Thematic Bible: When redemption will be near


Thematic Bible



As he was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Master! What wonderful stones and buildings!" Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him, apart from the others, read more.
"Tell us when this is to happen, and what the sign will be when it is all just going to be carried out." And Jesus said to them, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. Many will come under my name and say 'I am he,' and many will be misled by them. But when you hear of wars and rumors of war, you must not be alarmed. They have to come, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes here and there, there will be famines. This is only the beginning of the sufferings. But you must be on your guard; they will hand you over to courts and you will be taken into synagogues and beaten, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to testify to them. For before the end the good news must be preached to all the heathen. When they are taking you off to trial do not worry beforehand about what you ought to say, but say whatever is given you when the time comes, for it is not you that will speak, but the holy Spirit. Brother will give up brother to be put to death, and the father his child, and children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone, because you bear my name. But he who holds out to the end will be saved. But as soon as you see the dreadful desecration standing where he has no right to stand" (the reader must take note of this), "then those who are in Judea must fly to the hills; a man on the roof of his house must not go down or go into the house to get anything out of it, and a man in the field must not turn back to get his coat. Alas for women who are with child at that time, or who have babies! Pray that it may not be winter when it comes, for there will be such misery in those days as there has never been since the beginning of God's creation until now, and never will be again. If the Lord had not cut those days short, nobody would have escaped, but for the sake of his own chosen people he has cut the days short. If anyone says to you at that time, 'Look! Here is the Christ!' or 'Look! There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear, and they will show signs and wonders to mislead God's chosen people if they can. But you must be on your guard; I have told you all about it beforehand. But in those days, when that misery is over, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shed its light and the stars will fall from the sky and the forces in the sky will shake. Then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of the world to the other. "Let the fig tree teach you the lesson. As soon as its branches grow soft and put forth leaves you know that summer is coming. So when you see these things happening, you must know that he is just at the door. I tell you, these things will all happen before the present age passes away.

When some spoke about the Temple and its decoration with costly stone and votive offerings, he said, "As for all this that you are looking at, the time is coming when not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down!" Then they asked him, "Master, when will this happen, and what will be the sign that it is going to take place?" read more.
And he said, "Take care not to be misled. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am he,' and 'The time is at hand.' Do not follow them. But when you hear of wars and outbreaks, do not be alarmed. These have to come first, but the end does not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and pestilence and famine here and there. There will be horrors and great signs in the sky. But before all this, men will arrest you and persecute you, and hand you over to synagogues and prisons and have you brought before kings and governors on my account. It will all lead to your testifying. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense, for I will give you such wisdom of utterance as none of your opponents will be able to resist or dispute. You will be betrayed even by your parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by everyone because you bear my name. Yet not a hair of your head will perish! It is by your endurance that you will win your souls. But when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then you must understand that her devastation is at hand. Then those who are in Judea must fly to the hills, those who are in the city must get out of it, and those who are in the country must not go into it, for those are the days of vengeance, when all that is written in the Scriptures will be fulfilled. But alas for women who are with child at that time, or who have babies, for there will be great misery in the land and anger at this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword, and be carried off as prisoners among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the heathen, until the time of the heathen comes. There will be signs too in sun, moon, and stars, and on earth dismay among the heathen, bewildered at the roar of the sea and the waves. Men will swoon with fear and foreboding of what is to happen to the world, for the forces in the sky will shake. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and glory. But when this begins to happen, look up and raise your heads, for your deliverance will be at hand." And he gave them an illustration: "See the fig tree and all the trees. As soon as they put out their leaves, you see them and you know without being told that summer is coming. So when you see these things happen, you must know that the Kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will all happen before the present generation passes away.

And Jesus left the Temple and was going away, when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the Temple buildings. But he answered, "Do you see all this? I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another but shall be torn down." As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him by themselves, and said to him, "Tell us when this is to happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age." read more.
Jesus answered, "Take care that no one misleads you about this. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am the Christ,' and many will be misled by them. You will hear of wars and rumors of war; do not let yourselves be alarmed. They have to come, but that is not the end. For nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes here and there. All this is only the beginning of the sufferings. Then they will hand you over to persecution and they will put you to death, and you will be hated by all the heathen because you bear my name. Then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will appear, and many will be misled by them, and because of the increase of wickedness, most men's love will grow cold. But he who holds out to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom will be preached all over the world, to testify to all the heathen, and then the end will come. "So when you see the dreadful desecration, of which the prophet Daniel spoke, set up in the Holy Place"??he reader must take note of this??16 "then those who are in Judea must fly to the hills; a man on the roof of his house must not go down to get things out of it, and a man in the field must not turn back to get his coat. But alas for women who are with child at that time or who have babies! And pray that you may not have to fly in winter or on the Sabbath, for there will be greater misery then than there has ever been from the beginning of creation until now, or ever will be again. If those days had not been cut short, nobody would have escaped, but for the sake of God's people those days will be cut short. "If anyone says to you at that time, 'Look! here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it, for false Christs and false prophets will appear, and they will show great signs and wonders to mislead God's chosen people if they can. Here I have told you beforehand. So if they say to you, 'There he is, in the desert!' do not go out there; 'Here he is, in a room in here!' do not believe it. For just as the lightning starts in the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. Wherever there is a dead body, the vultures will flock. "But immediately after the misery of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the forces of the sky will shake. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will lament when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, in all his power and splendor. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet-call, and they will gather his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. "Let the fig tree teach you the lesson. As soon as its branches grow soft and put forth leaves, you know that summer is coming. So when you see all these things, you must know that he is just at the door. I tell you, these things will all happen before the present age passes away.