In our New Testament reading (Luke 21:20-38), Jesus warns of the end times. The destruction of Jerusalem, that would occur just 40 years later,

When Joni and I were in Rome, we saw the Triumphal Arch of Titus celebrating his victory over the Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem. In the second picture you can see the candelabra from the Temple being carried into Rome in triumph. 

Jesus used the coming destruction of Jerusalem as a picture of the end of the world. “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies…”

The events in Jerusalem/Israel today require some historical humility. 

As we read of war in the Middle East, it may seem Jesus' words are being fulfilled... Jerusalem surrounded by enemies... and that these events might usher in the end of the world. 

Yes, every war is a call to repentance... the end of the world is coming. But Jerusalem has been "surrounded by enemies" many times in its history. The dates below are all approximates:

• 70 AD - destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans that Jesus foretold. 
• 135 AD - armies surround Jerusalem again as the Bar Kochba revolt is suppressed and Jerusalem and Judea are depopulated by the Romans through mass slaughter and when hundreds of thousands of Jews sold into slavery. 
• 614 AD - Jerusalem is surrounded by the Muslim armies and captured.
• 1099 AD - Jerusalem is surrounded by the Crusaders and most of the Jewish and Muslim population is slaughtered.
• 1187 AD - The Muslims recapture Jerusalem from the Crusaders
• 1948 AD - When the new nation of Israel is surrounded by its Muslim neighbors and Israel fought for its survival
• 1967 AD - When Israel captures the old city of Jerusalem from the Arabs

Let every generation see the wars and rumors of war and be ready for the end of the world. 

There is another way to recognize that “Jerusalem” is surrounded by armies. In the Old Testament, “Jerusalem” was used the way we use the word “church.” When they said, “Let’s go up to Jerusalem,” we would say, “Let’s go to church.”

I see "Jerusalem surrounded by armies" when I see God's Church attacked:

• The church is surrounded by “carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life” (Luke 21:34) keeping many Christians from regular worship. The Lord has blessed us with so much, that we are just too busy to worship. We get anxious because we might lose some of these wonderful things. We think we need to work harder and longer. We need to find protection in things rather than the Lord.
• The church is surrounded by an increasingly unchristian society that makes it more difficult to reach and retain the next generation.

Each is a sign announcing to our generation: “Be always on the watch and pray” (Luke 21:36). Today is the day to be ready for the judgment day. It will be a terrifying day for God’s enemies, but for all who know the love of God in Christ, it will be a day of rejoicing. “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).  

And what shall we pray?

Today's Old Testament lesson (read Psalm 56-60 here) contains the prayers of a godly man surrounded by enemies.

Some of the words sound harsh, but they are the prayers of a warrior.

Imagine you are on the front lines of war today.

• You see the carnage inflicted by the enemy.
• You have see your homes destroyed.
• Your loved ones are killed before your eyes.

If we put ourselves into the place of a warrior, then we can more easily make David’s prayers your own. 

We are on the front lines of a spiritual war.

• I have seen the carnage inflicted by the devil and his lies.
• I have seen families destroyed. 
• I have seen loved ones ripped from the comfort of faith and lost.

When I see that I’m on this front line, David’s prayers become my own.

Let us join David in these prayers… (Psalm 56-60)

• Psalm 56 “In God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?”
• Psalm 57 “I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.”
• Psalm 58 “The righteous will be glad when they are avenged.”
• Psalm 59 “You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.”
• Psalm 60 “Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.”

Prayers of Law and Gospel

A few years ago one of our partners in daily reading asked if we can pray for judgment on our enemies. This was my response:

We pray the same way in the Third Petition. "God's will be done... God's will is done when he breaks and defeats every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh..."

I remember well the story of a pastor who explained to me why the Iron Curtain fell in the late 1980's - "Because every week our congregation was praying for the fall of godless communism so the gospel could be preached there." 

They were praying that God's enemies be defeated... just as David did.

Yet, David could be incredibly compassionate... think of how he mourned at the death of Saul and Jonathan and he didn't take Saul's life himself when he had the chance. 

So we pray that God's will be done... We don't always know the best solution to that will being done. For example I pray that the godlessness so prevalent in entertainment industry be curbed and destroyed... yet I also pray for the conversion of those who oppose God. 

The answer is basically Law and Gospel isn't it. If someone is working against God... we are praying against them (Law) but we are also praying for a miracle like what happened to Paul so the persecutor of the church becomes the proclaimer of the gospel. 

In our personal lives... it is very difficult to make that distinction. So we also pray for wisdom... is this person defying God and I will be praying against him/her. Or is this person just doing something I don't like... and then my prayer is "change my heart." 

Finally, what a glorious thing the gospel is. As we struggle even to pray the right way, the Lord in his mercy forgives us. Which makes all the more eager to pray: "Your will be done." 



Answered Prayer

I began with pictures of the Triumphal Arch of Titus. Jerusalem was destroyed just as Jesus foretold. The Judgment Day is coming.

I end with the picture above of the Triumphal Arch of Constantine. In 313 AD, Constantine became the first Christian Roman Emperor. The empire that put Christians to death became a Christian empire. 

Even when we are surrounded by enemies, the LORD can give us victories that we could never even imagine. Let us pray with confidence:

Prayer: Lord, defeat all who war against your Truth and your People! Amen.