#HolocaustMemorialDay

Holocaust Memorial Day

As we soberly reflect on the sufferings of the Jewish people let me draw your attention to the words of Jesus Christ, the most famous Jew who ever lived. I know some will disagree with the statement and point to Abraham, Moses or some famous Jew of modern times but please bear with me for a moment or two!

In this passage of scripture today (see below) the Lord Jesus is answering and replying to his disciples. They were passing what we now call Temple Mount and were awe struck by the majesty and splendour of the architecture and the quality of stone masonry.

Jesus moves their thinking from the wonder of the present to consider the future. Initially he is saying the temple will not last, it is doomed for a day of destruction. Sadly it was to be destroyed in AD70 when Titus ransacked and destroyed the temple leaving very little standing.

Peter, James, John and Andrew are inquisitive and keen to know more. As they sit on the temple side of the mount of Olives, no doubting continuing to gaze at the Temple structure, they ask Jesus - when will it happen and will there be any warning signs that it is about to happen? A good question! Before I summarise Jesus' answer it would be worth reading the reply recorded in verses 5 - 37! I've added it at the end of this blog for your convenience.

If you have just read these verses you will hopefully notice that the Lord Jesus bridges the times in which he lived with end times. He starts with the temple as it was in his day but infers that the biggest issue they need to think about will not be the destruction of the temple in AD70 but the desolation and defiling of a future temple (v14). 

This is a big topic and we would need to refer to many passages in the Bible to get a real grasp of it. However Jesus points us to one passage indicating that Daniel the prophet also spoke about the same event (see Daniel 9). When you read Daniel and other relevant scriptures, 2 Thess 2, Matt 24, Luke 21, you could only come to one conclusion: A new Temple will be built in Jerusalem before Jesus comes again (v36) and the long stopped practice of animal sacrifice will be reintroduced. Then a non-Jewish world leader will rise on the world stage (Rev 13). He will stop the animal sacrifices and break a seven year deal that he has negotiated with Israel. At this stage he will place some form of image of himself (2 Thess 2, Rev 13) in the 'holiest of all', the most holy place of Jewish worship, and sacrilegiously defile their temple once again. This has already happened once in their history in the period following Alexander the Great but this future event will usher in another period of 'holocaust' treatment of God's chosen people! 

There are many predictions made in Mark 13. As with all bible prophecy they usually have two points of fulfilment (see one example above). The predictions about wars, earthquakes, famines and troubled times have happened to some extent but will also reoccur as we approach end times. The predictions about persecution and the spread of the gospel equally have an application to the start of Christianity, as was very relevant to the disciples, and will see fulfilment as Jewish evangelists (see Revelation 7, Matthew 24. 14) preach about the coming Messiah and His coming kingdom after the church has been raptured to heaven. The heart of man never changes. What drives man to hate has always been the the same. Whether in the holocaust of WW2 or the current day! The hatred of the world for the Jews has always been the same. The origin of the hated comes from another source, the arch enemy of God, the Devil.

God chose the nation of Israel to be the means by which he will bless the world and despite the horrific treatment of this nation by most civilisations God will see to it that this comes true in His own time. The future return of Jesus to rescue the nation of Israel from future anti-semitism is assured in the bible, Zechariah 14, Matthew 24. 29,30, Luke 21. 25-28. He will also come to judge the nations of the world in respect of their treatment of Israel at that stage, Matthew 25. This is a separate issue from the day when God will judge all of mankind, Revelation 20. 11-15.

Today, God is blessing people in the world today through a Jew - his name is Jesus. He is the Son of God and the scripture states 'when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a women, made under the law,' Gal. 4. 4. Jesus was born when the time was exactly right, he was born in a human family by the miracle of the virgin conception, a Jewish family to be precise. All this being the fulfilment of the ancient predictions of scripture.

As we reflect today on National Holocaust Day and mourn the wicked treatment of a race do not suppose for a moment that it couldn't happen again. Indeed it will happen again! Your choice should be to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, Psalm 122. 6, and to trust their greatest Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Saviour, Acts 16.31. 

For more information and further explanations of the message of the bible via videos, blogs and podcasts please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Mark 13King James Version (KJV)

13 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!

2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,

4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:

6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.

8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.

13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

15 And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house:

16 And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.

17 But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

18 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.

19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

21 And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:

22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.

26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

For more information and further explanations of the message of the bible via videos, blogs and podcasts please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Are we hurtling towards the end of time with our eyes closed?

Our May issue of Echoes of Service Missionary Magazine arrived with a pullout update enclosed. Having read the introduction I contacted the Director who wrote the piece and asked permission to use it this month, to which he agreed. I commend the following extract for you careful consideration. I think it is very good, what do you think?      

                        

‘The current events in the Middle East are bewildering, complex and could potentially be apocalyptic. Iran’s push for nuclear weaponry, Islamic State’s attempt to establish a new caliphate, President Assad’s oppression of the Syrian people and the Sunni versus Shi’ite political infighting all make for a bleak picture.

To date, in Syria alone, 200,000 have died and 11 million people have been displaced. However, God is sovereign and His purpose will prevail.

Many people in the Middle East are questioning Islamic teaching and in their confusion are seeking the Truth.

The first verse of the last Book of the Bible reads, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.”  Verse 9 tells us where John was, he was on the isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, and verse 10 says that it was the Lord’s Day, which is Sunday, the first day of the week. The Lord’s Day is a period of 24 hours, whereas the Day of the Lord will be over a thousand years.

The New Testament was written in Greek and the word for Revelation is ‘apokalupsis’ where we get our word ‘apocalypse’, or, ‘revelation’, and carries the thought of unveiling. In this Book, God the Spirit, unveils future events as they relate to the Son of God in His purposes on earth, in Heaven and in eternity. These events comprise the Day of Christ in Heaven, the Day of the Lord on earth and the Day of God in eternity.

Two years ago we were privileged to visit the island of Patmos where the Apostle John was exiled. We stood in the cave, high upon a hill, where John was allegedly incarcerated. An alternative theory is that the island itself was the prison where offenders were taken to; they had no possibility of escaping. 

It is truly a beautiful location but on that Lord’s Day John saw things that were awesome. First he saw the Son of God, not as he had last seen Him, on a cross, or, risen from the dead, then on the Mount of Olives ascending back to Heaven. He saw the Lord in His eternal glory and fell at His feet as dead. Christ said to him “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” 

There is a hymn that says ‘God holds the key of all unknown, and I am glad; if other hands should hold the key, or if He trusted it to me, I might be sad’ By faith Christians trust in the Man who holds the key to eternity, an eternity with Him. If a soul refuses to accept the salvation that He has provided through His sacrificial death and blood shed upon the cross, then there is no hope for that soul but the certainty of an eternity in Hell. Many years ago I was working in a new build house that was being built for a Doctor. I had a conversation with him about the gospel. He said, “I cannot accept this pernicious doctrine of the blood”. I thought that very strange because as a doctor he would know that all physical life depends upon blood, the scripture says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” (Lev.17:11) so why could he not accept that “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” and that God’s love for sinners meant giving His Son to die for sinners? This intelligent man chose not to believe.

There have been many strange and false teachings about the Book of the Revelation. Two weeks ago I talked to a man who told me that when the volcano exploded in Iceland, the devil was loosed from the bottomless pit and the ash propelled into the atmosphere were demons. Revelation chapter nine tells us about the opening of the bottomless pit, which will occur during the Tribulation. The Day of the Lord cannot begin until the Lord has taken the Church to Heaven, He has delivered all born again believers from "the wrath to come". John the Baptist preached of the wrath to come and exhorted his hearers to repent. Paul encouraged the Thessalonian Christians, “To wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” Jesus will soon return to the air to call away His Church and take them to Heaven. The events that will take place in Heaven, such as the Marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 19) are part of the Day of Christ. No unbeliever will be present as they will be experiencing the seven years of Tribulation on earth. What contrasting experiences! For Christians, the joys of Heaven, for Christ rejecters the misery of Apocalyptic judgements.

If you do not read the Bible I would encourage you to obtain one and read the Book of Revelation, particularly from chapter six to nineteen where you will read of the outpouring of God’s wrath upon the earth. Seven seals are opened and after each seal an outpouring of wrath. Then seven trumpets, one after the other are sounded for more judgements, and after this as it states in chapter sixteen, “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”  Seven bowls of wrath are poured on the earth. When these judgements are finished Christ Himself will return to earth, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. What a hallelujah chorus that will be at the introduction of His Millennial reign, one thousand years of righteous government over all the earth. Who will be present with the Lord in that Kingdom? Only people who are born again, for, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Are you born again? If not, why not?

When the thousand years reign has ended God is going to make a new Heaven and a new earth (wherein righteousness dwells); this will be the commencement of the Day of God. This is something special and something great to look forward to. Will you be there to enjoy eternity with God or will you hear those words at the Great White Throne, “Depart from me I never knew you”

God loves you, Christ has died for you and He is worthy of your trust.  God bless.

Written by a Guest Blogger for FTMP

More blogs, videos and podcasts can be accessed through www.seekthetruth.org.uk