ENDURE AND BE READY
Luke 21:19-38– June 19, 2022
Luke 21:19.19 By your endurance you will gain your lives. ESV & NET
19 Stand firm, and you will win life. NIV
19 In your patience possess ye your souls. KJV
Endurance or Stand firm from Strong’s 5281, Endurance, steadfastness, patient waiting for
Lives, life, or souls from Strong’s 5590, breath, the soul
Luke 21:20-24a. Turn back to Luke 19:41-44, what we just read here in chapter 21 let’s us know why Jesus wept over Jerusalem. And what did He do, knowing what was coming? Verses 45-46 tell us he drove out all those who were selling.
V20 desolation is near, this prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled in 70 AD when Jerusalem was totally sacked and flattened. Not a single Jew was left alive. Over 1.1 million were killed and or crucified. Another 97,000 taken as slaves to work in copper mines, build coliseums, and to be prey in the coliseums for wild animals. Another .5 to 1.0 million were killed throughout Israel.
How bad was it for those trapped in Jerusalem while it was under siege? We know there was little to no food at the end. They even boiled straw and drank the soup from that. There was even cannibalism. I will spare you the details but read Moses’ prophecy of this time in Deuteronomy 28:49-57 to find out just how bad it became.
V22 time of punishment or days of vengeance, this was a time of judgment for Israel for rejecting their Messiah and crucifying Him. They knew the miracles He had performed, how He had raised the dead, how He had healed the sick, the lame, those with leprosy, driven out demons and on and on, yet they still chose to hate Him and crucify Him. Thus, judgment came.
Interestingly, it is believed no Jewish Christians died in the sacking of Jerusalem as they remembered what Jesus had said and fled across the Jordan to the city of Pella when some had visions of Rome surrounding the city with their army.
Luke 21:24b. Commentaries tell us this is a pivot away from the judgment that will come in 70 AD to what will happen at the end of time per Daniel and Revelation.
Luke 21:25-28. None of these signs applied to what happened in 70 AD. They are yet to come. These will be signs in the midst of the tribulation and the great tribulation – the second half.
Look to Revelation 19: 11-14, Those following Him on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean –
that’s us! How is that you ask? Look to 1 Thessalonians 5:9and 1 Thessalonians 4:17,
Luke 21:29-33. V32 lots of controversy, but of the many ways to look at it only two make sense to me, so I will share those with you. First, the current generation refers to those who will experience the sacking of Jerusalem and another generation that will experience the return of Christ. The other is that the word generation could also come mean race as in the race or people of the Jews. And we know from Revelation Jews will return to Jerusalem, so I like this explanation. Reread v32 with this in mind and it makes a great deal of sense with all that the Jews have experienced from this time through the 20th century and even today. V33 Jesus declares who He is!
Luke 21:34-36. V34 takes us right back to v19. It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day small trials and tribulations and pleasures (TV, cars, etc) and forget our relationship with Jesus. We need to be careful that Luke 8:14 does not apply to us over time and 1 Peter 5:7, 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
If we are to escape, we need to endure and remain ready so that when Jesus comes calling as in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 and 5:9.
Luke 21:37-38. Even knowing He would soon be crucified Jesus continued living as one of us
Bottom Line: Live our lives just as Jesus lived His, but making sure to endure and remain ready. That is our job as Fathers for ourselves and our families.
END.
All the detail you may want on the 66-74 AD Jewish Revolt may be found at the following PDF download link as one source.
NOTES on the siege of Jerusalem
68-69 AD Rome went through 3 Emperors before settling upon Vespasian as the new Emperor.
He was in charge of the war against Israel but left in December of 69 AD leaving his son Titus to complete his work.
Titus began the siege of Jerusalem on April 23, 70 AD and it was not until July 17 that the assault began on the temple which continued until the temple was destroyed on August 10.
Titus and his father celebrated the victory over Jerusalem in 71 AD in Rome.
However, the was continued until the siege of Masada in 73 AD and the fall of Masada in 74 AD.
The Roman force needed to against Judea was greater than that used to conquer Britain where Vespasian fought in 30 battles.
After the destruction of Jerusalem, the city was renamed by the Romans eventually, and would permit no Jews in the city except on the day the temple fell.