Another point of interest is that at the time of our Lord's
Crucifixion, God gave the Jewish religious leadership a very
clear sign that He was displeased with them. You may recall
that on one occasion, while Jesus was teaching in the temple
in Jerusalem, the Jewish chief priests and Elders came and
challenged Him. In response, the Lord shared a Parable with
them, and then He concluded by saying:

". . . 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 LordŐs doing, and it is marvellous in
our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall
be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the
fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall
be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind
him to powder."
Matthew 21:42b-44, KJV

In the previous verses, the word "taken" is derived from the
Greek word "airo". One meaning of this word is to take by
force or violence. You may recall that after John the Baptist
had been imprisoned, he sent two of his disciples to inquire
of Jesus whether or not He was the Messiah. In His response
to them, one of the things that the Lord said was this:

"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by
force."
Matthew 11:12, KJV

So, as I've shared before in a number of my spiritual warfare
articles, there is in fact a very real, violent spiritual war
that is being fought for the Kingdom of Heaven, between the
forces of Light and the forces of Darkness; and our souls are
in fact a part of the prize. In that last verse, let me point
out that in the original Greek, the word translated as "the
violent" also means "the strong"; so we could translate that
phrase as "the strong take it by force". It's interesting to
note that the phrase "take it by force" is derived from the
Greek word "harpazo". Some of you who are sharp students of
God's Word may realize that this is precisely the same word
that is used in some other beloved verses that are familiar
to many Christians. I am referring to the following found in
Paul's first Epistle to the Thessalonian brethren:

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord."
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, KJV

That verb "caught up" is likewise translated from "harpazo".
Thayer's Greek lexicon defines it as follows:

----- Begin Quote -----

1) to seize, carry off by force
2) to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly
3) to snatch out or away

----- End Quote -----

As I share in other articles, such as "The Great Tribulation
And The Rapture", for we Believers, the situation is going
to be very bad, and will look very dark, just prior to Jesus'
Return. In fact, it will be very bad for the entire world. It
is for this reason, that while sharing the Endtime signs with
His Disciples in Matthew chapter twenty-four, Jesus pointedly
tells them:

"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since
the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall
be. And except those days should be shortened, there should
no flesh be saved: but for the electŐs sake those days shall
be shortened."
Matthew 24:21-22, KJV

Putting all of the previous verses together, it appears that
from a worldly perspective, it will look as if the forces of
Darkness have won. But then, when the world least expects it,
when our cause appears to be lost, Jesus will appear in the
clouds of heaven, and He will send His Angels to rip us right
out of this violence-prone world. He'll forcefully snatch us
up in order to save us out of the grips of our enemies. You
may wonder exactly how the Lord is going to accomplish this.
I offer one intriguing perspective in the series "Chariots Of
Fire: A Voluntary Voyage To Heaven?".

Some of the previous verses paint a side of God which some
people don't like to see; particularly those Christians who
like to promote an image of a "lovey-dovey" Jesus, and a God
who would never resort to force or violence, or even punish
us. The truth is, as I have pointed out before, God can, and
has, presented Himself as a gentle lamb, but He can also be
a roaring lion as well. It depends on the situation and with
whom He is dealing. I mentioned earlier that at the time of
Jesus' Crucifixion, God gave the Jewish Elders a very clear
sign that He was very displeased with them. In fact, it was
an omen that their power would soon be ripped right out of
their hands, precisely as Jesus had prophesied. That sign
can be found in the following verses:

"And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from
the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the
rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of
the saints which slept arose,"
Matthew 27:51-52, KJV

Imagine that. When Jesus was resurrected, God split the veil
of the temple, which divided the Holy of Holies from the rest
of the temple, right in half from top to bottom. What a clear
indication of His anger. I honestly don't know if there's any
truth to this theory, but some Bible researchers have stated
that the reason why God did this, wasn't just to demonstrate
His anger with the Jewish religious hierarchy; it was also
to expose the fact that the Ark of the Covenant, (which was
a gold-plated chest which contained the holy items, such as
the tablets on which were written the Commandments, Aaron's
rod which budded, and a sample of the manna), was long gone.

In fact, the general belief is that the Ark of the Covenant
had either been spirited away for its own protection by the
Jews sometime prior to the Babylonian invasions, or carried
off by the Babylonians, (highly unlikely since anyone who
touched the Ark died, or was at least plagued), or simply
disappeared from history in some other way. Some people are
convinced that it remains hidden in a secret chamber within
the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem; and that at the right
time, once the final temple has been built, as many people
believe it will be, the Orthodox Jews will present the Ark
to the world once again. If I recall correctly, there have
also been claims that the Ark of the Covenant is currently
hidden somewhere in Jordan, around Mount Nebo, or possibly
in Ethiopia.

Whatever happened to the Ark, if it truly no longer resided
in the temple at the time of Jesus' Crucifixion, the temple
veil being torn from top to bottom certainly exposed what a
dead, hollow religion the Jewish hierarchy was forcing upon
their people. You see, in addition to the fact that the Ark
contained the holy items, it was upon the Mercy Seat, which
was located on the hood of the Ark between the wings, where
the Lord would appear in order to speak with Moses, or to
instruct the High Priest, (such as Aaron), each year. Here
are two verses for your consideration. Once again, I have
added a few words in brackets for the sake of clarification:

"And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the
congregation to speak with him [meaning the Lord], then he
[Moses] heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off
the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from
between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him."
Numbers 7:89, KJV

"And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother,
that he come not at all times into the holy place within the
vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he
die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat."
Leviticus 16:2, KJV

So if the Ark of the Covenant was truly gone, then this was
indeed a clear indication that God had abandoned their false
religion centuries before; but the common people just didn't
know it yet, because the Scribes and the Pharisees purposely
kept them in the dark concerning it. Is it any wonder then,
that in Luke chapter four, Jesus stated that He had come to
give sight to the blind; that is, to the spiritually blind?
Let's also not forget that in speaking of the Jewish Elders,
(the Pharisees in this case), on one occasion the Lord said:

"Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if
the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."
Matthew 15:14, KJV

But let us backtrack a moment now, lest we lose sight of why
I am sharing these things with you. Earlier in this series,
I shared two clear examples with you where Jesus used things
from nature in order to emphasize a point. In one case, the
Lord used a budding fig tree; and in another, the weather. I
pointed out that in both cases, in my view, there wasn't any
secret meaning hidden in His words. Jesus was more than clear
regarding what He meant. The Lord was merely using something
which was quite familiar to every single listener, to ensure
that they would make the proper connection to the lesson He
was trying to share. He was making simple comparisons, as He
often did. This, in fact, is exactly what Parables were for.
According to Thayer's Greek lexicon, the word "parable" finds
its origin in the Greek word "parabole". In a Biblical sense,
its principle definition is "A comparing, comparison of one
thing with another, likeness, similitude; an example by which
a doctrine or precept is illustrated".

Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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