 Luke chapter 19 we're going to be looking at Jesus's entry into Jerusalem It's also called the triumphal entry Here in Luke chapter 19 beginning at verse 28 Luke writes When he had said this he went up he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem and it came to pass when he drew near to Beth Vajie and Bethany at the mountain called all of it that he sent two of his disciples saying go into the village opposite you where As you enter you will find a cult tied on which no one has ever sat Loose it and bring it here, and if anyone asks you why are you loosing it? Thus you shall say to him because the Lord has need of it So those who were sent went their way and found it just as he had said to them But as they were loosing the cult the owners of it said to them Why are you loosing the cult and they said the Lord is need of him then they brought him to Jesus and They threw their own clothes on the cult and they sent Jesus on him and As he went many spread their clothes on the road Then as he was drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice For all the mighty works they had seen saying blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord Peace in heaven and glory in the highest and some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd Teacher rebuked your disciples, but he answered and said to them I tell you that if these should keep silent the stones would immediately cry out Now as he drew near he saw the city and wept over it saying if you had known even you especially in this your day The things that make for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you surround you and close you in on every Side and the level you and your children within you to the ground and they will not leave in you one stone upon another Because you did not know the time of your visitation. We're looking at Jesus's entry into Jerusalem also called the triumphal Entry as I've been mentioning to you Luke since chapter 9 verse 51 has been recording Jesus's journey to Jerusalem He is now about to enter into the city And this is going to be his last major public appearance before his crucifixion This particular event that we're looking at this entry is recorded in all four gospels You have it recorded here in Luke chapter 19, but you also have it in Matthew chapter 21 Mark chapter 11 and John chapter 12 We know that this particular event in the ministry of Christ is occurring during his last week of ministry He's passed through Jericho where he has healed two blind men and where he ministered to a man by the name of Zacchaeus And he has continued his journey and now enters into Beth Vajie This is a village that is adjacent to a small village by the name of Bethany that gives to us geographic location They're located two miles outside of the city of Jerusalem And they're in an area called the Mount of Olives, which we know is just east of the city Jesus now is about to finish the work that he's been sent to do He's about to voluntarily lay his life down as an offering a sin offering Even as in John 3 16 He had let us know that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son That's whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life And Jesus has all along been stating that he was going to voluntarily lay his life down And he did so in order that he might be the sin offering He made it clear that he has come in his ministry through his teaching to bring salvation to the world In Matthew chapter 20 verse 28 He said the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many In John chapter 10 verses 14 and 15 he said I'm the good shepherd I know my sheep, my sheep know me Just as a father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep In Luke 19 we saw in verse 10 when he was speaking to Zacchaeus that he said the Son of man came to seek and to save That which was lost and so Jesus is about to finish the work that he's been sent to do He's about to lay down his life for the sheep and so before entering into the city of Jerusalem He now stops in a small village by the name of Beth Vaje Now it says here in verses 29 through 31 It came to pass when he drew near to Beth Vaje and Bethany at the mountain called all of it that he sent Two of his disciples saying go into the village opposite you Whereas you enter you will find a cult tide on which no one has ever sat loose it and bring it here And if anyone asks you why are you losing it? Thus you shall say to him because the Lord has need of it. So as we see this taking place I want you to first notice something with me notice that Jesus initiated the events that led to his triumphal procession into Jerusalem And he gave a simple command. He said go into the village opposite opposite you and bring me this cult What's interesting about this is up to this point? Jesus has been discouraging public honor and recognition you can see this many times through the gospels You can see it in Matthew chapter 8 for example in verse 4 when he had cleansed a leperin and Jesus speaks to this leperin says see that You tell no man or in Matthew chapter 16 verse 20 when he's when he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ or in Mark chapter 5 verse 43 at the healing of Jerry's daughter and he commanded them strictly that no one should know it Jesus has been telling people not to be saying anything about this and yet now he's going to allow public recognition to take place We need to remember that at this point Jesus is a marked man Jesus had healed a paralyzed man on the Sabbath and and when questioned about this miraculous healing He had given an explanation we saw it in John chapter 5 verses 17 and 18 when Jesus said my father's always at work to this very day And I too am working and then John tells us for this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father making himself equal with God So it was common knowledge that the Jewish authorities were bent on killing him. You see that in John chapter 7 verse 1 and So even though they are bent on killing him Jesus now says go into the village and bring a cult to me So in spite of death plots he determines to enter Jerusalem and he gives two of his disciples an order Now this order that he's giving to them to go and get this cult is an order to keep him himself from being accosted by enemies Because according to John 11 57 the chief priests and Pharisees had given a commandment that if any man knew where Jesus was he should show it that they might take him and so Jesus has Determined to have this take place in such a way that he's going to be able to enter in in a triumphant fashion without interruption Now Matthew make sure to let us know that it's not simply a cult by itself But according to Matthew 21 2 and 3 it's a cult that is with its mother Now as we look at this, I just want to touch on something very very briefly I want you to see that Jesus actually gives a very simple command to his disciples. It's not a complicated one It's really a very simple command. It's a very simple order And so one of the things that the Lord has taught me through this is that obedience to a simple command is really a principle for maturity the Bible tells us in Luke 16 10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much He who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much And so in obedience we discover the wonderful will of God and the joy of serving the Lord And it's the simple thing that God calls us to do in order that we demonstrate indeed that we understand his call and That we have the simple basic obedience to his call in his orders and in the simple things he gives to us more things to do I didn't start teaching Bible studies to large groups of people I started teaching Bible studies to small groups of people for several years about six or seven years I never taught a Bible study that had more than 20 people in it maybe 30 at the most And so over the years by being faithful and that which was the least The Lord gave me more to do and that's what happens is you are obedient in the small things Which is I think a principle of maturity then God gives you more because you're demonstrating to him that you will do The simple thing that he commands you to do and that's exactly what takes place here He commands his disciples to go and do a small thing now There's a question relating to this and I want you to see this In verse 30 and 31 when it says go into the village opposite you where as you enter You'll find a cold tide on which no one is ever sat loose it and bring it here Notice first 31 and if anyone asks you why are you losing it? Thus you shall say to him because the Lord has need of it Here's a question for you was this something that was pre-arranged or was Jesus Demonstrating omniscience or all knowledge at this point was Jesus actually prophesied that this is what was going to take place And this is what they were to do or was this something that was pre-arranged I Many years ago now it's been over 20 years ago was teaching this passage on a Sunday morning and I said I think that this particular event here was pre-arranged by the Lord Jesus Christ and At the end of the study I went to the back I used to go into the back there and and shake people's hands in and they walked out and say hello to him and everything And I was in the back And this is that Ontario Christian elementary school and and a gentleman came walking up to you I'll never forget this and he walked up to me after the Sunday morning service And and I was shaking his hand and and I learned a lot of things by the way when I used to stand back They're shaking people's hands. I learned that when people said that was a great message. I was really blessed I love it. I'd never see them again I learned that and learned a few other things But as he came walking back there and he shook my hand. I still remember him saying to me As he was shaking my hand saying to me well, it almost sounded like he said that was pre-arranged He said in and when I heard that he said I was about to get up and walk out And I held on to his hand because he was pulling away and I held on to it So he couldn't and I pulled him back and I looked him in the eye and I said that's exactly what I was saying and Released him and never saw him again, which is kind of typical, but that's what I am saying now I believe that this was pre-arranged. This is quite obvious why it would be pre-arranged It's to keep Jesus from being accosted as he enters in because there is a there is a warrant Basically if you will for his arrest and so he wants to make sure he enters in and you'll see why in just a moment Unaccosted and there's nothing wrong with Jesus pre-arranging something. It doesn't take away from his ministry It doesn't reduce him in any way. It's a simple way to avoid unwanted attention that would distract from his mission And Jesus did that I believe with that purpose so that his mission is not Hindered from taking place that doesn't really matter whether or not he did or did not prophesy this that doesn't take away from the Lord Jesus Christ just keep that in mind Now what's important to me and one of the things I'd like to point out here is at the word of Jesus His cult was set free for his use Notice how the scripture speaks in verse 34 where they say the Lord has need of him That's what the Lord instructed them all you need to say he says in verse 31 is the Lord has need of it And so when it says the Lord has need that word need speaks of necessity duty or business And so it's humbling it's humbling when we realize that God actually needs something from us What does he need from you? What does he need from me? You know in some marriages the Lord made Want to make use of a husband for his purposes the Lord may want to make use of a wife for his purposes The Lord may want to make use of our children for his purposes He may have need of of my time so that something for the kingdom can be done He may have a need for my possessions. He may have a need for my job He has a need of something from me What is it that he has a need of from you that you ought to be offering to him because I find it interesting to note that the One who has no need actually stated I have this need I have a need for this to accomplish my purposes And so one of the things that I do when I study the word of God is when I see phrases like that the Lord has need of it As I asked Lord the Lord what is it of me that you might have need of what do you want from me? What can I do for you? I want to be available to you and so by their Simple obedience what is amazing to me is a prophecy that was written some 500 years before Christ was fulfilled It's a prophecy found in the book of Zechariah in the Old Testament and in Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9 Zechariah had written rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion shout O daughter of Jerusalem Behold your king is coming to you He is just and having salvation lowly and riding on a donkey a cult the fall of a donkey and So Jesus says to his disciples I want you to bring that cult to me He didn't explain and I want you to see this he did not explain his purpose He simply said go do it now. What if they would have said well He wants us to bring a cult a fall of a donkey, but he's a king. We want to bring him a white horse a charger What if they'd have changed the plans well bottom line two things one when a king would come with war With war in mind he would ride a horse when he came into the city bringing peace he rode on a donkey And so what we see here is Jesus coming in as the one bringing peace because in the book of Revelation in his second coming He's riding on a horse and so what you see here in this entrance is the king bringing peace with him We need to remember that in his entrance to Jerusalem on this cult He's actually fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah Jesus's entire life in ministry were earmarked at least by at least two purposes one He stated he came to do his father's will and John 4 34 He said my food is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work and second He came to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies concerning Messiah's first appearance. That's why in Matthew 5 17 Jesus said do not think that I've come to abolish the law of the prophets I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them so he came to to do his father's will and to fulfill the prophecies related to Messiah and so as he comes in now what he's doing is fulfilling Zechariah 9 verse 9 and This is how it's how it is taking place now when it says rejoice greatly. Oh daughter of Zion We know that the daughter of Zion is a picture of the city of Jerusalem because the city of Jerusalem is actually called Zion in Scripture in Psalm 48 1 and 2 the Bible says great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God and the mountain of his Holiness beautiful for situation the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north the city of the great king and So Mount Zion or Zion is a picture of Jerusalem. And so Jesus is now entering in On a donkey representing humility and gentleness Donkeys were domesticated. They were used for agricultural and riding purposes But what's interesting to me is that the cult that Jesus is riding on is unbroken It's easier for him to get a donkey to carry him along than it is sometimes for him to get us to carry him along and This unbroken donkey is Is absolutely Dossel When they place these garments on him and the master is seated on him anybody who's ever been around Animals that are unbroken knows that you don't just climb on top of one of those things you have to break them But the Lord Jesus Christ didn't have to break this donkey at all because he's master and Lord He just simply sat on top of him and that donkey was willing to carry him wherever he needed to go And so this is what's taking place here now in verse 32 It says Those who are sent went their way found it just as he had said to them But as they were losing the cult the owners of it said to them Why are you losing the cult? They said the Lord has need of him and Then they brought him to Jesus and they threw their own clothes on the cult and they set Jesus on him And as he went many spread their clothes on the road Then as he was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God With a loud voice for all the mighty works. They'd seen saying blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord Peace in heaven and glory in the highest some of the Pharisees called him from the crowd teacher rebuke your disciples But he answered and said to them I tell you that if these should keep silent the stones would immediately cry out and So everything is going as Jesus said it would they've brought the cult to Jesus and now this parade this Parade of followers begins to grow and what you actually have here It's not clear here in Luke But when you join this together with John's gospel You'll see that there are some who are going along with Jesus and some who were coming out of the city of Jerusalem and two crowds Are actually converging in this Palm Sunday ride And as this is all taking place the people are beginning to cry out in verse 30 38 It says blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord peace and heaven and glory in the highest And so they're shouting out praise to the Lord Jesus Christ These are what are called the Psalms of halal Psalms of praise and they're beginning to cry these things out to the Lord Jesus Christ and as this is all taking place notice in verse 39 how the Pharisees said Teacher rebuke your disciples See to them Jesus was only a prophet from Nazareth. They weren't receiving him for whom he actually was They were not receiving him as the Messiah of Israel And so as they begin to say teacher rebuke your disciples that is so typical of those who don't have faith in Christ They want to stifle praise to God They want to find a way to cause God to not receive praise and so they say rebuke your disciples Stop the praise from happening but Jesus answers in verse 40 and says I tell you that if these should keep silent the stones Would immediately cry out. There's no way that praise is going to be held back Now one of the ways for you to understand what a majestic statement that is and how powerful it is for Jesus to say the stones Would immediately cry out is to take into consideration for a moment that everything there in the city of Jerusalem was built with stone The buildings the walls the ground itself was paved through stones And so he's saying this entire geographic area would explode in praise Because something right now is dramatic taking place that you're trying to stop something. You don't even see or understand for what it is the Messiah is entering into the city of Jerusalem and What you're trying to do is stop the praise to stop its overture to stop people from saying what they ought to be saying Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord peace in heaven glory in the highest You're telling people not to be excited about a Messiah the Messiah who is entering in and that simply cannot take place because this Moment has been created by God for praise to occur and God's praise will occur regardless of what you're saying regardless of you trying to stifle it for even if I said to these human Beings be quiet the stones themselves could not contain the praise of this moment And so what does he do? Now we get into something I think is absolutely remarkable in verse 41 it says it's he drew near He saw the city and he wept over it He wept over it that word wept speaks of strong sobs strong tears In a moment where praise and glory is being given Jesus stops as he sees this incredibly beautiful city And he begins to sob with deep and powerful sobs These people did not recognize Jesus for who he is They saw him as a prophet They saw him as a prophet from Nazareth But they didn't receive him for he who he actually was the Messiah of Israel and as he sees this city his heart is broken Because he knows that it's rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ and he knows that this city is going to suffer for doing so you see At verse 42 when he says if you had known even you especially in this your day The things that make for your peace But now they are hidden from your eyes If you'd only understood for the last three three and a half years of Jesus's ministry That had they received their Messiah They would have had peace from God But because the overwhelming majority of the people rejected the work of Jesus Christ The result was going to be judgment He said days the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you Surround you and close you in on every side and Level you and your children within you to the ground and they will not leave in you one stone upon another Because you did not know the time of your visitation When he uses the word visitation if you take notes you might want to note this that word visitation means Investigation or inspection You didn't know the time of your investigation or your inspection when I was in the military we used to have inspections and they could come into your room at Very early six in the morning and what you would have is you'd have a sergeant who would walk through the hallway And he'd have a whistle and then he'd sound the whistle and he'd begin to shout and then he would hammer your door He'd hit your door and he'd start yelling at you to get up and he it was a surprise inspection Though we knew they warned us. They said we are gonna have Intermittent inspections and so your quarters had better be squared away. We were told that Yet, we didn't know exactly when those investigations would take place And so if you don't know exactly when it's gonna happen, you're supposed to be ready for it at any moment That's how it's supposed to work. And so you have to keep things squared away You have to have your wall wall locker in order and all kinds of things and and it can't be a big mess And all because if they come in and and it's a big mess You're gonna do extra duty and there's a variety of other things that will take place your penalize for that And so they would come in on occasion and you'd hear them blowing that whistle And then they'd be hammering your door and they'd say open up you maggots And and we'd have to open up the doors and they'd come walking in and here comes the co And he'd walk in and he'd look around and that's what they would do. They would give a surprise inspection Jesus is saying you should have been prepared Because you've known all along that an investigation is going to take place You should have been ready for this, but the problem is is you did not know the time of your investigation You didn't know the time of your visitation Now you should have known all of this because you've been forewarned through the word of God You should have known this because the Lord in his word has already prepared you for this the time of your visitation This time when God looks into and searches out the ways, deeds, and character of men in order to judge them accordingly this day of visitation The question has to be asked though. How could they have known of this surprise inspection? How could they have been aware of the fact that that he was going to do this? Why should they have been prepared? Is there any reason why Jesus would use that language and the answer is absolutely because it was predicted in scripture that this Was going to take place. Where did that take place? Where were the scriptures say that turn with me to Daniel chapter 9? We're about to look at one of the most incredible prophecies that you find in the Old Testament Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 through 27 the prophecy of the 70 weeks That you find in Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 through 27 Now I realize that there are some in this room saying where's Daniel He's in heaven His books in the Old Testament By the book of Hosea Daniel chapter 9 If you have my Bible, it's on page 1186 in Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 through 27 you have what is called the prophecy of the 70 weeks I wanted to bring you to this because it'll give us some understanding as to why Jesus would say you did not know the day of your Visitation this day. He said which was your day This day which is your day, but you didn't know it these things are hidden from your site for you Did not know the day of your visitation question How could I have known the day of my visitation answer? Daniel prophesied it and in Daniel chapter 9 verse 24 This is a prophecy called the prophecy of 70 weeks 70 weeks are determined Daniel writes for your people and for your holy city now. He's speaking to Daniel Rather the angel who is giving this This understanding to Daniel is speaking to Daniel a Jewish man And so when it says 70 weeks are determined for your people and your holy city We know immediately who is being referred to your people are the Jewish people Your holy city is the city of Jerusalem and this is what he says to finish the transgression To make an end of sins to make reconciliation for iniquity To bring in everlasting righteousness to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until messiah the prince There shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks The street shall be built again and the wall even in troublesome times and After the 62 weeks messiah shall be cut off But not for himself and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the Sanctuary the end of it shall be with a flood and Till the end of the war desolations are determined then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week Which would be the 70th week, but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering and on the wing of abomination shall be one who makes desolate even until the Consumption which is determined is poured out on the desolate. So what we have here is a prophecy of 490 years that are intended to accomplish six specific things One he says it's going to finish the transgression in other words. It's going to end the Jewish apostasy It's going to make it possible for Jewish people to receive their messiah Finish transgression to make an end of sins When he says to make an end of sin it means to completely deal with sin And this is something we see taking place in in in the ministry of Jesus Hebrews chapter 10 verse 12 says this man After he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down at the right hand of God So to make an end of sin is accomplished in Jesus Christ So one the Jews are to receive messiah to to deal with sin completely three to make reconciliation Reconciliation is that which is accomplished through Jesus Christ in 2nd Corinthians 519 Paul said God was in Christ Reconciling the world to himself Fourth he says to bring in everlasting righteousness that occurs at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ Fifth he says to seal up vision and prophecy and the reason vision and prophecy is sealed up Is because it is no longer necessary because all will be complete when Jesus rules and reigns and then finally Fixed to anoint the most holy is another way of speaking of seeing Jesus in his reign as messiah So what I want to do at this point here is I want to share something with you because Daniel is speaking concerning the last times here and He's speaking concerning some detailed events that will take place He actually takes the 70 weeks when he says in verse 24 70 weeks are determined and he divides it into two sections I want you to see that he has one section where he speaks of 62 weeks and Seven weeks and what you do with those 62 weeks and seven weeks as you just add them together You end up with 69 weeks and then you end up with Daniel's 70th week, which is the last week And so what you have here is one of the most fantastic prophecies and this is so detailed I have to be very careful that I don't I don't give to you something that brings more confusion to you Let me just do it this way There's an individual by the name of sir Robert Anderson Sir Robert Anderson wrote a book called the coming Prince and In the book the coming Prince he wrote concerning the 70 week prophecy that we just read here in the book of Daniel What he did originally is he looked at these weeks, and he saw that these were weeks 69 weeks and seven weeks And what he did is he began to treat these weeks as literal seven-day weeks And so he began to multiply and look at it and see what it would turn out to be and he found out that That that came up to the amount of 490 days and and nothing really happened that was very very Shaking within 490 days, and so what he began to think as well If it's not 490 days could it be 490 weeks of years What would happen and so now what he has to do is he asked to find a starting point And so when you look at verse 25 It says no therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince There shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks so you add the seven in the 62 you end up with 69 weeks So all he needs is a starting point. Well, he knows what the starting point is. It's it's where it says From the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince So he goes to the book of Nehemiah in the book of Nehemiah chapter 2 You find Nehemiah receiving authority from the king to return to Jerusalem to do this work it just so happens That this particular date March 14th 445 is one of the dates in history that is not argued about and So secular historians will tell you that the date that the order went out for the Restoration of Jerusalem to restore and build Jerusalem. They know that that date came on March 14th 445 BC So, you know what Robert Anderson did what he did is he said well, let's see what happens if I multiply 69 weeks 69 times 7 7 days in each week times 360 because the Babylonian calendar was a 360 day year figure in what we would call like leap years and Painstakingly, this is what he did. So he took took the 69 and the 70 and the 7 and he began to work that out He came up with a hundred and seventy three thousand eight hundred and eighty days And so what he did from there is he began to count a hundred and seventy three thousand eight hundred and eighty from From his is his start point of March 14th 445 and he just painstakingly counted out a hundred and seventy three thousand 880 and he ended up on April 6th AD 32 Which is what we call Palm Sunday So when Jesus is there saying if you had known this your day What he was saying is God in his word had prophesied through Daniel in chapter 9 verse 24 through 27 Written 600 years before Christ That this particular event would take place if you would have spent time in the word of God You would have been forewarned and you would have been ready For his visitation This is one of the most fantastic prophecies in Scripture Because it was fulfilled to the day When Jesus Christ entered into the city and that's why Jesus wept in verse 41 back in Luke chapter 19 That's why he wept over the city as he drew near it He began to weep sobbing over it and that's why he said in verse 42 of Luke 19 If you had known Even you especially in this your day the things that make for your peace But now they are hidden from your eyes for the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you surround you and close you in on every side and Level you and your children within you to the ground They will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation They rejected Christ we all know history records that and the scriptures present that clearly to us. He was rejected Jewish historian by the name of Josephus wrote in his antiquities concerning the destruction of Jerusalem Josephus was a Jewish man whom the Romans used for their own purpose and as a historian did record the destruction of the city and it's in his writings that he states that as Rome was there Titus of Rome was was seizing the city that many of the Jewish people went into the temple and Were were basically taking Sanctuary there and were there for some time well the temple was filled with incredible gold objects When you read the description of the utensils that were used for the service of the Lord You'll see that there were some very valuable pieces that were solid gold And so at first they didn't want to destroy this particular temple. They didn't want to destroy it but a soldier with a torch Through that torch into the temple and it caught some of the some of the the material on fire and Incinerated the Jewish people in who were taken sanctuary inside of the temple and And they were all destroyed In order to get the gold out of the temple Because it had melted through this incredible heat The Roman soldiers actually destroyed the temple. They took it apart stone by stone And as they did so they were able to scrape off from between the stone work there the gold and This prophecy that Jesus prophesied Was 100% fulfilled in AD 70 when Titus of Rome came in and laid siege to the city Destroyed the temple and didn't leave one stone upon another Jesus wept over the city because he said this was a moment that you could have avoided Every time we go to Israel and I encourage you if you've never been to make every effort to go with us at least once We do plan and pray about going next year and hopefully will but every time we go to to Israel We end up going to a place called Masada and Masada is just it's just outside of the city of of Jerusalem just a half hour or so drive south going towards the Dead Sea And as as you go into Masada there There's the story of Masada that you hear repeated to you over and over again It's where the Jewish soldiers will go in and make their oath of faithfulness of the Jewish army and all into the nation of Israel And they'll go up there and they are they have the story rehearsed to them how that these 900 plus Jewish people held out against the Romans until the very end and how that the the Romans used Jews to actually build a siege ramp and when you see how how high they had to build that siege ramp and that's still there you Can still see the ramp that they built and how they had Jews coming in and Like it with wheelbarrows and building up the siege ramp how that they finally were able to breach it and come in so That they could take these Jews who were held out up there and had been up there for some time how that when they entered into this particular fortress called Masada and Went there ready to fight there were over 900 people there But they were all basically almost everyone was dead because what had taken place is the the the people who were inhabiting Masada Decided that they were not going to Give up and one of the most stirring speeches that was ever given was given at that point where where the man said You know our children are going to be taken and sold into slavery Our wives are going to be taken and raped and murdered and he said men you have to you have to do the things that men do and so What they did is is they drew lots and and and certain men they slaughtered over 900 people there and then the one person who was left slaughtered the second person then killed himself committed suicide So that the children the wives and the people would not be taken into Roman slavery and sold They died there and it's one of the most stirring sad stories that you ever hear in the nation of Israel how that took place and it hit me one day and I was sharing with with our people when we were there many years ago now and I said if they'd have received Messiah There would have been no Masada and That's what Jesus was speaking about guys if you'd have known this your day But now it's hidden from your eyes They're gonna build an embankment around you and they're gonna tear you down not one stone is going to be left upon another Because you didn't know the day of your visitation Because God's word was just not important enough for you to pour over to memorize and to live by and If you'd have read Daniel's prophecy You'd have known this day was coming and you'd have been ready but you weren't and for us Sometimes things occur in our life when we act so surprised when in reality we have so many warnings that God gives to us If you do this, this is gonna happen But because we don't read his word sometimes or maybe not regularly We're caught by surprise Jesus wept over the city Because he knew it was gonna take place It's because they ignored the time of their visitation the surprise inspection occurred and They weren't ready May we be ready may we be prepared because his coming is even at the door