<h2>Jesus Telling of Dark Days to Come</h2><div class="chaptertitle">CHAPTER 81</div>
<div class='cap'>JESUS WALKED across the Court of the Gentiles
or Strangers, the large outer court of the Temple,
toward the Mount of Olives. On that side of the
court stood Solomon's Porch, a double row of pillars,
having a roof above to shield it from the sun. Under
this porch they stepped down a marble staircase to pass
out of the Temple grounds through a gate called "The
Golden Gate." As they drew near this gate the disciples
called his attention to the great stones in the wall, the
pillars and the splendid buildings around.</div>
<p>"Are you looking at these stones and buildings?"
said Jesus. "I tell you now, that the time is coming,
and not far away, when all of these stones shall be torn
apart, and of these fine buildings not one stone shall be
left standing in its place; all shall be thrown down!"</p>
<p>The disciples heard these words with alarm and
sadness. They knew that their Lord spoke as a prophet;
and whatever he said would be sure to come to pass.
But they looked upon Jerusalem as the holy city, and
upon the Temple as the house of God. To them, the fall
of the city and the Temple seemed like the end of the
whole world. They walked after Jesus in silence across
the valley of the brook Kedron and up the steep sides
of the Mount of Olives. On its top they sat down to
rest, and looked over the valley at the city, its towers
and roofs rising in their view. While they were sitting
on the mountain, Peter and Andrew, with the brothers
James and John, came to Jesus, and said to him:</p>
<p>"Tell us, Master, what your words mean, and when<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</SPAN></span>
these terrible things will come to pass? Are you going
away, and then coming back again? How may we know
when to look for you?"</p>
<p>Then, sitting on the mountain, with the twelve
disciples around him, Jesus gave a long talk about the
things that were to come. He began by warning them
against following after men claiming to be Christ, the
King of Israel.</p>
<p>"Take care," he said, "that no one lead you astray.
For many will come saying,
'I am Christ, the
King of Israel,' and they
will lead away many people.
But do not follow
any of these false Christs.</p>
<p>"You will hear of
wars that have come, and
reports of wars that are
coming; but do not be
frightened. These must
come, but they are not
the end. Nation shall
make war with nation,
and kingdom against kingdom;
and you shall hear
of earthquakes in many places; and times shall come
when there will be no bread for the hungry to eat.
But all these are only the beginnings of the trouble; and
the worst is yet to come.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-422.jpg" width-obs="300" height-obs="319" alt="painting" /> <span class="caption">The Golden Gate, on east of the Temple Area, Jerusalem (now closed)</span></div>
<p>"But before these take place there are some other
sufferings that you must meet because you are my
disciples. Enemies will rise up against you. You shall
be brought before councils and courts to be tried; you
shall be seized and beaten in the churches of the Jews;
you shall stand before governors and kings to give<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</SPAN></span>
account for yourselves as my followers. But when
they seize you and bring you to be tried, do not be anxious
as to what you shall speak; for the right words shall be
given you in that hour of trial. It will not be you that
speak, but the Spirit of God that speaks through you.</p>
<p>"In those times of trial fathers and mothers shall
turn against their children, and brothers shall give up
brothers who believe in me. Some of you shall be put
to death in those days. And all men shall hate you
because you are my disciples. But if you are faithful
to the end, even to death, you shall be saved to everlasting
life."</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-423.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="317" alt="photo" /> <span class="caption">The Mount of Olives from Gethsemane</span></div>
<p>Then Jesus told of the terrible times that were
coming to Jerusalem and the land of the Jews. He said:</p>
<p>"When you see great armies encamped on these
hills all around Jerusalem, then know that the time has
come for the city and the Temple to be destroyed. Let
this be a sign for everyone in Judea to hide among the<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</SPAN></span>
mountains. If a man at that time is on the roof of his
house, let him not go down to take anything out of his
house; nor a man in the field go home after his cloak;
but hasten away just as he is, with the clothes that are
upon his back, and find a safe hiding-place.</p>
<p>"If anyone tells you in such times as those, 'Here is
Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it, for false Christs
will come and false prophets will appear; and they will
show signs and wonders, so as to lead astray even some
of God's own people. I tell you truly that many who are
now living shall see all these things come to pass."</p>
<p>Jesus had already told his disciples that he was soon
going away to leave them, but in his own time he would
come again. He now spoke about his "coming again."</p>
<p>"As to the coming of the Son of Man, no one knows
about that day or hour; no man knows when it will be,
nor the angels, nor even the Son himself, but only the
Father. It will be then as it was in the days of Noah;
they went on eating and drinking, marrying and being
married, until the day Noah went into the ark; and they
took no notice until the flood came and swept them all
away.</p>
<p>"So will it be when the Son of Man comes. Then
there will be two men working together in the field; one
shall be taken and the other left. Two women will be
grinding grain with the hand mill; one shall be taken
and the other left. Keep on the watch then, for you
never know what day the Lord will come. Be sure of
this, if the owner of the house had known at what time
in the night the thief would come, he would have been
on the watch for him, and would never have allowed
his house to be broken into. So be ready all the time,
for when you least expect him, the Son of Man will
come."</p>
<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</SPAN></span></p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.