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Matthew chapter 21, from this chapter on, we're really gonna get into toward a force against Israel. Okay, so if you're a Zionist, you might wanna just step out of the room right now, but I don't think that's the case in our church, obviously, but what we're gonna get into is just, the first part of this chapter is dealing with Jesus coming into Jerusalem, sitting on an ass, and there's a lot of prophecies about this, but then it's really gonna get into, mostly just pointed towards the fact that Israel has rejected him, and even the Harlem Republicans accepted him, the Gentiles are gonna accept him, and basically, from here on out, he's basically just gonna be condemning them, and this was also in other passages in Matthew, but really, we're coming down to the end of his ministry here, as far as, what I'm gonna show you in the timeline of this event, we're coming down to the week that he's gonna be crucified, okay? So, we'll see that this is coming right down to the end of his ministry, and so, at this point, he's done his ministry to the circumcision, and they're about to get cut off, is what's gonna happen here. Now, in Matthew 21, verse one, it says, and when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphagee, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus to disciples, saying unto them, go into the village over against you, and straightway you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her. Loose them, and bring them unto me, and if any man say, ought to you, you shall say, the Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold thy king cometh unto thee, meet, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass, and the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass and the colt, and put on them their coats, and they set him thereon. And so this is definitely a very famous passage of where he's gonna ride this ass into Jerusalem, but go to Zechariah chapter nine, where this is actually quoted from, because it talks about as written, as spoken by the prophet, this is actually in Zechariah, and the first thing that I see with this story is they didn't understand why he was doing this, and you can imagine that Jesus is saying, go find this ass, and this colt, and it's someone else's, but basically when they say, what are you doing with that, just say, the Lord hath need of them, and they'll be like, okay. And what I think about this is, when Jesus commands us to do something, don't ask questions, just do it. This idea of why, why are we doing this, it doesn't really matter why, because you may not understand exactly why he's telling you to do something, and obviously I'm talking about the Bible, and I'm talking about this extra biblical, God talking to you out of the sky type thing, that Pentecostals get into. I'm talking about what the Bible actually says, so if the Bible commands you to do something, don't ask why, just do it. That's the first thing I see with this story, and they don't balk at it, they're not saying, why are we doing this, but it is a strange thing, he's just like, hey, go find this, do this and that, and you're probably wondering to yourself, what in the world am I doing this for, right? But in Zechariah chapter nine, this is a prophecy about what's about to happen here, in verse nine, so Zechariah nine, verse nine, it says, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold thy king cometh unto thee, he is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. So that's what's being quoted, so when he says go find this ass and the colt that's next to it, this is exactly what's prophesied about him coming, but notice what it says here, thy king cometh, and what we'll see here is that this is a great show of Jesus coming the first time as the king, but he's also gonna come the second time as king. Go to Genesis chapter 49, and I know we hit on this when we were in Genesis 49, obviously with things dealing with the last days, but I want you to see this, that him coming the first time and coming the second time is actually in one verse in Genesis 49, okay? And obviously when you're looking at Old Testament stuff, if you were in the Old Testament and you're looking at a lot of these prophecies, you're probably not seeing the mountain over top of the other mountain, so to speak, and so it can kinda really look close to why it would look like when he comes the first time he's coming to set up his kingdom, whereas we know there's a big space of time between that, but in Genesis 49, this is what Jacob says to Judah about things that are gonna come in the last days, and this is pretty much just a whole prophecy about Jesus. Now Jesus comes out of the tribe of Judah. He's the lion of the tribe of Judah, and we know that the Lord sprang out of the tribe of Judah, right? And it says in verse eight, it says, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Now that's another name that you could say for Jesus, there is Shiloh, but notice in verse 11 here, binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine. So notice that this is a prophecy about Jesus, so that would apply to his first coming. Then it says, he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. Now that's referring to his second coming. So notice, you go to Revelation chapter 19. So the first time Jesus came into Jerusalem, he came to Jerusalem on an ass, right? A donkey, if you will, right? The next time he comes, he's coming on a white horse with a sword in his hand, right? A two-edged sword that proceeds out of his mouth, and will be coming with him. His whole army's coming with him. See the difference? He's coming lowly the first time. The second time, he's coming with power, and he's coming with might, and he's coming with an army to destroy. But the first time he came with what? In Zechariah, it says having salvation. Remember, the Son of Man came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. So when he came the first time, it was coming to bring salvation. When he comes the second time, he's coming to bring the wrath. It's the wrath of the Lamb, it says in Revelation chapter six. But in Revelation 19, in verse 11, it says, and I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. So he's making war, and he's judging now. So this is his second coming. No, in verse 12, it says, his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew, but he himself, and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. Remember that he had his clothes and the blood of grapes? And his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen, white and clean, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall roll with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So that's the next time he's coming into Jerusalem, right? So the first time, you know, this is obviously coming at the end of his ministry, so he's gonna die, and he's gonna rise again and be sitting at the right hand of the Father. Next time he comes down, obviously the rapture's gonna happen before this event, right? He's gonna save us out of that great tribulation, but this is happening after that seven year, you know, basically that seven years has ended. Now it's time for the Battle of Armageddon, and, you know, not to get into a whole bunch of end times, but do you see the both sides of that? His first coming, he's coming lowly as the king, but he's bringing salvation. The next time, he's coming in power, and he's coming to make war. He's coming to take vengeance on this earth. So when you see those verses in the Old Testament where it's talking about him bringing salvation, but in the next breath it'll say vengeance, that's why, you know, it seems like it's all happening at once, but it's easier for us if we're looking back. Hindsight's 20-20, right? Because we can see it really clear that it's clearly all those verses about him bringing salvation, coming to, you know, suffer, coming lowly, you know, basically being a man of sorrows, all those things we're applying to the first time he came and all the times where it's talking about him coming to, you know, wet his sword and to basically tread down the wicked, that's talking about the next time he's coming, the last time he's coming, right? And so we see that with this picture here. I actually have a whole sermon dealing with that story, and I was gonna talk about it, but I was like, no, that's gonna take a whole sermon, okay, so I don't want, I'm not gonna spoil it, but it's something interesting that I found with that story with the ass and the cold and all that, so, but that's for another day. So, but I was like, I was gonna put that in and it's just like, nope, this sermon's already real long enough as it is. But anyway, so, but I wanted to show you at the time, I go to John chapter 12, because John chapter 12, dealing with the same story, actually gives us a reference of time of when this happened, okay? Because you may wonder, you know, where is this in the time as far as when he's crucified, okay? What we're gonna find out is that when he comes in on riding this ass into Jerusalem is actually five days before he's crucified. Okay, and I'm gonna show you that. And John 12, verse one, just to show you that it's clearly stating like a timeframe here, because we'll get down to John 12 where we actually get into the story that we just read, John 12, 12, but John 12, one, it says, then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. So at this point, at the very beginning of the chapter, we're six days out from the Passover, okay? Now, notice in verse 12, okay, now I read this, I didn't see any of the mention of like there's another day that goes by or anything like that, but we'll say this, can't be much time going by, right? Because he's gonna be crucified on the Passover. But in verse 12 there, it says, on the next day, okay? So I believe that six days before they were in Bethany, then the next day is when he goes into Jerusalem, okay? And so that would make it five days before the Passover. So think about, and we'll read this here in a second, but think about this, you know, if Jesus, what I believe is that he died on a Thursday, right, that's kind of the way I've looked at it, as far as he died on Thursday, and then, you know, the next day was the Sabbath because of the Days of Unleavened Bread, the next day after that was the Sabbath because it was just the Sabbath end of the week, and then he rose early the first day of the week. But if you think about, if you were to count Sunday, you know, as far as on the next day this happened, because it was six days out, it depends on how you count it, I guess, but if you were to say from Sunday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. So that would mean that this happened the Sunday before he rose from the dead, okay? So he went into Jerusalem riding on this ass the Sunday before. Now, not to give any credibility to the Catholic Church, but the Catholic Church does have Palm Sunday, and this is where that comes from, although they're a little off because they believe in Good Friday, right? So, but that's where it kind of comes from, is the Palm Sunday, but it's funny because they celebrate that, but this is really kind of a slap in the face because all of Jerusalem, they all denied him, okay? So he's coming in as their king, and really, he's coming in to get denied, and, you know, to be denied by Israel, okay, by Jerusalem, okay? And so it's not really something to celebrate. It's really, it's kind of heartbreaking to see him coming in there like that, and then everybody just rejects him. But going, reading on from there in verse, well, we'll read verse 12 there. It says, on the next day, much people that were come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon, as it is written, fear not, daughter of Zion, behold thy king cometh, sitting on an ass's colt, okay? So we see that same story, but notice in verse 16 here, it says, these things understood not his disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him that they had done these things unto him. So notice how they're kind of in the dark on this. They're not really seeing why they're doing this until later on. Later on, they're like, oh man, we did that. That was in Zechariah, we did this. And just kind of understanding it later on. But one thing is interesting that, you ever wonder what this term Hosanna means? Hosanna in the highest. And notice in, go back to Matthew chapter 21, Matthew 21. Because it talks about them saying that many times, right? And I think I, what? Got this stuff out of order there. But it doesn't really matter. So it says, yeah, that's what I was gonna say. Yeah, so in verse eight there, it says, in a very great multitude, spread their garments in the way, others cut down branches from the trees and straw them in the way. And the multitudes that went before and that followed cried saying Hosanna to the son of David blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved saying, who is this? And the multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. Okay, so let's go back to where this is, actually there's a passage in Psalm. So go to Psalm 118, where the thing that you see is blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. That's actually in Psalm 118. Psalm 118. And I believe we'll see actually from this passage what that phrase means. What that, what that, what that, you know, I thought at first it was kind of like, when you say hooray, which who knows what hooray means, I don't know. I didn't look up the etymology of that. When you think of like an idiom of some sort where you say something that just kind of means yay, you know, and, but it actually has a little more meaning than that. And I looked up the etymology of it, but it actually is right in here, okay. And so in verse 24, so Psalm 118 in verse 24, it says, this is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which hath showed us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee. Thou art my God, I will extol thee. I give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. So according to etymology, as far as if you broke that word up, and it kind of makes sense if you understand some names in the Bible, okay. But what the etymology said is that it says, save, I pray. That's what the etymology of it is, meaning like I pray to be saved, or save, I pray, meaning like to ask God to save, but praying God to save, right. Well notice in verse 25, save now, I beseech thee. That's where that phrase comes from, okay. Now in the New Testament, it's basically taking, it's kind of like hallelujah. Hallelujah is hallelujah, which means praise the Lord, okay. But in the New Testament, it basically just transliterates that word, okay. Meaning that it transliterates it, they just write it out, and then when they brought it into English, they just basically transliterated it as what it would be said in Greek. Does that make sense, where some phrases are used like that? Anyway, so, but with this, it's actually in the text here. Save now, I beseech thee. So when they're saying hosanna, hosanna, they're basically saying we pray that you save us, right. And if you look at the first portion of that, the h-o-s, I preached on this when we were talking about Jesus' name. Remember that Joshua and Hoshea, Hoshea, you know those names, and it kind of drops different things and stuff like that means save. And we saw how Jehovah and Hoshea combined. Jehovah saves, okay. So you can kind of see this even with terms in the, like names in the Bible. And so it's partly save. But the other part means pray, okay. So that's basically how it's broken up. But you can see those words even in the English as far as that. So I'm not saying go back to the Hebrew and figure this out, okay. What I'm saying is that you can actually see that even in here because what said first hosanna, and it says blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord. And in this passage, when you go back to it, where it's actually quoted, it's saying save now I beseech thee, O Lord. And it said blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord. So when they're saying that hosanna, hosanna, they're actually quoting Psalm 118. And so that's kind of interesting. But also it says, in Matthew, it says hosanna to the son of David. And this is something that's gonna be brought up later too when it talks about why is Christ called the son of David. Okay, we'll go to Psalm 132. If you're in Psalm 118, go to Psalm 132. Psalm 132, they understood that the Christ was supposed to come out of the seed of David. Okay. So when they said son of David, they were meaning, there's a reason why they're calling them that. Okay, because there's a lot of people that would descend from David, right? But they're saying that because they understand where the Christ is supposed to come. In verse 11, so 132, in verse 11, it says, the Lord has sworn in truth unto David, I will not turn from it. Of the fruit of thy body will I sit upon thy throne. Notice that. Who's the I? The Lord. All caps, Jehovah Lord, is gonna sit upon David's throne out of the fruit of his body. And it quotes that in Acts, saying that of the fruit of his body according to the flesh. Okay, so it's talking about how, you know, Jesus was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. And so he's gonna sit upon his throne. That's why when you're in Genesis chapter 49, it says that Judah shall not, you know, shall always have that scepter, you know, forever. And I'm kinda misquoting that. I'll look at the passage here. A scepter shall not depart from Judah, okay? And what's that mean? Meaning that there's always going to be a king in Judah. And listen, if Jesus isn't the king, then that scripture's wrong. Because there hasn't been a king over Judah in a long time. Okay, if you're looking at it as far as a literal stance on that. But since Jesus is that king, listen, he's been the king since he came. And so, and he'll be forever the king. So that scripture will not be broken, for sure. But also, going back to Matthew chapter 21. Matthew 21. And I thought I had, see, I was all prepared here. And I thought I had other things in here I'm dealing with. Did I put this out of order? I don't think so. Well, I'm just gonna go through the order that I have it here. We'll just see how we get here. So, but Jesus goes into the temple here. Now, this isn't the first time he does it. In verse 12, okay, so when he comes in riding on the ass and on the colt full of an ass, he comes into the temple and he's gonna flip some tables, okay? And everybody's just like, oh, Jesus, you know, he was so tender, he wouldn't hurt a fly. Yeah, well, he hurt those tables, that's for sure. And now notice in verse 12 there, it says, And Jesus went into the temple and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. Now, this is why we don't sell anything in the church. We will never sell anything in the church. If anybody ever is gonna get something from our church, it's going to be free, okay? Because the other place where this is mentioned is in John chapter two. It's a totally different story, though. If you know the timeline there, John chapter two is right after where that happens where he makes a whip of small cords, right? That is right after where he turns the water into wine at the marriage of Cain and Galilee. That's the very beginning, okay? And so this is the second time. So it's kind of like he starts off his ministry, he throws everybody out of the temple, and he's gonna end his ministry by throwing everybody out of the temple. And you say, well, you know, he lost his temper. No, he was out there making that cord when he did it the first time. He was just, you know, making that cord. He's like, I'm gonna go in there and just take care of business, right? And I've heard preachers say this that had the whole bookstore in the church. They'll say, well, it says the den of thieves. It's not that you can't sell anything. It's the fact that you can't rip people off, okay? So, but there's actually passages, if you go to Mark and stuff like that, which we won't go to for sake of time, but it talks about how he wouldn't suffer anybody to even carry a vessel in there, okay? So this whole idea of like, oh, it's just because it's den of thieves. No, they made it a house of merchandise and a den of thieves, okay? It's both. And so we will never sell anything here. Anything that's here as far as, and for all sakes of the matter, I mean, the hymnals take them, you know? If you need a hymnal, take it. We'll get more. The Bibles are free. All the tracts are free. All the food's free. Everything that we have here. I mean, obviously there's certain things that are the church's property, right? You know, like we just swipe the camera and swipe the stuff off the walls. I mean, that's a little much there. But what I'm saying is that obviously all the stuff that we would give out to anybody is always gonna be free. And it always baffles me when preachers will charge money for that type of stuff. It's like, my preaching CD's $3. Who do you think you are? First of all, you know, I can't imagine even asking somebody for money for a preaching, right? But the fact that you would somehow justify that, you know, with the Bible, it's ridiculous, okay? And so, Jesus, the one time that Jesus got really angry, now there's other places he got angry, okay? But show me another place where he actually flipped over tables or got that angry that he got physical. This is the only place I see. And it's because they were doing things they shouldn't be doing in the house of God. They were selling things, and they're like, oh no, they were selling things that weren't, no, they were selling doves, and they were selling oxen. They were selling things that were for the Lord, right? They weren't selling things that were wicked, because there's nothing wrong with a dove or an ox or, you know, whatever. Those were all supposed to be done for sacrifices. It's just not in the house of God. So you say, well, you know, you can sell Bibles. No, that's specifically what he's throwing them out for. And so we will never sell anything in the church, and I'll probably preach a whole sermon on that eventually. But that's what's dealing here. Now, I actually believe this is a fulfillment of prophecy. And go to Malachi chapter three. And also think about this too, because in Matthew, it says, make not my, I'm sorry, and John, it says, make not mine house and house of merchandise. And it says, as it is written, the zeal of mine house hath eaten me up. And it quotes that. Well, in this case, it's talking about, as it is written, my house shall be called a house, the house of prayer. When you look up that passage, it says a house of prayer for all nations. All nations. And is that a coincidence that he's gonna get in and start ripping face on how they have not been doing their job? And how the kingdom of God is gonna be taken away from them and how he's gonna give that kingdom to another nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. I don't think that's a coincidence. But in Malachi chapter three, in verse one, we usually go to Malachi chapter three dealing with John the Baptist. But notice in verse one there, it says, behold, I send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. Now, that's actually really the only portion about this that's talking about John the Baptist. A lot of people link in the rest of it to John the Baptist, but notice what it says. So he's gonna prepare the way before me, obviously God, right, the Lord. And it says, and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, said the Lord of hosts. So who's that talking about? The Lord Jesus Christ. The Christ. He's gonna come to his temple suddenly, right? Notice what it says in verse two. But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appearth? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. And what is he doing to that temple? He's cleansing it. He's getting out all the filth, getting out all the garbage, right? Notice in verse three, and it says, and he shall sit as a refiner in a purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. And so I believe this is actually talking about Jesus coming to the temple. And there's a lot of other application to this. You know, who shall abide the day of his coming, thinking about his second coming as well. So I mean, obviously there's some dual application and other applications to this, but I definitely see this applying when he came into the temple and threw all the money changers out, overturned the tables, and got rid of everybody that was selling everything. And I can definitely see that being that refiner's fire and that fuller soap. And he came up and just cleansed that temple out. Now he cleanses it for a little bit, then when he dies, that temple's done. Okay, meaning that the veil was rent from the top to the bottom when he dies, and the Old Testament's done, okay? But he cleansed it when he first started his ministry, and he cleansed it again right at the end of his ministry. And obviously there's an end times application to this too, which actually we'll probably get to next, this coming Sunday, because it actually does apply, dealing with the cleansing of the temple and all that stuff. But anyway, just some interesting stuff there on how that ties into Malachi. Notice in verse 15, so back in Matthew chapter 21, verse 15, Matthew chapter 21, verse 15. And I'm kinda blowing through this a little bit, because really, once you get to the halfway mark of this chapter, even before that, we're getting into really the subject of replacement theology. We're getting into the subject of Israel withering away as a nation, as far as God's nation, the Old Testament being done away with, and going into what Jesus is, he's condemning them, but he's also moving on to a better nation, right? And a better covenant, right? That's what it really comes down to, is the Old Covenant had its faults, it was done away with, and the New Testament's the better covenant. But in Matthew 21, verse 15, notice what it says. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Here is thou what these say, and Jesus saith unto them, Yea, have ye never read out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise? And he left them and went out of the city into Bethany, and he lodged there. Now, what's interesting about this, now, I've already kind of covered, you know, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, and kind of dealt with the fact of when he was talking to his disciples, he was praising the father, saying, you know, that he's glad that he revealed it unto babes, right? And kind of what that's talking about, but he's also dealing with children that were in the temple saying this, okay? So he's dealing with literal children here, too. But go to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19 and verse 39. Dealing with the same story, but we're gonna see something else that Jesus says here. So, first he's, you know, in one passage we see that he's, he's saying that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise, meaning that these children know what they're doing, you don't. You know, basically rebuking them, saying they're doing what's right, and they have perfect praise, whereas, you know, you're trying to rebuke that. But notice in verse 39, so Luke 19, verse 39 says, and some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. Now that's a powerful statement, that if no one said anything, even the stones would cry out. Now, I believe this is kind of coming full circle. Do you remember that another place where it talks about stones, something happening with stones that, dealing with the Pharisees and scribes and all that stuff? Go back to Matthew chapter three. And listen, replacement theology has been being preached since John the Baptist, okay? So it's not that, that's why it's always, it's stunning to me where someone would say, oh, you know, replacement theology is a false doctrine, it's not in the Bible. How do you go through Matthew and not see it? I really like to know their interpretations of these passages, okay? I'm gonna show you, well, once we get there, but let's get to this verse because I believe this is kind of really setting you up. It's really setting you up for what he's about to really get into with the scribes and Pharisees because he's gonna start questioning them, okay? But Matthew chapter three and verse nine, it says, and think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees, therefore, every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Well, it's interesting because the next thing that's mentioned in Matthew 21 is talking about this fig tree that he curses because it doesn't have any fruit on it. Think that's by accident? And then we get into two parables that are clearly against the Jews, against Israel, okay? And so this is mentioned by John the Baptist and Jesus is just hitting this up again, okay? And the fact that, notice that it says that of these stones he's able to raise up children and Jesus is saying that these stones would cry out if they didn't, okay? And it really showing you that when it comes to salvation, when it comes to God's people, it doesn't matter about your lineage. It doesn't matter who you were born to or whatever. And that's what they're stuck on is endless genealogies and who they came back to and all this stuff. It doesn't matter. He just got done saying that his house is a house of prayer for all nations and so it's for everybody and even back then there were a bunch of racists that didn't like Gentiles. They didn't want them to have any part in any promises that they had even though they could join up. According to the Old Testament, they could become a part of Israel if they wanted to. And so by going back to Matthew 21 and verse 18, and we're gonna get into this story. So this isn't really a parable but there is a parable dealing with this, okay? So what I'm gonna show you is that this is a story that actually happened. Jesus was there and this happened with Jesus but then there's a parable about a fig tree, okay? So Matthew 21 and verse 18, it says, Now in the morning, as he returned into the city, he hungered and when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it and found nothing thereon but leaves only and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. I want you to really, I mean, if you don't mind underlining in your Bible, underline that word forever right there. Then it says, And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away? Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing ye shall receive. And so a lot of that has to do with the fact that believing is the key there, okay? And obviously Israel didn't have the faith but notice what it says here that he found this fig tree, it didn't have any fruit on it and then he cursed it and says, No fruit's gonna grow on you henceforward forever. And then they were marveling on how soon it withered away. Now think about this because this is exactly what happens to Israel. How soon is Israel withered away? 70 AD, their temple's destroyed and they're completely gone. They're scattered, okay? That's pretty soon. But go to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13 deals with a parable with a fig tree. And here's the thing, we've been doing a lot of end times prophecy stuff because we've been going through Daniel and you cannot get around pre-trip people until they bring up the parable of the fig tree. The parable of fig tree is Israel and it's when they have a peace treaty with Israel and it's like this whole thing with Israel. And that parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24, Mark 13 has nothing to do with Israel, by the way. It has to do with the stars falling from heaven. It's super clear, has nothing to do with Israel. But this fig tree has to do with Israel. And you know what? They always wanna talk about that fig tree, that parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24 and why don't you look at the fig tree parable that he talks about here? And the actual fig tree that Jesus Christ cursed and said there's not gonna be any fruit henceforth forever. And let me ask you a question. Since when has Israel ever been a fruitful nation to God since that's happened? And do you think it's gonna change? You think it's gonna change until Jesus comes? The only time that's going to be a fruitful tree again is when Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning from Jerusalem, okay? So guess what? That's true about Israel, about that fig tree and what happened to it. Notice in Luke chapter 13, because it's gonna be the same message here. Luke chapter 13 and verse six, it says, he spake also this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he came and sought fruit thereon and found none. Sound familiar? Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, notice this, behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down, why convert it the ground? And he answered, answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also till I shall dig about it and dung it. And if it bear fruit, well, and if not, then after that, thou shalt cut it down. Isn't that interesting, even the timeframe that it gives there? How long was Jesus' ministry? Little over three years, right? Three and a half years, somewhere around there. We don't really know for sure. And so it could have been within that year and he's like, you know, let this finish out. Let me dig around it, dung it, see if it'll bring any fruit. And if it doesn't, cut it down. Isn't that interesting that even the timeframe that he gives in this parable is exactly the timeframe that Jesus Christ was walking in Israel and trying to see if there's any fruit in that tree. And at the end of his ministry, he's going on a tour de force in Matthew 21, 22, 23, yea, 24, on condemning Israel. And I don't think that that's, that when he dung it, it did anything, okay? I'm just gonna be honest with you. I think the end of that parable is they cut down that fig tree, okay? Now, when it comes to trees and stuff like that, and a lot of times in the Bible, and you look at the branches dealing with, in Romans chapter 11, which I'm not getting into, but you're dealing with nations, okay? And so what it's, it's basically looking at that fig tree as a nation, and Israel is also likened unto a vineyard. Notice this fig tree is in the vineyard. We're gonna see two parables after this dealing with vineyards. And I already showed you from Matthew 20, I believe, or maybe it was 19, where Israel is likened unto a vineyard. We're not gonna go there for sake of time, but in Isaiah five, it likens the house of Israel and Judah to vineyard, the Lord's vineyard, okay? And so I think that's interesting on how that all fits together as far as this fig tree. And I actually skipped a verse. Or no, I didn't. No, I didn't. I'm really all over the place with this, so. I have another verse on here. I have too many pages in those. That's the problem. This sermon's too long. But, making sure I didn't lose a page. Yeah. So anyway, but the cursed fig tree, this isn't a parable, but there is a parable about it that fits perfectly. Now, think about that. It says how soon is it withered away. That's an interesting phrase, too. So he says henceforth, forward, forever. But then it says how soon. Go to Hebrews chapter eight. Hebrews chapter eight. Because I believe what this would be linked to is looking at the Old Testament ending and the New Testament starting, okay? And guess what? In five days, the New Testament was starting. So, but even so, talking about it being completely decimated, that doesn't happen until a little later. Meaning that, yeah, God doesn't recognize it, but when the temple's destroyed and they're completely scattered, then they're not doing any of that. And listen, they haven't done sacrifices since. And so, that's where you get into what Hebrews kind of states something that you would say, well, wasn't it completely done? Well, it is, because the Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter three, that it is done, it is abolished, so it's done away, in present tense even in 2 Corinthians there. But in Hebrews chapter eight and verse seven, notice what it says. It says, for if the first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. So we see the fault. What's the fault? There's no fruit on you. They're not doing the will of God. They've broken his covenant. So they're not fruitful. They're not doing what they should be doing. In Hebrews chapter eight verse 13, it says, in that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. And so you think about that fig tree, is that how soon is it withered away? And think about that with the Old Testament. And then in Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse nine, it says this, it says, you know, if you say, well, you know, it's still around, it's just, you know, it's still waxing old, right? Man, that's taking a long time to wax old, okay? But in Hebrews 10, nine, it says, then said he, lo, I come to do thy will of God, he taketh away the first that he may establish the second. That means that he couldn't establish the second until the first was taken away. There's no overlap here. That Old Testament was finished the moment Jesus died in the temple, the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, and it says that the New Testament didn't have power until the death of the testator, according to Hebrews chapter nine. So the moment Jesus died, the Old Testament stopped, New Testament started, period. It was done, okay? But when it talks about, you know, that which waxeth old is ready to vanish away, think about the fact that, you know, they were still doing sacrifices, even in Paul's day, and he was getting sucked in, they were doing purifying and sacrifices and all this stuff he shouldn't have been doing, that stuff was still going on until Jerusalem was completely decimated and the temple was completely gone, okay? And so that's where you can definitely look at the fig tree withering away. And I go back to Matthew chapter 21, Matthew chapter 21 and verse 23. So he has that whole thing with the fig tree, and that's not really a parable, but he's gonna get into parables after these chief priests and elders start questioning his authority. And I don't wanna really go into depth on, too much depth on this at all. I just really want to read this because Jesus being a boss to these chief priests and scribes, as far as, you know, I love how he answers them. I love how he just puts it to them, and he doesn't have to give them an answer, okay? And that's something that we can learn, too, that we don't have to give these people an answer. You know, people ask you questions and stuff like that. You know, you don't have, if it's a dumb question, or if it's a question you know they already know the answer to, and they're just trying to, you know, get you somewhere, you just be like, you know, answer me this first, then. And in verse 23, it says, and when he was coming to the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, by what authority doest thou these things, and who gave thee this authority? So, obviously, they're talking to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords right now. But Jesus, the way he answers, I love the way he answers it, because he answers with a question. He says, you answer my question first, then I'll answer your question. And so, and it says in verse 24, says, and Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, and likewise, will I tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or of men? And they raised him with themselves, saying, if we shall say from heaven, he will say unto us, why do ye not then believe him? But if we shall say of men, we fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet, and they answered Jesus and said, we cannot tell. And he said unto them, neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. I love it. I love how he just puts it to them right there, because he knows their thoughts, he knows what they're thinking, and he knows, you know, they're always trying to catch him in his words. You know, like, his whole ministry, they're just like, constantly trying to catch him in his words, and he just threw it right back in their face, because they knew that there was no right answer to that, because they knew that they didn't believe that John's baptism was of God, and they didn't believe that Jesus was of God, right? So they knew that either way they answer this, you know, they don't want to admit that it was from heaven, because then they would believe that Jesus is the Christ. They'd have to admit that. And so he puts it straight into their face, and basically they have nothing to say. So I love that, and sometimes that's, you know, when you're dealing with hard cases of people, or you're dealing with people that are belligerent, I'll usually just ask them a question, you know? And, or, you know, if they're just like really prideful, or something like that, I'll just ask them a question, and you know, see where it goes with them. And sometimes that shuts people down, as far as when you put it back on them to answer a question, and see what they have to say. But going back, so I just kind of wanted to hit on that. I just love that, how Jesus says that, and how he answers these elders, right? But in Matthew 21, verse 45, it says, and when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his, oh, I'm sorry, this is what I want to do. So I'm sorry, my mind is scattered. It's just a lot of information I want to try to get through on this. So he's gonna go through two parables here. Two different parables, dealing with pretty much the same thing. And I first, before we get into the parables, I want you to see what it says at the very end of the chapter, okay? And verse 45, verse 45, it says, and when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the people, because they took him for a profit. So before we get into these parables, I want you to know that even the Pharisees, even these chief priests, knew that he was talking about them. But yet, Baptists today can't get that down. They say, well, it says that they perceived that. It doesn't mean that they actually knew that. Well, in Mark chapter 12, in verse 12, it says, for they knew that he had spoken, the parable against them. So put that in your pipe and smoke it. That's the narrator saying that. So it's very clear that they knew that that was spoken about them, okay? So it's baffling to me when people say, well, you know, this isn't talking about them. You know, it's talking about something else. And I've actually never heard them actually explain this passage. And all the times I've been in old IFB churches that were leaning Zionists or that were type of Zionists, I've never actually had them go to this passage and actually explain it. They usually just stop where they kill the son and they talk about, you know, Jesus dying on the cross or something like that. But they never get into, I've never heard them ever explain that the kingdom of God is taken from you and given to the nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. I've never heard them actually explain what that means. Because they'd actually have to realize that they need to take off their Zionist badges and take their Star of Ram fan down. So, but in Matthew chapter 21, we're getting to this first parable here. And this parable's actually dealing with kind of a comparison between the Jews or the kind of the elders and chief priests and Pharisees to those that are more so sinners and that aren't the high up people in authority, okay? So he's kind of giving a comparison between people within even Israel, okay? But notice what it says in Matthew 21 verse 28. It says, but what think ye? A certain man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not. But afterward he repented and went. And he came to the second and said, likewise, and he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father. They say unto him, the first. So these people at least realized, like they're not being idiots here, okay? So the first obviously is the one that did it, even though he said he wasn't gonna do it, okay? So it doesn't matter if you say something. It's a matter of whether you do it, right? But it says, Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you, the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not, but the publicans and the harlots believed him, and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward that ye might believe him. Now, I don't see how anybody can see otherwise that talking to the elders, the Pharisees, the chief priests, right, Israel in general, he's basically saying all these people that you would look as like these really bad sinners, publicans or like extortioners, right? And harlots, which obviously fornicators. And so obviously I'm not saying those aren't sinners, but he's basically saying, they're going into the kingdom of heaven and you're not. Why? Because you didn't believe. And it's always based on believing. This is a great verse too, dealing with repentance. Because it really just shows you that repent just means they didn't believe and now they do believe, right? And so that's all it means. It had nothing to do with sin in there. Okay, it didn't say that the harlots and the publicans had to repent of their sins, did it? They stopped being harlots and publicans. No, the harlots and the publicans are going into the kingdom of heaven, okay? It didn't say anything about them turning from that, okay? And so this is a great parable. And from what we already read with those verses at the very end of the chapter, they perceived that it was about them. Well, I would hope so, right? With that one, it's really, you know, I don't even know if you want to call that a parable. You're pretty much just telling them, yeah, hey, you, you're these people. You're that first person or that second person, I'm sorry, that said you would go and didn't. And so going down into the next parable here, we get into the parable of this vineyard where he sends in labor, he sends in basically servants into his vineyard. And this is very clear. I don't think anybody would ever say this isn't talking about Jesus and this isn't talking about how he was killed and, you know, that this is clearly a parable about that. But what you have to realize though is that he sends in a bunch of people before he sends in his son, okay? So this parable is really talking about, I believe, the nation of Israel or basically since the old covenant. Like since the old covenant, he's been sending in prophets to talk to his people and to get his people to follow God, to be fruitful, to get the fruits, right? And throughout that time, they've rejected all the prophets, they've killed all the prophets. And then last of all, he sends his son. Now in verse 33 there it says, here another parable, there was a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about and digged the winepress in it and built a tower and let it out the husband men and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husband men that they might receive the fruits of it. So notice that just like the parable of the fig tree, what's he looking for? He's looking for the fruits of his vineyard. And it says in verse 35, and the husband men took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another. And he sent other servants more than the first and they did unto them likewise. So notice that he's sending all these people in, they're beating some, they're killing some and think about reading through the Old Testament of where they killed their own prophets and they beat their own prophets. Jeremiah, you know like all these prophets, Melchiah, you know, Micaiah, right? Yeah, there's another prophet, but I hate him, you know, and they smite him on the face, you know, and all those different things that they do, right? And so it's very clear that we're talking about that. Now notice in verse 37, but last of all, he sent unto them his son saying that will reverence my son. I want you to notice what it says there, last of all. That means there's no more prophets coming to him. When they rejected the son, they were done. And so this whole idea that, you know, that the old covenant's still going on or Israel's still God's chosen people, this doesn't make any sense with the Bible. There's no sense. Read through the New Testament and show me that. I'll show you just page after page after page after page, chapter after chapter, verse after verse of the fact that the Jews are not God's chosen people. Okay, Israel is not God's chosen people. They've been cut off, okay? Now obviously when it came to the nation of Israel, they were God's chosen people in the fact that they had the covenant and all that. And if you were circumcised and keeping the covenant, you were technically his chosen people. But that doesn't mean that you were saved, okay? In the New Testament, it's all the saved. So all the saved are God's chosen people and it's not about a particular nation, okay? Now going on from there in verse 38, it says, and when the husband men saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. Now you say, wow, that doesn't make sense that they would do that to Jesus. Remember why they killed him? When he raised Lazarus from the dead, their big complaint was saying that the Romans are gonna come and take our nation away from us. What, their inheritance? Why did they really wanna kill Jesus? It was for the love of money is why, for the love of power. They didn't want him to take their authority away. And so then in verse 39, it says, and they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. Jesus was taken without the camp and crucified on a cross. And so it's exactly what happened with Jesus. And he's, obviously this parable's foretelling what's about to happen to him. Remember verse 40, it says, and when the Lord thereof of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husband men? They say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husband men, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. So it's interesting because they answer and write in all these things. So yeah, that's right, right? But notice what it says in verse 42. Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. So this is, it can't be any clearer what he's saying here. He's talking about their nation. And that was their fear, that's why they wanted to kill them and begin with it because they're gonna take away their nation. That's exactly what the Bible says about that. And so he's saying, I'm gonna take the nation away from you and give it to the nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Okay, so their fear is becoming realized, right? And they couldn't stop it. But go to Psalm 118. Isn't that, something interesting too, remember where it says, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, right after that is this verse that we're dealing with here. Okay, Psalm 118 and verse 21. So if you look up in there, you'll see what we just read dealing with save us now. I beseech thee, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. And verse 21, it says, I will praise thee, for thou hast heard me and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused to become the head of the corner, this is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. Now, one thing I wanna mention here, and this has nothing really to do with doctrine, but it's just something to be interesting with grammar. When you read that in Matthew 21, there's a question mark at the end, and you tend to look at that as if he's asking, is it is marvelous in our eyes? Okay, and kinda look at it as a question, but that's not the question. The question is, did you never read in the scriptures? That's the question. So he's saying, did you never read in the scriptures? That's the question. You're not gonna put a question mark at the end of that, right? You gotta put it at the end of the sentence. And then he quotes off what he's asking him, did you never read, okay? So it's not a question, is it marvelous in our eyes? That's a statement, okay? So sometimes you gotta be careful with the question marks as far as what's the question. And the question in this is, did you never read, okay? Not the statement that's being made after that, okay? And so I don't think that really changes anything as far as what you're maybe looking at there, but what I'm saying is that I've read it that way, okay? I've read it that way as a question, but if you look in another, I believe in one of the other gospels, it doesn't have the question, it just states it, okay? And so you're kinda wondering, is it a question or is it not but it's clearly not a question, he's just stating it. And it happened to be, and he does this in other places where he'll ask a question about like, did you never read or did you, have you searched the scripture, you know, and then he'll make a statement about what they're supposed to have read, but that's not the question, okay? So, but, so you were, we read that in Psalm 118, go to 1 Peter chapter two, 1 Peter chapter two, and we're about done here, because I just wanna really deal with this stone which the builders rejected and become the head of the corner. This is really, this whole phrase, this whole passage here where he's saying, the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner, and then it goes into the fact that the kingdom of God should be taken from you and bringing forth, given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof, and it even says, you know, it shall fall on this stone, it shall be broken. In 1 Peter chapter two, all that's mentioned, okay? Now, it's worded a little differently, but that same thing that Jesus is talking about is mentioned in 1 Peter chapter two, okay? And so, if you didn't get it there, which I think is very clear, honestly, because right after that it says they perceive that they spoke of them, yeah, okay? Of course, they were talking about you, and so it's very clear what he's talking about there, but in 2 Peter chapter two and verse six, notice what it says. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. So, we have that scripture quoted again. Notice what it says. And a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. So, what do you have? That they fall on this stone and are broken, right? And then it says they're stumbling over this stumbling stone. Notice in verse nine, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation. So, you say, well, who's that nation? Who's that nation that he's bringing forth the fruits thereof? This right here. This holy nation of believers. And it says, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people. So, we're definitely not talking about Israel, because that wouldn't make any sense. But are now the people of God which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. By the way, that's quoted in Hosea, which is clearly talking about those that are not of Israel. Okay, so, but what it comes down to is that holy nation is made up of everybody. Whether Jew, Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bond-free, male, female, it doesn't matter. Whoever believes, he is precious. Whoever believes, he is not confounded. Whoever believes is part of that holy nation, that royal priesthood, that peculiar people, and that, you know, that chosen generation, that's who you're dealing with there. So, it's not that he's, because you may look at it and be like, well, is he gonna give it to another nation, right? Some other physical nation? No, he took it away from a physical nation, a people, and he gave it to the spiritual nation of believers, okay? And Ephesians chapter two talks about this, how he broke down that middle wall of partition, and now we are all fellow citizens of the commonwealth of Israel. That's what Ephesians two, after you get past Ephesians two, eight, and nine, is talking about. How we're a part of that holy nation, and that holy nation is the Israel of God, okay? And you're like, oh, you believe that the spiritual Israel replaced the physical Israel? Yeah, pretty much, yeah. I mean, that's pretty much, if you wanna call it that, that's what it is, right? You're like, oh, you believe in replacement theology? Yeah, yeah, because he takes away, he took the nation away from them, right? I'm gonna take the kingdom of God from you and give it to a nation, bring it forth to the fruits thereof. That sounds like you're replacing it, you know? Or, you know, he taketh away the firsts, then he may establish the second. You wanna call it taken away theology, that's fine. People will probably think it's like pre-Trib rapture or something, but you know, the taken away. But it's really simple, right? That the Old Testament was replaced by the New Testament. The physical nation of Israel replaced by the spiritual nation of Israel. That's just what the Bible teaches, okay? And to try to teach otherwise, you're gonna have to pretty much be deaf and mute to the whole New Testament, okay? Because we're in Matthew, that's the first gospel, okay? Now, I know I'm going to other passages, but how many times through Matthew have we seen this? Where he's condemning Israel and talking about how they're done. And now he's going through, basically a tour de force through it. Go to Isaiah eight, because you know, that's where that stumbling stone. See, First Peter two basically takes all these scriptures about this. So what he's saying at the end here, he just puts it all into one package, just like Jesus does at the end of this chapter. But a lot of these passages like, where it says I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, that's in another place in Isaiah. And in Isaiah eight here in verse 14, is where we see the stumbling stone, you know, which is talking about that rock of offense that we were talking about in First Peter two. It says, and he shall be for a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and many among them shall stumble and fall and be what? Broken and be snared and be taken. And that's what we saw in Matthew chapter 21. It says, whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken. But on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him the powder. So it doesn't matter if you fall on the stone or the stone falls on you, you're done. Okay, so it's not a good thing either way you look at it, okay? You don't want to stumble on the stone, you don't want it to fall on you, you want to believe on it. And when you believe on that cornerstone, which is Jesus Christ, then you won't be confounded, you won't be ashamed, you won't make haste, you'll be a part of that holy nation, okay? Now, Romans chapter nine is the last thing I'll show you here because it talks about that stumbling stone again and that chief cornerstone. Because that whole prophecy of that was talking about how he was gonna blind Israel, okay? And so this is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. He's like, oh, the Romans did it. No, the Lord did it. The Lord did it. And we'll get into that, listen, we're not done yet. And if you're offended by the, you know, if you're like a Zionist and you're offended about this, you might not want to come back for a couple weeks because it only gets worse. We haven't got to Matthew 23, my favorite chapter, by the way, because that's when he's gonna really rip face on these people, okay? But he's really gonna get into that and it's the Lord's doing. How many times have we seen the Lord blinded their eyes? It's the Lord's doing that they stumbled at that stumbling stone that they didn't believe. And in Romans chapter nine, verse 30, it says, and what shall we say then? That the Gentiles which follow not after righteousness have attained to righteousness even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore, so he's asking why. Why didn't they attain to the law of righteousness? Because they sought it not by faith but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written, behold I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. So just over and over again, what are we dealing with? So when he rips their face at the end of Matthew 21, what's he saying to them? You didn't believe. What did he say right before that when he's talking about the two sons? One doing the will and one not doing the will. He says, you didn't believe. The publicans, the Harlems believed, you didn't believe. What's it always predicated on? They didn't believe. And when you go into Romans chapter 11, dealing with Israel and dealing with the fact that he blinds them and says that they've been, their branch has been torn, taken off, he's saying they were taken out for unbelief. So, but you didn't say, well, Israel, it's God shows the people, show me where they believe. Show me the day that they started believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Because as far as I know, there are a bunch of Christ-rejecting Jews over there. And as an anti-Christ religion over there, every religion that's over there is against the true gospel, whether it's Arminianism, whether it's Catholicism, whether it's Islam, whether it's Judaism. It's all against Christ over in Israel right now. It's a big anti-Christ country. And I'm not saying there's not one single person over there that's saved, because they travel there every once in a while. I'm sure there's somebody that lives there that's maybe saved, okay? But I wouldn't call that a Christian nation, okay? I wouldn't call that God's chosen people, okay? And so, Matthew 21, a great chapter dealing with these parables and dealing with Jesus coming in as king lowly, meek and lowly into Jerusalem. And the week before, he's gonna rise from the dead and he's going into the week where he's going to be crucified and before he does, he's gonna really hit hard about that transition, you know, from the Old Testament to the New Testament and really kinda showing them that they're without excuse, okay? He's been there for over three years ministering to Israel and they've rejected him in the end. And so, Matthew 21, a great chapter and obviously we'll continue on with our Matthew study here. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this evening and pray that you be with us as we go home and as we go to work throughout the week. And Lord, we just thank you for your word and just so many things that we find in there even after reading it many, many times that just pop out or just different things that we maybe haven't seen before. And just pray that you'd help us to use what we learn in this study for your glory. And Lord, again, I pray to be with those that aren't feeling well. I pray to be with those that couldn't be here and pray to keep us safe on our travels home. And Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen.