See The Salvation Of The L-RD!

0:00 So this is the first time that I actually have the privilege and the honor of actually inviting Rabbi Ari to the stage and praying for him as he delivers the message. Father, I just pray for our rabbi here. Father, I pray that you will continue to just touch his heart, take all that he has prepared, all that you have poured into him, and let him speak forth your word that we may see your salvation. Father, we thank you for this opportunity to hear your word, go forth, use him mightily in the mighty name of your son, Yeshua. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Marcus.

0:46 It's interesting. I think that's the first time I've been called to the stage to speak since the transition Shabbat nearly six years ago. We are in the middle of, of the book of Luke. I say we're in the middle. We're actually drawing near to the end. I don't know if you have really paid attention how quickly the second half of Luke has gone, but we are moving quickly, and in fact, we should finish Luke, uh, probably by the end of the summer as a reminder, like I do every week. We are discussing Luke and Luke is, is is written in a particular manner with a particular method, uh, to a particular person. And we,

1:33 we are gonna talk about those. But before I, uh, get into this week's message, I just want to remind us that number one, Luke is writing to Theophilus. It's the, it's the opening verses you, you've, you, you, you hear him write to Theophilus and then he says, your most excellency, he's writing the Theophilus. There's lots of different opinions as to, uh, as to the identity of Theophilus, Uh, one of which is that Theophilus isn't actually a singular person. He's actually a representative or a figure person that represents all lovers of God. And, and, and that's why he gets his name. Theophilus, a lover of God. There's another perspective that, that Theophilus isn't just,

2:20 not that, but he's a particular person who lived in history around the same time as Luke. This is the position I take and, and that Luke is actually writing to a person named Theophilus, not just a general entity. And so Luke writes off, writes this book. Um, as I, as I said, I've said a couple times, I know that Luke is attributed as the author, and I say Luke writes the book, but really Luke is, is is just a scribe. He's the one who puts to the pin to the paper, uh, the proverbial paper, uh, and writes what the spirit of the Lord is leading him to write. Uh, I take the spirit of the Lord as the author. So what we have is Luke gives a purpose for this book in Luke chapter one,

3:09 verses three and four. Therefore, your excellence, he, again, he's addressing Theophilus. Since I have carefully investigated all these things from the beginning, all the things concerning Yeshua, it seemed good to me that I too should write you an accurate and ordered narrative. So that, or for the purpose, this is where we get the purpose of the book of Luke, so that you might know how well founded or how for sure, or how certain are the things about which you have been taught. And so what we see Luke lays this out for Theophilus it so that it will strengthen Theophilus faith. In my opinion, Theophilus is already a follower of Yeshua by the time the book has been written. And o or or why else would his faith need to be strengthened as opposed to one over. So Theo, he's writing,

3:57 Luke is writing to Theophilus to strengthen Theophilus for the purpose of, of encouraging his faith. And the rest of the Book of Luke deals with the inbreaking of the kingdom of heaven and with the people that are here on earth bringing their lives into alignment. So you have miraculous encounters that, that speak to the ushering end of the kingdom. You have the healing of the blind, the blind received sight. You have, uh, those who have withered limbs. Their limbs become whole. You have the, the lepers being healed. You have the dead being raised. All of these speak to the miraculous in breaking of the kingdom of heaven. But also you have people like tax collectors and prostitutes and other people like that who are turning their lives

4:42 to be in alignment with the king. And so you have a dual function here of the kingdom coming, but also it's coming as, as every step that, uh, if I can include all of us in this narrative, every step that we take and align ourselves with the king we are in this process. Again, we started in the Galilee and now we're in Jerusalem. We're in the temple. Yeshua's been teaching, he's addressed the, the head kohanim. He's a, he's addressed the Torres scribes. He's addressed, uh, his followers. He, he's given some, some stories and parables. And now what we're doing is he's in the final day or

5:32 days leading into Passover. So it's important for us to keep that in mind as, as we're reading through the text, because Passover is at hand. I don't know about you, but the days before Passover, it becomes a frenzy, uh, around our house. You know, we're, we're trying to eat as much bread as we can possibly eat. I mean, we're trying to clear out the 11. We're we're getting things in shape. We're recognizing that it's going to be eight days, and we're gonna see these particular things that are gonna happen. We're gonna have Seder with our family. We're gonna be up really late. We're probably gonna come to the Brook Shem Seder.

6:18 We're gonna be up really late. We may have two or three other Seders during the week. And so we have a full week of things that are happening. And all of this is leading into Passover. I suspect it was not too different during that time period. I know I'm, I'm doing a little bit of reading our own story back, and it, and it's not advisable in, in scripture, but when it comes to Passover, it seems like Yeshua at least would've had one Seder that he's getting ready for perhaps more, but we don't know. Well, no, not perhaps more. He's got one Seder and then, and then he's, uh, he's done. So you think about that all of this is going on in his mind,

7:04 in his follower's minds, and they're paying attention. They're recalling, they're beginning, even now, even though the Seder hasn't started, they're beginning to recall what happened in Egypt so that they could be delivered. So this is the context I want you to be in as we get into this week's passage. I wanna read for you last week, I, I went through verse nine, and then we covered 10 through 19 on Wednesday night. But I want to start for today. I I'm not gonna cover all of this, but I wanna read the whole passage in its entirety so you can hear it all at the same time as if Yeshua delivered it at the same time, which he did.

7:51 So Yeshua was up there. He just noticed, uh, this widow put in, um, two copper coins. He gives a little talk about it. And, um, and, and this is where we are in 21 verse five. And while some were talking about the temple again, he's with his disciples now, I, in, in the immediacy of, of his range. And some were talking about the temple, how it was decorated with beautiful stones and offerings. And Yeshua said, as for these things that you are looking at, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon one another. Everyone will be torn down. And they questioned him saying, teachers, so when will these things happen? What will be the sign that these things are about to take place? And he said,

8:36 watch out that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name saying I am he, and the time is near, do not follow them. And when you hear of wars and chaos, do not be terrorized for these things need to happen first, but the end will not come at once. Then he continued telling them, nation will rise up against nation or people against people and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes along with famines and epidemics in various places. And there will be terrors along with great signs from heaven. But before all these things, they will grab you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues in the prisons and leading you away to the

9:22 kings and governors on account of my name. This will lead you to be a witness. So make up your minds not to worry ahead of time to defend yourselves. For I myself will give you speech and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute, but you'll be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends. Again, think about who Yeshua is speaking to here, all of his close disciples and friends, you'll be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends. And they will put some of you to death. And you'll be hated by all because of my name. Yet not a hair of your head will be lost by your endurance.

10:08 You will gain your souls. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near, then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must get out. And those in the countryside must not enter her or into the city. For these are the days of punishment to fulfill all that has been written, wo 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 on this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be signs in the sun and moon in stars and upon the earth.

10:56 Nations will be confused by the roaring of the sea and its waves. People will lose heart from fear and anticipation of what is overtaking the earth for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now, when these things begin to happen, stand straight, lift up your heads because your salvation is near. All of that was in one sitting. Now I know that we've broken it up into three different sections to teach, but I wanted you to hear it all as one account because that's what it is.

11:42 Now, before I get into this, I wanna share with you a story I've been trying to, which story to share. About three years ago, actually exactly three years ago to the day, exactly three years ago, we were all at home. We were all in our ho own homes. My family was in my home, and my wife began to groan and she began to have experienced pains.

12:33 And all of a sudden I said, oh, there's a, the baby's coming. She was nine months pregnant. That's probably a good, probably I should have given that as a, as a preparation. Probably should have led you into that one. She's nine months pregnant, she's beginning to, to go into labor. She's has the recognizable pains, she's breathing. And we call the midwife, Uh, because we just, we had, we had previously decided for all reasons to, that we're known at the time to have a home birth. And, um, we called the midwife and the midwife comes over,

13:18 and this has been our midwife for all three of our children. And she goes, oh yeah, I think she's in labor. I'm, I'm gonna hang around. Well, she, you know, it gets more and more intense. For those of you who've witnessed or and or been the person in that position, it gets more and more intense. The longer time goes on. It starts off, it's like, it's like just a, a little, a little, uh, who am I to mansplain birthing? But it starts off with little pains that are, that are far apart in, in, in time. But the, the closer you get to the birthing event, the closer the pains get and also the stronger they are.

14:05 And so they're getting closer, they're getting stronger. And it's about, I don't know, 10, 11 o'clock at night. And our midwife is there, she's a and and, and she goes, yep, I think this is gonna go, this is looking good. I think I'm just gonna take a nap on your couch. I was like, great. Because previously with our, our next older child, we had her at home and she beat the midwife to the house. So I was like, great, you take a nap on our couch. Let's, this is, this is what I'm paying for. Uh, she takes a nap and all of a sudden the pains begin to

14:51 dissipate and everything gets quiet. And I look at Britney and she looks at me and I was like, I thought this was happening. And she goes, I thought so too. So we go out, we wake up the midwife, and we're like, it seems like things have like calmed down a little bit. And she goes, no, I'm pretty sure you're still, you're still gonna give birth. So she just slept on her couch all night in the morning, nothing. No baby. I felt so bad because she had like eight other babies that she was delivering in the next like 36 hours. And so she was, she spent all this time with us,

15:36 probably partially because she realized the previous time we had done it on our own. And maybe she felt a little bad. I don't know, just a little part of me was glad that she felt a little bad. But um, after all of that, I felt bad because she slept on her couch all night. Every, I don't know, those of you who maybe you don't sleep on a couch very often, but sleeping on a couch is not the most fantastic thing in the world. In fact, you, you get those lumps and you like, especially if you're over about 35 and, and, and you just get, and you wake up and you got a crick and you're like, I can't move. And uh, she wakes up and she's like, oh, I'm like, I'm so sorry. I'm like, the baby's not here and I don't think the baby's coming today. And she goes,

16:24 it's okay. This is my job. So we wait a couple more days and Britney goes into labor again. And I look at Britney, I was like, are you sure this is the right one before we call the midwife, cuz she's already been here, we did all this stuff and then we had to, you know, bring that ship back to port. And um, she goes, yeah, I think this is it. By the way, this is the Saturday that I think we resumed services and I had stopped to get our favorite pizza on the way home. And I'm getting, and I've got the pizza and we're eating pizza and our air conditioning goes out and Britney's standing there while I'm eating pizza and the girls are eating

17:11 pizza. Britney's standing there behind me, holding onto my chair going, And I'm, and I go, sweetie, do you want, do you want some pizza? No. I'm like, are you okay? I'm fine. Nothing's happening here. I go, are you sure? Are you sure nothing's happening because I think you're going into labor. And she goes, I'm fine. Okay, What were you saying? And I looked at her and I said, sweetie, I'm pretty sure you just had a contraction. No, no, it's, I had a piece of that pizza and it's just, it's not sitting right. And,

18:00 and I'm like, I don't, I don't think that's true. Well, my sister was there and I, I looked at my sister and I said, I think I think you need to take the girls over to mom and dad's cuz I think this baby's coming. And and she's like, no, no, no, we're just, just sit down. So we're sitting there, we're eating, and she goes, this is a little hot in here, aren't you a little hot? And I'm like, I am a little hot actually. And I go to the, the air conditioning, I turn it down and air conditioning's blowing and it's blowing hot air. And I'm like, oh no. I'm like, well, the air conditioning's not working. Let's open the windows. It's only 88 degrees outside. Well, maybe it was 84. There was a cold front blowing in, kind of like what happened actually, it was just like, what happened last night? We had a couple storms that day and cold front blew through. And, and, uh,

18:48 so we're, we're eating pizza. We're going on. And every about, I don't know, maybe 10 minutes, Am I sweetie, are you sure? Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure they're getting regular now. Yeah, yeah. This is not labor. Okay? We continue on and we're eating and now about five minutes and, and she's now gripping the back of my chair. I said, sweet, this is, this, is it this, I know this. Like, I recognize this. And she's like, yeah, maybe. So I called the midwife and I was like, I'm calling the midwife because we gotta give her, it's like four o'clock in the afternoon. I was like, we gotta give her a heads up so that she can get a nap in right now before she

19:35 comes over. And she goes, okay. So I called the midwife and she goes, well, how far apart are they? And I said, they're about five to seven minutes, minute in duration. And she goes, all right, call me. Call me when it gets a little bit closer. And I was like, okay, I don't know, maybe five o'clock rolls around. The girls are packing up and, and these are becoming more frequent and stronger and, and the girls are going over to my parents' house because it's an outgoing time. And, uh, and so one of these times, well, I'll get to that in a second. So what I'm, what I'm trying to describe here is the pains were evident

20:21 if you knew what you were looking for and the pains were coming and they were coming more frequently, and not just more frequently but stronger. And they continued to increase every 10 to 15 minutes in strength. And they became more frequent and more frequent and stronger and stronger and to the point where, uh, my wife, her, her, uh, maybe I'm getting too much detail, but my wife, her lower back begins to hurt. And so I remember with the first child, like I, I put some nice even pressure on her lower back. And so of doing that, I go, sweetie, isn't that so nice? Breathe. I go, I go, just breathe. And she, she turns around and looks at me and goes,

21:09 stop breathing on me. And we, we were, we were discussing this this morning and she goes, she goes, you know, looking back, I know you were trying to be sweet. She goes, but you're, the air conditioning was out and your breath was hot and it smelled like pizza. And she goes, she goes, it was disgusting. And, and she goes, and all I could think about was the pain I was in, and you and she, and I was like, well sweetie, you were kind of mean. And anyways, it was a very comical moment. Uh, but all of that to say the the pains continued that night and they continued to strengthen and strengthen and strengthen until the moment came.

21:57 When it was time to push and the baby was delivered. And when the baby was delivered, it was, it was one of those, it was, uh, listen, I'm describing from a man's point of view, so please recognize that it was one of those other worldly painful moments, but also extremely full of joy, if I can describe it that way. But the pain was beyond the limit. And, and it's actually is really funny because with the other two after birth, she said, you know, we could probably do another one. And this one,

22:42 immediately following the birth, she looks at me and she goes, never again. And I was like, yes, ma'am. And uh, but I'm saying that because this passage that we're talking about, Yeshua lays out exact exactly what's going to happen before the kingdom. His kingdom is birthed into this world. And he describes it this way. He describes it like this. Let's see, where do I want to start? There's wars and chaos.

23:29 People's fighting against people's kingdoms, against kingdoms. There's great earthquakes with famines and epidemics. There's terrors along with great signs from the heavens. You'll be persecuted, perhaps even handed over by your parents, brothers, relatives or friends. Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies. You'll know that at that point that Jerusalem is about to be destroyed. And then he comes again. He says, Jerusalem will be trampled, will be destroyed, will be trampled underfoot by the gentiles for a season or for until the

24:17 times of the seasons of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And then there will be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars and the earth. The earth's nations will be confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will lose heart from fear and anticipation of what is overtaking the earth for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the son of man, just, I want you to think about this in terms of labor. This is the baby. And then they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now, when these things begin to happen, stand straight and lift up your heads because your salvation is

25:04 near. We're gonna go through this, but I wanted you to have the birth story in your mind because that is exactly what creation is doing. Let's start here. When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Yeshua was asked earlier in this passage that I read a few minutes ago for a sign that would point to the coming destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. And here he gives the sign, he says, when Jerusalem is being surrounded. So I want I want you to note that this is, it's not when Jerusalem is surrounded,

25:49 because at that point it's too late to get out. But as when Jerusalem is being surrounded, the armies are encamping and they're slowly beginning to form the, uh, blockade around Jerusalem. At that point, when you see that happening, Yeshua is saying, it's time to go Recognize that her desolation is near. So first of all, you have to see what is going on and recognize that that's happening. And then Yeshua moves on and he says, these are the actions that I expect you to do, the actions necessary, uh, by his followers, when they see the sign, those in Judea, those who are in the area around Jerusalem, must flee to the mountains.

26:35 Those inside the city must get out, and those in the countryside must not enter into Jerusalem. And then in verse 23, he gives the why. You see, he's given the sign, he's given what to do when the sign appears, and then now he gives the why. He says, this is what he says, these are the days of punishment for these are the days of punishment to fulfill all that has been written. There's multiple references here, but let me just, lemme give you three. Uh, one is in Jose chapter nine. In fact, let's just flip there for a moment. Jose chapter nine says this,

27:23 the days of punishment have come, the days of retribution have come. Let Israel know the prophet is a fool. The man of the spirit is mad for great is your iniquity and great the hostility, the days of punishment are coming are here. Even there's another reference in, in Daniel chapter nine. Verses 24th through, uh, 27 70 weeks are decreed concerning your people in your holy city to put an end to transgression, to bring sin to an end, to atone for iniquity, to bring an everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the holy of holies. So know and understand from the issuing of the decree to restore and to build

28:09 Jerusalem. Until the time of the Maia the prince, there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks it will be rebuilt by the way, Daniel's writing, uh, a around 400 plus years before, um, the time of Yeshua, it will be rebuilt with plaza and mote, and it will be in times of distress. Then after 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. Then the people of a prince who is to come will destroy the city in the sanctuary, but his end will come like a flood until the end of the war that is decreed. There will be destruction. Then he'll make a firm covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of the week, he'll put an end to sacrifice and offerings. And on a wing of abominations will come,

28:55 one who destroys until the decreed annihilation is poured out on the one who destroys. We see it also in Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 35, vengeance is mine, says the Lord. And payback for the time when their foot staggers shortly, their day of disaster is near what is prepared. Rushes on them. For the Lord will judge his people. For his servants, he will relent. When he sees that strength is gone and no one is left slave or free, the vengeance of God is terrible.

29:43 Why can I say that? Because I want now to take a few minutes and look back and see what actually happened. We have the ability to look back 2000 years and see exactly everything that happened, uh, or as it's, as accounts, um, have been written. There's a couple things I want to say. Leading up to the destruction of the temple. First of all, Yaakov Yeshua's brother, who became the leader of the community in of believers in Jerusalem, was martyred in 62, 62 ce eight years before the destruction of the temple shortly thereafter. Actually, let me just, I I wanna share with you something interesting,

30:28 fascinating that I found this week while while studying, we see and we'll cover them over the next year, but we see multiple different waves of persecution of the body of Messiah in Jerusalem. We see three primarily different waves. The first wave comes against Yeshua and it extends through the, uh, the, the murder of Steven. We see a second wave come when Yaakov or James, the son of Zeeb is martyred in, I think it's Acts 10, maybe somewhere right around Acts 10, 12, maybe it's in 12.

31:13 And then we see another wave occur when Yako James, the brother of Yeshua, is martyred in 62. There are two common elements to these three waves of persecution. One common element is they're all believers in Yeshua. I mean, the people who are being persecuted, that should seem, should seem like a no-brainer for us. The other one that's, that's a common element is the high priest family that is serving in office at the time is the same every time you see there's a rotation of the high priests. And when that family is out of office, the persecution goes away. When the family comes back into office, the persecution returns.

32:03 Now what family is that? That's an Anais. We, who's already been listed, uh, we will see again in in the next couple weeks. In, in Luke 22. Also, it's an Anais and he's the former high priest, but it's his family unit. Caiaphas is the, is the serving high priest during the time of Yeshua and continues through the martyrdom of Steven. He is, um, he is no longer high priest. And then, uh, oh, it's in Acts 12 when, when Yaakov James, the son of Zeeb is executed. And that's the same time when Peter is arrested. If you remember, the high priest serving at the time was Matt taas another son of

32:51 Ananias. And during that time, Agrippa was king and Agrippa was responsible for the actions, but the family of Ananias was in power as the high priest, if that makes sense. During that time period, it was first Matt Taas, and then, uh, another son of an named Theophilus became high priest and Agrippa deposed or removed Theophilus from the priesthood in 40, 40 or 41 and replaced him with a member of a rival family. So you see that family is moved out, this rival family is moved in and the, and the persecution goes down.

33:40 And then, uh, maybe 10 or 15 years later, uh, Anais two, another son of Ananias was responsible for the execution of Yako brother of Yeshua in 62. And Yako brother of Yeshua was known in the Jewish community of the time, not the believing Jew, not the followers of Yeshua, but the all of Jerusalem. He was, he was called Yako, s Sadiq, um, James the righteous by the whole community, not by the, not by the believers of Yeshua, followers of Yeshua by the, by the whole community. And so there are some sources that say that he, his prayer was so effective as he was praying for Jerusalem,

34:25 that it was his prayer that provided the, um, uh, the covering to prevent destruction of Jerusalem. And that when he was martyred in 62, that covering of prayer was removed. In 66, there became an active revolt against Rome. And the armies of Emperor Nero led by General Vespasian, came and began to surround Jerusalem. This is in 66. In 68 he was called back, uh, because of the death of the emperor, and he was made emperor and Titus became the general responsible,

35:13 and he was finally the general responsible for the capture, the destruction of Jerusalem and the slaughter and the captivity of the Jewish people. From that point, Josephus records this and he records that there were 110,000 Jewish people killed during the siege and the fall of Jerusalem. In addition, he reports that there were 97,000 Jewish people that were taken captive, uh, taken prisoner from Jerusalem. In fact, you can see on the arch of Titus in Rome, you can see, uh, depictions of the, of the captives being led to Rome, uh, carrying, um, being enslaved, but also carrying the artifacts of the temple

36:00 During this time period, famine, disease and pestilence swept through the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Why? Because there was no food. You couldn't get food in once the, once the, the siege was complete, and as the siege was happening, it happened also to be Pesa. And so there was an, an immigration of people from the out of town. Do you remember, I, I think I talked about the population of Jerusalem being around 40,000. If 40,000, how is it possible that Titus killed 110,000? Well, it's possible because, what did I say this, the population of Jerusalem would swell to between 200,000 and 2 million

36:45 during a a, a holiday or a festival. And so there was a festival before the siege was closed and people came to offer their sacrifices and got trapped and were stuck in the city for the remainder of the time. There are some records that indicate the followers of Yeshua fled Jerusalem as they saw the city being surrounded by armies, just as Yeshua had warned them. Why? What did Yeshua say? When you see the city being surrounded by armies, get out. So there's, there's some rec, some records indicate that they did get out and some records indicate that they didn't. Which records are you gonna believe? I don't know what I, what I would,

37:34 what I would say is, it's hard for me to believe that even with all of the warnings, that the entire community of followers of Yeshua would act as a monolithic entity. Just think about us today. Even em, like, we're like, we actually all come to the same place. We're all relatively friends with each other. Just think about if we were told to do something. Actually, I can just, I can think about exactly. We had a fire alarm here. What was that six months ago or something? And did we all do the same thing? No. And we even knew that there was a fire alarm.

38:20 We did one thing and then we did something else, and then we did a third thing. Eventually most of the people went that way, but still not everyone. So you can see how there can be discrepancies in records. Well, maybe they didn't all leave or maybe they did all leave. It actually is very human nature that we all do something different. Even if we prepare ahead of time to do the same thing. It would stand to reason that some would stay and fight in solidarity with the rest of the Jewish community unto death. That's what happens in Masada. It's also conceivable that some would stay behind to help care for the, the sick and the needy. Why?

39:07 Because this is what Yeshua practiced and what he taught his followers to practice. And it's practiced actually throughout history by his followers. So Yeshua gives us the why, but let's, I I just wanna take a minute and discuss the Jewish community's reasoning for the destruction of the temple in 70. By the way, my notes are, my notes and scriptures and everything are available in you version. And as is this article I'm about to reference, uh, I i just, you can, it's easy. You just go to Google. By the way, if you guys haven't figured out, rabbi Google has a lot of answers.

39:53 If you go to Google and type in destruction of the second, second temple and then you let it do it's like thing, it doesn't do that anymore. It just goes, here it is. Find the article that says Kabad. And this is what it says. What's the reasoning? The Jewish community's reasoning for the destruction of the temple in 70 ce? Well, regarding the first temple, the Talmud tells us due to what reason was the first temple destroyed, it was destroyed because three matters existed in the first temple. Idle worship, forbidden sexual relations, and bloodshed. The Almaden continues regarding the second temple. However, in the second temple, the people were engaged in Torah study,

40:38 observance of mitzvahs and acts of kindness. So why was the second temple destroyed? It was destroyed due to the fact that there was baseless hatred during that period. This comes to teach you that the sin of baseless hatred is equivalent to the three severe transgressions, idle worship, forbidden sexual relations and bloodshed. What is baseless hatred? When you go delve into it even more, it's when everybody in the community fights against everyone else in the community. And what does it do? It tears the community apart. It's the baseless, in fact, it's promoted and propagated. When one person says to the other, did you see that horrible person over there? And the other person says, yes, I saw a horrible person.

41:25 Let me tell you about this person over here. You, we, we all know what that's called. That's called gossip or slander. Perhaps we don't like to say it, but it still happens today. If you don't stop the person at the moment and turn them around and say, if you have a problem with that person, you should go to that person, not me. If you don't do that, then you're participating in the propagation of it. Does that make sense? Yeah. Sorry, that's just a side, that's a side nugget for you guys. Um, but this is exactly what the Jewish community recognizes was happening in the second temple time period. That there was baseless hatred, if you will, in fighting among the Jewish people to the point where they

42:11 would destroy themselves if a, an outside force didn't come first. So let's move on because we we're given further elaboration here. Woe to those of verse 23 of chapter 21. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days, for there'll be great distress on the land and wrath on this people, they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Yeshua is giving further elaboration of details that are going to happen the pregnant and those who are nursing babies. This represents the, some of the most helpless in society.

42:58 Nursing babies can't do anything. Uh, and, and I don't mean to be offensive, but have you seen, have you asked a pregnant mom to walk real quick and try to run and get out is really difficult cuz you have a whole nother entity here. These are some of the most, some of the most vulnerable elements of society. And it says there's gonna be great distress in the land and wrath on these people. This happened in 70 ce and then again in 1 35, Luke has written down for his audience what Yeshua was prophesying. And it ended up happening. Some fell by the sword and others were let off into captivity. I gave you the numbers by Josephus earlier, 110,090 7,000.

43:48 It ended up happening. It was trampled underfoot, literally by Rome. Rome literally came in, trampled the temple, destroyed it, desecrated it, un uh, unstacked stones and leveled Jerusalem. But here's the thing about this prophecy is it doesn't say that it will happen forever. Yeshua says it will happen for a season and then that season will pass. What does that mean? It means that Jerusalem, what he's saying is Jerusalem is gonna be destroyed under control of the Gentiles for a season,

44:33 and then at some point it will come back into the, uh, control or hands or, uh, under the authority of a Jewish entity. So let me give you history. Jerusalem was not under control for 1,897 years from the year 70. Well, I mean, I don't, if you want to count the years prior to 70 as being under Jewish control, that's fine, but it, that's questionable. But from the year 70 until the year nineteen sixty seven, eighteen hundred and ninety seven years, Yesterday happened to be Jerusalem Day celebrating the reunification of east and west Jerusalem. You see, in 1948,

45:21 Jerusalem was lost in the War of Independence, at least the old city and East Jerusalem. But the newer part of the city in the west, the west Jerusalem was retained and was held by a lifeline for about 19 years. And then in 67, there was an unprovoked attack by Arab nations, uh, neighbors of Israel. And in that, Israel ended up gaining territory. It was a surprise attack. But Israel not only gained territory, they gained Jerusalem, they gained all of these areas that were actually, um, they're, they are a part of the allotment all, uh, assigned to the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob back in Genesis.

46:10 And also they're necessary for the security of the people who were already there pre 1967. So it's, it's interesting that that happened yesterday. And we're discussing this today. It was the first time in 1,897 years that Jerusalem was under the control of a Jewish authority, a Jewish state, a Jewish entity, first time in almost 1900 years. That's nuts. Yeshua continues. There will be signs in the sun and the moon in the stars and upon the earth.

46:57 Nations will be confused by the roaring of the sea and its waves. People will lose heart from fear and anticipation of what is overtaking the earth for the powers of the heavens will be shaken and they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now, when these things begin to happen, stand straight and lift up your heads because your salvation is near throughout this passage. But particularly here, what we have is, is apocalyptic imagery that's pretty standard for Jewish apocalyptic in, uh, uh, imagery of the time. Now I'm gonna say it's already, we've already had some in, but now we get to some, some major parts here. This,

47:44 there's gonna be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars. What does Psalm 19 say? Psalm 19 says, the heavens declare the glory of the Lord and the sky shows his handiwork. It seems to me that God is an intentional creator. And when he created all of creation, all of creation was meant to worship him and to serve him and to point to him. We are some of the only ones to rebel to that. And, and maybe cockroaches, because I don't like cockroaches so much, but anyways, that's, that's not to be discussed,

48:30 but we are some of the only ones of his creation who don't point to him. Everything else points to him and sings. I I think I played a, a video man, I think it was almost a year and a half ago or so, um, by Louis Giglio of, of a Star and its song and then connected with a whale and its song, the two probably don't ever interact with each other, but their song blends perfectly together to form a beautiful song unto, unto the Lord. So the heavens declare the glory of the Lord. But also,

49:16 I also want us to remember, what did I say at the very beginning of this? What is Yeshua about to what, where, where is Yeshua and what is he about to encounter? He's in Jerusalem about to be in pesa or matsa as, as chapter 22 calls it. And in matsa, in Pesak, we remember being delivered from Egypt. And what happened in Egypt, there was hail that came from the heavens. The sun became dark and darkness prevailed over the, over the earth for three days after the deliverance. While they're in the wilderness. Joshua, I brought this up on Wednesday night, Joshua goes out to fight against the Amalekites and Moses lifts up his hands and

50:04 the sun stops for the purpose of Joshua prevailing against the Amalekites, the sun stopped in the heavenlies. You see, there's signs that occur when God is at work as long as you are able to see them. And, and I shouldn't say as you're able to see them, as long as you are able to recognize them. Joel says this in Joel chapter three. In fact, let's just, let me flip there. In Joel chapter three, it says this, so it will be afterward. I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions, also the male and the female servants, uh, on the male and the female servants.

50:53 While I pour out my spirit in those days, I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood, fire and pillars of smoke. Just remember what, when Israel left Egypt, what was it? There was fire and a pillar of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and the awesome day of the Lord comes, then all who come who call on the Lord's name, will escape for on Mount Zion. And in Jerusalem there will be rescue, as Oai has said among the survivors whom Oai is calling. I just want you to think about this. If something happens to the sun or in particular the moon,

51:41 do we experience repercussions of that? We experience what? Let me, I just, I'm just gonna quote Yeshua because this is, it's amazing actually. When you begin to read the scripture and tie it in with what happens, Yeshua says there's going to be, uh, hold, let me find it here. There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, in the stars, and upon the earth. Nations will be confused. What? By the roaring of the sea and its waves. If the moon stops or has something happened to it, what happens? The tidal waves will, will take over. There'll be tidal waves. The tides will be affected all around the entire world because something has

52:27 happened to the moon. So something happens in the heavenly, something happens here on earth. Isaiah 17 says this, the uproar of many peoples who roar like the roaring of the seas, the rumbling of nations who rush in like the rumbling of mighty waters. The nations will rush in like the rumbling of many waters, but he will rebuke them so that they will flee far away. Maybe there's confusion by the sound of, of the sea or the oceans and the water, but maybe also there's confusion by the sound of the people's charging at Israel that sounds like the sea in the waves.

53:16 And then God will make a stand and they will be turned away. They'll flee far away. These are devastating things. I just want you to think about that. It's not a, we we had a whole long discussion on Wednesday night about what does it mean to be called a great earthquake or a great day of the Lord, A great and awesome day of the Lord, a great and terrible. The great doesn't necessarily always mean good or what we would perceive as good, but when we're talking about labor pains and we're talking about

54:02 great pains that are felt throughout the body as a woman is about to deliver a new life into this earth, on some level, they are great because they're pains that have to be with, um, That Have to be withstood. Is that the right word? I'm not sure. That have to be withstood for the emergence of something new. And so if the son of man is going to bring his new kingdom, it stands to reason that the earth would go into convulsions or into birth pains to deliver this new kingdom. And what does that look like? It looks like a shaking of the earth,

54:49 a shaking of the skies and everything coming together. And, and what happens is starts slow with a long time in between and then it becomes more frequent, stronger. I'm not talking about what happens in America. I'm talking about what happens in the world, but the reality is, is the world centers on Jerusalem. And so what you, if you can think about it this way, what happens around if, if Jerusalem is, uh, can I use this term, the epicenter or the, the center of everything? Then it goes from that point outward. You know, in America,

55:34 we, we tend to think of ourselves a little bit more often, um, and, and think of ourselves a little bit more centric to the purpose. That's fine. We have great, we have great calling upon the Lord here, but we're not the center. We're almost on the other side of the center, like not quite well Hawaii, Hawaii's the exact opposite side, So I guess that's part of America, but we're not the center. And so when we take it and we put it in our own contact, man, we got a lot more to tornadoes this year in Dallas because Dallas is the center of God's plan. I'm just gonna tell you that's a, a slight misapplication of scripture

56:21 Because we're not the center of God's plan. You can just say, we got more tornadoes is a horrible thing. That's okay. You don't need scripture to be like, Hey, here it is right here. Like, it's okay to say things and say, man, we had a lot of tornadoes last year or in the last three or four years. But can I just tell you, the earthquakes around the world are coming more frequently. I I don't know if you've paid attention, but there's a lot in the middle, in the Middle East, what we would call the Middle East. I, I don't know, uh, south of Russia, west of China, east of, I don't know, Italy, maybe in that area. We've had a lot of, uh, earthquakes in the last several years growing in magnitude. I mean,

57:10 that's not to, not to say anything about the earthquakes that have happened around the rest of the world. In verse 26, we see that people will lose heart from fear about what is overtaking the earth. I I just, this is can I, I'm going to have a brutally honest moment with you for just a second. I am so glad I live in Texas. I know I've said that before and I, and I'm so glad I live here and not in California because I'm not entirely certain what I would do if the earth under my feet started shaking at least a tornado. I can look and I can see it. I can put myself into a hole, I can do something. But when the earth under your feet begins to shake,

57:56 you have nothing like literally nothing that terrifies me. But this says the earthquakes are gonna grow and they're gonna become more frequent and just weird. We're getting earthquakes in Texas now for some reason, uh, like just odd. But you can understand why people would lose heart from fear because they have nothing that they can control. The earth under their feet is moving. The sun and the sky over their head is changing and we can't do anything about it. It's at that moment,

58:43 that moment of losing heart from fear and about what's overtaking the earth and the powers of the heavens being shaken. It's at that moment that we're to stop. Why? Because we've been given this warning. Isaiah uses some imagery, uh, in Isaiah 34. He speaks about the sky rolling up like a scroll ha guy speaks of the heavens and the earth being shaken by the Lord, but also the Lord will shake the nation's. And at that point, when all of this shaking reaches its,

59:29 its most frequent and its highest magnitude, it's at that point that we look up, Yeshua says, look up, and they will see the son of man coming in a cloud with power and with great glory. Now, I know I've already talked about this a couple times, but I'm gonna hit it again. The sun, there's in Daniel chapter seven, let me, let me just, let me flip over there real quick. In Daniel chapter seven verses 13 and 14, he says this, I was watching in the night visions behold one like a son of man,

1:00:16 this is where the term terminology son of man comes from. There was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days and was brought into his presence, dominion, glory and sovereignty were given to him that all peoples, all nations, all languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will never pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. This is what we're beginning to witness. Yeshua says, look and see the son of man coming on a cloud with power and great glory.

1:01:03 This imagery is also found in the book of Ezekiel. It describes one like a son of man wrapped in a cloud coming from out of the north, and there's flashing fire and brightness all around it. As that, as that cloud comes. Now let me pause for just a moment and share with you one other thing, just in case you haven't connected these before. What is it that leads Israel out of Egypt? A cloud with fire within it. So when you see an Ezekiel, a cloud with lightning, lightning is fire. Lightning within it, a cloud with fire within it, a cloud leads Israel out of Egypt.

1:01:55 In Exodus 40, it talks about when the ishk is fully assembled, that the cloud comes down. That cloud is the glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord is what led Israel out of Egypt. The glory of the Lord is what settled on the tabernacle. The glory of the Lord is what dwelt in the temple. And then we read in Ezekiel 10 and 11 that the glory of the Lord departed the temple with the exiles, the exiles, the ones who were taken off to Babylon. The glory of the Lord left with them.

1:02:41 If I can put it this way, when Israel went into exile, God went with them. I know that's kind of strong language, but it's what the scriptures indicate. God went with them. The glory of the Lord went with the people into exile. It seems that what Yeshua is doing is he's making a connection. When he says, you'll see the son of man coming in the cloud with power and glory. He's making a connection to the returning power or glory of the Lord

1:03:27 from exile. It indicates the return of the glory of the Lord from exile indicates that the Jewish people also will have returned from exile. But I just want to make another note. Let's see, I think it was Thursday. I was at a, I was at a meeting yesterday and one of these, one of these men stood up and said, do you know what was yesterday speaking about Thursday? Uh, I think it was Thursday. And, and, and, and I'm thinking like it's Thursday. Uh, it was the 42nd day of the counting of the oer. Uh, no, I mean,

1:04:15 and, and and he goes, oh no, not the 42nd day. It was the 40th, 40th day. There's a reason for this. He goes, it is ascension day. So maybe it wasn't Thursday. Maybe it was Tuesday. Tuesday. Is that Yeah, Tuesday. It was ascension day on the church calendar from the point that Yeshua shares this prayer until the ascension is less than seven weeks. In fact, it's, it may be right about six weeks, just, just a little bit over six weeks. What is Yeshua ascend?

1:05:03 Anybody? He's caught up into the heavenlys with a cloud. Right? I've never made the connection before yesterday that perhaps Yeshua was going into exile with his people just before the destruction of the temple again. And he says, the next time you see me, The next time you see the son of man coming on a cloud with glory, I'll be coming back from exile. My kingdom will be here.

1:05:50 Yes, everything that's gonna happen is devastating. It's terrible. But when you think about the things that are happening, Yeshua says, stand up straight and lift up your heads. Why? Because your salvation, your deliverance is near the cloud of glory, led the people out of bondage from the land of Egypt and was there to guide the people through the wilderness and into the land of Israel. Likewise, Yeshua is saying that their deliverance or salvation will be near when these things are happening. They no longer have to stoop and hide themselves from the view of others. I say that

1:06:36 because the nation state of Israel today has to stoop and hide itself from the view of other nations. It has to keep a low profile or it will become even more condemned than it already is in the court of the nations. What does that mean? More resolutions have been put against Israel by the UN than against any other than actually, I think, than the rest of all other countries put together In Israel's short 75 year existence. It stands condemned in the world court over and over and over

1:07:25 and over and over again to the point that it has to withstand a thousand rockets being hurled at its citizens in order to go in and clean out the bad people. You know, Israel could very easily go in ahead of, ahead of time and just take it out. But the reality is, even by coming as a reaction, Israel gets condemned by the world. Imagine how much more so if she were to go in first. So what does this mean? I know I'm going long today, but so what does this mean for you and me?

1:08:12 What, here's, here's some questions I have or a question. What signs are we seeing today? Yeshua has already told us all of this, so it's up to us to recognize it and, and we'll come back around later, uh, at another point. But we are seeing a dramatic rise in conflicts between peoples. We're seeing a rise in conflicts between kingdoms and nations. I brought this out, I think that was last week, and uh, and I mentioned a map. Hey, Joshua, do you guys happen to have that map? Can you find that map for me again?

1:08:57 I mentioned last week about this map of the world with that mapped out all of the conflicts in the world and that there were, that it showed the nations that had already this year and the, the less than five full months that we have been in this year have already experienced more than 10,000 deaths in terms of war. And, and, and, and it has a gradation, uh, all the way down to, to zero. But there's, what we're witnessing is a, is a dramatic conflict, a dramatic rise in conflict. You see this, the darkest ones are more than 10,000 major wars with 10,000 or more. The red ones are 1000 to 10,000 deaths.

1:09:45 The orange ones are minor conflicts, up to a thousand deaths. Uh, and then the yellow ones are skirmishes and clashes up to a hundred deaths. I mean, that's pretty all-encompassing in the world, pretty close. And, and maybe I'll get censored for this, but it wasn't too long ago when, uh, when, when that big empty space, right where China is, uh, when there was over a million Uyghur people who went missing and presumed to be murdered by the government of China. So it's happening today. We see a rise in conflicts between people arising conflicts between nations.

1:10:33 We see a growing number of large and devastating earthquakes around the world, which I already mentioned. We see a growing number of famines and epidemics that are beginning to affect the entire world. The signs and the phenomena and the heavens, the sun, the moon, and the stars are becoming more frequently. It's amazing. When I was a kid, I think I had one lunar eclipse for in like a 16 year period. And I, it just seems to me in the last 10 years we've had multiple lunar and solar eclipses. And, and oh man, I remember all the, like the, the meteors. They'd be all like, oh man, there's bad things that are associated with meteors flying by. But anyways, like these things are happening more and more and more frequently.

1:11:22 For the first time since not long after Yeshua ro rode the cult into Jerusalem and wept because the leadership of the people of Israel did not welcome him for the first time, Jerusalem is again in a position as the capital of the Jewish nation to say today barba. In other words, to welcome Yeshua in. It's another opportunity. Let us not let this opportunity pass us. You see, this is why we are gathering on Sunday in a week for the purpose

1:12:10 of praying for Jerusalem and by praying for Jerusalem as the leader, as the leading city of the Jewish people, of the state of Israel, as representatives of the, of all of the Jewish people in the world. Let's pray that Jerusalem doesn't miss its time. This time let's pray that Jerusalem recognizes the signs that are happening and are opening their hearts and welcoming Yeshua to come as king because creation is groaning. Creation is groaning today as a mother in the final stages of labor

1:12:58 or sometime during labor. I shouldn't say final stages. Maybe it's maybe the baby's coming in 10 minutes, maybe the baby's coming in 10 hours. We don't know. But what we do know, when, when, when Britney was, uh, going into labor with our second child, I know this is a second labor story, but it's almost, well, anyways, when she was going into labor with our second child at one point, the, uh, the, everything, everything went away and she just started crying. And she goes, this baby is never gonna come. She was 10 days late and in the middle of summer, like August hot summer, she's 10 days late. And I said,

1:13:47 well, sweetie, that baby may not come tonight, but I can tell you where the baby is not gonna live forever is in you. That baby's gotta come at some point. So I'm saying that because we experienced these and we experienced these devastations and we think, is Yeshua ever going to come? Yes, he is. And the fact that we're experiencing these things guarantees that he is actually, why does it guarantee it? Well, I'll get to that in just a moment. It's during these times, the Yeshua tells us, don't lose heart. Don't be afraid.

1:14:33 Stand up straight and see the salvation or the deliverance of the Lord. So for us today, do not let the circumstances of this world cause you to lose heart. Be encouraged because Yeshua already told us these things will happen. And if these things are happening, then that means Yeshua spoke the truth, the truth, 2000 years ago. And if Yeshua spoke the truth 2000 years ago and these things are true, then his return is also true because he speaks it very clearly in the same passage. So let me end with this. Do not be afraid.

1:15:19 Stand up straight and see the salvation of the Lord. Avin, Shaba, our Father in heaven. Lord, we come to you, Lord, in these days when, when so many things seem uncertain, Lord, we come to you, Lord, we know Because Yeshua told us that these things would happen, Lord. And we know that we are not to despair. But Lord, we need you to infuse us with your courage to stand up during these days, to stand up straight,

1:16:10 to not put our heads low so that we can see your salvation, your power, and your glory coming on the cloud, returning to Jerusalem. Lord, we seek you during this time. We seek your face and we praise your name in the name of Yeshua, our Messiah, our Amen. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

1:17:45 [unknown] in the name of our Messiah, Yeshua.