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A Bible Study:
The Revelation to John
May 30, 2006
The Prophecies of Jesus In Matthew
A Study of The Revelation to John
By Bernie Parsons - May 30, 2006
A Study of Matthew Chapter 23:29-39
Matthew 23:29: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30: And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31: Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32: Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33: Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34: Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36: Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38: Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39: For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
Cross-reference to Luke 13:34: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
35: Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
During the generation to whom Jesus was speaking, Jerusalem would be made desolate. That is, as Jesus further testified, the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet would occur in their generation.
Of that generation would be required the blood of all the holy prophets slain from the time of Abel until the time of Zacharias, son of Barachias. Why? Because that they had rejected the son of God, the Messiah (Christ) sent to save them, and had clamored for His crucifixion at the hands of the Roman civil government and its soldiers.
Matthew 11:16: “But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
17: And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
18: For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
19: The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
20: Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
21: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22: But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
23: And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
24: But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.”
Matthew 12:41: “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
42: The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”
A day of judgment was coming. Not “The Judgment Day”, which is an erroneous doctrine that modern Roman Catholics and Protestants declare, but a day of judgment. God has had many days of judgment. Any time that a nation, a ruler, an empire, or a religious body offended God badly enough, He declared a righteous judgment against them. This is recorded throughout the Old Testament. The judgment day under discussion here is that of, first, the nation of Judća (Judah), and later, the Gentile nations.
Romans 2:5: “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6: Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9: Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10: But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11: For there is no respect of persons with God.”
First Israel, and then Judah, turned their backs upon God. They worshipped the false gods of the heathen in the land. They perverted judgment and justice, and refused to show mercy to the poor and the needy. The Jewish leadership was corrupt. They taught the people to keep the Law of Moses, adding to it the traditions of their ancestors, yet they themselves refused to do the right thing. Thus, they brought down the wrath of God upon themselves. Jesus warned of the impending danger, but they refused to hear Him, just as their forefathers had refused to hear the prophets of old.
Had the inhabitants of Jerusalem listened to Jesus, they would have averted the catastrophe that was coming. They rejected Him, to their own hurt.
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