Part 5
But some may be disposed to say, How are we concerned with Jerusalem, and what does it matter to us whether Jerusalem is trodden under foot, or free? I fear this is a very common feeling throughout society, and that there are thousands and tens of thousands of professing Christians who are perfectly indifferent as to the condition of Jerusalem. But it ought not so to be, for if it be a place cared for by the Lord, it ought to be also cared for by his people. Besides which, even on selfish principles, we should take an interest in Jerusalem; for, as our position as Gentiles in Christ Jesus is most intimately connected with the fall of Jerusalem, so our brightest hopes in Him are bound up with its recovery. In proof of this I would ask you to turn to Ps. cii. 16, where you read, ‘When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in glory!’ The return of the Lord is, therefore, connected with the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and, whenever we see His hand restoring the city, we should begin to look out in confident hope for the glorious and happy day when He Himself will come to take the kingdom. As a student of the Word of God I should be very much surprised if He were to come before Jerusalem is raised from the dust; but when it is raised, it seems clear from Scripture that there will be nothing in the great prophetic series any longer to delay His appearing.
So in our Lord’s discourse, as recorded by St. Matthew and St. Luke, we are taught the same thing. The object of the discourse is not, as has been sometimes thought, to confound the taking of Jerusalem with the Second Coming, but to distinguish them, and to warn the disciples against the danger of mistaking the siege of Jerusalem for the coming of the Lord. It is the restoration of Jerusalem, not the fall, which is connected with the Advent. Our Lord, therefore, distinguishes between the fall and the recovery, and describes the various signs that shall precede each. So up to Luke, xxi. 24, we find the description of the desolation, concluding with the prophecy, ‘Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.’ But in ver. 28 we find the promise of the glorious recovery in those sacred words, ‘When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.’ The 24th verse describes the desolation, the 28th the restoration, and the whole long period described as the times of the Gentiles, with the signs of the latter days, intervenes between the two. Now look at the account of the redemption. It includes clearly a release from the captivity, and the rise of Jerusalem, when the time of its treading down shall have come to an end. But that is not all, or nearly so. The redemption there described is identified with the return of the Lord Himself; for in ver. 27 we read, ‘Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.’ Those then who pray for the peace of Jerusalem will rejoice for Jerusalem’s sake in its recovery. Those servants of God who take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof, will have their hearts gladdened when they see her rebuilt. But that is not all, or nearly all, for whenever that happens, the whole Church of God, and every member of it in every nation under heaven, may look up, and lift up their heads, for the Lord Himself will soon appear. Once more, then, are we taught our deep interest in the decay of Turkey. When Turkey falls there is every hope that Jerusalem will rise; and when Jerusalem rises, the next thing for us to look out for will be the Advent of the Lord. All Christians, therefore, should rejoice in the decline of the Ottoman Empire, for the fall of the Mussulman is the hope of the Jew, and the return of the Jew will be the blessed harbinger of the triumphant advent of her glorious King. Rome beat down Jerusalem, and Rome, as a political power, is no more. Turkey is now treading her down; but its decay is begun, and its days are numbered: so that we may earnestly hope it will be but a little while, possibly a very little while—within the lives of many present—when the great promise of God shall be fulfilled, and, according to the prophecy, ‘The moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.’ God grant that all the readers of this little book may be found looking for His appearing, and ready to welcome Him with their lamps burning brightly, when the cry is heard, ‘The Bridegroom cometh!’
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Footnotes
{26} Hume, ii. 67.
{28} I was interested, two days after preparing this lecture, by reading the following sentence in the _Times_: ‘Upon every temporal consideration Rome never was so low as she lies this day.’—_Times_, Dec. 15, 1873.
{0} In this edition of the book the “By the same author” section appears at the front of the book, before the title page. It has been moved to the end in the eText for clarity.—DP.