Down an Unfamiliar Road

STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART

It would be silly of me to try and educate the precious women in men’s lives on what you already know about how their man communicates with them. But I thought you might be interested in knowing what he is really thinking, from a man’s point of view, when you try to get an honest response to your questions or requests.

First, what your man really means when he puts the word “Yes” in front of any response such as “Yes, dear” or “Yes, darling!” It means, that he has quickly decided not to ask you “why” or “what for” because he knows it might offend you or start an argument. So, he’ll respond to your request just to get it out of the way so he can get back to doing whatever he’s involved in and thereby earn some points with you for good behavior as a caring man.

Secondly, what your man really means when he responds to your request by saying, “Why not!” It doesn’t imply that he’s all that interested in actually doing what you’ve suggested, but it indicates that at the moment he doesn’t have any alternate suggestion that’s strong enough to persuade you otherwise, nor does he have a secondary idea to offer what he thinks would make better use of his time. So, it is better for him to be courteous rather than insist on being right.

Thirdly, what your man really means after you ask him, while he’s driving, “Are you lost?” or “Do you know where you’re going?” by saying “No, I’m not lost. I know where I’m at!” It doesn’t mean that he’s in denial about actually being lost, he knows that already. It’s his way of protecting his role as your superman and knight in shining armor. He wants to earn your trust and admiration even if it takes him two hours to sort out directions that should have only taken thirty minutes. You see, there’s nothing that thrills a man more than when his wife brags on him and compliments him for getting things right, even if it does take longer than it should.

The best way for a lady to respond to such adolescent responses from her man is to pretend that she doesn’t really know what he’s truly thinking, and take what he says as a compliment. After all, this is nothing more than his attempt to overcome his weaknesses in order to impress her and be strong for her sake. Men know that a woman would rather for her man to come right out and admit the truth that he’s not all that excited about her idea. They also know that she would not be hurt if they made suggestions on how to do what she wants to be done in a better or more efficient way. And, they are aware that she is trying to get them to finally admit that they have no idea where they made the wrong turn and got lost. But you see, that would destroy their own faith and trust in their warrior- hunter-provider instincts.

So come on ladies, just smile when he says these things and tell him you’re so thankful to have him as your man and watch him grin with new found confidence. Believe it or not, that’s when he may finally tell you the truth about what he’s thinking and how he feels. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part V

Now Jesus goes on to say there will be famine: a fourth sign of the desolation of the city and the Temple, and which the Jews also say will happen before the coming of the Messiah. For instance, in the Talmud, we find an interesting prophecy about a seven year time of tribulation. It says, “Our Rabbis taught: in the seven-year cycle at the end of which the son of David will come in the first year, this verse will be fulfilled: And I will cause it to rain upon one city and cause it not to rain upon another city; in the second, the arrows of hunger will be sent forth; in the third, a great famine, in the course of which men, women, and children, pious men and saints will die, and the Torah will be forgotten by its students; in the fourth, partial plenty; in the fifth, great plenty, when men will eat, drink and rejoice, and the Torah will return to its disciples; in the sixth, [Heavenly] sounds; in the seventh, wars; and at the conclusion of the seven years the son of David will come.”¹

While Paul ministered in Antioch, Syria, we read: “About that same time some prophets went from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and spoke with the help of the Holy Spirit. He said, ‘A very bad time is coming to the whole world. There will be no food for people to eat’.”² Jesus also mentions plagues of pestilence. Also in the Talmud, it reads: “The alarm is sounded everywhere on account of the following [visitations]: blast fungus,³ mildew, locust, crickets, wild beasts, and the sword, as they are all plagues likely to spread.”⁴

And further on we read what Jews considered a pestilence, “If a city that produces a thousand and five hundred footmen, as Cephar Aco, and nine dead men are carried out of it in three days, one after another, lo! this is a pestilence; but if in one day, or in four days, it is no pestilence; and a city that produces five hundred footmen, as Cephar Amiko, and three dead men are carried out of it in three days, one after another, lo! this is a pestilence.”⁵ These are often caused by famines then come the conflicts.

On top of that, Jesus says there will be earthquakes in many places around the world. World history tells us about earthquakes during the time of the apostles. There was one on the Island of Crete, and in various cities in Asia, in the time of Nero: particularly the three cities of Phrygia, Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colossae; which were near to each other, and are all said to perish this way, in his reign; and Rome itself felt a tremor, in the reign of Galba (68-69 AD).

But Jesus said this is only the beginning. So, in light of what Jesus would now tell His disciples, it appears that all of these calamities were to take place during the time of the apostles. Could this be part of what God told the children of Israel through Moses?⁶ Since pestilence is spoken of by Jesus and is tied to a famine, Rabbi Abraham Saba believes that what God told Moses⁷ was all tied to the lack of rain and the ensuing hostility and chaos.⁸

Jesus said, that the onset of these calamities could be just like a pregnant woman suddenly going into labor. This should not be interpreted as having anything to do with a nine month incubation period. Rather, even though the woman knows she’s pregnant, she cannot predict the exact moment when the labor pains will begin. This was not a new or unusual use of a woman’s sudden birth pangs to make the point of how something expected can happen when we least expect it.

The prophet Jesus loved to quote most often also spoke of this.⁹ In addition, the fact that this warning would be given by God’s Son was also prophesied by an accepted Jewish apocalyptic writer of that day who said: “And the time will arrive when these things will come to pass, and the signs will happen which I showed you before, and then will my Son be revealed, whom you saw as a man ascending.”¹⁰ These dire predictions had also been spoken of by their own Rabbis, who taught them: “Upon witnessing shooting stars, earthquakes, lightning, thunder, and unusual tempests one should say, Blessed [are You … Whose strength and might fill the world.”¹¹ Not only that but these same Rabbis gave this encouraging word: “A prophet that has a dream let him tell a dream: and he that has My word let him speak My word faithfully.”¹²

So the things Jesus was saying here were not new to the ears of His listeners. However, they needed to put it into context with what else He shared about His return to gather the believers to Himself so He could take them to a place He was going to provide within His heavenly Father’s estate, and then the final battle between good and evil, and the establishment of the eternal Kingdom of God.

Verse 9: “Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and killed. People all over the world will hate you because you believe in me.”

Here we have a repeat of what the LORD GOD said to Ezekiel, “There will be one disaster after another! The end is coming, and it will come quickly! You people living in Israel, disaster is coming. It is time for punishment. Those are not shouts of joy in the mountains. Those are cries of panic.”¹³ Our Lord is addressing two things with this announcement. First, no doubt some of His disciples still believed that He was here to set up a temporal kingdom, and He wanted to put that idea to rest. And two, to temper any idea they had, that winning the world to accept God’s salvation through grace with the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be easy. It was going to take hard work and endurance, and it still does.

The disciples would soon find out that the Jews who continued in their obstinacy and unbelief, would deliver them up to the civil magistrates to be scourged and imprisoned by them; either to their own Sanhedrin, as were Peter and John; or to the Roman governors, Gallio, Festus, and Felix, as was the Apostle Paul. Not only that, but all the original apostles, excepting John, suffered martyrdom before, or shortly following, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD.

Chrysostom sees this prophecy this way: “This is the time of greatest evil, when the war becomes internal, for there are many false brothers. Note that the war is coming from three sources simultaneously: from deceivers, from enemies, from false brothers. Later Paul would lament over the same complications, saying that there were ‘fightings without, fears within,’¹⁴ and ‘danger from false brothers.’¹⁵ Again he wrote, ‘For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.’¹⁶”¹⁷

Down over the centuries, there have been plenty of wars, but perhaps none that affected the Jews like World War II. It is worth noting, that despite all the concentration camp deaths and torture just 3 years after the war was over Israel became a nation again. The Lord had told them over and over, be not afraid, my Father has it all under control. But they have not lived in peace. Again and again, threats and attempts and have been made to oust them from their promised land. The pressure today is greater than ever. But in a Jewish writing, we find where Rabbi Eleazar ben Rabbi Abina once said: “When you see kingdoms stirred up one against another, look the coming [lit. ‘feet”] of the King Messiah.”¹⁸

As we’ve also learned from history, the followers of Christ have been persecuted, imprisoned, and martyred all around the world, since His ascension, to this very day. So our Lord is giving His disciples a warning of their own destiny and that this will not let up until He returns. So we should not be surprised that the persecution of Christians not only continues in this world but seems to be getting worse. In light of where this persecution is coming from in our day, we would be well within the realm of reason if we took the term “false brethren” to mean any religion that claims to be worshiping the same God as Christians do, but in fact, are worshiping a myth.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part IV

Verse 8: “These things are only the beginning of troubles, like the first pains of a woman giving birth.”

Many more conflicts and battles were up ahead. I wonder if some of Jesus’ followers took His warning anymore seriously than those in the crowd when Isaiah gave his prediction: “Look! Adonai is riding a swift cloud, on His way to Egypt. Before Him Egypt’s idols tremble, Egypt’s courage melts within them. ‘I will incite Egypt against Egypt, brother will fight against brother, friend against friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.’”¹ But such alerts were not new. Therefore, some exhibited the same resolve we find in Jeremiah: “Don’t be fainthearted, don’t be afraid of the rumors spreading abroad in the land. One year one rumor comes, the next year another one, rumors of violence in the land and rulers fighting rulers.”²

But the people Jesus was speaking too should have taken His warning most seriously, especially after what was said by the prophet Zechariah: “I will bring all the nations together to fight against Jerusalem. They will capture the city and destroy the houses. The women will be raped, and half of the people will be taken away as prisoners. But the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.”³ Then the prophecy in Zechariah continues: “At that time He will stand on the Mount of Olives, the hill east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will split in half. Part of the mountain will move to the north, and part to the south. A deep valley will open up, from the east to the west…the LORD my God will come, and all His holy ones will be with Him.”⁴

However, Zechariah’s prophecy had a different outcome for unbelievers: “You will try to run away as that mountain valley comes closer and closer to you. You will run away like the time you ran from the earthquake during the time of King Uzziah of Judah.”⁵ Rabbi Kahana puts these verses of Zechariah together to answer the following questions of what will follow when all the nations of the earth gather against the Land of Israel to make war:⁶ “What will the Holy One do? He will go forth and fight against the nations.⁷ In what way will He fight? In the way He fought in the day of Pharaoh. And what will He do? He will provide shelter like a sukkah⁸ for the heads of Israel.⁹ What is the literal meaning of battle? It refers to the day when the two worlds, this world, and the world-to-come, will be brought into contact with each other. And what is the day referred to? The Day of Judgment.¹⁰”¹¹

Even a Jewish document, that was read during the time of Jesus, seems to offer the same warning: “For the mark of God is upon the righteous for salvation. Famine and sword and death will be kept far from the righteous; for they will not touch the devout as those who are pursued by war, but they will pursue sinners and overtake them and those who do lawlessness will not escape the judgment of the Lord; they will be overtaken by those experienced in war, for the mark of destruction is on their forehead.”¹² You cannot read this without thinking of John’s revelation.¹³

Chrysostom preaches on this text and gives his understanding of its meaning, especially his perspective in a 5th century AD point of view. He says: “By ‘wars and rumors of wars’ Jesus refers to the troubles that are coming upon them. They supposed after that war the end would come. But see how He warns them: ‘But the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.’ He speaks of the preludes to the troubles of the Jews. ‘All this is but the beginning of the birth pangs,’ that is, of the troubles that will befall them. ‘Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death.’ This was the season for being candid about what was to come, in order that they might strengthen one another in facing their common miseries.”¹⁴

It appears that this early church preacher saw Jesus’ answer as to when the Temple would be destroyed and the end of times that would prompt His return, as bookends of history. When the Temple was torn down, that was the beginning of the end. When He returns to set up His kingdom for both Gentiles and believing Jews to live in peace for a thousand years, that will be the end of the beginning. From then on it will be eternity.

We saw the eight “Woes” in the previous chapter, but these pronouncements bear some resemblance to the ones we find in a non-canonical book in the Old Testament, which are called: “The Twelve Woes that are to Come upon the Earth: The Messiah and the temporary Messianic Kingdom:”

“He answered and said to me: ‘Into twelve parts is that time divided, and each one of them is reserved for that which is appointed for it. In the first part, there will be the beginning of disturbances. And in the second part (there will be) slayings of the great ones. And in the third part the fall of many by death. And in the fourth part the sending of the sword. And in the fifth part famine and the withholding of rain. And in the sixth part earthquakes and terrors. And in the eighth part a multitude of apparitions and attacks of the Shedim.¹⁵ And in the ninth part the fall of fire. And in the tenth part plundering and much oppression. And in the eleventh part wickedness and immorality. And in the twelfth part, confusion from the mingling together of all those things said previously. For these parts of that time are reserved, and will interact one with another and minister one to another.”¹⁶

Also, in what is called the visions of Ezra the scribe, we read this: “And one will undertake to fight against another, one city against another, one place against another, one people against another, and one kingdom against another. And the time will be when these things will come to pass, and the signs will happen which I showed you before, and then will my Son be declared, whom you saw as a man ascending.”¹⁷ So what Jesus is saying here was not all that new and did not sound strange to His followers because they had read it before in their scrolls.

Again, the question must be asked, were these wars the ones that would take place while the disciples were still around, or was our Lord looking out into the future? In the Jewish Talmud, we find this interesting dialog: “Rabbi Nahman said to Rabbi Isaac: ‘Have you heard when Bar Nafle will come?’ ‘Who is Bar Nafle?’ he asked. ‘the Messiah,’ he answered, ‘Why do you call Messiah Bar Nafle?’ — ‘Because,’ he answered, ‘as it is written, in that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David [that has fallen].’ He replied, ‘Rabbi Johanan said the following: In the generation when the son of David [i.e., Messiah] will come, scholars will be few in number, and as for the rest, their eyes will fail through sorrow and grief. Multitudes of trouble and evil decrees will be promulgated anew, each new evil coming with haste before the other has ended.’”¹⁸

So even the disciples knew that bad days for Israel had been forecast by the Rabbis. But were they thinking only of those wars against Israel or against Rome? Jesus may have been speaking of wars as disturbances, insurrections, and seditions against the Romans and their governors; and the horrific slaughters committed among them, some time before the siege of Jerusalem, and the destruction of it. Under Cureanus the Roman governor, a sedition erupted on the day of the Passover in which twenty thousand perished; after that, in another tumult, ten thousand were destroyed by cut-throats: in the city of Ascalon¹⁹ two thousand more, in Ptolemais²⁰ two thousand, at Alexandria, Egypt fifty thousand, at Damascus, Syria ten thousand, and elsewhere in great numbers.

Did not Jeremiah hear those trumpets announcing: “Disaster follows disaster. The whole country is destroyed. Suddenly my tents are destroyed. My curtains are torn down! How long must I see the war flags? How long must I hear the war trumpets?”²¹ And Ezekiel was shown a situation much like that Jesus was forecasting, “You will shake with fear. You will look for peace, but there will be none. You will hear one sad story after another. You will hear nothing but bad news. You will look for a prophet and ask him for a vision. The priests will have nothing to teach you, and the elders will not have any good advice to give you.”²²

So, the terrible things Jesus spoke of did occur after He ascended into heaven to become the advocate with the Father for all those who came to the Father through Him. But, Jesus said these things would be repeated in even greater volume right before His return to take all those who did believe with Him back to the Father for eternal safety, peace, and joy. So for Christians today, the forecasts of bad times ahead should not be dismissed, neither should they be the cause of fear, because His coming may be near.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part III

So the disciples did not have to wait too long before these bogus Messiah’s began to show up. It should not have come as a surprise, seeing that the prophet Jeremiah had spoken of this long ago, “The LORD All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says, “Don’t let your prophets and those who practice magic fool you. Don’t listen to the dreams they have. They are telling lies, and they are saying that their message is from me. But I didn’t send it.”¹ But these false Messiahs were just the beginning.

In his commentary on this text, Origen also has this to say: “Come up to the moral and spiritual sense of Scripture and see if you can discover an interpretation worthy of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ and of the discernment of the Evangelists, lest you denigrate the dignity of evangelical wisdom with a lesser interpretation. Let us see then if mindful of that which was handed down from above concerning Him who said ‘Many will come in my name saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will seduce many,’ we can interpret these things in accordance with their consequences. It is inevitable that everyone who has been made whole and has been given to see the glorious coming of the Word in His soul, everyone who has destroyed, devoured, and crucified the world so that all things worldly are dead to him, and has trained his mind for understanding, will eventually engage doctrinal battles in the course of his search and discernment. He will hear many voices from divergent traditions professing to have the truth. Like a good soldier of the Word, however, his soul will remain safe from all those opponents of the truth who pretend adherence to the truth. In this way, he will be made worthy to receive in his soul the glorious coming of Christ, the Word of God who was ‘in the beginning with God,’² who comes to those who, having recognized Him ‘according to the flesh,’³ and having received the Word who ‘became flesh,’⁴ then ascended far beyond these things to behold no ordinary glory, but ‘the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.’⁵”⁶

Verse 6: “You will hear about wars that are being fought. And you will hear stories about other wars beginning. But don’t be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes.”

One early church writer in his commentary on Matthew had this to say: “In the interest of acquiring a better understanding of Christ’s response, it would seem shortsighted to neglect to consider first the apostles’ question. The apostles asked two questions. First, they asked, ‘What will be the sign of the destruction of Jerusalem?’ Second, they asked, ‘What will be the sign of the end of the world?’ At the dissolution of the nation of Judea, Jerusalem was destroyed, but what seemed to be Jerusalem was not the true Jerusalem. Likewise, the church will appear to have been forsaken or almost forsaken at the end of the world, but what seemed to be the church was not and is not the true church. The Lord did not differentiate between the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of the end of the world, for the signs that pertain to both events are one and the same. This is so because Christ did not respond to His apostles’ questions as though He were a historian explaining the chronological order of events but rather in the manner of a prophet foretelling what would have to take place. Prophecies are always communicated through mysteries and properly understood as mysteries.”⁷

It is important to note, that this writer composed his commentary in the 7th century AD. So the question is, what works did he consult and what was the general theme running through the church at that time concerning the return of Christ. From what he says, we can conclude that his understanding of this prophecy is much the same as it is today among evangelical scholars.

The writer then goes on to say: “What does this mean for the passage at hand? If we want to understand them in the full spiritual sense, the signs of which Christ speaks—famine, wars, tremors—could not pertain to the destruction of Jerusalem, because at the time of its capture nation was not rising against nation in the spiritual sense. [That] is to say that heretics were not then fighting among each other since at the time of the apostles the heresies were still only in their seminal stage but didn’t germinate until the time of the Christian king, even though they are now fully grown powerful forces. Moreover, there was no spiritual famine at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction but great abundance, as the psalmist said, ‘You visited the earth and watered it and increased its riches.‘⁸”⁹

The writer then finishes his exposition: “Again, if we attempted to interpret these signs literally, they would tell us nothing about the end of the world, for there always have been and always will be wars, in the literal sense of the term. The same is true of famines and earthquakes. Nothing can serve as a sign of future events that already is a normal occurrence. Only something new can properly be called a sign. Just as there is a literal Jerusalem, therefore, which is already conquered figuratively, there is also another, spiritual Jerusalem, the church of our Lord, which must be tested at the end of the world and indeed is currently being tested. Therefore the signs of which the Lord spoke must be understood both spiritually and literally. Literally, they speak of the destruction of Jerusalem, but spiritually they signify the trial of the church at the consummation of the age. Train your mind on both aspects then, on what occurred before Jerusalem was captured and on what will occur before the final trial of Christ’s church.”¹⁰

It is important to notice, that this commentator does not give any specific dates nor does he name any persons of interest that might have been candidates for the Antichrist in his era. He does what any good prophecy writer must do, and that is leave it in the hands of the Holy Spirit to awaken the church and point out to those who are watching and waiting what signs they should be aware of in their day as the time of our Lord’s return grows closer and closer.

Verse 7: “Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places.”

The same writer mentioned in the previous section goes on to comment on this portion of our Lord’s warning. He writes: “Anyone who reads Josephus¹¹ knows what kind of famines, plagues, and tremors afflicted Judea before the fall of Jerusalem. Before the spiritual plundering of the church, however, a spiritual hunger for the Word and spiritual tremors and various plagues of carnal sins will undoubtedly afflict the Christian people. So many schisms would never have arisen among Christians had they not already been famished for the Word, nor would they have suffered so many plagues, that is, diseases of carnal passion, if they had not been stirred up from without. This is what the Lord taught in the parable of the evil one planting weeds: ‘While the men were sleeping,’ that is, when they neglected to guard against sin, ‘the enemy came and sowed weeds.’¹²”¹³ What a powerful message this is for the church today.

As we can see, even those scholars in the early years of the church could not give an exact or definitive interpretation of the end times as it applied to their day. And now that we have many centuries of history to look back on, it is not any easier to put all of this into perspective for our own generation. Jesus did not intend for His followers to have an exact timeline to follow these events. His was a warning that it would never be easy for Christians, so they should not expect the world to gradually evolve into a peaceful sphere without wars, famines, catastrophes, hatred, persecution, etc. But, that they were not to let such things discourage them and give up their faith and hope in His return. Just as He originally came at the appointed time, so He will return at the appointed time. All believers need to do is be ready when He arrives. The Jews missed it the first time. God forbid, that Christians miss it the second time.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part II

Verse 3: Later, Jesus was sitting at a place on the Mount of Olives. The followers came to be alone with Him. They said, “Tell us when these things will happen. And what will happen to prepare us for Your coming and the end of time?”

Had the verbal traditions of the Rabbis been available in book form in that day, Jesus could have easily picked up the Mishnah or Talmud and begin reading: “In the generation when the son of David [i.e., Messiah] will come, scholars will be few in number, and as for the rest, their eyes will fail through sorrow and grief. Multitudes of trouble and evil decrees will be published anew, each new evil coming with haste before the other has ended.”¹ This same document then goes on to say, there would be a seven-year cycle that preceding His coming involving rain, hunger, famine, forsaking of God’s Word, inflation, recession, revival,² return to God’s Word, and sounds from heaven. In a way, this also corresponds with the seven years of tribulation at the end of the Gentile era during which the Jews will finally turn and recognize Jesus as their Messiah.

I’m sure Jesus did not use this as His text because He was the Word straight from God. But to any student in a synagogue, these omens would be well-known. So what Jesus is about to mentioned should not come as a surprise to His listeners. Also, what claims does one have to make in order to be accepted as a Messiah? Israel was the only nation that clung tenaciously with hope to such a promise by God. In their minds, He would be a man divinely ordained of God to establish God’s kingdom in Israel, and then use Israel to spread His rule throughout the world. He would be a king of royal blood; a ruler of a nation, and spiritual leader of the children of Israel. He was to bring about the salvation of Israel with a final triumph over all her enemies.

Needless to say, when the Jews saw this humble, peaceful Jesus from Nazareth in His ministry as a suffering sacrifice, it did not meet their criteria. Nevertheless, Jesus would be all of these things and more! He was ordained by God because He was God. His kingdom was established and today its influence extends to the uttermost parts of the earth. He is a King of royal blood; the eternal King of kings. He did win triumphantly over all the enemies of God’s people: the devil, death, hell, and the grave! There is, therefore, no reason why anyone should not recognize Him as the Messiah. But the real question here is this: was Jesus giving a timeline that would occur during the time of the apostles or in the end days of the church?

One anonymous writer in the early church gives his exposition of this text. He writes: “Here the disciples were asking, ‘When will this be that no stone of the temple stands upon another, as you said?’ With these questions and others, they asked Jesus also to indicate to them the end of the age, which He had not mentioned. They asked questions about the Temple for their own benefit, but those questions concerning the end of the age were asked for our benefit. We never saw the destruction of the temple, nor did they see the end of the age. It was expedient, therefore, that they hear about the signs of the Temple’s destruction and for us to learn and recognize the signs of the world’s consummation. A work’s completion is sweet to every laborer, and the traveler eagerly awaits his arrival at home. The businessman frequently counts the days to year’s end, and the farmer constantly looks forward to harvest time. The merchant examines his purse day and night, and an expecting mother continually thinks of her delivery date. In a similar way, the servants of God eagerly anticipate the consummation of the age, for it is written, ‘Wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’³”⁴

While I agree with the writer that it was good the disciples asked these questions so Jesus was given the opportunity to offer some instructions or point to signs of when this might occur, it is also important to note their question so that the answer given by our Lord can be applied to our understanding. They specifically asked about when the Temple would be torn down and about His return and the end of time.

This early church writer goes on to say: “If you have a certain quantity of valuable property stored away in your house when you come in from the street, you will naturally direct your gaze in the direction of those valuables before you look anywhere else. Likewise, the saints fix their gaze there where their crown has been laid up for them. It is also of some benefit to be able to recognize the end of the age, for when a man is on a journey, the closer he gets to home, the more he begins to celebrate.”⁵

Verses 4-5: Jesus answered, “Be careful! Don’t let anyone fool you. Many people will come and use my name. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah.’ And they will fool many people.”

The key to understanding this is the word, “Messiah.” Some say, that the church is not waiting for the Messiah’s first coming because He arrived a long time ago. Therefore, this must be applicable to the Jewish nation. As such, it no doubt would apply to their time from Jesus’ day up to this day and beyond, especially during the period of the Tribulation. Furthermore, since the nation of Israel is no longer under Roman rule, the liberation from foreign rule brought by the Messiah would not seem to apply today. But the Church is awaiting the Messiah’s return. The question then becomes, are these two one and the same when our Lord returns for His believers and the Jews finally accept Him as the true Messiah?

We learn from Jewish historian Josephus, that between 44-46 AD “…while Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a certain magician, whose name was Theudas, persuaded a great part of the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the river Jordan; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it; and many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not allow them to realize any advantage of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of horsemen out against them; who, falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, and cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. This was what befell the Jews in the time of Cuspius Fadus’s government.”⁶

Let’s look at what the Centurion, who arrested the apostle Paul in the Temple, said to him: “I thought you were the Egyptian who started some trouble against the government not long ago and led four thousand terrorists out to the desert.”⁷ In addition, Simon Magus⁸ became accepted by some as the Messiah. And Irenaeus writes about Magus, “…in order that he himself might seem to be a wonderful being, and applied himself with still greater zeal to the study of the whole magic art, that he might the better bewilder and overpower multitudes of men. Such was his procedure in the reign of Claudius Cæsar, by whom also he is said to have been honored with a statue, on account of his magical power. This man, then, was glorified by many as if he were a god; and he taught that it was himself who appeared among the Jews as the Son, but descended in Samaria as the Father while he came to other nations in the character of the Holy Spirit. He represented himself, in a word, as being the loftiest of all powers, that is, the Being who is the Father over all, and he allowed himself to be called by whatsoever title men were pleased to address him.”⁹

Origen writes, “And after the times of Jesus, Dositheus the Samaritan also wished to persuade the Samaritans, that he was the Christ predicted by Moses; and he appears to have won some over to his views. But it is not absurd, in quoting the extremely wise observation of Gamaliel, the one named in the book of Acts, to show how those persons mentioned above were strangers to the promise, being neither sons of God nor powers of God, whereas Christ Jesus was truly the Son of God.”¹⁰

 And, early church theologian Tertullian writes that Simon Magus, who, in the Acts of the Apostles, earned a merited and just rebuke from the Apostle Peter,¹¹ had the boldness to call himself the Supreme Virtue, that is, the Supreme God; and moreover, to assert that the universe had been originated by his angels; that he had descended in quest of an erring intelligence, which was Wisdom; that, in trying to resemble God, he had not suffered among the Jews, but it was as if he had suffered. After him came Menander and his disciple (likewise a magician), saying the same as Simon. Whatever Simon had affirmed himself to be, this did Menander equally affirm himself to be, asserting that none could possibly have salvation without being baptized in his name.¹²

While today we do not hear frequently about someone in Israel claiming to be the Messiah, we do have those elsewhere who claim they can lead people to God in ways not found in holy Scriptures. They tell people it is not necessary to repent or change their ways because God loves them the way they are. Just follow my rules, they say. However, nowhere in their past do we find a record of their suffering, death, and resurrection which are required to be the true Messiah.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Part I

NOTE: Over the past several centuries, many theologians, Bible experts, and prophecy aficionados have tried their best to dissect this chapter in order for it to make sense when applied to the chronological history of the church. One of the first things we must take into consideration is that this chapter does not represent a continuous dialogue by Jesus to His disciples and followers without any interruptions or pauses. This is what Matthew remembers from all that he heard and that which was told to him before he joined the disciples. As in the previous chapter, Matthew assembled all the sayings of Jesus on His confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees. So now in this chapter, he puts together all the sayings of Jesus on the end of the age and Christ’s return. It is, therefore, clear that our Lord spoke of things that would happen during the disciples’ lifetime; things that would occur throughout the ages of the Church; and the things that would be seen at the end of the Christian era. When you see verses such as 8, 14, 25, 34, 36, 42 & 44 you realize that Matthew has collected Christ’s prophetic words on a variety of different occasions and several occurrences. One thing you can count on, though, it all started with His first coming and it will all end with His return, but those who remain faithful no matter in which era they live will survive to live eternally with Him in the New Jerusalem.

Verses 1-2a: As Jesus walked away from the Temple, His followers caught up with Him and began to point out the various buildings in the Temple courts. So He asked them, “Why are you admiring these buildings?”

This departure from the holiest site on Mount Zion signaled the end of Jesus’ public ministry. Never again would He teach in the Temple courts or gather crowds on a mountain side to instruct them on how they should conduct themselves in the kingdom of God. Now it was time to instruct His followers and the twelve disciples who had been with Him over the last three and a half years. But something Jesus said about the Temple being empty caused His disciples to offer Him a reality check by pointing out all the magnificent buildings that made up the Temple compound.¹ In their minds, it was ludicrous to think that one day this area that was always bustling with thousands of worshipers each day would stand abandoned. What they were looking at was the Temple repaired by Herod. According to Jewish chronicler, mathematician, historian, astronomer, and astrologer Rabbi David Gans, Herod’s renovation produced an edifice that was even greater than the original Temple that Solomon built.²

This is in accordance to what we find in the Talmud: “It used to be said: He who has not seen the Temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful building. Of what did he build it? Scholars say: Of yellow and white marble. Some say, of blue, yellow and white marble. Alternate rows of the stones positioned so as to leave a place for cement. He originally intended to cover it with gold, but the Rabbis advised him not to since it was more beautiful as it was, looking like the waves of the sea.”³ No doubt, it was these very stones the disciples pointed at and admired. They were of prodigious size with enormous value.

Jewish historian Josephus also paints a picture of the Temple that stood in his day, which was during the time of Christ: “Now the outward face of the Temple in its front was lacking nothing that was likely to surprise either men’s minds or their eyes; for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun’s own rays. But this Temple appeared to strangers when they were coming to it from a distance, like a mountain covered with snow; for as to those parts of it that were not golden, they were exceedingly white. On its top it had spikes with sharp points, to prevent any pollution of it by birds sitting upon it. Of its stones, some of them were forty-five cubits [68 feet] in length, five [7 feet] in height, and six [9 feet] wide. Before this Temple stood the altar, fifteen cubits [22 feet] high, and equal both in length and width; each of which dimensions was fifty cubits [75 feet]. The figure it was built in was a square, and it had corners like horns, and the passage up to it was by an indiscernible ascent. It was formed without any iron tool, nor did any such iron tool so much as touch it at any time. There was also a wall of partition, about a cubit [18 inches] in height, made of fine stones, and so as to be grateful to the sight; this encompassed the holy house and the altar, and kept the people that were on the outside away from the priests.”⁴

Early church scholar Cyril of Alexandria points out his understanding of what was taking place here. He writes: “Some disciples were pointing out to Christ the magnificent things in the temple and how it was adorned with the gifts that had been dedicated to God. For they supposed that Jesus would admire with them all there was to see, although being God He has heaven as His throne! He does offer a teaching concerning them, but He had already predicted that according to the times the Temple would utterly fall. The Roman army is being gathered for this very thing, demanding the surrender of Israel itself as all Jerusalem suffers the punishment of the slaying of the Lord. For let me tell you, it came to pass that they suffered these things after the crucifixion of the Savior. But they did not understand the meaning of Jesus’ teachings. They supposed His teachings concerned the end times.”⁵

When Roman General Titus arrived, he was astonished, as he went about destroying the temple, at which time his soldiers plundered it, and took away “the gifts,” with which it is also said to be adorned. These were rich and valuable things which were dedicated to it, and either laid up in it or hung upon the walls and pillars of it, as was usually done in other temples. These may have included the golden lampstand, the golden table, and many golden utensils that Pompey saw, and the spoils which Herod dedicated; and particularly the golden vine, which was a gift of his. By showing all this to Jesus, perhaps the disciples were suggesting that it would be a pity if such a grand edifice should be destroyed; or how unaccountable it was, that a place of so much strength, could so easily be demolished. But Jesus had more bad news for them.

Verse 2b: “Let me tell you what will happen. They will all be destroyed. Every stone will be thrown down on the ground. Not one stone will be left on top of one another.”

Jesus was on solid ground with His prognostication because it had been prophesied once before: “Other people will make jokes about Israel. I made the Temple holy. It is the place where people honor Me. But I will tear it down. This Temple will be destroyed. Everyone who sees it will be amazed. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this terrible thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will say, ‘This happened because they turned away from the LORD their God.”⁶ Not only that but Daniel saw it in the future: “After the 62 weeks, the Chosen One will be killed. He will be gone. Then the people of the future leader will destroy the city and the holy place. That end will come like a flood. War will continue until the end. God has ordered that place to be completely destroyed.”⁷

And could it not also be that Jesus was talking about the same thing Micah says: “Leaders, because of you, Zion will be destroyed. It will become a plowed field. Jerusalem will become a pile of rocks. Temple Mount will be an empty hill overgrown with bushes.”⁸ Years ago when I visited Jerusalem, one of my European Bible School students, who was born in Bethlehem, was my guide. We climbed to the top of the Temple Mount on the same level as the Islamic Dome of the Rock. While the Dome is ornate and colorful, the area where the Temple once stood was full of weeds and looked totally forsaken. It was hard to imagine that a magnificent Temple once stood there.

Two early church fathers speak about the meaning of no stone being left upon another. Origen writes: “After Christ predicted everything that was about to happen to Jerusalem, He who had preserved the Temple left it, lest it collapsed while He was still in it. The Temple stood safe and secure as long as the Word and the kingdom of God were with the Jews, as did all things Jewish. Subsequently, however, the kingdom of God was taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles, as it is written, ‘The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to the nations who produce its fruit.’⁹ Both Jesus and the kingdom of God were then established among the Gentiles. Therefore, neither Jesus nor the kingdom of God is to be found among the Jews, because they were abandoned ‘like a booth in a vineyard, and like a hut in a cucumber field, and like a city besieged,’¹⁰ on account of the crime they committed against Christ.”¹¹

Then, Hilary of Poitiers shares his impression: “The magnificent splendor of the Temple’s design was shown to Christ immediately after He had warned of Jerusalem’s desolation, as though to move Him. Yet He said that everything had to be destroyed and the scattered stones of its entire foundation demolished, for an eternal temple was being consecrated as a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. This eternal temple is the man who is made worthy of becoming God’s habitation through knowledge of the Son, confession of the Father, and obedience to the commandments.”¹² If by the destruction of the Temple, God was putting an end to the daily sacrifices and irreverent commercial activities going on there, it was accomplished. From 70 AD to this very day, the sacrifices have never been restarted because no Temple has been rebuilt.

Perhaps bishop Hilary was referencing what Jesus told the woman at the well in Samaria: “Believe me, woman! The time is coming when you will not have to be in Jerusalem or on this mountain to worship the Father . . . But the time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.”¹³ This is also echoed by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Christians in Corinth: “You should know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit that you received from God and that lives in you.”¹⁴

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” This line is found in a song written in 1965 by singer Bob Dylan called, “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” These words suggest, there are some things that happen in life that are so obvious that we need only to take a look at it to see what’s really going on.

When we don’t take the time to look, this is a condition of the mind that one writer, named Margaret Heffernan, described as a choice we make when we don’t like what we see. She put it this way: “We choose, sometimes consciously but mostly not, to remain unseeing in situations where ‘we could know, and should know, but don’t know because it makes us feel better not to know’.”¹ I’ve heard this same attitude expressed in the idiom, “turning a blind eye.” For instance: Employees turned a blind eye when they saw their fellow workers stealing objects from their employer because they didn’t want to lose their friendship or cause trouble.

We know how corruptible this is in our everyday world, but some don’t realize how debilitating it can be in our spiritual world. Such as, pastors turning a blind eye to the way some of their parishioners dress when they come into the house of God to worship; praise and worship teams turning a blind eye to some of the lyrics in the songs they sing that do not correspond to Scripture; or parents that turn a blind eye to the language in TV shows their children watch, the lyrics in the music they listen to, and the texting on their cell phones, etc.

For some reason, this is done because we think it will eventually go away, or turn around in the right direction on its own. As singer Dylan said, you don’t need to tune into the weather report to know what way the wind is blowing. Just look outside at the trees or some nearby flag and you’ll see. For Christians, the Bible is our flag and the Holy Spirit is our wind. That’s where we should look to see which way the winds are blowing today. And when we do, let’s not turn a blind eye to reality, but put on the whole armor of God² because we may be in a fight for our religious freedom. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

WHEN WILL WE REALIZE THE TRUTH?

Each time our TV screens fill with scenes of panic and chaos brought on by some horrible incident such as a terrorist attack on innocent people, or senseless murders on the street, quite naturally we begin to hear calls for more laws, elimination of certain constitutional rights, and greater efforts to curb such outrageous deeds brought on because we don’t have enough regulations, too many rights, and not enough good police involvement in our everyday lives. Some even propose that we have more compassion for criminals who commit their crimes out of anger because they’re not being given all the things they feel they should have.

Their reasoning is this: that with the right amount of mental conditioning, psychological influence, positive social reinforcement, and more government regulations, society as a whole, and individually, will evolve and progress toward a more perfect, controllable civic union that will eliminate these insane acts of violence.

It is time to face reality. Because of sin, mankind is destined and doomed to be sinful, evil, and influenced by demonic powers. No amount of education or regulation can purge man’s soul of this these forces. The more laws that are put into effect the more man’s sinful nature resists and seeks ways to get around such laws.

The solution to these problems can only be found in the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; the cleansing effect of His blood to wash away sin; the transformation of the heart and mind through the work of the Holy Spirit, which causes the old things to pass away and all things to become new. The love of God is what transforms individuals and societies. The Prince of Peace living in men’s hearts will go a long way in curbing such violence. The Bible tells us, where sin abounds, God’s grace abounds even more! – Dr. Robert R Seyda

SUMMARY OF MATTHEW CHAPTER 23

At the end of Chapter 22, Jesus confounded the Pharisees and His other opponents with His question about whether the Messiah was the son of King David. They were left speechless because they had become so spiritually blind that they could not recognize the truth standing right in front them. Then, at the start of Chapter 23, our Lord begins a series of warnings for them because they failed to accept the Son of God as the Savior of mankind who came to establish a new agreement with all those who would believe in Him, and through His resurrection give them everlasting life.

He did so, because even though their teachings were morally and ethically good, they themselves did not practice what they preached. In fact, they paraded around as examples of the godly and virtuous life they exhorted others to emulate. However, it was all for show. While they looked clean on the outside, they were filthy on the inside.

Jesus’ first warned them because by rejecting Him they had shut the door to the kingdom of heaven so their followers would not enter. What made this so hypocritical was that although they themselves refused to enter, they prevented others from doing so because it would expose them for who they really were. But that wasn’t all, Jesus gave a second warning because after blocking the way into the kingdom of God for those who wanted to enter, they went out and made disciples for themselves, turning them into even more sinister and corrupt followers of their way of living and practicing the faith.

Then our Lord issued a third warning them about misleading the people with their interpretations of the Law. While the written word said one thing, their verbal teachings said another. In so doing, they were making the things of man greater than the things of God. In other words, they were putting emphasis on those things that brought glory to them while dismissing those things that brought glory to God.

Our Master continued with a fourth warning because of the consequences of such thinking. They were being hypocritical because they elevated each small thing they did for God as being of great value to help themselves, while at the same time leaving the greater and more valuable things God really wanted them to do untouched that were meant to help others.

This then led our Savior to issued a fifth warning because their false pretenses were contradictory in that they made it look like what they were doing was holy in man’s eyes while what they were really doing constituted the worst behavior in God’s eyes. This then prompted a sixth warning where the Messiah compared them to the shrines built over tombs that were beautiful and ornate, but in reality were simply covering the rotting corpses and bones of the dead. Jesus put it this way: On the outside, you give the appearance of being a righteous person, but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

But He wasn’t finished. Our Lord went on to warn them a seventh time because they honored the prophets of the past with their words and berated their ancestors for treating these men of God in such a disrespectful way, even killing them and spilling their blood. They claimed that if they would have been alive back then they would not have treated these prophets so horribly. But in fact, our Master told them that this evil spirit that lived inside their ancestors was living in them.

By this time, the Master was so full of disgust for their hypocrisy and double-standards that He referred to them as poisonous serpents. He predicted that they would do to the messengers He would send out to preach the kingdom of heaven the same thing their forefathers did to the prophets in the past. In other words, they would join the long line of assassins that preyed on God’s messengers from the time of Abel, who was killed next to his altar in the field to the priest Zechariah son of Berekiah who was murdered between the holy place and the altar in the courtyard of the temple.

By this time our Lord’s emotions were so strong that He broke down and cried out: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You stone to death those that God has sent to you. Many, many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me.”

With that, Jesus looked straight at the Pharisees, scribes, and other religious leaders who were in attendance and said to them: “Look! God is turning this His house over to you and abandoning it.¹ For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai.’²” He then turned and walked away from them and the Temple. He had things to do and things to teach His disciples before He came back to do what God sent Him to do. In fact, He would be the first prophet of the new agreement that they would put to death, just like He said they would. But He would see to it that no one built a shrine over His tomb because it would be empty. His heavenly Father would raise Him from death to live forever with Him in heaven.

God bless all of you who are dedicated to studying His Word as you desire to learn more about the One who came to save us all. We will begin Chapter 24 on Monday, September 12th. Hope to see you then.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Part XIII

Verse 39: Now comes the final edict: “I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’¹”

I am willing to believe there were tears in the Master’s eyes as His heart ached because of their stubbornness and unwillingness to accept God’s only Son who came to be their Savior. It sounds similar to the cry of Jeremiah, “O Jerusalem, wash your heart clean of wickedness so that you may be saved. How long will your evil schemes lodge within you?”² You would think that after being saved from Egyptian bondage and sustained in the wilderness through the miracles of God, once the children of Israel entered the Promised Land they would be forever faithful and true.

But Nehemiah tells another story. He says, “They were disobedient and rebelled against you and threw your law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.”³ In Jewish history, we read about the death of a priest named Zechariah son of the priest Jehoiada; who stood above the people and said to them, “Thus says God: Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord so that you cannot prosper?” But instead of being convicted of the wrongs and repenting, it says, “They conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the LORD.”⁴

The prophet Jeremiah also faced the potential of death because of his speaking the truth, as well as another man named Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. who also prophesied in the name of the Lord. He warned Jerusalem and Israel in words exactly like those of Jeremiah. But instead of seeing this as a second call to repentance, we are told that King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Achbor and men with him to Egypt, and they arrested Uriah and brought him to King Jehoiakim, who struck him down with the sword and threw his dead body into the burial place of the common people.⁵ You don’t do this to someone just because they are a prophet but in response to what they prophesy.

Rabbi Kahana tells us that Uriah was from a Gibeon city along with ‘Gibeon and Chephirah’,⁶ and that “To set the record straight, Scripture finds it necessary to indicate his lofty pedigree. The Lord told Isaiah: ‘I found some men who could be trusted to serve as witnesses: Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah’⁷.”⁸ So is it any surprise that they treated Jesus of Nazareth the way they did? Then Jesus repeats a phrase found in the Apocrypha: “I gathered you together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings: but now, what shall I do to you?”⁹ The idea of God having wings by which He sheltered and protected His children was not a new metaphor. In Ruth, we read, “May the LORD reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!”¹⁰

But, even more troubling, was the foretelling of their house being left completely empty until He returns from His heavenly Father. We find this similarly spoken of in a non-canonical book: “I sent you my servants the prophets, whom you have taken and slain, and torn their bodies in pieces, whose blood I will require of your hands, says the LORD. Thus says the Almighty LORD, Your house is desolate, I will throw you out as the wind does to stubble.”¹¹

Many Jewish writers feel that the term “house” here, and in Jeremiah,¹² is a reference to the Temple, even as late at Rabbi Solomon Ḳimcḥi, a Turkish rabbinical author who lived in Constantinople during the middle of the nineteenth century. Most scholars believe that Jesus is talking about the event that would take place some 40 years later in 70 AD when Roman General Titus would encircle Jerusalem and end the Jewish State until it was reestablished in 1948. But prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple had been made before.

In the Jewish Chronicles we read this chilling warning, “But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from the land that I have given you; and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And regarding this house, now exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished, and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this house?’”¹³

We know this happened when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came and razed the city and Temple. According to one author, Jerusalem has been the subject of at least 118 conflicts over the years, beginning with one in 1350 BC between Abdi-Heba, the ruler of Jerusalem, and a people he called the “Habiru” (later “Hebrews”). In his letter to the king of Egypt (one of the Amarna tablets), he asks for help because all of the surrounding areas had been captured by the Hebrews. This corresponds well with the record found in Joshua 10 and frames the beginning of Israel’s control of Jerusalem.

Eric Cline states that the city was completely destroyed at least twice, once by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar¹⁴ and again by the Romans under Titus in AD 70.¹⁵ Isaiah lamented this: “Our holy and beautiful house, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned by fire, and all our pleasant places have become ruins.”¹⁶ So you would think that after all this they would not want to anger God again by putting another one of His prophets to death. But they were so blinded by animosity and pride they could not see the horror that would come.

And this same spirit is alive today among those who feel that humanity has outgrown its need for religion and a childish imaginary God who lives up in the sky and watches over them to make sure they don’t do anything wrong. To them, the Bible is considered an outdated book full of fairy-tales and fictional accounts of how the world was formed and the human race began. And as soon as mankind recognized their aggressive tendencies that brought strife and chaos, they invented an angry god to establish order in society. And this Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, oh yes, he may have been a historical figure in Jewish history, but his disappointed disciples invented all the tales about his miracles and resurrection. If it is still possible, the tears in our Lord’s eyes may still be lingering because such people continue to turn away from Him. But, to those who believe and receive Him as their Lord and Savior, His promise to return is now closer to reality than ever before.