A Prophecy You Don’t Want to Apply to Yourself! (Part II)

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21: 20-24)

We are continuing with the second part of Jesus’ prophecy of Jerusalem’s destruction.

Sign No. 6: When the Jews would see the city surrounded by armies, that would be the unequivocal sign that the end had come. As usual the best sign is the obvious one! Yet, this time the Lord wouldn’t come to their rescue. Their destruction was ordered by God, because they had despised, and killed Jesus, the Son of God.

The Lord advised them to stay away from the city. Those who were in Judea should flee to the mountains to save their lives, and no one who was outside should dare to enter. Nevertheless, contrary to Jesus’ advice, the Jews gathered in Jerusalem coming from other lands to celebrate Passover! It was then that they were trapped and destroyed by the Romans (John Gills commentary).

Our Lord referred to these facts as “the days of vengeance”. He is not talking about meaningless suffering, but divine penalty (R. C. Sproul). The Lord is patient, but no sin will go unpunished. On time, each and “every sin will receive just reward” (Hebrews 2: 2).

When Jesus talked about “all things which are written being fulfilled”, He was talking about the several prophecies about Jerusalem’s destruction. We find them in Daniel, Isaiah and some parts of Deuteronomy.

Jesus is concerned about the pregnant women and those with little babies, because it would be very difficult for them to flee. Many of them surely witnessed the murder of their own children, before they were killed by the Roman army.

They would fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. More than 1,100,000 Jews were killed during Jerusalem’s destruction. When the city was taken, the most beautiful of the young men were kept for the triumph; and those that were above seventeen years of age, were sent bound into Egypt, to labor in the mines; many were distributed through the provinces, to be destroyed in the theatres, by the sword or beasts; and those that were under seventeen years of age, were led captive to be sold; and the number of these only, were ninety-seven thousand (John Gills commentary)

Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled. “This may mean the time when the Gentiles will have their triumph over Israel, or the time when the gospel is preached to the Gentiles, or both.” (R. C. Sproul). Every commentary coincides with the second part of R. C. Sproul’s interpretation. It would come a time in which the Gospel would be preached to the Gentiles, then the Jews would convert to Christianity and Jerusalem would be rebuilt.

In case you wonder if the chronology of the events coincides with Jesus’ prophecy, here it is:

After having prophesied Jerusalem’s destruction, Jesus died about 31 A. D. The persecution of the Church took place around 64 A. D. and the destruction of the Temple occurred in 70 D. C. This totally coincides with the description given by Jesus, His people would be persecuted, then the destruction would come.

Do you wonder why God allows us to read about facts that have nothing to do with us?

The fact that Jesus predicted with 100% exactness the events of the future tell us that He has access at things that only belong to God. He was a prophet and much more than that, because never a prophet equaled Himself to God. Christ loved the Jews and warned them in advance so they could escape destruction, but He is Holy, and in no way He will tolerate sin to go unpunished. In the same way today, He allows us to have access to His mind through the Bible. In it, He teaches us the way to reconcile with the Father and what He requires from us, so we can escape eternal destruction. May this sad event in the lives of the Jews sink into our hearts the undeniable truth that God is a loving God, but also righteous one, so we fear Him for the rest of our lives.