# 51 2015 Dev. Mt.24:35. The purpose of our devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
Matthew 24:35
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”.
Chapter 24 is about signs of the end of the age. Jesus and his disciples are sitting together and they question Jesus concerning what He said about the temple: “Not one stone will be left upon another; every one will be thrown down”. Here Jesus is talking about the Temple not His body. The destruction of the temple occurred when the Roman General Titus put down the Jewish rebellion to direct Roman rule in 66 -70 AD. Jesus gives the disciples many signs of the end: impostors of Christ, wars and rumors of war, famine and earthquakes and persecution of followers of Christ.
Jesus is not just talking about the future here; he mentions the abomination in the holy place spoken of in the book of Daniel. More than likely that event is from the past about 175-163 BC when Antiochus IV also called Epiphanes (god manifest) stripped the Temple and built a pagan alter there sacrificing pigs upon it. This attempt to wipe out Judaism sparked the Maccabean rebellion. A complete exegesis of this chapter is beyond the scope of this devotional but the point is that Jesus is talking about the history of opposition to both the Old Testament church and the New Testament church, past present and future. When we read this chapter we cannot but draw a parallel to the events of today.
These signs will continue until the end, as Jesus says: “and this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Jesus is on the way but it seems the end is not yet, based on the state of the spread of the Gospel in the world. Jesus will come and there will be no doubt as to who He is, and He will be seen around the world.
In the mean time we stay true to Him, we continue with His work. “Heaven and earth will pass away but his word is forever.” we learn this week. Along with that is the work we do in His name, the motivation for what we do as Christians: the fruit of the Spirit that indwells our being and comes out in our work will be forever. The work of God by us by the Word of God in us will become the stuff of the New Heaven and Earth. Ch. 24 is an appropriate passage this close to Christmas, Jesus’ birth is the beginning of the end! Praise Him!
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