Okay, in the 24th chapter of
the book of Matthew, verses 1 through 3, then we'll jump down. Matthew 24, 1 through 3. Jesus
went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came
to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said
unto them, see you not these things? Verily I say unto you,
there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall
not be thrown down. And as he set upon the Mount
of Olives, his disciples came unto him privately say tell us
when shall these things be what shall be the sign of thy coming
and of the end of the world now down in verse 15 through 22 When
you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, stand in the holy place, whosoever readeth, let
him understand. Then let them which be in Judea
flee into the mountain. Let him which is on the housetop
not come down to take anything out of his house. Neither let
him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. Warn
to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in
those days, but pray that your flight be not in winter, neither
on the Sabbath day, for then shall be great tribulation, such
as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor
ever shall be. And except those days be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those
days shall be shortened." Now, Luke chapter 21, verse 20 through
24. And when you see Jerusalem, come past with armies, then know
that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are
in Judea flee to the mountain, let them which are in the midst
of it depart out, and let them that are in the country, let
not them that are in the countries enter in. For these be the days
of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled."
Now, we're lucky, blessed rather, on this matter because we have
a lot about it in the Gospel. Matthew and Mark and Luke, all
of them write and speak about this matter that we have read
about today. These are some very serious,
sober, and warning words from our Lord to that particular generation. But the question is, what is
it that is being described? What are they and what are we
to make of these things that our Lord had said? And the disciples
asked the Lord about it. You know, as they came out of
the temple, they turned an admiring look to that temple. It was one
of their glories. It was one thing that they prided
themselves in, that marvelous temple. Well, that's where the
sacrifices were made. That's where the high priest
carriages were. That's where they went to worship.
That's where they went to pray. That's where they made their
offering unto God and such like. And to them, it had been a staple
for years and years and years in Judaism. So they asked the
Lord about it. They said, see the magnificence
of these things. And our Lord said, I want to
tell you the time is coming when it shall all be thrown down and
not one stone shall be left upon the top of another. Well, that
piqued the disciples and they said unto our Lord, tell us when
these things shall be. Matthew 24 and verse 3. Mark
13 and verse 4 contains that question, and Luke chapter 21
and verse 7. And in the course of our Lord's
answering them, He does not say, it's none of your business, forget
about it, but He speaks to them about it to help their understanding. And on the matter, the Lord lets
out two facts to them at that particular time that is of interest
and that ought to somewhat settle their heart and satisfy them. Number one, our Lord wants them
to know that these things, first and foremost, are directed toward
or directed against Jerusalem, in Matthew 23, 37. Oh, Jerusalem,
Jerusalem. And he speaks of thy children,
that Jerusalem would be compassed about with armies. Luke 21 and
verse 20, surrounded, encircled, shut in, hedged up. And it would
be a time or a day of vengeance. In Luke 19, And verse 43, the
day would arrive, he said, quote, thine enemies shall cast a trench
about thee and compass thee round and keep thee in on every side,
unquote. And lay Jerusalem level with
the ground and thy children with thee, in short, A great catastrophe
has been predicted by our Lord, and that catastrophe was to be
visited upon Jerusalem, upon the holy city of God, so highly
esteemed by the Jew, both the city and the temple. and that
the city of the king, the location of the temple where they worship
God. It was the seat and the center
of their very form of worship. It was where they came to Jerusalem
for the sacred days and the feast day and the celebrations of the
Lord that he had appointed. And the very name Jerusalem means
city of peace. Now the second fact that he gives
them is that the catastrophe upon Jerusalem, which was a divine
judgment, would come upon that generation of people that our
Lord was speaking to on that day, the generation that Christ
appeared unto, the generation that crucified him and put him
up on the tree, Matthew 24, 34. This generation shall not pass
until all these things be fulfilled. Matthew 23 and verse 36, verily
I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. Luke 21 and verse 32, this generation
shall not pass away till all be fulfilled. And the sense then
is repeated again in Mark chapter 13 and verse 30. So this note,
the word generation can refer to people living at one and the
same time. This generation, the one now
living, contemporaries they are. Well, we'll say more about that
later in our study. But before we wade out into the
depths of this, let's consider the time. That is the time or
the point in the ministry of our Lord when these things were
spoken by him in public to a public gathering. And it was not at
the first of his ministry. It was not at the middle part
of his ministry that our Lord said this, but it was toward
or near the end of the ministry of our Lord. Close to the close
of the earthly ministry of our Lord that he made this revelation
unto them. Now, mostly using Matthew's gospel,
but this time dropping back to chapter 23, if you'd like to
drop back with me. The Lord warns his audience,
including his disciples, against the corruption of the Jewish
religion. You have it in Matthew 23, mainly
verses 1 through 12. Particularly, the corruption
of the leaders and the rulers of Judaism, the scribes and the
Pharisees and the priests and such like. And the Lord fully
exposes them as the corrupt ones that they are. They love the
praise of men. They love to be called out in
public and greeted, greetings rabbi, greetings so forth. in the public, rabbi, pronouncing
at least woes against them. Eight woes there are that our
Lord pronounced against Israel and their leaders. And notice
that he called them such derogatory names as hypocrites. Seven times in Matthew chapter
23, our Lord thunders out the word hypocrite in their hearing. Also calling them blind guides
in verse 16 and in verse 24. Calling them fools and blind
in verse 17 and in verse 19. Serpents and generation of vipers
he called them. in the 33rd verse of that chapter. Now consider the word hypocrite,
which our Lord used so frequently. One meaning of that word hypocrite
is an actor, a play actor. one who assumes a part and plays
that part and assumes that character and tries to make that character
come alive before you. But a hypocrite or an actor is
one who simply learns some rehearsed lines and seek to make their
assumed character as if it were real unto the audience. And we hear, our Lord, in Matthew
chapter 23, if we look at verse 31 and following, wherefore ye
be witnesses unto yourself that you're the children of them which
kill the prophet. Fill ye up then the measure of
your fathers. Ye serpent, ye generation of
vipers, How can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore,
behold, I send you prophets and wise men, some of them you kill
and you crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in your
synagogues and persecute them from city to city, and watch
verse 35, if you would, that upon you may come all the righteous
blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel. unto the blood of Zechariah,
the son of Barthias, whom you slew between the temple and the
altar. Now by their own admission, they
were the children of the persecutors of the killers of the prophets
of God of old. And the Lord said, you will fill
up the measure of your fathers. you will finish the cup of iniquity
of your fathers to full and overflowing. How? By killing the blessed Messiah
that the Lord sent into the world. Spurgeon said of this, and I'm
quoting, this crowning sin would fill up the measure of their
father's sin and bring upon them the righteous judgment of God,
unquote. Verse 35, therefore, causes the
ears of them that hear to tingle. Upon you may come all the righteous
blood shed upon the earth, beginning with that of Abel, the first
Christian martyr and the one that died for religion. Notice
the words carefully. Upon you. All of this shall come
upon you. Upon you shall it therefore come. And then the question might arise,
to whom does this you refer? Whom exactly? Is it that generation? Is it later on in the history? Is it upon the Romans? Who does
it refer to in the context? Is it the Gentile? We would not
think that. the whole world. We would not
exactly think that. I think it is clear, and good
expositors are agreed, that it refers to the Jewish nation and
the people who are referenced here in the context. The scribe, the Pharisee, the
children of the Father, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, this generation. Those words are very clear. Luke
10 and verse 50 has it that the blood of all the prophets which
was shed since the foundation of the world may be required
of this generation. And Luke repeats it in the next
verse. It shall be required of this
generation. They would bear the judgment
of what Matthew chapter 23 And verse 35 calls righteous blood,
the blood of Abel, the blood of the prophet, and ultimately
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember Genesis 4 and verse
10, the voice of Abel's blood cried unto God from the ground,
cried out for vengeance. All righteous blood, therefore,
will be charged and punished against that generation that
killed the Lord Jesus Christ. For that is the apex, that is
the climax. of the shedding of blood and
their iniquity. The iniquity of Israel did accumulate
and bear interest, if I may speak to it in that word unto you,
and then that generation that crucified actually The Lord Jesus
Christ, their cup of iniquity overflowed and great judgment
and vengeance was poured out upon them like never was seen
before from the foundation of the world. David Brown writing
in his book on the gospel quote, till in that generation it came
to the full and the whole collected vengeance of heaven broke at
once over its head." Unquote. That is Israel. Now let's make
a connection here. That all the blood of the righteous
that was shed previously would be required of that generation. And the words of the Jews before
Pilate, let's recall them, Matthew 27, 24, and 25, while Pilate
declares, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. The Jews ignorantly, impudently,
and ignorantly replied, let his blood be upon us. and upon our children forever."
Pilate was much conflicted about putting the Lord Jesus to death. He did not think him a guilty
man, and he knew it was for envy that they had delivered him up
unto Judah. Even the traitor Judas, who betrayed
him for 30 pieces of silver, repented himself. brought back
the wages of his unrighteousness and uttered a confession, I have
sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. Matthew 27 and
verse 4. While both Pilate Judas at least
were disturbed by their part in the death of our Lord, the
frenzied mob of Jew so desired the Lord to be put to death that
they actually called down a curse upon their very own head and
their offspring. Let His blood be upon us and
our children. Let it be charged to us. Put
it to our account, if you would find a reckoning. Now, to be
guilty of the blood of one, biblically, is to be made answerable for
and responsible for their death. This is its biblical meaning. And you can see it in Deuteronomy
19.10. in Ezekiel 33 verses 1 through 8, in Acts 18 and verse 6, and
2 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 20 chapter 3 And verse 28 and 29, thus the
Jews unwittingly put forth a secret decree of God that upon them
should come all the righteous blood shed from Abel unto Christ. I think I can find it hypocritical
of the high priest in Acts chapter 5 and verse 28 when calling them
before the council. He chastised Peter and John as
having the intention, quote, to bring this man's blood upon
us, unquote. You have the audacity to charge
this man's blood upon us, to lay the blame for the death of
Jesus upon us as the Jewish leaders and the Sanhedrin. When once
they were so willing to cry out, let his blood be up on us. And so it is and was. Consider
this. Think on this. Could it be that
the Jews said this because they were willing to take a direct
hand in seeing the Lord put to death? They so wanted Him put
to death that they actually would allow it to be imputed unto them. They said, in John 19 and 7,
by our law, and we have a law, and by that law he ought to die
because he made himself out to be God. So they put him to death,
they thought, for blaspheming. He ought to die. They were willing
to kill him and thought they were doing God's service in John
16 and 2. Did they think that his death
was justified by their law, or did they use the law as justification
for killing the Son of God? So, concerning the destruction
of Jerusalem, which occurred in 70 A.D., we can consider it
from three aspects, all of them with a biblical connection. Number one, let us remember that
it is clearly predicted and foretold by the prophets of God, by John
the Baptist, and by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. They have
these three sources of prophecy knowledge all the Prophet John
the Baptist and the Lord well then number two the ultimate
cause of their destruction and that it was a judgment upon God
called the days of vengeance it is the vengeance of God and
then number three the awfulness of the destruction when it came
and also the completeness of of the destruction when it came. Now, let's consider them individually. The first thing we consider,
that such was clearly foretold and they should have known it. Nicodemus should have known of
the new birth, and they should have known of the judgment coming
against Jerusalem. It should have come as no surprise. In fact, their teacher should
have been warning them about it. It should be no surprise,
and that on two accounts. Number one, the testimony of
the scripture, and number two, the perpetual rebellion and wickedness
of the Jewish people and that nation. Listen to Luke 21 20
through 22 as we read in verse 22. For these be the days of vengeance,
that all things which are written might be fulfilled. This is a
formula or expression that our Lord and Paul and others used
again and again in the New Testament, and almost always referring to
something in the Old Testament scripture that they might be
fulfilled. that it might come to pass, which
was spoken by the prophet. And Linsky, as I was reading
him, said that the tense is eroist, that is, completely fulfilled,
that these things should be completely fulfilled. all of them which
are written and given. So the question, where then is
this written? Where could they find it in their
Old Testament scripture? How about Daniel chapter 9 verse
24 through 27? How about Leviticus chapter 26
14 through 23. How about Malachi and some of
those things that were said there and of course the words of John
the Baptist in Matthew chapter 3 verse 10 through 12. He said
to them, even now is the axe laid to the root of the tree. It shall be hewn down and cast
into the fire, burned with chaff and fire unquenchable. And no one spoke more distinctly
of this than the Lord himself. And as it drew nearer to his
actual death, it grew more intense with our Lord. So even if it
involves using some repetition, let's recall some of the sayings
of the Lord to the coming destruction that is described here. First, there is his saying about
the Jewish temple in chapter 24 that we read. Not one stone
left upon another that shall be thrown down. And the Lord
said to them, Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies. as a sign that the great desolation
was near, Luke 21 and verse 20, which the Lord describes as unparalleled
in the history of the world, Matthew 24 and 21. And consider Luke 1730, Matthew
24, 28, where the body, now listen to this, where the body or the
carcass is there will the eagles be gathered. Maybe a mysterious
passage of the scripture, but let's think about that. Where
the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered. Now, the
idea or the image here is that of a dead, putrefying, decaying,
corrupt carcass of some beast, which is then fed upon picked
apart, scattered, eaten by the vultures of the air who have
a very keen sense of smell. May I give you an illustration?
Just about last week, somebody ran over an animal in the street
here. Possum, I think it was. Maybe
it was a squirrel, but anyway, they ran over it right there
in front of the house. And in two hours time or less,
buzzards were circling and lighting there and beginning, already
having picked up that cell. Well, sound expositors like John
Gill and Charles Spurgeon take the carcass to be Jerusalem and
the vulture to be the Roman armies. And Gill said that the eagle
was the ensign or was the insignia. It was a badge that the Roman
soldiers wore about and had perhaps upon their spears. An emblem
that was worn and that was carried and that was known by the Jew
and was despised upon every sight of it when it came into their
sight by the Roman so that as birds of prey gather together
where there is a dead body. So, and again, I quote the wordy,
poetic Spurgeon, quote, Judaism had become a carcass, dead and
corrupt, and fit prey for the vultures and carrion of Rome. unquote. To be fair, there are
multiple interpretations of this carcass and of the vulture. Now another saying of the Lord,
Matthew 24 and 15, when you see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel, stand in the holy place." Now, Mark 13,
14 adds, where it ought not. When you see that stand in the
holy place, where it ought not, let him that reads understand."
And see Daniel 11, 31 and 12, 11. Again, there are several
views of this. Number one, abomination of desolation. Number two, the holy place. One view is that it again refers
to the Romans and something that the Jew considered to be an abomination,
and that would be Gentiles in their holy temple. They would
consider that an abomination. The Jew, Acts 21, verse 28, which
temple and city they considered, quote, this holy place, Acts
6 and 13. As the leaders charged Stephen
with teaching that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this
holy place and shall change the customs which Moses delivered
unto it, Acts 6 and verse 14. Anyway, the Lord tells his hearers,
when you saw the abomination defiling the temple, and Jerusalem
surrounded by army. They were to flee. They were
to flee for their life. They were to escape to the mountain.
Don't go back and pack your suitcase. Go with what you got on your
back. Leave those that are with child. Woe unto them that have a nursing
child when this calamity strikes upon it. Don't return. Don't
look back. Remember Lot's wife, our Lord
said. Head for the hill. Woe to them
with child. Pray, peradventure, that it does
not occur in the time of the winter. Another hardship would
be imposed upon them. So this was predicted fully by
the prophets, by John, and by the Lord himself. Secondly, the
second thing, why this judgment and days of vengeance upon the
nation of Israel? Now, this we have already answered. It was for their part in crucifying
the Lord of Glory. They crucified the very Son of
God. They didn't kill a common prophet
and just John, but they killed the Lord of Glory. They stretched their hands forth
against the Holy One of God. So the third thing then is the
awfulness of the destruction as well as the complete Desolation
in that particular day. There was starvation during that
time as they were shut in, couldn't get out, couldn't get supplies
in or out. There was pestilence. There was
bloodshed. There was wailing. There was
slaughter. This we learn from various historians,
one being the historian Josephus. But if I may again quote from
Spurgeon, from Matthew chapter 24, the words of Spurgeon, quote,
we read of Jews crucified until there was no more wood for crosses. of thousands slain by infighting
among the Jew, of many being sold for slave that they became
without value, and the awful carnage when the Romans under
Titus took the city," unquote. And Spurgeon added that the blood-curdling
history exactly bears out the Savior's prediction uttered some
40 years before it actually occurred. George Holford wrote in 1805
that these things are absolute proof. for the divine origin
of Christianity, that it is of God. Now consider or compare
the Lord's saying with the account of the historian. That saying,
where the carcass is, there shall the eagles be gathered. Hold
for that man. And others have said that the
Jewish state and this time was fitly compared to a carcass,
a dead corpse. It was morally and judicially
dead, unquote, for the glory of Judah and Israel and the life
of its religion and the glory of its temple had departed and
God was no longer there as he had been in days of yore. You remember in the Old Testament
when it is written, Ichabod, the glory of the Lord is departed. 1 Samuel 4 and verse 21 was written
at that time over Israel. The ark of God is taken. And so it wrote Ichabod, the
glory of the Lord is departed. Again the Lord said in Luke chapter
19 and this time verse 43, And verse 44 of that chapter, the
day shall come that your enemy shall accomplish you round and
keep you in and shall lay thee waste, lay thee even with the
ground, and not leave one stone upon another, unquote. Historians wrote that the Roman
soldier not only came and they burned And they demolished the
building, but they dug and they plowed up the foundation that
had been laid in the city. Eusebius wrote, he saw the city
lying totally in ruin. And Josephus, the Jewish historian,
quoting Eliezer, Where is our great city which God inhabited? It is altogether rooted up and
torn up from the foundation." Unquote. Micah chapter 3 and
verse 12, Therefore shall Zion for your sake, on account of
you, will be plowed up as a field and Jerusalem shall become as
heaps and the mountain of the house of the high places of the
forest." The Lord predicted in Luke 21, 22 through 24 calling
that siege of Jerusalem, quote, days of vengeance, unquote. And the instruments of God to
execute that vengeance was the Romans. Roman soldiers, Titus
and his army, the Gentiles, if you would, trod them down. They were the rod of my anger
as God spoke of them. God said of the Assyrian in Isaiah
chapter 10, 5, and 6, O Assyrian, the rod of my anger and the staff
in my hand is my indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical
nation. and against the people of my
wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and take the
prey and to tread them down like mire in the street." Unquote. The prophecy. And as Providence
would have it, Providence carried the day. The time of the siege
and of the plunder of the city of Jerusalem was the Passover
season and an anniversary of the time that they had killed
the Lord Jesus Christ, which means that the city again was
filled with thousands and thousands of visitors and people who had
come for the Passover. And there they were caught up
in this great calamity and the carnage that destroyed that city. And they were killed and they
were burned. They were mutilated. Some were
hacked in pieces. And even after they were dead,
it was so, women saw their infants starve to death in their very
arms, for soon supplies were exhausted and there was no food
and no supplies and no way for them to be let in into the city. And they tell us that dead bodies
were everywhere in the city, men, women, children of almost
every age. Any caught fleeing the city were
killed by those that waited. The temple was being burned.
Graves were being plundered in search of any valuables, and
they robbed the bodies of the dead of any good that might be
there. The temple, the buildings of
the city lay in frames, and priests who surrendered to Titus were
slain and their blood shed in the city that once was the place
of worship. Speaking of the temple, Titus,
we read, had desired to spare it as a monument. But the Lord
had said, Not a stone shall be left that is not thrown down. And before his order could reach
them, they had therefore done the work. Now what brought on
the carnage by the Romans? Historically speaking, the Jews
were a nuisance and were a thorn in the side of the Romans, a
lot of it having to do with their religion and the uproar about
it. But prophetically, the destruction
of Jerusalem was a judgment and a vengeance of God against a
rebellious people who finally had filled to overflowing their
cup of iniquity. And the Romans, the Gentile,
were the instruments of God. And how much more humiliating
under the Jew. that their bad end should come
at the hand of the Gentiles. God's indignation set against
the people and how terrible it was. His sword given a charge
against Israel to tread them down like the mire in the street. And as Isaiah said, howbeit he
means not so, neither does his heart think so. That is, the
old wicked king does not even realize that he is a pawn in
the hand of God, does not even realize that he is a servant
of God, that what he is doing is fulfilling the very counsel
of God. Now, in conclusion, Jesus declared
these things some 40 years before they ever occurred. But Judaism
actually received its death blow when Christ died upon the cross. That's evidenced by the renting
of the veil in the temple when Christ died. The veil rent in
the temple and how significant that was in 70 AD. The end of
biblical Judaism came as it had been known, and the Jewish sacrificial
system was so completely overthrown that it could never be restored
to its former prominence ever again. And it fulfilled the words
of the Lord. In that parable of the vineyard,
the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof. And it came to pass as the Lord
had said. I fear there is a parallel here
for countries like England, who once were strongholds of the
gospel, have fallen now into great apostasy. And religion
has become liberal and progressive and modern, and seldom is the
sound of the gospel heard. And faintly it's becoming, in
America, brother and sister, more and more Less and less do
we hear the pure word of God and the pure gospel. And I think
that it behooves us to think that dark clouds are covering
what the wind shall be. I cannot tell you, only God knows. But Jesus said, and it came to
pass, great judgment would be visited upon that generation. And it was, and it was awful,
too awful to think about.