St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 16; Flee to the mountains.

 Our paragraph topic is:  (The destruction of Jerusalem) Part 2. 

Time was an important factor in those days.  Where you lived, and worked, meant a great deal in terms of status and well being.  Yet for the coming destruction, location was also important.  It meant whether you had time to escape the oncoming slaughter.  It meant whether you had time to outrun the danger that was coming.  It meant whether you would live or die.

The farther away you were from the center of destruction meant that you had the time to get away from it all, to outrun death itself before it came knocking at your door.  This is what Christ was telling his disciples.  Do not hesitate.  Do not stop to take worldly belongings.  Run for your lives because death was coming and it would be swift.  He told them:  "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."

Jerusalem, the sacred place for the Jews, was not a place to flee from but a place to go to, a place of sanctity.  The Israelites did not believe that their city would be destroyed.  They believed that they were protected by their god.  They were a sacred people delivered by the hand of God from the bondage of Egypt to the sacred land of Jerusalem.  Why would their city be destroyed?   Why would their temple be torn down?  Why would death ravage their land when God  himself had protected them for all these years?

This is what Christ was telling his disciples, warning them of the destruction to come.  He was the Messiah.  He was the word of God come down from heaven to walk among the people as an example of the one true God.  He came to redeem the people, to show the way to the kingdom of heaven.  He came to pay the price for the sins of all that all might have new life eternal if they believed in him.  He is the key.  He is the gate keeper, the shepherd, the Lord of all.  

God the Father made him human that he might be with us, teach us, show us how to live, how to love, how to follow the commandments that we may be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Let him who reads understand.  The knowledge is here for those who seek to know.  The door is open for those who wish to find it.  His love is fulfilling for those who need.  For there is everlasting peace in the knowledge of his wisdom and love.  Come!  Peace awaits your finding.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself.  Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 15; The Abomination of Desolation.

 Our paragraph topic is:  (The destruction of Jerusalem) Part 1.  

He wept for the city he cared for deeply.  He wanted to protect it as a mother wants to protect her children and provide for them.  But Jerusalem would not have it.  Jerusalem was a city of its own.  It had come to power and fame to be known throughout the region for its glory.  And that image made it believe that it did not need help from the maker and provider who gave it the ground it was built upon.  How arrogant it had become in its years of progress, fame, and glory to think that it did not need its founding father. 

Christ came to the city with his disciples.  He saw their pride and their joy in being a part of the peoples that had built such a magnificent place.  He saw also the future of the city and what lay ahead, the destruction and desolation that was coming as a result of the pride and the arrogance of the city.  It became necessary for him to let his disciples know what was coming so that they would be prepared.  He told them:  "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place -let him who reads understand. "  

He wanted them to understand the need to survive the destruction that was coming.  When the temple was desecrated by the placement of idols, it was time for the disciples to leave.  It would be time for the church to move to a new location, to take as many worshippers with them.  To stay would have meant death and destruction.  

What does this mean for followers of Christ today, for those who read?  What knowledge can we obtain from these words to help us prepare for the future that may come?  Will we have a desecration of our places of worship?  Will our churches and altars be replaced with idols of false images to worship as though they are gods?  Will we be forced to acknowledge a worldly power as our god or suffer death and destruction?  Is this a warning for us too? 

Today we live in a different world than what it was two thousand years ago.  We have modern conveniences that were not available then.  Our lives are less cumbersome, we live longer, we are healthier, have more freedom, life all around is better.  Death is not so imminent as it was then.  Christ came to open the doors of heaven to all mankind past, present, and future so that all would have the opportunity for eternal life.  And yet it is this opportunity for eternal life that we loose sight of ,today, in comparison to what modern life has to offer.  

We live as though we are given tomorrow.  And yet tomorrow is not given to us.  Death could come at an instant when we are not prepared for it.  We pray: Father, let the end not come when we are not prepared.  Have mercy on our souls.  

 Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself.  Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.