4) What Christ Jesus Did at the Cross

What Christ Jesus Did at the Cross

The Rapture Trap (Part 4)

(The Revelation the Lord has given to me by the Spirit, along with my teachings and comments are written in Blue) (May we all have ears to hear)

Prior to Jesus going to the cross, He prayed the following prayer. Here in the first 19 verses, He is praying in regard to the Glory of the Eternal Father and the Son (Himself) and for the Apostles, who will carry on the spreading of the Gospel. Now, please take particular notice of John 17 verses 20-26. This is where Jesus prayed for the Salvation of all of us who believe and abide in His Word, even down through the ages.

John 17:1-19 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. (Notice: joy fulfilled in where?) I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (Unbelievers still hate believers today) I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. (Lets all remember this) They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 

OK, Now the following is that part of the prayer in the Words of Jesus Christ Himself, where He prays for all of us, who receives God’s Word of Truth and believes on Jesus Christ the Son. This is where our Lord Jesus declares our Salvation … SAVING us in this life, and granting us Life Eternal. He prays for the resurrection of us, who have been born in sin, a living soul, yet spiritually dead, due to the Fall of Adam. But, those of us who have given our lives to Christ Jesus are now raised up through Christ Jesus … who is the Resurrection (Joh 11:25-26  Jesus said .., I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?), to be returned back to the first estate; That is to say, we are lifted back up into the very presence of the Spirit of Almighty God … into that place of close relationship with our Heavenly Father from which the first Adam fell. OK, now let’s look closely at what Jesus prayed in the following verses.

Joh 17:20-26 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.  Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Now let’s look at what the Apostle Paul wrote in … 1Co 15:44-49 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (Therefore …) first (…) that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 

God the Father, who first loved us, gave His Only Begotten Son, Christ Jesus, to lay down His life on the cross for “whosoever would and/or will receive Him.” We see the following recorded in: Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: … and in John 19:30 … he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. John 19:34 … one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. Inside the man-made Temple, Matthew 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent (split) in twain (two) from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent (split); …  That is to say, in regard to the man-made Temple in Jerusalem, the curtain between the Inner Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies was supernaturally torn open from top to bottom, allowing Christ Jesus not only entry into the Most Holy Place of that Temple, but also allowed His Spiritual entry into the Holy of Holies in Heavenly places. At that very moment, the Covenant God first made with Israel alone, under the Law of Moses ended. Heb 5:10 (Christ Jesus, being) called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec, entered through the Spiritual veil into the very presence of the One and Only Eternal God the Father of all Creation. Upon the Risen Christ Jesus entering into the actual Most Holy place, the Holy of Holies in the Spirit, His precious sinless blood was poured upon the Mercy Seat upon the Ark holding the tablets of the Law of Moses. At that very moment, the Covenant God previously made with Israel under the Law, gave way to the New Covenant under Grace, with God the Father, and “whosoever will receive Christ Jesus.”

The Son of Man Is Given Dominion in Daniel’s Vision over 500 years BCE: Daniel 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. 

After Jesus arose from the dead and was seen by over 500 witnesses, prior to His ascension, 10 days before the 120 received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost in the Upper Room, He came and spoke to the disciples in Mat 28:18-20  … saying ALL POWER (authority) is given unto me IN HEAVEN and IN EARTH. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway (all), even unto the end of the world (age)… 

Here in doing these things, Jesus prepared a place for us. Here He established the New Temple made without hands, in the Spirit realm, in Gods Kingdom; Christ Jesus being the Chief Cornerstone of a building built on the foundation of the Old Testament Prophets and the Apostles of the New Covenant. The Apostle Paul explains it best in: Ephesians 2:1-6 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 

Here let’s take a moment to look at what Jesus had to say before He went to the cross. He went to prepare a place for us, just as He said in Joh 14:2-4  In my Father's house (family) are many mansions (dwelling places): if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also: We abide in Him ... and He abides in us (relationship) And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. then we are able to follow Him (Since He lives within us, and we live in Him, we can receive witness to His instructions as to where He would have us to go, and how He would have us to get there.) 

Let’s look at the rest of what the Apostle Paul has to say in regard to these things in Eph 2:7-22 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. One in Christ Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh … the enmity …  even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain ONE NEW MAN so making peace; And that he might RECONCILE BOTH UNTO GOD IN ONE BODY BY THE CROSS, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him (Christ Jesus) WE BOTH HAVE ACCESS BY ONE SPIRIT UNTO THE FATHER. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but FELLOWCITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS, AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD; And are BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE; In whom ALL THE BUILDING fitly framed together GROWETH UNTO AN HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD: In whom YE ALSO ARE BUILDED TOGETHER for an HABITATION OF GOD THROUGH THE SPIRIT.

Now let’s see what the Apostle Paul says concerning unity in the Body of Christ, beginning in Eph 4:1-16 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he *LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, and gave gifts unto men.  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) He (Christ Jesus) descended TO THE EARTH in his incarnation. He descended INTO THE EARTH in his burial. As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so was the Son of man IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH. He that DECENDED is the same also that ASCENDED up far above all heavens (Eph_4:10), into the heaven of heavens; that he might fill all things, all the members of his church, with gifts and graces suitable to their several conditions and stations. Notice here, that our Lord humbled himself first, and then he was exalted. He descended first, and then ascended. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. ><> 

* Note: When Christ Jesus ascended into heaven, as a triumphant conqueror, He LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE. (It is a phrase used in the Old Testament to signify a conquest over enemies, especially over such as formerly had led others captive; see Jdg_5:12. Captivity is here put for captives, and signifies all of our spiritual enemies, who brought us into captivity previously. Ref. Matthew Henry … The captives are not the redeemed, but the enemies of Christ's kingdom, Satan, Sin, and Death. Ref. Vincent Word Studies ) Christ Jesus conquered Satan, Sin, and Death. Indeed, he triumphed over these on the cross; but the triumph was completed at his ascension, when he became Lord over all, and had the keys of Death and Hades placed into his hands. And he gave gifts unto men: in Psalms 68:18 it is, He received gifts for men. He received for them, that he might give to them, a large measure of gifts and graces; in particular, he gave his disciples the gift of the Holy Ghost.

IN SUMMARY: Please, let's take another look at the following Scriptures one more time. I pray you see the perspective, I’m trying so hard for you to see. Oh yes, you may have to change some of your end-time eschatology, but you do want to understand God's Word don’t you? The Apostle Paul stated in Ephesians 2:4-22 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come (even the age we live in now) he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

Jesus prepared a place for us, just as He said in Joh 14:2-4  In my Father's house (family, household) are many mansions (dwelling places): if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come (appear) again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also: We abide in Him ... and He abides in us (relationship) And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. then we are able to follow Him (Since He lives within us, and we live in Him, we can receive witness to His instructions as to where He would have us to go, and how He would have us to get there.) 

Hebrews 9:24-28  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now ONCE in the end of the world (age) hath he APPEARED to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and UNTO THEM THAT LOOK FOR HIM shall he APPEAR THE SECOND TIME without sin unto salvation. ><> 

There’s more to come. Stay with me!

 J Stone Grant

3) Daniel's 70 Week Prophecy

The Rapture Trap (Part 3)

(The Revelation the Lord has given to me by the Spirit, along with my teachings and comments are written in Blue) (May we all have ears to hear)

In order to understand the falsehood of the “Rapture teaching” we must also understand the 70-week prophecy set forth by the Prophet Daniel circa 530 BC. This 7-year period (known prophetically as Daniel's 70 Week Prophecy, in relation to the “Rapture teaching” is interpreted as each single day of the week being prophetically equal to one complete calendar year in our time) IS BEHIND US ... NOT IN FRONT OF US. There is NOT an approximate couple of thousand years between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel's Prophecy. This 2,000 year gap is NO WHERE in the Christian Bible. The 70th week begins immediately following the 69th week ... Period!! These Scriptures in regard to Prophecy have NOTHING to do with what is going on in our time. The scenario discussed here was completed in the 1st Century AD, and has NOTHING to do with a 7-year period or so-called Rapture of the Church in our time. So, lets take a look at this !!

Daniels 70 Week Prophecy…Daniel 9:24-27…Jesus fulfilled all 6 points written in Daniel 9:24

Daniel 9:24  Seventy weeks (490 years) are determined upon thy people (Daniel’s) and upon thy holy city (Jerusalem), (1) to finish the transgression, and (2) to make an end of sins, and (3) to make reconciliation for iniquity, and (4) to bring in everlasting righteousness, and (5) to seal up the vision and prophecy, and (6) to anoint the most Holy.

(1) “to finish the transgression”  This means there is no further sacrifice for sin. All transgression from Calvary forward is covered…period. How about the transgression from Calvary backward? Hebrews 9:15 says “…He is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

(2) “to make an end of sins”  The angel tells Joseph in Matthew 1:21 “…He shall save his people from their sins…”  In Hebrews 9:26 we read “…now once in the end of the world (age) hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Again, in Hebrews 10:12 “But this man after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.”

(3) “to make reconciliation for iniquity” There are a number of New Testament Scriptures about this one. Here are a few. Hebrews 2:17 “…that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”  2Corinthians 5:19 “…that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them…” Here’s one from Old Testament prophecy in Isaiah 53:6 “…the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

(4) “to bring in everlasting righteousness”  This too was accomplished by the redemptive work of Christ. Romans 5:18-19 states that “…by the righteousness of one…shall many be made righteous…” Matthew 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” Hebrews 1:9 talking about our Lord “who loved righteousness and hated iniquity.” 1Corinthians 1:30 speaks of Christ Jesus who “…was made unto us wisdom and righteousness.”  2Corinthians 5:21 says “For He hath made Him to be sin for us…that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

(5)  “to seal up the vision and prophecy” or that is to say in a more clear way…to seal up vision and prophet. (The use of the metaphor “to seal” is derived from the ancient custom of attaching a seal to a document to show that it is genuine)  That’s what Jesus did for the Old Testament; not closed and sealed that we may never read and understand it, but closed and sealed that God’s modus-operandi should never be used that way again. This is a New Covenant. God has new ways, of which the old ways were but types and shadows. Acts 3:18 reads “…those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled.”  In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but fulfill.”  Jesus was the fulfillment of “vision and prophecy.”

(6)  “to anoint the most Holy”  This is definitely about the Christ of Calvary. Some scholars add the word “place” after Holy, and some add the word “one”.  Either way, in the context of the whole, it speaks of Jesus and His Body the Church.  Jesus was the Christ (the anointed one) from His baptism in the river Jordan onward, and the Most Holy Place is representative figuratively of His Body, the Church, which got it’s anointing on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4 and 2:38).  The Word of God in Daniel 9:24 prophetically sets forth the blessedness of the future New Covenant, that, at that time, was still to come. 

Just prior to Jesus dying on Calvary…He cried out “It is finished”…That is to say…What He had to do while he was here in the flesh was complete. He did everything He was supposed to do. He completed all of these 6 points. 

Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem (457 BC, Ref. Ezra 7:1-9 Note: There were 3 different kings named Artaxerxes in that era) unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks (49 yrs), and threescore and two weeks (434 yrs): the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

Daniel 9:26 “…the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary…” refers to the Roman Army under Titus that came to destroy Jerusalem in 67-70 AD.

Note:Very important: We must understand this: Remember in Daniel 9:26, that the word “Messiah” is a singular antecedent, and that in the phrase “the people, of the prince”…that “the people” is a plural antecedent…And with this in mind…note that the word “he” in Daniel 9:27 is singular, and refers back to the Messiah…not the people of the prince…nor does it refer to the prince himself, which is the object of a preposition, because a singular pronoun cannot refer to a plural antecedent, or a prepositional phrase. Also note here, that in Daniel 9:27, that the word “covenant” here refers to the “Abrahamic or Divine covenant.” This word “covenant” as it is used here, has NOTHING to do with Israel having a seven year covenant with the antichrist. 

Daniel 9:27 It is the Messiah, “he”, Christ Jesus that confirms the Abrahamic or Divine covenant with many for one week…and in the midst of the week He caused the sacrifice and the oblation to cease (that’s when the curtain was rent in twain, and the old covenant was over, and the new covenant began. Now in Daniel 9:26 Messiah was “cut off” or killed in the middle of the week (This is Christ crucified). The second half of the week after the crucifixion was fulfilled according to God’s Word in Mark 16:19-20. The Lord continued working with the Apostles by continuing to confirm the Word with signs following. At the end of 3 ½ years after the crucifixion, Daniels Seventy Week prophecy was finished, even though Jesus spoke to His disciples and commissioned them saying in Mat 28:18-20…All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (age). Amen.

In Daniel 9:26 the Word states that He (the Messiah) shall be “cut off … meaning: killed … in the middle of the prophetic week) and according to Mat 28:20 Even after He was crucified, He went even farther. He made it clear that He would remain with His disciples “even unto the end of the world or (age)” according to the Strong’s Concordance.

Now lets look at the last two verses in the Gospel of Mark. These are very important. Mar 16:19  So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. Mar 16:20  And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. After the Lord gave the disciples the Great Commission, these verses show that even after He was received up into heaven, He still continued to work with the disciples here in earth, throughout the other 3½ years, completing the rest of the 7 year period, (…remember the prophecy in Dan 9:26-27  And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself (but for you and I): and the people (Roman army gathered from all of the countries of the known world at that time) of the prince (Titus) that shall come shall destroy the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (Temple); and the end (of the age … 70 AD) thereof shall be with a flood, (Doesn’t this sound familiar … read the account below and following this teaching, of exactly what happened according to the historian Josephus) and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 

Dan 9:27  And he (the Messiah Christ Jesus … not the anti-christ) shall confirm the covenant (the Abrahamic Covenant) with many (true believers and followers of the Lord) for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease (when Christ was crucified 3½ years into His earthly ministry, in the midst of the 7-year prophetic week … the blood sacrifice and offerings of animals under the Law of Moses ended. Heaven and Earth under the old system of the Law, began to pass away … Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.  and a New Heaven and a New Earth began to grow under Grace by Christ Jesus ), and for the overspreading of abominations (that is for all of the totally disgusting behavior of the people, that our God hates) he (God) shall make it desolate (uninhabited, deserted of people), even until the consummation (completion of the Marriage of Christ the Head, to the Bride, the Body of Christ), and that determined (God Himself will do this) shall be poured upon the desolate.  

In studying the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and all that went with it (see the account in Josephus). It was God’s judgment that ended that age, just as Jesus taught in the parable in Matthew 21:33-41  Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” 

Explanation of the End of the Age beginning with the Ministry and Crucifixion of Christ Jesus, plus the coming of Gods Kingdom in earth, and ending with the total destruction of Jerusalem.

(1) Christ laying down His life on the cross of Calvary, at which time the curtain in the Holy of Holies was rent in twain, sealed the New Covenant in His own blood. This act brought an end to the old covenant under the law, and established the new covenant under grace, that all of us who believe, live under today. The old heaven and earth passed away, and the new heaven and earth came it. Prior to going to the cross, Jesus said in Matthew 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.  (2) The Holy Ghost coming into the 120 in the Upper Room, filling the church, establishing God’s Kingdom in earthen vessels. Isn’t this what Jesus taught the disciples to pray for? Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  Romans 14:17-18 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Matthew 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. God came to live in the hearts of mankind, and still does today.  (3) The destruction of Jerusalem…God’s judgment in 70 AD was the ending of that age back then. War broke out in 66 AD because of the Jews attacking the Romans and killing about 2,000 of their soldiers. Nero sent for his best General Vaspasian, who was in the British Isles at the time, and ordered him to Israel to put an end to the conflict. Vaspasian eventually placed Jerusalem under siege, by surrounding the city with the Roman Army, whom had been gathered from every nation through out the entire Roman Empire of that time. This action invoked a tremendous and horrible famine among the city’s population. In 69 AD, Vaspasian was elected to Caesar’s Throne by the Roman Senate, so he turned over the siege of Jerusalem to his eldest son, Titus, and headed back to Rome. Titus continued executing the siege, causing more and more extreme famine, on into 70 AD, eventually storming the walls of Jerusalem with the entire army like a flood, killing many who remained alive, capturing some to be used for entertainment or sold for slaves, while setting up things that mocked the God of Israel on the alter of the temple, prior to burning and totally destroying it.  

This account below is mostly quoted from the writings of Flavius Josephus, and will give you a clearer understanding of just a small part of God's Judgement, and of the horror that took place when God used the Roman Army to place Jerusalem and the Temple under siege from 66 AD unto 70 AD ... bringing about the end of that age.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY     Eusebius Pamphilius     (c. 325)  BOOK III, CHAPTER VI.

The Famine which oppressed them. TAKING the fifth book of the History of Josephus again in our hands, let us go through the tragedy of events which then occurred. "For the wealthy," he says, "it was equally dangerous to remain. For under pretense that they were going to desert, men were put to death for their wealth. The madness of the seditions increased with the famine and both the miseries were inflamed more and more day by day. Nowhere was food to be seen; but, bursting into the houses men searched them thoroughly, and whenever they found anything to eat they tormented the owners on the ground that they had denied that they had anything; but if they found nothing, they tortured them on the ground that they had more carefully concealed it. The proof of their having or not having food was found in the bodies of the poor wretches. Those of them who were still in good condition they assumed were well supplied with food, while those who were already wasted away they passed by, for it seemed absurd to slay those who were on the point of perishing for want. Many, indeed, secretly sold their possessions for one measure of wheat, if they belonged to the wealthier class, of barley if they were poorer. Then shutting themselves up in the innermost parts of their houses, some ate the grain uncooked on account of their terrible want, while others baked it according as necessity and fear dictated. Nowhere were tables set, but, snatching the yet uncooked food from the fire, they tore it in pieces. Wretched was the fare, and a lamentable spectacle it was to see the more powerful secure an abundance while the weaker mourned. Of all evils, indeed, famine is the worst, and it destroys nothing so effectively as shame. For that which under other circumstances is worthy of respect, in the midst of famine is despised. Thus women snatched the food from the very mouths of their husbands and children, from their fathers, and what was most pitiable of all, mothers from their babes, And while their dearest ones were wasting away in their arms, they Were not ashamed to take away froth them the last drops that supported life. And even while they were eating thus they did not remain undiscovered. But everywhere the rioters appeared, to rob them even of these portions of food. For whenever they saw a house shut up, they regarded it as a sign that those inside were taking food. And immediately bursting open the doors they rushed in and seized what they were eating, almost forcing it out of their very throats. Old men who clung to their food were beaten, and if the women concealed it in their hands, their hair was torn for so doing. There was pity neither for gray hairs nor for infants, but, taking up the babes that clung to their morsels of food, they dashed them to the ground. But to those that anticipated their entrance and swallowed what they were about to seize, they were still more cruel, just as if they had been wronged by them. And they, devised the most terrible modes of torture to discover food, stopping up the privy passages of the poor wretches with bitter herbs, and piercing their seats with sharp rods. And men suffered things horrible even to hear of, for the sake of compelling them to confess to the possession of one loaf of bread, or in order that they might be made to disclose a single drachm of barley which they had concealed. But the tormentors themselves did not suffer hunger. Their conduct might indeed have seemed less barbarous if they had been driven to it by necessity; but they did it for the sake of exercising their madness and of providing sustenance for themselves for days to come. And when any one crept out of the city by night as far as the outposts of the Romans to collect wild herbs and grass, they went to meet him; and when he thought he had already escaped the enemy, they seized what he had brought with him, and even though oftentimes the man would entreat them, and, calling upon the most awful name of God, adjure them to give him a portion of what he had obtained at the risk of his life, they would give him nothing back. Indeed, it was fortunate if the one that was plundered was not also slain." 

To this account Josephus, after relating other things, adds the following: "The possibility of going out of the city being brought to an end, all hope of safety for the Jews was cut off. And the famine increased and devoured the people by houses and families. And the rooms were filled with dead women and children, the lanes of the city with the corpses of old men. Children and youths, swollen with the famine, wandered about the market-places like shadows, and fell down wherever the death agony overtook them. The sick were not strong enough to bury even their own relatives, and those who had the strength hesitated because of the multitude of the dead and the uncertainty as to their own fate. Many, indeed, died while they were burying others, and many betook themselves to their graves before death came upon them. There was neither weeping nor lamentation under these misfortunes; but the famine stifled the natural affections. Those that were dying a lingering death looked with dry eyes upon those that had gone to their rest before them. Deep silence and death-laden night encircled the city.

But the robbers were more terrible than these miseries; for they broke open the houses, which were now mere sepulchres, robbed the dead and stripped the covering from their bodies, and went away with a laugh. They tried the points of their swords in the dead bodies, and some that were lying on the ground still alive they thrust through in order to test their weapons. But those that prayed that they would use their right hand and their sword upon them, they contemptuously left to be destroyed by the famine. Every one of these died with eyes fixed upon the temple; and they left the seditious alive. These at first gave orders that the dead should be buried out of the public treasury, for they could not endure the stench. But afterward, when they were not able to do this, they threw the bodies from the walls into the trenches. And as Titus went around and saw the trenches filled with the dead, and the thick blood oozing out of the putrid bodies, he groaned aloud, and, raising his hands, called God to witness that this was not his doing." After speaking of some other things, Josephus proceeds as follows: "I cannot hesitate to declare what my feelings compel me to. I suppose, if the Romans had longer delayed in coming against these guilty wretches, the city would have been swallowed up by a chasm, or overwhelmed with a flood, or struck with such thunderbolts as destroyed Sodom. For it had brought forth a generation of men much more godless than were those that suffered such punishment. By their madness indeed was the whole people brought to destruction."

And in the sixth book he writes as follows: "Of those that perished by famine in the city the number was countless, and the miseries they underwent unspeakable. For if so much as the shadow of food appeared in any house, there was war, and the dearest friends engaged in hand-to-hand conflict with one another, and snatched from each other the most wretched supports of life. Nor would they believe that even the dying were without food; but the robbers would search them while they were expiring, lest any one should feign death while concealing food in his bosom. With mouths gaping for want of food, they stumbled and staggered along like mad dogs, and beat the doors as if they were drunk, and in their impotence they would rush into the same houses twice or thrice in one hour. Necessity compelled them to eat anything they could find, and they gathered and devoured things that were not fit even for the filthiest of irrational beasts. Finally they did not abstain even from their girdles and shoes, and they stripped the hides off their shields and devoured them. Some used even wisps of old hay for food, and others gathered stubble and sold the smallest weight of it for four Attic drachm'.

"But why should I speak of the shamelessness which was displayed during the famine toward inanimate things? For I am going to relate a fact such as is recorded neither by Greeks nor Barbarians; horrible to relate, incredible to hear. And indeed I should gladly have omitted this calamity, that I might not seem to posterity to be a teller of fabulous tales, if I had not innumerable witnesses to it in my own age. And besides, I should render my country poor service if I suppressed the account of the sufferings which she endured.

"There was a certain woman named Mary that dwelt beyond Jordan, whose father was Eleazer, of the village of Bathezor (which signifies the house of hyssop). She was distinguished for her family and her wealth, and had fled with the rest of the multitude to Jerusalem and was shut up there with them during the siege. The tyrants had robbed her of the rest of the property which she had brought with her into the city from Perea. And the remnants of her possessions and whatever food was to be seen the guards rushed in daily and snatched away from her. This made the woman terribly angry, and by her frequent reproaches and imprecations she aroused the anger of the rapacious villains against herself. But no one either through anger or pity would slay her; and she grew weary of finding food for others to eat. The search, too, was already become everywhere difficult, and the famine was piercing her bowels and marrow, and resentment was raging more violently than famine. Taking, therefore, anger and necessity as her counsellors, she proceeded to do a most unnatural thing. Seizing her child, a boy which was sucking at her breast, she said, Oh, wretched child, in war, in famine, in sedition, for what do I preserve thee? Slaves among the Romans we shall be even if we are allowed to live by them. But even slavery is anticipated by the famine, and the rioters are more cruel than both. Come, be food for me, a fury for these rioters, and a bye-word to the world, for this is all that is wanting to complete the calamities of the Jews. And when she had said this she slew her son; 98 and having roasted him, she ate one half herself, and covering up the remainder, she kept it. Very soon the rioters appeared on the scene, and, smelling the nefarious odor, they threatened to slay her 'immediately unless she should show them what she had prepared. She replied that she had saved an excellent portion for them, and with that she uncovered the remains of the child. They were immediately seized with horror and amazement and stood transfixed at the sight. But she said This is my own son, and the deed is mine. Eat for I too have eaten. Be not more merciful than a woman, nor more compassionate than a mother. But if you are too pious and shrink from my sacrifice, I have already eaten of it; let the rest also remain for me. At these words the men went out trembling, in this one case being affrighted; yet with difficulty did they yield that food to the mother. Forthwith the whole city was filled with the awful crime, and as all pictured the terrible deed before their own eyes, they trembled as if they had done it themselves. Those that were suffering from the famine now longed for death; and blessed were they that had died before hearing and seeing miseries like these."

Such was the reward which the Jews received for their wickedness and impiety, against the Christ of God. []                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

                                         J Stone Grant