There is yet one important part of the Lord’s discourse concerning the sign of His coming and the end of the world, which must be noticed--that is, the part relating to the destruction of Jerusalem.
It must be remembered that it was the disciples showing to Jesus the wonderful structure of the temple that was the occasion which called forth this whole grand discourse upon the subject of the signs of His coming and of the end of the world.
The whole story is as follows:
And Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on His way. And as He went forth, His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple; and one of His disciples said unto Him,
“Master, behold, what manner of stones and what manner of buildings!”
And some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings. And Jesus answered and said unto them,
“Do you see these great buildings? As for these things which you behold, verily I say unto you, The days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, over against the temple, the disciples, Peter and James and John and Andrew, came unto Him, and asked Him privately, saying,
“Master, tell us, when therefore shall these be? and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished? and what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world?”
Now in this whole discourse in answer to these questions, the only reference that Jesus made to the destruction of Jerusalem is less than two dozen lines, in the midst of His discourse, after He had sketched the events between that time and the end of the world, and just at the beginning of that part of His discourse in which He proceeds to give the signs of His coming and the time when the signs would begin to appear.
From this fact, as well as from the causes and character of the destruction of Jerusalem, it is evident that the destruction of Jerusalem is itself a sign by which can be known the times of the Lord’s coming and of the end of the world, just as the fall of ancient Babylon is likewise such a sign. It is in the light of this suggestion that we shall here study that part of the Lord’s discourse relating to the destruction of Jerusalem.
That part of the Lord’s discourse is as follows:
“When therefore you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, where he ought not (let him that reads understand);” (Mark 13:14)
“And when you see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand. Then let them that are in Judea flee unto the mountains; and let them that are in the midst of her depart out and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.” (Luke 21:20-21)
“Let him that is on the housetop not come down, nor enter in, to take out the things that are in his house; And let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak.” (Matthew 24:17-18)
“For these are the days of vengeance, that all things that are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child and them that give suck in those days!...” (Luke 21:22-23)
“And pray you that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 24:20)
“...For there shall be great distress upon the land and wrath upon this people.” (Luke 21:23)
The Center of Controversy
Why did all this come upon that people? Why was Jerusalem destroyed? Because they rejected the Lord, of course. But why did they reject the Lord? What was the particular issue in which centered and culminated their opposi tion to the Lord and their rejection of Him? The answer to these questions is, That issue was the Sabbath,--the distinction between His principles as to what is true Sabbath-keeping and their views upon the same point.
In nothing had the selfishness of the Pharisees and doctors of the law taken a more perverse turn than in the matter of the Sabbath and its true meaning and purpose. So far as the Lord’s meaning and purpose in His Sabbath are concerned, they had utterly lost sight of it themselves, and by their traditions, and exactions had completely hidden it from the minds and hearts of the people. This was the crowning result of their perverse-minded course.
And as Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, and as to bring to mind what He is to mankind, is the true intent of the Sabbath, --in other words, He Himself, as He lived among them, being the manifestation of the true intent of the Sabbath, it is evi dent that in nothing could His course arouse more or more bitter antagonism from these men than in His words and actions with relation to the Sabbath.
It was with reference to this that they began their persecution of Him; it was regarding this that they first entertained the thought of killing Him; and it was upon this issue that their opposition culminated in the actual crucifying of Him. This issue became clearly defined at His second Passover, at the pool of Bethesda, when Jesus healed the impotent man. Thus we read:
“A certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case. He said unto him, Will you be made whole? The impotent man answered Him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool; but while I am coming, another steps down before me. Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up your bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked; and on the same day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the Sabbath day; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up your bed and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto you, Take up your bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it was; for Jesus had conveyed Himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you are made whole; sin no more lest a worse thing come unto you. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.” (John 5:5-15)
Of course they then knew who it was who had told him to do this “unlawful” thing,--to take up his bed and walk on the Sabbath day.
“And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day.” (John 5:16)
Now think of this: Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the sign of what He is to mankind. He then was in His life the living expression of the Sabbath. Therefore it was impossible for Him to do anything on the Sabbath that was not Sabbath-keeping; because the very doing of it was in itself the expression of the meaning of the Sabbath.
But his Sabbath-keeping did not suit the Sabbath ideas of the Pharisees and the doctors of the law and the scribes. They, therefore, called it Sabbath-breaking. Now Christ’s ideas of the Sabbath are God’s ideas of the Sabbath.
The Pharisees’ ideas of the Sabbath and of Sabbath-keeping, being directly the opposite of the Lord Jesus’ ideas, were wrong. Therefore the controversy in that day between Christ and the Pharisees and the doctors of the law, was simply whether God’s ideas of the Sabbath should prevail, or whether man’s ideas of it should prevail.
“Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father works hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:16-18)
By this we further see that the very first open steps that the Pharisees and the doctors of the law ever took against Je- sus Christ to do Him harm in any way, were taken because He had not kept the Sabbath to suit them. That was the controversy between Christ and them; and upon this point everything else turned.
Shortly after this we have the record in the second chapter of Mark, twenty-third verse, to the third chapter, sixth verse; it is also in the twelfth chapter of Matthew, and the sixth of Luke, verses 1-12; but Mark’s record gives a point that is not in either of the others, and it is all-important:
“And it came to pass, that He went through the corn-fields on the Sabbath day; and His disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto Him, Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day, that which is not lawful? And He said unto them, Have you never read what David did, when he had need, and was a hungered; he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them that were with him? And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:23-28)
“And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse Him.” (Mark 3:1-2)
He knew that their attention was all on Him. And that they might have the fullest evidence possible, He called to the man who had the withered hand, and said to him,
“Stand forth in the midst.”
The man stepped out into the midst of the synagogue. This drew everybody’s attention to Jesus and the man standing there waiting. Then He asked the Pharisees and those who were accusing Him,
“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?” (Mark 3:4)
They could not say it was lawful to do evil, for that would be contrary to all their own teaching, and they did not dare to say it was lawful to do good, because then they would sanc tion His healing this man on the Sabbath.
“Is it lawful to save life, or to kill?” They did not dare to say it was lawful to kill, and they did not dare to say it was lawful to save life; for He told them, and they knew that it was so, that if one of them had a sheep that fell into a ditch on the Sabbath day, he would pull it out to save its life. Whether they would do this out of mercy to the sheep, or for fear of losing the price of it, matters not. They knew it was so. Therefore “they held their peace.”
“And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He said unto the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.” (Mark 3:5-6)
Confederation against Christ
The Herodians were a sect of the Jews, who stood at the extreme opposite pole from the Pharisees. They derived their title--Herodians--from being the friends, the supporters, and the rigid partisans of Herod and his house in their rule over the nation of Israel.
The Pharisees were the “godly” of the nation, especially in their own estimation. They held themselves to be the righteous ones of the nation, the ones who stood the closest to God; and therefore they stood farthest from Herod and from Rome. They despised Herod; they hated Rome.
The Herodians were the politicial supporters of Herod, and consequently the friends of Rome and Roman power. Therefore, as denominations, as sects, the Pharisees and the Herodi ans were just as far apart as they could be.
Now when the Pharisees saw that Christ would not yield to their ideas of Sabbath-keeping, they, in order to carry out their purpose to kill Him--it was a far-reaching purpose--joined themselves, not only to their sectarian enemies, but to these particular religio-political sectarian enemies, so that they could secure the influence of Herod, so that they might have the government on their side, that they might have the civil power under their control, and thus make effectual their purpose to destroy Jesus. Thus they entered politics.
After this we read:
“After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill Him.” (John 7:1)
However, when the annual Feast of Tabernacle came,
“Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.” (John 7:14)
As He was teaching, He said to them:
“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why go you about to kill Me? The people answered and said, You have a devil; who goes about to kill You? Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers); and you on the Sabbath day circumcise a man. If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are you angry at Me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day? Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:19-24)
Even at that time, these, His enemies, “sought to take Him,” yet “no man laid hands on Him.” And later in the same day “the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him;” yet neither did the officers lay hands on Him.
And when the officers returned without bringing Him, the chief priests and the Pharisees were so enraged that they were on the point of officially condemning Him anyhow, and were checked only by the word of Nicodemus,
“Does our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he does?” (John 7:51)
The next instance in this controversy is recorded in the ninth chapter of John--the case of the giving of sight to the man born blind.
“And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because He keeps not the Sabbath day.” (John 9:14,16)
The next instance is in Luke:
“And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in nowise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people. There are six days in which men ought to work; in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. The Lord then answered him, and said, You hypocrite, does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 13:10-17)
Increasing Antagonism
As they continued to watch Him to see whether He would heal people, and otherwise do good on the Sabbath day, He continued to heal on the Sabbath day. Another instance in point is recorded in Luke 14:1-6. Thus He continued to grow in favor with the people, and the more to incur the antagonism of the chief priests, the Pharisees, and the Herodians.
When at last He had gone so far as to raise from the dead a man who had been dead four days, and when, as a consequence, “many of the Jews believed on Him,” this so aroused His enemies that “some of them went their ways to the Phar isees, and told them what things Jesus had done.” And then and there the chief priests and the Pharisees in council said:
“What do we? for this Man does many miracles. If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him; and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” (John 11:47-48)
Note the argument that was in their hearts, and in their words, in fact. They were accusing Jesus all the time of Sab bath- breaking; and now they say, “If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him,” and that will make all men Sabbathbreakers. The nation will be a nation of Sabbath-breakers.
And when the whole nation becomes a nation of Sabbathbreakers, the judgments of God will be visited upon us; and the Lord will bring the Romans, and sweep away the whole nation. Then, in that same meeting,
“One of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, You know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to death.” (John 11:49-50,53)
And a few days afterward they accomplished to the full their purpose, and did put Him to death. And when that was done, the doom of the nation was fixed; and it was only a question of time when would come the destruction of the temple, the city, and the people.
They said,
“If we let this man thus alone, all men will believe on Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”
They did not let Him alone, and the Romans came and took away both their place and nation. Their efforts to save the nation destroyed the nation.
And let it never be forgotten that the one great issue, above all others, on which they rejected Him, and persecuted Him, and sought to kill Him, was the Sabbath of the Lord as against a sabbath of men, the true Sabbath as against a false one, the Lord’s idea of the Sabbath as against man’s idea of the Sabbath.
And in all the time of the impending destruction, and even in the very crisis of their experience in connection therewith --when they should see the given sign, in Jerusalem being encompassed with armies--the Sabbath was still an issue, and of vital consideration. For in all their thoughts as to their flight from the sure coming destruction, this word of Jesus must ever be remembered,
“Pray that your f light be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” (Matthew 24:20)
As to the destruction of Jerusalem, we have seen that it was false ideas of the Sabbath, set against the true, that caused the nation of the Jews to reject, to persecute, and to seek to kill Jesus, and that it was this rejection of Him that caused that destruction.
They rejected and slew Him, lest the Romans should come and take away both their place and nation; and their rejection and slaying of Him resulted in the Romans coming and taking away both their place and nation. Their rejection of the Sab bath of the Lord, and in that rejection, the rejection of Him who was and is the Lord of the Sabbath, caused the ruin of that nation.
It is not necessary here to enter into the details of the de struction of Jerusalem and that nation; that is well known; and, besides, our study here is to discover what bearing that has on the great subject of the second coming of the Lord and the end of the world. Let us follow this subject to its conclusion.
An Instrument of Destruction
The instrument of the destruction of Jerusalem and the nation of the Jews, was the Roman armies:
“When you therefore shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that the desolation is nigh.” (Luke 21:20)
The only armies that there were at that time were the Roman armies; for “the empire of the Romans filled the world.”
And the Roman armies encompassing Jerusalem in fulfillment of the words of Jesus recorded by Luke ( Luke 21:20), was “the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place,” in fulfillment of the words of Jesus recorded by Matthew (Matthew 24:15).
Now the abomination of desolation--the Roman power-- spoken of by Daniel the prophet, when once it enters upon the scene of history and prophecy, continues unto the coming of the Lord and the end of the world.
Notice that in Daniel 7 he beheld in the vision a fourth beast, a fourth kingdom, which is Rome,
“...dreadful and terrible...and it had ten horns. As Daniel considered the horns, there came up ...another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” (Daniel 7:7-8)
Daniel beheld this “little horn” in its working and its speaking, “until the Ancient of Days” came, and “the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” And at the time of the judgment says he,
“I beheld then because of the great words which the HORN SPAKE: I beheld even till the BEAST was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” (Daniel 7:11)
Note that he was beholding the “little horn.” He was con sidering the “little horn.” At the time of the judgment he beheld especially because of the great words which the “horn spake.” And he beheld even till--the horn was destroyed?--No, but till “the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”
This makes it perfectly plain that the “little horn” is but the continuation of the beast, in another form; so fully is the “lit tle horn” a continuation of the spirit and characteristics and power of “the beast,” that when comes the time of the destruc tion of the horn, instead of saying that the horn was de stroyed, he says THE BEAST was slain and destroyed.
And this makes it perfectly plain that when the beast enters upon the scene, he continues, only under another phase, until the coming of the Lord and the end of the world.
Again: In Daniel 8:9-12, 23-25, this same power is again symbolized by a “little horn which waxed exceeding great;” and it continues clear through till the end of the world, when it is “broken without hand” in the setting up of the kingdom of God, when the stone cut out without hand breaks in pieces and consumes all kingdoms of earth, and it stands forever.
And in this prophecy of Daniel 8 this power is directly referred to as “the transgression of desolation;” while in Daniel 11:31; 12:11 the same power is definitely called “the abomina tion that makes desolate.” And in all these places the connec tion shows that it continues unto “the time of the end,” and even unto the end.
And again: In Daniel 11:4 there is marked the concurrence of events which calls into the field of prophecy and history the Roman power. And when the Roman power does enter the field, the Word says that it is done “to establish the vision”--“the children of robbers shall exalt themselves to establish the vision.”
This shows that the Roman power was the great object of the vision; that whatever was given preceding the rise of that power, was given only as certain stepping-stones unto the time when that power should rise; and that when this power was met, in its rise, the object of the vision was met--the vision was established.
And when that power is once entered upon the scene, it continues, if not in one phase then just as certainly in another, till the time of the coming of the Lord and the end of the world.
Therefore, when Jesus cited “the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet,” in that very thing He brought to mind that which would continue unto the coming of the Lord and the end of the world.
And when Jesus cited this power in His discourse upon the sign of His coming and of the end of the world, this certifies that in the career of that power there is that which is instructive as to His coming and the end of the world.
And when He cited this power as the one which would be tray Jerusalem, then this certifies that in the destruction of Jerusalem there is that which is instructive as to His coming and the end of the world.
Now it was their rejection of the Lord Jesus that brought upon that people the destruction of their city and nation by the Roman power--the abomination of desolation. And by the plain showing of the Gospels we have seen that it was in re jecting the divine idea of the Sabbath of the Lord that they rejected the Lord of the Sabbath, and persecuted Him, and sought to kill Him, until they had killed Him, to save the na tion from the Romans, but which only caused the nation to be destroyed by the Romans.
And then, at a later date in its history, this Roman power, this abomination of desolation, at the time of the development of the “little horn” of Daniel 7:8--this power itself rejected God’s idea of the Sabbath, and set up wholly man’s idea of it; rejected the true Sabbath and set up a wholly false one, even to the substituting of another day--Sunday--for the Lord’s day, the Sabbath day which God had established and ap pointed.
It was said by those who did it,
“All things whatsoever that was duty to do on the Sabbath day, these WE have transferred to the Sunday.”
Laws were enacted by the Roman power to compel all to accept the false idea of the Sabbath instead of the true. All who would observe the Sabbath of the Lord were “accursed from Christ,” and whosoever did not accept the false, was held guilty of sacrilege and subject to penalties from the Roman power--the abomination of desolation.
And what was the consequence of this second course of re jecting the Sabbath of the Lord, and in that the Lord of the Sabbath? What came upon this second nation that did that thing? It likewise was brought to ruin, and was swept from the earth as completely as was the nation of the Jews that first did that heaven-daring thing. The Roman Empire was as ut terly ruined as was the Jewish nation.
A Lesson to the United States
And now, in these last days, in these days when we know that the coming of the Lord “is near, even at the doors”--in these days “the abomination of desolation,” the Roman power, exists in a different phase from that of the days of the destruction of Jerusalem, and also in a somewhat different phase from that of the days of the destruction of the Roman Empire.
And in these days this abomination of desolation still insists upon that rejection of God’s idea of the Sabbath, and the substitution of man’s; the rejection of the true, and the acceptance, even by force, of the false. And in this heaven-daring thing, in this thing which has twice wrought, as a world-example, the ruin of nations, the abomination of desolation has gained the support of the United States.
The United States, as certainly as ever did Jerusalem, or as ever did Rome, has rejected God’s idea of the Sabbath, and has accepted man’s--“the man of sin;” it has rejected the true, and has set up the false, to be forced upon all people by the power of the State. In her legislation of 1893, God’s idea of the Sabbath was read in His own words from His own Word, and then that was deliberately set aside and rejected, and one ut terly false in every respect was accepted and established here by governmental recognition. This nation, as really as did Jerusalem, or as did Rome, in thus rejecting the Sabbath of the Lord, has in this, rejected the Lord of the Sabbath.
And what must be the consequence? What only can be the consequence? Can this nation now fare any better than fared Jerusalem and Rome in doing the same thing? Can it be fairly hoped that she can fare as well as did they, since she has done this thing in the face of these two world-warning destructions?
But how shall destruction come here for this heaven-dar ing offense? It came to Jerusalem by the Roman power. It came to the Roman Empire by the barbarians of the North. Whence can it come next in punishment of this offense of the king? It comes in the brightness of the consuming glory of the coming of the Lord, and the armies of heaven following Him upon white horses, when out of His mouth goes the sharp sword with which He shall smite the nations. Revelation 19:11-21; Joel 2:1-11.
And this is why it is that the destruction of Jerusalem is a sign to the people of the United States today, and why it is a sign of the coming of the Lord and of the end of the world.
And when the “abomination of desolation,” as it is today, Rome, as it is in its latest phase, shall have gathered to her principles and under her influence all the nations; and when, by the example, and power, and influence of the United States the abomination of desolation shall have done this only the more effectually; and when by the power thus regained the abomination of desolation shall have accomplished once more and finally for her, to scatter the power of the holy people, and shall have made as effectual as possible the rejection of the Sabbath of the Lord, and in that the Lord of the Sabbath; then it is written,
“All these things shall be finished.” (Daniel 12:7)
And as that power will be universal, so the destruction will be universal--and this at the coming of the Lord; for this “abomination of desolation,” this “man of sin,” this “mystery of iniquity,” is to be consumed “with the spirit of His mouth,” and is to be destroyed “with the brightness of His coming.”
And this is why it is that the destruction of Jerusalem is instructive of warning to all the people of the world today. And this is why it is that the destruction of Jerusalem is a sign, amongst the other “signs,” of the coming of the Lord and the end of the world.
And now is the time. “Get ready! get ready! get ready!”