Scripture: Luke 19 v 41 - 44: "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
There were over 300 prophecies before the birth of Jesus Christ revealing His coming, His life, His death. Spiritually there was a huge fanfare, even angels, shepherds and kings came to be present for this unique event.
A great star, comet or line up of planets marked the place where the new born King lay in a feeding manger for animals. Angels sang Glory to the New born King. No one else seemed to notice. Maybe Zacharias, John the Baptist's Father was curious having recently become a parent himself.
Jesus is the express image of Our Father and reflects His glory in everything. He came to Israel to bless her with every good thing but was rejected, and eventually slain at her command.
However He had uttered the words recorded by Luke above. He wept as He prophesied of the destruction of Jesusalem, the many deaths, no more Temple. If only she had listened she would have been saved and He could have rather prophesied the end of Roman occupation and their defeat by the hand of God.
Israel was left desolate without Jewish inhabitants for 1900 years. It took World War 2 and the horrifying Holocaust, called Shoah in Hebrew, in which 6 million Jews died, to create a return to the Holy Land, the Promised Land. An eternal gift to Israel.
Whenever Israel went too far in idol worship or disobedience there would be consequences of removal from Israel into captivity and slavery to hostile nations. Every nation that conquered Israel would also pay the price by the mighty hand of God.
Wars, diseases, earthquakes, famine, defeat and loss were some of the problems to be faced. God has spoken and those words do not return to Him without accomplishing what they were sent to do.
He despaired of the world beset by sin, evil, violence in the days of Noah and removed all but eight people. In the time of Lot He destroyed two cities and all inhabitants except Lot's family for serious sexual perversions.
Jesus prophesied.....As it was in the days of Lot and Noah so shall it be at the time of the end. There is much political and world pressure to make it difficult to heed the words of the Lord. These days are upon us right now and our God is not playing games.
He has offered salvation, forgiveness and eternal life to those who turn away from sin and choose to be changed into the likeness of His Son. He has decreed eternal unquenchable fire to those who choose slavery to sin and Satan. There is no grey area, no middle ground, no gamble worth taking. Once you are dead your choice will be respected.
For 33 years Jesus lived on Earth. For 3 and a half years He preached, healed, delivered from demons, raised some dead people to life, soundly rebuked the hypocrites and then died for us. For the time that is left to us we should follow Him in every way. Do as He did even if it kills us.
There are prophecies of the end times, about the Apostasy, the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, the Second Coming, the Antichrist and Heaven. Read the Word and get direction from the Holy Spirit. Be prepared for any of the above to be manifested.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, It is time for us to stop dithering and start preparing our lives for the unstoppable end times. We cannot stop the Antichrist or any prophecy so praying about these things is futile. Guide us in truth and righteousness into unity of the Body of Christ. In Jesus' name. Amen.