Revelation 19 Part 1 Bible Teaching

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Revelation 19 Part I
March 25th 2018
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Alrighty folks – Revelation 19 – which I am going to try and hit in one fell swoop. So John NOW writes:

Revelation 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, “Amen; Alleluia.”
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.”
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
7 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints
9 And he saith unto me, “Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he saith unto me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, “See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called “The Word of God.”
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.”
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Before we get into our verse by verse I have to address what first hits me as I read these passages – and that is from the mouth of John, and the Mouth of Angels, and the mouth of Heavenly hosts, we have some real differentiations going on here in the descriptions of God and the Lamb.

You may not see them, hear them, nor care – but I do – and I think that they are important because Jesus at this point is in Heaven with the Father and yet there remains these key distinctions.

So I have taken the time to write these keys saying out on the white board to highlight these distinctions so as to address them clearly before we move on.

(GO TO BOARD) Let’s re-read these passages and look to the board as to how they are categorized by scripture, not by me.

The YELLOW SPEAKS OF GOD DIRECTLY

THE GREEN SPEAKS OF JESUS, THE WORD, DIRECTLY

Revelation 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, “Amen; Alleluia.”
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.”
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
7 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints
9 And he saith unto me, “Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he saith unto me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, “See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called “The Word of God.”
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.”
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast
alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

From all of this I still maintain that there is One God, even the Father as SCRIPTURE repeatedly calls Him.

HE is God Almighty and He sits on the Throne alone.
I also maintain that there is also ONE LORD and SAVIOR, the WORD of the One God Almighty made flesh, who having overcome all things, reigns over the eternal Kingdom God His Father gave Him.

Okay, that little jaunt may have taken us out of the running to cover all of 19 today but lets see and we’ll begin by reading verses 1-6 and covering them as a whole.

Revelation 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Verses 1-6: In the previous chapter we saw much mourning on the part of the kings, merchants, and shipmasters “of the earth” (which we understood to be Palestine).

Here at the beginning of this chapter we see that all of heaven rejoices, for God “has judged the great prostitute…and has avenged on her the blood of His servants”

2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

As we have already discussed and pretty much made clear, there is really only one place that Jesus said would be held responsible for “the shed blood of His saints, prophets, and apostles,” and that is first-century Israel.

We have also seen throughout our study of Revelation that the term “earth” here better means area rather than world (kosmos) so these things are not meant to be taken as worldwide in scope, but as dealing instead with the land of Israel/Palestine.

3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

Also, I think I have mentioned before that the expression “the smoke from her goes up forever and ever” is more a reference to the eternal extinction of Old Covenant temple-based Judaism than it is to the physical city of Jerusalem, though both were laid waste in 70 AD.

This expression is also used in Revelation 14:11 regarding he torment laid up for those who would worship the beast and its image.

It hearkens back to Isaiah 34, where the same expression was used in regard to the judgment upon Edom, and perhaps even further back to the judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:28.

I take this expression as being a wiping away of whatever is being destroyed as it being done once and for all as we do not see Sodom and Gommorah still on fire nor Edom – and I do not therefore think that those who followed the beast are burning forever and ever but that whatever drove them to take the mark was purged from their persons.

Greater fulfillment minds than mine by far have discovered a parallel of content between Revelation chapter 11 and this chapter 19.

David Chilton says that the subject matter established “in the two set of scripture” are there because they represent “the closing visions of the two major sections of the book.”

These are the six similar elements identified by Chilton which I have also written out on the board.

They are

GOD is described in following ways

LORD OUR GOD (theos)
AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS SERVANTS
WORSHIPPED GOD WHO SAT ON THE THRONE (theos)
PRAISE OUR GOD (theos)
FOR THE LORD GOD OMNIPOTENT REIGNETH (theos)
HONOR TO HIM
THE TRUE SAYING OF GOD (theos)
WORSHIP GOD (theos)
God ALMIGHTY (theos)
The Great Supper of God (theos)

JESUS is described in following ways. . .

Marriage of the LAMB is come
Supper of the LAMB
The Testimony of Jesus
The Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy
Faithful and True
In righteousness he doth judge and make war
His eye were as a flame of fire
On his head were many crowns
Had a name written which no one knew but He Himself
Clothed with a vesture dipped in blood
Name is called the Word of God (logos of theos)
Out of His mouth a sharp sword
Shall rule with a rod of Iron
Treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of . . .
On vesture and thigh a name written
King of KINGS and LORD of LORDS (not King of God’s or Lord of God’s – King of ALL kingd and Lord of ALL Lords)
He sat on the horse
Sword of him proceeded out of His mouth

1. loud voices…in heaven (11:15; 19:1);

2. the declaration of the commencement of the reign of God (11:15, 17; 19:1, 6);

3. the twenty-four elders fall on their faces and worship (11:16; 19:4);

4. the avenging of the blood of His servants is announced (11:18; 18:24; 19:2);

5. reference to God’s servants…who fear Him, small and great (11:18; 19:5);

6. loud noises, including thunderings (11:19; 19:6).

(Verses 4-6)

4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, “Amen; Alleluia.”

We remember reading about these characters in detail back in chapters 4,5 and 11. We also remember talking about how there was one throne and one being on it, with the Lamb in the gathering around it. (Verse 5)

The word Alleluia is

the Greek form of the Hebrew “Hallelujah” which means, “Praise ye YAHOVAH,” and begins or ends several of the Psalms 106, 111, 112, 113.

Here in chapter 19 we are met with this term four times. But we are not met with it anywhere else in the New Testament.

I don’t WANT to do this, because it is above my intelligence and pay grade, but we have to pause (for another delay) and discuss this term.

To start, the word Hallelujah looks exactly like a Biblical name (meaning a verb + the name of God) and it’s pretty wild that we do not see it used in scripture as such.

In English and other languages the term stands alone but in Hebrew it possesses a cluster of names, words and phrases that are frequently presented through sacred text.

We use Hallelujah sort of like Southern Californias use, DUDE! Or as a term of exultation but in Hebrew Hallelujah was recognized as proper language.

The Etymology of the word is a tad complicated.

It consists of two elements. It ends with ?? (Yah) = ??? (Yahu) = ?? (Yu), which by the way, are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton or the consonantal name of the Lord: YHWH.

The term starts with an imperative form (that means it’s a command) of the root ??? (halal):

to shine
(Qal) to shine (fig. of God’s favour)
(Hiphil) to flash forth light
to praise, boast, be boastful
(Qal)
to be boastful
boastful ones, boasters (participle)
(Piel)
to praise
to boast, make a boast
(Pual)
to be praised, be made praiseworthy, be commended, be worthy of praise
(Hithpael) to boast, glory, make one’s boast
(Poel) to make a fool of, make into a fool
(Hithpoel) to act madly, act like a madman.
Note that at first glance the form ??? (halal) may seem somewhat similar to ??? (halal, or chalal), but it’s really quite different and no Hebrew poet would entertain a parallel between them.

We may have a natural tendency to group things into categories of black and white but in the Biblical arena this never existed.

So halal cannot be radically nested under the wings of either wisdom or folly, but is rather a third modus, according to some scholars.

Halal denotes an exuberance, for whatever reason. It takes no great poetic leap to see symmetry between the shining of a star and the praising of a worshiper, certainly also because in the Bible true believers are compared to stars (Daniel 12:3).

Halal denotes a letting go of restraints and inhibitions, and, entirely depending on the heart behind it, can result in either a complete surrender to God’s control OR the flight from surrender without anyone in control.

In other words, halal can turn to either a most “holy expression of devotion” or else a blasphemous display of derangement and in my estimation the truth of its use can only be known in the heart.

The apostle Paul warns his followers to ease up on a typical halal-expression, namely speaking in tongues, when guests are in the congregation, lest they think the congregants are insane (1 CORINTHIANS 14:23).

And when David transports the Ark of the Covenant from the house of Obed-edom to Jerusalem, he shows such a gladness that he surely acted out the verb halal.

When his wife Michal sees him, she insults him by readily applying the verb of insanity rather than of worship.

David’s response seems somewhat cool, but of Michal it was said that she remained childless until her death. Tradition has her struck with infertility but it may very well be that David stopped seeing her all together (as2nd Samuel 6:16-23).

A similar confusion occurs when spectators who have never personally experienced spiritual rapture see someone at it.

Bernini’s sculpture called the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa marvelously captures this holy rapture, but critics suggest that it is sexual euphoria.

So guess what happened?

A group of scientists took brain scans of people who were having sex and compared them to brain scans of people worshipping.

And lo and behold, the exact same brain regions were activated in both groups (If you are interested in this study, see Andrew Newberg, John Horgan, and “Miracles: God, science, and Psychology in the Paranormal [2008]. Also consider, “Where God and Science Meet: How Brain and Evolutionary Studies Alter Our Understanding of Religion” [2006]).

Because the Bible frequently equates the relationship of God with His people to that of a husband with his wife, and now we know that this is more than an apparent metaphor but that God, through His Spirit, entering into the heart of Man, creates an ecstatic condition like unto healthy intimate sexual relations.

In other words, it seems that we are designed to let go every now and then. When we let go in the presence of God, we’ll be worshipping. When we let go but don’t focus on God, we’ll be doing lots of other things, most of which will cause grave trouble, and could easily be defined as insane and of the flesh – which the word, again, does not distinguish between.

These insights help us to see how easily halal can be abused and misused and actually counterfeited by the world.

Although Hallelujah consists of two distinct verbal entities (a verb and a name), it’s consistently written as one word and in the Old Testament, it occurs only in the Psalms, and often at the beginning of them. Of course in the New Testament, ONLY here in Revelation 19, where the heavens rejoice – exult, proclaim ecstatically the word!

Hallelujah seems to fulfill the function of a mere liturgical term; a call to praise, like “here we go!”

But under closer scrutiny a second meaning emerges, or perhaps the primary meaning that had slipped under the popular or liturgical one.

It seems that the word Hallelujah tends to show up in the vicinity of contemplations on death, which is after all the final moment of letting go every living creature has to deal with.

The Bible sometimes calls death the “way of all the earth” (Joshua 23:14, 1 Kings 2:2) and the Psalmist distinctively admonishes not only his soul to perform Hallelujah (146:1), but also everything that has breath (150:6).

It’s a common misconception to believe that only humans have souls.

In Genesis 1:20, God creates “swarmers that swarm” and gives them the soul of life.

A verse later He creates the creepers and sea beasts, also endowed with the soul of life (1:21).

Then He commands, “Let the earth bring forth the soul of life, according to its kind …” (1:24).

The apostle Paul says it clearly. Not only humans are waiting anxiously for the fulfillment; all of creation has fallen and all of creation longs for the end, the freedom and the glory of the children of God (Romans 8:18-22) or as the Psalmist puts it:

“Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Hallelujah!” (104:35).

This is a very similar situation we are reading about here in Revelation 19, where the heavens are similarly exclaiming:

“Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Hallelujah!”

Other uses in the Psalms of the term are

“Blessed be YHWH, the God of Israel, from eternity to eternity. And let all the people say Amen. Hallelujah!” (106:48).

“We will bless Yah, from this time forth and evermore. Hallelujah!” (115:18)

“The Truth of YHWH endures forever. Hallelujah!” (117:2).

In Psalm 115:17 occurs the imperfect form of Hallelujah, namely ????????, Yehallelujah, meaning ‘they are praising Yah’ or ‘they will praise Yah’.

And then again we have John the Revelators use of the term here.

Hallelujah is not a mere liturgic command, like a prelude to something exuberant.

Now, the use of halleluiah connection to sexual ecstasy we have something here. In the expressions from the heart of praise it is due to the union of God with Man – as ecstasy is similar in the union of a man and a woman.

The experience of halleluiah, say some Jewish scholars, lies not only how to live, but how to die, as they say:

“Blessed is the one who is able to die in the spirit of Hallelujah, who can render the soul without hesitation or trepidation.”

In other words, “Hallelujah” seems a good attitude or heart when the final moment of letting go is here.

So it is in the sexual intimacy when the final letting go occurs, if you understand what I mean. And its also of great interest that in that moment even the atheist has been known to say, “Oh my God,” and the French refer to that moment as, “the little death.”

So . . . wild as it is, there are some insights to the exclamation of Halleluiah found here coming from heaven at the final letting go of all that once plagued the Saints.

5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.”

Then John says:

6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”

In chapter 18 we read several verses that depicted the finality of the Old System and Kingdom.

Here in verse 6, we see a reference to the onset of God’s kingdom in its fullness in the words of the great multitude crying out:

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.”

Ken Gentry says this about the significance of the kingdom being taken from the harlot and given to the bride:

“The New Testament records the gradual establishment of the kingdom (cf. Matt. 13:31-33; Mark 4:26-29): from its ministerial announcement (Matt. 12:28; Mark 1:15) to its legal security at the cross (Matt. 28:18; Rom. 1:3-4; Phil. 2:1-11; Col. 1:13; 2:14-15) to its public vindication in Israel’s overthrow (Matt. 23:32-24:21; Gal. 4:21-31; I Thess. 2:16; Rev. 6-19).

God’s removal of the temple system—physically breaking down the “dividing wall of hostility” legally broken in Christ (Eph. 2:14)—conclusively ended the early Zionistic tendencies of many first-century Christians (e.g. Acts 11:1-3; 15:1; Rom. 14:1-8; Gal. 1-5; Col. 2:16; Tit. 3:9) and established Christianity as a separate religion in its own right (this is why Jesus likens the great tribulation to “birth pains,” Matt. 24:8).

He continues –

“In conjunction with the marriage feast preparations, the bridegroom appears. In fact, his divorce and the capital punishment of his adulterous wife-prostitute provide the very justification for this celebration and new marriage (19:11-18).

(I would add as Paul says, the death of the Spouse liberates the other from the law of him or her)

And Gentry concludes:

“The lesson of Revelation now becomes clear: Christ gloriously appears as a warrior-bridegroom, punishing faithless Jerusalem and taking a new bride.

It is to this picture of Christ, taking a new bride, that appears – and we will also see an expanded recapitulated version of this in the contents of chapter 21.

Alright, verse 7 where the voice says:

7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

This readying for the marriage of the Lamb to his wife is an ongoing process revealed both in scripture and in the cultural marriage celebrations of Israel.

In other words, after the ascension of Jesus to His Father it unfolds.

I think that it is clear that, as Chilton writes,

“The duty of the apostles during the Last Days was to prepare the Church for her nuptials. Paul wrote of Christ’s sacrifice as the redemption of the Bride: He ‘loved the Church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word; that He might present to Himself the glorious Church, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless’ (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Paul extended this imagery in speaking to the Corinthians about the goal of his ministry, saying:

“I am jealous for you with godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one Husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin’ (2 Corinthians 11:2-3).”

Now, think about this in relation to our walk with God. The preparedness of the bride involves two distinct aspects.

On the one hand, the righteous acts that comprise her wedding attire are a gift of grace granted her by God [as verse 8 says].

On the other, she has made herself ready (as verse 7 says). This is such an important picture and type for every one of us today as we too have been clothed in the grace of God by faith in the shed blood of His Son and as a response to this we too prepare ourselves to enter into His Kingdom.

Maarchshak brings out the following, saying

“These bring out both man’s (I Tim. 4:16; I John 3:3) and God’s (Col. 1:22; Eph. 5:26) agency in the sanctification of the church (cf. I Thess. 5:15-24).

And I would add that these also bring about the sanctification of every individual believer today.

Chilton adds:

[T]he destruction of the Harlot and the marriage of the Lamb and the Bride—the divorce and the wedding—are correlative events. The existence of the Church as the congregation of the New Covenant marks an entirely new epoch in the history of redemption. God was not now merely taking Gentile believers into the Old Covenant (as He had done under the Old Testament economy before). Rather, He was bringing in “the age to come” (Hebrews 2:5; 6:5), the age of fulfillment… With the final divorce and destruction of the unfaithful wife in A.D. 70, the marriage of the Church was firmly established.

This imagery is on display in Jesus parable of the vineyard as Jesus says:

33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

Here we just read of

“The religious leaders of Israel (vs. 45), being guilty of murdering the prophets (vss. 34-36) and finally rejecting and murdering God’s Son (vss. 37-39, vs. 42).

They were to suffer the loss of the kingdom (vs. 43) when the owner of the vineyard came in judgment (vss. 40-41).

The language of verse 44 (“And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him”) seems to be a clear reference to the catastrophic downfall of Jerusalem and temple-based Judaism in 70 AD.

In my estimation it is also a reference to every single individual from that day forward – when we fall on Jesus we are broken, but if He falls on us we will (meaning our will and ways) will in the future, be ground to powder.”

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