Revelation: Tale of Two Cities

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If you want to open your Bibles to the Gospel according to Matthew, the Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 24.

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Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 24. If you're new to your Bibles, this is the first of the four

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Gospels. We call it one of the synoptic Gospels. There are three

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Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, that are synoptic. It means that you can see them together.

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You can run them alongside one another at many points. The Gospel of John, according to John, is a little bit different.

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Not part of the synoptics, but you have four Gospels. Matthew is the first. Matthew is the most

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Jewish of all the Gospels in terms of the clear Jewish language, the association with the

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Old Testament references and texts. Matthew is clearly gearing this

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Gospel to those who understand the Old Testament revelation of God, and he's using the

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Old Testament, he's quoting from it copiously, over and over and over again, which should be the signal for all of us to make sure that as we open the

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Gospel according to Matthew, or really any of the New Testament, but in particular the Gospel according to Matthew, that we are familiar with the

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Old Testament revelation, that we know that God has spoken in history. Yes? Amen? God speaks right now outside with general revelation.

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He is shouting to the world and every person in it about His glory, about His character, about His persons.

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God is speaking to us in all of creation constantly. But God has also given special revelation.

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He's walked in the world among us as He took on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and spoke, and God has given to us special revelation like this.

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His Word, right now you're holding in your laps or on your phones, amazingly. This is

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God's revelation. God has spoken in history. And the Gospel according to Matthew is another moment of God's special revelation connected to all of His revelation in history.

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Here's the point. God has stepped into history and He has touched us. Yes? Amen? He has touched us.

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He has spoken to us. He has kept His promises. And as you open Matthew 24 and you read about things like the end of the age and the judgment that was about to fall on the covenant breakers, just know this isn't something just dropped into history with nothing connected to it.

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It's part of a whole story from God, a symphony, a symphony.

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Now watch. I want you to understand two things as we open the text today. I'm about to read it here. One, understanding the symphony connected to the

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Olivet Discourse and the Great Tribulation is vital. What did God promise about His coming, and how does that connect to the end of the age?

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And the next thing is, in order to understand who Jesus truly is, we have to understand what all of Scripture says about Jesus.

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Yes? Amen? Because you can have a moment in the New Testament where Jesus refers to Himself as the

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Son of Man or the Son of God. And people can grab that text, rip it out of context, and say,

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See? Jesus is the Son of God. He was created by the Father. He wasn't preexistent.

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But in order to understand the revelation of Jesus Christ, you have to understand what Jesus says about Himself, that He actually calls

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Himself I Am, Ego Emi, Yahweh. He takes the divine name of God for Himself and says to Jews, who are monotheists, they believe in only one

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God, that before Abraham sprang into existence, Ego Emi, I Am.

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And they knew exactly what He was saying because they picked up stones to kill

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Him. Why? Because you being a man, make yourself God.

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We can't rip verses out of the Bible, out of their context. That is ultimately destructive and sinful, dishonoring to God.

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We need to believe in not just sola Scriptura, that the Word of God is the foundation, the sole and fallible rule of faith and practice for the church, but we need to believe in tota

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Scriptura, all of Scripture interprets Scripture. And that's my goal today.

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You guys ready? Yes? All right. I'm going to do my very best to condense all of this by about 520.

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You guys believe in miracles today? Yes? We can do it. All right. So if I go fast today, just know that today's purpose,

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I even was talking to my wife this week, I really want today to really bring the whole story together.

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In order to really understand today's message, you do need to go back and listen to the others, okay?

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So today will be the whole story, and I wanted to do it in a way today that helps you to remember the points, okay?

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So we're going to start today. I'm not going to read the entire chapter today. Matthew 23, and let's start in verse 34.

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Hear now the words of the living and the true God. Matthew 23, 34.

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Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous

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Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

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Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

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O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it, how often would

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I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.

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See, your house is left to you desolate, for I tell you, you will not see me again until you say,

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Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

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But he answered them, you see all these things, all these, do you not? Truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

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As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?

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Thus far is the reading of God's holy word. Let's pray. Father, please bless today. By your

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Spirit, God, please teach. Please get me out of the way. Help me, Lord, to be faithful to your people.

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Please speak through me, through your word, by your Spirit, to your people. Open our eyes to your truth, our minds to your truth, and our hearts.

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Pray, Lord, for anyone in this room that does not truly know you as Savior and Lord. They have not received peace with you,

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God, that you would grant that today by your grace and mercy. Illuminate, Lord, your word today by your

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Spirit. Let us see and understand. Bless us and allow us, God, to see the word that is before us in a way that is consistent and faithful.

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In Jesus' name, amen. So, as we come to this text, remember the background briefly.

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Jesus, it has been said over and over and over throughout the gospel, according to Matthew, has promised judgment upon this generation.

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He has promised all these things upon this generation. Your house is left to you desolate.

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He says all the blood of the righteous upon this generation. We know from the beginning of Matthew, the gospel according to Matthew, you have little seeds dropping that begin to grow and sprout into a larger story of judgment that's about to fall on that generation.

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John the Baptist was the messenger that was promised before Mashiach, before the

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Messiah. He enters. He comes in Matthew 3, and he says, repent for the kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God, the rule of God in history has come upon them.

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It's at the fingertip reach. John the Baptist, they expected. Jesus said

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John the Baptist was the Elijah, the one calling

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Israel to repentance that they had anticipated was coming. What's that mean?

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Prophecy. Get it again. Prophecy. This is unique about scripture.

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Understand this. The word of God, this book, these books and letters, 66 compiled together of God speaking in history over hundreds and hundreds of years, through multiple generations, through all these different authors, this revelation is unique.

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Get this. God speaks, and he actually tells his people, you want to know how you know someone's a false prophet?

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If they tell you the future, and it doesn't come to pass, it fails,

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Deuteronomy 18, false prophet, not from me. Why? Because only God is sovereign.

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Only he wields history and controls it. Only he can say, this will happen guaranteed with full assurance no question it's going to happen in history.

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That is unique about the Bible. You might say, Pastor Jeff, not really unique. Religions do that all the time.

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They give prophecy all the time, and I would say to that, yea and amen, and they fail all the time.

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Example, two cults and religions, Mormonism, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, all the

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Mormon prophets and apostles in the first generation of Mormonism, they gave false prophecy after false prophecy.

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And what do cult members and leaders do when there's false prophecy? They move along, right?

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Anticipate it. Why? Because humans, we err, we fail. Give them a break, give them a chance.

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So what? He failed. God says, false prophecy, false prophet, you're done.

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You don't represent the true and living God. Look at Jehovah's Witnesses. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Charles Taze Russell, Judge Rutherford predicted the coming of Christ in their generation and failed.

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In the 1970s, the Jehovah's Witness organization lost a massive portion of their membership because of false prophecy that injured people.

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They gave away their goods and their money, they lost family, and they lost their lives because of false prophecy.

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And now they just keep on moving along. Notice the difference between the revelation of God and these false religions.

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God speaks in history. He tells us history before it happens, and he gets it right every single time.

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You might be saying, Pastor Jeff, why'd you bring that up? Again, we understand that I would say this. Understand that this moment before us with Jesus is fulfillment of prophecy, a story

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God had laid down long before Jesus came into history. Now, understanding that fundamental point will help you to understand the meaning of Jesus' mission and his message right here in this moment.

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For example, if you read the Old Testament revelation, you would understand the person of Jesus. What's the

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Bible say about Jesus long before he comes? Isaiah 9, 6 through 7, it says that one is coming who is a son and, what, a child, and he will be called

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Wonderful Counselor, El Gibor. It's a

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Hebrew term that's used exclusively for the one and only

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God. What's that mean? El Gibor, the mighty God, is coming as a son and as a child.

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Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no ends. That God is going to bring a

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Messiah into the world who is oddly a human son and child, and yet he is

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El Gibor, the Father of Eternity, the Eternal One, is coming as a son and as a child?

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You see, God has told us history before it happens. We know that God's coming as a man.

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Micah 5, 2, that he's coming to Bethlehem, and the one coming to Bethlehem is from old.

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His goings forth are from everlasting, from eternity. The one coming to Bethlehem is the

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Eternal One. We know from Isaiah 53 that this Messiah who's coming is going to be crushed for our iniquities, that God's going to lay on him the iniquity of us all, that by his wounds we'll be healed, that the

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Father would be pleased to crush him, putting him to grief.

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And yet it says that he was going to die a violent death, Isaiah 53, about 600 years before Jesus comes, but yet it says after he dies that violent death, he would justify the many.

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He would declare them righteous, justify them before God, bearing their sin, that he would see his offspring.

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He would prolong his days after he dies. That's prophecy about Messiah. We understand that as Christians, right?

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We're always trying to share that with our Jewish friends, our atheist friends, our

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Muslim friends. We're saying, look what the Bible says about Jesus. Just read, read the revelation for yourself.

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Read what God said about Jesus, who he was, what he was going to accomplish, but capture this for today.

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That story of history, not only about Jesus' salvation, but also about what was to take place here in the first century, is all laid down ahead of time and to properly understand the

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Great Tribulation and the Olivet Discourse, we need to know what the Old Testament said was coming.

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Now watch. We know in terms of hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the art and science of biblical interpretation, right?

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Like, for example, we could do this with the Bible. The Bible says about Judas, it says,

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Judas wouldn't hang himself, right? I could take that verse, Judas wouldn't hang himself, and I could take another verse in the

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Bible that says, go now and do likewise, or what you do, do quickly. People could abuse

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Scripture in that way with people, right? Judas wouldn't hang himself? Now go and do it quickly.

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I can abuse Scripture in that way. I could take passages in the Bible, and I could abuse people with those passages.

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I need to read Scripture as a whole story, not merely parts and pieces taken out of context.

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So what we need to do is go to a text and say, what does the text say in front of me? But then here's the next question, watch.

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Is what I'm reading here consistent with the rest of God's revelation? What does

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God say as a consistent story throughout the Word of God? How does all this hold together?

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And so what I want to do today is give you this. Remember the number 2, the number 2. I'm going to give you two things in different categories today.

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One, I want you to remember that the Old Testament told us a story about the Messiah that connects here to their question of the end of the age.

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It told a story about salvation and judgment, 2. Next, the

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Bible told us in the Old Testament about two ages, Old Covenant age and the

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New Covenant age, or the age of the Messiah. And finally, the Bible tells us a story about two cities, an old

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Jerusalem and a new Jerusalem. Today we're going to talk about that harlot in the book of Revelation and the new

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Jerusalem that follows. You guys ready for that? Yes? So 2, 1, salvation and judgment is promised in the

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Old Testament. When Messiah comes, it's twofold, salvation and judgment.

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Next, there's two ages, what are they? Old Covenant age and what?

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New Covenant age. And finally, there's two cities, what are they? Old Jerusalem and what?

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New Jerusalem. There you go. So remember the number 2 today and you'll have walked away and you'll have learned something.

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Quickly I'll say this, those two things promise in the Old Testament, salvation and judgment.

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We often remember as Christians that Jesus is promised to bring salvation when he comes into the world, yes?

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Salvation and a kingdom. You heard Jerry actually quote it today from Psalm 72.

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He shall have dominion from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth. Those kinds of passages from the

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Old Testament. Those are there, we see salvation. But we need to remember also that the

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Bible promises judgment upon the Covenant breakers.

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And today I'm going to give you the verses, write them down, go read them later. God promises judgment in Isaiah 65.

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Isaiah 65, it's a powerful passage. Remember when it was written, at least 600 years before the ministry of Jesus.

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God gives you an entire picture of the Messiah and his ministry. Who he is, what he's going to accomplish.

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His death, his resurrection, all of it's there. But listen to what else. It also tells you what

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God's going to do with the Covenant breakers. Messiah's coming, yes. He's coming to bring justice to the ends of the earth.

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He will bring justice to the ends of the earth. He's coming now to save his people and the nations, to draw them up to the mountain of God.

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But get this, he's also bringing judgment upon the Covenant breakers.

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He says to the Covenant breakers, and Pastor Luke was talking this week about this passage, he said that when he read this passage, this is where the lights came on for him years ago.

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Isaiah 65, God says to the Covenant people, he says, you're going to be thirsty, my people are going to eat.

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You're going to be hungry, or sorry, they're going to drink. You're going to be hungry, my people eat.

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He says, I will call my people by a new name. He's going to judge the

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Covenant breakers and bring his salvation around the earth. Malachi chapters 3 and 4, it says when

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Messiah comes, first he's going to have the messenger that precedes him.

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And then it says this, listen closely, Malachi 3, that when the Messiah comes, he's going to come to his temple.

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The Lord is going to come to his temple. And when he does, he's going to bring salvation and he's going to judge the

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Covenant breakers, those who swear falsely. So watch this, watch this. If you've been reading for the 400 years before Jesus came into the world in his ministry, if you've been reading

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Malachi over and over and over again, waiting in anticipation for Jesus, when he comes, you understand every aspect.

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You hear him talking about eternal life and forgiveness and cleansing of sin, and you go, that's what you're supposed to do.

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That's the identity of the Messiah. And then, lo and behold, you see him departing

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Jerusalem, sitting on the Mount of Olives, declaring that the Covenant people are about to be judged.

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You say, hey, that sounds like Malachi 3. That sounds like Malachi 4.

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My goodness, that sounds like Isaiah 65. Here is Jesus now coming to bring salvation, and lo and behold, what's he saying to the

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Covenant breakers? Your house is left to you desolate. All the blood's going to be upon this generation.

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He says, you are going to be judged. Your house is left to you desolate.

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These are the days of vengeance. These are the days of vengeance.

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Now watch, again, if you're a faithful Jew and you've been reading those scrolls for all those years between when

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God stopped giving revelation from the Old Covenant until Christ's arrival, you know that this is the story of the

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Messiah. It shouldn't surprise you that Jesus is speaking like this. Next, Joel 2 promises that in the last days, careful, we see the last days terminology in the

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Bible, and what do we immediately think? The last days of human history. But that terminology is used in the

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Old Testament not necessarily to refer to the last days of human history, but to the last days of the

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Old Covenant age. God promised in Acts 2, sorry, Joel 2, that in the last days he would give signs and wonders, that he would speak through his people, that there would be miracles, all these amazing miracles, and then, listen, blood and fire, pillars of smoke before God's judgment fell.

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Now watch, you know this. You know Pentecost, Acts 2, the Holy Spirit's poured out.

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You ever wonder what's happening in that moment where all of a sudden there's these miraculous gifts poured out where the people of God are speaking in other languages, preaching the gospel.

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People are hearing them in their own languages, and it's a miracle that they can communicate the gospel in a language they've never learned before.

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In this one moment, the gospel exploded. In one moment, bang! And everyone went across the empire with the gospel in one day.

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And what's Peter say? When they all see these miraculous things happening that day, he quotes

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Joel 2, and he says, this, what you're seeing now with this miraculous stuff happening, is that, is what

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Joel was talking about, that in the last days of what?

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The Old Covenant age, God was going to display that the judgment was about to fall through what?

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Signs and wonders. All the miraculous events you see happening in the

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New Covenant, in the New Covenant documents, that was anticipated. That was understood as to come before the judgment fell upon Jerusalem.

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So there is two things promised in Messiah's ministry. What are they?

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Salvation and what? Judgment. So when you read Matthew 23 and 24,

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Luke 21, Mark 13, you understand what's happening. Next, the

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Bible promised two ages. What are they? Old Covenant and what?

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New Covenant, or the age of the Messiah. Quick thing, Old Covenant age, what comes with that?

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Remember, this is overarching today, guys, stay with me. What comes with the Old Covenant age? What's the story?

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Fall, sin, promise. Right? Sin enters into the world.

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There's the fall. God promises Messiah. God then makes a covenant with Abraham and says to Abraham, and you shall all the nations be blessed.

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Through who? Jesus. The story continues to move through history. God is faithful to his people.

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And then God delivers his people from Egypt, out of Egypt, and he gives to them his law.

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And in Deuteronomy chapter four, God says to his people that his law was supposed to be their wisdom in the sight of all the people.

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People were supposed to see God's law, watch, and say, what kind of God is this?

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A God that is so near to his people, like this, and what, look at these laws.

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How righteous and perfect these laws are. How many of you guys saw the conversation

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I had with Doug Wilson this week? Go check it out. It's on Apologia Studios. I think it'll really bless you guys.

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He made a comment there, very important too, about the law of God. Listen closely to this. The law of God will save nobody, amen?

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It can't save you. God is holy. We're sinners. It will not save you. But God's law is a blessing, right?

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If you have a culture and a society that has God's law as the foundation, that society will be blessed, and it'll experience the blessings and the benefits of God's law, amen, yes?

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Which kind of society would you like to live in? A society that has God's standards of loving him and loving neighbor, or a society that is a humanist society that says anything goes?

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Which would you like to live in? God's law was a gift to his people, and God, in the old covenant, he condescends, listen, you'll get it if you get this.

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He condescends and gives his people his law as a gift and a blessing, but he promises them this.

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This special relationship he has with them is coming with blessings and what?

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Curses. And in Deuteronomy 28, he tells his people, I'll bless you if you obey, and these are the curses if you disobey.

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God came into a special covenant with the people of Israel. It was a covenant relationship with blessings and curses.

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I'll bless you if you obey, I'll curse you if you disobey. And throughout the history of the Old Testament, what do you see constantly?

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Israel does what with God's law? They break it, they disobey, they turn away from God.

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And so what do you see throughout the Old Testament? God, actually, in Ezekiel 16, calls his wife,

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Israel, he says he was a husband to her, he calls her a harlot.

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And he says, what about her? You're different than other harlots. He says, because they get paid for what they do, and you don't.

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You offer yourself to everybody, and you get paid nothing. He says, even though I made you beautiful, I gave you jewelry and all this special stuff to make you so beautiful.

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He says, you still turned away from me, even though I was your husband. You broke my law, you broke my commandments.

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That's what God says to Israel throughout the Old Covenant. He makes a covenant relationship with the people of Israel.

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He says, blessing and curses, and they turn away from God over and over. So God does this.

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He promises a new covenant. And in Jeremiah 31, 31, he says this to his people.

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He says, the days are coming when I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel. He says, not like the covenant before, the one they broke, even though I was a husband.

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Listen to the language, and you will understand the end of today's message. He says to Israel, you broke the covenant, even though I was a husband to you.

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And he says, the new covenant, I will put my law within you, and I'll cause you to observe my statutes.

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All these glorious promises God makes, listen, of salvation, of the

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Messiah coming, of God pouring out His Spirit, of God cleansing of sin, of God indwelling

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His people, of God empowering His people to obey Him, of God putting

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His law within people. Two ages. One, Old Covenant age, and two, what?

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New Covenant age, or the age of the Messiah. Now, finally, I'm going to make it,

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I think, guys. Ten minutes. We can do this. Finally, I told you two things about the

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Old Testament. What are they? Salvation and what? Judgment and the coming of the Messiah. I told you the

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Bible promises two ages. What are they? Old Covenant age and what? New Covenant age.

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So now it makes sense when Jesus says the temple's going to be destroyed, not one stone upon another. They go, when will these things be?

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What's the sign of your coming in judgment and the end of the age?

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Which age? The Christian age? Does the temple represent the

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Christian age or the Old Covenant age? So they say, what's the sign of your coming and the end of the age?

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What is it, Jesus? They understood what it means for the temple to fall.

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Finally, here we go. The Bible tells you about two cities. Two covenants.

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Two cities. An old Jerusalem and a new Jerusalem. Just mark this down and then go read it.

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And by the way, I think you're going to be very surprised when you read Ezekiel 16 with the language that God uses in His Word when

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He speaks about sin. It is blunt. It is a serrated edge. God does not pull punches.

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God tells the truth. And when God speaks about Israel, His bride in covenant with Him, and her adulteries turning away from Him, He speaks in a very honest and a very graphic way.

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That's Ezekiel 16. There's an old Jerusalem. An old covenant.

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Matthew 23, Jesus speaks to that Jerusalem. What does He say? Jerusalem, Jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.

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He says, upon you shall be all the blood of the righteous. These are the days of vengeance.

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And one more thing. Remember I said this to you? How when

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I saw it, after I'd read it a thousand times, it shocked me.

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Like, it seemed so out of place. Jesus is on the way to the cross.

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He says very few things. From His judgment, to going to be crucified.

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But on the way to the cross, there's this moment recorded where Jesus actually says to the women who are crying,

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He says, don't weep for me. Weep for yourselves.

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And for your children. And He promises to those women on the way to the crucifixion that they ought to be weeping for themselves because they're about to be judged.

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The judgment is coming upon that old city, that old Jerusalem. Not one stone would be left standing upon another before that generation had all passed away.

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And brothers and sisters, it happened on time and as planned. That Jewish temple was taken apart stone off of stone and it was leveled and destroyed.

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Did you know that when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, the three and a half year war of the

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Romans versus the Jews, did you know that the Jews were stuck in this city?

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The only people who escaped the judgment on Jerusalem were the Christians. Because Jesus told them what to look for and when to flee and not to risk going to get anything but to leave the city immediately.

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And they did as a matter of historic record. But did you know the Jews that were stuck in the city those covenant breaking

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Jews that they had to try to survive by eating dung. That they ate their own children to survive.

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They actually at some points would kill one another over morsels of food.

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That when the Roman guards and armies came into the city, they saw the

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Jews so starving from famine, these people were so broken in terms of their evil and their wickedness, that they would watch these

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Jews dying of famine, they would let them live so they would suffer more from the famine.

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And if they saw anybody that looked like they were full or had food, they would kill them and cut their bellies open.

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There were so many Jews crucified in that generation that if you actually walked outside of Jerusalem during the time of the war and all these things that took place, it was like a forest of trees with human bodies on them.

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They crucified so many Jews, the Romans did, that it looked like a forest of crucifixes and humans surrounding the city.

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Josephus recorded that the blood was flowing through the streets like a river. That is what came upon Jerusalem in that generation before they all had died.

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That old Jerusalem was judged just as Jesus promised. Next. Turn in your

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Bible to Revelation 17. Now I know that it's tempting, it's very tempting to say let's start unpacking the book of Revelation, Pastor Jeff, and I would say that would be dangerous to do in one day.

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But know this. The book of Revelation, we believe, was written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70

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A .D. If you want a good book on that, read Before Jerusalem Fell by Kenneth Gentry. It's a powerful, powerful book.

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However, the book of Revelation is over 400 verses. Over half of those verses are quotations from the

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Old Testament or allusions to Old Testament passages. The Apostle John is using the imagery that is so well understood from the

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Old Testament Revelation. And he is using that imagery in a way that early Christian Jews would understand.

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So in Revelation 17, you have a story of a great harlot, a whore, a prostitute.

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And it says that this harlot, come I will show you, verse 1, the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.

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Now, read Ezekiel 16, see the description there of what God says about his covenant people, the harlot bride, and you'll see the same language.

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It says this, and he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness. Brothers and sisters, quick test here.

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Is the wilderness good or bad? It's bad. Who was in the wilderness? Israel.

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Why? Because they obeyed God. No, because they were disobedient to God, so they wandered in the wilderness for what?

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A generation. So who do you have now in the spirit in the wilderness? You have a harlot, an adulterous woman in the wilderness, and it says what about her?

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That she's committed sexual immorality with the kings of the earth. What does God accuse Israel of in Ezekiel 16?

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Exactly that. And it says this, I saw the woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.

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And you might ask the question, Pastor Jeff, how do you say that this is old covenant Israel?

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How are you saying this is the old Jerusalem? Why is she riding a seven -headed, ten -horned beast?

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This is just whetting your appetite, brothers and sisters here. But, Rome was known as the

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Septimontium. It was on their coins. The Septimontium.

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The city of seven hills. Rome had ten imperial provinces.

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So you might be saying, what is this woman doing, riding this seven -headed, ten -horned beast, and how is that Jerusalem?

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Well, brothers and sisters, what happened to the trial of Jesus? Pontius Pilate, a

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Roman governor, has Jesus now in his grip.

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And he says to the Jews of his day in Jerusalem, he says, shall I crucify your king?

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And the old covenant, well, the breakers of the old covenant, the first century

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Jews say to a Roman governor, we have no king but Caesar.

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How is Jerusalem riding Rome? They declared, we have no king but Caesar.

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That's not our king. Crucify him. Give us Barabbas. We'll take

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Rome. And you wonder how the Apostle John can say this harlot is riding

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Rome, that she's in the wilderness. And it says this. It says, the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with golden jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

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Hmm. What is this harlot doing, wearing the priest's colors?

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Why is the harlot riding Rome, wearing the priest's colors?

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Just consider it. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery, Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.

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Brothers and sisters, think about it for a moment now. Where else in the Bible do you hear about stuff on people's foreheads and their hands?

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Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 4. Shema Yisrael Yahweh Eloheinu Yahweh Echad.

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Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is, what? One. And God says to His people, there in that passage,

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He says, you shall talk about this when you rise up, when you walk along the way.

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You shall put it on your door posts. And He says this, you shall put it as a sign on your head and your hands.

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Was that literal? Jews were literally supposed to walk around with like things dangling on their forehead and their hands, like everywhere they went?

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That would get very uncomfortable and annoying, right? At night you go to bed you gotta take off the thing off your hand and your forehead, right?

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It'd make kissing kinda awkward, right? Strange. It means, watch, forehead represents ownership.

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Who do you belong to? Your hand, your right hand symbolized to Jews what you do, your activity, your labor, your work.

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So to have the one and only true and living God as your God and you're submitted to Him, that was,

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He owns you. It's on your head. Everything you do is in God. Now, interesting, this harlot, this whore, riding

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Rome, wearing the priest's colors, she's got a different name on her forehead.

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What's she have on her forehead? Babylon. Brothers and sisters, ready?

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Good thing or bad thing? Babylon. Good or bad? Bad. Who went into exile to Babylon?

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The Jews. For what? Covenant unfaithfulness. So you seeing it now?

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Are you seeing the old Jerusalem? Are you seeing the covenant breakers? This harlot woman, wearing the priest's colors, in the wilderness, riding

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Rome with Babylon on her forehead, and it says this, I saw the woman, verse 6, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

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Hmm. Who did Jesus accuse of killing God's people?

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Jerusalem. Jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those who were sent to it.

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What did Jesus say to the covenant breakers in Matthew 24? He says, I'm going to send to you prophets, wise men, scribes.

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He says, you're going to kill and you're going to crucify them. What is this woman doing? She's drinking the blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus.

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She's killing the early Christians. As a matter of historic record, the two greatest antagonists to the

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Christian church in the first century were Jerusalem and Rome.

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Now watch this. Think about this for a moment and we're finishing up here. Think about this. You're an early

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Jewish Christian in the first century enduring hardship and persecution. You know

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Jesus rose from the dead and you know he said he's about to destroy this temple but your people are being killed by those covenant breakers and by Nero.

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Nero is rounding up Christians in the street. He's killing the apostles. He's setting

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Christians on fire for his garden parties to use them as Roman candles. He's eating

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Christians while they're tied to a stake. Nero was. He was a beast. And now

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John is telling these Christians don't worry. Hang on. The harlot is about to be judged and he promises as much here.

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He says that this woman I'll let you read this last part here. Verse 15 And the angel said to me the waters that you saw where the prostitute is seated and there are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages and the ten horns that you saw they and the beast will hate the prostitute they will make her desolate and naked and they devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.

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Here's the promise. That harlot that you see persecuting the Christians, riding Rome in league with Rome don't worry.

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The beast is about to turn on her, make her desolate burn her with fire. That old city, that old

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Jerusalem, that old covenant representative is about to be judged. That beast she's riding is about to burn her and make her desolate and burn her with fire.

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And brothers and sisters within a matter of a couple of years of this composition, of this being composed,

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Rome turned on Israel. Sacked the city, annihilated Israel.

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That old city, that prostitute city, was judged. Remember I told you?

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Two things in the Old Testament, what are they? Salvation and what? Judgment. There are two ages, what are they?

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Old Covenant and what? New Covenant. And there are two cities, Old Jerusalem and what?

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New Jerusalem. So watch, when Jesus says, this temple's about to be destroyed, I'll make it desolate it's left to you desolate before you all die, before this generation passes away, they say, end of the age?

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The Old Covenant? It's over? This is being wiped away? New Covenant is here?

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Now John says in the first century, this harlot's about to be judged, guys. It's about to happen, make her desolate, burn her with fire, and then

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John gives us this amazing imagery. This beautiful story of a new city. Turn over from Revelation 17, 21.

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You've got the harlot city judged, the old age is over, and then

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John has another vision. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more.

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All biblical symbols and imagery. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

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Stop. Pause. Look up here for a second. Don't look anymore at the page. Wait. Look up here.

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Don't do it. Don't. I know it's tempting. Don't. We've read this as Christians, as Gentiles.

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Admit it. You open the book, you say, manhoppers? Sluts riding beasts?

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Four horsemen? Whatever does it mean? And you just start getting creative. And people do.

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But if you know the Old Testament, you know these are biblical images and symbols, and we don't have the right as Gentile Christians to make it malleable to say what we want it to say.

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We need to interpret it biblically. Amen? Yes? So we see the story of a new heavens and a new earth and a new city, and we say, oh, that's heaven one day.

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Really? Heaven heaven only? That's what it represents?

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Heaven one day at the end of history? Question. Then why does the text say coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband?

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What is the new Jerusalem called? The bride. What do we have the story of?

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The old city judged, the harlot wife put away and destroyed, and now we have a new

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Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And do you know the glory of this new

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Jerusalem? It's amazing actually. It says that it's a city that's actually a square.

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Did you ever think about that? Let me just say this. If this is literal about heaven, that's the strangest experience for all eternity.

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We're going to be in a box for all eternity? Do you think about it? A cube for all eternity.

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That's heaven. Be honest. That's very strange. And isn't it weird that this space shuttle flies what is it, 200 miles above earth?

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Anyone know that number? It's about 200 miles. Is that right? Can someone check me on that? How many?

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Okay. So let's say this space shuttle flies 150 to 200 miles above the earth. Do you know this city is described as 1 ,500 miles squared?

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1 ,500 miles? That means that the city is up over the earth's atmosphere by 1 ,300 miles?

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Above where the space shuttle flies? This cube? So you go, wait a minute. What is this really saying that it's a city that's a cube?

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Now, come with me now. Do you know your Old Testament? Where else is there a cube in the Old Testament? Who knows?

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Oh, I think I failed here. We've got to read more of the Old Testament. Where else is there a cube in the

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Old Testament? A place that is a cube? Drew? Okay. Give me though a place.

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There's a place. What is it? Who said it? The Holy of Holies!

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Watch. In the Jewish temple, there was a place behind a veil that was a perfect cube.

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It was the Holy of Holies. And it symbolized, watch, the very presence of God.

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Remember the priest had to go in there, and like, it's scary because he's a sinner. He's going into this

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Holy of Holies. It represents God's presence. It was a fearful, terrible place because we are a wreck, because we're sinners.

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That was the Jewish temple. A little cubed room that was the Holy of Holies. It symbolized

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God's presence. Are you catching this? The New Jerusalem? The entire city is

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God's presence. He indwells His bride. All of us get

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Him. He is present in all of us. The entire city, the

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New Jerusalem, the entire place, God indwells. It's not like the old city with a veil and a little

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Holy of Holies place. This time, the entire city gets the presence of God.

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And then there's something else with this New Jerusalem. We're going to end it here. Look at it. It says in chapter 22, verse 12,

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Behold, I am coming soon. Brothers and sisters, there's no way to make soon, 2 ,000 years soon.

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He's promising judgment on that generation. I'm coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what

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He has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.

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Watch. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

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Brothers and sisters, listen closely. Here's the story. Old age over. Old Jerusalem judged.

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New Jerusalem, new city, hits the earth, God's presence with His people. Watch. If this is literally heaven someday in the future, then what in the world are sinners doing hanging out outside the city?

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Do you think in heaven one day we're going to be in this perfect cube and outside are dogs and immoral and sorcerers and sinners just hanging out like throwing tomatoes at the city or something?

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Are you getting the imagery here? Now the presence of God is with His people and now

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His people enter into His gates. They receive eternal life outside of the kingdom of God are those who are fallen and need

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Jesus. But what's the invitation that comes out? Verse 17.

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The spirit and the bride say, Come. And let the one who hears say,

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Come. And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires to take the water of life without price come.

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What is the call coming out of the city of God now? What's the call coming out of the new

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Jerusalem now? The rivers of life are here. The word goes out to the world.

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Come. Drink from the river of life. Come receive eternal life and salvation.

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Come enter the city of God. Come enter the rule of God in the world.

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The harlot has been put away. The Old Covenant age is over. This is the age of salvation and the

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Messiah. Come and drink from the waters of life. That's the call.

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You seeing it? So what's the Old Testament promise with the coming of Messiah? Two things.

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What is it? Salvation and judgment. What do the two ages promise? Old Covenant and what?

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And what are the two cities in Scripture? Old Jerusalem and what? Amen. How'd I do?

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I was close. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the time we had in your word.

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Please bless us. Help us to understand this even more. And as we open up Matthew 24 in the coming weeks, help us,

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Lord, to understand how you keep your promises and what a terrible and fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living