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Luke 21 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00Luke [music] 21:1 it says, "And he
0:04looked up and saw the rich putting their
0:07gifts into the [music] treasury. And he
0:09saw a poor widow putting in two small
0:12copper coins. And he said, "Truly I say
0:16to you, this poor widow put in more than
0:20all of them. For they all out of their
0:23surplus put into the offering, but she
0:27out of her poverty [music]
0:28put in all that she had to live on.
0:32And while some were talking about the
0:34temple that it was adorned with
0:36beautiful stones and votive gifts, he
0:39said, "As for these things which you are
0:43looking at, the days will come in which
0:46there will not be left one stone upon
0:48another which will not be torn down."
0:52They questioned him, saying, "Teacher,
0:54when therefore will these things happen?
0:58And what will be the sign when these
1:00things are about to take place? And he
1:03said, "See to it that you are not
1:06misled, for many will come in my name,
1:09saying, I am he,
1:12and the time is near." Do not go after
1:15them. When you hear of wars and
1:18disturbances, do not be terrified,
1:21for these things must take place first,
1:24but the end does not follow immediately.
1:29In these first verses, Jesus is giving
1:32us a principle about giving and that is
1:36that God is not interested in how much
1:41we put in. He's interested in what
1:44percentage
1:46we gave. The woman gave two copper
1:50coins, but it was more than everyone
1:53else. And that goes for our sacrifices.
1:57That goes for our generosity, our
2:00contributions.
2:02He doesn't assess what we gave based on
2:06a specific dollar amount. He assesses
2:09how much it cost us to give.
2:12And then in the next scene it [music]
2:15says that they are commenting and
2:19admiring the temple buildings. They're
2:21admiring what the gold that they have
2:24given has contributed to making. It
2:27would be very similar to how uh medieval
2:29Christians looked at cathedrals. Wow,
2:33look at what my gift was able to
2:36accomplish. Look at this glorious
2:38building. And Jesus tells them,"Not one
2:41stone will be left upon another that
2:42will not be torn down. You've basically
2:45given yourself to something that's going
2:47to be a complete waste because you
2:49haven't invested in the kingdom or the
2:51house that the Lord is building."
2:54And of of course they question him,
2:57when therefore will these things happen?
3:00And I would say the consistent theme in
3:03all the gospels is that when Jesus tells
3:07that something bad is going to happen or
3:09when he points toward the destruction of
3:11the temple or the great tribulation,
3:14they always ask him when. And his theme
3:16is he always tells them it's going to be
3:18a lot longer than you think. It's going
3:21to be a lot further out. So he's
3:24constantly warning them in all of the
3:26parables, don't think it's very fast.
3:30Don't think it's going to happen
3:31immediately. So, this runs counter to
3:35the mantras of modern Christianity or
3:39really Christianity for the last several
3:41hundred years, maybe the last 2,000
3:43years. The Lord's going to come back any
3:45day. Jesus in fact constantly warned
3:49that he was going to delay and that it
3:52was going to be a lot longer process
3:54than people were expecting. But he goes
3:56and he elaborates this further. He says,
4:00"Then he continued by saying to them,
4:03nation will rise against nation and
4:07kingdom against kingdom." So he's now
4:09giving them the details on the markers
4:12that are going to emerge before the end
4:15comes. And this word nation against
4:18nation, it's ethnos against ethnos. So
4:21we kind of think of it as nation and
4:23kingdom is the same thing. That's not
4:25how Jesus is thinking of it. He's saying
4:28ethnic tension is going to mark the
4:31approach of the end. There's going to be
4:33racial tension and there's going to be
4:36national or political tension. So,
4:39ethnos, ethnic group will rise against
4:41ethnic group. Nation and kingdom,
4:45political political tensions will
4:47emerge. Nation will rise against nation
4:49and kingdom against kingdom. And there
4:52will be great earthquakes and in various
4:55places plagues and famines. And there
4:59will be terrors and great signs from
5:02heaven.
5:04But before all these things, they will
5:06lay their hands on you and will
5:08persecute you, delivering you to the
5:11synagogues and prisons, bringing you
5:13before kings and governors for my name's
5:16sake.
5:17it will lead to an opportunity for your
5:20testimony. So he says in the end there's
5:22going to be great earthquakes. There's
5:25going to be plagues and famines, racial
5:27tension and political tension. But
5:30before that even starts, the disciples
5:32he was ministering to were going to be
5:34persecuted in synagogues. They're going
5:36to be drugged before rulers. He's
5:38telling exactly what did in fact happen.
5:41But he says that when you're when you're
5:43brought before rulers and and and
5:46delivered into the synagogues, it will
5:49lead to an opportunity for testimony. So
5:52make up your minds not to prepare
5:54beforehand to defend yourselves. For I
5:58will give you utterance and wisdom,
6:01which none of your opponents will be
6:03able to resist or refute.
6:06But you will be betrayed even by parents
6:09and brothers and relatives and friends,
6:12and they will put some of you to death,
6:14and you will be hated by all because of
6:18my name. Yet not a hair of your head
6:20will perish. By your endurance, you will
6:23gain your lives. Or a better translation
6:27says, through your patience, you will
6:30possess your souls.
6:32But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by
6:34armies, then recognize that her
6:37desolation has come. Now Jesus has just
6:41wept over Jerusalem in the previous
6:43chapter and he has said, "Oh Jerusalem,
6:45if you had known what would make for
6:47your peace,
6:49but your house is going to be left to
6:50you desolate." So he's now describing
6:53the desolation that is going to come. He
6:57tells them, "Make up in your minds not
7:00to prepare beforehand to defend
7:03yourselves." I don't think this means
7:05that you shouldn't think about how to
7:08testify. I think it really means exactly
7:11what it says, that we shouldn't worry
7:14about defending ourselves because God
7:16will give us an utterance. He'll give us
7:19an anointing to speak and he'll give us
7:22a wisdom which none of our opponents
7:25will be able to resist. Then he goes in
7:27and he says, "It's going to be family
7:30that hurt you the worst. You're going to
7:32be betrayed even by parents, brothers,
7:34relatives, and friends, and you're going
7:36to be put to death." And then he says,
7:38"You will be hated by all because of my
7:41name. Yet not a hair of your head will
7:44perish." And we say, "What what does
7:46that mean? If we're going to be put to
7:48death,
7:50if we're going to be betrayed,
7:52even unto death, what does it mean that
7:54not a hair of our head will perish? And
7:57the next sentence really clarifies it
8:00for me. He says, "Through your patience,
8:02you will possess your souls." I think
8:04he's speaking spiritually. I think he's
8:07saying that nothing is going to happen
8:10to us outside of God's will. And if
8:12we're put to death, we may be perishing
8:16physically, but we won't be perishing.
8:18We will be finding salvation for our
8:21eternal souls. But when you see
8:23Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then
8:26recognize that her desolation is near.
8:29And we say, well, is he talking about
8:31the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD or is
8:34he talking about the great tribulation?
8:37And the answer is yes. He's talking
8:39about both. because the sacking of
8:41Jerusalem in 70 AD is a type and a
8:45foreshadowing of the great tribulation.
8:47And some of what he's saying certainly
8:49refers to that and some of it has to be
8:52other than that because he talks about
8:55how this is going to usher in the return
8:58his return from heaven to earth. So I
9:01think that in the end that the nations
9:04are going to be surrounding Jerusalem
9:05just like they were in the sacking of
9:07Jerusalem in 70 AD. But when you see
9:10Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then
9:12recognize that her desolation is near.
9:15Then those who are in Judea must flee to
9:18the mountains, and those who are in the
9:20midst of the city must leave, and those
9:23who are in the country must not enter
9:25the city. So he's not celebrating
9:28urbanism during these times of trouble.
9:32If you're in the midst of the city, get
9:33out. If you're in the country, go
9:35further out of the city. go to the
9:37mountains
9:39because these are days of vengeance so
9:41that all things which were written will
9:44be fulfilled. Woe to those who are
9:46pregnant and to those who are nursing
9:49babies in those days for there will be
9:51great distress upon the land and wrath
9:55to this people. And they will fall by
9:58the edge of the sword and will be led
10:00captive into all the nations. and
10:02Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by
10:05the Gentiles until the times of the
10:08Gentiles are fulfilled. So here he's
10:13clearly speaking of the sacking of
10:15Jerusalem, but it's also speaking that's
10:19metaphorical of the great tribulation
10:21and his return. But he says that
10:24Jerusalem is going to be trampled
10:26underfoot by the Gentiles until the time
10:29of the Gentiles is fulfilled. Of course,
10:33this is referring to what Paul speaks of
10:36in Romans 11:25. Paul uses the exact
10:40same phrase that the time of the
10:42Gentiles will be fulfilled. And what
10:45this is is when Jesus is going up to the
10:48temple, he encounters the fig tree as
10:51told in Mark and in Matthew's gospel. Um
10:56the fig tree is symbolic of Judaism. The
10:59fig tree does not have any fruit on it
11:01because when [clears throat]
11:03when those rulers of the temple came to
11:05be baptized by John, he told them to go
11:08bear fruits in keeping with repentance.
11:10They did not. The fruit would have been
11:12a recognition of his authority, the
11:15presence and anointing of God. They
11:17don't recognize it. They say, "By what
11:18authority?" And he knows they haven't
11:20borne the fruits of repentance
11:22immediately. So he tells that fig tree,
11:25"No one will ever eat fruit from you
11:27again forever." So this is representing
11:30God taking his favor off of the Jewish
11:34system as a saving authority, as a
11:38saving mechanism for his people. and
11:40he's moving it into the true Israel,
11:44those who will receive it by faith.
11:47Those who who do not seek the
11:49righteousness that is through the law,
11:51but those who seek it through faith. He
11:54tells them that he says that you're
11:56going to say to this mountain, he tells
11:58the disciples, you're going to say to
12:00this mountain, "Be taken up and cast
12:02into the sea and it will obey you." The
12:05way I see that is he doesn't say you'll
12:08say to any mountain. He says, "You'll
12:10say to this mountain," and it's in these
12:13this very time that he's preaching this
12:15in Luke, he says this also in Matthew.
12:18So you'll say to this mountain, "What
12:20mountain?" Mount Zion, the mount of the
12:23temple, the temple mount. You'll be
12:25taken up and cast into the sea. Now,
12:28this refers to the diaspora. This refers
12:31to the exile and dispersion. So when he
12:34says that they will be led away into all
12:36nations and taken captive, he's saying
12:38that the inhabitants of Jerusalem will
12:41be scattered throughout Europe. That's
12:43the diaspora. That's the scattering of
12:46the Jews into the sea. Because the term
12:49sea here refers to the gentile nations.
12:54When the Lord uses the sea in many of
12:57these prophecies, he's talking about the
12:59gentile nations. when he uses the Dead
13:01Sea, he's talking about the stubborn
13:03Jewish nation. So here he says the
13:06mountain is going to be cast into the
13:08sea. That means Mount Zion, the temple
13:11mount, the Jewish population even, is
13:14going to be thrown into exile. And the
13:18result is that Jerusalem is going to be
13:21walked on by Gentiles. And that's a
13:24figure of speech to say Gentiles are
13:26going to control the city of Jerusalem
13:30until the time of the Gentiles is
13:33fulfilled. This means that God is going
13:36to focus on cultivating a people for his
13:39name out from among the Gentiles. He's
13:42going to lead the Gentiles through a
13:45process of law and conformity and the
13:48fear of God that that is parallel to
13:51what he led the children of Israel on up
13:54until the coming of Christ. So that's
13:56what we see. We see the pagan nations,
13:58the Huns and the Visigoths and the the
14:01the Romans and the Kelts and all
14:05throughout the European nations, we see
14:07this cultivation of wild olive branches
14:11into the basics of the law. It's not
14:14it's not the pure version of
14:16Christianity that we see in the book of
14:18Acts, but it's this law version. It's
14:20this fear of God version. It's this
14:23angelic version where the gentile
14:26nations are cultivated until they can
14:29come to the restoration that we did see
14:31in the book of Acts. But then there's
14:33this point where God ceases to make his
14:38emphasis a conversion of the gentile
14:41nations and he starts to focus on the
14:45Jews again. And this represents a pivot
14:48in his prophetic timetable where the
14:50times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And
14:53that doesn't mean that that's the moment
14:56where no more Gentile believers are
14:58saved. That means that's the moment
15:00where God starts shifting his attention
15:03to the Jews. And you say, "What Jews?
15:06Does that refer to the Christians?"
15:09Because Paul says they are not Jews who
15:11are outwardly but inwardly of the heart.
15:14And you say, or does it refer to the
15:16ethnic Jewish people who were
15:18dispossessed, who were cast into the sea
15:20of the gentile nations? And the answer
15:22is yes. So whenever Jerusalem stops
15:26being trampled underfoot by the
15:27Gentiles, that marks a point where God
15:31is going to be focusing on the church
15:34and on the conversion of the ethnic
15:37family of Israel. And so that's a that's
15:40the moment where he's saying, "Okay, the
15:42big number has been brought in. Now the
15:44big number needs to be converted. Now
15:46the big number needs to find the
15:48fullness of the power of the spirit and
15:50the restoration of what was started in
15:54the book of Acts. So we are in a season
15:57when Jerusalem Jerusalem was trampled
15:59underfoot by the Gentiles from the
16:02sacking in 70 AD until 1967.
16:07In 1967 during the six- day war, Israel
16:11took back control of the old city of
16:13Jerusalem. And from that moment on, the
16:16world utterly and completely changed.
16:19That was a turning point in human
16:21history. In the within months in 1968,
16:26we see the greatest upheaval in our
16:29memory. More riots were erupting around
16:32the world than at any other time. We see
16:35the cultural and social revolution is at
16:37its apex. We see the tearing down of
16:40values in universities, in the media.
16:44The [snorts] world changes. The age of
16:46the 40s and 50s and straightlaced
16:49America dies and this new version of
16:54debauchery and rebellion takes off
16:57throughout all Western cultures. That's
16:59the year when Robert Kennedy is
17:01assassinated. That's the year when
17:02Martin Luther King is assassinated 68
17:06within just months of Jerusalem moving
17:09into the hands of the Jews. Something
17:12turned. And that's the year when the
17:15focus is not the unchurched pagan out in
17:19the bush. The focus becomes a revival
17:22among the church and among the Jews. So
17:25Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by
17:27the Gentiles till the times of the
17:29Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be
17:32signs in sun and moon and stars and on
17:36the earth dismay among the nations in
17:39perplexity at the roaring of the sea and
17:42of the waves. So he's saying that there
17:46will be
17:48events, weather system events that are
17:50going to mark the end. the sun. There
17:54will be things like solar eclipses. The
17:57moon, that could simply be lunar
18:00eclipses, but it could be other things
18:02as well. There will be perplexity at the
18:06roaring of the waves. If you look at the
18:08tsunami that crashed ashore in, I
18:12believe 2004 in Indonesia and was the
18:15deadliest natural disaster in recorded
18:18uh recent history.
18:20That's perplexity. What is happening?
18:23Earthquake under the sea, tsunami above.
18:26If you look at the earthquake that
18:28crashed ashore Japan in 2011, I believe
18:31it was. Again, perplexity at the roaring
18:34of the sea. It could also indicate
18:37rising sea levels. We don't know.
18:40Men fainting from fear and the
18:43expectation of the things which are
18:45coming upon the world. for the powers of
18:48the heavens will be shaken. Now, this is
18:51not talking about the sacking of
18:52Jerusalem anymore. This is talking about
18:55after Jerusalem has been under the foot
18:57of the Gentiles for 1800 years, then it
19:00falls back into the hands of the Jews.
19:02That's actually a sign that we're
19:04nearing the end. But near, does that
19:07refer to years or decades or hundreds of
19:11years? We don't know.
19:13Then they will see the Son of Man coming
19:16in a cloud with power and great glory.
19:20But when these things begin to take
19:23place, straighten up and lift up your
19:26heads because your redemption is drawing
19:30near. So this is critical. He says that
19:34when all these troubling signs begin to
19:36emerge, the godly are going to be
19:39relieved.
19:41Now, that indicates that the godly are
19:43going to be terribly oppressed in the
19:45great tribulation.
19:47But when they see all these signs start
19:50taking place in the natural world,
19:52they're going to be relieved because
19:53they feel that their redemption is
19:55drawing near. They're not going to be
19:57terrified like everyone else. They're
19:58going to be relieved. Straighten up
20:01because the time of your redemption is
20:03drawing near. That tells us that we're
20:05going to be needing redemption terribly.
20:08So then he told them a parable. Behold
20:12the fig tree and all the trees. As soon
20:15as they put forth leaves, you see it and
20:18you know for yourselves that summer is
20:21now near. Now if the fig tree symbolizes
20:25the Jewish community, he's saying look
20:28to the Jewish community. When Israel is
20:31reborn,
20:33it's put on new leaves. A tree that was
20:36dead for 18,800 years has put on new
20:38leaves, and that's great. But that means
20:42that summer, the great tribulation, is
20:44near. Behold the fig tree and all the
20:47trees. As soon as they put forth leaves,
20:50you see it, and you know for yourselves
20:52that summer is now near. So you also,
20:55when you see these things happening,
20:57recognize that the kingdom of God is
21:00near. Truly I say to you, this
21:03generation will not pass away until all
21:06things take place. Which generation? The
21:10generation that sees Israel reborn. That
21:13could be what he means. I think a more
21:16comprehensive
21:18uh understanding is to understand the
21:20regeneration.
21:22that the generation refers to those who
21:25are born of the spirit and that the the
21:28spirit-born believers will not be wiped
21:31from the earth before the Lord returns.
21:34Heaven and earth will pass away but my
21:37words will not pass away. be on your
21:40guard that your hearts will not be
21:42weighed down with dissipation and
21:44drunkenness
21:46and the worries of life and that that
21:49day will not come on you suddenly like a
21:52trap. So if we're on our guard, if we're
21:56not weighed down by modernity's
21:58dissipation and drunkenness and the
22:01worries of our shallow life, then that
22:04day will not come on [music] us like a
22:06trap. We will see it as redemption for
22:09it will come upon all those who dwell on
22:11the face of the earth. So this is not
22:13referring only to Jerusalem, all those
22:17who dwell on the face of the earth. But
22:20keep on the alert at all times, praying
22:23that you may have strength to escape all
22:26[music] these things that are about to
22:28take place and to stand before the son
22:30of man.
22:32Now during the day he was teaching in
22:35the temple but at evening he would go
22:37out and spend the night on the mount
22:40that is called Alvette and all the
22:43people would get up early in the morning
22:44to come to him in the temple to listen
22:47to him. Now I believe that that is a
22:49little clue [music] right there that
22:52Luke is telling us Jesus had two zones.
22:57He was in public he was at the temple.
23:01In private he was sleeping out on the
23:04Mount of Olives. And I believe that that
23:07is actually how Judas betrayed him. I
23:10believe that he was only showing himself
23:14when among a crowd. He was meeting his
23:17enemies in a crowded place [music] so to
23:20speak. And his private whereabouts when
23:23he was alone he was that was secret.
23:26only his disciples knew. So I think that
23:28the way Judas betrayed him was that he
23:32actually told them, he told his enemies
23:35where specifically he was staying.
23:36[music] He gave the whereabouts so that
23:39they could arrest him away from the
23:41crowd that may have opposed them.
23:45[music]

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