Luke 21:20, 24 (ESV)
[20] “But when you see Jerusalem
surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.
[24] They will fall by the edge of the
sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled
underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
The word until is a key
word. Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot until . . . Israel is under a covenant
with God that requires obedience for blessing. Her destruction was the result
of that covenant. She had not kept her side of the agreement. Still, God has
not abandoned her. Jerusalem was captured and destroyed by the Babylonians.
Despite rebuilding under the Persians, Israel was never completely out from
under Gentile control. Then in 70A.D. Rome completely destroyed Jerusalem. In 1948
Israel declared its independence and was admitted into the U.N. the following
year, yet they are constantly under attack, and no temple has been built. In a
very real sense they are still trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, and have not
come back into covenant obedience.
Still there is a promise. Until .
. . God does not abandon his promises. He does not abandon his people. As
believers in Jesus Christ we are not under the Mosaic Covenant, but under the
New Covenant. With that comes the promise that God will never forsake or
abandon us. Whatever he calls us to face, whatever we experience, we have the
assurance that he is there with us. We are never alone. The New Covenant is not
one of obedience for blessing, but blessing for obedience. We obey out of God’s
blessing rather than obeying to receive God’s blessing. And so we have the
promise of Romans 8:35-39 (ESV)
[35] Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword? [36] As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all
the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be
slaughtered.”
[37] No, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am sure that neither
death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers, [39] nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will
be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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