Signs of the Times

Signs of the Times

Mark 13:1-8

January 24,2021

This morning we will begin looking at one of the more difficult text in the N.T.

Mark chapter 13 is sometimes referred to as the micro–Olivet Discourse.

You will find this teaching in more details in Matthew 24-25 & Luke 21.

I say this text is difficult because of the rich prophetic language that Christ uses in this teaching.

Also because of the very nature of what He is teaching about, eschatology or as commonly called end times.

(there was a time when you could fill a church – worried/interested)

And the 3rd reason this can be difficult is because of all the different interpretations that one can draw from this passage.

This is something that most Christians are interested in, the “when” will Jesus come back.

There are hundreds of books and DVDs and Bible studies produced each year with people’s predictions and/or interpretations of this topic.

Many have tried to predict Christ return (guess what) all of them have failed.

I agree with what one theologian named Chesterton said,

“It is only the fool who tries to get the heavens inside his head, and not unnaturally his head bursts. The wise man is content to get his head inside the heavens.”

So, as we look at this conversation with Christ and His disciples, which will take a couple of weeks, let me clear up two things right away…

First is that I believe, due to my studying of this passage, that this passage has a two-fold prophetic message.

I believe it is a prophecy referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and I also believe it is prophecy about the coming tribulation.

The second is I want you to understand up front my viewpoint on the end times.

The reason I am mentioning this is that not everyone will agree with my interpretation of this passage and that is okay.

If you want to disagree with me, go ahead, that’s fine, we will schedule a time for me to show you how you are wrong.

No, just joking, but I am a pre-tribulation premillennialist.

In other words, I believe the church will be raptured before the 7-year tribulation period and that it takes place prior to the millennial reign of Christ.

So, with that in mind, let’s look at this passage and see what Christ is teaching today and how it applies to us.

Mark 13:1-8

To make things a bit easier, I have broken this down into 3 parts with the first being this Prophecy of Jesus…vs. 1-4.

For the past 2 chapters, we have seen Jesus and His encounters in and around the temple but today, He is finally leaving.

Remember, this Tuesday has been filled with intense confrontations with the religious leaders.

And as they are departing, one of the disciples tries to lighten the mood a bit with his exclamation of the grander of the temple.

These disciples were not city boys; I want you to understand.

It was like when this Bastrop boy went to N Y C. (Mu Sigma)

Everything was big and shiny and overwhelming. (wow factor)

Herod’s Temple was considered one of the great wonders of the ancient world.

The original temple built by Solomon took 7 years to complete and cost millions of dollars but was completely destroyed when the Babylonians overtook Jerusalem around 600 BC.

Some 70 years later after the Jews returned home from captivity, they reconstructed what they could of the temple, and it served them for some 500 years.

But over time and due to neglect, it was in really bad shape.

So, when Herod took the throne, in an effort to win over the Jews support, he began a program to rebuild the temple.

He began the construction in 18 BC and it was still going on some 46 years later at the time Christ was there.

Herod’s Temple was something to behold.

The stones that made up the walls were 40 ft long, almost 18 ft high and some 15 ft wide.

In other words, these white limestone blocks were the size of boxcars.

And they were hand cut and so precise that when they were put together or on top of each other, you could not slip a sheet of paper in the gaps; the fit was just that perfect.

On top of that, it was overlayed with gold.

The walls and floors were gold and anything that was not gold or inlaid with jewels, it was pure white.

You can image just how bright the Temple was from a distance when the sun was hitting it, what a beautiful building.

The Jews actually believed that this magnificent temple would stand for ever, that it would last until the end of time.

But Jesus bursts that bubble when He tells them that soon not a single stone would be sitting on top of another.

In his disciples attempt to raise Jesus spirits, Jesus instead lays out a chilling prophecy of what is to come. (so much for lightening the mood)

This literally took place in 70AD.

When the Roman General Titus entered Jerusalem, he wanted the temple preserved, it was just too grand to tear it down.

But one of his soldiers who was inside checking it out, accidentally set the temple on fire with his torch and it was completely gutted.

Titus then ordered it to be torn apart, every stone and for them to save all the gold and the jewels, so they left no stone untouched.

This disturbing prophecy about the stones troubled the disciples so later that day as they all sat on the Mount of Olives, approximately 150 feet above the temple looking down, they began to question Him as to when this was going to happen.

I find it so interesting that this exact location where this took place is the same place that the shekinah glory of God departed the temple 600 years before and it will be the location where Jesus will return one day.

We should take great comfort in knowing that what Jesus says will happen.

He told them what was going to happen to the temple, and it did and I for one believe that He will return to that exact location just as He says.

No need to worry about missed dates or events with Christ, what He says goes.

Everything He says in this book will happen.

We don’t have to be caught off guard – that should be comforting to us.

As they are sitting there overlooking the temple, Jesus begins to give His Perspective of what is to come…Vs. 5-8.

The disciples just like people today want to know exactly when this will take place.

But Jesus never gives them an answer to their question.

He is not interested in letting us know the when, but He is interested in us remaining faithful and not being deceived until He returns.

He begins by telling them there will be many false prophets who will come along and lead people astray.

The book of Acts has many stories of false prophets.

Secular history also supports this prediction.

You can go back and look up people like

Simon Bar-Kochba, Moses Al-Dar, and Moses of Crete who felt the Lord was going to open up the Mediterranean Sea and lead his followers across back to Jerusalem, well God didn’t, and they all drowned.

Seems they followed the wrong Moses.

Even in more recent history, we have people like Joseph Smith, Sun Moon, and even Jim Jones leading thousands astray.

And there are false prophets even today.

The airways are full of them so before you jump on someone’s bandwagon, you need to check them against scripture as we are instructed to do.

Jesus said as they day approaches, many more will come along but we must be firmly grounded in God’s word so we will not be deceived.

1 Peter 3:15

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

and the only way to be prepared is to study and know this book.

He goes on in verse 7 to mention wars.

Will Durant completed a study of this and found that in the 3421 years of recorded history that we have available to us today, there have only been 268 years of peace on this planet.

And I am sure there was conflict during that time, it just wasn’t recorded.

(3153 years of recorded warfare)

This earth is inhabited by sinful men and women who are controlled by sinful desires and there will always be conflict, but it seems every time fighting breaks out, we think that it is the end.

This was the sentiment the Russians felt during the Napoleon battles and it was the feeling believers had during WWII in Germany.

It is all very natural to us to feel the next battle will be the war to end all wars, many Americans said that about the Gulf Wars, but Jesus said that these things must be.

God is simply setting the stage for the return of His son.

(War has always followed God’s children.

Since the beginning satan has tried to destroy them.

Israel was always the center of many wars until the Jews fled into Europe and Russian in 70AD.

After that, wars begin to center around Europe.

Since 1948, when the nation of Israel was re-established, and the Jews returned home, most modern day wars have again centered in the Middle East)

Wars and battles are a part of this world and anyone who tells you that they have the answer and can stop all fighting, well, you better be aware.

Then He tells them in verse 8 that there will be an increase in natural disasters.

Scientists tell us that 13 million people have died in earthquakes in the past 4000 years.

In 2004, we witnessed one of the largest natural disasters in recorded history when an earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused a tsunami that took the lives of over 230,000 people.

Completely destroying some areas of Thailand.

(Teresa was there not too long after it happened)

Famines and troubles – every 4 seconds, someone dies of starvation in this world.

Approximately 20 million every year die with empty stomachs.

These things trouble us; they make us wonder if the end is in sight.

Even here in our own country, it may not be starvation or natural disaster but we have our own troubling issues which cause us to wonder if the end is near… but Jesus tells us not to get caught up or troubled about when it would happen.

We are not to go out and buy more books by end times writer’s and watch the moons and get out our calculators and calendars trying to figure the exact time.

We are to be busy doing what He left us to do for His glory.

Friends, Jesus said these things would happen and they have and more will happen just as He told us.

This is God’s plan and much of this is a result of the sinfulness of mankind and as people grow farther and farther away from Christ, these phenomena will continue.

But we don’t need to allow these false teachings, these social disturbances, and these natural disasters fill us with fear and distract us from doing what we know we are to be doing.

We don’t need to be calculating the, we need to be looking to the Savior.

And then, Jesus gives us a Promise…Vs. 8b.

Every woman who is present today and has a child has experienced birth pains.

You never know when exactly they will begin.

You do not know how long they will last.

You do not know how you will react to them, whether you scream or hit your husband or cuss.

You do not know how intense they will be from one to the next.

But the promise of what is coming is worth it.

When you hold that child for the first time, you forget what you went through for a moment.

The promise of what is coming, is worth it…

Jesus told us He was coming again…

John 14:3

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

The angels told us He is coming again…

Acts 1:11

and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

And Paul told us He is coming again…

1 Thessalonians 4:16

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Friends, Jesus is coming again.

And we don’t need to get distracted by all the signs.

But this time, He is not coming on a donkey and wearing a crown of thorns, but on a white horse and wearing a crown of royalty.

You cannot simply like the story of Jesus or simply be interested in the story of Jesus, you must be abandoned to the story of Jesus.

Are you ready?