ddubsolo85 said:
ddub: Exactly. In Christ, there is no difference between one or another. Christ is no respecter of persons. Yet, Jews were given promises not given to Gentiles.
Then came Peter to Him, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him ?" Til 7 times ?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until 7 times....but, until 70 times 7", (Matthew 18:21,22).
Jesus always chose his words carefully.
His response to Peter [contains] an important lesson .
70 times 7 = 490....which is a perfect reference to the 70 week Prophecy in Daniel chapter 9 !
The 70 week period in Daniel 9:24-27 represented a second opportunity for the chosen nation to demonstrate faithfulness to God.
Israel's first temple had been destroyed and her children carried to Babylon because she had rejected the warnings God had given by His Prophets.
Yet through deivine mercy and love, another opportunity would be granted to come back into harmony with God.
Israel returned to her land (after the captivity period ended) and build a second temple.
Though Israel sinned at 'least' 7 times....God's forgiveness towards that nation was extended to [70 times 7].
Near the close of this period,someone greater than the prophets would come.
Then, Israel's destiny as a nation, would be determined by her response to God's Son !
Near the end of Jesus Christ's earthly life, He beheld Jerusalem: Luke 19:41 "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
19:42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things [which belong] unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
19:43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
19:44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
When Jesus spoke to Peter about forgiveness being extended, 'until 70 times 7', He knew that the 70 week prophecy which says: Daniel 9:24 ["Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people] and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy".
was about to end !
He knew the significance of this prophecy to Israel as a nation, to Jerusalem, and to the second temple (which was to be destroyed, in 39 years).
Matthew chapters 21--23 reveals the sad, and final, and explosive encounters, between Jesus and the religious leaders of the nation.
During the week prior to Christ's crucifixion, Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that bought and sold in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves. And said unto them:
Matthew 21:13 "And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves".
Notice: Jesus called the temple....'my house'.
BUT A CHANGE WOULD COME.....
In the morning as he returned into the city, he was hungry. And when he saw a fig tree, he came to it, and found no fruit on the tree, but leaves only....and said unto it, "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth....forever !
And the soon after saying that the fig tree withered away, (verse 18,19).
Here the fig tree was a symbol of the Jewish nation. The 70 times 7 countdown, was nearing its close.
When he was come into the temple, the chief priests and elders of the peoplecame unto him as he was teaching (verse 23).
Their plan was to expose Jesus as a false Messiah,and then put him to death.
Jesus told those leaders a parable that outlines the entire history of Israel in one sweep:
Matthew 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
21:34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
21:35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
21:36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
21:37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
21:39 And they caught him, and cast [him] out of the vineyard, and slew [him].
21:40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
21:41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out [his] vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons".
Did they realize what they were saying ?
Hardly !
They had just pronounced their own doom !
Matthew 21:43 "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof".
(Do you understand the reason, the gospel, went to the gentiles ?)
Jesus Christ said it !
The Kingdom of God would soon be 'TAKEN' away, from an unbelieving Israel in the flesh...and given to another nation.
WHY ?
Because of their sin...their final sin, of crucifying the 'SON', (Verses 38,39).
Now, in Christ's next...parable, Jesus outlines the same historical sequences, but with added details of the destruction of Jerusalem....and the call of the gentiles.
Matthew 22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
22:3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
22:4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and [my] fatlings [are] killed, and all things [are] ready: come unto the marriage.
22:5 But they made light of [it], and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
22:6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated [them] spitefully, and slew [them].
22:7 But when the king heard [thereof], he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city".
This literally took place when Jerusalem and the second temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
Daniel's prophecy was fulfilled that said: "The people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary",(Daniel 9:26).
Continuing the parable, Jesus said: Matthew 22:8 "Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage".
This represents the call of the gentiles, at the end of the 70 weeks.
Matthew chapter 23 contains the Saviour's final words in tears and agony over his chosen people.
8 times...during His last public exchange with Israel's leaders, Jesus cried out: "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites !"
Finally, with a broken heart, the Son of God declared: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stones them, which are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wing, and ye would not !"
BEHOLD, [ your house ] is left unto you desolate", (Matthew 23:37.38).
This time God was not saying: "You blew it. Let's try again"
Israel's decision to crucify Christ, would have permanent consequences !
The result was a searing separation---a painful, divine divorce.
Then Jesus went out, and departed from the temple.
Now....did you notice that Jesus changed from calling the temple...'My House'...to ...your house ?
Matthew 24:1 "And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to [him] for to show him the buildings of the temple.
24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down".
In 70 AD the 2nd Temple was destroyed by the Romans. Such was the results of the Divine Divorce.
I'm dedicated to the 3 Angel's messages of Revelation 14:6-12....which is the "Everlasting Gospel".
