Mark Lesson #19

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RETURN TO SYLLABUS
MARK 13:1-37
LESSON #19
THE SERVANT’S PROPHECIES FOR THE FUTURE

• MEMORY VERSE: MARK 13:35-36

• THIS SECTION OF MARK IS CALLED THE OLIVET DISCOURSE. EVERY DAY FOR FOUR DAYS JESUS COMES FROM BETHANY OVER THE MT. OF OLIVES INTO THE TEMPLE WHERE HE IS EXAMINED AND QUESTIONED BY THE PRIESTS, SCRIBES AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS. ON ONE OF THESE TRIPS FROM THE TEMPLE TO BETHANY, HIS DISCIPLES QUESTION HIM.

• READ MAR 13:1-2 THE TEMPLE STONES
• READ MAT 23:37-38
• JESUS HAD PRONOUNCED A CURSE OF JUDGMENT OVER THE TEMPLE AND ITS RELIGIOUS HIERARCHY BECAUSE OF THEIR BLOODTHIRSTY REJECTION OF GOD’S PROPHETS AND NOW THE REJECTION OF GOD’S MESSIAH.
• THE QUESTION:
• BECAUSE OF THAT CURSE ON THE TEMPLE, THE DISCIPLES ASK JESUS ABOUT IT AS THEY LEAVE THE TEMPLE AREA. THEY CALL ATTENTION TO THE MAGNIFICENT BUILDINGS AND ARE CURIOUS THAT JESUS WOULD CURSE IT.
• THE TEMPLE:
• ZERUBBABEL AND EZRA ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED THIS TEMPLE WHEN THE ISRAELITES RETURNED FROM THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY. IT WAS A VERY MODEST BUILDING.
• HOWEVER, WHEN HEROD OBTAINED AUTHORITY OVER THE LAND OF CANAAN UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE, HE WANTED TO IMPRESS THE JEWS SO THEY WOULD ACCEPT HIM AS THEIR KING. HE, THEREFORE, INITIATED A GRAND BUILDING PROGRAM TO EXPAND, IMPROVE, AND BEAUTIFY THE JEWISH TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM. THIS BUILDING PROGRAM TOOK MANY YEARS (19 BC – 64AD) AND WAS IN PROCESS WHEN JESUS WAS THERE.
• THE DISCIPLES PROBABLY OBSERVED SOME OF THESE CONSTRUCTION STONES AS THEY LEFT THE TEMPLE AREA.
• THE STONES WERE 4 FT. HIGH BY 15 FT. LONG. GOLD WAS USED PROFUSELY THROUGHOUT THE CONSTRUCTION AND GOLD SPIKES WERE ATTACHED TO THE ROOF TO PREVENT BIRDS FROM ROOSTING THERE.
• JESUS ANSWER ABOUT THE CURSE ON THE TEMPLE:
• ONE STONE WILL NOT BE LEFT UPON ANOTHER. (2)
• THIS IS A PROPHECY THAT THE ROMANS FULFILLED IN 70 AD IN RESPONSE TO CONTINUOUS JEWISH UPRISINGS. WHEN THE ROMANS ATTACKED JERUSALEM AND BURNED THE TEMPLE, THE FIRE WAS SO HOT IT MELTED ALL THE GOLD. THEREFORE, THE SOLDIERS TOOK THE BUILDING APART STONE BY STONE TO GET AT THE MELTED GOLD. THERE WERE BETWEEN 600,000 AND 1,250,000 JEWS KILLED.
• THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS’ ANSWER:
• WHAT APPEARS TO BE OUTWARDLY PERMANENT, GRAND, AND BEAUTIFUL IN THIS WORLD, IS, IN REALITY, ONLY TEMPORARY.
• READ JOH 2:19-20
• ON ANOTHER OCCASION, JESUS MADE A LIKENESS BETWEEN THE TEMPLE AND HIS BODY. IT WAS A PROPHECY THAT HE WOULD RAISE FROM THE DEAD IN THREE DAYS.
• HIS BODY APPEARED TO BE TEMPORARY IN COMPARISON TO THE PERMANENT APPEARANCE OF THE TEMPLE.
• THE TEMPLE IS LONG GONE, BUT JESUS LIVES FOREVER!

• READ MAR 13:3-27 THE OLIVET DISCOURSE
• THE TWO QUESTIONS IN MARK’S GOSPEL:
• =1= “WHEN SHALL THESE THINGS BE?” (4)
• =2= “WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN WHEN ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE FULFILLED?” (4)
• THE THREE QUESTIONS IN MATTHEW’S GOSPEL:
• =1= “WHEN SHALL THESE THINGS BE?”
• THIS QUESTION REFERS TO JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE.
• =2= “WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN OF THY COMING?”
• THIS QUESTION REFERS TO THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• =3= “WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN OF THE END OF THE AGE?”
• THIS QUESTION REFERS TO GENERAL SIGNS PRESENT BEFORE THE TRIBULATION PERIOD AND CONTINUING INTO THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
• THE SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (MAR 13:5-13):
• THESE ARE THE SIGNS THAT EXIST BEFORE THE TRIBULATION PERIOD BEGINS AND THESE SIGNS CONTINUE INTO THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
• FALSE CHRISTS (MAR 13:5-6)
• MARK MENTIONS FALSE MESSIAHS TWO TIMES WHILE MATTHEW MENTIONS FALSE MESSIAHS THREE TIMES.
• THERE HAVE BEEN MANY FALSE MESSIAHS DOWN THROUGH HISTORY SINCE THE CRUCIFIXION. THREE OF THE MORE FAMOUS ONES IN JEWISH HISTORY ARE:
• SIMON BAR KOCHBA 132 AD
• SHABBETAI ZVI 1666
• JACOB FRANK 18^TH CENTURY
• THE BIBLE TELLS US HOW WE ARE TO RECOGNIZE THE TRUE MESSIAH WHEN HE COMES AGAIN. HE WILL APPEAR IN ONLY ONE WAY AND IN ONE LOCATION.
• READ ACT 1:9-11
• HE WILL DESCEND TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES THROUGH THE CLOUDS.
• WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS; NATION AGAINST NATION, KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM (MAR 13:7)
• IN RECORDED HISTORY, FOR EVERY YEAR OF PEACE THERE HAS BEEN 13 YEARS OF WAR. HOWEVER, SINCE 1945, THERE HAS BEEN WELL OVER 300 WARS WITHOUT ONE DAY OF PEACE.
• WELL OVER 280 MILLION PEOPLE DIED IN WARS IN THE LAST 110 YEARS.
• THE TERM “NATION” REFERS TO ETHNIC GROUPS NOT NECESSARILY TO POLITICAL COUNTRIES.
• THE TERM “KINGDOM” REFERS TO POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES SUCH AS COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM, NAZIISM, DEMOCRACY, ETC.
• EARTHQUAKES, FAMINE, AND TROUBLES (PESTILENCE) (MAR 13:8)
• THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN EARTHQUAKES AND FAMINES IN THE LAST 100 YEARS.
• EVERY TEN YEARS THE NUMBER OF EARTHQUAKES DOUBLES.
• PESTILENCE HAS GREATLY INCREASED TO WORLDWIDE PROPORTIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, SOME OF THESE TROUBLES INCLUDE:
• E BOLA VIRUS
• CANCER
• HIV AND AIDS
• HANTAVIRUS
• BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WARFARE THREATS
• PERSECUTION OF BELIEVERS AND JEWS (MAR 13:9-12)
• THERE ARE MORE CHRISTIANS MARTYRED TODAY IN ONE YEAR, THAN WHEN THE ROMANS FED CHRISTIANS TO THE LIONS IN THE COLISEUM.
• IN OUR PRESENT DAY, THERE ARE OVER 300,000 CHRISTIANS MARTYRED EACH YEAR.
• PERSECUTION OF JEWS DID NOT END WITH THE DEATH OF HITLER AND STALIN. IT STILL CONTINUES TODAY AND GROWS STRONGER EVERY YEAR IN EUROPE.
• THE ANTICHRIST WILL PERSECUTE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS IN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
• A SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL TO ALL NATIONS (MAR 13:13)
• FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST CAN BE ACCESSED IN EVERY COUNTRY OF THE WORLD THROUGH THE INTERNET, RADIO, TELEVISION, AND SATELLITE.
• THE “ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION” (MAR 13:14)
• THE PROPHET DANIEL FIRST GAVE THE PROPHECY ABOUT THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION (DAN 11:31 DAN 12:11).
• IT WAS FIRST FULFILLED BY ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES IV. HE WAS A SYRIAN KING OVER THE LAND OF CANAAN. HE HATED THE JEWS AND OFFERED A HOG ON THE ALTAR IN THE TEMPLE.
• THE SECOND FULFILLMENT WILL BE THE ANTICHRIST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRIBULTATION PERIOD. HE WILL OFFER HIMSELF AS GOD IN THE JEWISH TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM BY PLACING HIS IMAGE IN THAT TEMPLE.
• THE FLIGHT OF THE JEWS (MAR 13:14-18)
• FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE TRIBULATION, THE ANTICHRIST WILL BREAK HIS PEACE TREATY WITH THE JEWS AND BEGIN AN ATTEMPT TO ANNIHILATE THEM. ORTHODOX JEWS WHO THOUGHT THE ANTICHRIST WAS THEIR MESSIAH WILL REALIZE THEIR MISTAKE AND FLEE.
• THERE IS A DOUBLE FULFILLMENT OF THE FLIGHT OF THE JEWS:
• FIRST FULFILLMENT OCCURRED IN 70 AD WHEN JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE WERE DESTROYED.
• THE SECOND FULFILLMENT WILL BE AT THE MIDDLE OF THE TRIBULATION. THE ORTHODOX JEWS WILL FLEE BECAUSE THE ANTICHRIST WILL PUT A STOP TO ORTHODOX WORSHIP WHEN HE BREAKS HIS PEACE TREATY.
• SOME TRIBULATION SPECIFICS (MAR 13:19-23)
• AFFLICTION (MAR 13:19)
• THIS PROBABLY RELATES TO THE SERIES OF TRUMPET AND BOWL JUDGMENTS IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.
• THE SHORTENED DAYS (MAR 13:20)
• GOD WILL INTERRUPT THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON WITH THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. THIS WILL END THE TRIBULATION AND OUR PRESENT WORLD SYSTEM.
• THE GREAT APOSTASY (MAR 13:21-22)
• (1TIM 4:1-16 2TIM 3:1-17)
• APOSTASY IS A FALLING AWAY FROM THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL, FROM THE TRUTH OF THE ORIGINAL WORD OF GOD, FROM THE TRUTH ABOUT WHO CHRIST IS AND WHY DIED ON THE CROSS.
• THIS APOSTASY BEGINS BEFORE THE TRIBULATION AND CONTINUES INTO THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
• IN THE TRIBULATION, THE FALSE PROPHET AND THE ANTICHRIST LEAD AND PROMOTE THIS GREAT APOSTASY.
• THE SIGNS OF CHRIST’S COMING (MAR 13:24-27):
• CHANGES IN THE HEAVENLIES.
• THE GATHERING OF ALL BELIEVERS IN HEAVEN WHO COME WITH CHRIST TO EARTH.
• SUMMARY:
• WHAT THREE FUTURE EVENTS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CHAPTER?
• =1= THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE IN 70 AD.
• =2= THE FUTURE TRIBULATION PERIOD OF 7 YEARS.
• =3= THE EVENT OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST WITH HIS BELIEVERS.
• WHY WAS JERUSALEM TO BE DESTROYED?
• BECAUSE THE JEWS KILLED THEIR OWN PROPHETS AND BECAUSE OF THEIR REJECTION OF CHRIST, GOD PRONOUNCED A JUDGMENT ON A DEAD RELIGIOUS SYSTEM THAT DID NOT HONOR GOD.
• WHAT WAS THE SIGN ASSOCIATED WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM?
• THE FLIGHT OF THE JEWS.
• A SMALL BAND OF JEWS FLED FROM JERUSALEM AND WENT TO MASADA WHERE THEY WITHSTOOD THE ROMANS FOR 3 YEARS.

• READ MAR 13:28-33 THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE
• WHAT IS THE CENTRAL TRUTH FOR THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE? (28-33)
• WATCH WHAT HAPPENS TO ISRAEL AND YOU WILL KNOW WHEN IT IS GETTING CLOSE TO THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
• WHAT DOES THE FIG TREE REPRESENT?
• WHEN JESUS CURSED THE FIG TREE, HE USED IT TO REPRESENT ISRAEL AS A NATION. (HOS 9:10)
• THEREFORE, BECAUSE THE MEANING IN SCRIPTURE IS ALWAYS CONSISTENT, THE FIG TREE REPRESENTS ISRAEL.
• WHAT DOES JESUS MEAN BY, “WHEN ITS BRANCH IS YET TENDER, AND PUTTETH FORTH LEAVES”?
• THE BLOSSOMING OF THE FIG TREE REPRESENTS THE FORMING OF ISRAEL AS A NATION IN 1948.
• WHAT DOES, “THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS, TILL ALL THESE THINGS BE DONE.” MEAN? (30)
• THE WORD, GENERATION IS “GENEA” OR “GENUS” WHICH MEANS RACE OR FAMILY AND REFERS TO THE JEWS.
• A GENERATION IN THE BIBLE VARIES THROUGH TIME.
• REMEMBER THAT IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS PEOPLE HAD A LONG LIFESPAN THAT DECREASED OVER TIME.

• READ MAR 13:34-37 THE PARABLE OF THE MASTER AND THE PORTER
• WHAT IS THE CENTRAL TRUTH FOR THE PARABLE OF THE MASTER AND THE PORTER (34-37)
• BELIEVERS IN JESUS CHRIST MUST BE WATCHFUL FOR THE LORD’S COMING BECAUSE HE COULD COME AT ANY TIME.
• WHO IS THE MAN WHO TAKES THE LONG JOURNEY?
• THE MAN IS JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, WHO LEFT EARTH TO RETURN TO HEAVEN AT THE ASCENSION.
• WHO ARE THE SERVANTS?
• SERVANTS ARE ALL DISCIPLES AND FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST.
• WHEN HE LEFT, HE GAVE SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY TO BELIEVERS TO CONTINUE THE WORK ON EARTH.
• WHO IS THE PORTER?
• READ MAT 16:18-19
• THE PORTER IS PETER TO WHOM JESUS GAVE AUTHORITY OVER THE OTHER DISCIPLES.
• IN A BROADER SENSE, IT IS ALL MINISTERS WHO ARE GATEKEEPERS AT THE DOOR OF THE KINGDOM.
• SUMMARY AND APPLICATION:
• THE BELIEVER MUST BE WATCHING FOR CHRIST’S COMING. WE DO THAT BY WATCHING GOD’S TIMEPIECE, ISRAEL.

HOMEWORK

MARK 14:1-11

• APPLICATION OF MAR 13
• ON A SCALE OF 1-10 (10 BEING THE MOST), HOW AWARE ARE YOU OF WHAT IS HAPPENING CURRENTLY IN ISRAEL?

• PREPARATION FOR MAR 14:1-11
• READ MAR 14:1-11
• WHY DID THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND SCRIBES WANT TO KILL JESUS?

• WHY DID THEY HESITATE?

• OF WHAT SIGNIFICANCE WAS THE WOMAN WITH THE OIL FOR HIS HEAD?

• MEMORY VERSE: MARK 14:8