Eden
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Re:From what do we flee? - 2004/12/01 14:19
It's been a long time coming, but here goes...
Matthew 24: 1 - "Departing now, Jesus was on his way from the temple, but his disciples approached to show him the buildings of the temple. 2 In response he said to them: “Do YOU not behold all these things? Truly I say to YOU, By no means will a stone be left here upon a stone and not be thrown down.”
3 While he was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately, saying: “Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?”
The temple was the earthly medium to approach God. Less than that, it was the group of buildings the High Priest and other priests used to approach God in. At the time the apostles asked Jesus the above question, what significance did these buildings have? This edifice had been the centre of worship for hundreds of years; it was a sacred, holy place. But it, and the festivals and sacrifices and the traditions that accompanied it, were completely earthly. And the fleshly mindset of the people meant estrangement from Jehovah, couple this with the corrupt leadership and a clear picture of false worship emerges; the visible parts of true worship had become objects of idolatry. The law of Moses had successfully exposed the sinfulness of God’s people and no amount of animal sacrifice would ever cover them. There was only one reason the Jewish system ever came into existence: to lead to the Christ. Despite the fact this temple was a legitimate part of true worship, it was a mere copy of the reality, the Jewish system had run its course; the temple with its priesthood was to be replaced with the Christian way - Jesus Christ the new King/High priest would present his own blood once for all time in the real heavenly temple.
When we examine the context of Jesus’ words above, we find a grand expose’ of the hypocrisy of Jewish leadership. The Jews felt secure in their system, they had come to rely on it and they had developed precious lifestyles that depended on that system of things. The temple, with its system was the focal point of their lives and history – a marvelous landmark worthy of praise. Also the Jews were a significant nation, a force to be reckoned with that had survived for 3000 years despite vicious attacks. And their temple and their system of worship had been installed by Jehovah himself, they felt untouchable. But they had forgotten Jehovah, the sins of the nation were mounting up and the haughty separatist clergy maintained the depravity to meet their own selfish desires. These factors helped create the idolatry of the visible organization. Evidently, even the apostles were affected by this influence as they proudly showed Jesus the marvelous architecture of the temple complex.
So, when Jesus replied with the shocking news that a stone would not be left upon a stone of this place, it became clear to the apostles 'this system of things' was going to end, and there would be no confusion about it.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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HAHAHE LOL). I sort of feel like nothin maters to Jah but My kids wife and me and what a feelin it was. Bra I dont cry but it was there, it was so awesome never in all my baptised to the organization, life have I ever recieved such warm such strengh and such love.
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