Luke 19:43-48
Luke 19:43 (KJB)
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about
thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
This prophecy of Jesus came to pass exactly as he stated. When General Titus had
laid siege to Jerusalem, one of the first things the Roman army did was to dig a
trench around Jerusalem and use the dirt to make an embankment. These great
mounds of dirt had prevented anyone from escaping into the woods. They had even
chopped down trees so there would be bare land between Jerusalem and the forest
and this way if someone did make it past the embankment, they would have no
cover of forest and would be spotted immediately and killed. It is said that the
Romans crucified so many Jews, that they actually ran out of trees. About one
million Jews died in the siege.
Luke 19:44 (KJB)
And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they
shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the
time of thy visitation.
The six year siege of Jerusalem and all of Judaea culminated in all of the
buildings in Jerusalem being razed. The temple and all its buildings were
decimated and brought down to nothing. The Romans did not even spare the
children as they died with their parents. Many had died of starvation and
resorted to cannibalism which was a fulfillment of Leviticus 26:29. (Lev
26:29 KJV) And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your
daughters shall ye eat. All of this destruction and death came upon
them because of all the years of their rebellion against God and the final
ignominy was their crucifixion of Jesus their Messiah. God’s patience had run
out on them because they did not know the time of their visitation, that is,
they did not recognize their Messiah and even rejected Him with virulent hatred.
They were now scattered to all the Gentile countries.
Luke 19:45 (KJB)
And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and
them that bought;
At this time the large crowds had dispersed and Jesus went into the temple of
God. He became indignant at the thievery and merchandising that was being done
in the temple that He made a whip with cords and began to expel the
moneychangers and the sellers of the sacrifices. One of the tricks that the
leaders used was when someone brought their own sacrifice to the temple, they
would inspect it and then reject it. They would then instruct the people that
they would have to purchase one of the sacrifices being sold in the temple. This
angered Jesus and He turned over the tables of the sellers and moneychangers and
if anything would have raised the ire of the Pharisees, it would have been the
loss of income from their schemes.
Luke 19:46 (KJB)
Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have
made it a den of thieves.
(Isa 56:7 KJV) Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them
joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall
be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer
for all people. (Jer 7:11 KJV) Is this house, which is called by my name, become
a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
Jesus then condemns the activities in the temple by using two scripture verses
stating that His house shall be a house of prayer but they had turned it into a
den of thieves. Now before we condemn those schemers of old, what about the
modern church. Look at the charismatic preachers with their multi-million dollar
mansions and bank accounts. Their salaries are in the millions while they
promise the dumb sheep in the pews that if they give more, God will bless them
mightily. How much of a brain do you have to have when you are a member of a
charismatic church for 20 years and you are driving an old Chevy and the pastor
drives a Mercedes. Obviously the prosperity teaching is false. In fact the whole
charismatic movement is false. How come some of the pastors wear glasses? Why do
these churches have cemeteries? Some questions to ask the next time your pastor
wants you to live in poverty while he lives in luxury. Then there are
non-charismatic churches where pastors are paid big money and ministries where
family members are placed on the board to increase income without getting a
raise. What about the smaller churches with their Chinese auctions and some even
have Las Vegas night or comedy clubs. On the last day they will be overturned
but there will be no more time for repentance.
Luke 19:47 (KJB)
And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the
chief of the people sought to destroy him,
Jesus did not stay away from the temple, instead He was there every day teaching
the truth which was in contradiction to what the scribes and Pharisees taught.
They were intimidated by truth and wanted to try and destroy Jesus before He was
able to turn all the people against the false teachings of the leaders.
According to Matthew, His teachings were also accompanied by healing. (Mat
21:14 KJV) And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed
them. Miracles and teachings of truth would have been damaging to the false
teachers who only desired wealth and status.
Luke 19:48 (KJB)
And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to
hear him.
They were at an impasse because they could do nothing as along as He was visibly
teaching and the people had paid close attention to Him, so He was not out of
their sight. If the scribes and Pharisees had accused Him of some type of false
teaching, they would have the pressure on them to prove it was wrong plus how
could they attack any teachings which are accompanied by true healing. The word
“attentive” in the Greek text carries with it the meaning of “hanging on.” They
literally hung on every word that Jesus spoke. That is what scared the false
teachers. If the sheep become literate in the Scriptures, then they could no
longer pull the wool over their eyes, and that is frightening to false teachers.