Mark 13:1
The Book of the Future
We are still in the Passion Week, begun in \\#Mark 11:1\\, and still
reading the details of that Tuesday \\#Mark 11:20\\. Jesus had left
the temple, probably to gradually depart from the city of Jerusalem
for the evening, when the disciples point out the beautiful temple
that King Herod had expanded and renovated for the Jews.
Mark 13:1 And as he went out of the temple, one
of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what
manner of stones and what buildings are here!
The disciples were standing inside the second Jewish temple. The
first was built by King Solomon but was destroyed by the Babylonians
in 586 BC. The Jews returned to the land around 516 BC and
eventually built their second temple, smaller and much less lavish
that the first.
Herod was appointed King of Judea by Rome around 37 BC. By that time,
Israel had been under Gentile dominion for 550 years, and I would
suppose the temple was even less lavish now. Herod proposed to expand
and to renovate the temple around 20 BC. Some doubted him. Herod the
Great was not like among the Jews. He was a Roman, a Gentile, and an
Edomite, but within 1 1/2 years of beginning the project, the Temple
itself was completed. took another 8 years to complete the work on
the courtyard, and additional renovations continued (one source said)
until 60 AD.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Herod-third-temple.html
Note: This was not the first time Jesus or ANY of His disciples had
been to the Temple—certainly not in their lifetimes and not even
their first visit that WEEK! I wonder what prompted the disciples to
make those comments that day? Perhaps some new phase of renovation
was about to be begun or completed or perhaps the Holy Spirit or
maybe even the spirit of gratitude took hold of them to make those
comments. Whatever it was, their statement opened up an opportunity
for Jesus to reach up onto the Bookshelf of Eternity and pull out the
volume called The Future, and to turn through its leaves, reading a
select passage from here and there.
The message that Jesus will give will be His second longest, recorded
message. Matthew devoted two chapters to it (Matt 24-25). Mark, our
summarizer, will devote less than one, but he will still get the main
points to us.
Just two thoughts this evening
I. \\#2-4\\ Jesus First Prophecy
A. I say His "first" prophecy for Jesus will give many others in
this chapter.
Mark 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto him,
Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not
be left one stone upon another, that shall not be
thrown down.
1. The prophecy sets the tone for the remainder of the
chapter and for Israel’s future.
a. The tone is not one of optimism, not for Israel.
b. Why? Well, we cannot know what the Bible does not
say, but we know the Jews are about to make their
decision about Jesus, i.e. to reject Him.
c. God knowing this has already written their future,
and Jesus was but sharing a few bits of it with the
disciples and with us.
2. The prophecy was that the temple would be completely
destroyed, so that "there shall not be left one stone
upon another."
a. That prophecy was literally fulfilled in 70 AD.
b. The Roman general, Titus, came to Israel, set fire to
the temple, and although some attempted to stop the
fire, it continued to burn well into the next day.
c. When it died out, the only wall that was left standing
was the western wall, which is often referred to now
as the Wailing Wall.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/953569/jewish/The-
Destruction-of-the-Temple.htm
3. However, Jesus’ message goes far, far beyond that date and
those events.
a. According to one source, that was fulfilled on August
29, 70 AD.
b. But the only prophecies that were completely fulfilled
by that time were the "Common Signs." (We will see
what those are in a few minutes.
c. That makes me think that the next temple to be built,
for lack of a better name, the Tribulational Temple,
will meet with the same fate as the Herodians Temple
that stood in Jesus’ day.
(1) Although it has not even been built yet, I think
it will be destroyed so that not one stone will
be left upon another.
(2) Sometimes in looking at the future prophecies of
this message, we forget the statement that Jesus
made that started them all.
(3) All of these end-time prophecies are describing
the time when "not one stone (of the temple)
shall be left upon another."
(4) While that has happened once, since all of the
signs were not fulfilled, I believe it must
happen again.
(a) God does not fulfill part of His promises.
(b) God fulfills them all.
(5) This prophecy then becomes a dual-reference
prophecy, a prophecy with a near at hand
fulfillment and a larger, end-time fulfillment.
d. The Tribulational Temple is the temple the Jews are
preparing to build today.
(1) It is the one for which they have already made
the furniture.
(2) It is the one for which they have all ready
selected and trained the priest.
(3) It is the one for which they have already started
a herd of red heifers, the animal whose ashes
will be used to dedicate the temple.
https://templeinstitute.org/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw0caCBhCIARIsAGAfuMyHKpm89
ZmYqOoCCbfIiekzWdk3SLip81aKoR2wsHvkmorqY07oB0QaAnDTEALw_wcB
(4) And it would not surprise me if the Jews have
already started cutting the stones for it!
e. The Tribulational Temple will stand when all of the
signs of this message are fulfilled and, in the end,
"not one stone" of it "shall be left upon another."
B. When the disciples (at least four of them) heard what Jesus
said about the temple, after they walked across the Kidron
Valley to the Mount of Olives and found a place to sit, while
they probably looked back at the temple, asked two questions:
Mark 13:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives
over against the temple, Peter and James and John
and Andrew asked him privately,
4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what
shall be the sign when all these things shall be
fulfilled?
1. \\#4\\ The questions were essentially:
a. When will this happen?
b. What will be the signs when this is about to happen?
2. First, please notice that the questions and the situation.
a. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, in the Jewish capitol,
looking at the Jewish temple, answering a question
about the Jewish temple to a group of Jewish
disciples who just asked about the future of the
Jewish nation.
b. Do you notice anything suggestive there?
(1) Yes, Jesus’ answers will be a Jewish message.
(2) His answers really aren’t a message for the
church.
(3) They do not describe the rapture or the
conditions that will be occurring when the
rapture takes place.
(4) The things that Jesus described will be the
condition of Israel and the temple 3 1/2 to 7
years AFTER the rapture of the church.
c. While some of the conditions will be taking place
before the rapture, the message itself is Jewish
3. Second, notice that Jesus never answered the first
question.
a. Jesus never said when this would happen, at least not
with a specific date.
b. He did answer the second question, i.e. "What shall
be the sign when all these things shall be
fulfilled?"
II. Jesus’ Many Prophecies
A. Again, through the remainder of this chapter, Jesus was giving
details of the future.
B. Those prophecies break up into three categories:
1. \\#5-13\\ Signs before the Tribulation
2. \\#14-23\\ Signs during the Tribulation
3. \\#24-27\\ Signs after the Tribulation
4. Let’s take them one at a time.
C. \\#5-13\\ Before the Tribulation
1. \\#6-8\\ Common Signs - These have happened before, are
happening now, and will likely happen again.
a. \\#6\\ False Christs
Mark 13:6 For many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
(1) In my lifetime, I remember several;
(a) Jim Jones in Guyana, South America.
(b) The wacko from Waco, Texas.
(c) Sun Myung Moon
(2) Right now there seems to be less people claiming
to be the Christ and more claiming to be the
devil.
b. \\#7\\ Wars and the threat of wars
Mark 13:7 And when ye shall hear of wars and
rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such
things must needs be; but the end [shall] not be
yet.
c. \\#8\\ Earthquakes, famines, and troubles.
Mark 13:8 For nation shall rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be
earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be
famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of
sorrows.
(1) Jesus essentially told the disciples, in His last
statement, that these signs are nothing to worry
about.
(2) They were how things were going to begin.
(3) They would be common.
2. \\#9-13\\ Immediate Signs - These were signs that the
first generation church would fulfill.
a. \\#9\\ Notice this sign relates largely to the saved
Jews.
Mark 13:9 But take heed to yourselves: for they
shall deliver you up to councils; and in the
synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be
brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for
a testimony against them.
(1) Jesus spoke of councils and synagogues which
pertain to the Jewish nation.
(a) As far as I know, at this time, there are no
synagogues in Israel today.
(b) That may mean that this part of the signs
has been fulfilled forever, or it might
mean that synagogues will be built again.
(c) I tend to go with the first possibility
myself.
(2) Jesus spoke of the saved Jews being beaten,
arrested, having trials and persecutions.
(a) The saved Jews of the first century
experienced all of this.
(b) It is recorded in the book of Acts.
(c) However, the same things will happen again
only much worse.
b. \\#10\\ The gospel would be preached among all
nations.
Mark 13:10 And the gospel must first be
published among all nations.
(1) The Greek word for "published" is usually
translated preached.
(2) Although, as far as we know, the gospel was not
carried to every continent in the first century,
the gospel was preached to all of the known
world at that time by the end of the first
century.
(3) The gospel has been preached on every continent
now, and while there are still huge people
groups and many people who have not heard, every
nation on the planet has been and is being
offered the gospel today.
(4) This prophecy has been fulfilled.
c. \\#12\\ Families will be against families.
Mark 13:12 Now the brother shall betray the
brother to death, and the father the son; and
children shall rise up against their parents, and
shall cause them to be put to death.
(1) We are moving from the signs that were exactly
like this in the first century to those that we
somewhat like what Jesus prophesied but will be
much worse when the third temple is destroyed.
(2) I imagine it was like this in the first century
to some degree, but I have no personal knowledge
of it.
(3) Yet, what was perhaps in moderation, I am sure
will be in excess when the third temple is
dismantled.
d. \\#13\\ A Great Hatred for the Saved
Mark 13:13 And ye shall be hated of all men for
my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be saved.
(1) Again, there was a hatred for the saved by some
in the first century, but it will be "by all"
the text says when the third temple is
destroyed.
(2) The cauldron of hatred and intolerance toward the
saved has already begun to boil.
D. \\#14-23\\ During the Tribulation
E. \\#24-27\\ After the Tribulation
There are more signs and Jesus gave more than signs in His answer,
but we cannot finish the message tonight. Just understand that there
is nothing that has happened, is happening, or that will happen that
Jesus did not know about. That has been proven by the prophecies He
gave.
John 14:29 And now I have told you before it
come to pass, that, when it is come to pass,
ye might believe.
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