Holy Week; Part XIII: "It is then that the end will come..."

p>As Yeshua left the Temple and was going away, his talmadim came and called his attention to its buildings. But he answered them, "You see all these? Yes! I tell you, they will be totally destroyed - not a single stone will be left standing!"

When he was on the Mount of Olives, the talmidim came to him privately . "Tell us," they said, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that you are coming, and that the 'olam hazeh is ending?"

Yeshua replied: "Watch out! don't let anyone fool you! For many will come in my name saying, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will lead many astray. You will hear the noise of wars nearby and the news of war far off; see to it that you don;t become frightened. Such things must happen, but the end is yet to come. For peoples will fight each other, nations will fight each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various parts of the world; and all this is but the beginning of the 'birthing pains.' At that time you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and put to death, and all peoples will hate you because of me. At that time many will be trapped into betraying and hating each other, many false prophets will appear and fool many people; and many peoples love will grow cold because of increased distance from the Torah. But whoever holds out till the end will be delivered. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be announced throughout the  whole world as a witness to all the Goyim. It is then that the end will come."

This is the beginning of the last "sermon" Yeshua teaches. He begins it with a question about what will happen. We all know that when someone starts talking about the end of the world, people get interested. The Left Behind series is a good example of this phenomena. 

The talmidim are looking around at the great structure of the Temple mount. Architecturally it is an awesome sight. Yeshua refocuses them with a disturbing comment about how it is all going to be destroyed. This was the center of their faith and the religious practice of the entire people of Israel, and Yeshua just dropped a prophetic warhead on it.

The Talmidim later ask two questions about it that can roughly be paraphrased as "When will the temple be destroyed?" and, "What are the signs that its about to happen?" This introduces the study of the end times in the new testament. It is a commonly discussed topic, and one that Yeshua himself does not answer with absolute clarity. He makes a larger issue of how we are to be ready for it than how we are to know when it is going to happen. The important thing to know is that it IS going to happen.

Yeshua gives a few specific warnings. First is that there will be false teachers. People will be led astray, and there will be chaos that comes out of the confusion. Second is that alot of culturally disturbing things will happen. Wars, violence, hatred, intolerance. These are not subjective concepts, but historical events. They are assured to happen, and they are happening. Third, There will be spiritual hardships, and the believers must be ready. Alot of the hatred will be against the church. The biggest thing to remember about all of this is that G-d wins, and those who are watchful and vigilant will be rewarded.