth and the sea since these two are accessible to all but the third portion he reserved for god alone because heaven is inaccessible to men do you get that the temple was built in such a way as to represent the earth the sea but there was a place where heaven was on earth and that was the place that was inaccessible what was there what was there a veil so the temple itself was supposed to be an expression of heaven and earth and it was even built in that way the veil between the accessible and inaccessible parts of the temple was designed to represent the entire material world during jesus day josephus and philo agree that the veil was composed of four materials representing the four elements earth water air and fire heaven was beyond this material world it was behind the curtain outside the temple the temple's microcosm of heaven and earth the courts look like the sea numbers raba 13 19 records quote the court surrounds the temple just as the sea surrounds the world in talmudic tradition rabbis described how the inner walls of the temple look like waves of the sea from heaven and earth inside the temple you looked out of the sea surrounding the world why ancients believed the earth had one giant landmass surrounded by sea temple reflected that in some respects but here's the point you have jewish literature and writing in terms of what they understood and their symbolism and understanding about the jewish temple heaven and earth heaven and earth so if you were in jesus day and this is the kind of discussion going on you've got isaiah you've got covenants heavens earth establishing you've got this this this representation of heaven and earth here in front of you with the temple of complex itself it's not a difficult thing to understand that if this temple's just being destroyed heaven and earth are passing away god's giving his people a new name he's judging the covenant breakers giving his people a new name old heavens passing away new heavens being new covenants new covenant now this i'm going to zip through quickly you ready for this i'm going to hit you with the fire hose are you ready yes okay that at least keep you awake through this but also i'm going to move at a rapid pace so you can see that actually this language is pretty prevalent within the new testament itself i showed you the old testament i showed you jewish context and understanding and language and symbolism and now let me show you that this is actually something that you find throughout the new testament in a pretty powerful way go to galatians chapter four galatians chapter four in galatians chapter four verse 21 through 31 the apostle paul is speaking to the issue that is going on in galatia where they were trying to bring circumcision back over and say that you still have to circumcise these converts that whole conversation of justification through faith in christ alone that's all there but now he actually does something pretty powerful listen to this in verse 21 of chapter four he says tell me he's talking to these first century jewish context you who desire to be under the law do you not listen to the law for it is written abraham had two sons one by a slave woman one by a free woman but the son of the slave was born according to the flesh while the son of the free woman was born through the promise now this may be interpreted allegorically these women are two covenants ones from mount sinai bearing children for slavery she is hagar now hagar is mount sinai in arabia she corresponds to the present jerusalem now stop for a second because you got to put your mind in this paul is writing when first century that jerusalem is there it's still standing the temple is still standing and he says hagar's mount sinai in arabia she corresponds to the present jerusalem not our jerusalem today his jerusalem it was still there standing you can go and touch the temple walls for she is in slavery with her children but the jerusalem above is free and she is our mother which direction is that jerusalem where is it above for it is written rejoice oberon one who does not bear break forth and cry aloud you who are not in labor for the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a has a husband now you brothers like isaac are children of promise but just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit so also it is now but what does the scripture say cast out the slave woman and her son for the son of the slave woman shall have not inherited the son of the free woman so brothers we are not children of the slave but of the free you know what that is that's actually a warning of judgment that's about to take place on that present jerusalem you're getting it ready here we go paul says in his day he says there's a present jerusalem that's in slavery and we are sons of the other one our jerusalem is the one that is above we are free there in slavery and ready this is before the destruction of the temple he says she is about to be cast out so we have now this city referred to as a her as a she and we've got a slave city and a free one and we're sons of the free again quick question where was the direction up so this present jerusalem and our jerusalem that's above okay so there's the apostle paul first century context quickly go to hebrews chapter 12. now i believe there's a great commentary i think pink has an excellent exposition of this particular passage pastor james you you did through hebrews was it pink's commentary that really expands upon the idea that this is referring to the destruction of the old covenant order do you remember if pink talks about that what's that okay so okay i just want to give you guys a good reference there okay so just quickly um overview can't do it all today what's the whole context of the book of hebrews what's the main thrust better priest better king better better better right don't go back that's the main thrust of hebrews right like the temple is still standing and you've got people now tempted to flee what because what's the context that generation of christians it's in stephen's own testimony and what he was accused of he was telling them that jesus was about to return to destroy all these things they were warning that generation you need to repent there's judgment coming repent repent repent and now time's going on a decade goes by another decade goes by another decade goes by and what do now are the jewish believers that are rejecting christ what are they saying to jewish christians guys there's a good story right a criminal crucified messiah come back come back come back come back to the sacrifices come back to the temple come back to the priesthood come back come back come back what's the writer of hebrews saying he's a better priest he's a better king he's a better sacrifice it's a once for all sacrifice and the whole argument in hebrews is guys don't go back why god's about to destroy this entire thing and jesus is better jesus is better now you want to see that read hebrews 12 and listen to the language this is powerful hebrews 12 after that whole discussion of jesus being better in every way and don't go back don't trample his blood under foot in verse 18. listen to the language it's awesome for you have not come to what may be touched a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and the tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them for they could not endure the order that was given if even a beast touches the mountain it shall be stoned indeed so terrifying was the site that moses said i tremble with fear but you have come to mount zion and to the city of the living god the heavenly jerusalem and to innumerable angels in feasil gathering and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to god the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect and to jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of abel now watch you have come you have come to mount zion you have come to this heavenly jerusalem the writer of hebrews says to those christians see that you do not refuse him who is speaking for if they did not escape when they refused him who was warned them who warned them on earth much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven at that time his voice shook the earth but now he has promised yet once more i will shake not only the earth but also the heavens this phrase yet once more indicates the removal of things that are shaken that is things that have been made in order that they things that cannot be shaken may remain therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to god acceptable worship with reverence and awe for our god is a consuming fire you see that we we are part of this heavenly jerusalem we have come to zion god is about to shake the heavens and the earth the writer of hebrews says god's about to shake the heavens and the earth what's that mean it refers to the removal of things that can be shaken but we have a city that can never be touched it can never be shaken this was a warning that that whole system was about to be destroyed but what's the language being used in reference to that whole system being destroyed the shaking of the what heavens and what earth and that's in reference to the old covenant order all the last stuff that was hanging around was about to be shaken and destroyed we are a part of the new jerusalem we are a part of the mother who is from above the free one that's our city now this is i think where i'll end today because i think it i think it's potent i think it's powerful i did this before last year but think about this in the context of all we've done today we did old testament language covenant heavens earth we talk about the dramatic language and the imagery we talk about context from matthew i showed you that this discussion is in the new testament itself we're from the jerusalem that is above she's our mother we're the free ones this present jerusalem is enslaved but that is about to be cast out all this heavens and earth is about to be shaken in reference to the old covenant order and then you get to revelation let's start in verse one i'm just kidding and then you get to revelation and in revelation there's interestingly i would argue before the destruction of jerusalem a tale of two cities there's a tale of two cities in the book of revelation wanna see it go to revelation i'll give you a place to put your finger so you can go read it later in revelation chapter 17 there is a woman and it's it's interesting because if we think biblically and if we have jewish eyes and we know our old testament we should have these symbols smacking us in the face for example um this this prostitute um who's committed immorality with the kings of the earth um she's in the desert the wilderness now if you're you're jewish you're like okay i know what you're saying god called his wife in ezekiel a harlot you're a you go and you go with all the people of the earth you do all these awful sexual morality things where you're now you're now betraying me and breaking covenant and going with these other nations he calls his wife a harlot so now you have a harlot in 17 to the jewish mind you go god's called his wife a harlot before for her covenant unfaithfulness and interestingly to the jewish minds this harlot happens to be in the wilderness now you're jewish right shalom is the wilderness a good place or bad place it's a very bad place what does it mean unfaithfulness disobedience and so john has this now this harlot who's in the wilderness who commits immorality with the kings of the earth now if you're jewish you're like i know who you're talking about and it says that she has babylon on her forehead now babylon good place or bad place why did the jewish people go to babylon covenant unfaithfulness breaking covenant with god god judged him sent him into exile to babylon so now you have a harlot in the wilderness who commits immorality with the kings of the earth and she's got babylon written on her forehead now what's interesting here is that the jews were supposed to also have something on their forehead our kids know this right kids what's the shema they were like i wasn't even awake pastor jeff you're talking about things that are okay who knows is shema okay of course mikey stand up and tell us the shema nice and loud so everyone can hear it do it do you know in hebrew go ahead very good nicely done and that baby's as big as you are okay now in that passage the shema which is part of the morning and evening prayers shema is that passage hero israel the lord our god the lord is one says that you're to write this here and there and talk about it on the way and you're supposed to put it as a sign on your head and your hands that symbolize ownership and what you do your hands but interestingly this harlot in the wilderness has babylon written on her forehead and it says that she's wearing purple and scarlet um what are the priestly and temple colors doing on this harlot and it says that she's drunk with the blood of the saints and the martyrs of jesus what does jesus say to jerusalem jerusalem jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those who were sent to her he says i send you prophets and scribes he says you're gonna you're gonna persecute them jesus promised his people that that present jerusalem was going to persecute them and now we have john saying that there's this woman who's a harlot babylon wilderness who's drinking the blood of the saints and the martyrs of jesus and she's riding a seven-headed ten horned beast rome was known as septimontium the city of seven hills it had ten imperial provinces if you were a first century jewish christian you knew exactly who he was talking about how is jerusalem writing rome shall i crucify your king we have no king but caesar but the promise here in revelation 17 is that the beast is about to turn on her make her desolate and burn her with fire what happened within a few short years of john writing this rome turned on israel and jerusalem and did what made her desolate burned her with fire burned the whole thing to the ground you see god promised this covenant covenantally unfaithful bride is about to be judged so now we have the tale of two cities one city a woman a harlot bride is judged and then in revelation chapter 21 i'm going to end on this note and just wet your appetite with it that's all i can do because there's too much to unpack but i think it's amazing you got the one city judged the harlot judged and then it says this 21 verse 1 then i saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more and i saw the holy city new jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god prepared as a bride adorned for her husbands which direction by the way did paul say the new jerusalem was he said the present jerusalem here but we're from the jerusalem that is above and in this vision you have the bride of christ the new jerusalem the new heavens and new earth coming down into heaven from god as a bride adorned for her husband the harlot bride is put away and now you have the bride of christ the new jerusalem hitting the earth and amazingly if you read the text if you think it's literal you're going to be living in a cube that juts outside of the earth's atmosphere for eternity a bit of a problem but if you actually read it as the bible gives it to us in terms of the language of scripture you'll find great hope in the fact that it says the leaves on the trees in this new jerusalem are for the healing of the nations if this is the eternal state why do nations need healing and why are the waters of life being offered to the world from the new jerusalem who's thirsty in the eternal state and why does it say outside the city gates are the immoral the dogs do we have people when we're in the new jerusalem in heaven in the eternal state sinners just hanging outside of heaven like throwing like rocks at us or something do you see this is biblical imagery when we have the old covenant covenant breakers destroyed that present jerusalem destroyed we have now the new jerusalem the new covenant now somebody might be saying what's that mean for the future here's what it means healing for the nations here's what it means the nation's coming to god here's what it means watch someone says how is this possible it's not like i'm a new creation and cr oh if any man is in christ he is a what new creation the old is gone what did you get it what's it mean for the future well i think if you take this whole story and put it together you can have a lot of hope in the fact that god promised to judge the covenant breakers give his people a new name and then he was going to fill the earth with his glory you could take a lot of hope in the fact that god says he's going to put his enemies under his feet make him a footstool for his feet you can take a lot of hope in the fact that the same apostle paul who says that we are new creations in christ says that jesus right now is reigning on that throne he is putting all his enemies under his feet making him a footstool and he says the last enemy to be defeated will be death and that's when jesus is going to deliver the kingdom to the father finished and christ will be all in all you see there is tremendous hope in seeing the fulfillment of matthew 24 and all of its promises there's tremendous hope in seeing that if we are part of this new jerusalem this heavenly city then we are free and we are the embodiment of god's reconciling message to the world we are bringing the waters of life to this world to bring healing to the nations it's our duty as christians because we are free and we're from the jerusalem that is above it's our duty now to preach the gospel and win the world to christ you have been made alive in jesus you are a new creation this is just the beginning there is going to be an ultimate final victory of a renewed earth a renewed heavens a resurrected earth with us in physically resurrected bodies that's where we're going god kept his promises that was the main point of my message today god kept his promises he said it it happens we should actually find a lot of encouragement that when jesus referred to the destruction of the temple he says heaven and earth will pass away my word will by no means pass away he kept his promise amen what's that mean for us he keeps his promises he'll be faithful to us our role is to trust in him and be faithful back yes let's pray father i pray you bless the word that went out today for your glory and for the good of your church i pray that all of us would continue to grow in our understanding of your word and our faithful handling of it in jesus name amen

Channel: Apologia Studios

Views: 34,976

Keywords: jeff durbin, apologia studios, jeff durbin apologia church, jeff durbin sermons, shocking youth sermon, paul washer sermon, the great tribulation, is the rapture true, is jesus coming soon, olivet discourse, end times movie, end times message, end times sermon, blood moon, postmillennialism, end times debate

Id: 8KonCfHiJYE

Length: 68min 32sec (4112 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 16 2021