Point-Counterpoint

Luke 21:22-32 is the focus of this study. We are still within the parameters of the end of the world as described by Jesus. The warnings are still directed toward the Apostolic who adhere to the instructions of Christ and the laws of God.

We take this point from verse 22: “For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” What is he talking about? He is talking about a sign of the times. The sign is Jerusalem compassed with armies. The admonition is to flee from and avoid the city at all cost. Seeing this sign means one thing in particular, namely that “the desolation thereof” is near.

At this point in the study, we should have three questions. The first question is, 'the vengeance of who'? The second question is, why don't I know 'all the things that are written' about this important event? As a sign of the times, finally, what kind of event are we really considering?

The sign is a generational event. By that, I mean that the event is intended for a particular generation of the chosen. The event is vengeance against the godly. It is an evil perpetrated by the peoples and nations of the world. Much is written about this animosity the worldly have against the chosen people of God. Of things written, there is a starting point, and it is found in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

The natural continuation of the starting point may be found in Matthew 21:38, “But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.” It works outward in layers from the starting point, like ripples in a lake when a stone disturbs the still surface. The next layer reaches the faithful servants of the master. This comes from John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep your also.”

The ripples reach as far into the future as those who have kept the sayings of the original disciples. This we find in Luke 21:23 and 24, “But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

The ripples reach all of us. We are the same in our persecutions as the original apostles who became martyrs. We are the same as the Israelites of 70 AD. We are in the same boat as the master, and we carry our cross in no less real terms. It is a generational thing, and what must be understood about a generation is its perpetuity.

When in Luke 21:32, Christ said, “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled,” he included with himself, the worldly Israel (the chosen people of God through the law), the apostles who bridged the gap, and the spiritual Israel (the chosen people of God through faith.) We are, all of us, “This generation.”

Within the parameters of 'this generation', the “times of the Gentiles” wax and wane. They are the counterpoint to the times of the chosen. The end time of the Gentiles harbors great evils for the chosen – count on it. We see it coming in Luke 21:25 and 26, “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations,” (all of these occurring in the same end time of the Gentiles) “with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”

It is indeed bad news that the powers of heaven shall be shaken, but they are shaken in the time of the Gentiles, which is never a permanent condition. That time alternates with the time of the chosen, in which the powers of heaven grow strong and stronger still. All of the times are like a pendulum swinging back and forth, and if the coming time of the Gentiles is the last, then there is good news among the bad.

We know, even in the beginning of bad times; we look ahead and see clearly. The pendulum will swing again – one last time. Jesus said this in Luke 21:28, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” At the end of the last time of the Gentiles, this will happen, as foretold by the son of God in Luke 21:27, “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

'They' refers to the Gentiles; we already see him.