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#957 - Luke 21 – The Temple and the End Times · The Bible Study Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio The Bible Study Podcast, Episode nine fifty seven. Today,
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  Speaker 1: The Bible Study Podcast continues the study of the Book
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  Speaker 1: of Luke as we carry on with chapter twenty one.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bible Study Podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to continue on with chapter twenty one, has
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  Speaker 1: to do with the Temple. But first a word from
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  Speaker 1: this sponsor. Chapter twenty one, the entire chapter takes place
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  Speaker 1: in the Temple in Jerusalem on what we call Holy Week,
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  Speaker 1: that time between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. And the
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  Speaker 1: first one is a fairly small section as the Widow's offering.
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  Speaker 1: As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their
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  Speaker 1: gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor
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  Speaker 1: widow put in two very small copper coins. I tell you,
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  Speaker 1: he said, this poor widow has put in more than
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  Speaker 1: all the others. All these people gave their gifts out
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  Speaker 1: of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put
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  Speaker 1: in all she had to live on. And so Jesus
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  Speaker 1: when he's talking about here, what is a good offering
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  Speaker 1: or what is a generous offering, he points out that
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  Speaker 1: it's not the amount. He's really pointing out that this
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  Speaker 1: woman was more generous than all these rich people. Now,
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  Speaker 1: one of the things you need to understand is the
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  Speaker 1: way this system works is there are these these offering containers,
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  Speaker 1: and my understanding is they have connected to them almost
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  Speaker 1: a metal flute sort of thing, so that when you
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  Speaker 1: throw in coins, you can hear the coins hit. And
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  Speaker 1: the bigger the coin, the more expensive the coin, the
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  Speaker 1: bigger the sound. And so in the temple, this woman's
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  Speaker 1: offering is going to raise very little attention because it's
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  Speaker 1: going to be just two small sounds, where if a
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  Speaker 1: rich man puts in a bag of gold coins, for instance,
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  Speaker 1: then it's going to make a big sound and people
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  Speaker 1: are going to turn their heads and they're going to
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  Speaker 1: see him, which is one of the reasons why people
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  Speaker 1: are giving is to be seen. This woman is not
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  Speaker 1: giving to be seen as a generous person. She's giving
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  Speaker 1: because of her love of God and her love of
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  Speaker 1: the temple, and so Jesus calls her out as exemplary
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  Speaker 1: because of that. And speaking of the temple, we continue
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  Speaker 1: on the destruction of the temple and sign of the
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  Speaker 1: end times. Some of his disciples remarking about how the
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  Speaker 1: temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated
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  Speaker 1: to God. But Jesus said, as for what you see here,
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  Speaker 1: the time will come when not one stone will be
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  Speaker 1: left on another. Every one of them will be torn down. Teacher,
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  Speaker 1: they ask, when will these things happen? And what will
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  Speaker 1: be the sign that they are about to take place?
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  Speaker 1: He replied, watch out that you are not deceived, for
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  Speaker 1: many will come in my name claiming I am he,
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  Speaker 1: and the time is near. Do not follow them. When
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  Speaker 1: you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened.
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  Speaker 1: These things must happen first, but the end will not
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  Speaker 1: come right away. Then he said to them nation will
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  Speaker 1: rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. They'll be great earthquakes, famines,
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  Speaker 1: and pestilences in various places, and fearful events, and great
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  Speaker 1: signs from heaven. Before all this, they will seize you
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  Speaker 1: and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues
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  Speaker 1: and put you in prison. And you will be brought
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  Speaker 1: before kings and governors, all on account of my name.
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  Speaker 1: And so you will bear testimony to me. But make
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  Speaker 1: up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will
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  Speaker 1: defend yourselves, for I will give you words and wisdom
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  Speaker 1: that none of your adversaries will be able to resist
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  Speaker 1: or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers
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  Speaker 1: and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some
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  Speaker 1: of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me,
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  Speaker 1: but not a hair on your head will perish. Stand firm,
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  Speaker 1: and you will win life. When you see Jerusalem being
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  Speaker 1: surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.
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  Speaker 1: Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,
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  Speaker 1: let those in the city get out, and let those
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  Speaker 1: in the country not enter the city. For this is
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  Speaker 1: the time a punishment in fulfillment of all that has
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  Speaker 1: been written. How dreadful it will be in those days
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  Speaker 1: for a pregnant woman and nursing mothers. There will be
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  Speaker 1: great distress in the land and wrath against this people.
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  Speaker 1: They will fall by the sword and will be taken
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  Speaker 1: as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled
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  Speaker 1: on by the gentiles until the time of the gentiles
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  Speaker 1: are fulfilled. There will be signs in the sun, moon
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  Speaker 1: and stars on the earth. Nations will be in anguish
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  Speaker 1: and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.
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  Speaker 1: People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming
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  Speaker 1: on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
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  Speaker 1: At that time they will see the Son of Man
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  Speaker 1: coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When
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  Speaker 1: these things begin to take place, stand up and lift
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  Speaker 1: up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. He
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  Speaker 1: told them this parable Look at the fig tree and
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  Speaker 1: all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see
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  Speaker 1: for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so,
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  Speaker 1: when you see these things happening, you will know the
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  Speaker 1: Kingdom of God is near. Truely, I tell you this
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  Speaker 1: generation will certainly not pass away until these things have happened.
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  Speaker 1: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will
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  Speaker 1: never pass away. Be careful, or your hearts will be
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  Speaker 1: weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life.
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  Speaker 1: And that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.
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  Speaker 1: For it will come on all those who live on
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  Speaker 1: the face of the whole earth. Be always on the
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  Speaker 1: watch and pray that you may escape all that is
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  Speaker 1: about to happen, and that you may be able to
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  Speaker 1: stand before the Son of Man. Each day that Jesus
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  Speaker 1: was teaching the temple, and each evening he went out
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  Speaker 1: to spend the night on the hill called the Mount
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  Speaker 1: of Olives, and all the people came early in the
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  Speaker 1: morning to hear him at the temple. So Jesus is
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  Speaker 1: talking about the temple, and somebody happens to say, hey,
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  Speaker 1: this is a pretty cool place. Look how beautiful it is.
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  Speaker 1: And he says, it's all going to be destroyed. And
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  Speaker 1: then he that's the easy part, that's the clear part, right,
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  Speaker 1: Not one stone will be left on one another. And
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  Speaker 1: we know when that happened, because that is in our past,
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  Speaker 1: that it would happen long before you and I were born.
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  Speaker 1: In roughly seventy eighty, the people of Israel, the people
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  Speaker 1: of Judah, rebelled against the Romans, and the Romans came
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  Speaker 1: and they destroyed the city, and they destroyed the temple.
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  Speaker 1: That is a for us, a historic fact. Now, as
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  Speaker 1: Jesus is describing what's happening, it gets a little complicated
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  Speaker 1: because it seems at times that he is describing seventy
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  Speaker 1: a d and it seems at times he is describing
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  Speaker 1: his coming again, which we know did not happen in
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  Speaker 1: seventy eight. And so it is a little hard to
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  Speaker 1: peace out here. As Jesus is looking forward, he's definitely
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  Speaker 1: talking about one or both of those events. And so
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  Speaker 1: they say, when are these things going to happen? And
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  Speaker 1: he does not give them any clear answer, right, And
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  Speaker 1: he's saying, in fact, that a lot of people will
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  Speaker 1: try and give you a clear answer and that they're lying.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of people will say they're Jesus, They've come back.
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  Speaker 1: And this happens from time to time. If you watch
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  Speaker 1: the news, I would say every third year or so,
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  Speaker 1: there is some group that is convinced that days such
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  Speaker 1: and such is going to be the end of the world,
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  Speaker 1: and they've got a prophet who has proclaimed this, and
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  Speaker 1: they stand on a hillside and sell all their stuff,
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  Speaker 1: and that day comes and goes and they're still here.
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  Speaker 1: Most of those groups then disband at that time. Probably
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  Speaker 1: one of the only ones I know that didn't would
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  Speaker 1: be Jovah's witnesses that then said, well, Jesus did come back,
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  Speaker 1: but he came back in a different way. And they're
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  Speaker 1: one of the only groups I know that went through
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  Speaker 1: one of those our prophet says that Jesus is coming
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  Speaker 1: back this day and survived it. Most of the groups
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  Speaker 1: will break up obviously after it's clear that what they
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  Speaker 1: prophesied was false. So but he says, all sorts of
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  Speaker 1: stuff is going to happen. Nations rise against nations, kingdoms
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  Speaker 1: against kingdoms, great earthquakes, famines, pestulens in various places, blah
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  Speaker 1: blah blah. There's all sorts of things are going to
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  Speaker 1: happen that aren't necessarily a sign of Jesus coming again.
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  Speaker 1: And all of those things, when they've happened many times
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  Speaker 1: in the history, people have said, with that war that happened,
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  Speaker 1: World War one or World War II, or with that
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  Speaker 1: plague that happened, like the Great Plague, the Black Death,
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  Speaker 1: you know, it must be a sign of the end times.
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  Speaker 1: So there are a lot of times that people have
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  Speaker 1: interpreted things that happen as the end times. And Jesus
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  Speaker 1: says a lot of things are going to happen. And
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  Speaker 1: then he says very clearly that there is going to
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  Speaker 1: be persecution on the church. And when I say the church,
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  Speaker 1: the church hasn't really started yet, it won't start until
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  Speaker 1: after Jesus resurrection. But on the followers of Jesus are
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  Speaker 1: going to be persecuted and betrayed and some will even
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  Speaker 1: die but not have a hair in their head perish. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: well that's an interesting question. How can you die but
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  Speaker 1: not have a hair in your head? Perish? And I
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  Speaker 1: think that that is saying that, you know, don't fear
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  Speaker 1: those who can only kill the body right, that God
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  Speaker 1: will preserve life even if we lose it. So that part,
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  Speaker 1: I think is all relatively clear. And there is there
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  Speaker 1: have been times of persecution in the Church. Obviously, the
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  Speaker 1: first one starts in the Bible. It talks about it
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  Speaker 1: in the Book of Acts. And at least one of
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  Speaker 1: his listeners here will die in that persecution, and that
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  Speaker 1: is James, one of the twelve Apostles. And then quite
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  Speaker 1: a few will die when Rome persecutes the Christians, including
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  Speaker 1: all of the others except for John who lives to
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  Speaker 1: an old age. So that part again is fairly clear.
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  Speaker 1: But then he talks about when you see Jerusalem surrounded
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  Speaker 1: by armies and you know it's desolations near get out, flee,
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  Speaker 1: it's going to be a terrible time. And this sounds
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  Speaker 1: like he's talking about the fall of Jerusalem in seventy eight.
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  Speaker 1: It's completely consistent with that. It is possible that there
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  Speaker 1: is another fall of Jerusalem sometime in the future. I
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  Speaker 1: cannot tell you that because this next part here there'll
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  Speaker 1: be signs and sun and the moon and stars and nations.
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  Speaker 1: Will they be in anguish from perplexity and all of
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  Speaker 1: these things I don't recognize as something that has happened.
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  Speaker 1: So I feel like it now we're looking forward. But
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  Speaker 1: he says, look at the fig trees when they sprout leaves,
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  Speaker 1: you can see for yourselves and know the summer is near.
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  Speaker 1: Is basically saying there will be signs, okay, but on
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  Speaker 1: the other hand, don't trust the signs. So it's a
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  Speaker 1: little confusing here. But then says this generation will certainly
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  Speaker 1: not pass away until these things have happened. Well, if
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  Speaker 1: these things are the fall of Jerusalem, that is true,
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  Speaker 1: and we will see that. So I think that's what
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  Speaker 1: he's talking about there, But it's a little complicated in
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  Speaker 1: terms of how large a period of history he's looking
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  Speaker 1: at here. But then the part again, another part that
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  Speaker 1: is very clear, is what should we do right? What
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  Speaker 1: should we do we live now before Jesus has come again?
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  Speaker 1: How should we live? Be careful or your heart's will
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  Speaker 1: be weighed down with carousing drunkenness and the anxieties of life,
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  Speaker 1: and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.
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  Speaker 1: So we are not supposed to live in either eat,
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  Speaker 1: drink and be merry for tomorrow we will die, or
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  Speaker 1: in these anxieties in the minutia of life that can
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  Speaker 1: weigh us down. And I hope with a lot of
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  Speaker 1: you that it's more that second one, that anxieties of life.
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  Speaker 1: I don't hope that you have anxieties of life, but
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  Speaker 1: I hope you're not being weighed down with carousing and drunkenness.
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  Speaker 1: And I certainly know that a lot of us who
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  Speaker 1: are alive are weighed down by can I make the
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  Speaker 1: paycheck stretch? Can we get into the right college for
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  Speaker 1: the kids, Can we get that raise at work? Can
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  Speaker 1: we get the bigger house? Get all of these things
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  Speaker 1: that are relative to living our life. Then he's saying,
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  Speaker 1: don't be weighed down by them. I think that's one
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  Speaker 1: of those things where we're encouraged to live in this
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  Speaker 1: world but not be part of it, To somehow keep
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  Speaker 1: one eye on the fact that this is all going
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  Speaker 1: to pass away. Doesn't mean you don't get the rays
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  Speaker 1: at work. It doesn't mean you don't send your kids
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  Speaker 1: to college. It doesn't mean you don't you work two
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  Speaker 1: jobs if you need to to pay the grocery bill.
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  Speaker 1: But there is still an understanding that all of this
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  Speaker 1: is temporary and to live in that temporariness and to
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  Speaker 1: understand what is important. And then it just says each
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  Speaker 1: day he Jesus was teaching in the temple and the
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  Speaker 1: people were coming to him. This is how he's spending
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  Speaker 1: this week, this Holy week. And we'll see more about
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  Speaker 1: that as we go forward. But with that, we're going
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  Speaker 1: to end this episode of the Bible Study Podcast. If
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  Speaker 1: you have any questions, send an email to Chris the
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  Speaker 1: number two x Chris two x at gmail dot com,
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  Speaker 1: or better yet, leave a comment on this episode at
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  Speaker 1: the Bible Study podcast dot com. And as always, thanks
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  Speaker 1: so much for listening. I want to take just a
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  Speaker 1: second to thank the team at Life Audio for their
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  Speaker 1: partnership with us on this podcast. If you go to
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  Speaker 1: lifeaudio dot com, you'll find dozens of other faith centered
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