Immortality or Resurrection (Updated) - William West (top ten ebook reader .TXT) 📗

provinces, to be destroyed in their
theaters by the sword, and by the wild beasts."
AFTER TITUS CAME ADRIAN
All of Israel was destroyed.
"'In the reign of Adrian,' say Bishop Newton, 'nine hundred and eighty-five of their best towns
were sacked and demolished, five hundred and eighty thousand men fell by the sword, in battle,
besides, an infinite multitude who perished by, famine, and sickness, and fire; so that Judea
was depopulated, and an almost incredible number of every age and of each sex, were sold
like horses and dispersed over the face of the earth' - (Newton, vol. I, Page xviii.) The war which
gave rise to these calamities happened about forty-four years after the destruction of Jerusalem"
G. Holford, The Destruction of Jerusalem.
"Therefore, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that it shall no more be called
Topheth, not the Valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall
bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury. And the dead bodies of this people shall be
food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten
them away. THEN WILL I CAUSE TO CEASE FROM THE CITIES OF JUDAH, AND
FROM THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM, THE VOICE OF MIRTH AND THE VOICE
OF GLADNESS, THE VOICE OF THE BRIDEGROOM AND THE VOICE OF THE
BRIDE; FOR THE LAND SHALL BECOME A WASTE" [Jeremiah 7:32-34].
John Calvin, "For within fifty years the city was destroyed and the temple ruined, THE
WHOLE COUNTRY WAS REDUCED TO A HIDEOUS DESERT." "Commentary on a
Harmony of the Evangelist, Matthew, Mark, and Luke." All Israel, the whole nation, not just the
temple was totally destroyed, "reduced to a hideous desert."
David Chilton, "'Let Him be Crucified! Let Him be Crucified! His blood be on us, and on our
children!' the apostates had cried forty years earlier (Matthew 27:22-25); and when it was all over,
more than a million Jews had been killed in the siege of Jerusalem; close to a million more were
sold into slavery throughout the empire, and whole of Judea lay smoldering in ruins,
virtually depopulate." "The Great Tribulation" 1987, Dominion Press.
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Josephus says, "The countryside, like the city, was a pitiful sight, for where once there had
been a multitude of trees and parks, there was now an utter wilderness stripped bare of timber;
and no stranger who has seen the old Judea and the glorious suburbs of her capital, and now
beheld utter desolation, could refrain from tears or suppress a groan at so terrible a change. the
war had blotted out every trace of beauty, and no one who had known it in the past and came
upon it suddenly would have recognized the place, for though he was already there, he would
still have been looking for the city" The Jewish War.
"The Dead Sea too was filled with corpses which the river (the Jordan River) carried down to
it by the thousands" Josephus.
"And except these days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for
the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" [Matthew 24:22]. If the war had gone on it
would have reached beyond Israel unto Pella and other cities in the mountains where
many Christians were that had left Israel; but it was stopped before it reached them. "No
flesh" will be saved at the second coming. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God" [1 Corinthians 15:50]. That the days were shortened and some flesh was saved
proves this is not speaking of the second coming of Christ.
[5] HE (CHRIST) IS NIGH, EVEN AT THE DOORS: Matthew 24:32-44
"Now from the fig tree learn her parable: when her branch is now become tender,
and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is nigh; (33) even so you also, WHEN
YOU SEE ALL THESE THINGS, KNOW YOU THAT HE IS NIGH, EVEN AT THE
DOORS. (34) VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS
AWAY, TILL ALL THESE THINGS BE ACCOMPLISHED. (35) Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (36) But of that day and hour knows
no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only. (37) And as
were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. (38) For in those days
which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, (39) and they knew not until the
flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. (40) Then
shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left; (41) two women shall be
grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left. (42) Watch; therefore: for you know not
on what day your Lord comes. (43) But know this that if the master of the house had
known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have
suffered his house to broken through. (44) Therefore be you also ready; for in an hour
that you think not the Son of man comes." This makes it clear that all Jesus had said
before this applies to the destruction of Jerusalem and not to His second coming for "this
generation" has long ago passed away. "ALL THESE THINGS" are the things He has just
told them. When they saw the signs coming to pass, they know that the end of the temple
and Israel was at hand. Although we are to watch and always be ready, we are not given
any signs as they were that we can see and know that His coming is soon, not even that it
will be in our lifetime or in the next thousand or ten thousand years. Commentaries on
verses 35-44 are divided on whether this is speaking of the coming of Christ in judgment
on Israel or His second coming. It seems unlikely to me that He would have changed
from speaking of judgment on Israel in verse 34, then His second coming in verse 35, and
back to judgment on Israel in verse 40 with nothing to show He changed. He was
speaking to His disciples at this time [Matthew 24:1], and telling them they were to watch
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for the signs He gave them of His coming in judgment on Israel. We are given no signs to
watch for but are always to be ready for His second coming.
"ALL THESE THINGS" Is things before 70 A. D., not at the second coming of Jesus.
Luke says, "But when THESE THINGS begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your
heads; because your redemption draws nigh" [Luke 21:38]. This redemption draws nigh
to those of that generation. It was a redemption from the persecution of the Jews. "This
generation shall not pass away, till ALL THINGS be accomplished" Luke 21:32. Not the
redemption of the U. S. from Russia or any other redemption today.
• "But before all THESE THINGS, they shall lay hands on you, and shall persecute
you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons" Luke 21:12.
• "This generation shall not pass away, till ALL THINGS be accomplished" Luke
21:32, Matthew 24:34.
• "As for THESE THINGS which you behold (The temple and how it was adorned)
the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another,
that shall not be thrown down" Luke 21:5.
• "When therefore shall THESE THINGS be?" (Not one stone upon another) Luke
21:7.
• "And what shall be the sign when THESE THINGS are about to come to pass?"
Luke 21:7.
• "And when you shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified: for THESE
THINGS must needs come to pass first; but the end is not immediately" Luke
21:9.
• "But when THESE THINGS begin to come to pass" Luke 21:28.
• "Even so you also, when you see THESE THINGS coming to pass" Luke 21:31.
• "But watch you at every season, making supplication, that you may prevail to
escape all THESE THINGS that shall come to pass" Luke 21:36.
Matthew 24:34 is a key to understanding all that came to pass before it, all that has
been said up to this point must come before "this generation" would pass away. Not at
the second coming of Jesus at the end of the world. A generation is about 40 years. It is
the same "generation" spoken of in Matthew 23:36.
Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
away." He had assured them that the end of Jerusalem was coming, now He assured them
that His word would come to pass, that the heavens would end and the earth would pass
away but not His word; the end of Jerusalem was sure. He was speaking of the end of the
Jewish heavens and earth, the end of their nation, not the end of the world. They did not
know the season when the end would come but was told to pray that it be not in the
winter season, nor did they know the day but were told to pray that it not be on a Sabbath
Day. "But watch you at every season, making supplication, THAT YOU MAY PREVAIL
TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS THAT SHALL COME TO PASS, and to stand before
the Son of man" [Luke 21:36; Matthew 24:42-44; Mark 13:35-37]. The Christians did
watch and did escape all these things, all the things He has just warned them about what
was coming to Israel; but no one will escape the judgment to come.
Just as Noah warned of the destruction of the world but did not give the exact time
and all went on with their lives and did not pay attention to the warning, the warning of
Christ were not heeded by the Jews and the end came when they were not looking for it.
As in the flood only the evil was destroyed and the righteous saved, the unbelieving Jews
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were destroyed and the believers were saved; "two men in the field; one will be taken,
and one will be left." The righteous would be left.
JOSEPHUS, the Jewish first century historian, recorded concerning the year 70, "Thus were
the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they
did not attend, nor give credit to the signs that were so evident and did so plainly foretell their
future desolation; but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see, or minds to consider, did
not regard the denunciations that God made to them."
JOHN LIGHTFOOT (1859) "This generation shall not pass. Hence, it appears plain enough
that the foregoing verses are not to be understood of the last judgment but, as we said, of the
destruction of Jerusalem." (A Commentary of The New Testament, Volume 2, Page 320).
JOHN WESLEY (1754) "This generation of men now living shall not pass till all these things be
done - The expression implies that great part of that generation would be passed away, but not
the whole. Just so it was; for the city and temple were destroyed thirty-nine or forty years after."
MATTHEW HENRY "As to these things, the wars, seductions, and persecutions, here foretold,
and especially of the ruin of the Jewish nation; 'This generation shall not pass away, till all these
things be fulfilled (Mt 24:34); there are those now alive that shall see Jerusalem destroyed, AND
THE JEWISH CHURCH BROUGHT TO AN END." One Volume Commentary on the Whole Bible.
JAMES D. BALES "And the destruction of the whole Jewish economy was the fulfillment of the
rest of it (Joel's prophecy of the