Jesus said.

This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

40 years later it happened.

This is the end of the age.

This is Seek Go Create.

You're listening to read the New Testament in 90 days, 27 books in order in context.

We've been walking through the New Testament in the

order that it was written.

This is the.

Final episode you should have if you've been reading along, finished

up Revelation, and now this is kind of a wrap up in a conclusion.

If you have walked through the whole journey with us, congratulations.

You just read the entire New Testament in the order it was written.

That is no small thing.

Congratulations.

If for some reason you've stumbled into this as your.

First episode you found welcome, but don't start here.

This is actually the ending of about 28 episodes, going all the way back

to the beginning of the New Testament.

And if you need to catch up, visit K two m.foundation/.

1990 and get the reading plan, and also you can get all the links for all

the other episodes and start in order.

The reason we've done this is to experience the New Testament

in context, the way the first churches did book by book, letter

by letter as the story unfolded.

Now let's talk about, we finished our reading.

We've gone through all the New Testament that brought us

all the way up to the year.

About a 68 is when John wrote the book of Revelation.

Now what you're about to hear is what actually happened.

It.

Isn't theology, this is actual history.

Let's finish it up and connect all of the dots.

This is documented by eyewitnesses, confirmed by Roman historians, and

it lines up with scripture point by point In a way that's hard to dismiss.

We've spent 90 days reading letters written to churches facing real crisis.

The letters were warning of something coming, letters telling believers to

hold fast because the end was near.

Now.

Let's look at what they were pointing to, because this isn't speculation.

This is documented history.

Okay, let's go back to the year AD 66.

The turbulent sixties that we talked about as we read along.

This was somewhat the breaking point For decades, tensions between

Jews and Romans had been building.

In 80 66, it exploded A Roman procurator seized Temple Funds riots

broke out in Cesa and Jerusalem.

Jewish rebels took control of the temple and slaughtered the Roman Garrison.

Rome could not let this stand.

The Empire sent its legions.

All right, let's move forward.

In AD 67, Galilee Falls, the Roman General Vespasian arrived with 60,000 troops.

He arrived in the area, not in Jerusalem.

Okay.

He moved systematically through Galilee.

Crushing resistance town by town.

Thousands died.

Thousands more fled south.

Refugees were pouring into Jerusalem, swelling the city's population

far beyond what it could sustain.

And then in 80 68, there was chaos on both sides.

In June, emperor Nero committed suicide.

Rome plunged into Civil War.

Four emperors would rise and fall in a single year.

Meanwhile, inside Jerusalem, three Jewish factions turned on each other.

John of gha, Simon Barr Gira and Azar.

Ben Simon.

Hope I pronounced all three of those correctly.

They fought for control of the city while Rome.

Regroup.

So there was infighting going on within Jerusalem and Rome

still hadn't even arrived there.

They burned each other's grain supplies, warehouses full of food that could

have sustained the city for years.

Civil war inside a siege that hadn't even fully begun yet.

In 69, the siege.

Titans.

Sian was declared emperor and left for Rome.

His son Titus, took command of the Jewish campaign by spring of 80 70.

Titus surrounded Jerusalem with four Roman legions, and then in

the year 80 70, we will call it the end or the end of the age.

The siege lasted for five months.

Inside the walls.

Famine took hold.

People ate leather.

They ate grass, they ate things.

No human should eat.

We'll get to that later in August.

Romans breached the walls street by street.

They fought their way to the temple.

On the ninth of, of the same calendar date, the Babylonians had destroyed

Solomon's temple 650, six years earlier.

The second.

Temple burned and was destroyed.

The soldiers tore the temple apart, stone by stone scraping gold from

the cracks where it had melted.

The city was leveled when it was over.

Visitors couldn't even tell the site had ever been inhabited.

Now, all of that is historical, but I actually think it's important to

understand the source of those items.

So let's talk about Josephus.

This is how we know those details.

We actually had an eye witness.

Let's talk about who he was.

He was a Jewish.

Priest, a Pharisee born around AD 37, just a few years after Jesus's resurrection.

When the revolt broke out, he was appointed military commander in Galilee.

He fought against Rome.

He was captured in AD 67.

Instead of being executed, he became a translator and advisor to

the Roman Generals, Ian and Titus.

He watched the entire siege of Jerusalem from the Roman camp.

He saw the famine.

The factions the fire.

Years later, he wrote it all down in a massive work called

the Jewish War Josephus.

This is important.

Wasn't a Christian.

He had no theological reason to prove Jesus right, but his account reads like

a fulfillment list detail after detail matching what Moses warned in Deuteronomy.

And what Jesus prophesied on the Mount of Olives,

He recorded the total number of prisoners taken during the entire war was 97,000

of those who perished during the siege From the beginning to the end, the

number was 1,100,000, which was about a third of what they believe was in

and around Jerusalem at the time.

He also wrote No other city.

Has ever endured such miseries and

No generation has ever been more prolific in wickedness than this one.

The language echoes Jesus's words in Matthew 24.

There will be great tribulation such as, has not been from

the beginning of the world.

Until now, no, and never will.

And Josephus wasn't the only one.

The Roman historian, Tacitus, no friend to Christians or Jews, also documented

the war and the signs that accompanied it.

Two independent witnesses from opposing sides.

Whew.

All right, let me catch my breath here.

Got a good bit more to cover.

Let's talk about the signs in the heavens that were recorded during that event.

Both Josephus and TAUs both recorded strange signs in the

years before Jerusalem fell.

They recorded a star resembling a sword that hung over the city.

A comet was visible for an entire year.

Armies were seen fighting in the clouds.

Massive bronze doors of the temple opened on their own.

A voice was heard from the inner sanctuary saying, let us depart from here.

Now you can interpret those however you want, but both historians

recorded them and in the Old Testament language, like the sun darkened the

moon turned to blood stars falling, was always covenant judgment imagery.

Not literal cosmic collapse.

Isaiah used it for Babylon's fall.

Ezekiel used it for Egypt.

Joel used it for the day of the Lord, and Peter quoted Joel at Pentecost

and said, this is what was spoken.

Hmm.

Here's a detail that should stop us in our tracks.

Jesus told his followers, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then

know that its desolation has come near.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

They.

Listened.

The early church historian Eusebius records that the Jerusalem Church

received a prophetic warning and fled across the Jordan to a town

called Pella before the siege.

Closed.

Not a single Christian is recorded dying in the destruction of Jerusalem.

Again, it's not recorded.

We don't know for a fact, but it appears as if the warning Jesus gave in

Matthew 24, in Luke 21 wasn't abstract.

It was practical, and it saved believers who heeded that warning.

Okay, now this is powerful.

Let's connect prophecy to actual historical events.

This is what I like to do.

It's connecting the dots.

What did scripture say would happen and what actually happened?

Alright, let's look at Old Testament warnings fulfilled.

I'm gonna move through these fairly quickly.

You may want to come back, slow it down and go check your scripture.

I'm gonna try to give the references so you can check it later.

Alright, let's look at what Moses laid out the covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28.

These curses were clear if Israel broke, the covenant judgment would come.

Here's what he said, and I'm gonna match it up with what Josephus recorded.

Moses warning in Deuteronomy 28, A nation from afar, a nation of fierce

countenance that is in verse 49 and 50.

And what Josephus recorded was that the Rome came from far away and their

military standard was the eagle.

Moses said in verse 52, they shall be seize you at all your gates.

Titus surrounded Jerusalem completely in 80 70, every wall fell in verse 53 and

57 of Deuteronomy, Moses says, you shall eat the flesh of your sons and daughters.

Pretty graphic Josephus records.

A woman named Mary who killed and ate her own infant during the siege

in 80, 70, verse 64, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples.

After 80, 70, the Jewish diaspora became total, they were totally

dispersed from Jerusalem.

Alright, now let's jump to the New Testament and Jesus' warnings

that were fulfilled in Matthew 24.

Jesus told his disciples exactly what would happen and when.

Here's the fulfillment.

Okay, the temple was destroyed.

Not one stone left.

Matthew 24, 2.

We know the temple burned and was dismantled in August of 80 70.

False Messiahs will arise.

We saw that in Matthew 24, verse five and verse 24.

We saw them theists, the Egyptian and Simon Barra.

All were recorded by Josephus as being false.

Messiahs wars and rumors of wars.

Matthew 24, 6 through seven.

And we know the Jewish Roman war of 80, 66 through 73.

Uh, that.

Famines Matthew 24 7, cloudiest famine.

That was noted in Acts 1128, and then also the famine that occurred during

the siege in Jerusalem, in and around a D 70 persecution of believers,

Matthew 24, 9, Steven James, Peter, Paul, all Marty, and many others.

Before 80 70, the Gospel preached to all.

Nations from Matthew 24 14.

Paul wrote in Colossians 1 23 that the gospel had been proclaimed in

all creation, the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24 15 Roman

standards with their idolatrous images set up in the temple courts.

That was historical.

We saw that.

And then like we mentioned earlier, flee to the mountains.

Matthew 24, 16 through 20 Christians fled to Pella across the Jordan.

That was recorded by the historian UUs and then the Great Tribulation, unlike

any before from Matthew 24 21, Josephus called it the worst siege in history.

And then Jesus said, this generation will not pass away

until all these things occur.

Matthew 24 34, Jesus spoke that around 80, 30, 40 years later, the temple

fell, the great tribulation, all of that destruction occurred at the 80 70

event in August of 80, 70, 40 years.

One generation.

All right, and we have just finished reading through the New Testament

in order, and one thing that we saw, one theme that we saw was that the

apostles knew that this was coming.

The New Testament writers use language of imminence because

they knew the clock was ticking.

They had that generation.

In mind in Acts two 16 through 17, Peter at Pentecost said, this is what was spoken

by the prophet Joel in the last days.

One Corinthians 10 11, Paul, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

James five, eight through nine.

The coming of the Lord is at hand.

The judge is standing at.

The door one Peter four, seven.

The end of all things is at hand.

And then finally, revelation one, one, and three things that must soon take place.

The time is.

Near.

They were not talking about events 2000 years in their future.

They were talking about events in their immediate future events that

came to pass exactly as Jesus said.

Moses warned about it 1500 years before it happened.

Jesus said it would come within one generation.

The apostles said it was imminent, and then it happened exactly as described,

documented by people who had no interest in proving the Bible, right?

We can be excited and comforted knowing that the accurate predictions

and prophecies of the Bible actually.

Occurred.

Now, what does this mean for us?

Where does this leave us?

Now, first of all, I think it's important to know the kingdom is here.

It arrived with Jesus.

It's not something we're waiting for.

It was vindicated when the old covenant system ended in 80 70, when as we

saw in Revelation, Jesus Christ was.

Revealed the shadows gave way to the substance.

The temple made with hands was replaced by the Temple of Living

Stones, Christ body, his church, his people filled with his spirit.

The kingdom continues to expand.

The parables told us it would grow.

Mustard seed to tree leave spreading through dough.

It's been growing and it's been growing and growing for 2000

years, and it continues to grow.

Is God doing more always.

Some people get uncomfortable thinking, well, if most of these

things occurred, what's God doing now?

What does that leave?

God is still acting and operating through us as citizens of his kingdom.

We have the responsibility To continue helping that kingdom to grow.

God is always doing more.

The story isn't over.

We are part of that story.

We live in hope.

We trust that God continues to work and will bring all things to completion

in his way and in his timing.

But here's what changes.

When we understand all of this, we can now read the scripture in its proper context.

And then apply it to our lives, not taking it and trying to twist

it into something that's going on in our world today and predicting

future items and things like that.

That's how we end up misapplying scripture.

We don't have to twist it first.

We don't have to take, First century letters to fit a modern in time systems.

We don't have to force the language of eminence to mean something.

It never meant we don't have to decode newspaper headlines looking for signs

that they were already fulfilled or will be fulfilled in the near future.

When Peter said the end of all things is at hand.

He meant it when James said the judge is standing at the door.

He meant it when Jesus said, this generation will not pass away.

He meant that generation that he was speaking to at that time

When we read scripture that way.

Immersion before application.

It doesn't lose power.

It gains clarity and it becomes more powerful.

The warnings land where they were aimed.

The promises stand firm and we can live as resurrection people.

Not waiting for the kingdom to come, but building within the

kingdom that's already here.

Alright, now that we've gone through all of this, what.

Next.

First of all, I highly recommend you to keep the habit, choose a gospel or

a letter, and reread it in context.

It will continue to reveal things to you that you didn't see the first time.

I can guarantee you, because that's what's happened with me as we've

gone through this reading plan that.

I created, I mean, it's been amazing.

I've been going through it with you, and there are things that jump out at me and

that I see that are so powerful and so incredible, and then I encourage you.

You know what?

Share this journey.

Invite a friend to read with the 90 day plan.

You can send them to K two m.foundation/ 1990.

It would be incredible.

If more people understood the New Testament scriptures in context, and

so anyway, share this with people.

And remember, the kingdom arrived with Jesus.

The kingdom remains.

The kingdom grows.

You.

Are a part of it now.

I just want to give you a little glimpse of kind of what's coming up

next for Seek Go Create and me and this project, and this is pretty exciting.

This is what's coming, the reading plan.

Was part of a bigger project that I've been working on and

I've called it this generation.

If you wanna stay up to date, make sure you go to that K two.foundation/nt

90 and download the reading plan that'll get you on our email list

and it'll keep you up to date.

We'll be up.

Updating items as they are created and projects that I'm working on.

And here's what's coming.

These are the things that I've got on my list, and it may spin off into

other things, but here's a few things.

First of all, I wanna put the reading plan that you've just gone through that has

the videos, the audio, and also a lot of the things that I shared on social media.

I'm gonna put that in book form and I want it to be a print version of this 90

day plan, and I would like to have it for both individuals and for small groups.

I think it would be so powerful to read through the New

Testament in context in order.

Out loud in small group settings similar to what the first audience experienced.

So that's one project.

And then there's this thing I've been calling the deluxe edition.

It's the New Testament scriptures themselves included in the book, placed in

chronological order with the introductions and in the immersions woven in.

Everything you need in one.

I'm calling it a deluxe volume, and then this is something a little bit different,

but it's what I'm most excited about.

It was sort of what started me thinking about this as I started

reading the New Testament in context.

I found myself picturing what it was like to be there, to be in the room.

When the letter arrived, to hear it read aloud for the first time.

That's what led to some of the short immersive stories that I

shared at the end of each episode.

If you've listened in to the episodes during the reading plan, now what that's

really led to is something bigger.

I have been working on fiction that is set in the scriptural.

And historical events and it's stories that let us really immerse ourselves

in this powerful time of history.

What I believe is the most significant time of history, the time from the

resurrection to revelation and all that went on in between the things that we have

just seen as we've read the New Testament.

In order and in context, but more on those fiction stories soon.

For now, grab the reading plan, stay connected, and keep reading in context.

Thanks for going along this journey of reading the New Testament, and thank

you for listening in on this episode.

The end of the age.