Let's not be Foolish

Matthew 24:15-28

“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

I have no desire to be a fool, so let me be clear that I have no understanding of when this will take place, or if it has taken place.  Often when it seems that God is quiet on a Scripture I will look to see what has been reveled to others, and that is what I am doing in this paper.  In the Holman Study Bible, the authors have this to say about verses 15-24, “These verses probably describe events related to the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in A.D. 70.” (Page 1660)  We do know that in A.D. 70 a Roman general and later the emperor Titus held Jerusalem under siege and on August 28, A.D. the Roman troops torched the temple as is reported by the historian Josephus.  Now back to Holman Study Bible.  “However, Matthew 24:29, closely associates this tribulation period with the second coming of Jesus.  This implies that these events closely parallel things that will occur immediately before Jesus return (2 Th 2:3-4).   The entire period ranging from the destruction of the temple to the events preceding Christ’s return may be described as a period of great tribulation for Christ’s followers.  The abomination that causes desolation is an idolatrous object that will desecrate the Jerusalem temple as foretold in Daniel 9:27.  Though Josephus identified it as the shedding of priestly blood in the sanctuary several years before the destruction of the temple (War 4.147-201; 4.343; 5.17-18; cp. Matthew 23:29-36), Jesus’ description of the abomination as standing in the temple implies that it is an object, not an event.”

Two things that we can grasp hold of are those who by faith have trusted in Jesus will not perish, and that Jesus’ return will be visible to everyone on earth.  Even in tribulation we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. As Children of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, we are on the winning side.  So my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus told us; “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

He Coming Soon

Matthew 24:3-14

How blessed I am, since early` childhood I’ve been told about Jesus and how much He loves me, that He knows all about me, in Him is all truth, in Him is all knowledge, in Him is wisdom, in Him is love, and in Him is life.  I’ve also been taught that He is coming back to rule this earth for a thousand years, and the Bible has given us enormous amounts of information about His return.  So it should not be surprising that His disciples while sitting on the Mount of Olives would ask this question: “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3b)

“And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:4-14)
I am reminded that the Scriptures are living, God does not change, and that the disciples experienced much of what is written in these verses.  It would seem that many believed that in 70 A.D. Jesus was coming back, and I know from history many in and out of the church believed both World War 1 & 2 was Jesus soon return.  And are we not once more in history where we are looking to the eastern sky, with expectation of our Lord’s return.

Jesus told us: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)  At no time in history, to my knowledge, has this happened more than it is today, and yet be very careful not to set a time line, for Jesus has made clear the day and the hour is set by the Father.  Matthew records these words of Jesus: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”  (Matthew 24:36)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

It all happen just as Jesus said

Matthew 24:1-2

If you had visited New York City from December 23, 1970 till September 10, 2001 you would have witnessed two twin towers and a complex of buildings called the world trade center.  Now let’s imagine that a small group was visiting New York with a pastor and the group of his followers were going on and on about the complex, its construction and the pastor said; you see all of these buildings and those towers, they will all be destroyed.  Now to make the story more exciting, let us envision that you are part of that group and the day of your visit was September 10, 2001.  By evening of September 11, 2001 the terrorist had destroyed the towers, how much faith are you putting in what that preacher said?

Now let’s move to Matthew’s account of Jesus leaving the temple after His lament over Jerusalem.  “Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”  (Matthew 24:1-2)  Now our imagined story had the prophecy happening the next day, but what Jesus is proclaiming did not take place the next day, or the next month, or the next year, it happened 40 years later. 

Josephus the historian claims that 1,100,000 people were killed during the siege of which a majority were Jewish, and that 97,000 were captured and enslaved.  Josephus also reports that Titus the Roman commander did not want to destroy the temple, but a fire started burning it and most of Jerusalem burned down.  In that much of the gold was on the walls it is claimed that the walls were torn down to reclaim the gold, not one stone upon another.

It would be a wise person that takes to heart that Jesus is truth, and that all that is written is going to happen.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Sent by God

Matthew 23:37-39

Do you recall this statement from Jesus in Matthew 23:34, “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.”   And remember Jesus is telling them He sent all these people beginning with Abel to Zechariah, which covers from Genesis to the end of the Hebrew O.T.  And then John the Baptist, Jesus taking on flesh and becoming a man, and the disciples and apostles, and at best they ignored them, but many they killed and some they crucified and others they just persecuted.

It seems hard to believe that you or I would do as the nation Israel did to the messengers of God.  Were they just fickle people, in that God often called them a stiff-necked people?  Do you recall the stoning of Stephen, in Dr. Luke’s account in Acts 7:51-53, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.  As your fathers did, so do you.  Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute?  And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, and who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”  And guess what, we can add Stephen’s name to that list above of those they killed.

It is a wonderful thing that you or I will never have the authority to make decisions for such people as they deserve, for we would be bringing quick judgment on them, and it would not be mercy nor grace.  But God, in the form of the God Man Jesus Christ, lamented over them, and over Jerusalem.  These are Jesus’ words: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

I often look into the mirror and recall the warning of 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? --unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” We who claim to be the grace children of God should take serious the words of Stephen,   

“As your fathers did, so do you.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Therefore I send you

Matthew 23:29-33

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?  As a recovering Pharisee, that sounds a might harsh.  Has Jesus not read, “How to win friends and influence People?”  But before anyone becomes foolish and takes the role of judge, it might be helpful to consider who is making the “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Statement.  “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  Maybe you and I should take off our robes of the judge, and put on humility while bowing to the Almighty.

In that Jesus is all knowing, has already been to the front and rear of what we call past and present, look, listen, and read slowly verses 34-36, “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”  The “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” He sent prophets and wise men like John the Baptist, like Jesus taking on flesh, like the disciples, and what did these followers of religion do to them, some they killed, others they crucified, and their blood will be a witness against that generation.  We have Abel’s murder recorded in Genesis 4, while Zechariah’s is recorded in Second Chronicles 24:20-21.  In the Hebrew Bible, Second Chronicles is the last book and Genesis is the first, so it seems that Jesus is citing the whole span of martyrdom in the O.T.

It seems that 70 A.D. was the time Jesus was referring to as the destruction of the temple, we have this account from “The Wars of the Jews, Book 6, Josephus’ notes” that, on the eighth day of the of the Roman month Lous (Jewish month Ab), the ramps were finished and Titus ordered the battering-rams brought up and made ready for an assault on the Temple. With the battering rams in place the Roman siege of Jerusalem, which began at Passover that year, would come to an end.

As soon as the walls were breached on the 9th of Ab in 70 A.D., a Roman military force of about 30,000 troops under the command of Titus marched into Jerusalem and began a systematic slaughter of the Jews and the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem—exactly as Jesus foretold 40 years earlier.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

But Woe to You

Matthew 23:8-28

Do you ever ask questions while reading the Bible, and if you do to whom?  My background of sales taught me to always ask questions of the person with the most insight on the question.  When looking at the Scriptures that person should be the Holy Spirit, who Jesus called our Helper, but often He is not the one we ask, often we run to a commentary, pastor or teacher. 

“But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant.  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”  (Matthew 23:9-12)  These verses are not often the subject of teaching in Baptist churches I’ve attended, in fact I do not recall ever hearing them taught, and I must put in this discloser, that does not mean it has not happened.   But today in my need to get out of town early, I did not run to the Helper but to my Study Bible, and this is its take on the Scripture; As Jesus is teaching his disciples, this “Do not,” “it’s a prohibited use of honorific titles for spiritual leaders that might encourage a sense of superiority in them or detract from the reverence that is properly due the Father and Messiah.” (Page 1657 23:8-10 HCSB)

In the verses that follow we have Jesus beginning the sentence with these words; “But woe to you”, or “Woe to you” and “Woe” was a term used by O. T. prophets to express condemnation, as found in Isaiah 5:8-23.   Matthew gives this account of Jesus using the “Woe to you” in Matthew 23:13-15, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”  When you and I make choices in life leading us to a full-blown storm and though the highway looks great the bridge is out, and we are soon to end-up in the raging river with no hope of survival; who is a friend, the one that warns you, or the one who keeps silent?  Jesus confronting these scribes and Pharisees was out of love, not hate, it was also a teaching moment for His disciples, and for us.

When we get all religious and the building and the people take first chair over your relationship with Jesus, watch-out, you are very close to becoming a Pharisee.  As you read Matthew 23:13-28, remember religions end game is death, it easily becomes a corrupt system that looks for loopholes and manipulates the people who are naïve.   It has obsession with small matters and overlooks important ones.  Religious people often have obsession with ritual purity and neglect the inner spiritual purity.

My HCSB study Bible on page 1658, has this to say about Matthew 23:27-28, “The Jews in the first-century whitewashed the tombs in Jerusalem to alert people to their location so they would not get to close and defile themselves.   Jewish purity laws regarded the inside of tombs as defiled.  Jesus compares that to how these leaders looked, clean and respectable on the outside but inside they were corrupt.”   On this highway of life you need Jesus, a friend that will tell you “Woe to you” if you are very religious, but without a relationship with Jesus Christ, the “Bridge is out!”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Caution to Teachers

Mathew 23:1-7

As one who has taught, I’ve paid close attention to the gospel of James chapter 3:1, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”  James goes on to remind us that we all stumble in many ways, and if someone does not stumble they are a perfect person.  Let this writer make a confession, I’ve stumbled more than most.

So as one who desires to teach, what should I guard against?  First and foremost, my fleshly patterns that I had when I arrived on planet earth, and what is flesh, those are questions a teacher must understand?  Flesh is nothing more than getting your needs met outside of the will of God by your own abilities.  My friends Bill and Anabel Gillham, taught me how my flesh got programmed, and my friend, Carroll Ray Jr. taught me that a person could reprogram their flesh by walking in the Spirit. 

This writer’s flesh was programmed to want to be first, to be noticed, and to talk often even when I am not sure of the facts.  With that information, as a teacher I had to learn to humble myself before those in the class and let them know the teacher was giving information that he had not experienced and did not understand, but believed by faith.  I still enjoy being first, being noticed, and I battle on a daily basis to make this flesh put others first.

As we examine Matthew 23:1-7, we should remember that the Pharisees and the Scribes were the big dogs when it came to the local community, and especially the religious part.  They were the teacher so look at what advice Jesus is giving us, and remember it’s true for each of us at this moment.  “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.”

As one who teaches we should never put heavy burdens on those we teach, do you live out what you are teaching, and if not are you honest with both those who sit under your teaching and with God that you are falling short of the goal?  What is your goal in teaching, to be seen by others as something special, or to be a light to guide those seeking to walk in fellowship with our Lord?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice