Occupy or Occupied
I'm not a preacher or teacher, but every resource I have laid my hands on and every trusted pastor/ teacher I have listened to says Matthew was written with the Jewish audience in mind. That said, there is nothing left prophetically that would preclude the Father from saying, “Son go get her”….only the Father’s Mercy!
We are to occupy until we are called up at the perfect moment the Master calls. In the meantime ponder this:
James 1:2-4 (NLT)
2. Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.
3. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
4 .So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Treasure in Fragile Clay Jars 2 Cor 4:1-18 (NLT)
1. Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up.
2. We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.
3. If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.
4. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
5. You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
7. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
8. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.
9. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.
10. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
11. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.
12. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.
13. But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”
14. We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you.
15. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
16. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.
17. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
18. So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
What I want to emphasize is, with all the chaos in MENA (Middle East/North Africa) and the earthquakes and other fearful things, we all can get breathless about bad news. The economy/globalism and earthquakes seem to have special hooks that grab me.
I urge you to not begrudge the Father His perfect moment. Let’s not be like the Disciples who, immediately after Messiah had been rejected at the Temple, were occupied with the transient instead of the eternal, concerned with shadows rather than substance.
After the 7 or 8 “woes” in Matthew Ch 23, Jesus left the Temple and lamented over Jerusalem…
Mat 23:33-39
(33) Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
(34) Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
(35) That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
(36) Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
The guilt of all the past would come on the generation or race to which Christ was speaking, as if all previous shedding of innocent blood somehow combined and climaxed in the death of the sinless Savior. A torrent of punishment would be poured out on the nation that hated its Messiah without a cause and nailed Him to a criminal's cross. [BBC]
Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation — As it was only in the last generation of them that “the iniquity of the Amorites was full” (Gen_15:16), and then the abominations of ages were at once completely and awfully avenged, so the iniquity of Israel was allowed to accumulate from age to age till in that generation it came to the full, and the whole collected vengeance of heaven broke at once over its devoted head. In the first French Revolution the same awful principle was exemplified, and Christendom has not done with it yet. [Easton]
(37) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
(38) Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. [He departed the Temple acknowledging the Jewish rejection]
(39) For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
XIII. THE KING'S OLIVET DISCOURSE (Chaps. 24, 25) Believer’s Bible Commentary [BBC]-William MacDonald
Chapters 24 and 25 form what is known as the Olivet Discourse, so named because this important pronouncement was given on the Mount of Olives. The discourse is entirely prophetic; it points forward to the Tribulation Period and the Lord's Second Coming.
It primarily, though not exclusively, concerns the nation of Israel. Its locale is obviously Palestine; for example, “let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Mat_24:16). Its setting is distinctly Jewish; for example, “Pray that your flight may not be ... on the Sabbath” (Mat_24:20). The reference to the elect (Mat_24:22) should be understood as God's Jewish elect, not the church. The church is not found in either the prophecies or parables of the discourse, as we shall seek to demonstrate.
A. Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple (24:1, 2)
The discourse is introduced by the significant statement that Jesus went out and departed from the temple This movement is especially significant in view of the words He had just uttered, “ ... your house is left to you desolate” (Mat_23:38). It reminds us of Ezekiel's description of the glory departing from the temple (Eze_9:3; Eze_10:4; Eze_11:23).
The disciples wanted the Lord to admire the architectural beauty of the temple with them. They were occupied with the transient instead of the eternal, concerned with shadows rather than substance. Jesus warned that the building would be so completely destroyed that not one stone would be left on top of another. Titus tried unsuccessfully to save the temple, but his soldiers put it to the torch, thus fulfilling Christ's prophecy. When the fire melted the gold trim, the molten metal ran down between the stones. To get at it, the soldiers had to remove the stones one by one, just as our Lord predicted. This judgment was executed in A.D. 70 when the Romans under Titus sacked Jerusalem.
Mat 24:1-2
(1) And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
(2) And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
We believe that the church will be taken out of the world (1Th_4:13-18) before the day of God's wrath begins (1Th_1:10; 1Th_5:9; 2Th_2:1-12; Rev_3:10).
Mat 24:3-13
(3) And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples [Peter, James, John, Andrew] came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray.
Mat 24:5 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.
Mat 24:6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Mat 24:8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
Mat 24:9 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
Mat 24:10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
Mat 24:12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
Mat 24:13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
B. The First Half of the Tribulation (24:3-14)
24:3 After Jesus had crossed over to the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and asked Him three questions:
1. When would these things happen; that is, when would the temple be destroyed? [A.D.70]
2. What would be the sign of His coming; that is, what supernatural event would precede His return to the earth to set up His kingdom? [Daniel’s 70th week/Time of Jacob’s Trouble/Great Tribulation IMO]
3. What would be the sign of the end of the age; that is, what would announce the end of the age immediately prior to His glorious reign? (The second and third questions are essentially the same.) [Rev19:11-16 IMO]
24:4, 5 During the first half of the Tribulation, many false messiahs will appear who will succeed in deceiving multitudes. The current rise of many false cults may be a prelude to this, but it is not a fulfillment. These false religious leaders will be Jews claiming to be the Christ.
24:6, 7 There will be wars and rumors of wars. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. It would be easy to think that we are seeing this fulfilled today, but what we see is mild compared to what will be. Actually the next event in God's time schedule is the Rapture of the church (Joh_14:1-6; 1Co_15:51-57). There is no prophecy to be fulfilled before then. After the church is removed, God's prophetic clock will begin and these conditions will quickly manifest themselves. Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes will occur in various parts of the earth. Even today world leaders are alarmed by the specter of famine due to the population explosion. But this will be accentuated by the shortages caused by wars.
Earthquakes are attracting increasing attention—not only those now occurring but also those that are expected. Once again, these are straws in the wind, and not the actual fulfillment of our Savior's words.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquak..._1900_date.php top 16 biggest in decreasing order
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquak...ear/byyear.php 1990-2011
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquak..._1900_date.php 8.0s 1900 - present
24:8 Verse 8 clearly identifies this period as the beginning of sorrows—the onset of birth-pangs which will bring forth a new order under Israel's Messiah-King.
24:9, 10 Faithful believers will experience great personal testing during the Tribulation. The nations will conduct a bitter hate campaign against all who are true to Him. Not only will they be tried in religious and civil courts (Mar_13:9), but many will be martyred because they refuse to recant. While such testings have occurred during all periods of Christian testimony, this seems to have particular reference to the 144,000 Jewish believers who will have a special ministry during this period.
Many will apostatize rather than suffer and die. Family members will inform against their own relatives and betray them into the hands of bestial persecutors.
24:11 Many false prophets will appear and deceive hordes of people. These are not to be confused with the false messiahs of verse 5. False prophets claim to be spokesmen for God. They can be detected in two ways: their prophecies do not always come to pass, and their teachings always lead men away from the true God. The mention of false prophets adds confirmation to our statement that the Tribulation is primarily Jewish in character. False prophets are associated with the nation of Israel; in the church the danger comes from false teachers (2Pe_2:1).
24:12 With wickedness rampaging, human affections will be less and less evident. Acts of unlove will be commonplace.
24:13 “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” This obviously does not mean that men's souls will be saved at that time by their enduring; salvation is always presented in the Bible as a gift of God's grace, received by faith in Christ's substitutionary death and resurrection. Neither can it mean that all who endure will escape physical harm; we have already learned that many believers will be martyred (v. 9). It is a general statement that those who stand fast, enduring persecution without apostatizing, will be delivered at Christ's Second Advent. No one should imagine that apostasy will be a means of escape or safety. Only those who have true faith shall be saved. Although saving faith may have lapses, it always has the quality of permanence.
24:14 During this period, the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed worldwide, as a witness to all nations. As explained in the notes on Mat_4:23, the gospel of the kingdom is the good news that Christ is coming to set up His kingdom on earth, and that those who receive Him by faith during the Tribulation will enjoy the blessings of His Millennial Reign. Verse 14 is often misused to show that Christ could not return for His church at any moment because so many tribes have not yet heard the gospel. The difficulty is removed when we realize that this refers to His coming with His saints, rather than for His saints. And this refers to the gospel of the kingdom, not the gospel of the grace of God (see notes on Mat_4:23). [and angels will preach the Everlasting Gospel to the Left-Behind/ Rev 14:6-7 IMO]
There is a striking parallel between the events listed in verses 3-14 and those of Rev_6:1-11. The rider on the white horse—false messiah; the rider of the red horse—war; the rider of the black horse—famine; the rider of the pale horse—pestilence or death. The souls under the altar are martyrs. The events described in Rev_6:12-17 are linked with those in Mat_24:19-31.
I'm sure I've butchered something(s) in the cut and paste .... but I felt the needed to keep our theology tight since it might be today.... If we all could see each other and a show of hands was called for those for those who have come to a saving faith in the last 10 years....I imagine there would be quite a few hands raised....are you not thankful that the rapture was not in 2001? We serve a Merciful God!!
Last edited by GlennO; March-21st-2011 at 12:44 PM.
Reason: add E/Q links
Consider the words of Omar M. Ahmad, founder of CAIR: "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant." ... "The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America , and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth."
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Kenny64
Bookmarks