Prophetic Prospective Daily Devotional

And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Once again we go to the "well" of the "Olivet Discourse" for a "prophetic prospective" that applies to our day as well as to the day Jesus spoke these words on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and Dr Luke recorded them for us so that we might be able to read and learn from this passage, today.

Verses 5 and 6 of Luke 21 are parallel verses to both Matthew 24:1-3 and Mark 13:1-3. Jesus, while teaching on the Temple Mount on Monday afternoon of "Passion Week", made an astounding statement as He walked from the Temple, through the Eastern Gate, across the Kidron Valley and onto the Mount of Olives.

Jesus looked back at the "twenty-one story" Temple shining brightly on the Jerusalem horizon, because of the gold on this worship center, and the Lord made a prediction that one day in the near future there would not be a stone standing upon a stone on this majestic Temple.

The disciples gathered quickly around Jesus to ask Him more about His statement concerning the Temple. In the record of the "Olivet Discourse" filed in Matthew 24 Jesus does not respond to the question of the disciples as to when His prophecy would be fulfilled.

However, in our devotional reading for today, Luke records what the Lord told the disciples about the destruction of this Temple. In Luke 21:5-28 you have Luke's version of the entire "Olivet Discourse".

In verses 20-24 you have the answer to the disciples question about when the Temple would be destroyed. Jesus said, verse 20, that when they saw "armies" gathered around Jerusalem that would be a "significant sign" as to when the Temple's destruction would take place.

Jesus told the disciples that when they did see the "warning signs" to "flee to the mountains",verse 21. In the context of historic fact about the Roman Army who surrounded Jerusalem and the Temple for three years we can see how things unfolded.

General Titus gave the order to destroy the Temple and this mighty Roman Army followed through on that infamous day in 70 AD. I believe the Jews in 70 AD fled to "Masada" a "fortress stronghold" built by Herod the Great at the southwestern corner of the Dead Sea.

I make this statement because of verse 24. This verse gives us information about what happened the day the Temple was destroyed and literally ripped apart, stone by stone with no stone remaining upon another as the Roman Army finished their destructive work.

By the way, the prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled almost forty years to the day after the Lord gave this prophecy. Notice verse 24 again, it is detailing how when the Temple was destroyed the Jews were scattered to the nations of the world.

Then another prophecy about Jerusalem appears. The prophecy is that the Temple Mount will be "trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled". "Gentiles", the United States, European Union, the United Nations, Arab Nations and all Gentile nations of the world who play a role in having control of the city of Jerusalem today and in particular the Temple Mount.

These Gentiles will continue to do so until Jesus comes back to Jerusalem and destroys the "Gentile world powers". The stage is set for this prophecy to be fulfilled. Remember, the Rapture happens first and then these prophecies are fulfilled.

By the way, the Rapture could happen today!

PRAYER THOUGHT: Help me to understand Your prophetic warnings and to then apply them to my life as I live expectantly awaiting Your return, even so come quickly, Lord Jesus.