04-14-24 The Triumphal Entry

The transcription is discussing the Disciples Ignited Bible Study on the topic "His Name is Jesus", specifically focusing on lesson 9. It mentions that after the Transfiguration, Jesus begins the countdown to His crucifixion and it took Him about a year to finally arrive in Jerusalem. The last week of Jesus' life is highlighted, including the triumphal entry, Jesus' teachings, and the events leading up to His crucifixion. The transcription also mentions that Jesus initiated the triumphal entry by instructing His disciples to get a donkey and its colt. The crowds were shouting praises and proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. reading and when I start reading. This is Disciples Ignited Bible Study. We're studying His Name is Jesus which is edited by Jack Kayford and we are starting today in lesson 9. If you're following on in the book it is page 106. Sunday to Thursday of the final week. This is such an interesting lesson. All right, Carol why don't you start us out by reading the first part. Okay, how about if I do the first two paragraphs? Is that good? Yeah, that's good. Okay, immediately following the Transfiguration in which three privileged disciples glimpsed Jesus's future glory and hear Him insist on suffering as the way to glory, Jesus begins the countdown to His crucifixion. Now it came to pass when the time had come for Him to be received up that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. That's Luke 9.51. It will take about one year to finally arrive as He completes His latter Judean ministry. Now that's interesting because the scripture says that He starts and we know that He traveled all the time but to me you just think oh in a few days He's going to be down in Jerusalem but we don't really realize all that which transpired. So it's always good when studying when it talks about that they're going to where we'll find out how long it took Him to go. So this is interesting. It took Him about a year. So it's the Transfiguration until when He finally made it to Jerusalem for the crucifixion. They said that was about a year's time. So His last year of ministry. Right. Okay, His arrival in Jerusalem approximately a year after the Transfiguration marked the beginning of His final week. In reading the synoptics we can sometimes forget the many events that occurred in the last week. The triumphal entry, Jesus is weeping over Jerusalem, the temple cleansing, the cursing of the fig tree, questioning by the religious authorities, Jesus's woes to the scribes and Pharisees, the Olivet discourse, the Last Supper, and the entire series of passion resurrection events. Jesus's teachings this week include the widow's might, the great commandment, paying tribute to Caesar, and the parable of the wicked husbandman. It was a busy history-changing week to say the least. So in the remaining chapters we're going to examine crucial events and teachings of this week, the last week of Christ's life, which have not already been discussed. Some of these, many of these parables we've already studied, but now we're going to focus in on what took place in that last week. And I love maps, and they've given us two maps. So notice that on His pilgrimage from Galilee to Jerusalem. So Galilee is the area that Jesus was raised in Nazareth, and that's about the Sea of Galilee. And so we see where He's going down to Jerusalem. Now it states that this popular route passed directly through Samaria. However, some pious Jews took an alternative route through Jericho to avoid Samaria. So notice, which one was quicker? Well, you mean they went all the way around just to get to Jerusalem to miss Samaria? Yeah, they would. Oh my goodness. The popular route passed directly through Samaria. So most people went through Samaria. Yeah, but if you went through Jericho, that means you would be going the opposite direction. Yeah, that would take a lot longer. You did a whole turn around. Yeah, so they would they would just bypass because they didn't want to go through Samaria. So the most religious, they went the other way. They would go the longer route, just because they didn't want to be tainted by going through Samaria. All right, so the second map, you'll notice the popular route passed through, okay, the second one. That is Germany. Yeah, Jesus' last ascent to Jerusalem began on the eastern side of the Jordan. After crossing the river, He entered Jericho, then ascended the mountain to Bethany in Jerusalem. Now why does it say that they always ascended to Jerusalem? Because it was higher in elevation. Yeah, it was really built on a mount, and so you always ascended to Jerusalem. So He crosses the Jordan, He goes to Bethany, and then He ascends to Jerusalem, and it was there that He was crucified. So today we're going to start in on the triumphal entry, which begins His final week. Okay, Edwina, why don't you start us out on the triumphal entry. The triumphal entry, we have here perhaps the most famous two-mile demon demonstration in human history. It is the Sunday before Good Friday, and it begins at Bethphage on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives. Shortly after the raising of Lazarus, John 11, 1-44, public enthusiasm is apparently renewed to see this famous rabbi from Nazareth, whose admiration had some would win because he refused to accommodate selfish demands, John 6-66. Okay, I've got that. John 6-66 says, From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. Why did they turn back? Why did they cease to follow Jesus? His teachings were getting more specific, more pinpointing. Towards what, though? Towards His crucifixion. Right, He was becoming more forthright that He is going to be crucified. Why did they leave Him? Why didn't they stay with Him until the end? Right, that was not what they signed up for. They wanted Jesus to build a kingdom. To them, that spelled that Jesus is going to be defeated, and they didn't want to be a part of a political party that's not going to win, and so they left Him. Okay, continue on. Furthermore, he had been spending time teaching his closest disciples since he knew the time was becoming short. What do you think? That he will not come to the feast? That was from John 11-56. It says, They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood at the temple cross, they asked one another, What do you think? Isn't He coming to the festival at all? The buzzword around Jerusalem going through this pastoral season, even as the chief priests and scribes accelerate their conspiracy against Jesus. Mark 11-18-19. Okay, Carol, you want to take that? Yeah, 18-19. Okay, for John didn't spend this time eating and drinking, and you say he's possessed by a demon. The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say he's... Mark. Mark. Oh, I'm sorry, I meant Matthew. Yeah, Mark 11-18-19. That's a good verse. I'm sorry about that. Yeah, Mark 11-18-19. Okay. When the leading priests and the teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill Him, but they were afraid of Him because the people were so amazed at His teaching. That evening, Jesus and the disciples left the city. The triumphal entry is recorded in all four Gospels. We will study Matthew's account. Now, this is interesting because, remember, the synoptics deal with a lot of Jesus's life, a lot of His teaching, but John deals primarily, not exclusively, but with the last week, and the triumphal entry really is the beginning of the last week of His life before the crucifixion, and so that is recorded in all of the Gospels. Okay, so, but Matthew, we're going to study the triumphal entry in Matthew because it is the only Gospel that points out that there were actually two. There was the donkey and the colt. Yes, the mommy and the baby. Right, so, Adrena, why don't you read Matthew 21, this is 1-11. Matthew 21, 1-11. And so, we're going to be picking out different aspects about this. Jesus comes to Jerusalem as a king. As they approached Jerusalem, He came to Beth H on the Mount of Olives. Jesus said to His disciples, saying to them, Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and He will send them right away. This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets. Say to daughter Zion, See your king come to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They bought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees, spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, Who is this? The crowd answered, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth and Galilee. All right now, these were all these three statements that the crowds were shouting out were really taken from the Old Testament and different prophecies spoken of concerning the Messiah, and they were proclaiming these things as Jesus was riding in on the donkey. Now, so who initiated this event? It looks like Jesus did. Yeah, what did He do? How did He initiate it? He came to the city. He came to the city, and then what did He tell His disciples to do? To go out and get the donkey and its baby. Yeah, this is miraculous, though. He tells them to go and untie this donkey so He doesn't send them to the owner of the donkey. He said, Just go get it. Yeah, that to me, I thought, Wow, that was just putting the cart before the horse. But Jesus said, Go get the donkey. And they did. And they were stopped and asked, What are you doing? And He said, The master needs it. You know, everybody must have known who the master was at that point and recognized His disciples for them to say that. I don't know if He brings this out in the book, but I told you a couple of years ago, the Lord spoke to me to dig into the baby donkey. You cannot ride a baby donkey. I've told you all this until it's been trained usually for two years. So that in the cell that He rode on the baby, they will not let a human on their back until they've been trained. And it takes them, they say, usually two years to train a baby donkey to allow a human to get on its back. So that is the very fact that He just sat on that baby and didn't do anything but take it where He wanted to go. Shows who the master is, you know. He is the Prince of Peace. Yeah, He's the King of Kings, and He created it all for Him. All right. Now, so this, the book states, The ride on the colt, because it was planned, could only be an active parable, a deliberate act of symbolic self-disclosure for those with eyes to see, or after the resurrection with memories by which to remember and integrate the events of the preceding weeks and years. Secrecy was being lifted. I think that's cool. So Jesus is beginning to unveil His purpose for coming. He's letting everybody see. He's been teaching it, but a lot of people that He's been teaching it to, that He's going to be crucified, had left Him. But now He's letting it be known to the populace at large. All these thousands of people that are gathering and are shouting out these messianic proclamations, the Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. They're all excited that Jesus is, you know, letting them be excited, but they're going to see everything enacted just as He has been teaching. So what are the instructions? Verses two and three. What's the instructions that He tells His disciples? Go into the village over there. As soon as you enter it, you're going to see a donkey tied there with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks you why you're doing this, the Lord needs them and He'll immediately let you take them. So Matthew alone mentions two animals, and Mark notes that they are to find a colt on which no one has sat. Go to the village, that's in Mark 11, go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you'll find a colt tied there which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. So Jesus is not anticipating any problems whatsoever. It is going to be smooth sailing. They are going to ask you, if anybody does, is it true? He didn't say that He would, that there would be questions, but if they do, just tell them that I need it. And so Jesus really made a way. Don't we need Jesus to make a way in our lives? Don't we need to be willing to let Him have His way? Don't nations need Jesus to really make a way? Thank God, so we see that Jesus is the way maker. So Jesus, what is the purpose behind this event? This is 4 and 5. You want to read those out again? 4 and 5. This took place to fulfill what was spoken to the prophet. Say to daughter Zion, see your king come see you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The foal of a donkey. I guess it's to fulfill prophecy. Would you say? Yes. Well, I think that it did fulfill prophecy and the scripture says this took place to fulfill, but I think that, as you pointed out just a few moments ago, it did more than fulfill prophecy. It really was a dramatic announcement. Well, a dramatic demonstration of Jesus is His, who He is. He's the King. He is the King. He is the Prince of Peace, and He is miraculous. He's sitting on a colt that has never been ridden on before. He is also provider. He made sure that everything was provided for. He is the way maker. Nothing hindered or got in the way as far as everything just falling in line. So, so many things are revealed in this. It fulfilled scripture, but it did so many more things in a practical sense, too. Okay, the next, what is up? Let's see. Tell the daughter of Zion in verse five is quoted from Isaiah 62, 11. I'll read that. Isaiah 62, 11 says, the Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth, say to daughter of Zion, see, your Savior comes. See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him. So, this is quoted and is also, verse five is also a quote from Zechariah 9, 9, which says, rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion. Shout, daughter of Jerusalem, Savior King comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Is it foal? Foal of a donkey. So, the donkey stands in contrast to the war horse of a military ruler, emphasizing that Jesus is not now coming as a military Messiah, but as one who must first suffer. But it's interesting, when I was studying this earlier, when Jesus comes again, what do we see Him on? Give the verse that I'm reading out. Okay, let me find it. He's on a horse. Here is the scripture. I'm going to find it right now. It says in Revelation. Let's see. Ah, Revelation 19, 11. Why don't you read that out, Angelina? Revelation. 19, 11. And really, just read on down to like at least 14. 11 through 14. Chapter 19, verse 11. Mm-hmm. Through 14. Oh, so Jesus is going to be on a horse. We're going to be following Him on horses. And so Jesus started, revealed Himself on the colt as a humble king, humble king, and miraculous prince of peace. But yet now He is coming not as, not so much proclaiming peace as much as He is. He is a victorious warrior, and He is going to set things right. He's going to bring justice and righteousness to the nations. Praise God. And He has many crowns. And many crowns. All right, so all these things that the crowd is shouting out, those are really taken from prophecies and proclamations of messianic nature in the Old Testament. Zechariah 9, 9. Isaiah 62, 11. And so their reaction is, why don't you read verses 8 and 9. Matthew 21, 8 and 9. Carol? Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of Him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around Him were shouting, Praise God for the Son of David. Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Praise God in highest heaven. The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as He entered. Who is this, they asked. And the crowd replies, It's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth and Galilee. Okay, so what was their perception of Jesus? How did they view Jesus? That He was their coming King, the Son of David. Well, they are proclaiming Him to be a prophet. Okay, so they're looking at Him as a religious figure, and not primarily as a military figure. They're looking at Him as a religious figure, but they were anticipating that He was going to do what? Take over. That He was going to take over. Look at the pronouncements that they made. But they also called Him the Son of David, so they're recognizing that He's Messiah. Right. So, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. And what is that speaking of? He is coming in the name of the Lord, so He's coming with a kingdom. He is bringing forth the kingdom of God with Him. He's going to be the King. He's going to rule, and so therefore, and they're thinking, He is going to overthrow Rome. He is going to establish the kingdom of Israel once again. So, they're anticipating something different than what took place. Were they excited? Very. Were they accepting? Very. Okay. Carol, why don't you read that next sentence? A king's subject paid homage to Him by providing a carpet for Him to walk or ride on. Hosanna means save now. Hosanna, Hosanna, save now. Okay. It was more than a cry of acclamation. Essentially, it was a plea from an oppressed people to their Savior for deliverance. Later, it came to be a standard shout of praise. Psalm 118, 25, and 26. I can't read that. Does anybody have that? Psalm 125 is, Lord, save us. Lord, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord from the house of the Lord. We bless you. Okay. Psalm 118, 25, and 26, from which the quote comes, is messianic. Therefore, the people were publicly acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah. What is the multitude's overall reaction upon his revival in Jerusalem? You want to read verses 10 and 11 again, Edwina, please? Verses, I mean, chapter 10 again? No, 21. Verses 10 and 11. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, Who is this? The crowd answered, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth and Galilee. Okay. So, basically, they're calling him a prophet. They're calling him a prophet. They're acknowledging that he is also the root of David, that he is going to fulfill the prophecy made to David, that he's going to continue David's reign. I think it's interesting, though, that Hosannah being famous at that, they're crying out for his help. They need him to come and save, to deliver them. So, in the midst, what about the religious leaders? How did they do all this? Carol, why don't you read Matthew 21, verses 14 through 16? The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. The leading priests and the teachers of the religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the temple shouting, Praise God for the son of David. But the leaders were indignant. They asked Jesus, Do you hear what these children are saying? Yes, Jesus replied. Haven't you ever read the scriptures? For they say you have taught children and infants to praise you. Then he returned to Bethany where he stayed overnight. Okay. So, the religious leaders, why were they so against and fearful that these kids would be shouting out Hosannah to the son of David? Why is that something that they don't want? Well, they don't believe the Messiah politically. Why do they not want this? Because they don't want the people to stop believing in Jesus. Well, because this is proclaiming Jesus to be the son of David. So, if he's the son of David, what does that make Herod? Not a king. That makes him an imposter. That means that Jesus is coming into the city triumphantly and he's going to be taking over the throne. At least that's what they're thinking. And they didn't get along with him or agree with anything about him. Right. Remember, there were, like the Sadducees, most of them were akin to Herod. They were supporters of Herod and that meant that they were willing to work with Rome in order to keep their authority, to keep their position as religious leaders and everything. So, if they went along with this and proclaimed Jesus as king, then they were afraid that Rome was going to rise up and wipe them all out. And so, they did not want to rock the boat. But even if Jesus had been accepted as a king, he would have never chosen any of them to be with him. And they knew that already. So, they didn't like that either. But he wasn't in their court at all. He was constantly putting them down in front of the people. Now, let's look at Jesus. Did Jesus realize what the people were looking for? Sure. What did the people want? Let's summarize that. What did the people want? They wanted their knees met. Okay, good. They wanted their knees met. What was that? What's at the top of the list? What did they want Jesus to do? They wanted Jesus to to overcome the Romans for them. Okay. And so, everything that they're saying really points to that. Hosanna to the son of David. And he wanted vengeance. Yeah. Save us. Save us now. And so, all that points to that. But does Jesus accept what they're saying? I mean, does he let it go on? Mm-hmm. Okay. He does. Is he in agreement with all? Is he in agreement with their mindset? He's just letting it happen. But he knows they're not in the same mindset. Right. Very good. But is he in agreement with the Scripture? The Scripture is. Of course. Right. Yeah. But that just shows us that just because Jesus allows something to take place doesn't mean that he's agreeing with our mindset. Even if we are saying, well, yes, but this isn't the Word. Well, what we may think that the Word is saying might not be really what is taking place. So, Jesus directed them back to the Scriptures, basically. And so, he was saying, I'm the fulfillment of Scripture to these religious leaders. Yes. Yes. But he's not in agreement to where their mind is thinking that it's all going to take them. Okay. In the midst of the crowd's joy, Luke records a glaring contrast from Jesus himself. Luke 19, 41-44. Carol, you want to read that? 19, 41-44. Luke. Okay. Let me get my right book first. Okay. 41-44. Okay. But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long, your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place because you did not recognize it when God visited you. This is so interesting because the people are rejoicing. They're excited. It is like celebration. They're letting the king, the king is coming into the city. They're celebrating. They're shouting. They're putting their clothes down on the road so the king can ride over them. But what is Jesus doing? He's sad. He's crying. And because he is prophetically foreseeing what is going to take place in Jerusalem. That so often is the case with, I know with those that walk in prophetic giftings, they are always kind of a step ahead of the populace, the Christian populace, where everybody is celebrating. So often others are crying because you're seeing what's ahead. And that is certainly the case with Jesus. So his reaction is really different than the crowds. So is that, what should that tell us? Is it always wrong to not be in sync with everybody else? No, Jesus was definitely a step ahead of everybody else there. They're celebrating Jesus is crying. And sometimes when people are crying, you might be rejoicing. Why? Because you see what they don't see. Well, that shows that he really did know their hearts, that even though they were worshiping him, he knew it wasn't for the right reason, but he allowed it to go on. But also Jesus also knew that while they said that they accepted him, what did he, what does the scripture just said? They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within you, they will not leave once on another because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you. But what are they saying? It says that they are recognizing. So they're quoting scripture, they're calling him the son of David, they're calling him Hosanna, they're proclaiming him to be king, but Jesus says, you did not recognize the time of your visitation. I think that's why we have to be very careful and walk softly when the Lord does speak something to make sure we're truly understanding it. You know, they thought they were understanding the scriptures and working it out, but they actually weren't. They misunderstood what God was really doing. Well, I remember this one time, I've never forgotten this, it happened probably 40 years ago, but we were in a service and I was given a prophecy for somebody and I delivered the message to them and they received it. They were so excited and then they immediately said, I know exactly what that means. And they began to voice what they felt that it meant. And in my spirit, I knew that they weren't even close. They were not even, they weren't even on the same page with the Lord of what it meant, but I knew that I wasn't to say anything. But they were so sure that they knew exactly what it meant. So you're right. When the Lord speaks, we need to, what's the first thing, when the Lord does speak, what's the first thing that we need to do? Pray and ask him to give us understanding. Yeah, give us understanding, even when we think that we understand. Say, Lord, could you clarify? Well, I just turned 70 and I surely have learned through trial and error that there are many times when the Lord spoke to me and I thought I knew what it meant and it turned out totally different. But you know, the Lord's word is true. I thought, well, yeah, that really technically did happen that way, but that's not what I thought it meant. Well, I know that like in dreams, the Lord would give me a dream and I'd immediately wake up and instead of trying to interpret that, I would just say, Lord, I'm giving this back to you because, Lord, it seems clear to me what it means, but Lord, I'm just giving it back to you to clarify. I want to make sure that I'm understanding what you're saying. And inevitably, I'd go back to sleep and the Lord would give me another dream that would interpret the first dream and give it clarity. And it would usually be real different than what I thought that it was all about, you know. So the Lord is reacting differently to this whole event than they are. In fact, they're thinking that they are receiving Him and Jesus, and you did not. You did not perceive the time of God's visitation. And they were sure that they were. All right, so spiritually, where are the people of Jerusalem as a whole? And you're going to look at Luke 19, verse 42. Read that out. So, where are they at? 1942. If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. Wow. So what does that mean? Now it is hidden from your eyes. What does that mean? You're not going to really understand it anymore. Okay, so that implies to us then, God has revealed this to you, but you have not perceived it, and so now what's going to happen? You're not going to understand it anymore. God's going to just let you be blinded. Remember, in Corinthians, it says, the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. But what takes place is, when the Lord reveals something to you, if you do not receive it by faith, then the Lord will give you over to the blindness that you have chosen. So, if you reject light, he gives you over to the darkness that you have chosen. So, it's not like God is condemning you to the darkness. He's giving you to that which you have chosen. You chose darkness, so he says, okay, so now I'm not going to reveal it to you so blatantly as I have. You know, that shows that they had already made their decision before he even did the triumphal entry for him to say that, you know. Okay, let's jumble down. What have they chosen? They have chosen a king. The rhythm of Roman rule. Right, that's it. Yeah, they have chosen somebody that is going to set their nation back up, and they're always comparing everything to the golden years of Israel, which was Solomon's reign. And so, they're thinking that he's going to bring back economic prosperity. He's going to get rid of all this taxation that Rome has upon them. He's going to give them freedom. He's going to give them everything that Solomon had. And so, that's exactly what they have chosen Jesus to be. And Jesus is not on board with that. But from Solomon's time to their time, that was like over a thousand years. Yeah, but they always look back to Solomon as the golden years. Okay. Because he built the first temple too, right? And he increased the holdings of the country. He increased the economy. I mean, the Bible tells us that during Solomon's reign that silver was worthless, you know. It was just like, it had so much of it. Yeah, it wasn't considered like we consider it. And gold was so plentiful that Solomon's plates were made out of pure gold. I mean, this guy was wealthy beyond compare. And I've read books on that which they spent in building the temple would have been in the billions for this one structure, billions of dollars. And the things that they would use as the infrastructure of the temple, they'd cover over it. But it's not like they would use like scrap wood because they knew it was going to be covered over. They used the best of the best of the best. And then would cover over it where you wouldn't even see it. So, they spared no expense in building the temple. So, he was beyond our understanding. And that's the temple that's about to be built, right? Actually, no. That was destroyed. Solomon's temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. And then it was rebuilt. But then Herod came along and he was a master builder. And he started rebuilding the temple that had taken the place of Solomon's temple. And he spent 60 years building the, not just the temple, but the whole temple complex, which was, I mean, was massive. Well, you can tell how massive it is because the foundation is still there. Yeah, the dome of the rock is not small and it's on there and there's still tons of room. Well, the temple itself was surrounded with like the court. And then even bigger than that was the court of the Gentiles, where that's where all the marketing and all that took place was in the court of the Gentiles. So, this was a massive, massive structure that Herod really built. He took the original, left it, but he built all around it and made it much more big and grand. A little bit of Solomon's on it. I think that there are, I think that, no, the temple structure now that is in place is Herod's temple. But the dome of the rock, when I was there, they conjectured that the dome of the rock was really built right over the rock that Abraham sacrificed on, which was where the altar was. So, but it's called the dome of the rock. So, it's not even for the Jews anymore. No, the dome of the rock is Muslim. No, nobody can go there. I mean, we can go there. But they are built. They do revere Abraham because Abraham was the father of Ishmael. I know my husband watched a lot of stuff. How did they come from the Jewish to the Muslims? From Muhammad. Muhammad was an ignorant man, but he liked to go. I heard that he would go listen to Christians and he would listen to Jews. And they say, I've never read the Quran all the way through it. I just can't get through it because it's so boring, but maybe the Lord will prompt me to read it one day. But they say it's a mixture of Christian stories, Jewish stories from the Bible, but that he doesn't even have them in the right time. And also false religions cause the whole thing. Well, he's against the false religions. That he wiped out. His people worship. But it's still based on false religions. You still know the moon thing, but according to Muhammad, he did away with all the idolatry of the Arab people. But he didn't. That's what I'm trying to ask you. What happened to the Jews? Why would they allow the other people to take over? They took over a long time ago. Oh, I understand. How did that happen? Because they had been displaced. There was nobody there to protect it. Right. The destruction of Jerusalem happened in 70 AD, which Jesus predicted that it was going to happen. Right. The Jews were again scattered all over the place and they did not leave one stone on top of the other. The foundation is there, but the whole temple was destroyed completely. But you can't go into the Dome of the Rock. The Romans did that. The Dome of the Rock is the Jewish prayer center. It is like the pinnacle. The Jewish. I mean, the Muslim prayer center. And it's like the pinnacle. But that's why the Jews go down by the whaling mall and pray. Right. But the Dome of the Rock is built, at least when I was there in 1970, which was a long time ago, they felt, the Jews feel, that the Dome of the Rock is built right over the rock where Abraham sacrificed, which would have been, they felt, the rock which the altar would have been built on. And so that's why when you're talking about rebuilding the temple, the hindrance is the Dome of the Rock. They can't rebuild another temple because the temple has got to be built on the rock. Okay, but the Muslims took over all of that area. The Ottoman Empire. You've read that in history. Right. They took over Northern Africa, all the Middle East, and even parts of Europe. Turkey was ruled by the Ottoman. The Ottoman Empire was the Muslim Empire. Right. But you're saying that the temple that is still there, is just the foundation. Just the wall. And now it's the one that was rebuilt by the Muslims. They didn't rebuild it. No. They just put the Dome of the Rock on top of it. What Herod did is he built a whole foundation and structure and built many tiers. And there was the temple, the Jewish temple there. But the whole temple complex was massive. And that temple complex, there's one wall, and they call it the willing wall. That wall is still standing that dates back all the way back 2,000 years ago to Herod's temple. The Dome of the Rock is built on part of, I guess, on part of the foundation that Herod built that is right where the temple would have been. Okay. You see there? There's the temple, Muslim temple, the Dome of the Rock. All of that is just foundation of where Herod's temple would have been. But as Jesus said, there was not one stone left upon the other. The Romans completely destroyed it. But the foundation is there. And they built the Muslim Dome of the Rock where the Muslims did. They think it's over the original temple temple because that was built where the rock, being the rock that Abraham sacrificed. They think he sacrificed Ishmael, but we know it was Isaac. So they trace themselves up to Ishmael. They think that Ishmael was the firstborn, the chosen son of Abraham, not Isaac. I know. And they will not let the Jews around there. Sometimes they even shut down the wailing wall and won't let the Jews go near the wailing wall. When I went there, we went in to the Dome of the Rock. Yeah, back then they let some people do that. You took your shoes off and you could go in. So basically all this platform that I'm seeing now as the Dome of the Rock was built by the Muslims. Not by the platform. That is not the foundation. Yeah, but the Dome of the Rock was built. The building itself. Yeah, they built that. The Muslims built that. And the Jews... Look at that. That gives you an idea. See that? That is just the foundation of what the temple would have been when Jesus was there. But all the structure is gone. But isn't that kind of weird how they did that? That's just to show you that the enemy... Right! The Jews don't want them to build the temple again. Let me just share with you what I've read about that. I mean the Muslims don't want them. They are out to take over everything. And they believe that if they are allowed to pray, then they are actually taking over, spiritually speaking, that they are taking over that whole thing. They believe the same thing we do in that. You know how we go out in territories, we walk territories, pour out oil, and we declare scriptures, and therefore we are taking that territory. They believe the same thing. So if you ever let a Muslim come into your church, which some churches here in Miami have. If they go into your church, and they have been invited into some churches here in Miami, they believe from that day on, Muhammad owns that place, Allah is the spiritual head. And if they are given a place to pray, they feel that that is giving them legal spiritual right, control. Isn't it? And there is a church here that I knew the pastor. I don't think he is the pastor anymore, but I knew all of his family. And they invited Farrakhan to go in there and speak. In fact, it was all on the news. And I went and emailed his sister and said, why would he do that? Oh my goodness, she got upset with me. And she is a real believer. You know, because I knew that now from that point on, that church would have to do some major spiritual warfare to get those Islamic demons out of there. She got upset with me. All right, so spiritually, where are the people of Jerusalem as a whole? Well, now they are blinded, because we just read in 1942, if you even you had known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. So they are blinded. Before they had the opportunity to receive, but to reject the light is to embrace the darkness. And so now they are blinded. And that is why Jesus is crying. He wants more food. All right, so what should that teach us? What should that teach us about? We think that everything is good if you go to a service. I don't know. What does that teach us about? Going to churches and worshiping and praising, hosanna, glory, glory, glory, man it was wonderful, exciting. But does that mean that you are really perceiving what Jesus wants to do? Right, and so because they weren't perceptive, because they weren't receiving Jesus to do what he was really there to do, Jesus said, now it's going to be hidden from you. All right, Carol, what about you? Okay, they are hidden from your eyes, they are hidden from your eyes, indicate satanic blindness, see Luke 9, 43-45. All right, while everyone was marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, listen to me and remember what I say. The son of man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies, but they didn't know what he meant, his significance was hidden from them, so they couldn't understand it and they were afraid to ask him about it. Okay, why don't you all turn to our, Edwina, why don't you look up 2 Corinthians 4-4. 2 Corinthians 4-4. The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ who is the image of God. Okay, and then I'm going to read Romans chapter 1 verse 24 and the whole, in the very beginning of Romans, he's talking about how God has revealed himself to mankind, he's revealed himself to creation and so forth and so on, but in starting with verse 21, for although they knew God, so they're just like the people that are celebrating Jesus coming into Jerusalem, they are proclaiming him to be king, he's the messiah, so forth and so on, so although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their fearless hearts were darkened. And then it says in verse 24, therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies over the one another, so otherwise God gave them over to that which they chose, darkness. So just remember to reject the light is to embrace the darkness. Right. Okay, what will be the result? Somebody read verse 43 through 44 again. Got it. As they were all amazed at the greatness of God, Jesus predicts his death. While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you, the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, but they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it and they were afraid to ask him. So the result is blindness, basically, and then I looked up Isaiah 29 3, it says, I will encamp against you on all sides, I will encircle you with towers and set up my siege works against you. So this is basically what Jesus predicted is going to happen in Jerusalem. Okay, so did you look up Isaiah 29 3? That's what I just read. Okay, do you want to read Ezekiel 4 verses 1 through 3? And this is talking about, it was really a prophetic object lesson that God had Ezekiel play out. Now son of man, take a block of clay, put in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it, erect siege work against it, build a ramp to sit up against it and put battering rams around it. Then take iron pen, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege and you shall be sieged. This will be a sign to the people of Israel. Okay, so this is really talking about the siege against Jerusalem where Jesus said, there's not going to be a stone left, you know, upon one another. I mean, we can look back now, I mean, and see that it totally came to pass in 70 AD. Romans came in and destroyed Israel again and they were scattered again. But Jesus specifically says in this, it's because they did not see him as he really was. They were looking for something totally different. You know, they rejected him overall as their Messiah. All right, so what is it, let me ask you, what is it that you learned? What's a paramount thing that you see in this? What do you learn from this? That we need to be careful not to become blinded and not see, like even now in our age, if we talk about this prophet, I mean, this would happen in 70 AD, the temple being broken and destroyed. Like, somewhere here that the temple will have to be rebuilt. It's been a long time. Right. And what are the times saying? Like, I always think like that. What are the times really saying that in our times, as we go closer to the return of Jesus, like what is he saying in the spirit? Because things are really breaking apart, like in Israel, things are happening of a higher, and it's speeding up. Right. There's a spiritual, there's a spiritual value to it. It's not just the physical. I believe something is happening on a spiritual level, that the Lord is trying to tell us something. The temple was destroyed and the temple must be rebuilt. And all this blindness has to come and be reversed. Right. I agree. But to me, the thing that sticks out to me the most is that you can think that you see. And all the people thought that they were certainly in sync with Jesus. He's entering in triumphantly. They're excited. They're celebrating. They're proclaiming to be king. And they think that they're totally in sync with what Jesus is doing. And next thing you know, Jesus is crying over the city and he's saying, you didn't, you didn't receive me. And because you didn't receive me, now you're going, it's all going to be hidden from you. So even like, I remember when we went to revival, the revival, some of the meetings that were taking place at Brownsville, we knew people that backslid, that even went there. How can you backslide during a time of revival? But there were, there were even students that went to their Bible college that ended up just kind of falling away. And so you're never at a point to where you can't be blinded. You're never at a point when you, if you think that you see, then you really need to stay humble before the Lord and say, Lord, create in me a pure heart. You know, the thought just came to me, it might not be a bad idea for us every day in our prayers to ask the Lord to help us not to be blinded, to help us to truly be sensitive and understand what he's saying. Please don't let us be given over to blindness or deception because look at how many big name pastors now have caved into the gay agenda, caved into, you know, believing that anybody can be saved, that everybody's going to get saved. There is no hell. I mean, there's some big name ministers out there that have already caved into this stuff. And don't be crazy and saying that would never happen to me. I think that's the thing. You can never have that attitude. When I read in, in, you know, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, you have some kings that started out fabulously with the Lord and sought him and turned the whole nation around. Then they get become seniors. And here I am a real true senior now and see that they messed up in their senior years. And so I've always said, Lord, God, help me. I've come, I've been, I've known you for over 50 years. I don't want to mess up the last 10 years of my life, the last 15, you know, like Manasseh did and some of the others that kind of messed up towards the end that we're doing so good. I think, Lord, please help me. Well, I agree. And I think that you never want to get to the point to where you think that you are perfect. Yeah. Then you're beyond being deceived. Right. You know, and if you think that you see there, I've been looking for a scripture and I'm not able to find it, but you can find it on Google, where Jesus is talking to the Sadducees and he said, because you said that you can see, yeah, you know, you're, you're worse off because you think that you see, but you really, you don't see, but now you're really in trouble. But I'm not, otherwise they were blind and they had no idea. Yeah. All right. Well, why don't we pray then? And Julia, why don't you ask the Lord to help us all to stay humble before him, that we will walk softly before the Lord, that we'll begin to truly perceive what he's doing and what he wants to do in our midst. Father, we thank you, Lord, today that you have opened our eyes, oh God, and you are continuing to inject in us these biscuits, these spiritual biscuits in our, in our minds, in our hearts, oh God, because honestly, Lord, that is truly your true jewel, oh God, is your word in us, that is working in us, oh God. And Lord, as you said, Lord, we pray that we will not be deceived. We pray that we will never think that we are beyond perfect and we're okay at this point, because you said in the Bible, Lord, that we need to continue to work out and work out our salvation on a daily basis. Lord, teach us to continue to work out your salvation, continue to seek after you, to continue to dig, dig and dig deeper in the word of God. So Lord, I'm amazed how every day I open this Bible and I see something that I thought I knew, and then there's another revelation that comes through it, oh God. So we pray, oh God, Lord, continue to reveal in our hearts your word and help us, Lord, not to get comfortable that we have been Christians for a long time, we are okay, for Lord, every hour has its own need, oh God. And we pray, Lord, that we are in sync with you, Lord, and we pray for ourselves that we will continue to grow. But Lord, we also pray for our families, our children, our neighbors, our city, our country. This word of God, help them also, Lord, to see you, that they will be revealed, that Jesus will be revealed to them. And Lord, you will sink into their hearts. You will, Lord, begin to sink in and do a greater work that is higher than we can think or ask for, Lord. Oh God, we thank you, Lord, that you do not see that we will be deceived. So we pray, oh God, that your will will be done in our hearts, oh God. We will continue to grow. We will continue to seek you. We will continue to pray. We will continue to seek after you, even though it seems so impossible in some of the prayers we are praying about. Lord, sometimes it does seem like it's over. But Lord, you say we must never give up, oh God. So Lord, help us to grow in faith. Help us to grow in faith, Lord. The whole theme of this whole story, oh God, this whole study, is that we must grow our faith. We must grow our faith, oh God. It must be, oh God, like you said, if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, it just says of us that we don't have much faith, and we need to grow it, oh God. So we pray, Lord, we will continue to seek after you in prayer, seek after you in meditation, seek after you, oh God. In Jesus' name I pray, Lord, amen. Amen, Carol. Lord, I just pray that we will stay sensitive to you, that we won't allow the circumstances around us to dim our faith, help us to stay rooted and grounded in your Word, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, lead us, guide us. It says in the Word that you lead us to all truth, you reveal to us Jesus, you reveal to us what Jesus said and did. Holy Spirit, please bring conviction to us if we're we're straying to the right or to the left. Oh, thank you, Jesus, that you send us the Holy Spirit as our helper, as our guide, and help us to stay rooted and grounded in your Word, Lord, and help us to rightly divide the Word of truth. In Jesus' name, amen. Lord, I am truly gripped by this, this time when everybody was celebrating, at least those who were following you were celebrating, and you ended up crying because you saw how blind they were or unreceptive they were, and then you just gave them over to their blindness. Lord Jesus, please have mercy upon us. Lord, you said that things are going to become so difficult that even the elect would be deceived if that were possible. So, Lord, that shows that there is going to be such deception. So, Lord, I'm asking you, oh God, you who have revealed yourself to us, may we be open to what you want to do in our lives, how you're working. Lord, I'm asking, Lord, that you would help us to see, help us to see, and help us to be receptive, make our hearts pure and perceptive to you and your will. And Lord, may we really be in sync with you, I pray. Lord, because, Lord Jesus, I do not want to reject what you are doing. Lord, I do not want to be blinded. So, Lord, may we walk in sync with you, I pray, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. All right, I'll just stop this real quick.