antichrist – Luke 21

This a part of a series…

• Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left
• I believe that this is where we now stand
• Armageddon, Gog and Magog
• antichrist – Matthew 23, 24 and 25
• 666 the number of the beast
• antichrist – Luke 21
• antichrist

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A spirit AND a specific person

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. – 1 John 2:18

1 John 2:18 confirms the that it was the last hour at the time that letter was written and the antichrist – a specific person driven by that spirit – was coming.

every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. – 1 John 4:3

1 John 4:3 confirms that the spirit of the antichrist was THEN in the world at the time that letter was being written. That is an important issue. There is a spirit of the antichrist, and there was also a person who was coming and was already in the world AT THAT TIME.To find out if Luke 21 points to a date around AD70 or a future date we simply need to consider the scriptures themselves.

Sign – destruction of the temple

Now let us consider Luke 21:5-24 and work our way through this passage…

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, ⁶ “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

Notice the words “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down”. Jesus said it clearly… He was literally pointing at the temple which King Herod had built and which was standing there in front of them. The sign of the end was when that temple was in ruins. Not even one rock on top of another. According to the Wikipedia article “Siege of Jerusalem (70)“…

Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done), [Titus] Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and Temple… but for all the rest of the wall [surrounding Jerusalem], it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it [Jerusalem] had ever been inhabited… And truly, the very view itself was a melancholy thing; for those places which were adorned with trees and pleasant gardens, were now become desolate country every way, and its trees were all cut down. Nor could any foreigner that had formerly seen Judaea and the most beautiful suburbs of the city, and now saw it as a desert

Signs – prophets, earthquake, famine

⁷ “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?” ⁸ He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. ⁹ When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.” ¹⁰ Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

¹² “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. ¹³ And so you will bear testimony to me.

In the verses above we read about some signs

1. False prophets – The book of Acts records three false prophets – Acts 5:36, Acts 5:37; Acts 21:38
2. Earthquake –  The book of Acts records one earthquake – Acts 16:26
3. Famine – The book of Acts records two famines – Acts 7:11, Acts 11:28
4. Persecution – The book of Acts record the persecution of Stephen and many others – Acts 5:40-41, Acts 7:57-59, Acts 8:1,3
5. Brought before kings and governors – The book of Acts describes this, for example Paul being taken to Rome

All of this happened before AD70.

¹⁴ But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. ¹⁵ For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ Everyone will hate you because of me. ¹⁸ But not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹ Stand firm, and you will win life.

Sign – Jerusalem surround by armies

²⁰ “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. ²² For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. ²³ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. ²⁴ They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations.

According to the Wikipedia article “Siege of Jerusalem (70)” the in AD70 Titus surrounded the city, with three legions (V Macedonica, XII Fulminata, XVApollinaris) on the western side and a fourth (X Fretensis) on the Mount of Olives to the east. As verse 20 says Jerusalem was literally surrounded and the time of desolation was near AT THAT TIME. There is no reason to believe that Luke will be fulfilled in the future, because Jesus Christ clearly showed it was at that time and history shows that to be true.

Sign – gentiles

I will never forget as I walked up to Jerusalem I heard God say to me “trampled” and I can honestly say that until this moment I did not realise what bible reference it referred to. It is this one. Ever since AD70 this has been true

Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

According to the Wikipedia article “Siege of Jerusalem (70)” Josephus claims that 1,100,000 people were killed during the siege, of which a majority were Jewish, and that 97,000 were captured and enslaved. Since then Jerusalem has literally been trampled by gentiles. According the the Wikipedia article “Second Temple”

Jerusalem was razed by the Emperor Hadrian at the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE when he established a new city called Aelia Capitolina. … But after Hadrian visited Jerusalem, he decided to build Aelia Capitolina which would be inhabited by his legionnaires. Hadrian also decided to never allow Jews to re-enter the city ever again.

The times of the gentiles are now almost fulfilled.  🙂

Conclusion

Luke points to AD70 being the time period. It is not a future event.