Luke 21:5-38

(Luke 21:5-38)

 

And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls.  And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judæa flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 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. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;  When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at handVerily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.  Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.

 

The above words overlap with the stories of Israel and all the nations. First of all, for Israel, "These days are the days of punishment for all that is written." All that is written means the law. “The Israelites who failed to fulfill the law were punished by the law, and Jerusalem was destroyed,” Luke explains. We must have a good understanding of the law.

 

God gave the law to Israel, and the Israelites have been struggling to keep the law for over 1,400 years. And even today, about 2,000 years after Jesus came, the people of the nation of Israel do not know the law well. In general, they understand it to the extent that it is "God's law that God told humans to obey the law." It is not wrong, but it should be clearly understood that this law was given by God to Israel and not to the Gentiles. However, it would be good for the Gentiles to understand it as "see and understand how Israel did to the law."

 

To understand the law, we must not know to whom and why God gave the law. The purpose of God's giving Israel the law is to convict them of sin. It was given by God to those who are sinners and do not know they are sinners. The apostle Paul explains the law, in Romans 5:13, "For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law."

 

Sin is called sin when you leave God. However, they do not know what it is to have left God. “Departing from God” means to abandon the tent of the kingdom of God and put on the tent of the flesh in the world. It means that being born into this world is itself a sin. God first gave the law to Israel, which means that all Israelis are sinners. Israel is a model of all the people of the world, which means that all mankind is sinners.

 

Manmin in heaven means to see Israel and learn. Secondly, it means that God gave the law to all people. God gave the law, and he said, "Keep it and be righteous." There is only one good person, God. There is only God alone who is righteous. In Deuteronomy 6:1, 『Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: 』 If you keep it well, God said that he would give them the kingdom of God.

 

Why did God tell the Israelites to keep the law and “become the righteous”? The reason is that the followers of Satan left the kingdom of God, saying, "They can achieve goodness like God without God." But God said. It is “return after realizing that you can never achieve”. Because Satan's followers believed and followed Satan's words, they all became Satan's children. The word that he is a child of Satan means that his followers became children of the devil when they followed Satan.

 

In John 8:44, ``Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. The Bible describes Satan and his followers as liars. Jesus speaks to the Pharisees, but in the end he speaks of Satan and the devil in them.

 

『 Then let them which are in Judæa flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 』 Those in Judea are all those who believe in the law. Mountain refers to Mount Zion. In Psalm 2:6, ``Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 』"I am" is God. My King is Jesus Christ. The mountain means Jesus. That is why those who believe in the law should give up the law and achieve righteousness through Jesus Christ. The Bible says that there is no way of salvation other than Jesus Christ. Although there is a tribulation, realizing that only through Jesus Christ is the way to salvation, it is said to be free from all laws.

 

『And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! In 1 Corinthians 4:15, ``For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 』
In times of trouble, there will be some who realize the meaning of the gospel. It means that he is a child. That's why it gets tough then. “There will be anger” is that extreme pain will follow. Those who nurture are those who make the gospel grow.

 

In Hebrews 5:12-13, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 』

 

In Matthew's Gospel, "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:" It is the legalists who Jesus said these words. Both winter and the Sabbath are those who have been obsessed with the law and have become hardened like winter. It is to pray to escape from the legal thinking that we must keep the rest. Today, there are many things that are legally or thought to be obeyed, such as tithing, Sabbath holy water (Sunday holy water: that Sunday must be kept in the same concept as the Sabbath), and various feasts. Those who try to keep the law will enter into tribulation before Jesus' Second Coming. Those who try to keep the law will be judged if they fail to keep any of the laws God has given them. That is why we are saved only by giving up the law and entering the gospel of the grace of Christ. The gospel of grace is to die on the cross to the law with Jesus.

 

Second, about the end of the world, “Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. 』
The Bible (Luke's Gospel) told us to learn the parable of the fig tree. Fig tree means Israel. Israel rejected Jesus Christ and was crucified. Not only were they physically destroyed by Rome, but they were also unable to escape from darkness spiritually. Israel is the model of all the people of the world. The people of the world should not go the wrong way like Israel. Everyone in the world is trapped in darkness. But the Bible says that we must enter into Christ, believing that Jesus Christ will deliver us from darkness.