 Reading here in Luke chapter 21 at verse 20, we'll read verses 20 through 24. And we'll get into our study as we continue our verse by verse study here in the Gospel of Luke. We've arrived at the portion of Luke that Jesus begins to speak concerning the last days. And so we've been looking at this in some detail, small portions at a time. And so now we'll look at verses 20 through 24. And so Luke writes, Jesus speaking, but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, and then know that its desolation is near, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But what of those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days? For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And so Jesus has been speaking concerning the days that would be in existence, the conditions, the days that would be in existence prior to his return. Now that actually began because his men had made a comment to him and Jesus had responded in such a way that it actually startled them. Remember in verse five here in chapter 21, how Luke had written, then as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations. He said, these things which you see, the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down. So when Jesus said that, it startled his disciples. And because of that, it prompted a question from them that was recorded in verse seven. It says they asked him, saying, teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place? And so they asked him a question and Matthew recording the same incident gives us more detail because Matthew tells us in chapter 24 verse three, as he said on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And so at that point, Jesus began to teach concerning the sign of his coming as well as the conditions that would be prevailing during that time. And so he began to speak concerning general conditions. He spoke in verse eight and said that there would be various things like deception and warfare. There would be natural calamities and plagues or be famines and cosmic signs that would occur. He went on to speak and say that there would be those who are suffering religious and civil persecution. There would be those who are suffering persecution from their own friends as well as their family. And it was gonna get very difficult. And as we closed our study last time, he said in verse 18 and 19 of the same chapter, but not a hair of your head shall be lost by your patience possess your souls. And so he's saying ultimately, you need to remain faithful to the Lord and you need to remain completely trusting in him. Ultimately, some of you will die. Some will die a martyr's death. But you need to understand, he was saying to them, that your eternity is secure because of your relationship with me. When he was speaking in Matthew in chapter 10 verse 28, he had said to his disciples, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. So he's saying, if you're gonna make a choice to be afraid, be afraid of the one who has ultimate power. Have a fear of the Lord. But I'm telling you that not a hair of your head shall be lost. I'm gonna take care of you eternally and that's what you really need to know. And so this is what he's speaking about here as we begin to look at these verses before us, verses 20 through 24. He's now speaking concerning the fact that Jerusalem is gonna be surrounded by armies. And he says, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. So as we look at this passage, I'm gonna divide it into two sections because as you look at this, you're gonna see that this prophecy that he's giving here has both what you would call a near as well as a future application. It actually is anticipating two separate seizures of the city of Jerusalem. The first one was fulfilled in 70 AD under Titus and the second occurs at the end of the age. And we're gonna look at both of those, not in great detail, but we'll be looking at that because that's what he's speaking about. When he speaks in verse 20 and says, you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation is near. This is something that took place in their lifetime. This is something that was gonna take place in AD 70. And so this is something that could be aware of but it's not simply what is gonna take place in their lifetime that he's speaking about but it also is something that is attached to a second coming. But first we're gonna look at it as it's attached to his being there with him and that which took place not too long or distant in the future. And in order to do that I need to remind you of something that we have already looked at. Turn with me to Luke chapter 19 for a moment and I wanna develop this with you because Jesus has already spoken somewhat concerning this and you see it in Luke chapter 19 in verses 41 through 44. Remember as the Lord Jesus Christ was about to enter into the city of Jerusalem there, it says in Luke chapter 19 verse 41 as he drew near, he saw the city and he 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 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. So Jesus has already been preparing them for this event that he's speaking about here in chapter 21 at verse 20 when he says when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies know that its desolation is near. He's already spoken to them concerning that. He's already prepared them concerning that. They didn't know the time of their visitation, they rejected their Messiah and as a result of that judgment was gonna come upon the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem was gonna be raised to the ground. It was gonna be destroyed. Now that actually occurs according to secular history in AD 70. The Bible speaks concerning that but history bears that out. In April of the year 70, the Roman general Titus actually laid siege to the city of Jerusalem and what he did is he surrounded the city and in doing so cut off all its supplies and when that happened he actually trapped thousands of people who were inside the city walls. These were people who had just finished celebrating the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread and so there were thousands of pilgrims there within the city walls when he did this and the soldiers actually built embankments and as they built this embankment and lay siege they began to slowly starve the inhabitants of the city and then when they became very weak the soldiers began to enter in and they took the city one section at a time and finally from April to September it took a few months but finally they were able to overthrow the city in early September. When they entered in as we already know through history the Romans demolished the temple, they destroyed the city, they destroyed the homes and they killed the people. When we go to Israel we actually go into a place that is called the Burnt House. Some of you who have been to Israel have been into this place, the Burnt House and we sit there and we see a historical dramatization of what had occurred when Titus of Rome did that and you see what happened and we actually go into one of the houses that it's called the Burnt House because you can see that it's been burned down. You can see that the stones and everything have scorch marks there because of the flames and all had left their mark on the building and so when you go to Israel you actually see a remnant of this. It took place in AD 70. Now they didn't kill every single person. The weak, the infirm, the older people, they did. They put them to death instantly but they also took some captives with them. They took them back to Rome and when they brought these captives back to Rome they actually had them in what was called the Roman Circus and they went there and they were used as entertainment and died there or they would put them to battle with the gladiators and that's what took place at that time. This all took place under what was called the first siege of Jerusalem and so those who were alive when this took place and that's what Jesus is speaking about when he says in verse 20, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies know that its desolation is near. Those who were alive when this was taking place were forewarned by Jesus Christ. He was making it very clear this is gonna take place. This is gonna happen. He had said it earlier in chapter 19. He said it once again in chapter 21 and so that's what he's speaking to them about and so this is one of the applications what took place in their lifetime and so he's preparing them. Notice what he says in verse 21. He says then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Judea represents southern Israel. Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are in the midst of her depart and let not those who are in the country enter here for these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled but woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days for there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people and so the Lord is speaking concerning what will take place first in the near future when Titus of Rome encircles the city and destroys it and he's beginning to prepare them. Now it's interesting how he says to us let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains because during that day the more logical choice to go for protection would not have been to the mountains. The logical choice to go for protection would be to the walled city. So Jesus is saying you have to go against your natural instincts. Your natural instincts would be to rush into Jerusalem and to try and find safety and security there. He's saying don't do that, why? Because it's gonna be destroyed. What you need to do is you need to rush off into the mountains because that'll be safer because it's gonna be harder for you to be found. Now when this happened during that time right around 70 AD many actually fled. They fled across the Jordan River to the east into the south into a city called Pella and that's where they remained safe. You notice in verse 22 he says these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Now when he says these are the days of vengeance the days of vengeance speaks of the time when people receive due penalty for their sins. That's what that phrase means. This is the days when the people who should be punished for their sin are gonna be punished for their sins. In Isaiah in chapter 26 verse 21 it says behold the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will also disclose her blood and will no more cover her slain. And so the Lord is saying here these are the days when punishment is gonna occur. Now one has to ask the question punishment for what? Why are they gonna be punished? And the most obvious answer to that question is they're gonna be punished or dealt with because they rejected their Messiah. They considered Jesus Christ to be worthless. They thought that he did the works that he did as we have studied already in our gospel studies. They believed that Jesus Christ cast out demons by Beelzebub Prince of the Demons. They believed that he was actually satanic and not Messiah. They rejected him completely. And in doing so they were counting him as worthless. And when they regarded their Messiah as being worthless the Lord God is bringing vengeance for the rejection of Messiah. In the book of Hebrews in chapter 10 verse 29 the writer said of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the son of God under foot counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the spirit of grace. He's saying that punishment is gonna come because you've rejected God's gracious spirit who convicted you of who Messiah is. And rather than asking for Messiah they ultimately asked for the one who rejected Jesus. They asked for Barabbas. And rather than asking for Messiah they made their choice for the opposite and that's what happened. They rejected Jesus Christ. And so as a result of that they're gonna be punished. You see it's not as if the Lord is gonna ignore that. The Lord isn't ignoring that. Jesus Christ came and when he came he ministered as he ministered some followed him but others rejected him. Now when you go to Israel you'll go to this place there. We take you to Masada and all of us know of Masada. If you haven't been there you know of it. It was where some of the last holdouts in the rebellion against Rome ensconced themselves and Rome came and attempted to take them but Masada is one of these fortresses that was on top of a mountain 900 or so feet. I forget how high it is. It's much above the plane there. And it was the kind of place that the Romans couldn't get to and so they had supplies. They had water and there were over 900 inhabitants up there in Masada at this time. And the Romans came and they wanted to take Masada but they weren't able to do so. And so what the Romans ultimately did is they got some of the Jews and they made them into slave labor and they began to bring debris, dirt and rocks and everything and they built a ramp and it took some time for them to do that. And as they built this ramp they ultimately were able to bring the ramp to the top, to the lip there of Masada. When you go to Israel and you go to Masada you can actually see the ramp. It's still in existence there. We've actually walked down that side of Masada and we've gone down into the valley through there and you can see that this would have taken them some time to do and it did. But when they got there and they went into and they finally breached the walls and entered in nobody was alive. Very few people remained alive because what they had done is the men had drawn lots and ultimately every man in the head of family killed his own family, committed suicide and it came down till there were just a few men left and they drew lots and ultimately they killed each other and one committing suicide at the very end and Masada is still a symbol in the nation of Israel that they will not give in to foreign oppression and to this day the military will go up to Masada to do the military oaths of fealty. They'll go up there to take oaths of faithfulness to their country and they remember the story of Masada and while we've been there before I've pointed out that if they had received Masada there would have been no Masada but the problem is they rejected their Masada and in rejecting Messiah they ultimately found themselves in that helpless and hopeless situation. That's what the Lord is speaking about. First and foremost as we look at it in the not too distant future this takes place shortly thereafter within 30 plus years in AD 70 he's saying this is gonna take place. This will happen. He says also in verse 23 but woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days for there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And he's thinking obviously compassionately towards the mothers and towards the babies and perhaps he's thinking of what has happened in the past when the mothers and when the babies were caught, how the babies were slaughtered, the mothers were slaughtered, the women often were raped and he's saying to them how difficult it will be for them in those days. There'll be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. So this is what would take place in the near future. There's a second application I wanna bring to this and that is what would take place in the distant future. First we've seen conditions that will exist during their lifetime and they would see them occur but it also applies to conditions that will prevail before his return. You see Mark records the same teaching of Jesus and in the Gospel of Mark, according to Mark chapter 13 verse eight, he says that these things that Jesus is speaking about are only the beginning of sorrows. And when he says it's only the beginning of sorrows, the word sorrows speaks of birth pangs. He's saying this is only the beginning of birth pangs. So that gives us some insight into what he's talking about because it's not something that's just gonna take place in AD 70 and then be fulfilled and that's it. But it's something that is actually gonna be occurring over time because this would give us insight when he uses the word sorrows or birth pangs. This would give us insight to the fact that the period of time he's addressing is prolonged because we know that birth pangs are first experienced when birth is about to take place but that doesn't guarantee that you get your birth pang and then two seconds later you got a baby. Every mom in here knows that. When Marie gave birth to our very first baby, her, from the time she began having her birth pangs until she finally had Corinne was something like 33 hours. And so that was a nice long period of time and that's what Jesus is speaking about. And so when he speaks concerning the beginning of sorrows, it gives us insight that his return isn't immediate and that there are also things that will be taking place in the meantime. And so the fact is birth pangs are simply indicators that a birth is eventually going to occur. So these verses in front of us also reveal general conditions during the seven year period that is called the tribulation. Now we hear about the tribulation. You read a Vedic study. You'll see the tribulation is clearly spoken of especially in Revelation chapters six through 19 you see quite a number of things that are listed there that God gave to John to write and all. And so you see this tribulation and that is something that is going to take place and it's a seven year period. We'll look at that in just a moment but it's been referred to as the tribulation. And the tribulation is the final judgment of God on a Christ rejecting world. That's what the tribulation is. The tribulation period occurs between what is called the rapture and the second coming of Jesus Christ. We know that the tribulation isn't something that the church is going through for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons is God has not appointed us unto wrath and the period of tribulation is referred to as the wrath of the lamb and it's time of God pouring out wrath but we're not gonna be here. Those of us who have received Christ as Lord and Savior are gonna be taken up in what has been called the rapture. We're gonna be pulled out of this place and you see that in 1 Thessalonians chapter four verses 16 and 17. Now, when I first got saved, I'd never heard the term the rapture. I don't know, I'm sure every one of you has have by this point. I had never heard that term but I wasn't raised in a Christian discipline that actually spoke concerning this event called the rapture. The rapture is the event where the Lord Jesus Christ takes us off of the face of the earth. It is found in 1 Thessalonians chapter four verses 16 and 17 where Paul writes, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. We shall be caught up and when he speaks concerning us being caught up the word caught up in the Greek is harpazol. The word harpazol means to be taken violently or by force and that's where the term rapture comes from. There are those who will say, well the word rapture isn't found in the Bible and so that's just not a true doctrine. The word rapture is not the Greek. The word rapture is actually Latin and that's where the term comes from but we will be caught up and that's what the scripture says. I've told you this many times but I had never heard of the rapture but I have a friend named George who had and George wanted to teach me concerning the return of Christ and he wanted me to be excited about that and I was a brand new Christian and George was telling me Jesus could come any moment and I've shared this with you recently bear with me those of you who've heard this a thousand times but it's still one of my favorite stories and George was saying Jesus is coming and I was going to Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa there and we were hearing that we're in the last days and we knew that the Lord is gonna return any moment and all and I was excited about that but George really believed and I mean he really believed that Jesus was coming and he was one of these guys who taught me a lot of things he's the guy who discipled me he was really the one who mentored me in my first few weeks of walking with Christ George was very influential in that way George was a very loving guy he's the guy who would hold my hands while we prayed and frankly I did not appreciate a man holding my hands but George would hold my hand and he taught me not to be so afraid of affection George was a guy who would hug you every time he saw you even if you had just walked out of the room and came back he was one of these oh it's good to see you it's been a long time you know that was George and I appreciated him because he's openly affectionate and very concerned for me and I loved him for that and he'd been a friend of mine for a long time we used to do drugs together he got saved and then I got saved and he was very influential in my walk he taught me how to pray he taught me how to read the Bible he's the one who told me listen you need to read the Bible you need to start you know with the Gospel of Matthew read through it he just taught me how to do that and encouraged me in my walk with Christ and was very excited about the Lord in all and for him God could do anything and Jesus said he's gonna return and so he would tell me that he'd say the Lord is gonna return look at the conditions of the earth look what's going on right now you know Jesus has stated he's gonna come back he's coming in very soon and you need to be ready you need to live as if you expect him to and that was George and I still remember George he was such a praying guy I mean he'd climb in the car and we couldn't even start the car without a word of prayer even if we were just pulling it from the driveway and parking it out the curb I mean he was one of the guys oh Lord help us to make it to the curb amen and Jesus and that was George and you know he was just a loving guy and loved the Lord and we were driving out of that driveway and we were pulling out and I backed out and I took off towards the corner and came to a stop sign and looked right looked left nobody there took a left turn passenger side door opens up I hadn't closed it properly and I see George leaning out of the car with his Bible over his head and I slammed my brakes and I said what are you doing and that's when he said hey I thought the rapture happened and Jesus is a gentleman and he opened my door for me and that was George and I'm sitting there thinking why didn't he open my door I mean I may not be saved I don't know but then again George is still here so obviously he's wrong about that but I'm telling you there is that anticipation of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ an event called the rapture where we're gonna be taken a way to be with the Lord instantly and after that rapture occurs then the Lord begins to pour out his wrath on a Christ rejecting world and as you study your scriptures you see that the tribulation this period of time is gonna be characterized by unrestrained human wickedness unrestrained it's gonna be a time when Israel suffers greatly the Old Testament prophets spoke about it for example Zephaniah the prophet Zephaniah in chapter one verses 14 and 15 says the great day of the Lord is near it is near and hastens quickly the noise of the day of the Lord is bitter there the mighty men shall cry out that day is a day of wrath a day of trouble and distress a day of devastation and desolation a day of darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness it's a time of suffering it's a time that is gonna occur where Israel suffers terribly Jesus in Matthew 24 21 said then there will be great tribulation such as not been since the beginning of the world until this time no nor ever shall be the time of tribulation is gonna make the Holocaust look mild compared to what is gonna take place in the seven year period when God pours out his wrath on a Christ rejecting world there's gonna be a figure I had thought about giving a whole study on antichrist I'm not sure if I will or not but there's gonna be a figure that we know of by various names you can study your Old Testament into your New Testament and you see that the antichrist is his best known name but he's called by a variety of other names the antichrist though will suffice there's gonna be a world ruler at first it seems that he has political ambition and he's gonna have an ambition to rule the world and when you study this period of time called the tribulation for his first three and a half years antichrist seems to keep a low profile and slowly but surely begins to gather his strength it seems that the antichrist is going to actually be an ally of Israel but we know that ultimately he's gonna betray their confidence we know that and the Bible in reference to him in Daniel chapter nine verse 27 says concerning antichrist that he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week that one week is a period of seven years that he's referring to but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering so it will seem that the antichrist is going to have a deal have a covenant with the nation of Israel and in that covenant that is supposed to bring peace it would seem that he's gonna give to Israel the ability to rebuild their temple now when you go to Israel we will take you to the temple mount and we do a study there and it's interesting when you go up into the temple mount it's interesting because there's a disagreement concerning where the actual temple at one time actually stood what you have now and all of you have seen pictures of this is you have the dome of the rock and that is one of the more holy sites in the religion of Islam and so there's been great confusion and discussion concerning how is it possible for a temple to be rebuilt when you have the dome of the rock in the site that many believe is the actual site of the holy temple of Israel and so when you go up onto the temple mount and we take you up there you'll actually go to this area that is outside of the dome of the rock and it's a place that it's called the dome of the tablets or the dome of the spirit and when you go there that's actually a higher elevation and when you stand at this particular place we read the Bible that though we're not supposed to I actually will have somebody open it up so I can read it you're really not supposed to because the Muslims will get upset but we find ways to get the message across even if it means I write these scriptures down before I go on but we find a way to be able to spend some time in the Word of God even though the Muslims prohibit you from reading the Bible in their holy sites but when we're there we'll be standing there at the dome of the tablets or the dome of the spirit and I'll have people facing towards the Mount of Olives and when you stand at the dome of the tablets or the dome of the spirit and you look in that direction that is actually where the gate is though it's buried now where Jesus would have come in to go into the temple area that's where the gate is and so it actually lines up with that gate which tells us that the temple actually is not over the side of the dome of the rock but is rather further up and then that gives us insight into what is taking place in Revelation chapter 11 because in Revelation chapter 11 verses one and two and this is the scripture that we read while we're standing in that site John writes, I was given a read like a measuring rod and was told go and measure the temple of God and the altar and count the worshipers there but exclude the outer court do not measure it because it has been given to the Gentiles they will trample on the holy city for three and a half years and so the outer court area that has been given over I would believe along with many others is actually the site of the dome of the rock and as we're standing there, we say this this is what I'll say and this is what many say Pastor Chuck and others like him will say the Antichrist is going to come he's going to establish a covenant with the nation of Israel which we believe more than likely is going to include the right for them to rebuild that temple and the way that they'll be able to rebuild that temple is according to Revelation 11-2 they're gonna be able to measure out an outer court so you don't need to have though it could happen a major earthquake that destroys the dome of the rock you don't need to have some Zionists to come and blow it up you don't need to have anything like that you can actually have both the temple as well as the dome of the rock coexisting in the same location and there are many who believe that the answer to that problem how are you gonna be able to rebuild the temple because the temple of necessity has to be rebuilt because Jesus when he's speaking in Matthew chapter 24 speaks concerning the abomination of desolation that Daniel wrote about he says when you see it's standing in the temple and so we know that the temple has to be rebuilt and it is not rebuilt now so the question is how can it be rebuilt and the answer is gonna be the Antichrist is gonna have a covenant that he establishes with the nation of Israel and I'm certain with the Arab nations that will allow for the temple's rebuilding as well as the continuing existence of the dome of the rock and in doing so the nation of Israel in signing that agreement at the first portion of what is the seven year period of tribulation because remember the tribulation though seven years is divided into two sections it's divided into tribulation the first three and a half years and the second Jesus referred to as great tribulation so the great tribulation is gonna take place more than likely in the middle of that seven year period when Antichrist breaks that covenant presenting himself as God and ordering the nation of Israel to worship him and at that point the three and a half years of great tribulation will ensue and so that's when great tribulation occurs now Jesus would be speaking of that also and so on the one hand you have a near application AD 70 and these things will take place but then you have the farther or the application that occurs prior to his return and that would be the second application now during that time during the time close to the return of Christ you can reread these verses and see what's gonna take place at that time in verse 21 again it says let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains let those who are in the midst of her depart and let not one let not those who are in the country enter her and so on the one hand during the tribulation we know that there are gonna be those who are fleeing again to the mountains during that time incidentally I've had this question asked will there be people getting saved and the answer is yes and during that time during the tribulation there will be Jews who are coming to embrace Jesus Christ as their Messiah and as those who have embraced Christ because they're genuine believers they're gonna be aware of Jesus's word here and they're gonna do exactly what he told them to do and therefore be preserved there's gonna be divine help and protection provider to them God is gonna provide a place of refuge for them as a matter of fact that's what Jesus is saying he's saying flee to the mountains in verse 22 it says these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled in the future context it speaks of the tribulation again in verse 23 in this context pregnant women and nursing mothers we're gonna have a difficult time mothers and pregnant women aren't gonna be able to move quickly many will be violently killed and it's gonna be horrible in every way and so that's what's taking place now coming back to verse 24 in closing hope I confused you sufficiently tonight it says in verse 24 they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations and Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled so this brings us back to the apostles time when it says they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations when Rome destroyed Israel as I mentioned earlier the people were taken into captivity and they were scattered again it's very interesting when you go to Israel to discover the amount of people from various countries who are Jewish it blows your mind I mean I've shared so many stories with you about that Marie and I were in Megiddo and while we were there in Megiddo there's a form of purgatory they have a souvenir shop there and she took me in and they have a lot of little souvenirs and things like that rings and bracelets and just various things and so I still remember Marie and I walked in there and as we walked in the man behind the counter was speaking English to us and as he did so he was speaking with an accent and so my wife looked at him and said well where are you from? He says Mexico City she looks at him and she said Mexico City and he goes yes he says I'm Jewish and I came here from Mexico City we were in another shop doing some more time and we're talking to this man and the minute Marie walked in the man looks at her and speaks Spanish to her and she asks him where are you from? This guy was from Spain when you're in some of the just different areas we have run across Ethiopian Jews, Russian Jews European Jews of every stripe they're from everywhere our guide who used to take us was from Argentina his wife was from Brazil I mean there are people from all over the world so they have been scattered all through the world and yet God drew them back to this one small nation a nation that is unlike every other nation that ever existed because when you read your Old Testament and you see the names of all of these people groups the Canaanites and the Parasites and the Jebusites you know and the cellulites uptites, outsites and all the rest of theites you know when you see all of thoseites where are they? you know but you still have the Israelites which is amazing it's unheard of in the history of mankind that a people would be taken captive scattered throughout the world and retain their identity unbelievable and yet miraculous and that's what takes place and that's what's taking place even now but Rome destroyed Israel and when Rome destroyed Israel they took them and took them captive and scattered them now it's interesting how all the way back in the Old Testament book of Leviticus chapter 26 verse 33 and you can actually see this in Deuteronomy chapters 28 chapter 28 and I believe into chapter 29 but in Leviticus 26 verse 33 God had said I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you your land shall be desolate and your cities waste God has said if you step away from me I will bring judgment and that's what took place when Rome destroyed the nation but Jesus said Jerusalem verse 24 will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled now Jerusalem is going to be dominated by Gentile powers until he says the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled so the times of the Gentiles speaks of the time from her Babylonian captivity to her restoration in other words from 586 BC when Babylon destroyed and began to rule Jerusalem has been trampled down by Gentiles but the Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 20 verse 1 through 6 that it concludes this time conclude when Jesus sets up his thousand year reign and ultimately the city will be delivered and it is delivered when the Lord Jesus Christ returns and you see that in Revelation 19 verses 11 through 21 so I gave you a lot of information tonight next time we're together we're going to go further on little deeper so we'll close here with a word of prayer