Two Great Crises: The End of the Jewish Nation and the End of the World
Experiences of the Generation Which Saw the End of the Jewish Nation
IN his prophetic description of the things which would come upon the generation then living, Jesus first spoke of the experience which would befall the nation, and then referred to the trials through which his disciples would pass. Matt. 24: 9-12: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” A partial fulfilment of these predictions is recorded in the book of Acts. The apostles were cast into prison (Acts 5: 18); they were severely punished (verse 40); Stephen was stoned (chap. 7: 58, 59); James, the brother of John, was put to death, and Peter was again imprisoned (chap. 12: 2, 3); Paul was stoned (chap. 14: 19); others were exiled. Chap. 18: 2. From other sources we learn that the apostles, almost without exception, suffered martyrdom. The believers in the time of Nero endured almost indescribable persecution, and a very large number testified to the genuineness of their faith by suffering even unto death rather than to deny their Lord. As all nations acknowledged the rule of the Romans, and as the Romans would not tolerate the new religion, so all the nations united in persecuting the followers of the Nazarene. The early Christians were not only exposed to the hatred of the pagans, but under the stress of the times they were betrayed by their own kinsmen and friends. To this Tacitus (Annal. I, 15) bears testimony: “At first several were seized, who confessed, and then by their discovery a great multitude of others were convicted and executed.” The church maintained her original purity only a short time. The apostle Paul wrote of “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ” (2 Cor. 11: 13), and of “perils among false brethren.” Verse 26. He also specifically mentioned certain false teachers, such as “Hymeneus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already.” 2 Tim. 2: 17, 18. He wrote to the Galatian brethren concerning “false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.” Gal. 2: 4. But above all, he declares that “the mystery of iniquity doth already work” (2 Thess. 2: 7), thus showing that the great apostasy which resulted in the full development of Antichrist had its beginning in his day. In describing the experiences directly connected with the downfall of Jerusalem, Josephus writes:— A false prophet was the occasion of this people’s destruction [in the burning of a temple cloister]: who had made a public proclamation in the city, that very day, that “God commanded them to get up upon the temple; and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance.” Now there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose on the people, who told them that they should wait for deliverance from God; and this was in order to keep them from deserting; and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes. . . .
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 which plainly foretold their future desolation.—“Wars of the Jews, Book 6, chap. 5, pars. 2, 3.” The rejection of any Heaven-sent message, such as that of John the Baptist, inevitably brings the same result—abounding iniquity. Light refused becomes darkness. The rejection of divine leadership opens the way for satanic control. Under these circumstances professed believers are severely tried, and some become indifferent to the claims of truth. The love which appeared to be warm and full under favorable conditions, grows cold in the chilling atmosphere of iniquity. While many thousands were added to the church as the result of the pentecostal blessing, yet many afterward fell away when under the influence of prevailing evil or bitter persecution. Verse 13: “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” The fate of the Jewish nation, as such, was sealed on that day when Jesus rode into the city acclaimed by the people as “the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee,” but finally rejected by the chief priests and scribes. Then it was that Jesus wept over the city and proclaimed its fate:— “If thou hadst known, even thou, at4least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 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, 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.” Luke 19: 42-44. From the hour when these words were spoken, there was no further hope of salvation for the nation as a whole, but saving mercy was still offered to those individuals who would prove faithful. The experience of the believing disciples was in perfect harmony with the promise of Jesus. Verse 14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” John the Baptist was the herald of the kingdom. Jesus himself “came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.” During the interval between his resurrection and ascension, Jesus spoke with his disciples “of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” The apostle Paul went among both the Jews and Greeks, “preaching the kingdom of God.” The very heart of the gospel of the kingdom as proclaimed to that generation was the testimony that the prophecies had been fulfilled, and that the Messiah had been manifested. This good news concerning the kingdom of God was to be made known to all men before the sentence of desolation pronounced upon Jerusalem and the chosen people would be carried into effect. Speaking as representatives of the Jewish nation, “the chief priests and elders of the people” had assumed the responsibility for the sentence of death upon “Jesus which is called Christ,” saying, “His blood be on us, and on our children.” But in the face of this voluntary acceptance of the results of their course, divine mercy was extended, and the fullest opportunity for repentance was granted. As children are not held responsible for the sins of their fathers, so in the time intervening between the crucifixion and the end of the Jewish nation, the children having grown to years of understanding, were to hear the gospel of the kingdom, were to have presented to them the clear evidences concerning the coming of the Messiah, and were to be given the privilege of choosing whether they would reject him, and so perish in the overthrow of the city, or whether they would be delivered through their faith in the instruction which Jesus gave to his disciples. Not only so, but the same testimony was to be borne to all nations, in order that the judgment of God upon those who had crucified the Messiah might be fully justified before all the world. Thus it will be made clear that the terrible calamities which befell the Jews were the result of their own course in rejecting him, the Great Deliverer. There is unimpeachable testimony to show that the gospel of the kingdom was proclaimed in all the world before the end of the Jewish nation. Writing “to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse,” about six years before the downfall of the city, the apostle Paul spoke of the gospel “which is come unto you, as it is in all the world;” and in this same letter he refers to the gospel, “which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven.” Thus does history answer to the prophecy. That the predictions of Jesus which had so clear a fulfilment in the time of the generation to which he was speaking are again fulfilled in this last generation is abundantly clear. As iniquity abounded then, so it does now. As the love of many waxed cold then, so it does now. As the gospel of the kingdom testifying to the first advent of Christ was preached in all the world for a witness in that generation, so in this generation the same gospel testifying to the nearness of the second advent is to be preached in all the world. As the giving of that world-wide message was the sign of the approaching end of the Jewish nation, so the giving of the world-wide message in this day is the sign of the approaching end of the world. As the words of Jesus did not fail in that generation, neither will they fail in this generation.