"41 And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the things which belong unto peace; but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44 and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation" (Luke 19:41-44): The expression "wept over it," is properly rendered, "burst into tears over it." If the people of Jerusalem and the nation had only known God and the Scriptures; they would have recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah and Saviour of the world (Acts 13:27). Their attitude and their conduct toward Him would have been entirely different. Had they acted differently toward Him, Jerusalem would not have been delivered over to the Romans to be destroyed, and the nation would not have been scattered among the peoples of earth as they have been for the last nineteen hundred years. That this is the proper interpretation of the passage which we are examining is evident when we notice this exclamation: "If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the thing's which belong unto peace!" What does this mean? There is but one possible interpretation, which is that if the Jews had known, at that time the things which belonged to peace, they would have acted differently, and the city would have been spared the calamity of A.D. 70. But since they did not know those things, they took a hostile attitude toward Him and rejected Him as their Saviour and Redeemer. As a result of their refusal to accept Him, the city would be destroyed--which prediction was fulfilled in A.D. 70.

This teaching is in perfect harmony with that of the Old Testament Scriptures. When David purposed to build a temple in Jerusalem for the glory of God, the Lord forbade his doing that, but entered into a covenant with him, promising Him that He would build him, David, a house, a dynasty, and a kingdom which was to continue through the centuries. (Read II Samuel, chapter 7, carefully.) His throne was to be established forever. God assured David that, if any of his descendants on his throne should commit iniquity, He would punish them; but He assured David that He would not take His loving-kindness from him, as He had done from Saul. Here the promise is made that the Davidic dynasty should continue through the centuries. At the dedication of Solomon's Temple, God said to the king: "And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances; then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, according as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall turn away from following me, ye or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples" (1 Kings 9:4-7). Note the fact that the continuance of the kingdom of Israel and a man at all times to sit upon the throne of David were assured to Solomon if the nation would but be faithful and true to God.

God made the same promise to Israel through Jeremiah. "And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain for ever. And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill-country, and from the South, bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meal-offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving, unto the house of Jehovah. But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched" (Jeremiah 17:24-27). Note the specific language: "If ye diligently hearken unto me, saith Jehovah, to bring in no burden... on the sabbath day, but to hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; 25 then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David... this city shall remain forever." The obvious meaning of this passage is what was intended; namely, that, if Israel would only obey the commandments of God and be faithful to Him, the Davidic dynasty would continue through the centuries, and Jerusalem would remain, forever. Now turn and read Jeremiah 22:1-9 for the same promise reiterated.

Our Lord's language was very specific in Matthew 23:37-39: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." In the last public utterance that our Lord made before His crucifixion, He exclaimed to Israel that He often would have gathered her scattered children together as a hen does her brood under her wings, but Israel willed not that He should do it.

In the light of the original promise of II Samuel, chapter 7, and I Kings, chapter 9, and in the further light of the promises made through Jeremiah and the one made by the Lord Jesus himself, we see that the dynasty of David would have remained through the centuries intact and Israel would have continued in the land of the fathers, had the Jews only been true to God. There would have been no destruction of the nation by the Babylonians; nor would there have been any Exile. Neither would there have been the overthrow of the nation in A.D. 70 and Israel's world-wide dispersion. On the contrary, the nation of Israel would have remained in the land and enjoyed its independence.

These promises are in perfect harmony with Isaiah 48:17-19: "Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Jehovah thy God, who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the grains thereof: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me." In Isaiah 48:3-17 the prophet--being carried forward in vision to the time of Christ (II Peter 1:21)--impersonated the person of the Trinity, God the Son, the Creator of all thing's. That he thus impersonated Christ at His first coming is evident from his continued use of the personal pronouns, I, me, and my in these verses. At the same time he spoke of himself as God the Creator. Thus the prophet enacted the role of Messiah at His first coming and concluded his impersonation with these words: "Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; from the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I [God the Son]: and now the Lord Jehovah [God the Father] hath sent me [God the Son], and his Spirit [God the Holy Spirit]" (Isaiah 48:16). In this passage the prophet makes the Messiah, whom he impersonates, say that the Lord Jehovah has sent Him to His people, but that they have not hearkened: "Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb" (Isa. 48:8). From this verse we see that the nation does not receive Him nor His message. Thus with sadness did the prophet close his impersonation of Messiah at His first coming.

Then, as the spokesman of Jehovah the Son, the Messiah--rejected indeed of men, but accepted and glorified by Jehovah the Father--the prophet revealed to the unbelieving and disobedient people of Israel how different their lot would have been if only they had accepted the Messiah and His salvation when He came bringing salvation: "18 Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: 19 thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the grains thereof; his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me" (48:18,19). Jewish history, as stated above, would have been entirely different from what it has been since the nation rejected the Messiah.

If Israel had been obedient to the law and had remained in the land, how would the crucifixion of Christ have occurred? It would have taken place, in the providence of God, in a way which is not revealed to us. The reason for this assertion is to be found in Acts 2:23: "... Him [Jesus], being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay." Jewish history would have been different--entirely different from what it has been for the last nineteen hundred years; but the Christian Dispensation would have run its course through the centuries, because it was foretold that it would. In Psalm 110:1,2 we see the two comings of the one Messiah, separated by the interval during which He is in rejection, and during which He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Thus He came to His own and was rejected, crucified, and buried. But He arose from the tomb and returned to heaven, sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God from the time of the ascension until Israel acknowledges his national sin of rejecting Him and pleads for Him to return. The Christian Dispensation, therefore, would have ran its course even though Israel's particular history, nationally, would have been different. This is the thought that our Lord had in mind in the passage which we are studying, Luke 19:41-44. The leaders of Israel, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God, clamored for the death of the Son of God (Acts 13:27-31). The calamity of A.D. 70, therefore, occurred in fulfillment of this and other predictions.

Our Lord entered Jerusalem on Sunday, the first day of the week. He went immediately to the Temple and inspected every phase of life and activity there (Mark 11:11). While He was there, He healed many people. The children in the Temple cried out saying, "Hosanna to the son of David." This outburst of praise infuriated the chief priest and scribes and Temple authorities (Matt. 21:14-17). Jesus then went out to Bethany, where He spent the night, returning on Monday morning to the city. As He was coming into the city, He saw a fig tree clothed with leaves, but without fruit, which He cursed--not in rage, as critics have said, but because it was a symbol of the Jewish nation. On certain occasions the Biblical writers used the fig tree as a symbol of Israel; but the facts of the context, studied in the light of related passages, must indicate such a symbolic significance before it can thus be applied. But the curse is not to remain upon Israel forever, as I have shown in my booklet: Is the Fig Tree Cursed Forever?

When Jesus reached the Temple on Monday, He cleansed it, driving out those who were commercializing on religion (Luke 19:45,46; Mark 11:11,12,15). This is a cleansing different from the one mentioned in John, chapter 2, which occurred at the first Passover in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

At evening time Jesus returned to Bethany where He lodged. He returned to the Temple on Tuesday and engaged in a great ministry. Probably this was the last day of His public ministry, but He continued actively in the service of the Lord until the very end.