Herod's Temple

LUKE — LESSON 21

Scriptures for this lesson are taken from Luke 21.

Jesus is in Jerusalem during His last week just a few days before the crucifixion.

[Luke 21:1-4] (1) As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. (2) He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. (3) “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. (4) All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Jesus is in the temple with His disciples watching people give their tithes into the temple treasury. He pointed out the wealthy men putting in their large sums of money and then the poor widow who put in two copper coins that were worth very little. The others gave of their abundance but she gave all she had to the Lord. In God’s eyes her gift was much greater because her gift was given out of love. The lesson for us it that we are all important to the Lord and our giving will be judged by what we are given and how we choose to give back to the Lord. Whether we give in order to be seen or give from our love for Jesus.

[Luke 21:5-7] (5) Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, (6) “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” (7) “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

After teaching in the temple during the day, Jesus went out to the Mt of Olives to spend the night. It is interesting that the disciples were discussing the temple. It was a very magnificent building. It was 1200 x 1500 feet in size. It was made of white marble with parts of the outside walls overlaid with gold and silver. From a distance it looked like a snow castle. The building of the temple began in 19 BC by Herod the Great and was still not complete when the Roman general, Titus destroyed it in 70 AD. The temple was believed to be the dwelling place of God with Israel. God did dwell with them from the time the tabernacle was completed at Mt Siani until Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. There is no record that God returned to dwell with Israel following the 70-year exile in Babylon. The Jews were very proud of their temple and believed that when the Messiah came; He would overthrow the Romans and rule over Israel from this temple. By this time, the disciples believed that Jesus was the Messiah so this is probably what was behind their discussion about the beauty and magnificence of the temple. As Jesus answered the disciples questions, He continued to give them a glimpse of the immediate future and on into the end times.

When you are in the mountains and look off to the distance, two large mountains look like they are close together but in truth they are many miles apart. With Jesus, the infinite creator, thousands of years are but a short time. The events in these passages are to us thousands of years apart but to Jesus’ concept of time they could seem very close together.

[Luke 21:8-11] (8) He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. (9) When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.” (10) Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. (11) There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

I believe that these verses deal with the end times as revealed in “Daniel’s Prophesy of the 70 Weeks.” Jesus said that there would be many who would claim to be the Messiah and there would be wars and tribulations but that would not be the end. Then there will be powerful earthquakes, famines and pestilences and great signs from heaven. We have experienced an increase in earthquakes in recent years. I, myself live in Oklahoma in the area where we had a 5.6 quake not too long ago. It was very frightening. There are also pestilences such as AIDS and the recent outbreak of Ebola (which had killed 1552 people by 9:00 AM on 28 August 2014). These are terrifying experiences and diseases which would indicate we are moving closer to the end times. But then there will be great signs from heaven which will be much worse than what we have ever seen before.

[Luke 21:12-19] (12) “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. (13) And so you will bear testimony to me. (14) But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. (15) For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. (16) You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. (17) Everyone will hate you because of me. (18) But not a hair of your head will perish. (19) Stand firm, and you will win life.

This prophecy from Jesus came true in the lives of the people who were listening to Him speak. During the three missionary journeys, Paul, Silas, Barnabus, Timothy, Luke and others suffered greatly. Paul was stoned and left for dead, they were imprisoned in Phillippi. Tradition holds that all of the original apostles were martyred except for Judas Iscariot who killed himself and John who died in old age at Ephesus. Stephen was not one of the twelve but he was stoned as told in Acts 7. Missionaries continue to give their lives while spreading the gospel today.

[Luke 21:20-24] (20) “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. (21) Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. (22) For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. (23) How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. (24) They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The main focus of this prophecy is the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70 by the Roman general, Titus. The destruction was brought on by the Roman procurator, Gessius Florus, who ruled Judea from 64-66 AD and hated Jews. He took silver from the temple when tax collections were low. This caused a revolt by the Jews. The actions of Gessius Florus inspired some Jewish Zealots to attack the city of Masada, defeating the Roman troops there. Cestius Callus, the Roman governor then, came to Jerusalem with 20,000 soldiers and besieged Jerusalem for 6 months but was unsuccessful. Then Emperor Nero sent Vespasian, a great Roman general to Judea to take Jerusalem but before they could take the city, Nero died and Vespasian returned to Rome to become Emperor. Then Vespasian sent his son Titus to take on Jerusalem. Titus took new and better war engines to use against the walls of Jerusalem. The people inside the city had been isolated for a long time, there was starvation, plague and dispute over their defense. Eventually the Romans broke through the three walls of the city. Those Jews who were still alive were killed or sold as slaves, thus fulfilling these prophesies of Jesus and those of the prophet, Daniel. The times of the Gentiles means the time when Gentiles rule over Israel. That time began in 586 BC when the Babylonians took Jerusalem and will continue until Jesus comes back and God will rule over Israel once again.

[Luke 21:25-28] (25) “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. (26) People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. (27) At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. (28) When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Jesus is clearly talking about when He would come back again. Disturbances in the heavens, sounds like the judgments to come during the tribulation. It may be just the beginnings of these signs when Jesus will come back and claim the church as told in 1Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” Whether Christ will come back before the tribulation begins or half way through is uncertain.

[Luke 21:29-33] (29) He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. (30) When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. (31) Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. (32) “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. (33) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The parable of the fig tree here was a reference to time. When the leaves appear on the fig trees it was a sign that summertime was near. Jesus told them that the signs He had told them about, when they began to happen then they would know that He would be coming back soon. In verse 32, Jesus said that the current generation would not die until these things had happened. Some of these prophesies did come true, but some are still in our future. Verse 33 is a separate event, clearly stating that the Words of Christ will still exist even when Heaven and our earth have gone.

[Luke 21:34-36] (34) “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. (35) For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. (36) Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

This is a serious warning from Christ that Christians should not be involved in the pleasures of this world but be separate and keep our hearts and minds focused on the Lord in order to escape the tribulations that are coming.

[Luke 21:37-38] (37) Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, (38) and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.

Jesus had but a few days left and he came every day to the temple to teach the people about the Kingdom of God. He came early and stayed all day to be with the people and to share what was coming and how important is was for them to trust in Him and draw near to God. Every night He stayed on the Mt of Olives.

Lessons for us from Luke chapter 21:

1. When we give to the Lore, we should give out of love, neither from habit nor to be seen.

2. Christians need to stay close to the Lord and avoid the ways of this world lest Satan get a foot in the door of our hearts.

3. The end times are drawing closer. Sinner beware!

4. Jesus promised that He would come back for His church.
5. We should live each day like it was our last. At best the time we have on earth to reach the lost is short.

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