Todays readings.. 1 Chronicles 11, Ezekiel 24, Luke 21
“UNTIL THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES ARE FULFILLED”
Quite a number of Bible Readers would know where to find the above quotation! Can we become too familiar with such passages of Scripture so that they lose their impact for us? We read Luke Ch. 21 very slowly this morning.
It is evident that the first 24 verses were primarily for those who heard Jesus: and these except for the elderly, were going to experience these “days of vengeance” and “great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people” [v.22,23].
There is a striking parallel between this and our reading in Ezekiel Ch.24 where the message the prophet sent to Jerusalem is totally blunt. Twice he writes, “Woe to the bloody city” [v.6,9]. Less than 2 years are now left before God acts to destroy the city and the wonderful Temple Solomon had built.
The totally unspiritual behaviour of the inhabitants would finally cause God “to rouse my wrath, to take vengeance … on account of your unclean lewdness” [v.8,12]. There are direct parallels to our generation – and we look carefully at the words of Jesus that apply to our generation.
Are the words of Jesus in v.25 & 26 symbolic or literal or a mixture of both? Jesus’ statement is plain enough that Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” [v.24]
