A monument stands on the island of Vinalhaven, Maine. A number of years ago, a mother sent her youth of a son to sea, expecting him to soon return. Instead, a storm arose. In the depths of the wind-driven turmoil, his ship was grounded, and he perished.
His family was devastated, their hopes torn asunder, and they felt their very souls had been ripped from them. How could anyone endure the pain? Turning her son loose evolved into a calamity that no one had foreseen.
Disaster. Catastrophe. Mishap. Misfortune. They all mean the same.
Similar stories in ancient Greece were labeled tragedies, and very appropriately. When the worst that can happen comes upon us, there seems to be no resolution to what we must endure. Often, the pain stays with us even unto death.
In Luke 21:24, Jesus tells of three calamities that will overcome Jerusalem, and still, he assures them of God’s upcoming promise to his people.
“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
Let’s look at each part of this verse.
Calamity No. 1: “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword.”
Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians some 600 years before Christ. Even in Jesus’ day, Jerusalem was little more than a shadow of what it had once been, existing only as a protectorate of Rome, garrisoning Roman soldiers, and existing at Rome’s largesse.
Calamity No. 2: “[They] shall be led away captive into all nations.”
This came to pass in A.D. 70, when hundreds of thousands of Jews were sold as slaves all over the world. The Jewish people were scattered across the civilized world of their day, exactly as Jesus predicted.
Calamity No. 3: “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles.”
We only have to look at the Holocaust to understand the tragedy of the Jewish people. Yet, that is just the extreme tip of the iceberg. The Jews have been harassed since the time of their diaspora, even today living in a fortress of a country, surrounded by enemies.
The Upcoming Promise: The misfortune of the Jews will only last “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
At the second coming of the Christ, Israel will once again regain God’s favor, and rise to rule all the nations. This will not be their doing, but at the leading of Jesus, whom they will finally accept as their glorious Lord and King.
Three calamities and a promise. No matter how bad things get, we must always trust in God’s promises. He holds his hand out to us, and draws us back unto him.
When mishap and misfortune are all we can see, remember that God’s Word promises he will come to our rescue when we call upon his name.
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Originally Published on 1-29-16 in Hope