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JESUS' OLIVET DISCOURSE
AN EXPLANATION OF JESUS' PROPHETIC MESSAGE ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES
DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?
At the beginning of each page of the Prophecy Section of this journal I ask this question, and explain God's timetable for the second coming of Jesus Christ. That timetable is Daniel's '70th Week'.
The first four pages of my Prophecy Section correspond to four links in a divine 'prophetic chain':
And while I encourage my visitor to examine those pages individually, I also offer a condensed combination of these four links in the following document:
SECOND COMING TIMETABLE (PDF)
Here my two main points are that...
If John's 'Little Book' did not exist, I myself would feel compelled to embrace one of today's three major views on Daniel's 70th Week; Post-Millennialism, A-Millennialism or Dispensationalism. But John's Little Book does exist. Its first three visions depict what God accomplished through the family of Abraham
And the fourth and final vision of John's Little Book depicts a singular characteristic of world history
1) THE TEMPLE AND THE COURTYARD (Revelation 11:1-2)
2) THE TWO WITNESSES (Revelation 11:3-12)
3) THE WOMAN, THE CHILD AND THE DRAGON (Revelation 12)
4) THE BEAST FROM THE SEA (Revelation 13)
PALM SUNDAY: THE HOPE OF ABRAHAM AND DANIEL 9:24
On the day that the Lord Jesus Christ entered into the city of Jerusalem, four days before His death, the people of Israel were hoping for the two things that would come through the promised 'Seed' of Abraham: 1) a share in God's worldwide offer of
Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city (Jerusalem); to finish the transgression , to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity . To bring in everlasting righteousness , to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most Holy . Daniel 9:24
As I have explained in my page titled
And there was another prophecy which associated the coming Israel's
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King comes unto you. He is just, and having salvation ; lowly and riding upon a donkey. Upon a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9
Behold, your King!
Jesus rode upon a donkey as He entered Jerusalem, just as another son of David had done over 900 years earlier:
And King David said “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. Then the king said to them “Take with you my servants, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to the Gihon spring. And there let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. And blow the horn and say ‘Long live King Solomon!’. 1 Kings 1:32-34
That day has come to be known throughout the Christian world as 'Palm Sunday', because the people who accompanied Jesus into the city joyfully waved palm branches in the air and placed them on the road as Jesus rode over them:
And a very great multitude spread their garments in His path. Others cut down branches from the trees, and laid them in the road. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried out saying "Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest". Matthew 21:8-9
And when the Pharisees challenged Jesus about this praise, Jesus gave them a profound answer:
And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him "Master, rebuke Your disciples". And He answered and said unto them "I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out". Luke 40:39-40
THE STORY OF TWO PRINCES
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday He was not only fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy. He was also precisely fulfilling the 69-week timetable of Daniel 9:25:
Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto Messiah the Prince , shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. Daniel 9:25
Sixty-nine weeks of years (
And along with their ignorance of Daniel 9:25, the Jewish people had also closed their eyes to what had been revealed in Daniel 9:26; regarding what would follow the coming of 'Messiah the Prince':
And after the sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself. And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood. And unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Daniel 9:26
And so Jesus rebuked the people of Jerusalem regarding both of these verses; for not having recognized 'their day' and the 'time of their visitation', and for thus insuring that 'another prince' would soon destroy the Temple and the City. Jesus told them that because they had not heeded the timetable that had begun with the permission to rebuild a destroyed Jerusalem, they were about to see Jerusalem destroyed all over again:
And when He had come near, He beheld the city and wept over it, saying "If you had known, even you, at least in this your day , the things which belong to your peace! But now they are hid from your eyes.
For the days shall come upon you when your enemies shall build a trench around you, and surround you, and keep you in on every side. And they shall lay you even with the ground, and your children within you. And they shall not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation . Luke 19:41-44
I believe that the wise men of the Christmas story (Matthew 2:1-12) did pay attention to Daniel's 69-week timetable. They may have come from a part of the world that was familiar with Daniel and his prophecies. They may have even been Jews themselves, from Babylon or Persia, who were faithfully looking for a sign of the Messiah's coming. And my fear is that today's professing Christian church is just as ignorant and neglectful of Daniel's 70-Weeks Prophecy as many Jewish people were 2000 years ago; and will not be found prepared and watchful at His second coming.
THE PASSOVER PROPHECY
Jesus was not only fulfilling prophecies given to Abraham, Daniel and Zechariah on Palm Sunday. As He entered Jerusalem on the 10th day of the first month of Israel's 'religious year', Jesus was fulfilling the original Passover instructions given to Moses and the people of Israel in Egypt:
And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak unto all the congregation of Israel, saying 'In the tenth day of this month they shall take to every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers; a lamb for a house'. And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats.
And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat it. It is the Lord's Passover. Exodus 12:1-7,11
Before discussing Israel's Passover it is first necessary to explain that, for the Jewish people, every day began at sunset. Each day was comprised roughly of 12 hours of nighttime, followed by 12 hours of daytime. Jesus entered Jerusalem during the daylight hours of the 10th day of the first month of Israel's 'religious year'. Everyone in Jerusalem was purchasing his Passover sacrifice for the approaching 14th day. This is why, when Jesus entered the Temple, He found it filled with merchants who were making money from the sale of sacrificial animals and other goods (Matthew 21:12-13).
God had instructed the Hebrew people to obtain their Passover Lamb and to keep it in their homes for four days; in order to inspect it and know that it was physically perfect. These four days also caused the people of Israel to appreciate that something precious, innocent and lovable was being sacrificed for them.
In fulfillment of this four-day period, Jesus entered into the very heart of Israel, Jerusalem, to live openly among the Jewish people and to be subjected to their rigorous inspection on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Jesus taught in the Temple on every one of those four days, and was questioned and tested by the leaders and people of Israel while He did so.
At sunset, marking the end of the 13th day (Wednesday) and the beginning of the 14th day (Thursday), Jesus joined His disciples in eating the Passover. Later that night Jesus was betrayed by Judas, was given a hasty trial by the Jewish leaders and condemned to death, and then was quickly taken to the Roman Governor (Pontius Pilate) to be crucified; because the Jews themselves did not have legal authority to put anyone to death.
When the Jews brought Jesus to Pilate they twisted his arm politically, blackmailing him with the threat that if he showed any mercy to someone claiming to be the king of the Jews, that he would be a traitor to Caesar. And so by 9 AM Jesus had been crucified (unknown by the majority of people in Jerusalem), and by 3 PM He had died. And so Jesus was crucified on the day of Passover; during its daylight hours.
Someone might claim that, in order to fulfill the Passover perfectly, Jesus would have to have been crucified at sunset, 15 hours earlier; at the beginning of Thursday. And that would be a valid argument if there had not been a second sunset on that day. At noon, when the Father gave His Son to become our 'Passover Lamb', we are told in all four of the gospel accounts that darkness came over the earth. There was a second 'twilight' or 'sunset' on that day:
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" That is to say "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me? Matthew 27:45-46
JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED ON A THURSDAY
Traditionally Christians have observed Friday of the Passover week as the day of Jesus' crucifixion; calling it 'Good Friday'. This is because we are told in the gospels that, after Jesus' death, His disciples hurried to put His body in a tomb because sunset was drawing near and a sabbath day was about to begin (during which they were forbidden to work).
And now when the evening was come, because it was the preparation (that is the day before the sabbath) Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor who also waited for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly unto Pilate, and requested the body of Jesus. And Pilate marveled if He were already dead. And calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen, and took him down and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a tomb which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone to the door of the tomb. Mark 15:42-46
And because the gospels also tell us that Jesus was resurrected from the dead at sunrise on Sunday, after 'the sabbath', many have assumed that only one full day (the regular weekly Saturday sabbath) passed between Jesus' burial and His resurrection. But this belief in a Friday crucifixion is mistaken.
The key to understanding the two-day gap between Jesus' death on Thursday afternoon, and His resurrection from the dead at sunrise on Sunday, is to realize that both Friday AND Saturday were sabbath days. This is seen, firstly, in God's ordinance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Leviticus 23:
In the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto the Lord. Seven days you must eat unleavened bread. In the first day (the fifteenth of the month) you shall have an holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein. But you shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days. In the seventh day is an holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein. Leviticus 23:5-8
Although the Jewish people were forbidden to eat leaven on the day of Passover itself, God commanded that the Feast of Unleavened Bread was to begin on the day after the Passover. And no work was to be done on it. It was to be a special, 'high' sabbath day. This was the reason why Joseph of Arimathea hurried to bury Jesus' body before sunset and the end of Passover-Thursday; not because it was a Saturday sabbath, but because it was a 'high' sabbath. And the apostle John confirms this for us:
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said "It is finished", and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day (for that sabbath day was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and they broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they broke not His legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and there came out blood and water. John 19:30-34
But we can rely upon more than the words of John to confirm that there were two sabbath days between Jesus' death and His resurrection. Jesus Himself said that His body would lie three days and three nights in the tomb:
But Jesus answered and said unto them "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. And there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:39-40
Because Joseph of Arimathea hurried to place Jesus' body in a tomb before sunset and the beginning of the sabbath, it is legitimate to say that Jesus' body was in the tomb on Thursday; even if His body was placed in the tomb only a short while before sunset. Thus the three days and three nights that Jesus' body lay in the tomb consisted of Thursday-day, Friday-night and Friday-day, Saturday-night and Saturday-day, and Sunday-night. And Jesus' resurrection occurred at sunrise, just as Sunday-day was beginning.
Why is it important to understand Jesus' Passover week? Because it provides us with the accurate historical context in which He gave the Olivet Discourse to His disciples and the world. As I understand it, Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse on Tuesday of that week.
DANIEL 9:27,SENTENCE 1: THE COVENANT WILL BE CONFIRMED
In the remainder of this page I focus upon the three sentences in the final verse (27) of Daniel's 70-Weeks Prophecy. Those sentences describe the three things that Jesus would be empowered to do as a result of His death and resurrection:
Jesus is God's 'faithful Witness' (Revelation 1:5, 3:14). And so in love for Israel Jesus warned them of their approaching sins, and the punishments that would follow from them. In His first warning, Jesus spoke about individual people who would murder the Son of God:
Hear another parable. There was a certain Householder who planted a vineyard and hedged it round about. And He dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to caretakers, and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit harvest drew near, He sent His servants to the caretakers, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the caretakers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, He sent other servants more than the first; and they did unto them likewise.
But last of all He sent unto them His Son, saying "They will respect My Son". But when the caretakers saw the Son, they said among themselves "This is the Heir. Come, let us kill Him, and let us seize on His inheritance". And they caught Him, and cast Him out of the vineyard, and killed Him. When the Lord therefore of the vineyard comes, what will He do unto those caretakers? They (the Jewish leaders) said unto Him "He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will rent out His vineyard unto other caretakers, who shall render Him the fruits in their seasons". Matthew 21:33-41
It is amazing that forgiveness would be made available to the men who had killed the Son of God. But from the cross Jesus cried out "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). And in Acts chapter 3 Peter also announced the availability of grace and forgiveness for the murderers of Jesus:
But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you; and killed the Prince of life. Whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong; whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. So that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Acts 3:14-19
But in His second parable of 'The Wedding Feast', the Lord Jesus portrayed the guilt of a nation that would despise God's fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, and His invitation to partake of the salvation that He had 'made ready':
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain King who made a marriage for his Son. He sent forth His servants to call them that were invited to the wedding, but they would not come. Again, He sent forth other servants saying "Tell them who are invited 'Behold, I have prepared My dinner. My oxen and My fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come unto the marriage'".
But they made light of it, and went their ways; one to his farm, another to his business. And the rest took His servants and treated them badly, and killed them. But when the King heard this, He was angry. And He sent forth His armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Matthew 22:2-7
The invitation that is given in the parable above is to 'The Wedding Supper of the Lamb' (Revelation 19:9). This parable is a picture of the evangelization of Israel beginning at Pentecost, and continuing on with many divine signs and wonders and much holy living and preaching; until the destruction of Jerusalem.
That Jesus had confirmed the Abrahamic Covenant, and had made forgiveness and salvation possible 'for the Jew first', was the constant theme of Jesus' apostles:
You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham "And in your seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed". Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. Acts 3:25-26
Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. And we declare to you glad tidings. That promise that was made to the fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), God has fulfilled this for us, their children. In that He has raised up Jesus (from the dead). As it is written in the second Psalm 'You are My Son. Today I have begotten you'. Acts 13:26,32-33, Psalm 2:7
Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. Romans 15:8
The culmination of Jesus' public warnings is found in His message to the scribes and Pharisees regarding not only their murder of the Son of God and despising of the fulfilled Abrahamic Covenant, but then their attempt to prevent the further fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant by blocking the proclamation of God's blessing to 'all the nations' of mankind:
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. For you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Matthew 23:13
You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes. Some of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall you scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. Matthew 23:33-36
In the final sentence above, Jesus warned that the judgment of God would fall upon the very generation that He was speaking to. For the Jews a generation was 40 years. That was how long God waited for the first generation of those coming out of Egypt to die off in the wilderness, before allowing Joshua to lead the next generation into the promised land. Speaking in 32 AD, Jesus was saying that the destruction of the Temple would occur before 72 AD, which is exactly what happened.
The apostle Paul, a converted Pharisee, summed up the judgment of God upon Israel:
For you Thessalonians became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Jews. Who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us. And they do not please God and are contrary to all men; forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16
The profound wickedness of unrepentant Jews, after the powerful ministries of John the Baptist, Jesus, and Jesus' disciples, was foretold by the Lord:
When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation. Matthew 12:43-45
DANIEL 9:27,SENTENCE 2: SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS WILL END
On Tuesday of that Passover week, as Jesus was leaving the Temple, He had a brief exchange with His disciples:
Then Jesus went out and departed from the Temple. And His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the Temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:1-2
NOT ONE STONE LEFT UPON ANOTHER
Jesus was not talking about the stones of the Temple Mount, but the stones of the Temple itself; and all of the other structures which rested on top of the Temple Mount. Later that day, as Jesus and His disciples sat on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Temple, they pressed Him for more information, asking Him two questions (Matthew 24:3):
THE TWO QUESTIONS
1) When will the destruction of the Temple occur?
2) What will be the sign of Jesus' second coming and the end of the age?
Jesus' answer to His disciples' questions has come to be known as "The Olivet Discourse". There are three accounts of His answer, recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (Matthew 24:1-44, Mark chapter 13, and Luke 21:5-36). In Matthew's version we also find additional warnings and instructions from the Lord Jesus concerning the need for people to watch and be ready when He comes (chapter 25).
The link below leads to a PDF file providing these three versions on three separate pages; for viewing, downloading and printing. This makes it easy to compare them side by side:
OLIVET PDF VERSIONS
OUTLINE OF THE OLIVET DISCOURSE
The Olivet Discourse is divided into 3 parts. Jesus did not describe the future in chronological order. Instead He began with the middle first:
In part 1 Jesus was describing a period of time that the Bible refers to as 'the Great Tribulation' (Matthew 24:21, Revelation 7:14). The 'Great Tribulation' began in 70 AD, and continues to this present day. It is a period of time that is defined by the casting of Satan out of heaven and down to earth; in a bitter, frustrated and violent rage.
There are five traits that characterize the Great Tribulation. These traits are found in two parallel passages; in Jesus' Olivet Discourse and in the first five seals of Revelation chapter 6. These five traits describe the Roman Catholic Church throughout its history, beginning with Constantine around 320 AD. These are the five traits as Jesus laid them out:
The only difference between Jesus' five traits, and the first five seals of Revelation chapter 6, is that Jesus' 'False Christianity' is replaced in Revelation by a 'Conqueror' on a white horse; representing the false 'militant Christianity' set in motion by Constantine. Constantine claimed to have received divine authorization to conquer the world under the banner of the cross.
DANIEL 9:27,SENTENCE 3: DANIEL'S 'ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION' WILL COME
The three accounts of the Olivet Discourse are essentially identical, except for their wording of part 2 of Jesus' message; the approaching destruction of Jerusalem. Matthew and Mark's words are very similar to each other, linking the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple with Daniel's 'Abomination of Desolation':
As I have pointed out in my previous message on
And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate , even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate .
Daniel 9:27, New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition
This 'winged' being who is an abomination, and brings desolation (destruction) is Satan; having been judged by God and cast out of heaven. And these words in Daniel 9:27 are condensed in Daniel 11:31 and 12:11 to a shorter and simpler phrase; 'the Abomination of Desolation'.
It is this shorter version that the Lord Jesus used in Matthew and Mark to describe an invisible being present at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. When Jesus spoke of 'seeing' the Abomination of Desolation, He was not referring to seeing physical things with physical eyes. He was talking about seeing spiritual things with 'spiritual eyes'.
Matthew and Mark were writing as Jews. The Jewish people understood what an 'abomination' that brought 'desolation' was; something extremely evil that would bring destruction. And an 'abomination of desolation with wings', like Daniel wrote about, would have brought Satan to the mind of any knowledgable Jew.
God's eventual victory over Satan, through His Messiah, is a major theme of the Old Testament. It began with the promise that a 'seed of the woman' would someday crush Satan's head (Genesis 3:15). It continued with the promise that a 'Seed of Abraham' would bring salvation to the world, while also taking eternal possession of Canaan.
And God prophetically displayed Satan to the world through the Pharaoh of Egypt in Exodus. God was revealing that Satan would someday be defeated through God's true Passover Lamb. But like Pharaoh's unwillingness to let his captives go (even though his kingdom had already been destroyed), Satan also is unwilling to let humanity go. He would rather plunge all of mankind into the 'Red Sea' of God's 'Lake of Fire and Brimstone' along with himself, than bow to God.
Satan's relentless and merciless wickedness, while knowing that he has been justly defeated and that his doom is deserved, was described by the prophet Isaiah:
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities? Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’.
You will not be joined with them (the kings of the nations) in burial. Because you have destroyed your land and slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named. Isaiah 14:12,15-17,20
Truly, in this prophecy of Isaiah, Daniel's 'Abomination of Desolation' is described. And so, consistent with this Jewish worldview, Jesus exposed Satan's uniquely abominable character by referring to him as 'the evil one'.
But Gentiles would not have been familiar with Daniel or these Old Testament ideas. And so God has used Luke to provide the world with a 'Gentile version' of the Olivet Discourse. Luke himself was a Gentile, and was sensitive to the needs of a Gentile audience. In addition Luke was a close acquaintance and frequent traveling companion of the Apostle Paul; the 'apostle to the Gentiles'.
TWO PERSPECTIVES ON ONE EVENT
Notice the difference in Luke's version of the Olivet Discourse:
Luke makes no reference to Satan. Instead Luke describes the visible circumstances regarding Jerusalem's destruction; being surrounded by the armies of Rome. And Luke does not depict Satan's rage against Israel, but God's rage. The following verses come immediately after the verses above:
For these are the days of VENGEANCE , that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that nurse children in those days! For there shall be great distress in the land, and WRATH UPON THIS PEOPLE . And they shall fall by the edge of the sword , and shall be led away captive into all nations . And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles , until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled . Luke 21:22-24
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Luke presented Jesus' words in a way that Gentiles would easily grasp. This is why Matthew and Mark had to say 'let the reader understand'; warning people to be careful with Daniel's phrase, the 'Abomination of Desolation'. By contrast Luke's gospel is very plain and straightforward, requiring no such warning.
And so Luke makes it clear to the entire world that the coming of Daniel's 'Abomination of Desolation' and Rome's destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD are simultaneous events. This does not mean that the armies of Rome themselves were Daniel's 'Abomination of Desolation'. Instead Luke's words show us that Daniel's 'Abomination of Desolation' would use the armies of Rome to fulfill his bitter, angry purposes.
Satan's use of human agents is seen in the book of Revelation. As I explain in my page titled
And this same 'flood of destruction' against the Jews is depicted in the third vision of John's Little Book:
Now when the Dragon (Satan) saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman (Israel) who gave birth to the male Child (Christ). But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place; where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time (the period of Israel's 'Diaspora'), from the presence of the Serpent.
So the Serpent (Satan) spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the Dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the Dragon was enraged with the woman. And he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Christians). Revelation 12:13-17
This is a 'flood of persecution' coming out of the mouth of a defeated, enraged Dragon; directed against the Jewish people because they gave birth to the One who has defeated him; the promised 'Seed of Abraham'. It is a 'flood of hatred' toward the Jewish people that continues around the world to this present day.
And there is a second passage in Revelation that connects Satan directly with the armies of Rome under Titus:
The Dragon (Satan) gave the Beast his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the Beast. So they worshiped the Dragon who gave authority to the Beast; and they worshiped the Beast, saying, “Who is like the Beast? Who is able to make war with him?” Revelation 13:2-4
And so in consistency with the scriptures, we must distinguish Satan from the armies of Rome in these two accounts of Jerusalem's desolation in the Olivet Discourse. We must appreciate the fact that, by giving the world two separate descriptions of Jerusalem's destruction in 70 AD, God in His wisdom was revealing all of the parties that were involved in that momentous event; including Himself.
And so, just as a specific historical date in 445 BC marked the beginning of the 69-week timetable, and was the 'key' that would enable people to calculate when Messiah would come for the first time, so also a date of 70 AD is the key for understanding Daniel's final 70th Week. It does not mark the beginning of that Week, but its midpoint; when sacrifices and offerings in the Temple in Jerusalem would be brought to an end.
This is the reason why
JESUS GAVE A DATE FOR THE MIDPOINT OF THE 70th WEEK:
70 AD
WHY THREE VERSIONS?
The three records of the Olivet Discourse are a 'package deal'. God never intended that we should rely upon only one account of Jesus' message. One might ask 'Why would God require us to struggle with these things, like pieces in a puzzle? Why not simply spell everything out?' I believe that there are three reasons for this:
The meaning of God's word is not always served up on a platter. God often reserves an understanding of His word for those who respect it and believe that their careful digging for 'spiritual gold' will be rewarded. In His wisdom God has often required spiritually hungry people 'to work' in order 'to eat', while at the same time making the answers simple enough that a child can 'digest' them:
Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gets understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain of it better than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you can desire are not to be compared to her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold upon her, and happy is every one who keeps her. Proverbs 3:13-18
Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asks, receives. And he who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, it shall be opened. Luke 11:9-10
But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6
The history of the people of Israel has long been one of studying God's word, and comparing various scripture passages with one another; in order to arrive at an accurate sense of their meaning. This practice had been learned by the Lord Jesus at the age of 12:
And when Jesus' parents did not find Him, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came to pass that, after three days, that they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors; both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. Luke 2:45-47
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them (in the Jewish synagogue) and for three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures. Acts 17:2
These (in Berea) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, to know whether those things were true. Acts 17:11
Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God. Which things also we speak. Not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:12-13
We must not question God's requirement that we compare scripture with scripture. And so now I invite my visitor to join me in taking what I have already presented about the Abrahamic Covenant, Daniel's 70-Weeks Prophecy, and Jesus' Olivet Discourse, and bringing it together with an examination of John's Little Book; a 'book' first encountered in Revelation chapter 10.
YOU DON'T SEE SATAN?
There are many views on Daniel's 'Abomination of Desolation' and Jesus' Olivet Discourse. I discuss two of them in my page titled '
Here I present some New Testament passages that might help to bring such renewal. Let me begin by quoting Jesus' words about His approaching victory over Satan:
NOW is the judgment of this world; NOW the ruler of this world will be CAST OUT. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth (on a cross), will draw all peoples to Myself. John 12:31-32
Jesus later repeated this same concept: 'That God's revealed judgment of Satan will send a signal to a world that has chosen to follow Satan; that its own future judgment is now a certainty also. Jesus said that this would be a primary message of the Holy Spirit:
And when the Holy Spirit has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they do not believe in Me. Of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more. Of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. John 16:8-11
And so, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, God's open casting of Satan out of heaven and down to earth around 70 AD has been a central message of the Holy Spirit TO THE WORLD for the past 1950+ years.
And Jesus has also spoken TO CHRISTIANS about their battles against Satan during those 1950+ years:
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Matthew 6:13
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. John 16:33
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day; and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:10-13
But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3
Be sober, be vigilant (watchful). Because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 1 Peter 5:8-9
Watchfulness (or 'the fear of the Lord') is foundational to a Christian's 'overcoming'. It distinguishes those who will be ready when Jesus comes, from those who will not. It separates 'wise virgins' from 'foolish virgins' (Matthew 25:1-13).
I believe that the false doctrine of 'Once Saved, Always Saved' is the primary reason why so many Christians take prophecy lightly. They don't believe that the fate of their eternal souls still hangs upon 'every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'; including His prophetic words. And they listen to pastors who often portray prophecy as too complicated for laymen. Thus they treat prophecy like a secondary subject; about which good Christians can 'agree to disagree'. Such carelessness may end with disastrous consequences.