Contributed by Barry Drake
When
You Feel Overwhelmed
Mark
13
Feb.
14th, 2010
I really had trouble getting into this lesson. In my 30 plus years in the ministry, I have
never been led into teaching or preaching on prophecy, especially on end times
or on the book of the Revelation. I am,
however, going to teach along those lines for you today. Maybe this will even help if you are in the
study with our pastor on Revelation. So,
here goes:
The Jews were proud of their temple, in spite of the
fact that it was built by the Herod family to pacify the Jews. While Jesus saw it for what it was, the
disciples were fascinated by the magnificence of the structure. (It was like the first time I saw a genuine
grist mill. I was fascinated to the
point that I bought it.) Imagine how
shocked they were when Jesus informed them that the building they admired so
much would one day be destroyed. The
Jewish leaders had defiled it; Jesus would depart from it and leave it desolate
(Matt. 23:38); the Romans would destroy it.
The disciple wanted to know when this was going to
happen and what would be the sign or sign that it was going to occur. Their question revealed that their
understanding of prophecy was still very confused. They thought that the destruction of the
temple coincided with the end of the age and the return of their Lord (Matt.
24:3). Jesus then took their question
and used it as an opportunity to deliver a prophetic message that is generally
called “The Olivet Discourse”. (Matt
24-25; Luke 21:5-36)
There are some guidelines that need to be followed as we
study this very important sermon. First, you
can not take this out of context. It
must be studied in the light of the rest of the Bible, especially the Book of
Daniel. One reason I don’t like to teach
this is because you cannot do it in one sitting or in one Sunday school class
period. To study Revelation you need to
study Daniel. We are, however, going to
try.
Second,
we must see the practical application of the discourse. Jesus did NOT preach this sermon to satisfy
the curiosity of His disciples, or even to straighten out their confused
thinking. At least four times He said
“Take heed” (Mark 13:5,9,23,33) and He closes the sermon with “Watch!”.
Third,
we must keep this in mind. The Olivet
Discourse grew out of some questions asked of a Jewish rabbi by four Jewish men,
about the future of the Jewish temple.
Finally,
we must remember that this chapter describes a period of time known as “the
Tribulation” (Mark 13:19, 24; Matt. 24:21, 29).
The OT prophets wrote about this period can called it “the time of
Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7), a time of wrath (Zeph. 1:15-18), and a time of indignation and punishment
(Isa. 26:20-21).
And we really need to study Daniel because he holds the real “key” to
understanding.
Jesus divides the tribulation into 3 periods (beginning,
middle, and end) and ends with 2 parables.
It is my belief that the church will be called out before the tribulation
(1 Thes. 4:13, 5:11; Rev. 3:10-22).
The
First Half of the Tribulation (Mark 13:5-13)
The key statement is at the end of verse 8: “These are
the beginnings of sorrows”. The word
translated “sorrows” means “birth pangs” (a sudden sharp spasm) suggesting that
the world at that time will be like a woman in labor. The birth pangs will come suddenly, build up
gradually, and lead to a time of terrible sorrow and tribulation for the whole
world.
1.
Don’t be deceived. Jesus listed several things that
must not be taken as signs of His coming.
Instead, these are sign of the tribulation. First, false
messiahs. History is full of false
messiahs, false prophets, and false their disciples. Have you figured it out
yet that there is something in human nature that loves a lie and refuses to
believe the costly lessons of the past. Mark Twain said that a lie runs around the
world while Truth is putting on her shoes.
How easy it is for spiritually blind people to follow popular leaders and
gullibly accept their simple but erroneous solutions for the problems of
life. Jesus warned His disciples not to
be deceived by these impostors, and that warning holds good today.
Second
are political conflicts. He also warned
them not to be disturbed by political conflicts among the nations. The Roman
Empire had enjoyed a measure of peace for many years, but it would
not last. As the empire decayed and
nationalism developed, it was inevitable that nations would come in
conflict.
The third was
natural disasters. War often leaves
famine in its wake. Famine is also
caused by man’s abuse of the environment, or it can be sent by God as a judgment
(1 Kings 17:1). There have always been
earthquakes, and some are evidences of God’s wrath. You will come across this in the study of
Revelation. It is dangerous to
dogmatically make natural disasters “the signs of the times”.
2.
Don’t be
discouraged. Not only were
the believers to take heed and avoid the deceivers, but they were also to take heed to themselves
(Mark 13:9-13). Why? Because they would face increasing opposition
and persecution from sources both official and personal. The lesson we need to learn from this is the
importance of using these type experiences as opportunities to witness for
Jesus. Persecution would begin in the
local Jewish courts, but it would move to the higher courts where governors and
kings would be involved. Just check out
the book of Acts. One of the early
martyrs (Tertullian) said, “We multiply whenever we
are mown down by you. The blood of Christians is seed!”
The real cause for
persecution is stated in verse 13, “for My name’s
sake”. If we identify with Jesus, we can
expect the world to treat us the way it treated Him (John 15:20). We have talked about this before. You can identify with all sorts of weird
religious groups today and not suffer from family and friends, but the minute
you bring the name of Jesus into the picture, and share the Gospel, somebody
will start to oppose you. His name is
still hated by much of the world and many in America.
The
Middle of the Tribulation (Mark 13:14-18)
Here we find one of the many ties to the book of
Daniel. The phrase “abomination of
desolation” comes for Daniel and refers to the idolatrous pollution of the
Jewish temple by the Gentiles. To the
Jews, all idolatry is an abomination.
The Jewish temple was defiled in 167bc when the Syrian king poured pig
blood on the altar. That was predicted
in Daniel 11:31. I’m not going into the 70 weeks although I do
have notes on it. Just let me know if
you want them.
What signals the beginning of this awful seven-year
period?: The signing of a covenant between the nation
of Israel and “the prince that shall
come” (Dan. 9:26). This “prince” is the
coming world dictator that we usually call “the Antichrist”. In Revelation
13 and 14 he is called “the beast”. This Antichrist will even allow them to
rebuild the temple and offer sacrifices.
However, after three and a half years, he will break this covenant,
invade the temple, set up his own image, and force the world to worship Satan (2
Thes. 2:1-12; Rev. 13). Note in Mark
13:14 that Mark is writing for readers at a future time, not
hearers when Jesus gave this message.
Dr. Harry Rimmer said it like
this: “Coming events cast their shadows before.
Straight ahead lies yesterday!”
The
Last Half of the Tribulation (Mark 13:19-27)
In the Book of Revelation, the last half of the
Tribulation is called “the wrath of God”.
During this time, God will judge the world and prepare
Israel for the coming of her
Messiah. It will be a time of intensive
judgment such as the world has never seen or will ever see again. In it, God will be working out His purposes
and setting the stage for the coming of the Conqueror (Rev.
19:11).
Jesus did not want His disciples to get so involved in
the prophecies of the future that they would neglect the responsibilities of the
present; so He closed the Olivet Discourse with two parables. Other accounts like Matthew add three other
parables.
As Christian believers today, we are not looking for
“signs” of His coming; we are looking for Him!
But people living during the Tribulation will be able to watch these
things occur and will know that His coming is near. This assurance will help them to endure and
to be good witnesses.
What generation was Jesus referring to in verse 30? The word translated “generation” can also
mean “race, stock, family”. On several
occasions, Jesus used it to refer to the Jewish nation and that is probably how
He used it in verse 30. What ever the
case, they will be preserved to the end.
The Parable of the Householder warns all of us today
(vs. 37) to be alert, because we do not know when He will return to take us to
heaven. Like the householder in the
story, before our Lord went from us back to heaven, He gave each of us work to
do. He expects us to be faithful while
He is gone and to be working when He returns.
“Take heed, watch and pray” is His admonition.
To “watch” means to be alert, to stay at one’s best,
to stay awake.
Why? Simply because no one knows when Jesus will
return. Our task is to be
faithful and to be busy, not to speculate or debate about the hidden details of
prophecy. “Watch!”