WWUTT 2482 Jesus Foretells the Destruction of the Temple (Luke 21:5-9)

Jesus tells his disciples about the destruction that is coming upon Jerusalem and upon the temple. Sometimes these things can be kind of confusing when we get to reading of them, but it's not that hard to figure out when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Luke 21 and Jesus’ Prophecy of the Temple’s Destruction

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, we're in chapter 21, and what this chapter is most known for is Jesus' prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple. So we begin in verse 5, and I'm going to read through verse 28.

Hear the word of the Lord. And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said,. And they asked him, When will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?

And he said, See that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and the time is at hand. Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.

Then he said to them, And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake.

This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it, therefore, in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake, but not a hair of your head will perish.

By your endurance you will gain your lives. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance to fulfill all that is written.

Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days, for there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Now we've already read a couple of accounts of Jesus talking about these things.

Matthew 24 and 25 is where we have the most detail given regarding the destruction of Jerusalem in the temple, the return of Christ, and then even the judgment, the last judgment that takes place at the throne of Christ, which we read about in Matthew chapter 25.

So most of the details concerning these things that Jesus taught his disciples are there in the gospel of Matthew. We read some that sounded a lot like Matthew when we were in Luke. So in Luke chapter 13, we read some of that there.

And then here in Luke 21, this is Luke's account, and it's pretty structured. He puts things side by side, very distinct as to what section we're reading when it comes to the part of the question that Jesus is answering.

So he speaks, first of all, about the beginning of all of this. So verses 5 through 9 are really like an introduction to what Jesus is telling them about what they can expect. Then he tells them of wars and persecution, and that's in verses 10 through 19.

Next, he talks about the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, which is in verses 20 to 24. And then finally, the coming of the Son of Man in verses 25 to 28. Then there's some application that he gives after that in the remainder of the chapter.

The coming of the Son of Man is the part that always trips people up. So what does this part mean? It's evident that Jesus is talking about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in answering the disciples' question.

That's what this is about. So those who will say that this wasn't about Jerusalem or it's not about the temple, it's actually about a future event that hasn't taken place yet, that's not at all what Jesus is saying with regards to the disciples' question.

He is telling them of things that they will see in their lifetime. Now, there are things that haven't been fulfilled concerning the end, of course. But with this question that he is answering, he's directly telling them about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.

Now, we could say of this that it is a type or a shadow of a level of destruction that will come sometime in the future, that will be on a more global scale. This is obviously very localized. This is concerning Judea and specifically Jerusalem.

But what if there's some sort of great war that will happen on a greater scale sometime later on? Maybe this is a foreshadowing of that. Obviously, Christ has not returned yet. The resurrection of the dead hasn't taken place.

But these things that Jesus talks about with his disciples are things that they will witness in their lifetime and saying of them, some of you will even be murdered. You will be martyred for my name's sake.

The Temple’s Destruction and the Disciples’ Question

So let's look, let's see how far we get today. Anyway, we'll go back to the beginning of this in verses five through nine, where Jesus gives kind of an introduction of the things that he is warning them of.

So in verse five, while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said to them. So this is the way this has always started in the previous two gospels, even Matthew and Mark.

The disciples are marveling at the structures that they're looking at. And as I've said to you before, the temple that was built by Herod was a massive structure. I mean, it was absolutely huge. When you go to Jerusalem today, I've never been.

But when you go to Jerusalem today, you can still see the platform where the temple was standing upon at the time that it had been destroyed there in the first century in 8070 is when the temple was destroyed.

And that very stone platform that still exists. You would marvel at it if you went to Jerusalem and saw it. It is a massive construction. Just talking about the foundation that the temple was built upon.

Now, what's on that foundation now is the dome of the rock. So the Muslims are occupying that spot and that keeps anything else from being built there. But that is the temple spot. That is specifically where the temple was.

And when Titus led the armies of Rome into Jerusalem and burned it and destroyed the temple, they took the stones that made up the temple and they tore them down and they threw them off of that stone platform.

And so there are still places today where you can see where those stones had been thrown down. But the temple structure, as I said, was huge. This was bigger than Solomon's temple. It was bigger than the second temple when Nehemiah and Ezra came back into Jerusalem after the exile.

Of course, it was much bigger than that. So Herod had undertaken to create this massive structure that, as I've said before, should have been considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. And I guess in that case, it would be the eighth one.

But you have the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, we read of that one in the Bible, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

There should be Herod's Jerusalem temple because this thing was was just an incredible architectural feat. And even the disciples are marveling at it. Like you're talking about this thing being, well, of course, their great landmark.

It was the pride of Judea. This temple was but the disciples who have even seen it before yet here they are in the place again and marveling at what they're looking at because it's just such an incredible sight.

And so they are they're pointing out the noble stones, it says, and the offerings and the different adornments and all of this. And then Jesus says to them, Jesus is rather unimpressed by this. And he says, as for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

Now, the very fact that Jesus says that is astonishing to them because a Jew could not imagine any time that the temple would not be standing. Now, remember also that the disciples think that Jesus is the Messiah.

So he's the one who has come, who will sit on the throne of David and will drive out the Roman armies. So they have no thought in their mind whatsoever that the temple could ever be overthrown. Our Messiah is about to be sat on the throne again.

And then all of the things that make Israel great in the law of God will be restored and right worship will come back into the temple again. And this will be the sign that God is with us. He will even come back down.

His presence will be right here in the temple, just as it was in the days of Solomon. So will it be again? That's what the disciples and many of the others anticipating the coming of their Messiah were hoping for.

That's what they thought was going to happen. And so here's Jesus telling them that the stones of the temple are going to be thrown down. And sometimes we don't really stop and think about the things that Jesus says and what the disciples reaction to it would have been.

Even when we read the disciples reaction, I think it's difficult for us to wrap our minds around it, probably because we're so used to reading it. We've heard it so many times. You know, we just get to the next part of Luke where we're talking about the destruction of the temple, right?

Yeah, we read it in Matthew. We read it in Mark. Here it is in Luke. And so we just kind of go right past it. We just read the words and not think about what the disciples reaction to all of this may have been.

It's nothing to us. Now there's no temple standing there in Jerusalem, no temple of the Lord. God's presence isn't there. And so it's not anything that we would pay mind to. We've never seen anything like that or experience life like that in our lifetime.

But for the disciples, the temple was everything. And they could not imagine a time when the temple wouldn't be there. And so if the temple's not there anymore, well, that has to mean that the end of the ages come.

The times are over. The heavens are going to pass away with a roar, you know, however they would have thought of that in their mind. So when they ask him in verse seven, teacher, when will these things be?

And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? It's not like they just go up on the Mount of Olives. And if you'll remember from the other two gospels from Matthew and Mark, that's where Jesus has this conversation with them.

It's on the Mount of Olives. So it's not like he just goes up on the Mount of Olives and then the disciples come to him and sit down at his feet. They're trying to think of things to ask the teacher. Hey, we were real curious about that thing you said about taking the stones and throwing them down.

Can you tell us about that? Expound on that a little bit, you know. So we have this picture of the disciples sitting there at his feet and just going, what will be the signs of the end of the times? When will these things take place?

No, they were really baffled by what Jesus just said. They're probably looking at each other going, wait, what? What did you catch that? What did he just say that the stones of the temple are going to be thrown down?

Not one of these stones are going to be left on top of another. Is that a metaphor for something where he thinks that the temple is actually going to be destroyed? So then they come to him and go, you know, in asking this question, it's almost like they're saying, did we hear you right?

Are you sure you got that right? When will these things be? What will be the sign when these things are about to take place? So now they're expecting way, way off into the future. Jesus is going to say a thousand years from now.

They're like, oh, good. Okay. All right. So the temple's still going to be here. That may have been part of their anticipation when asking this question. What is Jesus going to say here? And he said, see that you are not led astray.

Do Not Be Led Astray by False Christs and Wars

Okay.

So the way that he begins is by comforting their hearts. By tuning their hearts to himself and the words that he has said to them. So that would be their comfort. They are continually turning back to the word of Christ.

They are remembering this is what he said to us. The first thing he said was to not be troubled. To not be led astray. To not be easily taken in by any of these other guys that are going to come claiming to be the Christ.

As Jesus is going to go on to talk about. So his first thing that he says to them is to not be led astray. Remember the word that has been spoken to them. So they won't listen to anybody else's word. They remain fixed on Christ.

That's important for us to remember, too. Even though these things about end times. Whenever we take stuff like this and we relate it to the end times. Even though that's difficult to understand. Because the end times haven't come yet.

Well, we're in the end times. You know, you've probably heard many teachers say that. This is the end. There's nothing else that happens after what we're in right now except Jesus returning. That's the next event that we're waiting for.

And then after Christ's return, well, there are any number of different things. Depending on what your eschatology is. You could believe that he sets up his millennial kingdom and it's the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth.

Or you could believe judgment starts right away. As soon as Christ returns, the saints that are left are caught up with him. The dead in Christ rise first. We who are left are caught up with him in the air.

And then he brings judgment on the earth. And so there's not a thousand year reign because his reign is in heaven right now. That is what's referred to as the thousand years. So he just brings judgment on the earth.

And then it's the new heavens and the new earth. And we just live with him forever. So, yeah, there's different ways, depending on your eschatology, that you might be interpreting what happens after Christ returns.

Some believe in a seven year period of tribulation. Then he comes back again, which would really be a third coming. So there's various interpretations. But the event that we're looking for next, the next thing to happen is going to be the return of Christ.

So until that happens, don't let anyone lead you astray. Trust the word of Christ and continue to hold fast to him. Don't follow anybody who comes saying that they are the Christ. And it happens. It's happened many, many times throughout history.

I think I've gone through these things before where you'll have, you know, one false prophet after another claimed to be the new Christ or the return of Christ or the reincarnation of Christ. There are lots of guys that have done it and a lot of people that have followed after them as well.

But see that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name saying I am he and the time is at hand. Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified. For these things must first take place.

But the end will not be at once. Now, the way that he says that there, it certainly applies to the disciples. And that's going to come about in the next section, which we'll get to tomorrow. Jesus foretelling of wars and persecutions in verses 10 through 19, even telling them you're going to be led away and put to death.

They're going to take you before kings and whatnot. And don't worry about what you are going to say because the words will be given to you. So that directly applies to the disciples. But the way that Jesus says this here, don't be led astray.

There's going to be wars and tumults. Do not be terrified for these things must first take place. But the end will not be at once. So that applies to them. But it could also apply to us. We also need to be careful that we would not be led astray.

And there have been lots of wars and tribulations. Has that not happened even within our lifetime? And you might hear of another announcement of another war or another conflict or another bomb drop somewhere.

And it may get the gears turning in your mind of thinking, I mean, is this it? It's amazing that we have so many nations on Earth that are armed to the teeth with nuclear bombs. And we have not yet had a nation just try to obliterate the other one with nuclear weapons.

I mean, there are nations that could totally wipe out other nations with the amount of nukes that they have. And yet it is God's hand that is staying any of this from happening. The end is not going to come until God says it's time for it to come.

So we see how God's hand is on everything, preventing wicked men from just completely annihilating one another. And you know there's got to be some psychopaths out there with their fingers on the button that could just easily go, I'm just going to end it all.

What difference does it make to me? And yet it's God's hand that's preventing us from doing more wicked than man already does. But we still see so many things happen from day to day that make us think, is this it?

Is this the end? And we have to be careful not to lose heart, not to be led astray, not to go after those that are making false prophecies. We had another false prophecy last week about the return of Christ, which, of course, did not happen.

And then the announcements of wars and all the different tribulations, and especially if we go through some difficult things, do not be terrified. These things must first take place. We're hearing of these things happen in the world because that's the world.

That's the world we live in. But we take heart, knowing Christ will return. He will put an end to all of this wickedness, and he will establish his perfect, peaceful kingdom forever. And we continue to hold fast to that promise and look forward to that day, enduring, even in the midst of chaos.

It is not left to us, to our strength, to endure whatever it is we might happen to go through. Whether you're talking about chaos that's happening on a huge scale or right down the street from you, or even just sickness and disease that you're battling with in your own body.

We don't lose heart. We continue to hold fast to the one who died for us as an atoning sacrifice for sins, who rose again from the dead, so that all who believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

Trust in Jesus, even in these days. And we hold fast to the hope of the promise that he has given of resurrection. We'll come back to this end times chat tomorrow. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read concerning Christ.

And we thank you for these reminders. That you do hold all things in your hands. That everything is being held together by Christ. And we are also being held in your hands. And you will deliver us into your kingdom, all who are in Christ Jesus, as you have promised.

So we don't lose heart in these days, but we continue to hold fast to our hope. Keep us steadfast, wise to false teachers, holding fast to the truth. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .tt .com.

Thank you for listening, and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's Word, when we understand the text.