Looking Through Binoculars

Luke 21:5-15

Israel was expecting Messiah to com as the white knight and deliver them from their oppressors. Imagine their reaction when Jesus told them it wasn’t going to happen the way they thought.

“And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."(Luke 21:5-6)

The temple in Jesus’ day was not the one Solomon had built as that one had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and rebuilt in Ezra’s day, and was far less impressive than Solomon’s. Herod had restored it after Antiochus Epiphanes had desecrated it under his administration, and the Jews were proud of the new one. Now Jesus tells them that it will be completely destroyed, with not even one stone left in place. It will be very humiliating to again have no worship center and being reminded that it is a result of their sin.

Today, many are looking for the rapture in much the same way, as an event that will deliver Christians from the worlds problems. As a result, they are looking desperately for a date when this will happen and for assurance that they will escape the judgment. They become susceptible to false teachers who claim to have special information that will ensure escape. The Jews were looking for the same kind of information.

“And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.” (Luke 21:7-9)

Jesus warned that there would be many claiming to be the true messiah, and that the disciples were not to be deceived by them, or let their proclamations of the Lord’s return shake them up. Wars and disasters would happen repeatedly before the Lord’s return. During the tribulation period described in Revelation, natural disasters and wars of a scope never before seen will occur. The ones we see in our day, terrible as they are, are just a hint of the severity of the ones in that day, resulting in death of half the world‘s population.

From my kitchen window, I can see a long ridge running east and west about a mile and a half north of the house. In between lies a wide open area that seems to gradual undulate toward the top of the ridge. If one walks from the house however, about a n eighth of a mile from the house one drops into a valley that is a hundred feet or so lower than the house. There are numerous arroyos and hills to cross before one climbs back up to the areas that were visible from the house. Beyond that first ridge is a second, and much higher ridge, but it can only be seen where the first ridge dips low enough to see it, with many more hills and valleys between the two ridges.

Prophecies give view of the future some what like what I see looking out my window with a pair of binoculars. I can clearly see the upper part of the ridge, and as a result, it is hard to realize how far away it is, because I cannot see most of what lies between my window and it. In some of the low spots I can see the top of the next ridge, and it appears almost as part of the first one. It hard to realize that the second ridge is over three miles away. In the same way, it is easy to mistake prophecies about separate events as being part uf the same event. Just as hiking across the land gives a totally different perspective, living through the period gives a completely different understanding of what the prophecy means.

Many interpretations of prophecy are like the kids who came to visit and decided to just run up to the rocks on the hillside, convinced that it would only take a few minutes because they saw them so well. It took over and hour just to get there, and they were exhausted after climbing up and down over the intervening hills. The Jews had made this mistake, and Jesus warned them that before what they were looking for happened, some other things must take place.

“Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony.” (Luke 21:10-13)

Before the Lord comes back and sets his kingdom, and even before the wars and disasters described in ‘revelation there will be a period of persecution and struggle for believers. The last two thousand years have seen numerous periods of intense persecution, and periods when there was very little. God did not say how many there would be or how severe. He just showed us what we could expect on the other side, like what I see looking at the ridge. To get there however, I must go through the things between me and the ridge. Christians have to go through what lies between them and the Second coming. They don’t always know what that will entail, they just have to take each obstacle as it comes, knowing where they will eventually arrive.

“Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.” (Luke 21:14-15)

Because the hiker cannot know exactly what lies between him and the ridge he is heading for, he must wait until he comes to each obstacle and then act according to what his eyes and experience tell him is needed. In life, we don’t know exactly what we will encounter. It is foolish to make hard plans until we know what will work. God says we are to follow him and trust him to guide us when an action is required, just as the hiker adjust his route as his eyes indicate. Too rigid a plan based on what we saw through the binoculars may lead to disaster. When we let God lead, the results are assured.