“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that
the desolation thereof is nigh. But when ye shall see the abomination of
desolation, spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, standing where it ought
not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judea
flee to the mountains: and let him that is on the housetop not go down
into the house, neither enter therein, to take anything out of his
house: And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take
up his garment. But woe to them that are with child, and to them who
give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in winter.
For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the
beginning of creation which God created unto this time, neither shall
be. There shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this
people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led
away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of
the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
This is the end of the first prophecy. Jerusalem shall be taken and
destroyed and of the Temple, defiled by the abomination of desolation,
there shall remain not one stone upon another.
But Jesus has not said all, until now has not spoken of His second
coming.
“Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled.” What are these “tempi dei Gentili, tempora
nationum”? The words of the Greek texts express it with greater
precision than the other languages: they are the times adapted to,
fitting, and awaiting the Gentiles, that is, those in which the non-Jews
shall be converted to the Gospel, announced to the Jews before all
others. Therefore that real end shall not come until the Gospel has been
carried into all nations, until the Gentiles, the faithless ones, tread
down the city of Jerusalem. “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.”
The second coming of Christ from Heaven, the Parusia, will be the end of
this world and the beginning of the true world, the eternal kingdom. The
end of Judea was announced by signs human and terrestrial; this other
end will be preceded by signs divine and celestial. “The sun shall be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. And the stars of heaven
shall fall. And upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the
sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for
looking after these things which are coming on the earth: for the powers
of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of
man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and
they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power
and great glory.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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