Luke 21:5-38.
(Final Part)
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh,” Luke 21:25-28.
This is our final study of the Saviour’s prophecy recorded in Luke 21:5-38. In the verses that make up the section we wish to look at in this study, we are moving to the Saviour’s references to events at the close of this age.
The concluding words of the last portion of this chapter we studied were those of verse 24, “and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
This reference to the fulfilment of the ‘times’ of the Gentiles brings us to the time of the Saviour’s return, for it is then that the Lord will restore Israel and deliver her from the Gentile nations which will, at the close of this age particularly, set themselves to utterly and finally destroy her.
That terrible time was prophesied by the Psalmist.
“«Maschil of Asaph.» O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom. For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers. The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter. Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty. O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name. Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually,” Psalm 74:1-23.
There never have been events like these in the history of Israel. That is because this prophecy is of future events, even though it is spoken of in terms of the past.
That is a common feature when reference is made to that which is future in the experience of God’s people.
Paul wrote: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified,” Romans 8:29-30.
The words underlined all refer to those past experiences in the life of the believer, but the final experience, underlined and in bold text, is an experience with lies yet in the future.
Our glorification has not yet taken place but its is so sure and certain that Paul speaks of it in the past tense, as if it had happened!
Likewise, the prophets, when speaking in the spirit of prophecy, refer to events yet to happen as if they had already occurred. Again, the certainty of that, which God has decreed to take place, WILL INDEED TAKE PLACE, in the exact fashion God has purposed!
Psalm 74 is a lament and a prayer of the ‘cast off’ Jew, as the opening verse indicates. The verse 9, supports the view of a future time. “We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.” When the temple was burned by Nebuchadnezzar, there was the presence of Jeremiah the prophet. But the final times of the Jew will be those when “there is no more any prophet.” It is a sign of an awakening amongst God’s ancient people that they realise they have none amongst them which can bring them God’s Word. The Psalmist depicts them recalling the wonderful works of God in times past, verses 12-15.
Today the unconverted Jew has no such memories nor do they realise that they are without the Word of God. Rather, they appear totally indifferent to that fact!
“Come Lord Jesus!’
The expression in verse 3, of Psalm 74: “Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary,” is a call for the Lord ‘to stir Himself and come to the aid of those suffering desolation’.
A similar phrase appears in Genesis 29:1. “Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.” In the Hebrew original, the expression carries the meaning of he ‘lifted up his feet’. This alternative rendering is given in my Bible’s margin.
Thus it is believed that the Psalmist is praying for the Lord to move and to come to the aid of His people. The plea, “Lift up thy feet”, is but another form of that expression used by David. “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him,” Psalm 68:1.
Going back again to the last words we studied previously — “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,” Luke 21:24 — these words of the Saviour carry us forward from the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, the treading down of Jerusalem, to the last days of this age when Jerusalem is threatened again with destruction.
Psalm 83
Psalm 83 is another prophetic picture of that determination of the Gentiles to wipe-out Israel once and for all.
“«A Song or Psalm of Asaph.» Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah. Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna: Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire; So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth,” Psalm 83:1-18.
Please note
I would draw your attention to the verses 4-8, for there you have the names of the chief antagonists (near neighbours and long standing enemies of Israel) who, under the leadership of Antichrist, will gather together to destroy Jerusalem. They are part of the ten kingdom coalition that will make up Antichrist’s army. (See Revelation 17:12).
“They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: the tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.”
Prophet Zechariah
Zechariah likewise portrays that day.
“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east,” 14:1-4.
The affliction under the Gentiles which took on new impetus back in AD 70, will be ended by the direct and glorious intervention by the Lord and, as He was in the past, the DEFENDER of Israel, so He will be again!
Let us consider then in this final study:
I. THE JEWS BEING UNDER THE GENTILES IS A JUDGMENT FROM THE LORD
1. In God’s chastening of Israel for the dreadful crime of crucifying their Messiah, Israel has been under the harsh rule of the Gentiles. The present chaos in Israel is the result of the dominance of her by Gentiles.
It was what they desired in preference to Christ, their Messiah!
Pilate
“And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst,” John 19:14-18. They compounded their wickedness by gathering around the cross of shame to mock the Saviour in His death agonies!
They have suffered the dreadfulness of their folly for the last 2000 years and it is not over yet, indeed the worst has yet to come!
Sufferings
Terrorism from her Muslim neighbours today burns hot against a nation virtually besieged. The streets of many nations across the world are filled with anti-Jewish crowds baying for her blood. Heads of state such as the United Kingdom, France and the USA, once her supporters and defenders, hesitate in confronting the tide of anti-semitism within their own lands and draw back from the sympathy and support of Israel they once showed.
It is still the ‘time of the Gentiles’ and Israel is very much under their control.
1948
Yes, in 1948, she became an independent nation once again and her leaders swore that never again would Jews suffer as they had under Nazi Germany. They have their own army, an acknowledged fighting unit ‘par excellence’!
But they are not ‘FREE”!
2. Israel must still submit to the demands of the likes of the USA and dare not flaunt its diplomatic requirements, lest it withdraws its support and supply of military aid! No, Israel is still under the rule of the Gentiles.
Isaiah the prophet
The words of Isaiah 54:5-8, may be applied to the period of Israel’s dominance by the Gentile nations.
“For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.”
3. The Lord speaks of His forsaking of Israel as “a small moment”. While it undoubtedly does not feel as such by those forsaken, yet in the light of the dreadful crime they committed, their punishment falls far short of what it is they deserve!
Again, in the light of the words which follow — “with great mercies will I gather thee. . . . but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer” — I believe that the long years of being forsaken will be forgotten and counted as a “small moment”!
II. FROM VERSES 25 TO 28, LUKE RUNS IN PARALLEL WITH MATTHEW 24:15-33
Matthew’s account in chapter 24, gives more details but it is nevertheless parallel to that recorded by Luke.
Note the things which will indicate that the end of the age is very close, or as the Saviour puts it: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh,” Luke 21:28.
1. As God’s people have ever been made aware of the intervention He plans for their deliverance, so it will be at the end of this age. The Psalmist said: “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant,” Psalm 25:14. So it shall be at the climax of the age!
* It was so at the time of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. The eating of the Passover lamb was an indication that the time of God’s intervention had dawned.
“And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt,” Exodus 12:11-13.
* It was the same at the end of the seventy years of captivity under Babylon.
“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: and I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession . . . , ,” Daniel 9:1-4.
It will still be “by books”, the books of the Bible, that we will be made aware of the return of Christ!
* As it was in AD 70, so it will be again at the end of this age.
Christ informed His disciples of what lay ahead for them, some 40 years after His ascension to glory.
“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled,” Luke 21:20-22.
The Lord likewise tells us all of the final siege of Jerusalem, depicted in Zechariah 14, already quoted.
Thus Lord has informed us in advance, through His Word, of that which shall signal His return!
2. Here is the reason why the study of prophecy is scoffed at by those who ought to know better. It is a scoffing that owes its origins to and is encouraged by the devil!
It is akin to the scoffing of the apostle Peter when told by the Saviour of His coming crucifixion!
“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men,” Matthew 16:21-23.
Satan was behind that response by Peter and is likewise behind those who sneer at and belittle the study of Bible prophecy.
The Lord would have us “walk in the light” of Bible prophecy but the devil would blind preachers and their flocks so that “both shall fall into the ditch.”!
3. A refusing to embrace the information given us in the end-time prophecies is to rob ourselves of the comfort such knowledge imparts amidst the troubles that are coming. To be prepared for the storm by taking shelter is much better than being caught out in it, because the warnings were ignored!
The times just before the second advent will be times of unsurpassed ‘storms’, both literal and moral and political!
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken,” Luke 21:25-26.
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away,” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
I would suggest that, as never before, we see these moral characteristics amongst society today!
Alerted
To be informed of the meaning of these things is a mercy indeed, yet many ignore that information, given them of God, for their comfort! When these things begin to happen, they will bring consternation to the unenlightened — even as we see a measure of such in the face of the utterly inexplicable actions of politicians at home and abroad!
Does not the madness of Putin, the folly of Starmer and the unparalleled lunacy of Trump arouse ‘perplexity’ today?
I believe these things are but the beginning of the insanity which will overspread the nations of the world as the end of this age approaches.
Springtime
Soon we will see the first signs of the Spring! The Lord Jesus uses that annual event to illustrate how things will be as His return approaches.
“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors,” Matthew 24:32-33.
How can Christians refuse this simple truth and mock those who believe it?
There will be INCREASINGLY clear signs and signals that the “coming of the Lord draweth nigh” just as blossoming flowers and the budding shrubs and hedges will herald the advance of Spring!
Wise men
As the wise men were told of His first coming, along with the shepherds and also Simeon, so those that love the Lord and believe His word will know of the approach of His second coming. (Matthew 2:1-2, Luke 2:8-15, 25-32).
What joy will be the portion of the believer who obeys the Lord when He says: “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh,” Luke 21:28.
The Lord is “the lifter up of mine head,” says the Psalmist (3:3), and this will be especially so when we see the signs of His return in power and great glory!
Believing study
It is only by the careful study and believing of prophecy that we can with joy look out on “those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken”!
Dear Christian, my closing word to you is this. As with all of God’s Word, the prophecies of Christ’s return “were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope,” Romans 15:4.
I must emphasise that this applies particularly to the end-time prophecies of Holy Scripture.
Give yourself to STUDYING WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS OF PROPHECY. Give no heed to the fanciful and false reasonings of those who seek only to gather a following by which they will be enriched and that by making outlandish and unsubstantiated predictions, void of any basis in the Bible.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Monday, 2nd February 2026