- English: Jerusalem, Dome of the rock, in the background the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Deutsch: Jerusalem, Felsendom, im Hintergrund die Grabeskirche (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This
was originally written in 2012, but suddenly it has become so
relevant again. If you have followed me @ omharris.com, then you can
find this post under the same name. I have edited it somewhat. God
Bless.
I
do not even know where to begin. This is like someone handing you a
rope that was tied in knots and used to pull a car out of a ditch,
and you are supposed to take the knots out. This fiasco started weeks
ago and has only become worse.
Pastor
Jeff's message started in Revelation 11 this particular night, and
initiated with a question. I suppose the question is an effort to
quell the tensions that people may generally be feeling considering
how things are developing in the world, but it could also be an
attempt at explaining why he fell off his bicycle.
The
question was, “why
do these things happen?”
I assume that an aspect of the question has to do with life. That
would make sense considering the horrors that Middle Eastern
Christians are going through. Pastor is tossing out speculative
options, one of which includes the option: that
it is just our stupidity that causes things to happen.
That
opinion seems to be running rampant at church for the last couple of
weeks. The problem with that assessment is that it excludes the
possibility that God really is in control of everything. I realize
that makes many of you unhappy, but here is why I believe God is in
control:
Joshua
8:26 ESV But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he
stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of
Ai to destruction.
The
Hebrew word for devoted
here is consecrated.
Joshua
did not set the ground rules for this engagement, God did, and God
consecrated Ai for destruction. In the Hebrew, the word charam
is
repeated twice and therefore indicates a complete and utter
destruction. Even those in the village that had not come out to fight
were killed. The idea you should pick up on is that God ordained
this, just as he ordains everything, whether you like it or not. This
includes Judas, Pharaoh, the Apostle Paul's imprisonment, and the
events we find in the Revelation.
Revelation 11: 1-2
Jerusalem under the power of the Antichrist.
The
last thing John hears that distinguishes the
end of chapter 10 is:
"You
must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and
kings."
In
essence, this is another indicator that the church is gone from the
earth as there is no mention of the church.
Thus
we begin chapter 11.
Revelation
11:1-2 GW Then I was given a stick like a measuring stick (A reed). I
was told, "Stand up and measure the temple of God and the altar.
Count those who worship there. (2) But do not measure the temple
courtyard. Leave that out, because it is given to the nations, and
they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
Given
a reed – a measuring device, with instructions to measure all but
the court of the gentiles.
Why?
As
I began to write I had an image of a real-estate person come into my
head. He walked through the building taking measurements for the
owner. In Ezekiel's case, he watched as the owner did the measuring.
Why
would “God's” temple be so quickly given away, especially since
they just built it? We
are given the answer, but do we understand it? It
is given to the gentiles.
Why would He give it over to the gentiles?
This
is God's temple, but is it?
King
David was not allowed to build God a temple but his son Solomon was.
The temple had been robbed by Israel's kings and turned into a
corrupt commercial enterprise by the time Jesus walked its courts. In
1Samuel 4:21 God declared that the glory had departed from Israel
because the ark was taken. It does not really matter because the
glory was no longer in the ark, it was in the man Jesus Christ, and
on the day he died the temple veil was ripped in two, exposing, in a
sense, the emptiness of the holy place to the world and freeing God
to be in those who chose to be his people.
As
of this writing there is no temple, so yes, your assumption that the
temple must be rebuilt
is
correct. For
the Jews to rebuild it and hand it over to the gentiles seems
preposterous. This
is one of those moments when, as I was writing, the light came on.
The Jews, and by extension the nation of Israel, will have a fresh
sense of pride and security, but in what? God has always been trying
to get them to look to him as their source. Having regained the land
to rebuild, their pride will be looking inward once again. Can you
imagine that.
Islam
has had control of the temple mount long enough to believe it is
theirs. Read some of the literature about the volatility surrounding
the mount and you will find comments indicating that Muslims are
willing to state that there was no temple there. Will Islam give up
anything without a fight? Not for a moment, but they will for three
and half years.
At
this very moment the gentiles
are
struggling to gain control of Jerusalem. Here is a wild ride for you.
November 2012 and the
United Nations general assembly, by majority vote, granted the
Palestinians statehood.
From
what I understand it is more a symbolic gesture at this point, but I
can guarantee you that the can of worms has been opened and Israel is
not voluntarily giving up Jerusalem as it's capital to any terrorist
organizations. They (Israel), have openly challenged this “statehood”
by moving forward with the building of more homes for Jews, and the
Muslims have since posted no trespassing signs, indicating that the
“UN decreed land” is Palestinian and that by illegally standing
upon it, actions will be taken against you. So the obvious factor
here is an increase in strife, contention, and a Muslim populace that
has control of the temple mount. Muslims will not allow the Jews to
even walk on the temple mount as it is considered holy ground for
their mosque. It is now July of 2015 and Israel does have a legal
right to the temple mount to pray, but look it up on the internet and
you will find they need police protection if they choose to go there.
The
third temple, and the Holy City, Jerusalem, are to be trampled by
these Gentiles for forty-two months. That is three-and a half years.
For
42 months Israel will hardly be recognizable. Therefore the only real
purpose that we can attribute to such unusual action is that it
fulfills
God's plan.
I suppose that I could also say that this is part of God's judgment
against Israel. I can totally see this, but that does not mean I have
to like it. I know how I react to things and it will be a slap in the
face.
What do we know about those that trample and pollute the temple in the future?
Our
natural assumptions, especially if you are religious, is to assume
that the gentiles are primarily the Greeks or Romans. The Jews saw
them as anyone outside of the covenant, or non-Jewish peoples.
Essentially we are using the term Gentiles to describe the
nations. Color and ethnicity have little to do with it.
Daniel
chapter 9 gives us a little insight. After an extended prayer of
repentance over himself, his people, and their lack of faith an angel
comes and gives Daniel a look into the future.
I
am going to give you two versions. The first translation baffled me,
and was a part of why I could not understand end times events for the
longest time.
Daniel
9:26 YLT And after the sixty and two weeks, cut off is
Messiah, and the city and the holy place are not his, the Leader who
hath come doth destroy the people; and its end is with a flood, and
till the end is war, determined are desolations.
Although
it did not clear things up for me I heard many speakers try to
explain “these sixty-two weeks are weeks of years.” Sorry, but it
only hurt my head more. Even my MacArthur's commentary adds, “these
are weeks of years.” The following verse tends to say it clearest
for me; “After the sixty-two sets of seven time periods...”. Now
if I substitute the concept of time periods for years then I am
talking about sixty-two sets of seven-year periods (62x7). In this
case 434 years.
Daniel
9:26
ERV After the “sixty-two
sets of seven time periods”,
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.
Analyze
the passage slowly and it will make sense. Daniel 9:26 KJV “And
after threescore and two weeks shall
Messiah be cut off”.
Compare that with the words that others used in ascertaining the
consensus and you will discover that we are talking about Jesus
Christ.
The NIV called him: “the
Anointed One”.
Scripture lays out Jesus death on the cross very clearly for us, and
history backs it up. So we can say with a confidence that the first
sentence is without a doubt talking about Jesus.
Many
get caught up in anger, argument, and confusion as they scream out,
“but the Roman Emperor Titus destroyed the temple in 70 A.D., so
this passage, in reference to a far-flung, future event, is bogus and
nonsense!” Not quite so. Josephus recorded the events of the day
and makes another choice more viable. The legions in
Jerusalem, according to Josephus, were composed of a few Italian
troops while the majority were conscripts from locally conquered
nations such as Syria and Arabia. Both of which despised the Jews
that they were among.
It
was the Assyrian troops, under the banner of Rome, that took it upon
themselves to sack the temple. Hearing of this Titus ran among them
and seeing as the fire they had set was one that could be stopped
ordered them to stop their destructive actions and put the fire out.
They ignored his order, escalated their actions, and brutally
slaughtered Jews in hopes or obtaining any gold they might have
swallowed.
Popular
religious theory likes to hang their hat on the
prince that is to come
as being Italian, and therefore the pope himself. The problem with
that thinking is that it
was not Titus,
the Roman general, that destroyed the temple, but the Assyrians. If
we follow the path back to the destroyers, then we are talking about
a
leader that comes out of the middle-east,
and is with little doubt Islamic.
Are you paying attention to what is going in the Middle-east, and
Islam's impact on the world around you. It is not good and it is
coming to your neighborhood.
If
you wish to pursue some in-depth scriptural backing for all this then
look into: Mideast
Beast: The Scriptural Case for an Islamic Antichrist, by Joel
Richardson
(Author)
Sixty-nine
sets of seven time periods have come and gone, and yet there is no
future leader as yet, so it is safe to say that this continues to
speak of a future time. I suspect that time is just around the corner
and not another 2200 years.
Daniel
tells us that the
people of the
prince to come will
destroy the city.
That is a fairly blunt way of putting it. Revelation 11:2 in the King
James version states that they
will trample the city
and
overtake the temple, again.
Seventy
weeks (490
years)
have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to
let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for
the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal
righteousness: so
that the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true,
and to put the holy oil on a most holy place. Daniel 9:24 (BBE)
As
I read Daniel 9:24 it sounds like God is fully intending to bring
everything to an end.
What
do we understand as the end? Christ's triumphant and deadly return to
the earth, after which the millennial reign is set up, and the Holy
Temple and city are re-established.
Again
we are back to scratching our heads as what to do with this mystery
time period. Problem is no one really knows, but we can speculate
with reason because there are now so many other aspects falling into
place.
Revelation
calls the this prince/leader that is to come not only the
beast (one
of many) but also an
Antichrist. Paul
told us that anything that sets itself up against God, denying his
power and life is an Antichrist, so the title fits.
1
John 2:22 NIV Who is the liar? It is whoever
denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the
Antichrist--denying
the Father and the Son.
Who is John writing to?
- Jews that will listen to what he has to say.
- The church or the body of Christ depending upon your understanding.
- The Gentiles or nations.
Why
would John write to these groups?
- To increase knowledge.The world deems it self-defeating to give the enemy your game plan? Not when God is in control.
- As a warning.Every group is being warned. Look at the first four chapters of the Revelation and you clearly see the church body receiving warnings, but there is also an opportunity to change.
- To establish prophecy.What does that mean? Revelation 19:10 KJV “...worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” So it makes sense for us to give the testimony of Jesus as an aspect of our speaking to others about our life in Christ. The Jewish reader (the largest majority during this time was Jewish) understands that prophecy is demonstrated and established in patterns. Pattern = Validation, believability, and consistency.
So
for chapter 11 to open with the measuring of the temple is hugely
significant, especially to the Jewish community.
Reading and learning the Law and the prophets was expected and a
source of a father's pride. They knew the relationship to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel
40:1-3 KJV In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the
beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the
fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day
the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither. (2) In the
visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon
a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the
south. (3) And he brought me thither, and,
behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of
brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he
stood in the gate.
If
time is to be no more, then the measuring of the New Jerusalem and
the temple mark the immediacy of their integration here on earth.
after eating the scroll
John
was told, after eating the scroll, that he was to tell many others. I
believe that this is further evidence that the church is already
gone, because it is not mentioned.
Revelation
10:11 KJV And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before
many
peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
The
word before
is
Epi
and
carries meanings of “on, at, and before.” To
speak “at”
someone can be interpreted as an aggressive posture, but we certainly
saw the apostle Paul do that at times. It seems that it is often the
only way to break through some dense thinking.
In
the case of Ezekiel he too is instructed to declare. How does this
fit into the “pattern”?
Ezekiel
40:3-4 KJV And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man,
whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of
flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. (4)
And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and
hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew
thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou
brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.
The
Jews who read the Revelation were well aware of what Ezekiel had
written about a city that was to come. Unfortunately, they did not
recognize that it was the Messiah himself who did the measuring the
first time. Even
the idea that the Gentiles would trample on the Holy City was an
understood concept. Jesus himself spoke of this.
Luke
21:24 KJV And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be
led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Isaiah
5:5 NIV Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I
will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down
its wall, and it will be trampled.
In
Isaiah, the example of the vineyard is Israel, and God himself told
Israel that it will be trampled.
Let
me reiterate something I said earlier. John's largest audience at the
time of writing was Jewish Christians. They did not give up their
Jewish understanding, and their training would have had them memorize
the prophets I referenced. If you walk away with anything, remember
this. This
is a very Jewish book and God has not decided to give up on this
people.
Their understanding and culture is integral to our interpretation.
The second thing I wish people could comprehend, this book was meant
to be read and understood. Pursue knowledge and understanding. God
will open the windows of heaven to those who wish to understand.
Proverbs 9:10 tells us: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
I
suggest that you accept him as the Lord of your life. I am not very
good at this evangelism stuff but try something like this. Jesus, I
receive you into my life, and I accept this life that paid so dearly
for me to receive. Thank you for bringing me into this family of God
and that I get to spend eternity with you. Thank you for life and the
peace that you bring into my life. Fill my life with your Holy Spirit
as you have promised.
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