‘THESE ARE THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE’
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 1, 2021 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: December 1, 2021 from Luke 21:20-24
Theme: Jesus’ short-term prophetic promise had a fulfillment; assuring us that His long-term promises will also be fulfilled.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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In Luke 21:5-6, we read of the shocking thing that the Lord Jesus told some of His disciples as they sat together on the Mount of Olives—overlooking the city of Jerusalem;
Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down” (Luke 21:5-6).
They were astonished at this. How could such a thing happen to the sacred temple of God? So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?” (v. 7). And as we have found in our study of Luke 21, our Lord didn’t answer that specific question at first. In verses 8-19, He first told them about the conditions that would prevail in the times before that dreadful event would happen—and that, to some degree, would even characterize the times that follow afterward up until the time of the end.
But now, in verses 20-24, our Lord answers their specific question. He described to them what the sign would be that the destruction of the temple was about to take place in their immediate future:
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (vv. 20-24).
What followed after these words was our Lord’s description of events that would occur in the far distant future—events that concerned His second coming. But the words of this morning’s passage—in verses 20-24—describe the events of the immediate future. They came to pass some 40 years later—in 70 A.D. Many of the disciples who heard these words from our Lord were still alive to see them fulfilled in their own lifetime.
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In his commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Dr. William Hendricksen gave a helpful summary of the history of this terrible event:
Even several years before the outbreak of the Jewish War the Roman yoke was becoming more oppressive than ever. Action produced reaction, with the result that Jewish hatred of their heathen oppressors rose to the point of organized rebellion. By no means every Jew was in sympathy with the movement, but after a while the warnings of the moderates were drowned out by the voices of the Zealots. Emperor Nero sent his famous general Vespasian to Galilee, which was soon overrun. But, due to the forced return to Rome of this general and Nero’s suicide, the conquest of Galilee was short-lived. A period of confusion followed in Rome, with four emperors in one year. … The Jews took advantage of this situation, so that the rebellion began to make some headway again. But then Vespasian, now emperor, having restored order, sent his son Titus (who himself later on became emperor, A.D. 79-81) to Jerusalem with a large army.1
Reading of these turbulent times reminds us of the Lord’s words in verses 8-11 about “wars and commotions”; and of nations rising against nation, and kingdom rising against kingdom. Dr. Hendrikson then describes the details of the actual destruction of Jerusalem and the temple;
The siege began in April of the year A.D. 70, while Jerusalem was still filled with Passover pilgrims. For the terror that ensued one should read Josephus, Jewish War, especially Books IV to VII. After a siege of about five months, the Romans finally overwhelmed the entire city. According to Josephus the total number of persons taken throughout the entire war was 97,000, while 1,100,000 perished during the siege (Jewish War VI.420). Even though these figures may be exaggerated, the number must have been enormous.
The war was inexcusably cruel. Not only was the temple given up to the flames but the entire city—except three towers and a portion of the western wall—was razed. By the thousands aged men, women, regardless of their physical condition, and even little children were murdered. Some of the prisoners were subsequently thrown to the wild beasts, others were sold into slavery “into all the nations,” while a select number of the strongest and best-looking captives figured in the triumphal procession which Rome gave to the conquerors, and which Josephus describes in such elaborate detail, as if the terrible slaughter were really something to be proud of.
For many, many years no Jew was allowed to reside in or even to visit Jerusalem, which was made a pagan city. But enough has been said to show in what manner Christ’s prediction, recorded in Luke 21:24a, was fulfilled.2
Why did this horrible thing happen? Why would God have allowed it? The answer is found in some of the things that the Lord Jesus had said beforehand. In Luke 13:34-35—after the Lord spoke of His own impending rejection by the Jewish leaders and of His crucifixion soon after—He said;
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Luke 13:34-35).
And even as He made His way to Jerusalem in His Triumphant Entry, He wept over the city and declared in Luke 19:42-44;
“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:42-44).
So; these things came upon Jerusalem and upon the temple within just one generation’s time after the long-awaited King had been rejected by His people. What a horrible consequence they suffered as a result of that rejection! He described it in the passage we’re looking at today. But it’s important to remember that—in the verses to follow—He will go on to talk about the times to come when He will return. At that time, the world will again surround and threaten His people. But they, who had formerly rejected Him, would finally say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”; and He will come to their rescue.
The value of these words of our Lord to us is that they show us that what He had promised back then had a literal fulfillment. A contractor friend in our Bible study group explained that, in establishing a relationship with a builder, past performance is one of the key ways to establish future reliability. The same thing can be said about our Lord (who, by the way, was a reliable carpenter). One of the ways we can be sure of the fulfillment of future prophecy from our Lord is by the way that previous prophecies were fulfilled. And as these words clearly prove to us, Jesus’ short-term prophetic promise had a fulfillment; assuring us that His long-term promises will also be fulfilled. His promises concerning the Jewish people in the future will have a complete fulfillment—including His promise to protect and defend and exalt them above the nations.
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So then; let’s look briefly at the details of our Lord’s words concerning this short-term prophecy. First—in answer to the disciples’ question, the Lord declared …
1. THE PROMISED SIGN (v. 20).
In verse 20, Jesus said, “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.” The “you” in this verse is specific. It’s speaking of the disciples who were, right then, asking the question and listening to His answer. Some of them would still be alive to see this specific sign forty years later. And this would also include those who heard those disciples as they later taught the words of our Lord to them.
The word “desolation” in the original language is related to the word “desert” or “a desolate region” or a “wilderness”. It’s a vivid way to describe how Jerusalem and the temple area would be transformed from the beautiful center of the Judaistic religion into a wasteland. And—until only a few decades ago—it has lain truly desolate.
Now; our Lord is a compassionate Savior. And so—with special love and attention to His disciples—He gave …
2. THE GRACIOUS WARNING (v. 21).
In verse 21, He said—in reference to the sign of the surrounding armies—“Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.” Those in the surrounding region were to get far away from Jerusalem at that time—up into the mountains. Those who would be in the city itself were to—at the beginning of the appearance of this sign—make haste and flee. And those who happened to be in the fields of the countrysides were not to make their way to the city. Historians tell us that some forty years or so later—when Rome surrounded the city—many Jewish Christians remembered our Lord’s teaching and fled as He had urged them. They survived; and the Romans largely left them alone.
Note next what our Lord says about …
3. THE DECLARED FULFILLMENT (v. 22).
In verse 22, our Lord says, “For these”—that is, the days in which the city becomes surrounded by armies—“are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled”. They were the days in which God would bring judgment upon the people who didn’t discern the times, and didn’t know the day of their visitation. They were the days of ‘vengeance’ for having rejected their true King. The “things which were written” would no doubt refer to the whole of the Old Testament prophecies concerning our Lord’s first advent. But some passages make it especially clear. Deuteronomy 28, for example, describes in horrible detail the curse and the suffering that would come upon the Jewish people for having turned from God. But perhaps the clearest passage with reference to our Lord’s words is Malachi 3:1-3. It speaks of the times when John the Baptist would come and announce the Lord:
“Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.“But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness” (Malachi 3:1-3).
Those days of vengeance will be days in which wicked men become the agents of God’s fierce judgment. Our Lord then goes on to speak of …
4. THE WOEFULNESS OF THE TIMES (v. 23-24a).
In verse 23, He describes how they will be times in which the Gentile oppressors of His people will be unusually merciless. He said, “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.” Even those who would, ordinarily, be thought of as worthy of at least some mercy and tenderness will be shown no mercy or tenderness at all. And it will be a time of destruction and loss. Jesus said in verse 24, “And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations.” And so it happened; and so it has been for almost two-thousand years. The people of Israel returned to their land only a few decades ago—in 1948. But even with that return, the city is still trampled upon by Gentiles. It’s a place where non-Jewish tourists and pilgrims from around the world go to see the ancient ruins. Even the very site of the temple itself is, to this day, occupied by those who are hostile to the Jewish people.
But that leads us to what our Lord had to say about …
5. THE SPECIFIED LIMIT (v. 24b).
In the latter half of verse 24, our Lord said, “And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” In God’s sovereign plan, the time of judgment and dispersion has a limit. ‘The times of the Gentiles’ began in 606 B.C., when the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar took the people of Jerusalem from their land and into exile. ‘The times of the Gentiles’ will continue until the day of our Lord’s return. These times in which we now live are the times in which God’s gift of salvation is being extended to people in the Gentile world—and also to His Jewish people—through the message of the gospel.
But it will definitely end! The vengeance of God upon Jerusalem will be completed. Zechariah 14 tells us about what will happen on the day of the Lord Jesus’ return to this earth. The Lord will go forth and fight for His people, and Jerusalem will again be inhabited by them:
The people shall dwell in it;
And no longer shall there be utter destruction,
But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited (Zechariah 14:11).
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Now; after speaking these words, our Lord went on to describe the events that would surround His second coming. Those times will involve unprecedented troubles for the whole world. But as we can see from this passage, God’s promised day of judgment upon Jerusalem had a fulfillment … and also, by His mercy, an end.
We can be sure that every promise our Lord made will be fulfilled—including the promise of deliverance in Him. We can rejoice that, until that time, God is making believing Jews and believing Gentiles into “one new man” for Himself in Christ (Ephesians 3:15). And most specifically, we can be sure that His promise will be fulfilled that “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).
1William Hendrikson, Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke, NTC (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978), p, 938,
