Acts 1
6So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
11“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[
b] from the city.
Zechariah 14
The LORD Comes and Reigns
1 A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you.
2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.
3 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.
4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake [
a] in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
6 On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost.
7 It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light.
8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea [
b] and half to the western sea, [
c] in summer and in winter.
9 The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.
10 The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses.
11 It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.
The mount of Olives is one of those very important sites, not only for what happened there, but what is going to happen there. Not only is it the site where Jesus acends to heaven, but it is the site where he will return. And when he returns he will do so with amazing authority, and he will return to save his people. He will come back with such authority and power that the whole world will notice his return, rather then a handful of men. This is one of those things that i really only dreamed of doing, climbing up the mount of olives, and reading these passages and meditating on Christ’s words from the Bible, in the place he first spoke them. Jessica, Laura, and I all went up there one night earlier this week, and we read and discussed this passage. An amazing oppurtunity that i feel so privelaged to have had. Take notice of verse 11 of Zecariah 14 where it says that Jerusalem will be inhabited and will never again be destroyed and that it will be secure. How many wars have been fought in Jerusalem, how many times has it been destroyed, and how many times have people, especially today, wished for it to be safe, or secure. One day Jesus will return and will give all those things to Israel, and Jerusalem specifically. I can’t wait for that day, for on that day our savior will return and bless this city and the whole world with his presence and bring with Him love, and peace. I pray that all of you back home today will praise God for his promise of returning and restoring all things, and making them the way they should. and pray as John does in Revelation, to come back quickly, because isnt that what we are all hoping for, to see that day come, even today. I love you all and I pray you have a wonderful day. stay classy planet earth.
in Him
paul
Me on the mt of olives, with the dome of the rock and the temple mount in the background
(picture taken by jessica friske)
(the white boxes in the background that kinda look like houses, are actually tombs. this practice
and this cemetary date back to Jesus’ time. If you remember Jesus refers to the pharisees as white
washed tombs, on the outside looks good but on the inside are dead bones. the muslims bury there dead there for the prophecy in Zecariah, of Christ’s return, they believe that it can stop him because if he walks over them he would be unclean. so much for their theory.)
