I hope you gave been enjoying Job and his friends as they try to figure God out. Tomorrow's reading is Job 38, where God responds to Job and his friends. It is really something to hear right from him after days of talking, and suffering, and trying to figure out stuff from a human (creature) perspective. But now, time to hear from THE LORD (the Creator)!
Matthew 24:1-31 is called by theologians "The Mini-Apocalypse". In this passage, Jesus describes the end, almost in the style of apocalyptic literature such as Revelation. It starts with Jesus talking about how "not one stone will be standing on another" in regard to the Jewish temple. Statements like this are what kept getting Jesus in trouble. People were always thinking that perhaps Jesus planned on destroying the temple (literally, with his own two hands, and a band of zealous violent followers). Obviousy, Jesus didn't plan on doing that, but 70 years after his death and resurrection, the temple WAS completely destoyed, and the most holy place was desecrated, a true "abomination" to Jews. It was a symbol of what had already taken place in Jesus life, death, ressurection, and second coming (the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 - often confused with His THIRD coming, which hasn't happened yet). Religion where we worship in this, or that geographical place is OVER. From now on, true worshippers will worship "in spirit and in Truth" as Jesus predicted (John 4:23-25). No longer is the temple needed, and so, it is destroyed. The only thing I'd like to point out about the "Mini Apocalypse" is that Jesus talks of wars and rumors of wars as the "beinning's of labor pains". In other words, evil is growing more and more intense, and is repeating itself in concentrated and intense cycles in history. He also warns that we shouldnt panick, or freak out, or believe in rumors of false Messiahs. We could conclude in our day that Jesus would admonish us NOT to go crazy and call every new president, leader, or person in power the anti-Christ. People have been doing that for centuries, and it has never panned out the way people think it will. Jesus would probably tell us not read read the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other. In other words, DONT FREAK OUT AND SPECULATE all day. The most important thing you can do as the labor pains of evil continue to grow closer together and more intense is to STAY FAITHFUL to Jesus Christ, and NOT to fall away as MANY have(Matthew 24:10-13). STAND FIRM, DO NOT LET YOUR LOVE GROW COLD IN THESE EVIL DAYS, DO NOT TURN AWAY. STAND FIRM! WAIT FOR HIM, and be found WORKING AND SERVING when he returns. Don't worry about missing His return! It will be visible to EVERYONE, like a lightening bolt from east to west, and the Son of Man (Jesus) descending in the clouds! How cool will that be for us who stay faithful and wait for Him, throwing off sin and evil, loving, and giving ourselves to him in total devotion! That day will be our best day!
I hope you gave been enjoying Job and his friends as they try to figure God out. Tomorrow's reading is Job 38, where God responds to Job and his friends. It is really something to hear right from him after days of talking, and suffering, and trying to figure out stuff from a human (creature) perspective. But now, time to hear from THE LORD (the Creator)!
ReplyDeleteMatthew 24:1-31 is called by theologians "The Mini-Apocalypse". In this passage, Jesus describes the end, almost in the style of apocalyptic literature such as Revelation. It starts with Jesus talking about how "not one stone will be standing on another" in regard to the Jewish temple. Statements like this are what kept getting Jesus in trouble. People were always thinking that perhaps Jesus planned on destroying the temple (literally, with his own two hands, and a band of zealous violent followers). Obviousy, Jesus didn't plan on doing that, but 70 years after his death and resurrection, the temple WAS completely destoyed, and the most holy place was desecrated, a true "abomination" to Jews. It was a symbol of what had already taken place in Jesus life, death, ressurection, and second coming (the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 - often confused with His THIRD coming, which hasn't happened yet). Religion where we worship in this, or that geographical place is OVER. From now on, true worshippers will worship "in spirit and in Truth" as Jesus predicted (John 4:23-25). No longer is the temple needed, and so, it is destroyed. The only thing I'd like to point out about the "Mini Apocalypse" is that Jesus talks of wars and rumors of wars as the "beinning's of labor pains". In other words, evil is growing more and more intense, and is repeating itself in concentrated and intense cycles in history. He also warns that we shouldnt panick, or freak out, or believe in rumors of false Messiahs. We could conclude in our day that Jesus would admonish us NOT to go crazy and call every new president, leader, or person in power the anti-Christ. People have been doing that for centuries, and it has never panned out the way people think it will. Jesus would probably tell us not read read the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other. In other words, DONT FREAK OUT AND SPECULATE all day. The most important thing you can do as the labor pains of evil continue to grow closer together and more intense is to STAY FAITHFUL to Jesus Christ, and NOT to fall away as MANY have(Matthew 24:10-13). STAND FIRM, DO NOT LET YOUR LOVE GROW COLD IN THESE EVIL DAYS, DO NOT TURN AWAY. STAND FIRM! WAIT FOR HIM, and be found WORKING AND SERVING when he returns. Don't worry about missing His return! It will be visible to EVERYONE, like a lightening bolt from east to west, and the Son of Man (Jesus) descending in the clouds! How cool will that be for us who stay faithful and wait for Him, throwing off sin and evil, loving, and giving ourselves to him in total devotion! That day will be our best day!
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