WWUTT 2486 Jesus Prophesies the Destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 21:20-24)

Jesus Prophesies the Destruction of Jerusalem in Luke 21

Jesus told his disciples about the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. And there are certain phrases used here that make people think, well, Jesus has to be talking about the end of the world. But that's not yet when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is an online ministry dedicated to teaching the Word of God in context, promoting sound doctrine while exposing the faulty.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, we've been in chapter 21, where Jesus is prophesying to his disciples about the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem. Let's pick up where we left off last week.

I'm going to start in verse 20 and go through verse 33 to keep these things in context. Hear the word of the Lord. 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 all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

And there will be signs in sun, moon, and stars, and on the earth distress of nations and 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.

And he told them a parable, look at the fig tree and all the trees, as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Now keep in mind what Jesus is talking with his disciples about is the destruction of Jerusalem in the temple.

So this goes back to verse five, where Jesus said, as for all these things you see, talking about the temple structures, the buildings that are there, all these things you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

And so this puts into the minds of the disciples, well, he's got to be talking about the end of the world because they could not grasp a time in which the temple would not exist, especially when they're expecting that Jesus is their Messiah who is going to ascend to the throne and God will dwell with his people again.

We've got to have the temple for that. So this has got to be something Jesus is talking about. That's way off into the future. That's what would be in the disciples' minds. But he's specifically prophesying an event that would happen within 40 years and that event being the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

The Son of Man Coming on the Clouds as Judgment

Now the part that people get hung up on, where this gets really confusing, is concerning the coming of the Son of Man in verses 25 through 28. You have the signs of the sun, moon, and stars. You have the roaring of the sea and the waves.

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. And there are many who will look at that and they will go, okay, well, this is obviously about the rapture or it's about the second coming of Christ because that hasn't happened,.

Right?

That didn't happen in the first century with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus didn't return. And understand when I'm saying that, I'm putting that into context because that's exactly what we're talking about in Luke chapter 21.

That's not preterism, okay? Preterism, in case you don't understand the word, is the idea that all of these things that have been prophesied about concerning the end have already happened. They've already taken place.

Like the book of Revelation has already happened and it's all been fulfilled. That's what a preterist, or you might even call a hyper-preterist, believes. There's also partial preterism, which the partial preterist view is already and not.

Yet.

There are some things in the Bible that have already happened, but not in the sense that they've been completed. Those prophecies have been completed and they won't be repeated again. So like looking at the book of Revelation, a partial preterist might say, well, yeah, Revelation was about Nero and it was about the destruction of the temple in AD 70 because such a person would hold a pre -70 view of the writing of the book of Revelation.

John wrote it before the destruction of the temple. But then the partial preterist will say, regardless, this is still a sign of something that is to come. So yeah, there are some things there that were fulfilled, but there's other things that will be fulfilled on a much grander scale, a larger scale than that.

Partial preterism is not heresy. Hyper preterism or full preterism is because it would have to be saying that the resurrection of the dead has already taken place or that Jesus has actually returned and the world has already seen it.

The hyper preterist has to actually go that far. So with this statement about Jesus coming on the clouds, that's where people get hung up and start to think, well, Jesus has got to be talking about the rapture.

And so that's why they will read passages like Matthew chapter 24, where we first read of this, the Olivet discourse and Luke chapter 21. They'll read those passages as talking about the second coming, not the destruction of the temple.

Jesus is actually talking past that to something that is going to happen well now, 2000 years into the future, at least, if not more. Now we're going to look at that section tomorrow. I really have to just look at verses 20 to 24 today because that's where we are.

But just to kind of tease you to what we're going to be considering tomorrow, this statement about the son of man coming on the clouds. This comes from the major prophets. This is Daniel. This is Isaiah.

This is Jeremiah. So Isaiah 19 one, an oracle concerning Egypt, behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

Did God come and, and visit Egypt in a way that could be seen and observed in Isaiah chapter 19, like, like see, we're seeing God himself. Look, there he is in the clouds. We're looking up into the heavens.

There is God writing in chariots and coming to us. Is that what they saw?

No.

This is in reference to that. God would come and visit them most definitely, but not in a way that they would actually see his face or his presence, but the effect that he would have on Egypt bringing judgment upon them would certainly be witnessed by the Egyptians and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

So that's the reference in the old Testament to Jesus coming on clouds or the Lord coming on clouds. And so it's that same reference that's being used here in Luke chapter 21. It's talking about judgment that is coming in the earth and they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Talking about the rapture? No, it's not. But again, we'll, we'll talk about the symbolism tomorrow when we get there. I don't know if you're aware of it, but we're actually in the, the revised prediction for the rapture.

You remember that there was, there were memes that were circulating on the internet, different videos of people that were responding to it. There was this guy named Joshua, this pastor who is from South Africa, and he had predicted that the rapture was going to be on September the 23rd.

And that's not unusual because there have been a lot of predictions about the rapture happening on September the 23rd, not just in 2025, but many years previous. Why is September 23rd so significant? Because that's the feast of trumpets.

Get it, right? He will come back with the sound of a trumpet. So it surely it's gotta be the feast of trumpets when Christ is going to return. That prediction keeps coming up year after year. In fact, just some years it gets bigger than other years.

But anyway, of course, September the 23rd came and went, Jesus didn't actually return. And the prediction has now been revised to October 6th and 7th. So at the time that this episode is posting, that's where we are.

It's October 6th here in the United States of America. And we are at the revised dates for this predicted rapture, which it's not going to be now either. I mean, the Lord could come back this day, I suppose.

But as we have heard Jesus say, even in previous books about this, no one knows the hour or the day that these things are going to take place. Yet this guy claims that he does. There are people that continue to try to make this prediction, even though Jesus said no one will know the hour or the day.

So October 6th and 7th are here and they're going to go and we will still be here even after these days pass. Now you may be taken away from this earth and go be with the Lord in glory. That could happen today for you.

That would be like a rapture of you. If your life were to be snatched from you in these couple of days, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will be saved. Now regarding this whole rapture prediction thing, because this has been going on for years and we're surely going to get more predictions later in the future of other people that claim to know the day that we get raptured.

The way that the rapture is talked about is never the way that it appears in the Bible. So you hear a lot about rapture and what do you think of? What do you think of when you hear the word rapture? Somebody says the rapture is coming or I'm looking forward to the rapture.

What's the picture that you have in your mind? Probably people getting snatched up, floating into the air. Maybe they just vanish and their clothes are laying on the ground. And this is, uh, this is something that takes place before the antichrist comes into power, which he will reign for seven years.

And then Jesus returns again to snatch up the rest of the people that are still on the.

Earth.

Those that got saved during that seven year period of tribulation. That may be what you think of when you hear the word rapture, but you don't see that in the Bible anywhere. Now, this reference to the rapture, you're probably familiar with.

This comes from first Thessalonians four 17. That's where we get the whole concept of rapture. We who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

So we will always be with the Lord. And it's that, that catching up in the Latin is the word Rapturo. And so in English, now it's, it's been called the rapture. But the way that Paul describes the rapture there, it's never the way that you see it depicted in apocalyptic literature or is it's commonly talked about in dispensationalism.

So considering first Thessalonians four 13, we do not want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep for this.

We declare to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

Okay.

Watch this verse 16 for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God. So Christ is returning and what's it look like?

It's loud. There's a lot of sounds. It's a lot of chaos. It is the Lord announcing himself his triumphant return. So this is by no means some kind of secret rapture where people just get snatched away.

They just vanish and nobody knows what was going on. But there's something that happens when Christ returns before the catching up of people to meet the Lord in the air. What happens before the catching up of the saints?

It says again in verse 16 and the dead in Christ will rise first. Now that's not a scene that you ever see depicted in this, in these apocalyptic stories, right? You never see the graves opening up and those who are dead being snatched up first.

And then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds. But that happens first when Jesus returns, the whole world will see him and the dead in Christ will rise. They will come up out of their graves.

Their bodies will be glorified and they will meet the Lord in the air. And then we who are left will be caught up with the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. And this picture is the picture of a dignitary, a king or a governor of some kind, a military general who has conquered and has come back.

He's come back to the city after he has had victory over the enemies and the people go to the city gate to receive him in victory as he returns. That's the picture that Paul is painting as people go to the city gate to receive their great king or emperor or general when he returns from the war.

So we are going up to meet the Lord in the air, but then we come back down with him. Just like when the king comes into the city, the people meet him at the gate, but then they go with him through the city singing praises because of his victory over his enemies.

And so we go and meet the Lord in the air, the dead in Christ, we who are left, and so that we are all changed. And then we come back with the Lord to the earth, to the new heavens and the new earth. That's the picture that's going on here.

You don't see anything about a rapture and then a seven year period of tribulation where the antichrist reigns. And then Jesus comes back a third time at the end of that seven years. No, it just simply says in verse 17, we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will always be with the Lord, therefore encourage one another with these words. And then in first Thessalonians five, there's a shift because we go from the saints being caught up to what Jesus is going to bring on the earth when he comes.

And that is wrath and judgment. So these are all the same event. We get caught up, Jesus brings wrath and judgment down, and then this is the end. This is what we are expecting at the end. That's the picture of Christ's return that we are given.

And why is it always excluded from that picture that the dead in Christ will rise first? That's going to be quite a sight to see. So here is Jesus is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that it's desolation has come near.

I mean, again, we're talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, and we're talking about that destruction that comes at the hands of the Roman armies, which would take place in 8070 or about what, 67 or 68 through 70.

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 because of all of the madness that's going to be going on in Jerusalem at that time.

Get away from that place, or if you stay there, you will perish. For these are days of vengeance, Jesus says, 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.

Now understand something about great distress upon the earth. People will read that phrase as well, and we're thinking this is global. This is happening everywhere, not in Judea, not just in Jerusalem, but all over the place.

You could also understand this phrase as land. For there will be great distress upon the land. So the earth is simply the realm in which we dwell. It's the physical world that we dwell in. So upon this earth, in this place, in this realm, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, because that's exactly what Jesus was talking about in verse 20.

So don't read earth and then suddenly think that we're all over the globe now. It's just the land. There will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and we certainly saw that happen in AD 70.

And Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Now that one is prophetic even to the present day. Why is that? Because Jerusalem is still being trampled underfoot by the Gentiles.

As I've said to you before, as we've been reading here in Luke chapter 21, the dome of the rock is on the top of the temple mount. There is an Islamic idolatrous place of worship that's there on the top of the temple mount, but that is preventing the temple from being rebuilt by God's providence.

He's preventing it from being rebuilt. So the Gentiles are trampling underfoot. The temple ground, Jerusalem itself, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, which will be at the time of Christ.

So there are certainly things going on here that are prophetic toward the future, but the question that Jesus is answering with his disciples is specifically concerning Jerusalem and the temple. Those things did come true.

They came to fulfillment. And we can be confident that everything that God has promised, everything that he's predicted will come to pass, even and especially our deliverance out of this world and into his presence forever.

For all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, he who died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead, we have nothing to fear of judgment. If you believe in Jesus, your sins are forgiven.

The Hope of the Saints and the Return of Christ

Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have read. And I pray that even with this, we have this renewed confidence in the promises of God that we know you are good and you are going to fulfill your every word.

And just as you will bring destruction upon the earth, 2 Peter 3 talking about this. So you will also deliver your saints and bring them up with you to dwell in your perfect heavenly kingdom forever. So may it be the prayer of our hearts, even with the Apostle John to say, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

It's in his name that we pray, amen.

Thank you for listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website www .wutt .com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study, When We Understand the Text.