JERUSALEM IS A DESOLATE HOUSE
The King, the Wedding Feast and the Citizens
Matthew 22:1-14
records a Kingdom of Heaven (God) parable told by Jesus. A king (God the Father) was giving a wedding
feast for His Son (Jesus). Those
initially invited to attend (the Judeans) refused. In addition they mistreated and killed the
messengers (prophets). The reaction of
the King as found in Matthew 22:7 is one of fury and destruction.
Matthew 22:7 NET The king
was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and
set their city on fire.
The King sent His soldiers (Roman Military) and they set
the city on fire (Jerusalem) and killed many of the murderers (Pharisees,
Sadducees, experts of the law, and others).
Other messengers were sent into the streets (the nations)
to invite others to the wedding feast.
Some attending were not properly dressed in garments of salvation and
they were cast out. The moral of the
story can be found in Matthew 22:14: “For many are called but few are chosen.” This involves the first resurrection and the
harpazo (catching away / rapture). They
will be the judges ruling with Christ during the Millennium. The remainder will
await the 2nd resurrection called the great White Throne Judgment.
Matthew 23 contains
a series of “woes” given by Jesus to the Pharisees and the experts in the law
residing in Jerusalem. Jesus indicates,
due to their knowledge concerning the death of prophets, they have the
distinction of being the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Knowing He would soon be crucified by this
group of legal experts and Pharisees, Jesus states, “Fill up then the measure of your ancestors”.
All of Jerusalem at
that time and today's current generation would be held liable for “all the righteous
blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah
– Matthew 23:35”. Jesus ends his discourse against the
Pharisees and legal experts with the words recorded in verses 39 and 39, “Behold, your house is being left to you
desolate”
Matthew 23:38-39 NET Look,
your house is left to you desolate! (39) For I tell you, you will not see me from now
until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'
"
Verse 39, “For I tell you, you will not see me from now
until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'
" may be saying they will not be included in the first resurrection but
will have to wait for the second resurrection at the White Throne judgment
occurring at the end of the Millennium.
Jeremiah’s Prophecy of the Destruction of
Jerusalem
The desolation of
Jerusalem first occurred when the city was destroyed by Babylon in 586 B.C. It was again desolated in 70 AD by the Roman
military. The third major desolation has yet to take place but it may be occurring
soon. This third desolation has been
made known by Jeremiah who prophesied that the city would be destroyed so
completely that it would not be repaired or rebuilt again.
The 18th
and 19th chapters of Jeremiah contain a prophecy concerning the
nation of Israel which was conquered and the inhabitants dispersed by Assyria
around 640 BC. The next section of the
prophecy concerns the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem.
For the nation of
Israel, in chapter 18, Jeremiah is told to go to the potter’s house and watch
the potter shape wet clay into any form he desired. Because Israel is still malleable as wet clay
(and open to the Gospel) God would shape Israel in their dispersion among the
nations as a potter shapes wet clay.
Jeremiah 18:6 NET "I,
the LORD, say: 'O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter
deals with the clay? In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the
clay in this potter's hand.'
However, for the
nation of Judah, Jeremiah was told to buy a previously made clay jar from the
potter. With several of the leaders of
Jerusalem present to watch, Jeremiah was to take the jar and smash it to pieces
in the valley of Ben-hinnom (Gehenna).
This clay jar would represent the nation of Judah and Jerusalem. The pieces would not be put back together.
Jeremiah 19:11 NET Tell them
the LORD who rules over all says, 'I will do just as Jeremiah has done. I will
smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter's vessel which is
broken beyond repair. The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no
more room to bury them.'
Hagar and Sarai
The current city
of Jerusalem will not be spared at
the last minute, as so many exegetes and Bible teachers have claimed. Its destruction has been prophesied and
proclaimed by God, even prior to the rebuilt city and temple by the Babylonian
returnees. Paul states in Galatians
chapter 4 that Jerusalem is the slave woman named Hagar and she represents Mt.
Sinai and the Old Covenant. Only the New
Jerusalem from God represents Sarai and the New Covenant.
Galatians 4:24-25 NET These
things may be treated as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants.
One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. (25)
Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the
present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
Verse 30 further proclaims that Hagar (Jerusalem) and her
children (Jews / and currently self-proclaimed Jews) will be thrown out and
will not share the inheritance with the Son (Jesus Christ) and the New Covenant
which will be the New Jerusalem.
Galatians 4:26 NET But the
Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
It has been said
the return of Christ (2nd Coming) will occur somewhere around the
time of the destruction of Jerusalem.
When He returns, everyone will see Him.
Revelation 1:7 LITV-TSP
(7) "Behold, He comes with
the clouds," and "every eye will see Him, and the ones who
pierced" Him, and all the tribes of the earth "will wail on account
of Him." Yes, Amen. Dan. 7:13; Zech. 12:10
Everyone on the planet
will mourn (wail / be sad / beat their breasts / be grieving / have bitter
sorrow) at various levels of intensity.
The Jews may be the biggest mourners because: they will finally realize at being duped and
lied to by their religious leaders and historians; they will understand the
Kingdom of God has been lost to them and that it was never in their power to
gain; their desire to rule the world will be forever gone. The ones reigning with Christ will be the
first fruits (also called the overcomers, and the remnant of grace). They will be reigning over the survivors of
the wrath of God.
Repentance at the
return of Christ will not change the previous verdicts that Jesus rendered just
before He was crucified. It will not change Jeremiah’s prophecy of the utter
destruction of Jerusalem. Instead, repentance will give Jews (and all other
people) the opportunity to become citizens of the New Jerusalem, whereby they
may be blessed along with all of its citizens.
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