TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK: THE OLIVET SERMON

So much happened on Tuesday of that week, it seems impossible to talk about it all in one blog post.  I have decided to focus on one of the most important things Jesus did that day.  After a second day at the temple, the one in which Jesus leaves the temple saying, Your house is left unto you desolate, (Matt 23) Jesus has realized that the mainstream Jewish leaders will never listen to Him, much less follow, Him.  Just the day before, He had called the temple My house. Now He called it your house, the ultimate rejection.  He prophesied the destruction of the temple such that there would not be one brick left atop another.

As Jesus left the temple, His apostles asked Him saying: Tell us when shall these things be which thou has said concerning the destruction of the temple, and the Jews: and what is the sign of Thy coming at the end of the world, or the destruction of the wicked, which is the end of the World? (JS-Matthew 1:4*) The discourse that followed is referred to as the Olivet Sermon.

The apostles have asked Him 2 questions

First: Tell us about the destruction of the temple.

Second: Tell us what to look for when you come again. 







His response to those questions are not as clear in Matthew 24 as the answers appear to be all of one piece, which makes for confusing reading.  In the Prophet Joseph's inspired translation of the Bible, he makes clear which verses answer the first question and which answer the second.

The fate of Jerusalem and the Temple

• Wickedness will continue and grow
• They will be persecuted and afflicted (those who follow Christ)
• There will be false prophets and false Christs; don't be deceived
• When they see the abomination of desolation (from Daniel), they should drop everything and go to the mountains
• This will signal the beginning of sorrows for the Jews

All of that was fulfilled in 70 A.D. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.  Only one portion of wall remained standing.  It still stands in Jerusalem and is known as the Wailing Wall as the Jews come there to pray in sorrow for hundreds of years of suffering. The Christians had been warned by Jesus' prophecy to leave Jerusalem when they see foreign boots march against the temple.  They fled to a predesignated place (Pella) where they were safe.  The false prophets in Jerusalem told the people to all gather at the temple for safety. Josephus tells us that over a million Jews lost their lives in and around Jerusalem.  They heeded false prophets; the Christians heeded Christ and were saved.

Signs of His Second Coming 

• False Christs and false prophets
• Wars and rumors of wars 
• When He comes, there won't be any doubt about it; it will be as worldwide and unmistakable as the sun coming up in the morning 
• Gathering Israel from the four corners of the earth
• Famine
• Pestilence 
• Earthquakes 
• The love of men shall wax cold
•  Gospel preached to all the world
•  The Gospel shall be preached to all nations
• The Abomination of Desolation shall appear again
•  The wicked shall be destroyed
• The sun shall be darkened and the moon won't give her light
• Stars shall fall from the heavens
• The powers of heaven are shaken. 

How many of these have we witnessed or are witnessing? I have observed the first 10 myself, many of them just this past month. I'd like to comment of a couple of these.  

Wars and rumors of wars:  When have we not had this circumstance since Cain killed Abel?  On Christmas Day, 1832, the Prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation. It is found in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 87. In it, he predicts the outbreak of the Civil War and that the rebellion would start in South Carolina.  That was the war that unleased the warfare spoken of in Matthew and the world would never again know peace.  Historians tell us that the Civil War was a landmark because it was the first industrialized wars - rifles instead of muskets; iron-clad ships; even rudimentary submarines.

Earthquakes all around the world have increased in number and severity since records have been kept. Two of the most recent - i.e., within the past month - have been in Salt Lake County, UT and in Idaho.

Famine and pestilence run rampant.  The locust swarms in East Africa, ongoing today; and the COVID 19 plague, which has paralyzed the world.

Israel is being gathered through all the world, first to the gospel and then to the land.  The announcement was given at Conference 3 days ago of the first LDS temple in the Islamic world is to be build in Dubai and the first LDS temple in Communist China to be in Shanghai.  Prophecy was also fulfilled when U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capitol city of Israel instead of Tel Aviv.

There is no question of our living in the last days.  I take comfort in the fact that although Satan has ramped up his game, so has the Savior.  Alongside the growth of wickedness in the world is the growth of Christ's Church. I look with awe on the impact of President Nelson's call for a worldwide fast on Good Friday for and end to the current plague.  Responses from all over the world are nothing short of monumental.  This act of faith cuts across barriers of race, religion, and nationality.  I take great hope in this.

© April 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson

  

*Joseph Smith Matthew: An extract from the translation of the Bible as revealed to Joseph Smith the Prophet in 1831: Matthew 23:39 and chapter 24.