Dive deep into the topic of Christian persecution from a biblical perspective. Using Luke 21:12-19 to shed light on the reality that every Christian will face persecution in the future when they stand firm in faith. Learn how persecution can serve as an opportunity for witnessing, the importance of remaining steadfast when facing opposition, and how God’s sovereignty covers us through trials.

https://youtu.be/3CWlqoBvZfc

Dive deep into Christian persecution from a biblical perspective using Luke 21:12-19 to show every Christian will face persecution.

Table of contentsChristian Persecution Is an Opportunity to WitnessPeter and Stephen's ExamplesWilliam Tyndale and John Huss's ExamplesBlessings from Paul's ImprisonmentA Positive ConnotationWe Don’t Have to Worry About What to Say When PersecutedFear of Public SpeakingGod's Grace Will Be Sufficient for UsChristian Persecution Will Come from Family and FriendsSuffering Persecution for Christ Is a PrivilegeGod Is Sovereign Over Our Christian PersecutionEnduring Christian Persecution Is Evidence of SalvationPerseverance of the SaintsBlessings of Christian PersecutionFootnotes

Open Doors is a ministry serving persecuted Christians in over 70 countries. The World Watch List is their annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. Here are some statistics from their 2024 report:

More than 365 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith

4,998 Christians were killed for their faith, which is almost 14 per day. About every one and a half hours, a Christian is killed

One in seven Christians are persecuted worldwide

One in five Christians are persecuted in Africa

Two in five Christians are persecuted in Asia

14,766 churches and Christian properties were attacked

4,125 Christians were detained without trial, arrested, sentenced, or imprisoned 

3,906 Christians were abducted

More than 3,200 Christians were raped, sexually harassed, or forced to marry non-Christians

Almost 300,000 Christians were forced to leave their homes, go into hiding, or flee their country of origin. 

Preaching a sermon about Christian persecution wouldn’t be difficult in any countries Open Doors supports. They would be glad for the encouragement. But it’s a tough sermon to preach in the United States, where most of us have never been persecuted for our faith, and saying otherwise is insulting to Christians experiencing genuine persecution.

But based on Jesus’s prophesies in these verses, persecution is coming, perhaps in our lifetimes or the lifetimes of our children or their children. So, we need to be prepared to experience persecution ourselves or equip our children to do so. And we have reached one of the most instructive passages to do so.

We are at Luke 21:12, in the middle of the Olivet Discourse. Here's the context. In Luke 21:8-11, Jesus describes the judgments at the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week (the Tribulation), known as the birth pains that precede His Second Coming. We also looked at these birth pains in Revelation 6, where the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse picture them. The verse introducing Christian persecution:

Luke 21:12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake.

The phrase “But before all this…” means Jesus is describing events before the birth pains, or before the Tribulation, in the previous verses What’s before the Tribulation? The church age. Jesus will be teaching us much about persecution during the church age.

Christian Persecution Is an Opportunity to Witness

Luke 21:13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 

What a refreshing way to view persecution! We should all desire opportunities to testify about Christ, and that’s exactly what persecution provides. The Greek word for “witness,” or in some translations “testimony,” is martyrion, a derivative of the Greek word martys, related to our word martyr. The word martyr means witness.

Peter and Stephen's Examples

In the Book of Acts, apostles become witnesses and give testimony of Christ when they were persecuted. Here are two examples. First, with Peter:

Acts 4:3 [The religious leaders] arrested [Peter and John] and put them in custody…7 When [the religious leaders brought them out and] set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders…10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead…11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Talk about an open door to preach Christ! Peter took advantage of this opportunity. This is a powerful witness. Peter preached the gospel to the religious leaders but wouldn’t have had this opportunity if not for the persecution he and John experienced.

Right before Stephen was stoned, he accused the religious leaders of crucifying Christ and then:

Acts 7:59 As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen used the persecution he experienced to pray for his persecutors and look like Christ doing the same when He was crucified.

William Tyndale and John Huss's Examples

William Tyndale, best known for his English translation of the Bible, was murdered by the Catholic Church. He was strangled to death while tied to a stake. Then, his dead body was burned. His final words were, “Lord! Open the King of England's eyes.”1

The Catholic Church also murdered John Huss. When he was going to be executed, he was undressed, and his hands were tied behind his back. His neck was bound with a chain to a stake around which wood and straw had been piled up to burn him alive. When he was asked to recant to save his own life. Huss declined, stating, “God is my witness that the things charged against me I never preached. In the same truth of the Gospel which I have written, taught, and preached, drawing upon the sayings and positions of the holy doctors, I am ready to die today.” When he was about to die, he cried out, "Christ, son of the Living God, have mercy on us!"2

Blessings from Paul's Imprisonment

Consider these three wonderful things that Paul said were accomplished by his imprisonment:

Philippians 1:12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,

First, he said his imprisonment advanced the gospel.

Philippians 1:13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

Second, he said it was evident to everyone that he was imprisoned for Christ.

Philippians 1:14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Third, he said his imprisonment made other believers bolder for the faith.

A Positive Connotation

Words have positive and negative connotations. For example, the word bleak sounds negative because it suggests the absence of hope, and "evasive" sounds negative because it suggests avoiding the truth.

Other words have positive connotations. For example, the word motivated sounds positive because it makes us think of being driven to accomplish something. However, we can be motivated by bad things, so motivation is not always positive. Nurturing sounds positive because it makes us think of helping others. However, we can nurture weaknesses in ourselves and others, so being nurturing also is not always positive.

The word opportunity has a positive connotation. We talk about job opportunities or opportunities to try something new. In Luke 21:13, Jesus said, “This will be your opportunity.” The NKJV says an occasion, like a special occasion. When we experience persecution, we are given the opportunity to bear witness about Christ. It is a special occasion.

We Don’t Have to Worry About What to Say When Persecuted

When we think about giving testimony of Christ, most of us probably have the same fear: “What if I don’t know what to say? What if I say the wrong thing?” Jesus’s words should greatly encourage us:

Luke 21:14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

Let’s first deal with what Jesus is not doing in these verses. He’s not giving us an excuse to be lazy and avoid studying when we can preach or teach God’s word. Notice the word “meditate.” This is different than studying. Jesus did not tell us not to study beforehand. He said not to meditate or think about what to say beforehand.

Also, He said, “How to answer,” because He isn’t talking about preaching or teaching God’s word. He’s talking about responding when being interrogated. In those situations, we don’t know what we will be asked, and we don’t have time to prepare, but God will graciously help us.

Fear of Public Speaking

Glossophobia is fear of public speaking. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld said, “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that seem right? That means to the average person, if you have to go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”

Dive deep into the prophetic meaning of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as described in Revelation 6:1-8. Discover how each horseman represents key events and truths in God's sovereign plan.

https://youtu.be/tGxjka0Yfa4

Table of contentsThe First Horsemen of the Apocalypse Is the AntichristThe "Instead of Christ"First, who comes riding on a white horse to make war?Second question: who is part of a Trinity?Third question: who is given power, authority, and a throne from his father?Fourth question: who dies and comes back to life?Fifth question: who is worshiped because of his holiness or set-apartness?Sixth question: who puts a mark on his people’s foreheads?Seventh question: Who is called a prince?Eighth question: Who makes a covenant with the Jews?Would the Jews Embrace the Antichrist?The Second Horsemen of the Apocalypse Removes PeaceThe Third Horsemen of the Apocalypse Is FamineThe Fourth Horsemen of the Apocalypse Is DeathGod Is Sovereign When Things Look the WorstGod's Sovereignty with JobGod's Sovereignty Over Death and Hades

Famous horses seem to fall into three categories. The first category is racehorses:

Seabiscuit was made more famous by the 2003 film showing his underdog story.

Secretariat won the Triple Crown —the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes—and still holds the fastest time records in all three races. He also received his film in 2010.

Frankel is also known as “The Unbeatable Wonder Horse” because he was unbeaten in his fourteen-year career.

The second category is famous television horses:

Silver, the Lone Ranger’s horse.

Trigger was the horse of singer, actor, and performer Roy Rogers.

For any cartoon fans: Quick Draw McGraw, the anthropomorphic white horse, wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasionally spurs.

As a Lord of the Rings fan, I hoped Shadowfax, Gandalf’s horse, would make the list, but he didn’t.

The third category is warhorses:

Sergeant Reckless achieved the military rank of sergeant for her bravery and service during the Korean War.

Comanche was Captain Miles Keogh’s (pronounced key-oh) horse. Part of Comanche’s fame comes from being the lone survivor of The Battle of Little Bighorn.

Marengo was Napoleon’s horse. He fought in battles such as Austerlitz and Waterloo. Interestingly, Marengo’s skeleton is displayed at the National Army Museum in London.

If I asked for the most famous horses in Scripture, I think most people would say the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The beginning of the Olivet Discourse describes the birth pains. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse also describe birth pains, paralleling what Jesus preached in the Olivet Discourse. When Jesus described the birth pains in the Olivet Discourse, you could say that He was prophesying about the Four Horsemen.

As we look at each of the four horsemen, I will give you the parallel prophecy from the Olivet Discourse so you can see how they mirror each other.

Because we are jumping into the book of Revelation, let me give you some context. In Revelation 4, John finds himself caught up in heaven. The chapter describes God's throne room. Revelation 5 transitions from focusing on the throne room to focusing on the scroll in God's hand. The scroll is given to Jesus, and Revelation 6 begins with Him opening its seven seals. Each seal releases a new judgment on the earth. The first four seals contain the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The First Horsemen of the Apocalypse Is the Antichrist

Revelation 6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

The four living creatures are exalted angelic beings or cherubim. They appear repeatedly in Revelation, and one is associated with each of the four horsemen. Whenever one of the seals is opened, one of the four living creatures invites John to “Come and see.”

The rider of this horse is almost universally recognized as the antichrist. This follows the way Jesus began the Olivet Discourse, prophesying the first birth pain would be false Christs:

Luke 21:8 And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.

The "Instead of Christ"

People often think wrongly about the antichrist. They think of him as the opposite of Jesus: the way Jesus went around doing good, the antichrist will do evil; the way Jesus went around teaching good, the antichrist will go around teaching evil. The problem is that the Bible teaches that he will come as a man of peace. We should think of him more as the counterfeit Christ.

The prefix “anti” can mean “instead of,” and it’s better to see the antichrist as the “instead of” Christ. He will be the christ chosen by many instead of Jesus. He will be embraced as the world’s savior instead of the real Savior. Consider these verses describing Satan as the great imitator:

2 Corinthians 11:13 [Satan’s servants] disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

Let me show you how much the antichrist imitates Christ by asking eight questions.

First, who comes riding on a white horse to make war?

I could be talking about the Antichrist as we read in Revelation 6:2:

Revelation 6:2 I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

Or I could be talking about Jesus at His Second Coming:

Revelation 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

Christ comes on a white horse to make war, and the antichrist comes on a white horse to make war:

Second question: who is part of a Trinity?

Jesus is part of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Antichrist is part of the Unholy Trinity. The Antichrist, also called the first beast in Revelation 13, imitates Christ. Satan imitates God the Father. Before Satan’s rebellion in heaven, he said:

Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’

The false prophet, also called the second beast in Revelation 13, completes the satanic or unholy trinity, as he imitates the Holy Spirit. Jesus said:

John 16:14 [the Holy Spirit] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Holy Spirit’s primary ministry is glorifying Christ, and similarly, the false prophet will glorify the antichrist.

Third question: who is given power, authority, and a throne from his father?

Christ, but consider what it says about the Antichrist:

Revelation 13:2 [the devil] gave [the antichrist] power and his throne and great authority. 

Fourth question: who dies and comes back to life?

Christ, but consider what it says about the antichrist:

Revelation 13:3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 

He seems to experience a mortal wound or be killed but then is healed, and he comes back to life or seems to.

Fifth question: who is worshiped because of his holiness or set-apartness?

We know the Lord is. Holiness is the one attribute God used thrice-fold to describe His separateness from the rest of creation: holy, holy, holy. Throughout the Old Testament, the phrase, “Who is like Him?” is used to praise God for His holiness: nobody is like Him:

Exodus 15:11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

Psalm 35:10 “O Lord, who is like you?”

Psalm 71:19 O God, who is like you?

Psalm 113:5 Who is like the Lord our God?

But consider what they say about the antichrist:

Revelation 13:4 [People] worshiped the beast (referring to the Antichrist), saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

Praise previously reserved exclusively for God will be given to the Antichrist. Instead of thinking nobody is like God, people will think nobody is like the Antichrist.

Sixth question: who puts a mark on his people’s foreheads?

The Lord does!

Revelation 7:3 “[Seal] the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

And the antichrist puts the famous mark of the beast on his followers’ foreheads:

Revelation 13:16 [He] causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,

Seventh question: Who is called a prince?

Take your minds to Daniel’s Seventy Weeks…

Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince,

Referring to Jesus. The next verse…

Daniel 9:26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince (referring to the antichrist) who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Eighth question: Who makes a covenant with the Jews?

We know the Lord did…

Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”

And antichrist does…

Daniel 9:27 And he (the antichrist) shall make a strong covenant with many (the Jews) for one week.

You get the point that instead of being the opposite of Christ, the antichrist will look like Christ.

Would the Jews Embrace the Antichrist?

What was Jesus' divine mission? In this sermon, discover the profound reasons why Jesus came into the world as outlined in Isaiah 61:1-2 and 1 Timothy 1:15. From preaching to the spiritually poor to saving sinners, this message unveils the heart of Christ's purpose.

https://youtu.be/-XSpsBOI3c0

Table of contentsJesus is the Anointed OneJesus Came Into the World to Preach to the Spiritually PoorEverything Flows from the GospelJesus Came Into the World to Heal Broken HeartsJesus Came Into the World to Provide Spiritual FreedomThe Two People on the Road to Emmaus Misunderstood Jesus's First ComingJohn the Baptist Misunderstood Jesus's First ComingThe Worst Slavery Is Spiritually to SinJesus Came Into the World to Give Us GraceJesus Came Into the World to Save SinnersThe Day of Vengeance of Our GodWe Receive God’s Favor or VengeanceThe Favor of Jesus's First ComingNo Mention of Jesus Being a King

Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, asked people to describe their job in one sentence. Here are the top six responses he received:

A pilot said, “My job is to spend most of the day looking out the window.”

A security guard said, “My job is to run away and call the police.”

A university professor said, “My job is to talk in other people’s sleep.”

A photographer said, “My job is to shoot couples on their wedding day!”

A flight attendant said, “My job is to ‘Be so fly!’”

A real estate agent said, “My job is to house people in.”

Isaiah 61:1 describes Jesus’s job in one sentence:

Isaiah 61:1b bring good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, [open] the prison to those who are bound, [and] proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Jesus was anointed to do these five things. We’ll look at each one to appreciate why Jesus came into the world.

Let’s back up to the beginning of Isaiah 61:1 to get the context:

Isaiah 61:1a “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,

These verses are in the first person. The prophet Isaiah wrote them, but we are to read them as though Jesus is saying them through Isaiah.

Jesus is the Anointed One

These first few words are fascinating because the Trinity, or God’s triune nature, wasn’t as evident in the Old Testament as the New. But this is verse shows all three Persons of the Godhead: The Spirit is God the Holy Spirit, the Lord God is God the Father, and "Me" is God the Son. Then Jesus says:

Isaiah 61:1b Because the Lord has anointed Me

The Hebrew word for anointed is māšaḥ, from which we get our English word “Messiah.” The Greek word for anointed is christos, from which we get our English word “Christ.” Christ and Messiah both mean anointed, but one is in Hebrew and one is Greek. Saying Jesus is the Christ or Messiah is saying He’s the Anointed One.

People were anointed to be set apart for a special ministry or purpose. Even though many people were anointed, Jesus is thee Anointed One. He was set apart for a special ministry or purpose, which is beautifully described in the rest of the verse.

Jesus Came Into the World to Preach to the Spiritually Poor

The first thing Jesus came into the world to do:

Isaiah 61:1c to bring good news to the poor

Gospel means good news. Jesus was anointed to preach the gospel to the poor. This might surprise you because you think, “Didn’t Jesus preach the gospel to everyone? Why only the poor? Did He have a problem with the rich?”

The verse is not financial. It is spiritual. This doesn’t mean Jesus preached the gospel to the spiritually poor as though some were spiritually rich. It would be better to understand this as Jesus came to preach the gospel to those who recognized they were spiritually poor. We are all spiritually poor, but we don’t all recognize it.

People who recognize their spiritual poverty know they are sinners. They know they have nothing valuable to buy or earn their way into heaven. But people who think they are spiritually rich (I didn’t say they are spiritually rich because nobody is) think they have what’s necessary to earn or buy their way into heaven. They are proud. They think they are good. So, when the gospel is preached to them, they don’t think they need it. Consider the first beatitude:

Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The poor in spirit recognize they’re spiritually poor, and the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Why? They embrace the gospel when it’s preached to them. They rejoice over what Jesus did for them because they know they need it. They put faith in the Savior because they know they need saving.

Everything Flows from the Gospel

It’s tempting to read the words "bring good news to the poor" and think this is first because it’s the most important thing Jesus came into the world to do. But that almost undermines the gospel's importance because it gives the impression that the other things are a close second, third, fourth, and fifth.

Instead, it’s better to understand that the gospel comes first, and everything else flows from it. Jesus preaches the Gospel, and after we receive it, He does the other things described. I stress this because Jesus can’t do these other things for us if we reject the gospel, which means rejecting Him. But if we believe the gospel, He does these things for us.

Jesus Came Into the World to Heal Broken Hearts

Isaiah 61:1d he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted

We live in a sinful, fallen world. Brokenheartedness is part of life on this side of heaven, and it takes many forms: the death of loved ones, sickness, disease, financial problems, betrayal, job losses, the ends of friendships, relationship struggles, unexpected trials or misfortunes, and the list goes on and on with everything that can break people’s hearts. But Christ came to heal the brokenhearted.

Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

This past week, I received one of the most discouraging phone calls I’ve ever received. It has nothing to do with this church or anyone besides me and my family. Katie kept encouraging me with different Bible verses, such as:

Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

I don’t mention this to warrant any pity. I mention it to point out that the only real encouragement comes when we focus on Christ. Focusing on what He did and what awaits us gives us the perspective we need. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of being with hurting people.

Silence is often much better than speaking or preaching in these situations. In Romans 12:15, weep with those who weep. But can you imagine the tension?

We want people to know things when they are hurting, such as that Jesus came into the world to heal broken hearts, but we know it’s probably best not to start preaching that to them. So, we are left wondering whether people trust the Lord, but we cannot tell them that they should.

Here’s one of the most common things I have heard people say over the years, and it always encourages me: “I don’t know how people make it without the Lord.” I don’t know how people make it without the Lord either, and it blesses me when people say this because it tells me two things. First, it tells me they are depending on the Lord, which is the best thing for them to do. Second, it tells me that God is giving them the grace to endure, and they don’t know how others would endure without it:

2 Corinthians 12:9 [the Lord told Paul], “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

We want people to know that God’s grace will be sufficient for them, but we can’t tell them that, so it’s always encouraging to hear someone acknowledge that.

Let me conclude this part of the lesson by saying that Jesus came into the world to allow people to survive the trials of this life as He heals and mends broken hearts.

Jesus Came Into the World to Provide Spiritual Freedom

Isaiah 61:1e to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound

These words conjure up images of slavery, imprisonment, and bondage. This looks to one of the most common prophecies about what the Messiah would do: free captives and release them from prison:

Isaiah 42:7 [He] will bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah 49:9 [He will] say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’

The Old Testament clearly stated that the Messiah would give people freedom and liberty. Again, we aren’t looking at anything physical. We’re looking at what Jesus does spiritually. Let me share two accounts from the Gospels to help us fully appreciate what Jesus does for us and to help us avoid making the same mistake as these people.

The Two People on the Road to Emmaus Misunderstood Jesus's First Coming

First, when Jesus was walking on the road to Emmaus with two people who didn’t recognize Him. They were sad because they misunderstood Old Testament prophecies about His Coming. When Jesus talked to them about it, they said:

Luke 24:21 “We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.”

What’s ironic and sad about this? Jesus did redeem Israel! However, because they were seeking a physical redemption from Rome, they overlooked the spiritual redemption He provided for their sins.

John the Baptist Misunderstood Jesus's First Coming

Listen to these two verses that are pretty unbelievable:

Matthew 11:2 When John [the Baptist] heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

Consider what these verses actually say: John the Baptist asked if Jesus was the Messiah! John, of all people,

Discover the signs of the end times as explained through Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24:7 and Mark 13:8. Delve into the meaning of "The Beginning of Birth Pains," revealing what these events signify and how they prepare us for Christ’s return. Learn how the disciples misunderstood the timeline of Jesus' kingdom and the temple's destruction, and explore how these prophecies unfold in our world today. This sermon provides deep insights into biblical prophecy, helping you grow in faith and understanding.

https://youtu.be/v0NRBRV6Ifg

Table of contentsThe Disciples Mistakenly Thought Jesus Would Set Up His kingdom SoonThe Disciples Mistakenly Thought the Temple’s Destruction Meant the End of the WorldThe Disciples Asked Two Separate QuestionsThe Disciples' Questions Were Separated By Thousands of YearsJesus Didn't Answer the Questions In OrderThe Confusion Over the Olivet DiscourseThe Beginning of Birth PainsBirth Pains Reveal We Are Getting CloserWhy Birth Pains Are a Fitting MetaphorBirth Pains Will Be SupernaturalThe Beginning of Birth Pains Is Sudden and Unescapable

Let’s go back 17 ½ years to May or June 2007, when Katie and I lived in Lemoore, California. This was exciting because we were close to meeting our first child, Rhea Grace. Katie started having contractions, and that meant one thing to me: “She’s having the baby!” But Katie had lots of contractions without having a baby. This is when I remember hearing for the first time a name that has come up ten times and will more than likely come up again in about six more months: Braxton Hicks. Braxton Hicks are the contractions named after the English physician John Braxton Hicks who first wrote about contractions women feel without being near birth.

Even though there were many times I wrongly thought Katie was going into labor, it became obvious when she did. We were having Bible study together in our living room. She bent down to get a cup of water, and her water broke. That’s probably all the details you want, so I will stop there.

The Bible uses pregnancy as one of the most common metaphors for Jesus’s Second Coming: Jesus’s Second Coming is the birth, and the events leading up to His coming are the beginning of birth pains. As obvious as it was when Katie went into labor, it will be even more obvious when Jesus returns.

The Disciples Mistakenly Thought Jesus Would Set Up His kingdom Soon

The disciples didn't think there would be a Second Coming because they didn’t think Jesus was going away:

Luke 19:11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

I can’t overemphasize the importance of this verse in capturing the view of Jesus. Notice it says, “They supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.” The disciples don’t think Jesus is going to be killed. They don’t think Jesus will leave them. They don’t think Jesus will return later to set up His kingdom. Here’s a simple way to say it: They don’t think the end times are thousands of years in the future. They think the end times are later that week.

Jesus “was near Jerusalem.” He’s about to make His triumphal entry. He’s entering Jerusalem to be rejected and crucified, but the people think He will sit on the throne of David and rule and reign over an earthly, physical kingdom. The sentiment was stronger than ever. Jesus prevented people from making Him King:

John 6:15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

He followed the divine timeline set by Daniel’s Seventy Weeks, which identified the day Jesus would make His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and be received as King. So, He couldn’t be made King before that. The Triumphal Entry was His coronation. He allowed the people to identify Him as King:

Luke 19:38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 

So, it’s like, “This is it! Our Messiah, the King, has arrived to deliver us from Rome.” The idea that He would be rejected and killed was the furthest thing from their minds. Plus, Passover was only a few days away, and it was always an emotionally charged time for the Jews because it reminded them of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and made them even more excited about their deliverance from Rome. They think Jesus is coming to Jerusalem to deliver them like Moses delivered the Hebrews. They don’t know Jesus is coming to Jerusalem to become the true and greater Passover Lamb. Because of this confusion, Luke 19:11 says, “[Jesus] proceeded to tell a parable.”

Luke 19:12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.

The nobleman is Jesus, and the far country is heaven. This is Jesus’s way of saying, “I am not setting up my kingdom on earth right now. I must ascend to heaven, and I will return and set up My Kingdom later.” Jesus wants all His disciples, including us, to remain faithful until then, so he preaches the parable of the ten minas. Then, in Luke 19:28-40, Jesus makes His triumphal entry. This is Palm Sunday. Immediately after the triumphal entry, Jesus weeps:

Luke 19:41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

Jesus wept because He knew that within a few days, the Jews would be calling out for His crucifixion, and as a result, they would face terrible judgment in 70 A.D. when Rome conquered Jerusalem. Jesus described the horrible events:

Luke 19:43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

In Luke 19:44, Jesus said they “did not know the time of [their] visitation.” And in Luke 19:42, He singled out “this day,” or some Bibles say, “your day,” because it belonged to the Jews. The angel Gabriel told Daniel:

Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed [for] YOUR people (the Jews) and your holy city (Jerusalem).

The day of the Triumphal Entry is so special because it was prophesied by Daniel’s Seventy Weeks. But the Jews missed it because they didn’t understand what Jesus was coming to do: save them spiritually versus physically.

Jesus makes His way into the temple, where He begins teaching. He is still in the temple on Tuesday. In Luke 21:1-4 Jesus commented on the poor widow’s giving and contrasted it with the rich’s giving. Jesus left the temple, crossed the Mount of Olives, and stopped for a brief rest. Luke doesn’t tell us they were on the Mount of Olives, but Matthew 24:3 and Mark 13:3 do. The Mount of Olives is directly opposite the temple, across the Kidron Valley to the east, and it afforded the best view of the temple. While sitting on the Mount of Olives, some disciples called attention to the temple’s extravagance:

Luke 21:5 and while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said,

The Jews rebuilt the temple after they returned from their exile in Babylon. Then, Herod the Great began improving it in 20 BC. I say “began” because he never stopped. The temple was still being improved when it was destroyed in seventy A.D. For all of Herod’s faults, he was a master builder, and the results were spectacular. He transformed the temple into a marvel of ancient engineering and architecture. The Jews thought it would never be destroyed because, first, it was God’s house, and God would never let His house be destroyed. Second, it looked like it could never be destroyed, even though God had the Babylonians destroy it 600 years earlier. Jesus responds to their observations:

Luke 21:6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

This would have been a shocking statement for everyone to hear. Jesus’s words were fulfilled in two ways. First, the Romans overturned each stone to retrieve the gold between them. Second, the stones were “thrown down” into the Kidron Valley.

The Disciples Mistakenly Thought the Temple’s Destruction Meant the End of the World

To understand the disciples’ questions about the temple’s destruction, we must interpret what the disciples asked by keeping in mind that they thought the kingdom of God was about to be physically established on earth:

Luke 21:7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”

The parallel account in Mark 13:3 tells us Peter, James, John, and Andrew were the disciples who asked these questions. They think the end times are right around the corner. Can you see why Jesus’s prophecy of the temple’s destruction would feed that wrong belief? If the temple is destroyed, it must be the end of the world as we know it! The temple’s destruction seemed so dramatic and unbelievable to them that they associated it with the end of the world. They thought, “If something could destroy the temple, it must be so cataclysmic, so disastrous, and earth-shattering that we must be concluding human history as we know it.”

The Disciples Asked Two Separate Questions

The first question is, “When will these things be?” Which means, “When will the temple be destroyed?”

The second question is, “What will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” The disciples thought there would be one dramatic sign or event, but Jesus revealed there would be many. There isn’t a birth pain, but there are birth pains.

In John 2:3, 7:6, and 7:8 why did Jesus say, “My hour has not yet come”? Jesus followed a divine timeline because His Father ordained every event in His life. This is why we see Him saying He "must" do certain things, why He avoided being killed and arrested at certain times, and even why He avoided becoming King before the triumphal entry.

Table of contentsThe Times Jesus Said He Must Do ThingsThe Times Jesus Said, "My Hour Has Not Yet Come"The Times Jesus Avoided Being KilledThe Times Jesus Avoided Being ArrestedThe Times Jesus Said He Told People to Be Silent About Their HealingThe Times Jesus Said He People to Be Silent About His MessiahshipWhen Jesus Said His Hour Had ComeWhen Jesus Presented Himself as KingJesus Fulfilled Daniel's Seventy Weeks

Jesus followed a divine timeline because His Father ordained every event in His life. This is why we see Him saying He "must" do certain things, why He avoided being killed and arrested at certain times, and even why He avoided becoming King before the triumphal entry.

The Times Jesus Said He Must Do Things

When Jesus was left behind at the temple:

Luke 2:48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”

Notice Jesus’s use of the word “must.” He didn’t use “should” or “wants to,” but must. There’s urgency about the things He’s doing.

Just in Luke’s Gospel, consider the time Jesus said He “must” do other things:

Luke 13:33 I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following

Luke 19:5 Jesus told Zacchaeus, “I must stay at your house.”

Luke 24:7 I must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again

He also said He must fulfill Scripture:

Luke 22:37 [What] is written about Me must be accomplished

Luke 24:44 All things must be fulfilled which were written…concerning Me.”

The Times Jesus Said, "My Hour Has Not Yet Come"

This is the wedding at Cana. They ran out of wine…

John 2:3 When the wine ran out, [Mary said], “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

Mary wanted Jesus to perform a miracle. Jesus was going to perform miracles, so why not now?

Because this meant getting the events out of order. This had him performing a miracle before it was time.

John 7:6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.

John 7:8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”

The Times Jesus Avoided Being Killed

Think of the times people tried to seize Jesus, but He always escaped. Jesus returned to Nazareth. The people expected him to perform the same miracles in his hometown that they heard about him performing elsewhere…

Luke 4:23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”

When Jesus told the people he wouldn’t be performing miracles in Nazareth, because of their unbelief, they were not happy about it…

Luke 4:28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

For a moment, picture what this looked like. They brought Jesus to the top of a hill so they could throw him down. He has a cliff on one side and the crowd on the other. But somehow he was able to maneuver through the people to avoid a premature death. Here are two other examples…

John 8:59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

I can’t imagine how angry you must be to want to throw people off a cliff or stone them, but that’s how angry people were with Jesus.

They were in the temple, and I can’t imagine there were many places to hide, but Jesus was able to escape.

John 10:31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him…39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

Jesus escaped each time for two reasons. First, his time had not yet come to die. He hadn’t reached that obstacle on the course yet. Second, this is not how the Father determined he would die. He would die on a cross, not falling off a cliff or stoned in the temple.

Jesus was busy with his ministry when he was warned of a death threat…

Luke 13:31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”

There are lots of Herods in the Gospels. This is Herod Antipas, the king of Judea, who killed Jesus’s cousin, John the Baptist. In other words, Jesus knew he was more than capable of murder. But Jesus responded with…

Luke 13:32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.

Not the response you’d expect from someone afraid of dying. That’s because Jesus would continue his course, and he knew nobody could stop him, not even Herod.

Jesus wanted Herod to know that. He could have disregarded the counsel and quietly continued, but he wanted Herod to know that he wasn’t afraid of him. So, Jesus told the messengers to return and deliver that message to Herod. It is as though Jesus said, “I am going to continue doing what I’m doing until the third day when I’m resurrected and that’s when my course is complete. Nobody is going to stop me from going to the cross, dying, being buried, and resurrected.”

The Times Jesus Avoided Being Arrested

John 7:30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

This means his hour to be arrested and crucified. We see the same thing in John 8:20…

John 8:20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

The Times Jesus Said He Told People to Be Silent About Their Healing

Jesus cleansed the man of leprosy…

Mark 1:43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

This is surprising. Jesus told this man not to tell anyone about the miracle. Why would he do that? One reason is it wasn’t time for the people to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah. He was following the divine timeline set by His Father.

Another reason is that large amounts of publicity would hinder Jesus’s mission and divert public attention from his message to his miracles. He wanted to continue teaching uninhibitedly. He needed to be able to move around easily. If people knew about his miracles, He would be swarmed by so many people that he would be unable to enter towns where he could preach, which is exactly what happened because this man disobeyed him:

Mark 1:45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Unfortunately, this man did the opposite of what Jesus asked: he talked to everyone but the priests. Before Jesus cleansed the man he was able to minister in the town. But after the man told everyone, Jesus was forced “out in desolate places” where there were fewer people for him to reach.

Why did Jesus perform miracles if they were going to hinder his ministry? First, because he loved people and wanted to help them. But more importantly, they served as signs that he was the Messiah.

Jesus raises Jairus’s daughter from the dead:

Mark 5:43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Jesus raised her from the dead and said to feed her but not tell anyone.

Jesus heals the def man and blind man:

Mark 7:36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

Mark 8:22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 

Jesus healed him, but not in the middle of the village because of the commotion it would cause. Jesus entered the village but then brought the blind man out to heal him. Then…

Mark 8:26 And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

Jesus told him not to return because, more than likely, everyone knew the blind man, and when they learned Jesus had healed him, the crowds would mob him. All of this relates to Jesus keeping a low profile until it was time for Him to be revealed.

The Times Jesus Said He People to Be Silent About His Messiahship

Luke 9:18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

Lots of people were getting this wrong. People thought Jesus was everyone except the Christ: John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the other prophets raised from the dead. But Peter got it right. This is one of those times he opened his mouth and hit a home run.

Of course, Jesus will say, “Great,

Daniel’s Seventy Weeks prophesied the destruction of the second temple: “The people (Romans) of the prince (antichrist) who is to come shall destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (temple)” (Daniel 9:26). At the Triumphal Entry Jesus prophesied through tears that Jerusalem would be destroyed, but the disciples thought the temple would never be destroyed (again). Then, Jesus began the Olivet Discourse with this astounding statement: “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Luke 21:6).

https://youtu.be/vUUr4weFwdc

Table of contentsDaniel Prophesied the Messiah Would Die as a CriminalDaniel Prophesied the Messiah Would Lose EverythingThe People of the Prince Who Is to ComeDaniel Prophesied the Destruction of the Second TempleThe Two DecreesJeremiah’s Weeping for the Jews Prefigured Jesus’s Weeping for the JewsJesus's Response After the Triumphal EntryJesus Prophesied that the Romans Would Destroy JerusalemThe Context for the Olivet DiscourseJesus Prophesied the Destruction of the Second Temple

I read an article from Popular Mechanics titled, The World's 10 Toughest Buildings. I’ll share the top three with you.

Number three is One World Trade Center in New York, the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex. At 1,776 feet, it is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and can withstand powerful winds.

Number two is Torre Mayor in Mexico City, a 738-foot-tall office tower that can withstand an earthquake of 8.5 on the Richter Scale. In 2003, when a 7.6 earthquake hit, the workers inside didn’t feel the tremors.

Number one is Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, a 1,667-foot tower 660 feet from a major fault line. The design incorporates many features that enable the structure to withstand the Pacific Ring of Fire's earthquakes and tropical storms.

If the Jews in the Old Testament wrote this Popular Mechanics article, Solomon’s Temple might have topped the list of the world’s toughest buildings. If the Jews in the New Testament wrote this Popular Mechanics article, Herod’s Temple might have topped the list. But both of these temples were destroyed. The destruction of the second temple was prophesied in Daniel 9:26 and Luke 21:6.

Daniel Prophesied the Messiah Would Die as a Criminal

Daniel 9:26a And after the sixty-two weeks, an Anointed One shall be cut off

After 62 weeks, Jesus made His Triumphal Entry, and five days later, He was crucified ("cut off"). It unfolded precisely as Daniel prophesied. The words “cut off” mean more than just that Jesus would die. The Hebrew word for killed or died, mûṯ, occurs 835 times in the Old Testament. But the Hebrew word for "cut off" is kāraṯ, and it refers to a guilty person being cut off or killed because of his sin:

Genesis 9:11 [God said], “I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off (kāraṯ) by the waters of the flood.”

Proverbs 2:22 the wicked will be cut off (kāraṯ) from the earth.

Psalm 37:9 evildoers shall be cut off (kāraṯ).

The word for “cut off” is used 20 times in Leviticus to describe people who have to be executed or cut off because of their sin. Daniel didn’t prophesy that Jesus would die a natural death. Instead, he prophesied that He would die as a guilty criminal. And this wasn’t the only Old Testament verse making this prophecy. Isaiah 53:12 says, "He was numbered with the transgressors."

Daniel prophesied that Jesus would die for His sin. You might cringe when I say that because we know Jesus was sinless, but when our sins were imputed to Christ, they became His sins: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). When our sins were put to Jesus’ account, He became the guiltiest Person in history. And Daniel prophesied He would die a guilty criminal’s death.

Daniel Prophesied the Messiah Would Lose Everything

Daniel 9:26c and shall have nothing.

We know Jesus had little during His earthly life. He said, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). Daniel looked beyond this to all Jesus would lose at His death. He lost all His friends, followers, and disciples (except John). Even His clothes were gambled away. Crucifixion was the most shameful, humiliating death imaginable, so He also lost all human dignity and honor. He cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” showing He even briefly lost His relationship with the Father. Finally, He lost His life.

Think about the reciprocation. Jesus came to this world and gave the world everything He could give, including His own life. He gave until He had nothing left. In return, He received nothing: "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him" (John 1:10-11). He gave love to the world He created but received hatred in return.

The People of the Prince Who Is to Come

Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an Anointed One, a prince, there shall be seven weeks...26d And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Daniel 9:25 prophesies Christ’s triumphal entry, and He’s called “a prince.” Daniel 9:26 introduces another prince. In most Bibles, such as the New King James, NASB, and Amplified, the prince in verse 25 is capitalized because it refers to Jesus. The prince in verse 26 is not capitalized because it refers to the antichrist. We have moved from the uppercase Prince to the lowercase prince.

The verse prophesies the destruction of the second temple by the prince’s people. This prince is often discussed in Daniel. In chapter 11, he’s called the willful king or vile person. In chapters 7-8, he’s called the little horn. Daniel 7 contains Daniel’s dream of the four beasts. Each beast represents a different kingdom:

Verse 4 says the first beast was like a lion, and it pictures Babylon.

Verse 5 says the second beast was like a bear, and it pictures Medo-Persia.

Verse 6 says the third beast was like a leopard, and it pictures Greece.

The fourth beast is in Daniel 7:7, and it represents Rome:

Daniel 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

The beast, or Rome, has ten horns, and one of the horns, the little horn, comes up from among all the others. Even though the beasts represent kingdoms, the little horn is identified with a man because he’s the antichrist. He emerges from the fourth beast, Rome, because that’s the prince's people.

Daniel Prophesied the Destruction of the Second Temple

Daniel 9:26e Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.

Using Daniel 9:25-26 the timeline looks like this: From the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem in Nehemiah 2 in 445 BC, there will be seven weeks, or 49 years, until 396 BC, when Jerusalem and the temple were rebuilt, and it says in a troubled time, which is precisely what Nehemiah describes. Sixty-two weeks, or 434 years later, or sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years after 445 BC, is 38 A.D., when the Anointed One, Jesus, makes His triumphal entry. Then, He is cut off or crucified. Finally, the people of the prince who is to come, the Romans, and the destruction of the second temple.

Daniel 9:26 does not describe a flood of water. It is a flood of soldiers, so it mentions war and desolations. The Romans made war with the Jews and desolated Jerusalem and the temple.

The Two Decrees

Daniel 9:25 contains the decree to restore and build Jerusalem. Daniel 9:26 contains the decree to destroy and desolate Jerusalem…after it was rebuilt…after being destroyed the first time. Isn’t that incredibly sad? Daniel 9:26 is simply an undoing of Daniel 9:25.

And isn’t this a microcosm of the Jews’ entire history: defeat, then restoration, then defeat, then restoration? To the Jews, destruction of the second temple seemed unimaginable, but it was precisely what God decreed would happen way back here in Daniel. And why did God decree it? The answer is in the same verse: the Jews cut off the Anointed One. They treated Him like a criminal and left Him with nothing. Ironically, if you talk to Orthodox Jews today, they will say Jesus can’t be their Messiah because He was rejected and crucified, but that’s what their Scriptures prophesied would happen!

Jeremiah’s Weeping for the Jews Prefigured Jesus’s Weeping for the Jews

Matthew 16:13 Jesus…asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 

We are going to focus on why people would say Jesus is Jeremiah. We know Jeremiah is a picture or type of Jesus because of the rejection, betrayal, and suffering he experienced. But the problem is that when Jesus asked the disciples this question, Jesus had not experienced much rejection, betrayal, and suffering. All of that is still in the future.

So why did some people think Jesus was Jeremiah? I think it was because of their sorrow. Jeremiah is the author of Lamentations, and Jesus is "[The] man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3). Like Jeremiah,

Daniel 9:24-25 loosely reads, “Seventy weeks are determined for your people and your holy city…from the going forth of the command to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be sixty-nine weeks” or 483 years. The seventy weeks of Daniel contain one of the most remarkable prophecies in Scripture, identifying the day Jesus made His triumphal entry: April 6, 32AD. Read the notes or listen to the teaching!

Table of contentsWhy Seventy Years in Exile?Background to the Seventy Weeks of DanielThe Bible Is Meant to Be Taken Literally When AppropriateThe Bible Is Meant to Be UnderstoodThe Importance of the Seventy Weeks of DanielUnderstanding the Seventy Weeks of DanielSix Things Accomplished By the End of the Seventy Weeks of DanielRestoring and Building JerusalemMessiah the Prince Comes after Sixty-Nine WeeksFour Possible Dates of the Decree to Restore and Build JerusalemThe First Possible Decree in 538 BCThe Second Possible Decree in 517 BCThe Third Possible DecreeThe Fourth (and Correct) Decree on March 14, 445 BCWhy Seven Weeks and Sixty-Two Weeks Versus Sixty-Nine Weeks?Why Add, "A Prince”?Why Can't We Add 483 Years to March 14, 445 BC?The Seventy Weeks of Daniel Is a Time-Sensitive Prophecy

The prophet Jeremiah warned the Jews that the Babylonians would conquer them if they didn’t repent. The Jews didn’t repent, so Babylon conquered the Jews and brought them into exile in Babylon.

Jeremiah 25:11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.

The land is Judah. After God used the Babylonians to punish the Jews for their wickedness, He punished the Babylonians for their wickedness when the Medes and Persians conquered them under King Cyrus, who then allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem in three waves. We read about this in Ezra and Nehemiah.

Jeremiah 29:10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

Jeremiah was writing from Jerusalem, so “this place” is Jerusalem.

Why Seventy Years in Exile?

We get the answer in 2 Chronicles 36. Here's the context: The Jews were supposed to let the land rest every seventh year. In other words, the land was supposed to receive its own Sabbath. The Jews were supposed to walk by faith and trust God to provide enough in the sixth year to last them through the seventh year. But there’s no record of the Jews ever doing this once in 490 years. For 490 years, the land missed seventy Sabbath years. So, God removed the Jews from the land for seventy years so it could experience the rest it was supposed to have:

2 Chronicles 36:20 He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

This refers to Jeremiah’s prophecy, which we read in Jeremiah 25:11-12 and Jeremiah 29:10, that the Jews would be in exile for seventy years.

Background to the Seventy Weeks of Daniel

Daniel is one of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. He read the prophet Jeremiah’s writings and learned the Jews were going to be in exile for 70 years. The authors of the Scriptures set an excellent example for us by reading each other’s writings. We also have an example in the New Testament when Peter read Paul’s writings and said they could be hard to understand:

2 Peter 3:16 There are some things in [Pauls’ writings] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

Daniel was reading the Book of Jeremiah:

Daniel 9:2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

The NIV uses “Scriptures” instead of “books” when referring to Jeremiah’s writings, which are part of the Scriptures.

Daniel understood from Jeremiah’s writings that the Jews would be in exile in Babylon for seventy years, allowing Jerusalem to be desolate during that time.

The Bible Is Meant to Be Taken Literally When Appropriate

We can learn an essential lesson from Daniel's understanding of Jeremiah’s writings: the Bible is meant to be taken literally when appropriate. Daniel interpreted Jeremiah’s writings literally. He understood seventy years as seventy years. I’m pointing this out to lay the groundwork for how we will interpret Daniel’s Seventy Weeks. We will view them as literal years.

Daniel is thinking about these 70 years they’ll be in Babylon and:

Daniel 9:20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.

The "holy hill of my God" refers to Jerusalem. Daniel said a man, but he meant the angel Gabriel. Daniel is referring to Gabriel visiting him in the previous chapter.

Daniel is praying, and he’s probably thinking something like, “There are seventy years that my people, the Jews, will be in Babylon, away from our holy city, Jerusalem, and when these seventy years are over, we will go back to Jerusalem, and that will be it. The land will have enjoyed its rest, and we will have made up for our disobedience.” But then Gabriel comes to Daniel and says, “No, Daniel, it’s not just about these 70 years for your people and your holy city. It’s about seventy-sevens, or 490 years, for your people and your holy city. It’s almost like the Jews disobeyed God for 490 years, and He added another 490 years to their history to wait Until Messiah the Prince came.

Had the Jews been obedient during those 490 years, would they have received their Messiah 490 years earlier? I don’t think anyone can answer that.

Plus, it gets even more complicated because when the Jews did receive their Messiah, they crucified Him. And that’s part of the prophecy in verse 26, which says the Messiah “shall be cut off, but not for himself.”

The Bible Is Meant to Be Understood

There’s quite a bit about understanding in this chapter:

Daniel 9:2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

The ESV says “perceived,” but the NKJV, NIV, and Amplified read “understood.” Daniel means he understood the exile would be seventy years long.

Daniel 9:22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.

Daniel says Gabriel helped him understand, then Gabriel told Daniel he would help him understand, and finally, Gabriel told Daniel to understand.

Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.

The Bible is meant to be understood. This is personal to me because I spent my life growing up believing nobody can understand the Bible. I thought it was full of taboo, esoteric writings that only made sense to smart, spiritual people. I needed religious leaders, such as priests and the Pope, to tell me what it said because there was no way I could ever understand it myself. Even today, people think they can’t understand the Bible, which is tragic because:

John 16:13 Jesus said, “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

So Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to help us understand the Bible. Why would God give us the Bible but not the ability to understand it?

The Importance of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel

Gabriel seems like a messenger angel. In Scripture, he visits Daniel, Zacharias to announce John the Baptist’s birth, and Mary to announce Jesus’ birth. He seems involved with delivering critical messages, which is what’s happening here. Gabriel stressed that Daniel needed to pay attention because what he was about to tell him was very important.

The Bible doesn’t use bold, underlining, or italics, so God repeats Himself when He wants us to get something. But the other thing He does is talk to us like we talk to our children: “Listen carefully. Concentrate. Pay attention so you can understand,” which is what He says in verses 22, 23, and 25.

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel is the most amazing and essential prophetic passage in the bible. It’s known as the backbone of Bible prophecy. The Bible is about Jesus, and this prophecy predicts the day of His coming as the Christ or Messiah.

A.J. McClain said, “Probably no single prophetic utterance is more crucial in the fields of Biblical Interpretation, Apologetics, and Eschatology than the seventy weeks of Daniel in 9:24-27.”

Isaac Newton said, “We could stake the truth of Christianity on the seventy weeks of Daniel.”

Understanding the Seventy Weeks of Daniel

In Luke 21:24, Jesus said, “[The Jews] will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” The times of the Jews ended in 70 AD when Jerusalem was conquered, the Jews were dispersed, and the times of the Gentiles began. Romans 11:25 says, “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (or until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled).” The Jews’ rejection of Christ lasts until the full number of Gentiles are saved.

https://youtu.be/INu5ZQln-i4

Table of contentsThe Times of the Gentiles is the Church AgeThe Gospel Went to the Jews FirstThe Gospel Went to the Gentiles When the Jews Rejected ItGod Used the Gentiles to Make the Jews JealousThe Times of the Gentiles Should Make Us Feel HumbleThe Times of the Gentiles Should Make Us Feel FearfulDoes Romans 11 Teach We Can Lose Our Salvation?"Until the Fullness of the Gentiles Has Come In” Means “Until the Times of the Gentiles Is Fulfilled.”God's Ultimate Demonstration of Kindness and Severity

There are two different times. First, there was the time of the Jews. Then, there was the times of the Gentiles. In Luke 21:24, Jesus said, "[The Jews] will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."

Jesus prophesied that the times of the Jews would end in 70 AD when Jerusalem was conquered, the Jews were dispersed, and the times of the Gentiles began. The times of the Gentiles would last until the end of the church age, and then the times of the Jews would resume for Daniel’s 70th week or seven more years.

The Times of the Gentiles is the Church Age

The fourth feast, Pentecost, looked forward to the church's “harvest.” This feast is described in Leviticus 23:15-22, and verse 17 says, "You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the Lord.

During the feast of Pentecost, people would bring out two loaves of bread that they would wave. These two loaves represent the harvest. Surprisingly, the two loaves were baked with leaven! Weeks earlier, when the Jews celebrated the Feast of Unleavened, they were told that if they ate leaven, they would be killed: "Whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel" (Exodus 12:15 and Exodus 12:19).

Can you imagine how shocking it was for the Jews to move from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they would be killed for eating leaven, to the feast of Pentecost, when they were supposed to bake two loaves with leaven? How do we explain that? It makes perfect sense if we understand what each feast looked forward to. Leaven is a picture or type of sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread looked forward to Jesus’s sinless or unleavened body in the grave. But Pentecost looked forward to the spiritual harvest when Jews and Gentiles were coming into the church, and we are filled with leaven or sin.

Why two loaves versus one loaf or three loaves? Many scholars believe that because the two leaves represent the harvest, they also likely represent the two groups that make up the harvest: Jews and Gentilesone loaf for each.

The Gospel Went to the Jews First

We start to see the harvest that Pentecost looked forward to beginning on Pentecost and continuing through the book of Acts. After Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, Acts 2:41 says, "Those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls." Then, a little while later, Acts 4:4, says, "Many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand." In a matter of a few days, 8,000 Jews were saved. That’s a great harvest!

These 8,000 believers were Jews versus Gentiles. The early church was entirely Jewish because the Gospel was supposed to go to the Jews first and then the Gentiles:

Romans 1:16 The gospel…is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, TO THE JEW FIRST AND [THEN] TO THE GREEK (or Gentile).

Matthew 10:5 Jesus sent out the twelve, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 BUT GO RATHER TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.

You could read this and think, “What does Jesus have against Gentiles? Why does He only want the gospel to go to the Jews? Doesn’t He want Gentiles to be saved, too?” Yes, but the gospel was was supposed to go to the Jews first!

A Gentile woman came to Jesus and wanted Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. In Matthew 15:24 Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus did end up helping her, but first, He let her know His mission was first to the Jews.

The Gospel Went to the Gentiles When the Jews Rejected It

Most of the Jews didn’t respond like the Jews in Acts 2 and 4. What did most of the Jews do? They rejected the gospel! Acts 2 and 4 say 8,000 Jews came to faith. That sounds like a lot, but when you consider there were millions of Jews, there’s a title for these 8,000, and it’s “remnant.” Romans 9:27 says, "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, ONLY A REMNANT OF THEM WILL BE SAVED." God promised Abraham that his descendants, the Israelites, would be as numerous as the sand on the sea, but only a remnant would be saved. Romans 11:5 says, "So too at the present time there is a remnant (he means a remnant of Jews), chosen by grace." Again, [only] a remnant of Jews are saved.

We know there’s going to be a great harvest. That’s what the feast of Pentecost was celebrating. But if there is only a remnant of Jews who were saved who makes up the harvest? Gentiles! Starting with Cornelius and his family in Acts 10, plenty of Gentiles were saved. They make up the harvest.

Jesus prophesied the transition from the times of the Jews to the times of the Gentiles, and we see it happen in the Book of Acts. In the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers:

Matthew 21:33 [Jesus said, “The master] planted a vineyard…leased it to tenants (referring to the Jews). 34 [Then] he sent his servants to the tenants to get fruit. 35 The tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another… 37 Finally [the master] sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son (referring to Jesus).’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son…39 they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him…43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you (the Jews) and GIVEN TO A PEOPLE PRODUCING ITS FRUITS (referring to Gentiles).

In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, Jesus makes the same point:

Matthew 22:2 [Jesus said] “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the feast (referring to the Jews; they were invited first), but they would not come (referring to their rejection of Christ)...8 [The king said to] his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited (the Jews) were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find (referring to the Gentiles).’ 10 And those servants went out…and gathered all whom they found (referring to the Gentiles). So the wedding hall was filled with guests (plenty of Gentiles got saved!).

As we read Acts, we see this played out:

Acts 13:46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you (the Jews). Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, WE ARE TURNING TO THE GENTILES.

Acts 18:5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I WILL GO TO THE GENTILES.”

Acts 28:25 And disagreeing among themselves, they (the Jews) departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: 26 “‘Go to this people (referring to the Jews), and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 27 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ 28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been SENT TO THE GENTILES; THEY WILL LISTEN.”

This is the third to last verse in Acts. The last two verses briefly discuss Paul, which means Acts ends with more rejection from the Jews and more attention given to the Gentiles.

God Used the Gentiles to Make the Jews Jealous

If God turned His attention to the Gentiles, what about the Jews? Is God done with them? Are they cut off forever? Paul asks and then answer this in Romans 11:11: "So I ask, did they (the Jews) stumble (referring to their rejection of Christ) in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass (the Jews’ rejection of Christ) salvation has come to the Gentiles, SO AS TO MAKE ISRAEL JEALOUS."

There’s a difference between stumbling and falling. When you stumble, you get back up again. When you fall, you stay down. The Jews stumbled when they rejected Christ, but they will get back up when they come to faith in Christ in the future.

As a pastor, I have often been asked if Christians should celebrate the seven biblical feasts in Leviticus 23. The common answer is that we don’t celebrate the feasts because Jesus fulfilled them. But in Leviticus 23:14, 21, 31, and 41, God said the feasts should be celebrated forever, and in 1 Corinthians 5:8, Paul wrote, “Therefore let us keep the feast by...” referring to the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread. If God wanted people to stop celebrating the feasts when Jesus fulfilled them, why would He command people to celebrate them forever, and why would Paul say to celebrate them? Read on, watch, or listen to find out!

https://youtu.be/nsAhfHLo2H8

Table of contentsCelebrating Spiritually Versus PhysicallyKeep the Feast of Passover By Believing Jesus Is the Lamb of GodKeep the Feast of Unleavened Bread By Removing SinRemoving Sin Corporately and PersonallyMust Be Passover Followed By the Feast of Unleavened BreadKeep the Feast of Firstfruits By Believing in the ResurrectionKeep the Feast of Pentecost with a Circumcised HeartWhen the Jews Finally Experienced Spiritual Circumcision of the HeartNo Guarantee Spiritual Circumcision Will OccurWhy Such Different Responses to Similar Sermons?Celebrating in the True and Greaqter Way

As a pastor, I have often been asked, "Do we celebrate the seven Old Testament feasts today?" The simple, quick answer is no, because Jesus fulfilled them for us. Orthodox Jews who don’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah keep celebrating the feasts because they don’t see Jesus as the fulfillment of them.

Let me briefly review the ways the feasts find their fulfillment in Christ. Jesus fulfilled the first four spring feasts in His first coming:

Passover began the first month of the Hebrew calendar and looked forward to Jesus’s crucifixion on Passover as our Passover Lamb.

The second feast, Unleavened Bread began the following day, and looked forward to Jesus’s burial when His sinless or unleavened body was in the grave.

The third feast, Firstfruits, occurred on Sunday in the middle of Unleavened Bread and looked forward to Jesus’s resurrection. This is why Jesus is called the firstfruits of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.

The space of seven weeks, or 49 days, between the third and fourth feasts looked forward to the seven weeks between Jesus’s resurrection and ascension when He revealed Himself to over 500 witnesses.

The fourth feast, Pentecost, is also called the Feast of Weeks because it was seven weeks after Firstfruits. It looked forward to the church's birth when Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit.

We look forward to Jesus fulfilling the three fall feasts in His Second Coming:

He will fulfill the Feast of Trumpets at the rapture when He meets the church in the air.

He will fulfill The Day of Atonement during the tribulation when He pours out his wrath on a world that rejected him, which is why in Revelation 6:16 people cry out to be hidden from “the wrath of the Lamb.”

He will fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths when He returns, establishes His millennial kingdom on earth, and dwells or Tabernacles among us.

But let me share something interesting with you. Consider these verses in Leviticus 23, the chapter describing the seven feasts:

Leviticus 23:14 And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: IT IS A STATUTE FOREVER THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS IN ALL YOUR DWELLINGS.

God told the Israelites to celebrate Firstfruits forever.

Leviticus 23:21 And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. IT IS A STATUTE FOREVER in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

God told the Israelites to celebrate the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost forever.

Leviticus 23:31 You shall not do any work. IT IS A STATUTE FOREVER throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

God told the Israelites to celebrate the Day of Atonement forever!

Leviticus 23:41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. IT IS A STATUTE FOREVER throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

God told the Israelites to celebrate the Feast of Booths forever. God is repetitive when He wants to ensure we don’t miss something, and He told the Israelites four times to celebrate the feasts forever. So, now, the statement that we don’t celebrate the feasts because Jesus fulfilled them doesn’t seem as convincing and brings up an obvious question: "If God wanted people to stop celebrating the feasts when Jesus fulfilled them, why would He command people to celebrate them FOREVER? Why didn’t He say to celebrate the feasts UNTIL the Messiah came?"

Let me answer this by showing you what the New Testament says, and it might surprise you:

1 Corinthians 5:7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Paul discussed Passover and then Unleavened Bread. Because they were celebrated together over eight days, sometimes they were viewed as one feast. And Paul says we should celebrate that feast!

So, what does this mean? Do we sacrifice a lamb? Then do we eat it roasted over a fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, ensuring we don’t let any of it remain until morning, and if any of it remains—perhaps because we have a smaller family—do we make sure to burn the leftovers as it says in Exodus 12? Do we eat it with a belt around our waist, sandals on our feet, and staff in our hand, also as Exodus 12 says? Then do we put its blood over our doorpost? Finally, for seven days, do we eat flat, hardened bread that’s more like a cracker and ensure we don’t do any work?

Celebrating Spiritually Versus Physically

You can probably guess this is not what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to celebrate the feast, but not with anything physical, such as lambs, bread, and leaven. Instead, Paul discusses malice, evil, sincerity, and truth, which are spiritual.

If someone asked me if I celebrate the Old Testament feasts, it wouldn’t be as easy as, “Yes, I do,” or “No, I don’t,” because it depends on what they mean by their question. If they mean, “Do you celebrate the feast physically by sacrificing a lamb and removing all the leaven from your house?” Then, the answer is no. But if they mean, “Do you celebrate the feasts spiritually?” Then, the answer is yes.

But this also raises a question: How do we celebrate the feasts spiritually? What does that mean?

Keep the Feast of Passover By Believing Jesus Is the Lamb of God

The primary purpose of the Law, including the seven feasts, is to bring us to Christ:

Galatians 3:24 The law was our guardian (or some translations say tutor) until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

Because the law is supposed to bring us to Christ, the most important part of the feasts is seeing Christ through them. If people know the feasts inside and out, down to the smallest detail, but don’t see Christ through them, their knowledge is meaningless. Think of what Jesus told the religious leaders:

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they (the Scriptures) that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 

The religious leaders knew the seven feasts. They celebrated them their entire lives. But because they didn’t see Jesus in them, they forfeited eternal life.

Acts 4:12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

You can't find salvation elsewhere if you don’t come to Christ. This reveals how we celebrate the Feast of Passover in the true and greater way: We believe Jesus, the Passover Lamb, was sacrificed for our sins. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said:

John 1:29 Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

He referred to Jesus as the Passover Lamb.

Keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread By Removing Sin

To know how to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we must understand the context of these verses in 1 Corinthians 5. There was a man in the Corinthian church engaging in well-known sexual sin. The Corinthian believers should have removed him, or we would say performed church discipline, but:

1 Corinthians 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

They were boasting about how tolerant and open-minded they were. They were like liberal churches today that embrace homosexuality or transgenderism and brag about how tolerant and loving they are. This was the exact opposite response they should have had. They should have been brokenhearted and contrite.

Leaven is a picture or type of sin two sermons ago. Paul means that if they let this man’s sin remain in the church, it will be like leaven and spread through the church like leaven spreads through bread dough. So, Paul says they must:

1 Corinthians 5:7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

This looks back to the Feast of Unleavened Bread when the Israelites removed all the leaven from their homes:

Exodus 12:15 On the first day [of the feast of unleavened bread] remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened…that person shall be cut off from Israel.

They had to get rid of their leaven or be killed. So, Paul tells the Corinthians to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the true and greater way, not by removing physical leaven from their homes,

The four spring feasts point to Jesus's first coming and are covered in this post. The three fall feasts, described in Leviticus 23:23-44, look forward to His Second Coming. This video explores the profound significance of these three feasts. The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) symbolizes the Rapture, where Jesus gathers His church; the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) looks ahead to the Tribulation and "the Wrath of the Lamb"; and the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (Succoth) signifies the Millennium when Jesus will "tabernacle" among us.

https://youtu.be/syg27sqJXP0

Table of contentsThe Spring Feasts Reveal the Lamb of God, and the Fall Feasts Reveal the Lion of the Tribe of JudahThe Six-Month “Gap” Between the Spring and Fall Feasts Represents the Church AgeThe First Fall Feast of the Lord, Trumpets, Looks Forward to the Rapture When Jesus Gathers His ChurchDoes the Feast of Trumpets Give Us the Date of the Rapture?The Second Fall Feast of the Lord, the Day of Atonement, Looks Forward to the Tribulation and “Wrath of the Lamb”The Third Fall Feast of the Lord, Tabernacles, Looks Forward to the Millennium When Jesus “Tabernacles” Among UsThe Connection Between the Feast of Tabernacles and the MillenniumDid the Feast of Trumpets Look Back on Christ Dwelling with Israel in the Wilderness?The Fall Feasts of the Lord Demonstrate God's Love

My last post examined the first four spring feasts, and in this post, I will examine the last three fall feasts. I want to capture the transition between the spring and fall feasts.

The Spring Feasts Reveal the Lamb of God, and the Fall Feasts Reveal the Lion of the Tribe of Judah

If I worded this heading differently, it would be, “The spring feasts reveal the Suffering Servant, and the fall feasts reveal the Coming King.”

God often uses animals to picture kingdoms. For example:

In Jeremiah 5 and 49, a lion and eagle represent Babylon.

In Ezekiel 17 and 19, an eagle and crocodile represent Egypt.

Probably most famously, in Daniel 7:

A lion represents Babylon

A bear represents Medo-Persia

A leopard represents Greece

And a fourth, monstrous beast represents Rome

God also uses animals two animals to represent Christ’s Kingdom, and we see them in the seven feasts:

The four spring feasts looked forward to Jesus’s First Coming as the Lamb of God.

The three fall feasts look forward to Jesus’s Second Coming as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

Just as the first four feasts go together and looked forward to Jesus’s First Coming, the three fall feasts go together and look forward to Jesus’s Second Coming. They all occur within about 20 days of each other: Tishri 1 to Tishri 21 or September 21 to October 11.

The Six-Month “Gap” Between the Spring and Fall Feasts Represents the Church Age

Leviticus 23:5 IN THE FIRST MONTH, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord's Passover.

Passover occurred in the first month.

Leviticus 23:23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, IN THE SEVENTH MONTH, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.

This is the fifth feast, Trumpets, which occurred “in the seventh month.” So, there is a six-month gap between the spring and fall feasts of the Lord. They are separated by as much time as possible. If the feasts were any further apart, they would be closer together on the other end of the calendar. This six-month gap represents the church age or “gap” between Jesus’s two comings.

I use the word “gap” because if you’re familiar with Daniel’s Seventy Weeks, this gap should make you think of the “gap” between Daniel’s 69th and 70th weeks.

The First Fall Feast of the Lord, Trumpets, Looks Forward to the Rapture When Jesus Gathers His Church

Leviticus 23:23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”

Briefly consider the “gap” or the Church Age between the fourth and fifth feasts. Last post I wrote that the third feast, Firstfruits, looked forward to a great harvest. That harvest began at Pentecost and continued throughout the Church Age, or “gap” between the fourth and fifth feasts:

Acts 2:41 Those who received [Peter’s] word (following his great speech) were baptized, and there were added that day ABOUT THREE THOUSAND SOULS.

Then, a little while later:

Acts 4:4 many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to ABOUT FIVE THOUSAND.

In a matter of a few days, 8,000 Jews were saved. That’s a great harvest! In the Old Testament, the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) commemorated the end of the physical harvest. In the future, it will commemorate the end of the spiritual harvest or Church Age.

Additionally, throughout the Old Testament, trumpets were used to gather people. Here are a few examples:

Exodus 19:13 When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.

Numbers 10:2 Make two silver trumpets…use them for summoning the congregation.

Nehemiah 4:20 When you hear the trumpet, rally to us there.

Jeremiah 4:5 Blow the trumpet through the land; cry aloud and say, “Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities!”

So, trumpets were used to gather people throughout the Old Testament, and it looked forward to the Rapture when the Lord gathers His people, the Church:

1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET OF GOD. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at THE LAST TRUMPET. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

Leviticus 23:24 says "blast of trumpets" plural. There was a long break between the spring feasts and the fall feasts of the Lord, and the Feast of Trumpets served to wake up everyone. This looks to one of the themes in the New Testament that we must be alert and ready for Jesus’s imminent return for His church. We are to live as though Christ could come for us at any moment because He could. Think of Jesus’s teaching on this subject:

Matthew 24:42 Stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming…44 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins is primarily about preparing for Christ to come for His bride. We don’t know when that will happen, so the bridegroom comes, the foolish virgins aren’t ready, and Jesus ends the parable this way:

Matthew 25:11 [The foolish] virgins [said], “Lord, lord, open to us.” 12 But he answered, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.” 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

This is why Jesus’s return for His church is regularly compared with the way a thief breaks in unexpectedly:

1 Thessalonians 5:2 The day of the Lord will come LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT…4 You are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you LIKE A THIEF.

2 Peter 3:10 The day of the Lord will come LIKE A THIEF…

Revelation 3:3 I will come LIKE A THIEF, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

Revelation 16:15 (“Behold, I am coming LIKE A THIEF! Blessed is the one who stays awake.

We don’t know when a thief will strike, but we will be prepared if we know he will. Similarly, we don’t know WHEN Jesus will return for His church, but if we believe He will, we will be prepared.

Does the Feast of Trumpets Give Us the Date of the Rapture?

I just shared that Jesus will come for His church like a thief in the night, and nobody knows the day or hour. But you probably also know some verses encourage us to watch the times and seasons to know when the end is near:

Matthew 24:33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

Luke 21:31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

We don’t know, but we should watch and have some idea. So I’m not going to declare a day and hour, but if I was forced to choose, here’s what I’d say: Because all four spring feasts were fulfilled when the feasts were celebrated (Passover was fulfilled on Passover, Unleavened Bread was fulfilled on Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits was fulfilled on Firstfruits, Pentecost was fulfilled on Pentecost) it is reasonable to expect the fall feasts of the lord to be fulfilled when they are celebrated. If I had to choose a day for the Rapture, it would be when the Feast of Trumpets is celebrated: Tishri 1 or close to September 21st.

The Second Fall Feast of the Lord, the Day of Atonement, Looks Forward to the Tribulation and “Wrath of the Lamb”

Leviticus 23:26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and YOU SHALL AFFLICT YOURSELVES and present a food offering to the Lord. 28 And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. 29 For WHOEVER IS NOT AFFLICTED on that very day shall be cut off from his people. 30 And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.